The Darkslayer: Chaos at the Castle (Book 6) (47 page)

“Northside War
Room! There must be a tunnel in there!”

Hundreds of underlings lay dead, but where one fell, two more were coming. So far as Venir knew, the underlings never had a tunnel to the Outpost, but they could have
dug one over the past few years. Chopping away, he watched another giant fall, leaving only three.

“What was your plan
, Mood?”

“
Carve a way in and rescue you! Carve a way out to freedom!”

That wasn’t going to happen. The underlings covered the gates
, and many were watching the giants fall. Ropes, grappling hooks, and magic cords wrapped the giants’ legs and pinned their arms. Another giant pitched and stumbled, his head slamming into the wall. He roared while the underlings cut and stabbed at his back.

Thwack!

One of the Black Beards caught another ballista bolt in his back.

“Bone!”

“Tis a shame,” Mood said, still swinging.

“What!”

“We could have made it, if not for all the extra underlings.”

***

Fogle’s plan had unraveled. He’d had on his lips the same spell he’d used to fight Tundoor and his breed. It was lost. Now, mind addled, he tried to recall another spell before he was crushed, then eaten.

One foot from his nose, the giant’s fingers stopped. An enormous black shadow fell from the sky, shaking the ground.

WHUMP! WHUMP! SNORT!

Fogle’s heart skipped. Two citrine eyes bore into him.

Blackie!

***

A tide of flames ripped through the underlings.

Ka-Chow!

Ka-Chow!

Ka-Chow!

Bolts of lightning fell from the sky, blasting underlings off the ground. Every portion of the battlefield was either lit up in a spectacular array of fireworks or consumed by flame.

Venir’s attackers paused. The
ir hesitation was fatal.

Chop! Hack!

Two underlings fell.

“Head for the North Gate,” Venir said. “The south is on fire!”

In front of them, the giants waded through the flames like
they were water, stomping and chopping at every underling in sight. The black bodies were burning and dying by the dozens now, the others trying to flee.

Venir led Mood and the remaining Black Beards north under the catwalks, picking the
ir way through the dead.

“We can take
the drainage tunnel, if we can get to it.”

“MOOD!”

The loud voice shook his bones. The biggest giant of all, hefting a battle axe over its shoulder, was coming after them.

“I’VE GOT YOU NOW!”

***

The Black Dragon was the last thing Fogle expected to see, until he saw Cass, sitting on its back.

“Cass!” he yelled, but nothing cut through the chaos.

Inspired, Fogle launched a magic missile in
to the hesitating giant’s eye.

“ARGH!” it roared, stumbling backward.

He sent another one past Cass’s face.

She jerked back, pink eyes hot with anger before she caught
his gaze.

He waved
and ran toward her at full speed.

Black
ie whipped his serpentine neck in front of him, opening his mouth that was full of flames.

“No, Blackie!” Cass cried. “He’s on my side.”

***

One spell. One spell. One spell.

Boon soared off Blackie’s back and floated into the sky.

Above Outpost Thirty One, five underling magi hovered, attacking the giants. He let them have it. 

Ka-Chow! Ka-Chow! Ka-Chow! Ka-Chow! Ka-Chow!

Lightening ripped out of the clouds
and through their robes, sending them twirling and smoking to the ground. Below him, Blackie, flames shooting from his mouth, landed on the ground.

“Burn them! Burn them all, Blackie!”

***

The smoke was black and thick
, and the smell of burning flesh foul, but Venir and Mood waded through it, trying to avoid the giant.

“I CAN SMELL YOU
, MOOD!”

CRASH!

The giant was destroying everything in its path, trying to get at them.

“GIANTS!
SECURE… THE… GATES! THE… KING OF THE DWARVES… IS HERE! KILL HIM… AND… HIS KIN!”

Ka-Chow!

The giant’s face was lit up by a lightning strike.

Venir stopped and took a look.

“Are ye mad?” Mood said. “Keep moving.”

Venir gazed up at the man floating in the air.
It was the old wizard, Boon, scraggly hairs whipping in the wind, eyes filled with power.

Where’d he come from?

“PARLEY!” Boon said in a voice that was loud like thunder.

The giant, Haddad, rubbed
his temples. “WHAT, WIZARD? HAH, YOU… CANNOT… PARLEY… WITH US. WE… HAVE… YOU. ALL… OF…YOU.”

Venir tugged at Mood’s shoulder.
“Let’s move.”

Mood rose his hand up.
“Nay, let them parley, Venir. It buys us time, if nothing else.”

Behind Haddad the giant, another one had Barton slung over his shoulders. The deformed giant was kicking and screaming.

“TOYS! VENIR, GIVE ME MY TOYS! BARTON WON’T GO BACK WITH YOU, HADDAD! BARTON HATES YOU ALL! AND BLACKIE, TOO!”

“THE TOYS ARE GONE
, BARTON!” Boon said.

“LYING WIZARD TRICK BARTON JUST LIKE VENIR DID BEFORE! BARTON WILL SMASH VENIR. CRUNCH HIS BONES. HE IS A LIAR!”

Haddad the giant reached back and walloped Barton in the head.

“NO MORE… TROUBLE FROM YOU… TEASER OF DRAGONS!”

Barton’s hand went to his eye. He started to cry.

“HE STARTED IT!
”

“SIIIIILENCE!” Haddad said, shaking everything on the ground. “WIZARD
, I OFFER THIS! I TAKE PRISONER THE BLOOD RANGER KING, MOOD. BLACKIE THE DRAGON AND THE TINY GIANT,” He pointed at Barton, “MUST COME HOME.” He spat a giant gob onto the ground. “THE REST CAN LEAVE.”

