Victor Deus (Heritage of the Blood Book 1) (39 page)

“Aye Tallion, that I be.” Dunnagan said, his tone as threatening as Ashur's posture.

Tallion then turned his gaze to Shawnrik and hissed. “Then who would that make you? You who travels with such infamous criminals?”

“Criminals?” Shawnrik asked, no need to hide his incredulity.

“It's their twisted sense of self. There are always two sides of an argument. To them, we are criminals. To the Protectorate, we are heroes. It's all a matter of perception. I suppose that they consider most of their craven butchers heroes. I however have never killed any women and children.”

“Ah, well then, I suppose that would make me a criminal in training, yet to be charged with a crime.” Shawnrik grinned, and Dunnagan snorted in appreciation.

“Well then, we will have to let you rot here for a short while until we figure out what to do with you.” As Tallion turned to leave Shawnrik knew that they had gotten to the Assassin. The first tell was that the man was no longer moving silently, his claws making a quiet clatter as they connected with the stone beneath his feet. The second was the slamming outer door to their holding area.

“Well, we know we aren't talking to whoever is in charge around here yet.” Ashur sighed.

“We do?” Shawnrik asked, wondering how his mentor had come to that realization.

“Yes, of course. Dracair have insatiable egos, Dracairei being the worst of the lot on that front. He would not have said
we
so much if he was the one in charge. By including himself as someone who could make decisions he was overstating his own importance. It will be interesting to find out who is running the show. This is quite the operation I think.”

“Aye,” Dunnagan agreed.

“For now though, we might as well train.” Ashur said looking around the small cave-like cell.

“Train?” Shawnrik asked.

“Yes, train. Just because we are cooped up in here doesn't mean we should let ourselves deteriorate. Pull that large rock out of the corner their Shawnrik. It looks like it weighs quite a bit.”

Shawnrik groaned.

*****

Year 3043 AGD

Month of Ragnós

Second Fourth day

Southeast of Asylum

“What do you think they're doing?” Za'erath whispered.

“My guess is looking for people like us brother.” Za'kereth smirked as his twin glared at him.

Victor had quickly picked up on the differences between the Grey Elf twins. The usual way to tell the two apart was fairly simple, Za'erath's robes were a lighter shade of gray than Za'kereth's. However Victor had noticed that the two would occasionally switch outfits to see how long it took someone to notice. The two were very good at affecting each others tones and mannerisms, however there were several places in which their mimicry was incomplete.

Za'kereth tended to be the livelier of the two, his mind always flitting from one place to the next. To someone like Victor who had been taught what to look for, it was easy to notice how this mindset effected the way that the Mage moved and spoke. The ends of sentences and some of his words were often clipped, or drifted off as if his mind was already at work on several other problems. If he were engaged in conversation he would often be looking through the person he was talking to, that was of course if he could be bothered to look at the person at all.

Za'erath however seemed to find the most mundane things completely fascinating. If you talked to him you could easily get the feeling that what you were saying was the most important thing that had ever been said on the face of Terrazil. His movements tended to flow, or lazily flutter from one motion to the next. When he spoke it tended to be short but thoughtful. Victor also thought that Za'erath seemed to have a slightly healthier shine to his ashen skin than did his brother.

Victor was glad for the bi-play from the brothers however, because it took the focus off of himself for a short time. The stealthiest members of the squad were currently spying on a Dracair patrol in the valley below, and Victor was sure that the others could see his hand shaking. This was the first time he had actually seen the dreaded Dracair in the flesh, and in that moment he thought that all of the stories he had heard growing up had not done them justice.

The two warriors, which he knew from conversations around the campfires, stood about seven and a half feet tall, and were referred to as Dracani. One of the warriors was a creamy white, and the other was pitch black. Keeping their height in mind, Victor figured that the two warriors were probably the most powerful looking humanoids he had yet to see. It was difficult to keep that thought in mind as warriors stood in the shadow of the third member of their patrol.

Having read as many books as he could find on the subject of the Dracair Victor thought he would be ready when he saw his first Magnus Dracani, he was wrong. The creature below had to be at least eleven feet tall, it's size making the two large Dracani Warriors seem tiny in comparison. From the books he had read, he figured the Magnus Dracani would look more like a young wingless Dragon, but what sat at the bottom of the hill could not be described so easily.

