The Sorcerer's Return (The Sorcerer's Path) (41 page)

Sk
ulk leaned close to Raijaun and sniffed. “You do smell like glorious human master!”

Raijaun
asked, “You liked the human master?”

Skulk bobbed up and down, waggling his whole body. “Oh yes! Human inside ugly Klaraxis treated Skulk good. He would never tear off Skulk’s wings like smelly Drak’kar
did.”

“Skulk, would you be willing to help him if you could?”

Skulk ceased his excited fluttering, landed, and sunk into himself. “Help human master? Help how?”

“Azerick is our father. He needs a sword Klaraxis keeps somewhere. It is not large and its blade is as black as night. With your help, we could get the sword and be gone before anyone knows we
escaped. You would be a hero, Skulk.”

The demog’s eyes widened. “Skulk would be a hero?”

“Yes, Skulk.”

“Drak’kar would pull off both Skulk’s wings if he found out Skulk stole from him
and freed his prisoners.”

“It is not his sword, Skulk. It belongs to Klaraxis, and since Azerick is now Klaraxis, it belongs to him,” Raijaun coaxed.
“We would be gone from here and no one would know you helped us escape.”

Skulk thought for several moments before bobbing his body up and down. “Yes, Skulk will help! Skulk will be a hero!”

The demon flapped into the air once more and pressed an engraved piece of black metal against the shackles clasped around their wrists and ankles. Daebian and Raijaun rubbed their chafed wrists and looked to the demog.

“There are two guards o
utside. Skulk will distract them and strong one can kill them. Weak one should stay back.”

Daebian looked insulted. “I am not weak! I can kill a demon too!”

“I think you should let me deal with them. I think there will be less chance of them raising an alarm,” Raijaun suggested.

“Fine, you do it. You’ve been doing great so far.”

Raijaun ignored his brother’s acidic remark and waited for Skulk to do whatever it was he was going to do. The demog vanished from the room. Several curses from the hall followed a series of dull popping sounds just beyond the door. Raijaun pressed his hands against the black stone of the chamber and sent small tendrils of power into it. Something in the stone called to him, welcomed him into its ebony embrace. He shook off the uncomfortable sensation and melded the stone with his magic. Onyx spears burst from the other side of the wall and skewered the two demon guards, killing them with no more sound than the frothy gurgling of their dying breaths.

Daebian and Raijaun
stepped into the hall and nearly choked on the overwhelming stench of brimstone. The caustic fog was so thick they could not see more than a few yards down the passage.

“Quickly, Skulk, lead us out of here,” Raijaun begged as he covered his nose and mouth with the sleeve of his
ruined shirt.

They had to jog to keep from losing sight of the little demog as he raced out of the bowels of the citadel. They came upon several demons, but none seemed interested in them beyond hissing or screeching an invective as they passed. The fortress was massive beyond imagining, a veritable city encapsulated in black stone, yet it was sparsely populated despite its vastness. Skulk finally slowed as they made their way down a particularly long passage with no branching rooms or corridors along its length.

“Here at the end is Klaraxis’ vault,” Skulk said. “Two tar'raun'atu guard the door. Skulk can get in but cannot leave with sword. You cannot get in at all
, even with Skulk showing you the way.”

“All right, Skulk, you have been very helpful. Daebian and I will figure out a way from here,” Raijaun said.

“Skulk going to go hide far away so Drak’kar cannot tear off both Skulk’s wings.”

“How should we approach this?” Raijaun asked after Skulk flapped away.

“I think we should kill them swiftly before they have a chance to raise an alarm or tear us to pieces.”

“Skulk said there were two. Tar'raun'atu are extremely tough. I do not know if I can kill them both without making a lot of noise.”

Daebian stroked the stone set in the hilt of his dagger. “You kill one, and I will kill the other.”

Raijaun looked doubtful. “A knife is a poor weapon against these creatures.”

“It has some special properties. It will do the job.”

“What kind of special properties?”

“The none of your damn business kind of special properties. Now are we going to go get my sword or stand here talking all day?”

Raijaun looked at
the dagger suspiciously. Deciding his brother was not going to elaborate, he led the way down the gloomy hall. The passage sloped downward and made a sharp turn to the left. The brothers practically ran into the hulking tar'raun'atu upon turning the corner. Although about the same height as Raijaun, the brutes sported a much greater mass.

“You stop,” one of the demons commanded. “None may enter except Drak’kar.”

Daebian continued walking toward the guards. “It is all right, we are depositing something within, not taking anything out.”

“None may pass but Drak’kar,” the demon repeated.

“I am certain Drak’kar did not mean to keep out those who wished to give him gifts,” Daebian said as he stepped closer and presented the dagger across his palm.

The tar'raun'atu leaned down to take a closer look. With lightning
-fast reflexes, Daebian spun the blade around and thrust it under the tar'raun'atu’s chin. Klaraxis put all his meager will into pulling the demon’s life force into the soul stone. Had he possessed more than a shadow of himself, the task would have been easy. But given his partial existence and the relative weakness of the soul stone, it was like trying to run through waist-deep mud. Sensing Klaraxis’ struggle with the impaled demon, Daebian leapt and wrapped his arms and legs around the flailing demon’s head and neck, holding tight as it thrashed about in fear and pain.

Raijaun shaped the Source and touched the wall. Half a dozen blac
k spears erupted from the stone, but the tar'raun'atu was extremely tough and only two managed to pierce its thick hide. The demon roared in pain and outrage. Its thrashing body snapped the spears from the wall and it charged Raijaun. Thinking quickly, Raijaun raised a wall of stone from the floor directly in the tar'raun'atu’s path. The demon crashed into it hard enough to rebound. Before it could recover its senses, Raijaun brought a massive pillar of stone down from the ceiling and crushed it into a bloody pulp.

