Hemlock And The Dead God's Legacy (Book 2) (28 page)

“Yes.  I only heard one, but the tracks here mark the passage of more than I can count.  I fear we’ve made our way right to their nest.  Is the magical trail leading across this cavern?”

“Yes
, it is.  And I haven’t seen any alternative paths since we crossed the chasm.  I think we have to proceed,” said Hemlock.

“We’d best prepare for battle
, then.  I have no idea what to expect, but I fear the worst.  Renevos, Oruk are known to fear fire,” said Tored.

“OK, but if I cast many powerful spells
, I will be forced to sleep in order to regain my strength for the scrye tomorrow,” said Renevos.

Otticus had his broad sword out and was hefting it.  “Any tips?” he asked Tored.

“Use heavy slashing attacks or their tough skin will deflect your blow.”

Hemlock drew her long sword and held it in both hands.  She yearned for the familiarity of her
sabres.

“Extinguish the
torches,” said Renevos, “I will cast a spell of true sight on us for a time.”

They did so, and Hemlock marveled at the clarity of her vision as the spell took hold.  She could see clearly across the cavern to its edge
, which lay at least a hundred feet distant.  A finished, granite passage exited there, and the trail of Imperial magic continued down that passage.

They slowly made their way to the mouth of the tunnel and looked down its length.  It extended for about forty feet
, then made a sharp turn to the right.

Hemlock took the lead
. She reached the corner of the passage with the others close behind her.  The passage extended for another hundred feet before opening up to another finished room beyond that.  There were two rows of man-sized stone arches set one above the other in the room.  It was a curious and unfamiliar sight.

The group crept up the passage
. A stench became noticeable the closer they got. Hemlock looked tentatively at the group behind her as the smell became more powerful, but received only resolute glances in response.  She shrugged and continued to creep forward.

Soon they stood at the doorway of the chamber. 
The arches were stacked in six rows of eight across, one atop the other.  There was a waist-high wall that obscured the opening of each arch, preventing her from seeing clearly behind them—especially in the upper arches that towered above them.

There
were about eighty feet of open floor between her and the floor level arches, and there was no visible means of egress from the chamber.

Hemlock heard movement and heavy breathing coming from the upper arches.

“They’re here,” whispered Tored.

“What do we do?” asked Hemlock.

“We should dash across the room and make for those arches,” said Otticus.

“
Let me go,” said Hemlock.

“No, we should stay together,” said Tored.  “Remember, this may be their lair, and there could be an ambush waiting.”

“BE GONE FROM THIS PLACE!” came a booming voice from the upper arches. It reminded Hemlock of the sound of rock crumbling.

A figure loomed above
them, glaring.  It was crouched in a central arch and appeared to be at least six feet tall.  It had heavy limbs, and its skin was textured like a mixture of rock and earth.  Human-like breasts identified it as female, although they, too, appeared to be fashioned from rock and earth rather than flesh.  Glowing brown eyes set off a wide face on a hairless head, at the bottom of which was an angry mouth with granite teeth.

“The demon!” cried Otticus.

“Hush!” chided Renevos.

“We are just passing through and have no quarrel with you,” yelled Hemlock.

“YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS HERE!  I’LL NOT WARN YOU AGAIN!” cried the figure.

“We have to continue!  Let us pass in peace,” said Hemlock.

The creature snarled and hefted a large rock from the ground at its feet.  It hurled the rock at Hemlock with startling accuracy, forcing her forward into the room while scattering her companions back into the passage.

Taller, wiry figures appeared in the top three rows of arches above, and more rocks began to rain down into the chamber.  Hemlock was forced into a running dodge, and then she decided to dash forward toward the bottom arches.

More rocks crashed heavily to the floor behind her. Otticus shouted from inside the room.  The sound of running footsteps confirmed for her that the others were joining her in her dash.

As she neared the arched openings
, there was a common thirty foot deep chamber behind each of them, which housed a stone stair that rose to the next level.  Several of the tall, wiry figures were dashing down the stair to meet her.  Their skin looked like a blending of stone and flesh and they moved with surprising speed for their size.  They did not carry weapons, but their fingers were tipped with claws that looked heavy enough to do concussive damage in addition to cutting.

Hemlock sensed a spell of warding
behind her as she skirted the waist-high barrier and moved to engage the first of the Oruk.

She
tried to fell it with a quick strike, but cursed as her blow was struck far more slowly than she had planned. It was easily dodged by the larger Oruk.  The creature side stepped her attack and aimed a cross-body punch at her head, which she ducked.  Another Oruk moved to engage her on her right flank, but stepped back as she heard Tored and the others arrive.

She heard
heavy crashes from behind her, and, turning, saw there were additional Oruk jumping from the floors above, trying to outflank them.

“Behind us!” she yelled.

She turned back just in time to see the Oruk in front of her swinging its two fists down toward her.

She jumped back and to the side to avoid the strike
. The Oruk redirected, trying to catch her from the side.

This left the
Oruk’s head unguarded, and Hemlock channeled her power to leap and aim a cleaving blow at the creature’s neck.  Its head was hewn straight off by her attack, leaving a gurgling torso spewing a deep brown fluid as it crumpled to the floor.

She turned to see how the others were faring. Tored had killed one of the creatures, and Otticus, tattoos flaring, had chopped another’s arm off as Renevos hit another in the chest with a crimson ball of fire.

She rushed to meet the
Oruk approaching from the floor outside the arches. Suddenly, the creature that Otticus had identified as “the demon” dropped to the floor from above with a massive crash, shaking the entire chamber.

