Messenger of the Dark Prophet (The Bowl of Souls: Book Two) (38 page)

Ewzad Vriil noticed Kenn’s discomfort and giggled again. “Ooh! If I am right, Hamford, you get a raise.” He turned and strode toward a door in the back of the throne room. “Come along, come along! There is one last test and then we will see.”

Rudfen urged them forward and the brothers complied. The door led to a dank curving stairwell that Kenn could tell was part of the old keep because of the moldy smell. He looked uneasily up at Hamford who just shrugged in response and descended the steps behind the duke.

Torches lined the walls of the stairwell, filling it with flickering light. The walls and steps were covered in a greenish mildew. This made them more than a little slippery, and forced Kenn to concentrate on his footing. His weakened leg muscles ached in protest at the exertion and as the stairwell curved deeper and deeper into the ground, Kenn wondered how he was going to be able to make it back up. Meanwhile Ewzad Vriil practically skipped down the stairs, mumbling and muttering to himself in an excited manner.

They passed several doorways and Kenn was pretty sure he heard cries of pain and misery. As they left them behind, he breathed a sigh of relief that their destination didn't seem to be at any of those doors.

The duke finally came to a stop at a door that was different than the others. While the other doors they had passed were made of stout wood and reinforced with iron, this one was made entirely of solid iron with arcane runes etched into it.

“Master, you're taking us to your inner sanctum?” Hamford asked, terror in his eyes.

Ewzad laughed. “No, no, Hamford. My sanctum has been moved elsewhere. This place has been turned to other purposes. You see this is where I keep my best work. Exciting isn’t it? Yes!” He touched the door as if to open it, but stopped and turned back to the two brothers.

“My, I almost forgot. Before I let you in here I must be sure of your loyalty. Hamford, I know that you wouldn’t dare cross me. But you,” He stared at Kenn intensely, causing the skinny man's blood to run cold. “I don't know you.”

“I, I . . .” Kenn stammered.

“He is my brother, Master,” Hamford put in.

“Silence!”
The wizard snarled. Hamford recoiled in terror and cowered against the damp stone wall.

Ewzad slid up to Kenn. Though they were of about the same height and build, the sheer power that radiated from the wizard made him seem to tower over the man. “Why are you here?”

Kenn tried to exert control over
himself
, but his voice still quavered. “I-I am here to get this curse removed.”

“Is that so?” Ewzad shook his head.
“No-no.
You are scared of this demon that hunts you, that much is true, yes. But there is more . . .” The wizard looked puzzled for a moment, but then a contended smile crossed his face. “Yes, I know why you came with your brother. I know your type.”

“Sir?”
Kenn gulped.

“I look at your ragged clothes and the stink of despair around you and it doesn't suit you. No, no it doesn't. I see you as a man who craves more than a simple life. You are no farmer, no laborer. You need more. Don’t you?”

Kenn nodded. “Yes sir.”

“You are tired of living a poor life, a useless life,” The wizard crooned.
“Yes-yes.
That is why you came with your brother. Isn’t it? You knew his master was great, but when you found out that I was the duke, I bet your mouth watered. Yes, you needed to be where the power was, didn’t you?”

“Yes.” Kenn replied. The fear was muted by hunger. His voice was strong and steady now.

“Well, the power is here!” Ewzad Vriil raised his hands. The torchlight glittered off of the rings he wore as his fingers twisted about. “I have much to offer a man with ambition.
Money, yes.
Power,
yes
. . . But in return . . . In return you must swear fealty to me.”

Kenn grinned as he fell to one knee. “I am but your servant, Master.”

 
“Very well.”
The wizard rushed forward and seized Kenn’s head in his slithering hands.

“No!” Hamford called out, knowing the price that his brother would pay; the price that he himself had paid, but it was too late.

Kenn screamed as magical energies invaded his body. Pain shot from his head down through every nerve of his body. It was over quickly. By the time the echoes of his scream faded in the curving stairwell, the wizard stepped back.

“You are marked, Kenn
Dollie
,” the wizard snickered. “You are mine.” He turned his attention back to the door.

 Kenn was suddenly filled with self loathing as if every tissue in his body had dredged through filth. He bent over and retched, though nothing came out. He rested his forehead on the cold wet stone for a moment. The feeling quickly faded.

Whatever the wizard had done, it had taken most of the energy out of him. He felt different. Kenn reached inside of his shirt and felt his shoulder where the demon had cut him the night before, but the cut was gone. He was healed.

“I am sorry brother . . .” Hamford moaned.

Kenn got to his feet and looked at Hamford, who actually had tears in his eyes. Kenn didn't understand why. Deep inside himself he could feel the mark that the wizard had spoken of, a kernel of power. Kenn smiled at his brother. Hamford’s gaze dropped to the floor in response.

“Now we can continue,” Ewzad Vriil pronounced. He waved a finger at the door and with a click, it opened. “This is going to be so interesting, don’t you think?”

An awful stench permeated the air that flowed through the door into the stairwell. It reeked of death and something hard to place.
Something . . . monstrous.

 Both brothers covered their noses. It didn’t seem to bother the wizard though. Ewzad Vriil breathed in deeply and whistled as he entered the doorway.

Just past the door was a short hallway with a wooden door on either side. There were no torches from this point on. The light came from glowing orbs mounted on the walls every few feet.

The short hall opened into a large chamber whose floors and walls were covered with the same green substance as in the stairwell. The chamber was empty but for two thick stone pillars rising in the center of the room, between them was a single stone desk that looked as if it had grown up out of the floor. Piles of bound leather books spilled across the surface.

