Descent Into Darkness (Book 2) (31 page)

"Two more just came through the doorway." Zin's voice was low, as if the creatures didn't already know they were there.

Placing his right palm on the door, Ean tried to concentrate. He let his senses reach out through the energy of the Abyss. Immediately he felt the thrumming of Abysmal energy running through the place. The energy saturated the lair, making it feel alive in the same way it felt in Ean's body. Maybe that was the key...

"The closest one is about halfway across the room. We might want to think about leaving..."

No, not leaving yet. He was on to something.

The energy, it was in everything. Did that mean whatever magic or runes had been inscribed were still there? Carefully, Ean let a small amount of the energy inside of him flow out from his hands and into the door. The two energies merged as if reunited. Hundreds of different runes suddenly rushed through his mind, less than a dozen of which he knew.

"We're just about out of time..."

Glancing back, Ean saw that Zin was right. The closest flesh monster was almost on top of them. This close, Ean could see the drool coming out of its mouth and the trickling of blood from its dozens of wounds. The whole sight filled him with dread. If only they had a little more time...

A black blur darted past him, causing Zin to jump out of its way. Ean watched in shock as the hound sped towards the closest monster, its legs pumping faster than Ean had seen before. Its nails sounded like chisels as they stabbed into the rock, propelling its body along the floor.

The flesh monster stopped for a moment, as if considering what to do. Then it, too, started sprinting forward. In only a moment, the two creatures were right on top of each other. The monster's four arms and their protruding blades went wide in anticipation while the hound went low, looking like it was about to launch itself up onto its opponent.

The creature's four blades stabbed as one, directly at the hound, but the hound was smarter. Instead of launching itself at the flesh monster and into its waiting blades, the hound threw itself at its feet, smashing into its legs and launching the monster into the air. It came down hard with a thud as its bone blades and protrusions hit the stone floor, its face smashing into the ground.

The hound was back on its feet, spinning around with its mouth open wide. It leapt onto the back of the monster and bit down hard into a fleshy arm. Even from a decent distance away, Ean could hear the hiss as the hound's saliva began eating away at the flesh. He clenched his left hand slightly. He knew the damage that saliva could do all too well.

Coming to its senses, the monster tried to buck the hound off its back, trying and failing to get its bone blades around to stab at the beast. It rolled left and right, arching its back, but the hound hung on. The area began to reek of burning skin as the hound's saliva did its work.

"Ean, the door! The other two are almost to the hound!"

Zin's voice brought him back and he returned his attention to where it should have been all along. The hound was out there buying him time, and he had been wasting it like a fool. Focusing on the door again made the multitude of symbols flash through his mind.

"Zin, what is the symbol for 'closed'?"

"It's, uh...well, it looks kind of like, I guess, like two doors closing."

Frowning, Ean searched the library running through his mind until he thought he found what he was looking for. At least, it did look like two doors closing. Focusing on that rune, Ean tried to picture it on the door.

Sure enough, right on the center of the smooth surface of the stone door, the rune appeared. With a groan the two doors, which had probably remained immobile for hundreds of years, began to swing slowly shut. With a yell of triumph, Ean stepped through the doorway.

His yell quickly turned to one of agony as a sudden sharp pain pierced his side. Falling to the ground, he tried to roll so he could see his attacker. What he found instead was Zin staring at him with a confused look on his face. Looking past the imp, through the slowly closing doors, he gasped at what he saw.

The other two flesh beasts had reached their fallen partner. One had the hound pinned to the ground, its bone pike piercing the hound's side. The hound was squirming around, trying its best to bite the arm that was holding it down. The other flesh monster was moving in, two bone blades raised high and ready to strike.

Ignoring the pain in his side, Ean pushed himself up and scrambled towards his fallen hound.

"What are you doing?!" Zin screamed, standing in his way.

"I'm not losing anyone else," he grunted, taking another step.

It was hopeless, though. Ean couldn't move fast enough, and even if he could there wasn't anything he could do. Those monsters would tear him apart easier than they had the Living Dead. It tore at Ean's heart as he watched the doors close...

"Give it your strength..."

