Chaosmage (41 page)

“I will be,” he said as she pulled him upright. He leaned against the wall for a minute but then was able to stand unaided.

Roake had recovered consciousness and Zannah had one hand under his arm. He barely seemed aware of his surroundings and one of his eyes had fallen out, leaving an empty socket. Whatever spark of life kept him moving was almost extinguished.

“Is it much further?” asked Tammy.

Roake shook his head slightly and gestured down a tunnel with his free hand. At every subsequent junction he chose the tunnel to the right and they began to spiral inwards towards the centre. The air was getting noticeably cooler and damper until eventually they arrived at the heart of the labyrinth.

It was a vast chamber about two hundred metres in length with a lake covering half of the ground and a forest of stalagmites the rest. Far above their heads rocky fingers pointed down towards the floor, sometimes joining up with their twins to create stone ribs, as if they were inside the skeleton of a giant beast. Glowing moss and lichen provided just enough light to see the outlines of objects, but they had no idea what was hiding in the shadows.

As Tammy stepped into the cave she heard a rush of movement. Spinning around she saw Fenne launch himself from a hidden ledge above their heads. Even as Tammy started to shout a warning, his sword was coming down towards Zannah's exposed back.

A
s Tammy shouted Balfruss sensed something moving towards him. Dropping to the ground he rolled away before coming up with his axe in one hand, a ball of energy in the other.

Roake shoved Zannah aside, taking the full brunt of Fenne's attack. The sword entered his body at the shoulder and emerged at his hip, cutting him into two pieces. The dry halves slid to the floor and the tiny spark of life that had kept him moving was finally snuffed out. A second later Zannah's sword was whistling towards Fenne's head and the two of them began to battle each other.

“I have him,” said Zannah. “Take care of the brood mother.”

Balfruss left the two Morrin behind and together with Tammy and Kai he followed the narrow path towards the lake. It was a
well
-
worn
route, but it wound back and forth between the stalagmites, which were so dense that in places they were all but impassable. There were plenty of shadowy alcoves and Balfruss held his axe ready in case any lurking Forsaken should try to catch him unawares.

When they emerged on the shore of the lake he saw half a dozen Forsaken kneeling away from them towards the water. At the sound of their footsteps the creatures came to their feet and drew their weapons, faces twisting into snarling masks of rage. This was an invasion of their inner sanctum and they had nowhere to retreat. Not wasting any time on threats or curses, the creatures attacked, two coming for each of them. Even as they did so, Balfruss noticed a huge shadow lurking under the water that seemed to be growing in size. They needed to deal with the last Forsaken quickly before the brood mother emerged.

He feinted towards one with his axe and directed a tight spear of solid willpower towards the other with his free hand. It punched a
fist
-
sized
hole straight through the Forsaken's chest, making it stumble and fall on its face. Ignoring it, Balfruss deflected a couple of wild swings from the other, sparks flying as their weapons met. He ducked one blow and lashed out with a short blast of will, catching the Forsaken on the hip and spinning it about. As the Forsaken fell to its knees Balfruss brought down the flat of his axe on the middle of its back, snapping its spine. Flipping the weapon in his hand he quickly brought it down on the nape of its neck, severing its head from the body. The other was barely alive but Balfruss wasn't prepared to take any risks and beheaded that one too.

Before he had time to react something crashed into him, sending him flying through the air. Instinctively, he wove a magic shield to cushion his impact and a few seconds later he collided with several stalagmites, shattered them into stone fragments. If not for his magic the collision would have killed him.

Tammy and Kai had finished dealing with the remaining Forsaken but Balfruss's attention now was entirely to the thing emerging from the lake. The thick black tentacle that had struck him was just the first of many attached to the monstrous beast that was slowly dragging itself out of the water.

The brood mother was an enormous creature and the bulk of its body was still under water. A horrific blend of whale, giant squid and shark, its skin was midnight black, mottled with white in places, and a dozen pointed fins covered its back. A huge gaping maw was lined with a row of
razor
-
sharp
teeth the size of swords, and one yellow malevolent eye on either side of its
wedge
-
shaped
head glared at Balfruss with uncanny intelligence. The dozen tentacles at its front allowed the creature to move on land and he could see more on the rear portion of its body. He suspected in the water it was incredibly fast and graceful, but on land it seemed clumsy.

