The Broken Key (02) - Hunter of the Horde (34 page)

On the ground next to him he had the poisonous fume scroll securely tied to a hand sized rock, one that held just enough weight to be thrown over the wall. He planned to throw it over the wall, then speak the activation word once the rock had peaked in its arc and was on its way inside. After that he would toss several other rocks, each having another scroll attached to them that would be activated once they’d been lobbed over the wall. One was a fireball while another shot lightning. Yet another he held in his hand that would blast the gate apart once the other scrolls had taken their toll. Then vengeance would be his.

“Have the men prepare for assault,” he said to Pyck. Pyck had been with him the longest and the one whom he trusted implicitly.

Indicating the satchel, Pyck stated, “I hope there’s one in there that will open the gate for us.”

Durik held the scroll up and said, “This one here will take care of the door.”

“Good,” replied Pyck.

Just then a commotion could be heard coming from the Tower. Screams of fear and terror came from within the Tower’s courtyard.

“The demon!” cried a man standing nearby. White eyed with terror, he stood rooted where he was, eyes locked to the walls of the Tower.

He wasn’t the only one. Already unnerved by the inexplicable death of the scriber, the other men looked in growing fear to the Tower.

“Toss ‘em,” Riyan said. Then letting out with a gut wrenching cry of terror, he and the twins tossed the bodies of two of the men they had killed earlier over the wall. “Come on!” he whispered as he headed for the stair leading down to the courtyard.

“You guys ready?” he asked as he reached the bottom.

“They’ll see through this if they get too close,” Seth said.

“Then be convincing and they won’t,” Riyan said to his friend.

Seth and Soth hurried to the gate and prepared to pull it open. Riyan moved to join them. Glancing to Kevik, Riyan asked, “You ready?” When Kevik gave him a nod, he said, “Now everyone be quiet for a moment.”

The two bodies plummeting off the wall sent ripples of terror through Durik’s men.

Then when all became quiet, whispered murmuring coursed through them. “Look!” one man yelled. “The gate is opening!”

“It’s coming for us!” Bart yelled. Earlier he had snuck again out the gate and had made his way back to Durik’s camp. Hidden within the Cloak of Concealment, he had worked himself close to the frightened men. It was up to him to intensify their terror so they would believe what came next.

“Steady!” Durik shouted. There was a touch of fear in his tone as well but kept himself under control.

The four men who had been sent back to watch the Tower’s perimeter fled back to the camp.

The gate swung open quickly and dust began blowing through the entrance, as if something was about to emerge. Then dancing lights appeared, one after another, until a multitude of dancing, bobbing lights were gyrating just before the gate.

“The spirits of his victims!” cried Bart. “They seek vengeance!” If they were less scared, they would have realized that spirits of the demon’s victims would hardly target them. But in the state they were in, it was easy to make them believe.

Two of Durik’s men bolted and fled for the horses. Durik intercepted one and cut him down. “No one is going anywhere!” Something about this didn’t feel right to him.

Threatening his men with his bloody sword should they attempt to flee, he stood between them and the horses.

That’s about when the dancing lights before the gate disappeared and another massive gust of wind roared through the opened gate. Dust and debris were kicked up just before something appeared. Stepping through the gate was a frightening figure twice the height of a man. Greenish in appearance, it had two horns protruding from out of its forehead and long thin tail extending behind it. In one hand it looked to have what was left of one of its victims while in the other held a sword.

“The demon!” Bart cried out. “Flee! Flee for your lives!” Then he spoke the activation word for the poisonous fume scroll.

That was all it took. The sight of the creature coming towards them, Bart’s encouraging cries, and now a yellowish vapor seeming to appear from out of nowhere, sapped what courage these men had left. Some raced for the horses while the majority simply fled into the trees.

“Stay where you are!” Durik commanded as the fumes from the scroll began to thicken around him. Striking out at one of his men, he took him in the side. As the fumes thickened, Durik started coughing and raced out of the affected area. “Stop!” he yelled to his men, but it was too late. Pyck was the only one who remained by him. In a short time, they were the only two left. All his men and most of the horses were gone.

Sinking to his knees, Durik’s coughing fit worsened as the poisonous fumes he had breathed in attacked his lungs. Pyck tried to help him up and over to a horse, all the while his eyes were locked on the approaching demon. “Come on,” he urged, “we’ve got to get out of here!”