That voice again, like a whisper in his mind. This time Ean didn't bother questioning it. He reached into the bond, feeling the pain and worry of the hound and pushed all of himself into it. All his anger, his strength, every bit of energy that his connection to the Abyss was providing him.

The hound quivered
for a moment and leapt up, dragging the monster's arm and the rest with it. It dodged out of the way of a second flesh monster, all while still impaled by the other beast. After bounding away a few steps and dragging the one monster with it, the hound was finally able to dislodge itself. Instead of rushing to Ean's side though, the hound rounded on the three monsters.

Ean's strength gave out and he fell forward. His outstretched arms kept his face and body from smacking into the ground, but just barely.  The impact of his knees hitting the floor sent a burst of pain up his body. His arms felt only slightly stronger than his non-functioning legs. Every bit of his strength was going into the hound. Ean's chest felt heavy, each breath becoming more and more difficult. All the while, the doors continued to swing slowly shut.

The hound on the other hand was sending feelings of excitement and hunger through the bond. Eagerness and the desire to kill rushed over Ean, with the slightest hint of joy. If the hound kept attacking though, the strain of what Ean was doing might kill him, and at the very least, the doors would shut and trap the hound on the other side. Not wanting either option to come about, Ean sent a strong desire for the hound to return to his side. He received anger and defiance in return, the desire to kill rising in the animal. Fighting to keep himself from completely falling over, Ean sent his desperation and fear through.

One of the two seemed to work, as the hound looked over quickly and then took off in his direction. It dodged a few attacks on the way but quickly covered the distance and entered the diminishing gap between the doors. As the hound reached Ean, it stopped and placed itself between him and the door. Ean looked past it, allowing himself a smile as he saw the flesh beasts moving too slowly to get to the door before it closed. He still watched until the doors closed completely before he let himself relax and stop feeding his energy into the hound.

Both collapsed then, Ean with a grunt and the hound with a whimper. Zin came running up to both of them and looked down at Ean.

"What in the darkest reaches of the Abyss was that?"

"I gave the hound..." Ean panted, "some of my energy. Most...most of my energy."

"What? How did you know you could even do that? Or that it wouldn't kill you?"

"The voice told me."

"What?" The imp started getting even more agitated. "What voice?"

"The same voice that told me how to take the hound's rune onto my body." Ean's strength was slowly starting to return, which was good since Zin looked like he was about to murder someone.

"That's just great," Zin said, pacing away from him, and away from the hound, who was still collapsed on the ground with his legs splayed out in every direction. It was still conscious and watching them both. "You start hearing things, and of course your first instinct is to listen to the voice. Which could just be you going insane."

Before Ean could say anything, Zin waved him off and continued on. "You're probably not going insane. My previous master wasn't insane; he just became power-hungry and evil. He also wasn't stupid enough that he would just blindly listen to some voice in his head. How do you know that's not just one of the gods messing with you? You know the Goddess of the Soul already has some sort of an agenda concerning you. What's to say the others don't as well?"

"Zin, I know the sound of Kaz'ren's voices, and this wasn't..."

"Don't say her name! You said that makes it a million times easier for them to find you."

"Zin, I really don't think it was her."

"Fine, fine, then who was it? I don't like this, Ean. First I have to worry about Azalea, then the gods themselves, and now this mystery voice. I'm telling you, every one of them has an agenda."

Ean reached up and grabbed the imp without thinking. The fact that he caught him at all, let alone at his weakest, made both of their mouths gape. Relaxing his grip some, Ean held on to the anger he was feeling.

"Don't lump Azalea in with the gods. We've already gone over this; she has more than proven her loyalty. As for the voice, we can figure that out later." Releasing Zin, Ean slowly got to a kneeling position. Not quite trusting his legs, he crawled over to check on his hound.

The hound watched him come, its body rising and falling heavily with each breath. The only feelings Ean got from it were exhaustion, but surprisingly no pain. His own side didn't hurt either. Had the previous pain been from the hound or something different? That was something he would unfortunately have to just wait and see if it happened again.

