The Wizard and the Warlord (The Wardstone Trilogy Book Three) (41 page)

“This is bad,” Oarly said.

“What?” Hyden asked. He wondered if Oarly was having some sort of dark premonition.

The Gwag growled again and the sound was massive. It was getting closer.

“What is it, dwarf?” Corva asked through his fear.

“It’s a terrible thing to have to face that fargin Gwag,” Oarly cursed. “I haven’t even had a chance to get good and drunk yet today.”

Just then, a horrible scream erupted from behind them. It came from one of the archers. The sound was accompanied by a different kind of roar. It didn’t sound like another Gwag, but whatever it was, it sounded just as big.

Phen turned to see what he could behind them. Jicks and one of the archers were scrambling back toward the fountain chamber, each carrying a couple of supply packs. Their torch was nowhere to be seen. Both were pale, wide-eyed, and moving very swiftly.

“Beware!” Jicks called ahead of them. “A troll got Mort.” He fought a sob and the power of his emotion carried in his voice. “Got him good, it did.” He stopped speaking when he saw that Hyden, Oarly, and Corva were in readied battle stances facing the other direction. As he glanced over his shoulder, Mort’s wailing cry caused him to shudder. Throwing the packs down, he drew his blade and turned to face the way he had come. “I don’t think it followed us, but we have to be ready.”

“It’s fargin eating Mort,” the archer sobbed as he nocked his bow.

“Cover that passage,” Hyden commanded over the Gwag’s approaching rumble.

Spike growled back at the sound and ran between Oarly’s legs toward it. It took only a few heartbeats for the lyna cat to disappear into the darkness beyond the range of Hyden’s magical light.

“Guard Telgra with your life,” Phen told Dostin. “I’ll be right back.” Talon flapped from Phen’s shoulder as he moved away. Telgra nearly didn’t let go of him when he started toward Jicks and Krey. Phen walked right past them. The sudden lack of his orb light in the larger chamber dimmed the space considerably. Talon landed on Telgra’s shoulder and settled as she and Dostin watched Phen and his light fade toward the entry.

Not sure what to do, Jicks and Krey eased in behind Phen and followed him.

***

Suddenly, a snarling, toothy head shot into the light of Hyden’s orb. It was big and furry, like some giant fox or wolverine. It was lightning quick, for it attacked so fast that it caught them all by surprise. Corva was caught in the retreating beast’s mouth and screamed. Hyden instinctually tried to call out to the beast, but in its enraged state the effort was wasted. Oarly darted toward it and, with a leaping swipe of his axe, caught the monster with a glancing blow. It wasn’t much, but it was enough to cause the Gwag to let go of Corva before it pulled back completely into the darkness. Oarly went to help the elf to his feet while Hyden loosed arrow after arrow, hoping to keep it off of them.

“It’s a giant snaker,” Oarly announced fearfully. “A mongoose, I think. Big bastard.”

Corva had been punctured by several dagger-sized teeth and was bleeding profusely. He managed to stand upright and limp toward the others. Oarly, helping to steady him, didn’t see the Gwag lunging back at them.

Hyden saw it, though, and he put an arrow right in the creature’s melon-sized eye, but not before it had its teeth around the dwarf.

Oarly tried to yell, but a sickening crunch of bones cut the sound into a grunting wheeze. The creature shook its head violently from side to side as it backed away, but it didn’t let go. Its eye looked ruined. Thick, milky fluid slung from the wound as the Gwag shook its dwarven morsel. Bright red blood, lots of it, sprayed and splashed from its mouth. Through eyes welling with tears, Hyden loosed more shafts at the beast. They found flesh again and again, but the creature didn’t slow down. Within the span of a dozen heartbeats it had taken Oarly and disappeared back into the darkness. Hyden started to chase after it, but when he saw a long, bushy, squirrel-like tail whip around and bound out of sight, he realized it was pointless. The crunch he’d just heard was still reverberating through his head.

***

Phen was oblivious to the action taking place behind him. He could hear it all, but chose not to pay it any mind. He was on the attack.

He came upon the troll. It was slightly bigger than a giant and covered in dark, mangy fur, with long, pointed ears, and a black hog-like snout. Its chin and chest were matted with slick dark blood, and it held Mort’s leg as if it were the drumstick of some giant bird. Its big brown eyes were eerily human-like, and they stayed glued to Phen’s strange appearance.

