The Darkslayer: Chaos at the Castle (Book 6) (52 page)

Verbard’s fading face was gloating from above
, sneering at him and his grandfather.

“I’m disappointed. I thought the pair of you would
have more power that I could store in my orb. But the power I have should be enough to bring my brother back, once more, if I must.”

Glitch!

A dark bloody sword burst into Verbard’s chest and disappeared.

Glitch!

Another blade followed. In and out.

“No,”
Verbard said, incredulous, turning on his captor. “Where did you come from?

The man in the cowl with
the glowing eyes stood tall, swords held in his thick wrists.

“Are you
The Darkslayer?” Verbard said, splitting up blood and sagging to the floor.

Creed swung
both swords at once.

Slice!

Verbard’s head slid from his shoulders.

“I guess I am, Underling.”

Fogle clutched at his chest, gasping.

Boon was doing the s
ame. The old man, coughing, reached over and grabbed the Orb of Imbibing.

“Grab my hand
, Fogle, so I can restore you. Quickly!”

***

Melegal whipped out the Sisters and struck Tonio in the back of the knee, tearing out tendon and flesh.

“What? You skinny flea
!” Tonio teetered, losing his balance.

Venir bull rushed the man onto the floor and started to
‘ground and pound’ him, one blow after the other.

Tonio swatted the blows off and
clutched at Venir’s throat.

Stab!

Melegal pinned one of his swords through Tonio’s shoulder. 

Tonio caught him by the ankle and jerked him down.

Melegal tried to twist away from Tonio’s grasp.

Snap.

His ankle cracked.

“You break like a twig!”

***

Venir was drunk with battle. He punched, kicked and clawed, almost oblivious to his opponent, but the arrogant tone in Tonio’s voice kept him going.

“Ahhh!”

Melegal, his
best friend and confident, cried out.

Tonio had the man’s leg and still hung onto Venir’s throat, holding them both in his vise-like grip.

Venir’s instincts took over. He fumbled for a weapon. Found his long knife strapped to his leg. With both hands, he raised it over his head and drove it straight into Tonio’s heart.

Crunch!

“That won’t work, Vee-Man!” Tonio said. His grip was getting stronger. “I have no heart!”

Venir twisted
the knife inside Tonio’s chest.

Tonio’s eyes widened. “Urk!”

Tonio’s body shuddered.

“Grab an axe
, Melegal!” Venir said, wrapping his arms around the monster, holding him to the ground.

Melegal hopped over towards the axe
. “And do what?”

“Chop
his head off!”

Melegal caught something in the corner of his eye.

I have a better idea.

***

Tonio slung Venir off and ripped the knife from his chest. “You already killed me! I’ll make you sorry!”

Venir, huffing for breath
, was too slow.

Tonio closed in
, stabbing at him.

Melegal! What are you doing!

The thief was fooling with the underling on the blood
-sucking floor.

Venir tried to dodge. Tried to block.

Glitch!

His own hunting knife caught him in the leg.

Twisting away, Tonio ripped a hunk out of Venir’s back.

Slash!

Getting cut to pieces but still standing on his feet, Venir watched Tonio’s final blow start down.

The m
onster’s split face had a cruel smile on it. “Time to die, Vee-Man.”

Tonio stopped, not moving a muscle, the bloody blade no longer coming down
, a surprised look on his face.

“Venir,” Melegal yelled, “catch!” The thief tossed him Mood’s axe. “Be quick about it!”

Venir snatched it out of the air and whirled full force into Tonio’s neck.

Slice!

Tonio’s head bounced off the floor and rolled. His big body collapsed on the ground.

Venir collapsed as well.
He snorted for air. Tried to shake the spots from his eyes. He reached over and pulled his knife from Tonio’s grip.

“I knew I should have
killed that Royal brat in the first place.”

***

Pinching his nose, Melegal adjusted the dark cap on his head with the other hand, admiring Tonio’s’ corpse. He wiped the blood that dripped from his nose.
That was close.

On the floor, Venir looked as bad as he’d ever seen him. It tugged at his heart a little.
Big lout.

He helped Venir back to his feet.

“You know, you should have listened to me—”

“Don’t start, Me.”

CHAPTER 75

“So we all agree then,” Boon said, standing in the alcove, eyeing the
Keys on the pegs.

They were all there except one, which Melegal believed Jarla had.

Fogle didn’t care much either way. The only thing that mattered was that the underlings didn’t have the Keys. He looked back over at the Stone Wall he’d produced. It was still holding. Behind it were―he had no idea how many underlings.

T
he party all knew now that despite their victory today, the underlings were penetrating the City. The battle for Bone had just begun.

“Shouldn’t we destroy the
Keys and the chamber?” Fogle suggested.

Boon rubbed his brow
. “That’s up to you, Fogle. Take a Key and do with it what you like, but remember, it always leads back here. And as I understand it, the room is here now, but it might be elsewhere later.”

“You mean it moves?” Melegal said, leaning against the wall, arms folded across his chest.

“That’s how I understand it. But, I could be wrong. It might just stay here forever.”

“And the big Key,” Melegal said, eyeing the Key on the center peg, “who gets that? Does it work all the doors? Or just one?”

