The Darkslayer: Book 02 - Blades in the Night (46 page)

Fogle observed the man as his entire identity seemed to shift into something else. The powerful warrior seemed as if he’d been molded out of metal, as the thick rings of dwarven scale mail blended in with the girdle of magic and metal that Venir possessed. The girdle, axe, and helmet were clearly unique and as a whole gave the hulkish man an invincible appearance. The wizard rode along his side.

“
Well, do you sense any underlings or do you think you will?”

Venir took a deep breath and exhaled. “No, I don’t know if I can track them any better, but I am sure I can kill them.”

“
Do you feel anything at all? Different from before? Tell me.”

“
Hmm …” Venir scratched his grisled chin. “I feel better than I have felt in a long time. I feel good. Free. Strong.”

“
Great, just keep a clear head, and let’s get a move on and hopefully some of your enlightened perspective will rub off on me.”

The balfrog battle wasn’t one to be short. It would be lengthy, Catten knew. The stout dwarves would keep coming until the last. Assault after assault, they faced an immovable object that stood near three stories in height. The balfrog was enormous, brown and ruddy like a toad, but scaled in armor like a dragon.

The dwarves, heavy in artillery, armor, and weapons had little effect against it, yet they tried something new time after time, only to end in death. Little did they know that help from their king was on his way, but they would pay the price in mass before he could attempt to save them.

Lords Catten and Verbard heeded little of the battle, still waiting in hopes the Darkslayer would show. It was the day after the dwarves first collided with the balfrog that one of Catten’s mystic wards was set off. Several miles south and farther west at the eastern edge was an area they had only placed a few. He knew exactly where to go. He could see it in his mind.

“
Brother, our time has come!” Catten said with an excited hiss.

“
Indeed, let’s make haste,” Verbard said.

Catten focused and chattered with excitement. A door of black space appeared before him.

“
I’ll go ahead and set up, then beckon you through,” Catten said.

Verbard nodded.

Catten chittered again then glided upward, black robes blowing against the wind, then he flew from sight. It felt good to be so close. Faster and faster he went, mile after mile. He floated down to the ground a few miles from the ward that was triggered in the south. He waited a moment.
Maybe I can take him. Kill him myself.
He thought better of it.

He summoned more energy as another black door of space appeared from nowhere. He reached his hand through the space. Miles away where his brother Verbard waited along with the Juegen and albino urchlings, Catten’s hand appeared before them and waved them through. They stepped through the space one at a time. The door closed behind them and they reappeared on the other side, and the whole group was together again.

“
How do you feel, Catten? After that much effort?” Verbard asked.

He was breathing heavy and felt tired, but his voice was still strong: “I still have plenty left, but you better be ready for this next task. If indeed he comes, he’ll be coming fast.”

The terrain was typical of the Outlands, and Catten found one of the many rocky steppes to set their group on, giving them a good view of the open land south of their position. Far off in the distance to the east, they could see the mist that surrounded their world. He gave it little thought.

Catten listened as Verbard spat orders to his albino urchlings. He watched the hunched and hulking, pasty-white little underlings, sniffing and snorting in a disgusting fashion. They scurried on their arms and legs and headed down over the rocky steppes and then disappeared without a sound.

“
This is it,” Verbard said, his silver eyes glowing in the night.

“
This better be,” Catten replied.

The small party maintained their course toward Hohm’s Marsh with haste. The mage from the City of Three shifted in his saddle the whole day. The sound of the croaking balfrog became louder every mile they traveled. Venir felt as if he’d let another friend down. He wanted to be there with Mood. He needed to fight something.

The suns were beginning to set, and stopping at night was out of the question with Venir.
He
would press on. His hunt was on and his steely determination would not be deterred. He had almost forgotten about the man and mintaur behind him. They had been quiet all day long.

Venir reined in Chongo and came to a halt. The pair stood like statues, shadowed in the sinking suns’ light. His mind sparked. Gears began to tumble in his head. He felt a powerful presence. He knew what it was.

“
Underlings are near,” he whispered.

Chongo’s four ears were perked up; he could hear something as well. The breeze, though, was not downwind, but rather the opposite, giving the underlings the advantage of the scent.

“
Fool,” Fogle whispered, “keep moving! Our shadow image is well ahead of us. It should draw them out and conceal us from back here as well.”

Venir didn’t move. He fought the urge to run ahead. The helmet didn’t have the same command as it did before. He still had control. Fogle’s words began to register with him. He spurred Chongo along and heard a sigh behind him.

The wizard’s mind and heart was pounding. When Venir stopped and said “underlings,” Fogle forgot everything else. Venir didn’t seem to move for an eternity. Fogle felt like a sitting duck. When the iron warrior began moving again, Fogle finally found his breath. And his memory.
Be ready.
He would be ready. He motioned for Ox to ride along his side and began talking to him. Ox soon reached into the backpack and pulled out a three-foot-long metal rod, similar to a tent stake, but longer, and kept it ready with him.

Onward Fogle trotted into the unknown. The light on Bish began to dim the farther they went north. The mists of the rims were like massive black clouds in his eyes. He was in no-man’s-land. He had never felt farther from anything all of his life.
What in Bish am I doing?

He noticed, though, that Venir still seemed in control. Then an eerie black glow began to simmer around eyelets of Venir’s helmet. It made Fogle anxious. He knew at any moment something would strike.