“I’m going to distract it,” Phen said to the two soldiers behind him. “Get the other packs, and then get away.”

The creature took a big bite of Mort's thigh. It pulled away from the bone, stretching the bloody meat until it tore. Krey sniffled and sobbed but nodded that he understood his orders. Jicks was already shouldering one of the two packs closest to him.

Once Krey had the final pack, Phen spoke again. “Get well behind me. I’m not sure how this will turn out.”

The troll took another bite out of Mort and curiously studied the stone man with the light hovering over his head. Phen was glad it didn’t seem to care about the other two creeping away with the group’s food and gear.

Phen knew that the dragon tear medallion would amplify his spell’s potency. Just how much, he wasn’t sure. His intent was to wall off the passage with thorny growth. It was a spell he had once used to entangle one of Spike’s giant kindred in a black dragon’s lair. He hadn’t had the dragon’s tear medallion then, and his spell hadn’t created enough growth to block a passage. Now, though, he thought he could do it.

Before the troll could take another bite of their companion, Phen cast his spell and was amazed by what happened next.

From the rocky floor and walls, tiny chips and flakes of stone broke free. Little green worm-like tendrils pushed outward. They turned and twisted and thickened. A season’s worth of growth took place with every passing moment. The branches twisted and twined, and long, finger-sized thorns pushed out of them.

Suddenly, the troll darted at him, reaching out a bloody claw. It never found its mark as it was lifted by the growth that dug into it. It contorted as it squirmed in confusion and fear. It howled out terribly as merciless thorns bit in and held it in place. Phen was alarmed when the growth grew toward the ceiling and started spreading toward him. He had to back up quickly to keep from getting caught in his own tangle. The troll was mewling, its feet and legs splayed at an abstract upward angle. It was bleeding and whimpering between fits of wild shaking as it tried to thrash around, but it couldn’t get free.

Phen hurried back to where Jicks and Krey stood open-mouthed and teary-eyed. A glance back made him mutter a curse. Oarly would have to hack them a way out now, but at least nothing else could come in behind them.

“Oarly,” Hyden’s voice came to them from down the passage. The reverberation off of the stone made it sound as if a dozen people had called out at once. Phen wasn’t alarmed by Hyden’s call. Oarly had probably chased after the creature. It wasn’t until he heard Hyden call out again that his heart sank and his stomach knotted up. The emptiness and hopelessness in Hyden's voice was clear.

“By the gods, no,” Phen said. He took off running, his heavy, stone footfalls pounding back toward the open chamber like hammer blows. Jicks and Krey hurried after him as best they could with the packs they were carrying. They arrived in the fountain chamber to see Hyden holding Phen back in a great bear hug as the stoney boy tried to follow the bloody trail of gore into the darkness.

Corva lay under Telgra and Dostin, who were crouched over him protectively. The elven princess was running her hand over deep wounds and murmuring something. A soft yellow glow radiated from her palm into the elf’s skin. All the while, the distraught monk was repeating a prayer over and over again.

Hyden and the cavern floor beyond him were bright with blood. The double light of both his and Phen’s magical orbs was stark. There was far too much blood for it all to have come from Corva. At the reaches of the illumination, Oarly’s jeweled axe lay glittering and still in a glossy crimson pool.

“NOOO!” Phen screamed into Hyden’s shoulder. “No, no, no!”

Hyden wanted to comfort his young friend, but he was fighting back his own sobs.

“He might not be dead, Hyden,” Phen managed as he pushed away. “I’m going after him.”

Hyden took a deep breath and nodded. He could tell there was no stopping Phen. “Spike is down there somewhere, Phen. Use his eyes. Don’t be foolish. Use his stealth.” To the others he said: “Build an everburn fire. We will be back shortly, and no matter what you do, don’t drink that water.” When he pointed at the fountain, Talon came fluttering down to land on his forearm.

Phen was standing stock-still, looking as much like a statue as he ever had. In his mind’s eye he was seeing what Spike saw. The sight wasn’t normal, but a sort of orange-tinted spectral vision. It was like looking at the world through thick amber lenses. Darkness and light were well separated, though, and the details of things were easy to make out.

The lyna was low to the ground, so it seemed to Phen that he was looking up from a bobbing point just above the floor. Ahead lay empty corridor as far as Spike could see. Behind was the bend in the tunnel, where just beyond, Phen and Hyden stood. With his mind, Phen urged Spike to move further down the passage. He looked back, with his own eyes, and saw that Jicks had ignited a couple of chunks of everburn. Telgra was tending to Corva. Without another thought, he found Spike’s vision again and started into the tunnel.