“You two aren’t going anywhere,” Bart said. Pulling the hood back, he rematerialized before them.

“You!” cried Pyck as he drew his sword.

By this time the ‘demon’ had come close enough for its true appearance to be seen.

Chyfe sat upon Chad’s shoulders, and from Chad’s waist to the top of Chyfe’s head, they were covered in Kevik’s goo. Portions of the covering goo had been coated with dirt to lend a more realistic appearance to the ‘demon’. The horns were two narrow water flasks while the tail was two ropes twined together. Up close they looked nothing like a demon.

But far away with fear clouding a man’s vision, it had been all too real.

Riyan, Kevik, Seth, and Soth raced out from the gate when they saw Bart appear.

Kevik dispelled the goo coating the ‘demon’ and Chyfe hopped off of Chad’s shoulders.

Bart looked at the sword wielding Pyck, and Durik who was on the ground coughing badly. “I warned you not to follow us,” he said. “That to do so would be your death.” Pyck stood ready to sell his life dearly, his sword held out before him at the ready. He said not a word as he moved to put himself between Bart and Durik.

When the others joined them, Riyan said to the twins, “Keep an eye out in case any of his men return.”

“You got it,” Seth said and the brothers moved off to take position.

“What are we to do with these two?” asked Chad.

Bart looked at Pyck. “Step aside and you’ll save your life,” he told him. “It’s Durik who has earned my wrath.”

“I’ll not allow you to kill him,” Pyck warned. Behind him, Durik was back on his feet but still coughing. He tried to say something but only coughed instead. He pulled his sword from his scabbard.

“His actions have warranted his death,” Bart said. Riyan and Chad flanked him with their swords drawn. “Don’t waste your life for him.” They stood there locking gazes with one another. Then from behind Pyck, Durik’s sword fell from his hands. He gasped, gagged, and then collapsed. Durik hit the ground and didn’t move again. Still keeping an eye on Bart and the others, Pyck stepped backwards and bent over Durik. He checked him and an anguished look came to him.

Turning his eyes back to Bart he said, “He’s dead.”

“Good!” Bart exclaimed. Turning to Riyan, Bart said, “Go see about Tad and figure out a way to move him without killing him. We’re leaving.” Riyan nodded and hurried back toward the Tower.

Bart glanced to Chad and Chyfe. “You two keep an eye on this guy. If he leaves, fine.

But don’t let him get into mischief.”

“Don’t worry,” Chad said. “You can count on us.”

Nodding, Bart motioned for Kevik to join him as he walked back to the Tower. “That was good work you did with those spells,” he said with praise.

“I never cast so many bobbing sphere spells that fast in my life,” he said.

Once they were back in the courtyard, they set about figuring a way to move Tad without killing him.

Fifteen minutes later they came up with a viable solution. It was actually Bart’s idea.

He remembered the time back in the Ruins of Algoth when Kevik had used his goo spell to seal the lantern when he had opened the door, and lamp oil spilled out. The goo had created an airtight seal which prevented the oil from being ignited. So with this in mind, his idea was to carefully remove the arrow and have Kevik cast his goo spell on Tad’s upper torso. Thus, the goo would seal closed the wound in his chest and he wouldn’t bleed to death.

Now the only problem was in removing the arrow itself. It was agreed that Tad would never survive the trip back with the arrowhead rattling around among his organs. As Bart was the most experienced among the group, it fell to him to remove the arrow.

Before he began he gazed into the fearful eyes of Tad. “Don’t worry, you’ll hardly feel anything,” he assured him.

Tad called him a liar and said to get it over with.

“Kevik, you take his legs,” he told his friend. “Riyan, you’ll need to keep his upper body immobile while I do this.” With another glance back to his patient he added, “Don’t worry, you’ll make it.”

Tad chuckled and then grimaced with pain.

“All right, ready?” he asked. Kevik gripped Tad’s legs and Riyan his shoulders. To Tad he said, “Whatever you do, don’t move.”

“I’ll do my best,” Tad assured him.

Bart first removed the rolled leather that contained his darts. He removed one of the three vials and a dart.

“What’s that for?” Kevik asked.

Bart held up the vial and said, “This should knock him out.”

“Good thinking,” Riyan said.