Seeing his brother struggling with the other guard, Raijaun summoned a pair of massive hands to pin it to the floor. The stone hands trembled and cracked as they fought to control the hulking brute. The beast managed to tear one arm from the floor with its wild thrashing
, but it began weakening as Klaraxis and Daebian drained the creature’s soul from its body.

The tar'raun'atu finally ceased its struggles and Daebian stood. “Well, that was a bit more work than I expected,” he panted.
“See, I told you I could kill a demon.”

Raijaun pressed a hand against the ebony wall of the citadel and felt the writhing energy trapped within. “I think we have been discovered. Grab your sword and let us be away.”

The brothers stepped into the room and looked on in amazement. Affixed to the walls and resting upon stone plinths were a myriad of artifacts. Some were easily recognizable, in form at least, while others were completely alien.

“It is like Father’s vault only—much more,” Daebian said in awe. “We should take as much back as we can.”

“There is no time! Besides, we do not know what any of these things do. Find your sword and let us be on our way.”

Daebian scanned the walls for a moment simply for show as Klaraxis directed him to the sword. “There. Give me a boost. Klaraxis must be a tall brute to put it so high.”

Raijaun extended his hand and reached out to the sword with the Source. The blade flew from the wall and slapped into his waiting palm. Daebian’s eyes flared in jealous anger at the sight of his brother holding his sword.

“Give it to me,” he said in low voice.

Raijaun narrowed his eyes at his brother with suspicion and annoyance as he handed him the sword. Daebian snatched the blade and threaded the sheath onto his belt next to his dagger.

“We need to go—now,” Raijaun insisted.

“No argument here,” Daebian replied as he hastened for the doorway.

The pair broke into a jog, their footfalls echoing off the black stone all around them. Raijaun was not certain they had been discovered, only that there was a disturbance i
n the fortress’ stones. That doubt lasted until they came upon a mass of demons blocking the end of the long passage leading out of the lower vault chamber.

“Did you truly think you could simply walk into my home and steal my property?” Drak’kar asked. His amusement in no way hid the lethal intent in his voice. “Kill them.”

The mob of demons charged the intruders, practically frothing at the mouth in their desire to rend their bodies to shreds. Raijaun filled the corridor with fire, incinerating the charging demons and leaving their charred corpses twisted into malformed blackened husks.

When the flames cleared, Drak’kar stood alone at the end of
the hall completely unscathed. “I was hoping you were worthy of my personal attention.”

Raijaun conjured stone spikes from the walls, floor, and ceiling in hopes of impaling the demon as he did
the guards. Drak’kar extended his arms and stopped the spears from touching his flesh.

“Fool, this citadel belongs to me.”

We cannot fight him!
Klaraxis insisted
. Take the soul stone from your dagger and affix it to the pommel of the soul blade.

Daebian wrenched the black jewel from the hilt of his dagger and held it near the base of the
black sword. Klaraxis focused his meager power through Daebian to twist the metal of the hilt around the stone. The demon let out a satisfied groan as he felt the power of the soul blade merge with his shadowy consciousness.

Open your mind to me and I will show you how to use the shadow ways to escape.

Daebian cracked open the door to his consciousness and slowly allowed Klaraxis in, wary of the demon’s treachery. Thoughts filled his mind as Klaraxis showed him how to wield his abyssal power and command the shadows to do his bidding.

“Daebian, I hope you are right about that sword being capable of killing a god,” Raijaun said as Drak’kar approached, “because we may need it to kill a demon lord.”

Drak’kar will never let you near enough to him to use the blade against him. If you try to fight him within his hall, he will kill you both. Use what I have shown you to flee.

“Sorry, Brother, but I am afraid this is where we must part ways. I am sure you will be fine. After all, you are the powerful son and I the useless one.”

Daebian stepped into the murky black shadow sheathing the base of the high wall and vanished. Inside the shadow was nothing but darkness all around. There was no sight, sound, or smell within its confines. Daebian was blind and fought to suppress the fear trying to force its way into his heart.

“What is this?”

It is the shadow ways. It is the place between places. By using the shadow ways, you can step into a shadow and emerge from another, but you must be intimately familiar with them or risk losing yourself between worlds forever. Only my perfect knowledge of my realm allows me to traverse the shadow ways without seeing the point of egress.

“How am I able to do this?”

You are my son. You are the Prince of Shadows. This is but a taste of the power you can wield once you free my soul from your father’s prison.

Following Klaraxis’ guidance, Daebian stepped out of the shadow ways into the wan light of the abyss. He looked behind him and saw the citadel towering over him.

“I can certainly get used to this,” Daebian said and jogged toward the teleport site.

Drak’kar stalked toward Raijaun who
stood mystified and furious by his brother’s abandonment. “It appears the battle shall be just between us. A shame. It would have been far more entertaining had he stayed.”

Drak’kar lurched forward and
Raijaun struck once again, twisting the Source and abyssal magic together into a powerful black and silver ray. The beam struck Drak’kar in the chest as he leapt, arms outstretched to grapple and crush his foe. The force of the ray hurled him back down the hall and crushed him against the black wall.

The demon lord waved his long, black tongue through the air. “I can taste Klaraxis and his human parasite in your magic, boy.
Your father wielded such twisted magic and failed to defeat me and so shall you. I shall enjoy exacting the vengeance your fathers denied me upon you.”

Raijaun lashed out with his magic once more, but Drak’kar summoned his own power and slapped it aside. The demon struck Raijaun at a full sprint and sent him careening down the passage. Raijaun rolled into an ignoble heap
as pain radiated through his body. Drak’kar was on him before he could recover. The demon lord grabbed Raijaun with two of his strong hands and began bashing him against the wall.