The Beginnings Omnibus: Beginnings 1, 2, 3 & Legend of Ashenclaw novella (Realm of Ashenclaw Beginnings Saga) (11 page)

Larwinckle led Garius around the underground village that comprised most of Dhegg for the rest of the day. There were miles and miles of passageways below the ground and very little of the village emerged into the rough and rocky terrain above. The two of them stopped at an emporium selling many different goods and crafts made by hundreds of the gnomes. This was one of the largest places that Garius had seen so far in the village.

Divah emerged from the emporium and came over to the pair of them. She was followed by another, a female gnome, who waited patiently behind her.

“I see Glimma there is showin’ ye around the marketplace,” Larwinckle said to the halfling, nodding toward the female gnome. “She knows all of the finest places to secure goods in Dhegg!”

“She does!” Divah agreed, holding up a leather sack near to bursting that clattered with the sound of glass and metals clanging together. “I can barely carry this.”

Larwinckle walked over to a pair of gnomes who were wandering by, spoke with them quietly and watched as they went sauntering off. Then the three of them waited, since he held up a finger to indicate this, and within moments, the two gnomes returned with a three-wheeled cart. They left it, bowing to Larwinckle, who smiled wide, his blue eyes glinting with pride as he offered the cart to Divah.

“Ye can place yer effects on there and continue to explore the markets until yer heart’s contented,” he added with a low bow. With that offer, Divah was off and pushing the cart toward her escort, Glimma.

Larwinckle then turned his attention back to Garius. “Is there anythin’ you might fancy a look see?” he asked the warpriest. Garius thought about this and decided that there was nothing in particular.

“I should probably make my way back to the tavern and rejoin my companions,” Garius admitted, tugging at the strands of a short, braided beard that hung just below his chin.

“Very well,” Larwinckle nodded. They began to retrace their steps. Within moments, Garius saw the form of Bralon walking toward them.

I wonder what he is doing down here alone? Garius thought, as he did not see Matthias or Micah alongside the huge Paladin. As Bralon the Bold neared the two of them, Garius sensed something was wrong. He did not know where the feeling originated, but he simply understood that Bralon was not what or who he claimed. He said nothing to Larwinckle, merely continuing forward, but mouthing the words to a spell as he looked toward the ground.

Bralon was within ten paces when Garius shoved Larwinckle to the ground and extended his two arms outward together, pointing at Bralon as he finished the spell. At that moment, a burst of regenerative, holy energy shot forth from his outstretched hands, bathing Bralon’s armored form in divine magic. It was so brilliant that many nearby gnomes had to cover their eyes. Larwinckle stared up in disbelief at both the events and at Garius, who next removed his shield and hammer from his back, and armed himself, strapping the shield to his left arm and gripping the handle of the hammer tightly in his right hand.

When the light cleared, no longer did Bralon the Bold stand before Garius Forge, but instead there was a demonic form so hideous it caused Larwinckle to recoil in sheer terror. Garius tightened his lips and gritted his teeth.

“Go back to Pandemonium where you belong and release this man’s soul to me!” Garius commanded, as if he knew exactly what was happening, though in reality he did not. Something was giving him cause, aiding him in understanding the recent events. Garius was well versed in the ways of possession and the allure of demons, but this was different. It was as if The Shimmering One himself was inspiring the warpriest.

The apparition in front of Garius was approximately two full heads taller than the warpriest. Its body shimmered with a darkness not born of this world and its true form was significantly threatening. At first hunched, it now rose to its full height, spreading out its huge arms that ended in deadly talons. And it roared. A sound of something both alien and threatening echoed from the walls of the vast cavern. Gnomes began to run to and fro, either in sheer terror or in the hopes of finding a weapon of some sort. Garius could hear Larwinckle barking commands to the gnomes and saw that the demon looked his way once, but mostly stared into Garius’ dark eyes.

“Not… without… you,” the demon finally spat in response to Garius’ command. With that, Zan'kuros charged Garius with inhuman speed. The warpriest had not even seated his helmet before the thing was upon him. Its maw opened wider than should have been possible as it appeared to unhinge from the jaw, displaying a series of razor sharp teeth.

Zan'kuros rained down a sequence of blows upon the warpriest’s steel shield with such force that it caused him to stumble and fall on his back. His helm rolled to a stop behind him. The blows eventually slapped the shield out wide to Garius’ left and exposed his chest and face for a brief second. One strike slashed across his plated hauberk, taking some of the golden flecked steel along with it, while the next slashed across Garius’ face and forehead, ripping the flesh above his left eye. Blood streamed down Garius’ face, temporarily blinding him.

The demon had reared back for yet another strike before Garius had the time to react or reset his shield. But before the killing blow landed, Garius heard a resounding
thunk
sound, then another, and then several more followed. This made the demon stop. Garius cocked his head enough to see that a group of gnomes stood with their repeating crossbows, launching volley after volley of bolts into the demon’s hide.

