Leviathan (Fist of Light Series) (30 page)

“It almost seems like they're waiting for something.” Mary cast a fearful gaze about her.

Someone materialized out of the eternal night, and I reached for weapons that were no longer there. “That they are, lass. And if you wait around to find out, you'll be finding out firsthand what that might be.”

Our group tensed and prepared to strike. Nothing coming out of that darkness could have good intentions. I studied the figure before me, taking in the dark, matted hair and scraggly beard spotted here and there with gray. The thing that finally sold me was the armor. It gleamed, radiating a faint glow of power. A sword of similar make was held aloft in one hand, but it was pointed outwards at the encroaching black, not us.

“Wait.” I held up a fist and stepped forward. “Who are you?” I demanded.

“There's no time for that!” he yelled. “We wait any longer and we're all dead.”

“How do we know this isn't a trap?” Zack turned slitted eyes on our supposed rescuer.

The blade bobbed nervously, as if it too was impatient to be off. “If I wanted ya dead, I'd have just left you to the hordes. Ye'd be nothing more than a dark specter haunting these plains, then.”

“Okay. We follow, and no funny business,” I threatened, though the words lacked real backing.

“Swear on me mother's shade.” The man sprinted off into the darkness, expecting us to follow.

A shriek was loosed by the circling vultures, warning of our imminent escape as we raced after the glow of our rescuer's armor. I pushed down my doubts and kept pace. Moans issued from unseen throats around us, phantoms without a face noting their displeasure at our departure. Something was out there all right; a whole lot of somethings by the sound of it. A faint clinking of armor echoed through the plains, followed by a full scale riot of noise. As I'd suspected, this place was far from deserted.

“What the hell?” Jas panted. “Why couldn't we have been trapped in the land of gumdrops instead?”

“I hardly think we'd be that lucky.” I snorted while trying to keep ahold of myself, my eyes darting around, trying to locate our invisible pursuers.

Another piercing screech and a gust of dead wind pelted our party from above. We all ducked as the beast’s wings brushed our backs, its seething fury palpable through the connection. The close proximity to the monster was draining, as if the touch had slivered off a piece of my soul.

“You let these things touch yer bodies and ye'd be dead in seconds,” a hoarse voice told us from up front.

“We can't outrun them.” Kathryne was barely breathing hard. “It'll catch us if we don't find shelter.”

“Don't be worrying, ye bonny lass.” Our guide chuckled. “We've not far to travel. If it was, you'd have been left to the mercy of the hordes.”

“That's great to hear.” Simon wiped sweat from his brow.

The ground blurred by us without anything to mark our passing. There were small outcroppings of rock strewn in the path of our flight, but no form of vegetation. It was absent of life. The hard rock under our feet pounded our limbs. Pain only drove us harder. A black hand reached into our midst; Mary screamed. I had time to look into the thing’s face before it was sent spinning away from a blow from Kathryne. Red eyes devoid of any humanity pinned me in place, black armor in direct contrast with our savior's light, which hid most of the being's body from sight. In its other hand was a dark sword, but it hadn't the time to use it, thankfully.

“What the hell was that?” Simon demanded, a faint tremor of fear in his voice.

“One of many,” our guide informed.

We hadn't fled for more than a few minutes before we came to a shaky halt, waiting on our unmoving guide to lead us on. My senses searched frantically around us but were met with only black nothingness. It was clear these things were hidden from me. No matter how hard I tried there was only darkness. Even my vision was affected, the pooling dark dulling all my abilities to sight danger.

“A tunnel!” Zack exclaimed.

And there was a tunnel, leading into the unknown below. There was light down there, a welcoming sight.

“Follow the light,” I said with grim humor.

“Against the night we stand. Into the light we ran,” our amused protector said.

“You've both lost your marbles,” Jas decided.

We followed this stranger nonetheless, hoping he represented salvation rather than a different kind of doom. The slap of feet smacking the chiseled pavement, dry air running through our ears. Heavy panting from all around, echoing moans following us down the chamber. Screeching cries of promised revenge from our airborne friends. In an instant, a frantic chase turned into another thing entirely. A group of six men hailed our guide before entering the tunnel three abreast, bright swords held at the ready.

Another man in shining armor stepped forward, this one with an air of authority. “Gallick Arenson, you blasted imbecile! We thought you lost to the hordes. I'm heartened to see you've returned in one piece. And with friends, I see.” He appraised us openly.

“What the hell is this place?” Zack muttered under his breath so only the pack heard.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” I returned just as quietly.

“Auckland.” The two men clasped arms like brothers. “You half-wit scoundrel, you should know it'd take more than one horde,” Arenson said with a grin.

The clash of swords and unseen moans drifted down the tunnel, but the men paid them no heed. “And who are these bright young fellows. More lost souls to be thrown into the furnace?” Auckland studied us intently.

“Hardly. A pack of misfits, no doubt. They'd have waited until their doom was upon them if I hadn't decided to risk my valuable hide.”

I stepped forward, still considering. “I'd have to agree with that. We appreciate it.” I held out my hand and he enveloped it with a bear of a shake.

“Gallick here has a habit of picking up lost souls,” Auckland said. “They follow like a mother hen rounding up chicks into her den. This place would be dark and deserted without him.”

“And what exactly is this place?” Simon asked.

We all took a second to survey our surroundings. An unnatural light illuminated the interior of the cavern. Black rock had been piled, braced, and formed into a rough construction, a great wall that separated us from the castle. And a castle it was, despite the poor craftsmanship. Under the circumstances, they had done rather well with the limited materials. Smaller dwellings dotted the landscape, but they were nothing in comparison to the size of the castle. It stretched over sixty feet at its spired peak, a jaw-dropping feat when one only has piles of black rock to work with. It widened out as it neared the ground, encompassing almost half of the available space behind the rocky ramparts.