Balfruss felt a huge presence pushing against the edges of his mind as the brood mother turned its attention towards him. He tried weaving a protective shield around his thoughts, but felt as if he were trying to stop a storm with a handful of cobwebs. He fell to his hands and knees, shaking his head like a dog as it tried to bend him to its will.

Not far away he saw Tammy fighting to keep the tentacles at bay, whipping
Maligne
left and right while steadily retreating. Chunks of black flesh and purple blood were raining down all around her, but the brood mother seemed unconcerned by such minor wounds. Balfruss gritted his teeth and focused all his effort on driving the creature out of his mind. He was no one's puppet and would not be controlled by anything or anyone.

“Time to even the odds,” said Kai, walking past Balfruss directly towards the brood mother. The creature's writhing tentacles were constantly in motion but now they paused, half a dozen hanging motionless in the air above Tammy and the rest poised above the plague priest. Balfruss let out an explosive breath as the weight of its mind moved away from him. “Kill it while I keep it distracted,” said Kai, slipping off his robe and walking naked towards the monster. Balfruss saw the brood mother's eyes shift, but otherwise it remained motionless, watching and waiting.

Kai's face and body began to change. His nose shrank and disappeared as something orange under the skin began to push forward in its place. Balfruss realised he was about to see in full what he'd only glimpsed in Kai's room.

With a tearing sound the skin across the priest's back split open and a pulsating mass of dark blue tentacles erupted, swelling in length and growing thicker by the second.

Kai's whole body began to ripple as if it were merely an illusion and popping sounds echoed around the cave as his joints shifted and came apart. The priest's skull split in two like an egg and a host of red eyes emerged, four, then eight, then more, all blinking in unison and growing in size. The remnants of Kai's human body vanished as the thing living within swelled and continued growing every second.

In less than a minute the brood mother was facing off against a monster of equal size. This one had a large orange beak, a hundred glowing red eyes and dozens of twitching blue arms. With inhuman screeches the two creatures slammed together and began wrestling around the cavern.

The brood mother was attempting to withdraw into the lake, perhaps where it would have the advantage, while Kai was trying to drag it onto dry land. They were thrashing about so much that the whole cavern shook, knocking Balfruss off his feet. Above his head several spikes of rock fell from the ceiling, crashing into the water.

Balfruss turned his attention to the brood mother while drawing power from the Source. Fire or lightning would be too imprecise, he might also hit Kai, and if it normally lived underwater it would be used to extreme cold. Its skin looked incredibly tough making it difficult to penetrate with anything sharp. Tammy had injured its tentacles with
Maligne,
but it was a special blade forged from the heart of a dying star. That left him with a few alternatives, but in such a fight where precision was required, there was only one choice.

After everything he'd learned and all of his lessons with subtle magic, once more a fight required the use of raw willpower. In honour of an old friend, Balfruss forged a massive hammer that only he could see, made of pure willpower.

The brood mother raised two tentacles, preparing to strike at Kai, and he lashed out, using the physical manifestation of his will. It hit the brood mother across both limbs, catching one full on and the other a glancing blow. One of the tentacles hit the wall of the cave and the bones within were crushed. The other arm was knocked aside, and the creature howled in pain so loudly it set his teeth on edge. Grinning fiercely at the monster, Balfruss watched and waited for another opening to strike again.

Fennetaris had no choice but to retreat from the intensity of Zannah's onslaught. Every breath he took was another reminder of what she had lost. It was because of him that Alyssa was dead. Without their war leaders the Forsaken had been in disarray, but he had organised their second attack on the winery.

Fennetaris stumbled back and was slow to dodge out of the way of her sword. The tip caught him across the top of his left thigh, making him bare his teeth in pain. He started talking but Zannah couldn't hear him and she just didn't care. It was another distraction. To make her angry or feel guilt. None of that mattered and nothing would stop her.

Alyssa had asked her if she felt guilty for what Fennetaris had done, and she'd said no. Until this moment that had been true, but now she thought about how many lives, including Alyssa's, could have been saved if she'd killed him sooner.