Several of the books lay open and Kenn could see copious amounts of notes taken in messy handwriting. Ewzad noticed his interest and stopped for a moment, an eager grin plastered on his face.

“Wondering what this room is for? Yes-yes, of course you are.” He stood by the desk and opened his arms out wide, his squirming fingers making nightmarish shadows on the floor around him.

“This, my servants, is where I create! Yes, I have created masterworks here. Oh, such beautiful-beautiful creatures, ‘my babies’ I call them. And though there has been much-much too much trial and error,” He eyed the piles of books on the desk. “My greatest achievements are just on the other side of this room. Come!”

Kenn looked up at the ceiling and saw thick chains threaded through iron rings leading from the two doorways at the beginning of the chamber to disappear into the walls just before the long hallway at the end.

Ewzad entered a hallway lined with iron doors that were fitted with sliding slots so that a jailer could see in or so that food could be passed through. The smells leaching from these cells combined to form the stench that flavored the air. As they passed each door, Kenn could hear eerie sounds issuing from within. He shuddered to think of what might lie behind them.

At the end of the hall was one final door and Ewzad Vriil stopped in front of it, grinning madly. He bobbed on his toes, clapping his hands in excitement as he turned to the brothers.

“This, my servants,
this
is my favorite creation! Oh, oh, but I am so excited to show her off for you!” His giggle was all the more eerie for its childishness. He reached for the slot on the door that was about eye level, but stopped before sliding it open. “You may want to stand back.”

The wizard slowly slid the slot open and waited a moment before peeping in. “My darling, Talon! Ooh, sweet precious, wake up so that our visitors may see you.” He turned back to them. “Dear Hamford, is this your demon?”

Hamford gulped and slowly peered in. There was a single dim glowing orb mounted on the wall inside and the darkness was barely pierced by the light. Huddled in the corner with its back facing him was what at first glance appeared to be a bald-headed feminine
figure.
Its skin
gleamed
a light green color in the light and it took a while for him to realize that it was covered in scales. A tail moved in the darkness. It seemed to be eating something.

It paused and slowly turned to look at him.

Kenn jumped as, with a shout of horror, Hamford leapt back from the door just as something crashed into it from the inside. Kenn gasped as he saw a mouthful of large, razor sharp teeth snap at the slot. Droplets of blood sprayed through the slot from whatever it had been eating.

Hamford stumbled backward and fell, narrowly avoiding the long thin arm that shot forth from the opening. A hand tipped with wicked claws slashed through the air, before gouging tiny furrows into the iron on the outside of the door with a horrible screeching noise.

“That's it! That's the demon!” Hamford shouted. He turned to the wizard with fear in his eyes. “How did you capture it?”

“You fool!” Ewzad snapped. “You don't recognize her? This is the raptoid I found in the desert a year ago.” He began to pace, ignoring the hissing creature in the cell behind him. “I knew it! From the moment you described how it cut you, I knew it. Sometimes my darling Talon cuts her prey for days before she kills them. Not only does it weaken them, but it adds to their terror!”

The brothers looked at each other nervously. It was obvious that they still didn’t understand.

“Oh, my.
Must I explain everything? The so-called demon that has been following you is obviously the raptoid that got away!
Hee
,
hee
! And you have brought it to me!” He clapped his hands together again.

“You actually want that beast brought here?” Kenn asked.

“Beast?”
The wizard giggled. “No, you don’t understand. Even I didn’t understand a year ago when we went to the desert in search of the raptoids. No, I had hoped that the healing properties and reflexes of the dragon blood in such a creature would make them wonderful guards. But what I found when I brought this beautiful being home . . .
Ohh
she was much better than what I expected. What I created that day in the desert was not the perfect guard, but the perfect assassin.”

“Assassin?”

“Yes! At first, I tested her out on a troop of goblins. She crept through the trees and killed two dozen of them in a single night. When my beautiful creation came back to me, she didn’t have a single scratch! And now, now that I have perfected her, I cannot be escaped! I cannot be crossed! Whenever a prisoner runs away, or a guard deserts, I simply send her out after them.” The wizard giggled again.

“She has never failed me. Have you dear?” He reached out and clasped the monster’s hand, which was still swiping at the air in front of the iron door. Ewzad’s fingers entwined with hers and to the brother’s astonishment, she calmed down. “See, I have nothing to fear from her. She is but an extension of my will. With her I reach out and kill anyone who dares to go against me. This is why I call her my Talon. And now, soon, I shall have another one just like her. Ooh, this will be fun!”

Kenn gulped. Suddenly he realized that becoming the wizard’s servant wasn’t such a good idea.

“Oh, Kenn.
I know what you are thinking. You are having second thoughts aren’t you?”

“N-no, Master-I,” Ken started, but the wizard ignored his stammering.

“Your brother already knows this, but you are still new. When I told you that you were mine, dear Kenn I meant it. No, there is no escape for you. For anyone with those thoughts, there is now only my Talon.” He smiled at Kenn as he caressed Talon’s scaled arm. “But I don’t need to tell you
that,
do I? You are loyal now aren’t you?”

Kenn hurriedly bowed. “Yes, Master. Of course, Master.”

“Good-good, because she has developed a fondness for human flesh.”
He pulled Talon’s clawed hand up and kissed it. “You didn’t like it much at first though, did you? No, no, but after a few weeks without being fed anything else, you started to love it! Oh, yes you did!”