“I don’t think we have time for that now
,” Boon said, twisting his beard. “The goal is to get the Keys out of the chamber and away from the underlings. Once we are free of this, you can do what you wish. Keep them or destroy them.”

“Will you destroy yours
?” Melegal said.

“Well, er,” Boon added, “that’s my concern.
I think it might come in handy if I get stuck back in the Under-Bish.” He looked at Venir. “It could increase our chance of freeing Mood from down there.”

Melegal
had already told them what his Key did. It would take him wherever he wanted to go, but it always led back to the chamber, where he would have to start all over again. Certainly the underlings would soon have a heavy guard on the chamber. He looked at Venir.

“What do you think?”

“Let’s take them to the furnace and destroy them.” Venir nodded over at the bodies of Tonio, Catten and Verbard. The underlings were eyeless now. “Or,” he said, eyeing the sack that hung over Creed’s shoulder, “we can drop them in there?”

“Hmmm…” Boon rubbed his chin. “I have another idea. Creed, would you
oblige me and open the sack?”

Creed
, cowl down, tossed the sack over to Boon. “Open it yourself.”

Boon’s eyes widened
.

S
o did Venir’s.

“Fogle, let me have the staff.
”

Taking it out of
his backpack, Fogle tossed the staff to Boon, who dropped it into the sack.

“What did you do that for?” Creed said.

Boon stuck his arm inside, down to the elbow, and withdrew nothing.

“Care to try
?” Boon held the sack out to Venir.

He took a breath and a step forward. He longed to have the armament back
, but he longed for his own freedom too. “I’ll pass.”

Boon handed the sack back to Creed
. “Try not to get too used to it, whoever you are.”

***

Creed couldn’t keep his gaze off Venir. The big man looked like he’d been chewed up by a dragon and spit out, but was used to it. Still, the dark circles under the man’s bright eyes concerned him. He had the look of a man who’d faced every horror and form of death hundreds of times. He was elemental. Forged in iron.

“So, you used to have this
?” Creed said as the others squabbled over the Keys.

“Aye, but it was different, as different as you and me.
”

“You like women
?” Creed said, his voice deep and rugged.

Venir eyed him.

“You like wine?”

“Grog.”

“You like fighting?”

“You just described every soldier in Bish.”

“We’re not so different, you and I.”

Venir
turned and faced him. Looked him up and down.

“I don’t think so.”

Creed, bigger than most men, felt small in that moment.

“Maybe one day we’ll share our tales together
,” Creed said, smiling at Lorda. “Chat with some ladies. Share some wine … er … grog.”

“
No doubt you’ll be hearing tales about me,” Venir looked down at him, patting his shoulder. “That much is certain.” Venir coughed a laugh. “And you’ll need more than a goblet of wine to deal with that mantle.”

Creed nodded, extending his hand. Venir took it in his. Hard as a rock. Like a vice. Creed grimaced a little.

“We’ve come to a decision,” Boon said, snagging the Keys from the pegs. Keeping the big one for himself, he handed Keys to Eethum, Melegal, Fogle, Venir, Creed and Lorda. “Just give us a few minutes.”

Fogle sat down and started reading from the
spellbook while Boon held the glowing Orb of Imbibing in his hand. It pulsated with mystic life.

Minutes later, Boon said, “We’re ready.”

Fogle said, “Melegal, lead the way.”

“Where are we going, Me?”
Venir said.

“The furnace.”

Venir walked over and pulled Tonio’s shriveled head up off the sucking floor. “Good idea. We better burn this.”

Melegal opened the door with the
Key he was accustomed to.

“Everybody inside,” Boon said.

One by one they entered, leaving the throbbing orb behind.

“And what is that for
?” Eethum asked, pulling the door closed.

“It should destroy the chamber,” Fogle answered.

“And possibly the castle,” Boon added.

Lorda gasped as the door closed.

***

The stone wall Fogle Bone
had created finally evaporated, to the glee of a stairwell full of underlings. Each of them watched the orb spinning in the room, getting bigger and bigger and bigger. Spinning faster, it started to whine and crackle. The underlings’ gem-speckled eyes flittered back and forth at one another, gaping in confusion.

F
inally, one said in underling, “Flee!”

***

Lord Almen was tattooed with long bolts sticking out of his legs and chest by the dozen. He kissed his mystic ring. The assault on him had stopped, and he crawled over to the door on top of the keep. Shaking and bleeding, he pulled it open.

I’ll live! I’ll avenge!

KA-BOOM!

The entire keep shook and then collapsed. Lord Almen fell through the roof that opened up, landing at the bottom in time to watch the rest of the keep collapse on top of him.

***

One by one, they tossed their Keys into the furnaces that fired beneath the busy streets of Bone. Hot and fiery flames reflected all over their shadow-cast and oily faces.

Boon pitched t
wo pair of underling eyes in as well. One pair silver, the other pair gold.

Ven
ir took one last look at Tonio’s face, his mind eating at him. Had one isolated incident been the start of it all? What would have happened if he never fought Tonio to begin with?

“You aren’t thinking, are you?” Melegal said.

Tonio’s grey eyes popped open.

“Vee-Man!”

Lorda jumped, but the others remained still. “Tonio,” she said, extending her hand and touching her son’s face. An odd silence fell.

“Mother,” Tonio said
, black eyes returning to normal.