Realising his words were having no effect he tried to use his weight to shove her backwards. Zannah
side
-
stepped
and riposted with a series of sharp cuts towards his head and arms. Fennetaris was forced to block and had no time to go on the offensive. She kept up her momentum and pace, never once slowing down or being turned aside from her purpose.

Despite the cool temperature in the cave sweat was running down his face. He wasn't used to such intensive exercise and for too long had let others fight in his stead. Zannah knew he was cunning, but there was nothing left for him to use against her. No traps, no other people, no hidden weapons. He was finished.

He retreated again, dodging around some of the stone spikes, and she followed at a steady pace. As she came around a spike Fennetaris threw some grit into her face and attacked. Zannah stumbled back, spitting and coughing as she swung her sword to keep him at arm's length. She saw him coming and whipped her sword in a series of tight slashes. One hit stone, jarring her sword, and the rest hit only air, but she sensed he was nearby, watching and waiting.

Wiping a hand across her face Zannah was forced to shuffle backwards. Her left eye was completely useless and the other watering badly, forcing her to rely on her other senses. Closing both eyes and letting her tears wash them clean, she stood perfectly still and waited. In the distance she could hear the fight with the brood mother. The sounds echoed around the cave, occasionally shaking the ground, but in this part of the cave it was quiet. Nothing moved or crawled. It was just her and Fennetaris.

She heard him approaching slowly on her left, his breathing rapid and hissing through clenched teeth. A rock crunched beneath his weight and a whistle of air announced his attack. Zannah blocked and riposted before stepping back, sliding her foot backwards to avoid any obstacles.

Blinking rapidly, Zannah realised her right eye was clear and she even had partial vision again in her left. A few steps away she could see Fennetaris creeping closer. Hiding a smile she kept her eyes open but continued to feign blindness, turning left and right at imagined sounds and swinging wildly with her sword. He grinned like the fool he was and picked up a few rocks, which he threw to one side. Zannah obligingly turned in that direction as if his ruse had worked.

Moving one careful step at a time he came forward while she watched and waited. When he was within her reach she struck, slicing him across his left arm and then the ribs before he could react. She pressed forward, thinking Fennetaris was beaten, but once again he surprised her. Snarling, he met her halfway, anger fuelling him as their swords came together.

Zannah started to channel energy from within to make her reflexes faster. It would be the easiest way to beat him. She reached towards the well inside and then stopped. She had promised Alyssa that she would live, and stealing time to win this fight would break her vow.

Pushing herself as hard as her muscles allowed naturally, Zannah took the fight to her opponent. Her sword slipped through his defence twice, cutting him across a cheek, narrowly missing an eye, and then slashing a second time across his chest. Even though he was bleeding in several places he didn't seem to care. His eyes were burning and his jaw clenched so tight that the muscles stood out in his neck and jaw. Blow for blow he tried to match her, but his skill and speed were no match for Zannah's. When he overstretched himself, she merely nudged him with her hip, sending him off balance. He stumbled off to one side and she laughed, knowing that she could have finished it. He knew it too and flew into a rage, attacking her with such ferocity that Zannah barely kept his sword at bay.

Ultimately it was Fennetaris's anger that proved to be his undoing. When he tried to take off her head his balance was off and momentum carried him forward. Zannah dropped to one knee and thrust up with her blade. Her sword entered the centre of his chest and burst out of his back. As he fell it drove the blade deeper into his body until it was buried up to the hilt. Fennetaris slumped forward until they were knelt facing one another.

Surprise and pain warred for dominance on his face. He simply could not believe this was his fate. Even though his body was dying his arrogance refused to accept what was happening. Zannah held him upright with her sword as he choked his last few breaths. Towards the end he tried to say something but his throat was too full of blood to make out the words.

Finally the light faded behind Fennetaris's eyes and Zannah released him, sitting down beside the corpse. With his death she had avenged her friend. Now all she had to do was work out what to do with the rest of her life.

Tammy ducked one black tentacle only to be gripped around the waist by another, which attempted to hoist her into the air. She switched her sword to a
two
-
handed
grip and hacked at the offending limb, managing to gouge a chunk out of it. The arm released her and quickly snaked away but more loomed above her, threatening to strike. The brood mother's skin was incredibly tough and so far all she'd done was inflict minor wounds.