Reaching the hound, he was even more surprised to find that there wasn't a single wound in the side of the beast that he had seen impaled. He even ran his hand over the hound's body to make sure. Thankfully the hound let him and didn't try to bite him like it had done in the past. Had he not only strengthened the hound but healed him as well?

Placing his hands on the ground, Ean slowly pushed himself to his feet and immediately regretted it. His head grew light, dark spots started swimming in his vision and his legs wobbled. He began to fall...and found the hound standing, braced to catch him. His hands dug into the hound's fur, the hair course and oily against his skin. Ean's arms shook but he was able to keep himself up. The hound hadn't wavered under his weight. Apparently it was recovering a lot faster than he was. Ean let himself take a few moments to gather his strength as he leaned on the hound before trying to stand again. This time it was a success, but he kept one hand on the hound, petting it lightly.

"I think you've earned the right to a name," he said, looking down at the hound. It looked back up at him, confusion and curiosity rolling across their bond. "It has to be a good name, of course, something fitting." Thinking for a few moments, Ean smiled. "I've got it. Yaeger."

"Yaeger?" Zin said, wrinkling his nose. "That doesn't sound very tough."

"It's Crux," Ean replied, still not understanding how he knew the race's entire language. "It means 'to devour.' At least I think it does, I'm not entirely sure I understand the language completely."

"Well, you apparently know it better than I do." Flashing a sarcastic smile, the imp pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "Now if this big show of affection is over, can we move on? We still have a ways to go before we reach the throne room."

"Sounds good to me." Actually it didn't sound that good. His legs were still wobbly, and he felt like he needed a week's worth of sleep. He removed his hands from the hound's back and took a few tentative steps.

"Alright, you lead the way, Zin."

"Sounds good. Hopefully there is a Carnslug or two left in the next hatchery. I'm famished."

IT WAS A FAIRLY
straight shot to the next hatchery, with only a few twists and turns and not incredibly long. Unfortunately a new problem presented itself upon their arrival. The enormous stone doors were shut.

"Well," Zin said. "Open them up."

"Hold on, it's not that simple. For one, I don't know the symbol for open..."

"It's the same as the symbol for closed, except there is a space in-between."

"And second," he cut back in, letting a touch of annoyance enter his voice. "We don't know what's on the other side."

"Hopefully it's a pack of Carnslugs, all fat and juicy from years of growth without anyone to eat them."

"Or it could be a pack of those monsters."

"Doubtful," Zin replied, walking over to the doors. "Just open it up."

Ean walked up to the doors and placed his right palm on the smooth stone. Letting some of the energy he held flow into the door, Ean pictured what he figured was the symbol for 'open.' It was the same as the symbol for closed, two door-shaped runes spread apart instead of opened. There was also a circle around the 'open' rune that wasn't around the closed rune, but Ean dismissed that fact as the rune came to life on the door.

With a groan the door began to open, the loud sound of stone scraping on stone filling the corridor. There was another sound too, one even louder than the opening door. At first, Ean thought it was the sound of running water, a loud sloshing sound that reminded him of heavy rain running down the side of Cleff's house. Peering in through the small opening the doors had made so far, Ean squinted his eyes to see with what little light his runes were providing.

Movement. Lots and lots of movement.

With a start, Ean reached out for the door, intent on closing it quickly.

"No!" Zin yelled, a toothy grin spreading across his face. "No danger there. Just food."

Ean frowned at him but stayed his hand. He didn't need to feel the eagerness of the hound coming through the bond to know that Yaeger was excited about what was on the other side of those doors as well. The hound's mouth was open wide, its tongue lolling out, even its short, stubby tail was wagging slightly. Clearly, it was anticipating catching something in there, and it wasn't dangerous. If both Zin and Yaeger thought it was safe, he trusted their judgment.

When the door had opened up enough to let them through, Ean stared in wonder at what he found inside. The floors and walls were covered with small, red and gold creatures about the size of two fists placed together, looking more like blobs of color than an actual living thing. Two thin eyestalks were the only discernable feature on the creature, the stalks waving about as the Carnslugs moved slowly about the room. While Ean took in the sight, both the imp and hound pushed past him.