It was dark when one of the albino urchlings returned back to its master with news. All of the urchlings then descended down the steppe at Verbard’s command. Verbard rose from the ground as he raised his hands to begin casting his spell. Below him, still on the steppe, Catten could see the small party of men coming their way in the distance. And there was the Darkslayer—helmet on his head and axe in tow.

Catten’s eagerness was replaced with uncertainty.
How?
He closed his eyes.
It doesn’t matter.
Then he felt his brother’s words of power begin.

He watched as the knotted urchlings and his Juegen guards disappeared. He sensed them and knew within moments they were gone. He waited. Powerful spells were ready in his grasp. A rainless storm rumbled above.

The Darkslayer came and soon he would be going home.

Venir could see them. His eyes zeroed in on the creatures that crept up on Fogle’s phantasm ahead of them. The helmet was doing what he hoped. He knew they were underlings, just not the everyday kind he usually encountered—but he’d seen albino urchlings in the past, and he’d heard tales of Juegen underlings, like the two he saw ahead
. He wanted them—all of them. Brool warmed in his grip. His helm seemed to smolder, beckoning him to take action.

He looked back at the nervous face of the illusionist. Fogle was petting his horse, while Ox sat on his like a statue. He tugged at Chongo’s reins. The dog frothed at the mouth, ears bared back. Venir’s lust, however, was not overwhelming, and it gave him some relief to know he wouldn’t go berserker as he had before. He maintained his focus. He watched far away as the heat pattern of the creatures came upon their phantasmic trap. What would happen next?

Fogle Boon was sweating behind him when he whispered, “Venir, you still with us up there?”

“
I am,” he said.

His head began to ache, however. He needed to move—or go insane

“
Remember, we don’t appear where we are, only up front. Just wait,” Fogle reminded him.

“
I will,” he said.

It was killing him, though.

“
All right, but I need to start casting something else. Stop and get off Chongo, like you are checking something. I assume they can still see you, but they’ll see the dog either way.”

Venir did so. They all dismounted, in fact. The projection ahead stopped as if they were getting ready for something. In the distance, the underlings could see the whole thing. Behind Venir, Fogle Boon muttered a spell on the long metal rod he’d had Ox procure, then tucked the rod under the horse’s saddle. Venir went through the motions as if they were setting up camp. He peered ahead. He felt as if hearts were racing in the distance.

Then it happened.

Lightning streaked in the sky, and they heard thunder cracking like splintering trees. Venir saw a blast turn their phantasms into a smoking pile of ruin. Another blue bolt flared down, shaking the ground and lighting the sky. Smoke and dust billowed up from the ground. Then he saw them come.

The underlings rushed into the smoldering pile of ruin. He could see their white-clawed bodies and flashing swords burst into the crater. He couldn’t wait any longer. Five urchlings scampered on the ground, plus two Juegen. He was ready to take them. He leaped back on top of Chongo and charged forward, holding Brool high in the air.

“
Yah!”

Elation filled Catten’s bones as he looked upon the smoldering scene below. Coming back down to the ground, Verbard shook his fists in triumph as the urchlings and Juegen rushed into the smoke. The golden-eyed underling could imagine one of his bodyguards bringing the head of the Darkslayer, while another brought the axe. His homecoming couldn’t come too soon. His plan had worked to perfection.
Yes!

As he and his brother floated down from the distance, he saw forms striking in the smoke. Nothing must have been left, as he heard no screams. Still, something else moved as the smoke shifted away in the wind. The figures of the men and their mounts shimmered as claws and blades ripped through them without a sound. He heard the urchlings snarl in confusion. His brother looked back and forth.

“
An illusion!” Verbard yelled.

Catten gawped, his hands grew numb. He felt his brother grasp his robes as something flashed in the distance. It was too late.

A streaking barrage of green bolts ripped through the black sky. They punched through his robes like nails and drilled deep into his skin. The force knocked him from the air as he howled out in pain. He’d never felt anything like it before. His blood was on fire and he lay writhing on the ground. Who had done this? He focused and felt another powerful magic presence. It seemed familiar.

Above him, Verbard summoned a protective shield around them. Another barrage of green missiles ricocheted away and into the black sky. He fought the pain as he regained his feet.

“
Brother, how is your damage?” Verbard shouted, hands raise and pointing outward.

Patting out the tiny smoking holes in his robes, Catten said, “Pah! Only painful, burning, somewhat refreshing, but nothing compared to what I am going to do to that human.”

Catten licked his split black lip and rubbed his dislocated shoulder. Then he stuck his fingers in the holes of his chest. The wounds cauterized as he stuck a nail down in them. The scars would take centuries to heal. He felt like a fool.

Then he saw the Darkslayer heading toward the crater. Magic spread like an inferno inside Catten as he let loose.

“
Oh my!” was all Fogle Boon could say as he watched one of the underling magi in the distance fall from the sky.
My plan worked!

After telling Ox to dismount from his steed, Fogle took his enchanted metal rod in hand and slipped it under the saddle of Ox’s horse. Fogle then had the mintaur hop up behind him on Fogle’s horse. A second later, Fogle reached over and slapped Ox’s horse in the rear. It galloped ahead, stopping behind Venir and Chongo. From behind, Fogle and Ox spurred his own horse forward.

Fogle wondered if he’d killed the underling. There was still the other one, he could see. He held close to the mintaur as he looked ahead. The sky far away and above brightened.
Oh no!
His heart sank as cords of lightning wrapped around the dark silhouettes like serpents. His hair stood up on his head from the energy.
This better work!
He saw their arms lash out before them.