The main body of the thing certainly looked like a young dragon or drake, having four legs, scaled skin, and razor sharp claws. That is where the similarities ended. A torso came up from the front of the creature as if someone had tried to create a Draconic centaur. Unlike a centaur however, the torso looked more like the Dracair warriors than any human. Where the warriors had been bred to be outstanding fighters, the Magnus Dracani had been created and bred to be the strongest thing on the field. Victor shuddered as he thought about what must have gone into the creation of such a creature.

“That thing is a monster.” Victor whispered.

“That it is me lil friend.” Sergeant Mcdowell whispered back. Victor wondered for a moment how the dwarf could be so sneaky with hair that red.

“The first time I saw one I nearly ran away.” Corporal Jameson whispered as they began to back their way off the hill to discuss their next move.

“Are we going to attack?” Victor asked quietly.

“Yes” Nim replied. “I think we are in a good spot for it too. Elandria, do you think you can hit one of them from here?”

“If not, I can get it close enough to get their attention at least.

“Where are ya aiming?” Drake, the groups primary scout asked.

Understanding the motivation behind the question Elandria rolled her eyes. “Oh, I suppose the left eye on the Mag.”

At her announcement a quiet debate started up amongst the men, and Victor could tell that they were betting on whether or not she could make the shot. While this was going on Victor watched Elandria string her bow, marveling at how a lithe half elf could string her mighty longbow with such apparent ease. In the background Victor saw the group's Battlesorcerer Trenton Grimbash moving apart from the group as he began to work on his Shapings.

“Ye' gonna' shoot Elly, or just stand there lookin' at the scenery?” Rundig, whom the squad affectionately referred to as the walking armory because of the amount of weaponry he carried around, was obviously ready for the engagement to come. Victor also thought that he had heard the Dwarf say that she would hit the wrong eye, so hurrying her into making her shot was in his best interests.

“Shut it Rundig.” Eliandra said as she moved to the top of the hill, in full view of the patrol below should they happen to look in this direction. In one smooth motion she withdrew and arrow from her quiver, nocked it, drew back and shot.

Before meeting the impressive half-elf Victor would have assumed that the shot was impossible. After having watched the archer practice her craft over the last ten days he thought that if anyone could make the shot it was this petite warrior. The Magnus Dracani had eyes about the same size as Victor's head, however those eyes were currently a few hundred yards away. There were quite a few things that could go wrong to mess up the shot. If the fletching wasn't perfect the arrow wouldn't fly true, if a strong wind came up suddenly the arrow could be knocked off course, or the Magnus Dracani could move in a manner that she had not predicted. As the arrow flew through the air Victor watched as Elandria carefully unstrung her bow, and placed it carefully back into it's case. She was pulling out a different bow when a bellowing roar sent every bird within a mile into flight.

“I'll be a bearded gnome.” Rundig said as he handed a small pouch to the Cleric Bredwin. “Nice shot lass.”

“As if shot by the hand of Ragnós himself.” Bredwin stated, no hint of the brogue that Victor had begun to associate with Dwarves was apparent as the Cleric spoke.

Several others on the hill were exchanging coins as the two Dracani Warriors pointed in their direction and began running uphill, moving from side to side enough to be a hard target for any more arrows from the party. The speed with which the creatures traversed the terrain surprised Victor. Their strides seeming more like small leaps to the young man.

Victor quickly moved back from the ledge, trying to get a distance away from the squad that he thought should be fairly safe from the coming battle. By the time he turned around and drew his dagger the fight was already beginning. The two Dracani managed to leap onto the escarpment with little effort, their massive swords already drawn. Victor noticed the two Grey Elves had backed away from the fight as well, standing just in front of the Half-Ogre Battlemage who seemed deep in concentration.

