The Exodus Sagas: Book IV - Of Moons and Myth (74 page)

Mudren rose to his feet, a semblance of brown coming back to his eyes, forcing out the red. “
If I change back, if I attack ye’ or she takes me over, kill me quickly then
.”

“
Do the same for me. And if the dust don’t work, what then?”
Zen lifted up the bag, and looked back toward the entrance to the thoneroom.

“
Me father
, Aidrek Sheldathain,
used to tell me
things, many things, when life
don’t go in yer’ favor.”
Mudren took position behind Azenairk, looking much like he had him hostage. He placed the glowing blades in Zen’s belt, in the back, hidden from view.
“He used to say, son, when all else fails, fight like hell.
”

Zen felt the tears coming, he fought them, and smiled. “
Me father, Kimmarik Thalanaxe,
used to say the same thing to us boys. Ye’ ready?
”

“
Aye. It been a pleasure to meet ye’, Azenairk Thalanaxe
.
Wish we had some more time, aye, I do.
”

“
Same here, aye,
well met,
Mudren Sheldathain
.”

Mudren started to walk ahead, pushing Zen like a prisoner with his arms behind his back. “
One thing, should ye’ live to see brighter days, rule me kingdom,
well our kingdom
,
rule it
better than me,
son.”

“
Ye’ have me word, on the hammer and moons o’ our father, I promise
ye’
. And I always keep me promises.”
Zen quaffed the dust into his mouth, it was bitter, it tingled, and he threw the pouch into the darkness. With his head low, his hands behind his back on the broadsword and the elven longblade,
he marched with Mudren into the throneroom.

“
You found him, well done, servant. Bring him to me so that I may watch you
punish him
.” Arabashiel was almost healed, her flesh was nearly formed on her arms and chest, and her face held but scratches from the many wounds.

“Yes, my mistress, as you command.”

“
Your friends will be here soon, in pieces, Thalanaxe. Would you care to see their remains?”
Arabashiel laughed a weakend laugh from the throne.

Zen kept his head low, arms back, and shook his head to the naye. He felt Mudren’s hand hold his tight behind, a squeeze of friendship, and of dwarven brotherhood.
He breathed deep through his nose, feeling a strange tingle from the ashes in his mouth.

Upper Tunnels of Kakisteele

The darkness seemed to reach at him, from every tunnel, yet his legs would not tire. Screams of infernal demons echoed behind him, too many to count, and without a weapon, too many to fight. Saberrak held Shinayne over his shoulder, turned left, then right, and made for the stairs that curled up over places they had not been.
He had been running as fast as he could, avoiding falling rock, and growing cracks in the very floor. He felt the sting of defeat, the loss of his friends, he knew not where they were. All he knew was that they had to get to safety, before they were caught.

Shinayne T’Sarrin was hurt, badly, and she had but Elicras in her hand as the minotaur gladiator ran. She could not see anything but the darkness Arabashiel had cast upon her eyes, but she was certain they were indeed lost. She heard the screeching behind her, thankful she could not see them, and her tears fell onto her bloody face.

“
Please turn back, please Saberrak
.” She whimpered.

“No.”

“
Why? Our friends, w
here is James? Gwenneth? Where is Zen, we cannot just leave them to…”

“I did not see them, I barely saw you in that cavern. They will get out.”

“How do you know? Call to them, please. I need to know they are allright, that---“

“We lost
, Shinayne, she is too strong, unstoppable.
We agreed to meet at the temple if anything went wrong.
It has gone wrong.” Saberrak huffed, trying to keep on, even though he wanted to turn and fight. His shoulder was slowly healing, as was his split head, and torn leg.

“You never run,
you fight
,
you never surrender, why are you--
“ S
he tri
ed not to think of Zen, Gwenne
, and James
, left for dead.

“Because thirty or more demons are right behind us, and I do not have an axe. If you wish to die now, I will stand for you, but you cannot fight nor see, so we run to the temple.” He snarled as he pushed himself harder, reaching the top of the stairs, then turning right down another passage.

“I have…I have this…here.” Shinayne handed Elicras forward, blindly, and Saberrak took it. “Just in case.”

“
Keep quiet now, it’s not over yet.” Saberrak smelled something in the air, he smelled again, they were close.

He pushed past a door, one they had been through, and leaned from the other side as the demons flooded the tunnel. Red eyes glistened, wings scraped the stone as the horde of Arabashiel neared their prey, and they dove for the minotaur with the elven woman over his shoulder.

Slam!

“What did you do? No, no, no! Do not close any doors! How will they get out, our friends? Saberrak please!”
Shinayne cried out to him, she began beating his back with her fists, and her tears fell more.

“Zen has the keys and Gwenneth has her ways, stop now, this is hard enough
. I have to get us out, elf!”
Saberrak roared
, his anger and sadness were
terrible, but he would accomplish nothing if they died here.
He did what he had to, to survive.

He ran more, turning every which way he came across, following his nose. He held the shortblade in his right hand, Shinayne tight on his shoulder held with his left, and he saw light. Faster he went, pushing his legs up more stairs, ignoring the screams of the demons trying find another way around.
He came to the doors, set down the elf, and lifted the bar with all his might.
Saberrak smelled fresh air, saw the gray light of the outside
as he pushed
, and heard the echoes come closer once more. They had found another way
around, the demons were still coming
. He
lifted Shinayne, sprinted, lowered his horns
and cleared the doors of
Kakisteele. He dove out, as the doors
were closing by some force he did not see, and barely cleared them as they slammed shut. His eyes were blinded for a moment from the gray glare, he huffed as he collapsed with Shinayne.