“A stronghold, if I've ever seen one,” Jas said.

“I don't believe you have,” Kathryne said, amusement in her voice.

“Aye, it’s a stronghold, youngster. One of the last. The others have begun to fall, if the whispers be true. Ever since the loss of Midreal all those years ago, things be taking a turn for the worst.”

“Midreal?” Simon's curiosity got the better of him, as usual.

Gallick nodded his head and scratched at his beard. “Ye heard right. That be the capital of these blasted lands, or it was. That was decades ago. The limb regrew, but our brightest light went with it.”

“Did you just say
limb
?” I wondered at the coincidence.

“Caleb, he said it was decades ago,” Mary said.

“You chopped that thing off
yesterday
.” Zack nodded, agreeing with her. “That's a far cry from a few decades in the past.”

Gallick appraised our group in a new light. Auckland's brows settled into the ridges of his eyes as he did the same. The soldiers tramped back into the cavern from the tunnel, dispelling the tense atmosphere for a fleeting moment.

“All clear, sir,” a soldier said to Auckland, but the soldier’s eyes shifted to Gallick as he imparted the information.

“Good man. Hold your post for the remainder of your shift, then get some rest. You've done well,” Auckland said. “These newcomers will be meeting with us in the hold. It seems there's something to be learned from them.”

Jas and I shared a look, knowing that this wasn't a negotiation. We instinctively picked up on the undertones in his statement and decided the man’s intentions were less than savory. I held the eyes of my friends one by one, indicating the need for cooperation. As long as there was safety to gather our wits and prepare for what needed to be done, I would take it.

W
e'd been at this for hours and hadn't gotten anywhere. The dark tenor of this place was getting old fast. But we all saw the necessity of gaining some allies. We were blind in this new world without a guide, and if we walked out into the night without some form of protection we wouldn't have another knight in shining armor to save us. Oddly, none of us were overly tired or even hungry. We were informed of the situation. Our bodies had left us for good and food was a thing of the past. Here, souls were driven by energy, as the Leviathan was, its hordes of dark oppressors leeching souls of every last drop. Only crazed shades remained of those unfortunate enough to meet with that fate; that was the moaning that followed in the wake of the horde. Given the chance, however, they would leech energy just as readily as any other. And all the while, the dark stones of this world were slowly draining us dry.

“Striking an arm off Cusion. That is quite a feat. Are you sure you weren't mistaken?” Auckland rubbed his hands on the polished rock of the table.

I figured Cusion was the proper name of the Leviathan that had swallowed us whole. “I'm sure.” My mouth stretched into a grim line of annoyance.

A too-wide smile flashed white teeth, inviting. “And the hound, what of it?”

“Shadow,” I said, and they relented. “Shadow led us to Cusion when we were out of leads. It had gone off to drain more energy from a place of power in our world. We'd thought we had a weapon to use against it, but it wasn't enough.”

“Ye be out of yer ever lovin' mind, Auckland. How does this make sense to yer bloated brain?”

“It seems there's some sort of inconsistency in time,” Simon said. “The passing of hours in our world can be decades in here.” He leaned forward in his rocky stool, tracing lines in the cold stone.

“That's quite a span.” Jas raised his eyebrows.

“We could live lifetimes in the passing of a day,” Kathryne said, stunning us all.

“This is unreal.” Zack rubbed fitfully at his eyes, perhaps trying to force himself into a different reality. It didn't do any good.

“The hound?” Auckland prodded.

“Which one?” Mary smiled.

“Ye have the peoples of Midreal in another vessel. The most powerful of our holds. Without the endless hordes beating on their doorstep, they threw off Cusion's influence,” A real grin followed from Gallick at this discovery. “They have the buggers right cornered! If only someone be chopping limbs off Cusion more often.” He chuckled.

“If only that were enough.” Kathryne swiped a strand of hair away from her face.

“Ye be stuck here with us scoundrels for a sliver of eternity, then.”

“If that hound was dragged into this place with you, it would sustain us indefinitely.” Avarice shined in Auckland's eyes. “This hold would be indebted to you for such a tribute.”

“I thought they were the best of you,” I said. “Why would you kill an ally?”

“Kill?” Auckland laughed, a dirty thing. “That would be a horrible waste. After all, we too need the energy of souls to sustain us. Without that power, we could never hope to survive. It is a necessary evil.” He shrugged, a man resigned to harsh cruelties.

I slyly sensed the depths of my shadow cast in the unnatural illumination of the cavern and sent mental reassurances that way. Shadow was with us, that was for sure. But I wasn't about to hand him over on a silver platter to our so-called saviors. As it seemed, when it came down to it, they were little different from the hordes that preyed on them. A brutal cycle indeed, fueled by the insatiable appetite of our Leviathan host.

I played it safe, following Jas' example and bending the truth to serve my purposes. There was a dangerous glint in Auckland's eyes. “The hound disappeared after it led us there. I don't think it fancied tussling with Cusion, as you named it. Hell, we didn't fancy it much ourselves.”

Auckland was satisfied with the answer, although a glimmer of disappointment remained. Gallick's eyes narrowed, but he stayed silent, as he had been throughout most of the exchange.

“
Absolute power corrupts absolutely
,” the words tumbled restlessly through my mind, a wispy half-formed thought by a drained Jeeves, startling me with his bout of wakefulness.

“What course do ye scoundrels set?” Gallick scanned the table. Auckland leaned forward, his interest renewed.

“We intend to kill Cusion and send him to his own dark abyss. If there's any justice in the world, it'll be in the deepest pits of some long forgotten hell.” I grinned.

“You pups think you can challenge the hordes and the power behind them?” Gallick half-chuckled, but his eyes were dancing.