Had someone chanced upon the little battle at that moment, it may have looked like the two gray elves and the Half-ogre behind them had fallen asleep, but Victor knew from the power that the three were pulling in and shaping that they were very busy indeed. Victor looked back to the battle just as Rundig took a shallow cut from the tip of the black Dracair Warrior's blade. Rundig was one of the few warriors that Victor had met who utilized armor for protection. the Protectorate had long ago learned that the best way to not die when fighting the Dracair, or any of their minions was to simply not get hit. There were few materials strong enough to hold up against the attacks of these massive creatures. That being said, there were a few known alloys that could stand up to such beatings, and Rundig was one of the few people who knew how to make armor out of such, as evidenced by the next swing of the Dracair warrior as it rung the Dwarfs armor like a bell. The vibrations that ran up the sword from the impact made the warrior step back, and opened him up for the attacks of the other members of the squad.

Victor could barely track the action of the battle, but he watched as Elandria rolled out of the melee and began to carefully pick her shots at the two Dracani. The fight had only been underway for moments, and already there were many wounds on the two Dracair warriors. Watching the battle, Victor couldn't help but feel like something was missing, and a moment later he realized that the screams had stopped from the other side of the hill. Another moment passed, and he could feel the ground shaking as the Magnus Dracani began to run up hill towards the fight. This seemed to be the cue for the Battlesorcerer Grimbash as suddenly began to swell in size.

Victor saw the head of the Magnus Dracani as it reached the escarpment and tried to pull itself up. It's bulk was too great however, and it would have to break enough of the wall to make it up the hill, or go around so that it could enter the melee. Out of the corner of his eye Victor thought he saw Nim move in from behind the white Dracani and stab the beast in the neck, it had happened so quickly that Victor wasn't sure it had really happened. The creature faltered shortly thereafter, giving Sergeant McDowell time to set up the kill. The Fiery haired Dwarf used the back of his axe to hit the Dracani's knee, which caused it to lose its footing, and then shortly thereafter its head. The Dracani's head made a shrill cry before it hit the ground that sent a shiver down Victor's spine.

After a few hits the Magnus Dracani seemed to decide that it would be easier to make its way around to the top of the hill rather than smash its way through the rock. About the same time the Magnus Dracani decided to go around, the Half-ogre seemed to have finished his shaping. Now twice the size he had been, both in height, and in muscle mass the Battlesorcerer began to run, his course taking him to where the Magnus Dracani would soon be coming to the top of the mountain.

As the massive Dracair came around the corner at the end of the escarpment he was met by a humanoid figure that was taller than itself charging straight at him. The Magnus Dracani's s steps faltered momentarily, obviously not expecting to see anything that it would consider a viable threat at the top of the hill, but it recovered quickly and began to charge the massive Half-Ogre. Seeing that the Magnus Dracani was going to come to him the Battlesorcerer slowed his steps and prepared to meet the Magnus Dracani head on. The two titanic figures were about forty yards away from where the rest of the squad was now whittling away at the remaining Dracani. As the Magnus Dracani charged, the Battlesorcerer seemed to solidify his footing. A moment before impact the Half-ogre reached out, grabbed hold of the Magnus Dracani's wrists, and flung the creature straight overhead. Victor's mouth dropped open as the beast flew ten feet and hit the ground with an impact that made everyone except the Half-Ogre lose their balance.

Nim was the first to recover, quickly using his advantage to cut the black Dracani's throat. The rest of the party stood and watched as the Magnus Dracani rolled over to regain its footing, clearly disturbed and amazed at what had just happened to it. The beast had managed to get a claw into the Battlesorcerer's shoulder as he flew overhead, but the damage seemed superficial at best. Enraged the Dracair charged again, this time at a slower pace, and much more cautiously. What the large man did next however surprised both the Magnus Dracani and Victor. Grimbash bent his knees and then proceeded to vault over the lumbering behemoth charging at him, managing to get his feet under himself in time to kick off of the Magnus Dracani's head.

Disoriented and moving too fast for anything of its bulk to stop in time, the Magnus Dracani may have realized in the moment before he fell off the escarpment that the Battlesorcerer had set him up for a fall, quite literally. As the beast hit the ground Victor heard a sound that his mind associated with a rock slide, but was in fact, the Magnus Dracani breaking several bones as it crashed into the hillside. The entire squad ran to the edge of the escarpment see if the beast had broken its neck in the fall.