After dipping the tip of the dart into the vial, he inserted the tip into Tad’s skin at the base of the neck. He held the dart within the skin for a full minute to be sure all the liquid from the point entered his system. Then after wiping off the dart, he returned it to the rolled leather pack.

“Give it a minute,” he said and Riyan and Kevik relaxed their grip. Bart watched Tad’s eyes and saw them begin to dull. After a minute he was out. “Okay gentlemen, let’s begin.” Taking his knife, he moved it to the wound from which the arrow’s shaft protruded. The skin adjacent to the shaft was an ugly red. “He’ll need a healer before too much longer.”

“They have one at the Guild,” Chyfe said. “If he survives that long.” Riyan watched as Bart carefully used his knife to widen the wound slightly before attempting to remove the arrow. It would have been much better had the arrow punched through the other side, but it hadn’t. Of course had it done that, it could have damaged the spinal column which would have made things much worse.

Once Bart had the opening wide enough, he inserted his finger and proceeded to slowly move it in deeper.

“What are you doing?” Riyan asked.

“I’m seeing if the head of the arrow has shifted,” he said. “If it’s turned sideways, it could do some serious damage to him when I pull it out. I have to make sure it’s aligned with the way it entered.”

Blood seeped out of the opening in greater quantity while he worked his finger to the head of the arrow. He knew he didn’t have much time before blood loss would become a problem. Then his fingertip touched the metal of the arrowhead. “It has turned,” he told the others. With his fingertip against the arrowhead to guide him, he gripped the shaft of the arrow in his other hand, and slowly rotated the arrowhead until it was in proper alignment with the opening.

Just then Seth appeared in the gate at a run. “A couple of Durik’s men have returned,” he announced.

Riyan turned his head toward him and asked, “How many?”

“Two that we saw,” he explained. “Right now they’re staying out of sight as they keep an eye on what’s going on here.”

“Tell everyone we’re about ready to ride,” he said.

Seth nodded. Then with a glance to what Bart was doing, he grimaced and hurried back outside.

By this time Bart had the arrowhead aligned and was beginning to draw it out. He had his eyes closed as he pictured in his mind’s eye the arrowhead being drawn closer to the surface. Whenever it snagged on something, he would very gently rotate it until it was free and could be pulled out a little bit further.

When the arrowhead finally came free, blood gushed from the opening. “Now Kevik!” he exclaimed as he backed up.

The spell was ready on his tongue and in a fraction of a second, Tads chest was covered in goo. “Is it working?” Kevik asked.

“Hard to tell,” Bart replied. The area of the wound was obscured by the goo covering it. They watched for a full minute, and when no blood emerged from beneath the

‘magical bandage’, Bart nodded. “Now, let’s get out of here.” Tossing the arrow away, he stood up. “Riyan, you get mounted and then Kevik and I will lift Tad up to ride with you.”

Riyan hurried over to the horses and vaulted into the saddle. He moved his horse over to where Tad lay and waited.

Now the trick was to get Tad into the saddle without either of them becoming stuck to the goo. If Riyan was to become stuck, it wouldn’t be a problem seeing as how he was going to be riding with Tad on the journey back to Gilbeth.

“Okay,” Bart said. “Carefully now.” He and Kevik took hold of Tad and tried to lift him up but couldn’t. The goo not only covered his chest, but some of it was also adhering to the ground on either side of him. “Not a problem,” mumbled Bart. Taking his other knife out, he broke apart the earth just beneath the goo until it was free.

“Let’s try this again,” he said. This time when he and Kevik lifted Tad off the ground, he came away easily. As soon as they brought Tad close enough to Riyan, he reached out and helped. Riyan’s left arm became stuck to the goo when Tad was placed before him on the horse. It was around Tad at an awkward angle but not an uncomfortable one.

“Can you ride?” asked Bart.

“It’s a bit awkward, but I’ll manage,” he said with the reins in his right hand. Tad’s head lolled against him and he could feel his heartbeat from where Tad laid against him.

Kevik and Bart hurried over to the waiting horses and mounted. They took the reins of the remaining horse and began heading for the gate. Riyan glanced to the door leading into the Tower and wondered again what was inside. He would have liked to have been able to investigate its secrets, despite the tale of the demon. But right now, saving Tad’s life was a more immediate concern.