The
Oruk stood aside as the heavier-limbed monster lumbered toward Hemlock, eyes bright with rage.

Hemlock dashed into the open floor and met her charge with a heavy overhead sword
swing.  The blow struck home as the earth creature did not attempt to dodge, and the blade sparked as it contacted rock.  Some of the earth surrounding the rock was dislodged, however, and the creature howled in pain.

Hemlock was left uncomfortably close to the powerful and heavy creature, and in response it lifted a leg and stomped down hard, causing the floor to shake violently
, making Hemlock drop to a three-point stance to avoid falling over entirely.  The Oruk around her were knocked to the ground, and a curse from Otticus indicated that he had fallen as well.  A heavy stone crashed to the chamber from above, seemingly dislodged by the earth creature’s stomp, crushing a prone Oruk.

Hemlock was forced to skitter backward across the floor as the creature tried to stomp her underfoot,
then she was able to regain her footing.  As the creature lifted its leg again, Hemlock leapt into the air toward it, and while using an energy burst, landed a heavy slash to the neck of the creature.  The extra force she put behind the blow dislodged some of the rock, notching the blade of her sword in the process.

The beast
again cried out with rage, turned its upper torso, and held its arm toward Hemlock as she landed behind it.  A fist-size rock slammed into Hemlock’s back, apparently launched from the earth creature’s own arm.  The creature howled in pain, but Hemlock was also hurt.  As she took several running steps and turned, she felt intense pain in her back, and subsequently each breath hurt in the vicinity of the impact.

The
Oruk had scattered, leaving the earth creature to fight alone.  Tored rushed up behind it and landed a strike with his axe.  Again the creature turned and stomped, but the four companions were able to anticipate the attack and kept their footing.

Renevos struck the creature with a bolt of lightning as Otticus moved to flank it.  More earth and rock burst from the stony body, and the creature stooped in agony.

Suddenly it broke into a loping run toward the side of the chamber.  Hemlock easily kept pace with it; its glowing brown eyes turned toward her.  It launched another rock from its arm with a yelp of pain, but Hemlock was able to duck out of the way.

The creature was now pinned against the wall
. It made a motion like a swimming stroke, and not a second later, it began to merge with the granite in a combination of digging and passing through the rock.

Hemlock struck the creature several more times before it was gone, causing it pain, but not slowing its escape.

A narrow path through the rock was left in the creature’s wake.  The remaining Oruk had fled out of the passage.

“Can we follow it?” asked Otticus.

“It would be suicide to engage such a creature in a confined space like that,” said Tored.

“I think we wounded it, but I’m not sure how badly,” said Hemlock, wincing as her ribs tormented her.

“You are hurt,” said Tored.

“Come here,” said Renevos.  He cast a small healing spell
, which dulled the pain significantly, although the area was still quite tender.

“My spell power is low.  Can we make camp here?” Renevos asked.

“Perhaps,” said Tored, “Let’s explore the upper floors.”

They climbed to the remaining levels
, which mirrored the makeup of the lower with the exception of the uppermost level, which featured an unfinished passageway exiting the room.

The trail of Imperial magic continued along that passage.

“This room seems as defensible as anything—perhaps more so since this earth creature can apparently swim through solid rock.  We’ll spend a few hours here so Renevos can rest,” said Tored.

Hemlock agreed, and the three sat and ate lightly while Renevos fell immediately asleep.  Hemlock n
odded off about an hour later. Tored had agreed to stay up on watch.

In a few hours
, Renevos woke up and Hemlock rose and fought off the heaviness of lingering sleep.  Tored looked tired, but did not complain of any fatigue as the group made off down the passage.

Any
elevation they had regained in the chamber of arches was quickly offset by the rapid descent of the passage over the next few hours.  There were a few branching caves along the way, but Hemlock’s ability to sense the trail of Imperial magic was unerring.

They came to another large chasm, but this one was bridged by a narrow, forty foot bridge of rock.  They were back to using torches for light, so, though they couldn’t see the bottom of the chasm
, they could tell that it was very far down.

“The trail extends across,” said Hemlock ruefully.

“I don’t like it,” said Renevos.

“Nor I,” said Tored, “But I see no alternative.”

When it became clear they were all resigned to cross, they tied themselves together with rope, and Hemlock started across first.

The companions had reached about
mid-span when the room began to rumble and shake around them.

The earth creature had emerged behind them without making any significant noise, and was stomping the edge of the stone bridge.

“YOU WILL ALL DIE!” it cried as it stomped.

Hemlock quickened her pace, less worried about her
own balance than that of her companions.  She also feared that the entire span might fail, but it did not do so.

Reaching the other side, she turned to see Tored right behind her.  At a distance of several paces
, Otticus was helping Renevos across.  The earth creature stomped again and Hemlock watched in horror as the old wizard took an awkward, running step forward and then stumbled.  At the same moment, a shard of rock fell from the ceiling, landed in front of Otticus, and severed the rope that had connected him to Renevos.

Otticus dodged the fallen rock,
rushed forward and shoved the old wizard into Tored’s waiting arms.  But the young wizard lost his footing in the process, and slipped off the side of the bridge.

“No!” shouted Hemlock.  But it had happened in a flash.  Otticus was gone.

With a defiant cry, the earth creature burrowed into the rock and disappeared.

“No, it can’t be
!” cried Renevos.

Hemlock
despaired until she heard a strained voice cry out. “Hey, can I get some help here?”