Another giant stepped forward
, squeezing a black beard between his fingers.

Venir swore the black-faced dwarf was purple.

***

Giants are liars. But are they good liars
?

Remaining still, Fogle’s eyes were transfixed on his grandfather
, who was negotiating with the giants. Out of nowhere, a pair of warm pale arms wrapped around his waist.

“Miss me
?” Cass said. She kissed him on the cheek.

He struggled to choke out the words.
“I thought I’d lost you, Cass. I’m so—”

She put her finger to his lips.

“Shush, Fogle, I’m alright.” She gave him a reassuring embrace. “And Blackie, believe it or not, has been quite good to me.”

He glanced over at the dragon. There was jealousy
in those yellow eyes.

“But, how?”

“I’m a druid, remember. I can communicate with all living things. And Blackie and I,” she said, nodding at the dragon with great admiration in her pink eyes, “we understand one another.”

Fogle chewed on his lip. He’
d seen that look in the eyes of women before. Her arms around his waist had already slackened.
No. This can’t be happening.
What had Venir told him on the trail before? ‘
Bish is full of surprises. And women even more. Get used to it.’

“You’re going with the dragon
, aren’t you? Over me—A man!”

She caressed his face, looked up into his eyes
, and said, “Oh Fogle, you knew it could never last, me and you.”

It tugged at his chest, but he knew she was right. The two of them couldn’t be any more different, but what they had shared had been wonderful. He didn’t want to l
et that go.

“I never really thought about it. I
was too worried whether you were alive or dead.” He stepped away from her a little. “And now,” he glared at Blackie, “you choose a beast over me?”

“Don’t be that way, Fogle.”

“What way? Sane?”

“
No,” she said. Her cheeks reddened. “A grown man acting like spoiled child who lost his favorite toy. Shame on you, Fogle. I’m not yours to claim. I never was.”

“I risked my life for you! I fought that dragon
! And this is the thanks I get? Come on, Cass!”

“Oh Fogle, don’t be so
dramatic,” she said, walking away and onto Blackie’s back. “It’s not manly. An adventurer should know that.” She sighed. “At least you’ll know what to do with the next pretty woman you meet.”

Fogle turned away.

Of all the ridiculous things.

***

“Here,” Mood said to Venir, handing over his axes.

“For what?” Venir said, feeling a little foolish for some reason.

“Cause you’ll be needin’ them, I’m certain. I’ll not where I’m going.”

“You can’t be serious, Mood?”
Venir said.  He looked at the giant that talked with Boon.  He couldn’t understand it. He turned back to Mood. “You’re the King of the Dwarves. You can’t leave your people.”

“It’s better to be a live King than a dead one.
” He winked. “And don’t worry; they can’t hold me forever. I’ll outlive them first.”

Venir took the
axes. Mood walked out to the giant. “Alright, Haddad! I’ll come with you, but all my dwarves and people stay!”

Chongo stammered his paws on the ground
. Black tails flicked back and forth like whips. His big jaws snapped.

Venir got in between both heads and
hugged Chongo’s necks. The dog would do anything for him. He’d do anything for the dog. But things had changed. He could feel it in his bones. Without the armament, the underlings would catch up with him sooner or later. They would catch Chongo too, if he stayed with Venir.

He couldn’t protect his dog. The dog couldn’t protect him.

“I’ve got to let you go, Boy.” He rubbed his forehead on Chongo’s big chest. “Go with Mood.” He pointed at the dwarf.

Mood
stood, shoulders stooped, holding his side a little.

“
Mood needs you, Boy. He’s getting old.”

Both
of Chongo’s heads licked Venir one last time.

Venir rubbed his dog
behind all four ears. “Take care of him, Chongo. If anyone can lead the old curmudgeon out of there, you can.” He hugged the muscular necks once more.

Chongo, with one head looking backward, walked away. Venir wiped the blood from the corner of his eye.

“Dog come with Barton? Good. Barton like that.” Barton sighed in the clutches of two other giants, like the child he was. He struggled in vain. His chin dipped. They were bigger and stronger than him.

The other giant set Eethum down
, and one by one the giants faded into mist, along with Chongo, Barton, and Mood, whose thick arms crossed his bearded chest.

W
hump! Whump! Whump!

Cass and the dragon
lifted off the ground and into the sky. Fogle’s head was down, but Boon waved goodbye to Cass, a big smile on his face. Only three men, a handful of dwarves, smoke, fire and carnage remained.

“Now what?” Fogle said. “Is it over?”

“Or has it just begun?” Boon cried out, pointing.

The underlings that had fled earlier were coming back now.
There were well over a hundred.

Venir readied his axes and dug into the ground.

“So be it, men!” He yelled out at the top of his lungs, “RELEASE THE HOUNDS OF CHAOS AND CRY BISH!”

“Wait, Venir. There has to be another way to get out of here,” Fogle suggested.

“To the last, Grandson! The time for a final stand has come!” Boon said, lightning racing up his arms.

Eethum the Blood Ranger shouted over all of them.

“Over there! Look!”

One of the Black Beards was waving them over from the entrance to the War Room.

Venir growled. “That’s where the underlings came from earlier.”

“Well, the
y’re not coming from there now!” Fogle started running.

“Slat! Let’s
go then!”

Dashing across the courtyard, the small party barreled through the doors, stepping over dead underlings, ignoring the ones that still burned.

The Black Beard led them through a panel in the wall that Venir had never noticed before and down a wide set of carved out steps. At the bottom, a long corridor ten feet tall and just as wide led to another door, which was open.

“Fool
! What does this do, lead to the Underland? I’m not going in.” Fogle turned away.