Slam!

“We made it?” Shinayne could not see anything, just black, as the curse of Arabashiel held strong, even outside the mines.

Saberrak covered his eyes, he heard motion, something close. “Yes, we are outside. Wait here, I smell---“

“
Nets
,
n
ow!”
Human voices yelled to each other, everything moved quickly, and hundreds of bodies went into action.

Saberrak spun fast, just as nets fell all over him on the plateau over Mooncrest. He roared, slashing the shortblade wildly, trying to get free as his vision returned. More nets fell, then he felt the tips of halbreds under his chin, into his ribs,
and all around him from every direction.

“
Shinayne, run!”

“Where, I cannot see, who is there?” Shinayne felt around the air, then her head jolted to the side, then again, and she fell to the stone.

“Keep your hands off her!” The minotaur roared, seeing three men cowardly punch his blind elven friend until she fell over unconscious.
There was an entire platoon here, waiting.

“
Shackles!
” The men wrestled the nets down, none of them daring to get too close to the horned warrior. Within a f
e
w moments, his ankles and wrists, and neck had irons and chains to hold him.
Twenty men grabbed the length of interwoven chains, while twenty more kept their halberds up to his gray hide. The soldiers of Armondeen, several hundred that had been waiting here, picked up the elven woman and marched the minotaur down the path that led into the ruins.

“Where are we going, cowards?” Saberrak huffed, knowing one false move and he would be speared twenty times over, and they had Elicras, their only weapon.

“Quiet beast!” A brave captain smashed his armored fist into the jaw of the minotaur.

Saberrak laughed, his anger building, his eyes flickering blue. “You will be the first one I kill then.”

“You are going to Lord Amirak Harron Vir Magaste, I would watch my tongue, trespasser.”

“
He will be the second one I kill.
You are all dead men, every last one---“

Another blow, another backhanded gauntlet, and three more joined in. The chains pulled down, forcing him to the stone pathway.They beat him until blood poured from
his nostrils and ears. Still, Saberrak
laughed.

“I am Saberrak Agrannar the gray, son of Tathlyn, and you had better pray that they kill me quickly.” He was weary, stumbling, but they drug him toward the temples with Shinayne.
His eyes felt rage.

“Animals do not have names. One more word, and your woman here gets a beating. One word, beast.” The
man drew his scimitar and held
it at Shinayne’s neck.

Saberrak walked ahead, willingly, now surrounded by two hundred soldiers. He kept his horns low, tried not to hear the chains that rattled, and watched over Shinayne T’Sarrin
.

White Spider Throneroom, Valhirst, Chazzrynn

“There are evils in the world, evils that steal heroes, kill our loved ones, and spread injustice with abandon. Know who it is
that
you fight, for some evils are worse when injured, and some are best left alone
and watched
. Some, like a sickness, may simply need to run their course.”
---spoken by Cardinal Ashourde VII, at the Aldane Cathedral, to the newly conceived Order of the Broken Wing. Circa 642 B.C.

Johnas sat in his onyx throne, full of opium and wine, and stared at the table in the center of the white spider mosaic on the floor. His brother was at peace, laid out perfectly on the table, and his arms were folded neatly across his chest. In honor of his death, all the members here were gathered in silence. Oggidan
Chilar
laid on one of the couches, the wound in his back still painful, yet he was the only one allowed not to stand.

The kris blade rested on his lap, continually humming a sad song and glowing green from the emerald. Johnas Valhera had not shed a tear for anything since his youth, but he was close now. His crown sat on his brow, and Mikhail Salganat’s severed head rested on the steps to his throne. He had the body thrown into
the pit yesterday, after he
cut
it
into small pieces
with the sword
.

“Read.”

The young student of the arcane he had secretly bought months prior and branded, looked to the stone tablets, the warlock mirrors. Zodriss of Vin Armon, from Armondeen, was only in his third year at Lazlette Academy, yet he was easily entranced into leaving the realm of tutelage and pursuing his career with Johnas Valhera. Coins, power, and membership were an easy decision when his professors would not allow him to further as fast as he wished.

“Yes, your majesty.” Zodriss was nervous, with the funeral of Jehrale Valhera just having finished, and all the gathered members he had not fully met. “Sapphire of the East states all is well in Arouland.
Nothing more.”

King Johnas drank his wine, still staring at his dead brother, and paid it no mind. He was certain that the ogre and troll hordes would have finished the west. He expected more detail, but right at this moment, he did not care.

“Next.”

“Yes, yes. Uhhh…King Phillip states that Sebastian has been found, dead, and the others will be found soon. The ceremony in the square is this afternoon, to honor the new Cardinal to Harlaheim. He wishes to inform you that the courier from Caberra never arrived, his ship is at port, but he and the doppelgangers are nowhere to be found. Phillip wishes you well in your new kingdom.” Zodriss breathed in, tracing the words from white marble to black, looking at the secret language, and deciphering it with arcane spells. He breathed out, realizing the Johnas was now looking, but that he had read it correctly.

“Tell him to search with his two agents, the two of the Emerald Eight, and find them
, soon
.” Johnas stated dryly.

“Yes, your majesty. That was all.” Zodriss began tracing the arcane words to send to Harlaheim.

“Bring in the prisoners.” Johnas stood in front of his throne, sword in hand.