“Is he around the bend?” Hyden asked. Phen nodded and kept going.

Hyden took a trembling breath and followed. He was stricken by what he had just seen happen to his dwarven companion, but that’s not why he was shaking. A rage was building inside him. Ultimately, all of this madness and death led back to his brother and him, and to the ring. An old soothsayer had once read their bones and foretold their futures. Most of what she had predicted had come to pass. All save for the end of it.

Hyden held no illusions about Oarly’s fate. Far too much blood had been spilled for him to have survived. He still heard the crunch of bone, and the muffled gurgle of Oarly’s yell. His blood was aboil with anger. The oracle had told him that he would some day destroy he who was closest to him. After learning of his brother’s transformation, he thought for a very long time that it was Gerard he would have to end.
What is closer to a young man than his brother?
Now he saw a different truth to her words. His quest to banish his brother’s evil, and his desire to help his friend and familiar recover from that evil touch, had just killed one of his closest friends. He was so consumed by his rage at Gerard, and maybe himself, that he walked right into Phen.

They were in another open chamber now. It was similar to the first one. A fountain, nearly identical to the other, tinkled and gurgled at the center of the room. Spike stood with an arched back and raised hackles on the retaining wall that encircled the flowing water. Beyond the aquatic display the Gwag lay rasping. A bloody misshapen lump lay a few feet from its mouth in a pool of dark blood.

Oarly.

Phen wailed out in anguish and started toward his friend’s corpse. The Gwag rasped again and a mist of pink, frothy blood sprayed from its mouth. Thicker strands of thickening gore dangled like rope from its open maw as it reared up. There was no continuing passage from this chamber. This was the Gwag’s lair. This was the Leif Repline fountain. The chamber smelled of rot and urine and was littered with the bones of a thousand meals. The Gwag was obviously injured. Several arrows protruded from blood-matted fur around its neck and shoulders.

Talon took flight from Hyden’s shoulder and drew the creature’s attention for a heartbeat. Phen ignored it and stalked over to Oarly. A low, moaning sound came from deep within him as he went.

Hyden nocked an arrow and took aim at the beast’s good eye. It opened its mouth wide and tried to roar. The sound that came was an intimidating spew of bright scarlet. In the back of the creature’s throat, Hyden saw Oarly’s dagger. It was buried to the hilt in the roof of the beast’s mouth. The Gwag was in pain. Hyden’s rage was leaking away because the long, strange-bodied creature had only been doing its duty guarding the fountain. This creature wasn’t responsible for Oarly’s death. Hyden spoke calmingly to it. Whatever spell had bound it to guard the fountain was most likely broken. This was just a scared, dying animal.

A sudden sensation of a heavy burden being lifted from his soul swept over Hyden. He turned to see that Talon had landed on the chin of one of the mermaids and was bathing in the flow it was spitting forth. Hyden could feel Talon’s relief. The lingering effects of the red priest’s spell were being cleansed away from the hawkling like mud.

***

Phen would have retched if he could have. Oarly was mangled beyond recognition. Only the old boots he wore were recognizable. They were the same boots that had one time been the root of a hundred jests over Hyden’s poor spellcasting ability. Phen wanted to cry but wouldn’t allow himself the emotion. He wanted to curl himself up into a ball and scream, but knew he couldn’t let himself succumb to grief. Instead, he let out a primal roar of his own. The sound was so harrowing that the Gwag shrank back against the wall and began to shiver.

His expression blank, and his movements mechanical, Phen picked the bloody, half-chewed body of his friend up in his arms and hurriedly staggered toward the fountain pool. Spike kept his eyes on the Gwag, but relaxed his hackles and mewled sadly at his familial master. The creature could feel Phen’s grief.

Phen stepped over the low retaining wall and sat down with his friend’s body in his lap. Only after Brady Culvert had been melted by the black dragon had he ever felt as much loss.

Hyden was afraid to drop his guard. His arrow might be the only thing to keep the trembling beast from panicking and attacking Phen. His eyes were filling with tears of anguish. He couldn’t believe the wily old dwarven prankster was gone, but he was. As grief-stricken as he was, though, he couldn’t help but smile when he saw fresh tears streaming down Phen’s brightly pinkening cheeks. The Leif Repline was restoring the boy.