Entering the room behind them, Ean noticed a pair of doors on the other side of the chamber settling into an open position as well. Had both pairs of doors in the previous chamber closed at the same time? In the commotion and danger, Ean couldn't remember. It would certainly have been helpful if they had closed, trapping those three flesh beasts inside.

Both Zin and Yaeger were running around like children in a store full of sweets. Zin was herding packs of Carnslugs around before finally snatching one up and biting into its head while Yaeger was scooping them up into his mouth two at a time as he ran.

Part of Ean wanted to rein them in and get moving, but a smile crept onto his face at the unexpected levity of his two companions. They still had a ways to go, Azalea was still missing, and those flesh monsters were still out there somewhere. But seeing both the hound and imp running around, having fun while they enjoyed their feast, helped Ean relax, if only for a brief moment. With the horrors they had seen and the trouble that they might still face in the near future, a small respite would be beneficial to all three of them.

"Ean!" Zin waved him over with one hand, a Carnslug wiggling around in his other. "Come over and try one. I know you humans are peculiar in what you will and will not eat, but I promise Carnslugs are rather tasty, even raw." For emphasis he bit into the one he was holding, then began chewing away at it with a closed but wide smile on his face.

"I don't think so," Ean replied, carefully stepping over and around the Carnslugs that littered the floor until he reached the imp's side. "I don't think I could just bite into something that looked so slimy, especially while it was still squirming around and looking back at me."

The imp let out a 'harrumph' then finished chewing and swallowed what was in his mouth.

"Oh, too fancy now, your majesty?" It had been a long time since the imp had spoken to him this sarcastically. It felt good to hear Zin being his old self. "Well, I'm sure I could help make it a bit more appetizing."

Snatching up another slug, the imp held it up in front of Ean then stabbed a long nail right between the slug's eyestalks. The slug shuddered once and went limp. Zin offered up the dead slug to Ean, but seeing the look of disgust that crossed his face, the imp let out a laugh and sat down. Using a clawed finger he sliced into the back end of the slug, cutting off a bite-sized piece.

"Here, you baby," the imp said, holding up the small piece of slug. "Try something new for once in your life, so I can laugh at you when you admit that it tastes good."

"Fine, fine." Snatching up the piece of slug and expecting the worst, Ean popped it into his mouth. Trying not to let the slimy piece even touch his tongue, he chewed it as quickly as possible. Surprisingly, the little piece of slug, skin, slime and all did taste pretty good. It was better, in fact than the goat meat that he had often ate growing up in Rottwealth. Shaking his head in disbelief, he stared down at what was left of the slug. His stomach growled at the tease of nourishing food.

Zin looked him over and began to laugh. "I told you they were good. Now, do I have to cut up the rest of this one for you, or can you manage getting your hands a little messy and just eat the rest of it on your own?"

Taking up the challenge, Ean reached down and grabbed the slug. Holding it in his hands for a moment, he sighed once before sticking a large piece in his mouth and bit down into it. His teeth cut through the skin and meat of the slug easily, like it was a fresh loaf of bread, and he pulled back the rest of the slug while he began chewing what was in his mouth. Again, he was surprised at how tasty the slug actually was. If they had time to cook one he probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference between it and a well-seasoned piece of chicken.

"Mmmm," Ean said between chews. "You know, I hate to admit it, but you are right, Zin. These things are pretty tasty. I could probably live off of them for--"

BOOOOOOM.

A shockwave of sound reverberated throughout the entire room. The ground shook with the force of it, almost knocking Ean off his feet. The force of it also shook dozens of slugs from the walls and ceilings. They fell like a gold and red shower, hitting the ground and then continuing on like nothing had happened. A few bounced off Ean's back and shoulders harmlessly, dampening what was left of his shirt with their slime. It felt like small pillows filled with porridge were attacking him. Getting his bearings, Ean glanced down at the imp.

"What in the Abyss was that?" He was not immediately reassured by the look of fear he found on Zin's face.

"I'm... I'm not sure..." The imps eyes darted around, looking everywhere except at Ean.

"Zin, if you have an id--"

BOOOOOOOOM.