It wrenched its massive bulk away from Garius and roared in defiance at the gnomes, black ooze cascading from the wounds upon its flesh. It chased after them, eventually catching two and tearing their limbs from their sockets. Then Zan’kuros tossed the bloody stumps that remained aside like so much garbage. Next the colossal demon launched itself with inhuman speed at where Larwinckle stood.

Garius meanwhile made it to his feet, wiped the blood from his face and retrieved his helmet. He thrust himself between the two foes and pointed the head of his warhammer at the demon. He uttered another prayer to The Shimmering One. The demon charged once more, leaping through the air. But instead of landing upon the warpriest, the demon was caught full in the chest by the warhammer’s head. The blow sent it reeling in the opposite direction and it heard the distinct sound of its corporeal armor cracking under the intense impact of that assault. The hammer was laden with divine power and a burst of holy energy had erupted from the weapon as it struck Zan’kuros.

Garius stood in defiance, the hammer in his hand, as the demon hit the hard ground, bouncing and sliding into a nearby wall. The age-old stone buckled somewhat under the enormous bulk of its carcass. It shook its horned head and screeched a piercing howl that caused all nearby to protect their ears. Pain resonated through Garius’ head as he could not impede the raucous, other-worldly sound from penetrating his hearing.

Minutes seemed to pass until the sound finally faded. Soon after, his mind was able to focus once more and he observed something happening in the air around where the demon now stood.

A rift was beginning to materialize.

Garius realized in a dreadful panic that the howl was some kind of extra-planar summoning and his heart skipped a beat at the thought of what might rush through that portal if it came into being.

Before he could do anything at all to address the summoning portal, the demon was on the move once more. Garius braced himself for the charge, shield held out defiantly before him, but nothing happened. Again, he heard the sound of bolts hitting the hard flesh of the demon. He looked up to see more quarrels sticking in the demon’s hide.

This time, though, the gnomes were working in unison. One squad fired their repeating crossbows and then another squad on the opposite side launched theirs. They were giving him time, Garius realized.

He rushed over to the rift and began a counterspell that would stop it from forming. He uttered an incantation to the sun god to reverse the summoning ritual. Slowly, the flickering aperture between the planes began to recede. Garius continued the prayer. Sweat beaded upon his face, mixing with the blood from the gash on his brow, as he mouthed the words with reverence and willfulness.

 Just as the rift was about to seal, Garius witnessed an oversized claw extend and then recede into the shadows, attempting to come forth, but it did not make it through before the tear in the fabric of reality sealed for good. There was an instant, though, when the warpriest had locked eyes with the demonic presence within the planar chasm and had felt a palpable and imminent fear run up and down his spine. Perhaps it was a demon lord, he wondered for a brief instant. But before he could finish this thought, he heard a scream and observed the demon as it once more cornered a group of gnomes, pinning them against two walls. It was about to pounce upon them.

“Face me, demon!” Garius bellowed in a powerful voice, full of other-worldly endowment. The demon craned its head back to face Garius and even the gnomes jumped involuntarily at hearing him.

“I shall know your
name
and you shall
return
from whence you came!” Garius clamored as he advanced on the demon. His eyes and hands shone brighter with holy radiance with each step he took toward the demon and with each word he spoke.

Zan'kuros bore down on the approaching warpriest and leaped in the air to land upon him. As it took Garius to the ground, it roared in victory and cocked its right arm back to launch another assault upon the prone human.

From Garius’ body came a beacon of light that engulfed the demon, lifting it from atop Garius and then holding it fast in midair.

“What is your name, demon?!” Garius cried aloud, not just once, but many times over.

“Zan-‘kur-os!” called the demon unexpectedly and involuntarily.

Zan'kuros was shocked and frustrated that the human was powerful enough to command such spells. It hovered helplessly within the divine prison of light and turned hateful red eyes upon the warpriest.

“Return to the depths of Pandemonium, Zan’kuros, and never return to the face of Wothlondia again!” Garius spoke the words with conviction. ”Return, foul demon, to the depths of your fateful dwelling and bother us no more!” As Garius spoke the last of those words, the beacon shone brighter and brighter until it imploded upon itself.

When all was clear, nothing remained of the demon and in its stead was the body of Bralon the Bold. Garius slumped to his knees and each and every onlooker stood with mouths agape and eyes wide. All but two, that is.

The halfling female named Divah had watched the exchange from a distance and rushed over to the fallen man, infusing regenerative powers upon him in the hopes of rejuvenating him. She did not understand the ways of the worshippers of the sun god and hoped he had simply collapsed from exhaustion and not something else.

Another figure moved from deep within the shadows and came into view, lowering his hood and revealing a wrinkled face. He approached and whispered a command to Divah, who stopped what she was doing and moved to tend to Bralon instead.

Garius opened his eyes and saw a strange face before him and then recognized it as belonging to the man from the Order of the Faceless Knights.

He stared into the aged man’s dark eyes and his vision clouded and eventually faded into darkness.

When Garius came to, he began to sip from a mug that was thrust into his face by the female halfling, who smiled at his new and stable condition. He winced at the pain he felt upon his forehead above his left eye where Zan'kuros had taken several layers of flesh with a slash of his clawed hand.