This time Ean fell hard, landing on a pack of Carnslugs. They squeezed out from underneath him and continued on as before. Glancing over, he found Zin and Yaeger also off their feet. The hound looked more confused than anything, which was the exact emotion it was sending through their bond. Zin, on the other hand, looked like he had been told he only had moments left to live.

"It can't still be alive..." the imp was muttering, "not after all these years..."

"Zin..." Ean said, making his tone as serious as possible. "What are you talking about?" But the imp didn't seem to hear him.

"Of course... the armor they wore... how could I be so stupid..."

"Zin."

"He couldn't possibly hold a grudge against me...we talked all the time...he had to know I couldn't do anything to set him free..."

"Zin!" Reaching over, Ean not so gently smacked the imp in the face. The fact that he was able to do that without Zin dodging the blow told him how serious the situation was.

"Ean, this could be really bad," the imp said, finally snapping out of his daze. "My old master kept something locked up, a creature of immense power and ruthless intellect. No one knows where they came from or how many of them exist, but they have the ability to cause vast destruction and should be feared. All the creature was to my master, though, was a prize, a trophy he used to show off his power.

"But if it's alive and free..." Zin began, then turned to Ean, his eyes going wide. "Ean, I wasn't paying attention," he glanced guiltily at the Carnslugs around him, "but the rune you used to open the door. It was exactly like the one you used to close it except the two runes that looked like doors were slightly open, right?"

"Right, basically two open doors." Ean said, shrugging. "Oh, and they had a circle around them."

"No, no, no, no, no..." Zin said, climbing to his feet. "You should have used a rune without a circle! Do you have any idea what you've done?"

"Obviously not!" Ean yelled back, also getting up.

"You've opened everything! Every door, every lock, everything!"

"How was I supposed to know, it looked exactly like you said. I had no idea the extra circle wasn't supposed to be there! After all...wait you said everything is open now, right?"

"Yes, everything," the imp replied with a sneer. "And if Lav'zernathar is free and roaming around down here, my suggestion would be that we get out of here as quickly as possible. At least until he has gone."

As if to accentuate his point, another loud boom shook the room, almost taking them off their feet again. What kind of creature could shake an entire mountain?

A low moan, followed by another one broke Ean out of his thoughts and returned his attention back to Zin.

"Zin, if all of the doors are open, that means..."

"That those things that used to be people are probably almost here..." Glancing at the doors ahead of them and the doors they had passed through to enter the room, the imp looked at a loss. "I don't know which way we should go..."

"You have to be kidding me!" Ean said, starting to walk towards the doors leading away from the flesh creatures. "As horrible as you make that other creature out to be, we know we can't face one of those flesh beasts, let alone three. We have to take our chances and hope we simply won't run into this Laz...whatever".

"It's Lav'zernathar, and that's just its name. I don't know what kind of a creature it is, it wouldn't tell me...Maybe we could try sneaking past those flesh beasts..."

"Down a hallway without any other turnoffs? Zin, there is no way. Come on, maybe once we get to the kitchen and dining hall, we can double back past them, but there is no way I'm going back that way."

More moans came out of the doorway leading to the other hatchery. Yaeger crouched slightly, growling in the direction the moans were coming from. That seemed to get Zin moving. With a whimper, he joined Ean's side and they began moving quickly to the opposite edge of the room. Yaeger joined soon after, easily catching up as they reached the opposite doors.

Reaching his hand toward the doors, Ean was about to make them close when Zin grabbed at the bottom of his pants.

"What are you doing? We can't close the door! If Lav is this way, we'll have to run back and fast."

"Zin, you keep forgetting those monsters behind us. If we don't close the door, they will just keep following us until they catch us. You don't even know where this other creature is or if it even has a grudge against you".

"You just don't get it," Zin said, the frustration clear in his voice. "First off, this thing was locked up for hundreds of years. Hundreds! I can only imagine how big of a grudge it is holding. Plus at his core, Lav' is--"

"What am I, imp?" A voice boomed from down the hall. The sound carried like a dozen men and reminded Ean of the noise that had shaken the entire room.