Ru Emerson - Keep on the Borderlands

The third turned from her and staggered toward Mead, giggling madly, but the mage snatched up a spear from one of the Keep men. The creature veered away, right into Jerdren’s reach, and he smashed it down, bones and blackfluid spilling over the tiled floor as he reversed his grip on his sword and beat at the thing with the heavy hilt.

Another door loomed. To Eddis’ surprise, it opened easilywhen Mead pressed his spear against the latch. A small chamber was beyond, nearly as obstructed with furnishings as the last space had been.

“Great,” she murmured sourly. “No room to fight… nowwhat?”

Panev strode past her, Mead on his heels. The priest’s scrollcrackled as he read the spell aloud-odd words that echoed in her mind and madeher skin crawl.

The words meant something to his enemy, clearly. Wild, deeplaughter filled the room. Eddis shuddered.

“Why do you invade my private sanctum, priest of Law?” avoice demanded from the shadows “What fool are you, to invoke a spell of lawfulholding, here? Do you think me a weakling that I will fall to such simple words as that?”

“Foul creature of chaos!” Panev replied, “I knew you wouldturn that spell! Because you turned it, you have torn down the wall you built against lawful spells such as mine, and now you are open to both my magic and the weapons my allies bear! You cannot overcome us, dark one! Die, you and your undead servants! Sink into darkness forever!”

Eddis stopped just inside the doorway, fingers clutching her bow and her sword. The priest who strode into the open was tall and thin, clad in red and black. But as Panev spoke, the least wind soughed through the chamber, and the other’s robe shifted, revealing a gleam of mail under it.

His eyes were black, luminous, eager pinpoints. After one glance, the swordswoman knew she dared not look on his face again. Blorys was a sudden, comforting presence against her left arm, his sword in his left hand, throwing-dagger held by the point in his right.

The evil priest darted aside to snatch up a staff, lips moving. Mead raised his hands to begin a spell, then went flat as the priest launched the staff at him. Eddis ran to help him up, then jerked away as the weapon clattered to the floor, writhed, and became a serpent. It twined around the elf mage.

“Get away from it, woman!” Panev ordered her sternly andbegan to pray aloud. A snake grew between his hands, twisting and hissing. With a shout of triumph, Panev cast it at the dark priest, but the dread creature dapped his hands together, and the snake was unmade in a coil of black smoke just short of his feet.

Teeth gleaming in the gloom, the dark one drew a bludgeon from his robes. Panev pressed Eddis aside and brought up his mace.

The two priests swung furiously at each other, but their blows missed. The dark priest spat words and darted forward to backhand Panev out of his way. Blood ran down Panev’s cheek from a long, narrow cut, as thoughhe’d been knifed. He gritted his teeth and swung the mace again, this timecatching his opponent’s weapon firmly against the head of his own. Eddis waitedfor an opening and threw one of her daggers. The blade sliced through the red cloak but clanged off metal and fell useless to the floor.

Blorys’ sword ripped at the priest’s neck, and bloodfollowed.

“Look!” he shouted above the din. “He isn’t proof to ablade!”

Eddis laughed wildly and stabbed. The man now bled from several wounds, but nothing seemed to slow him, and Panev could make no headway. The evil priest shouted, and the sound ground against Eddis’ skin likesharp-edged stones. Blorys gasped and went down. Eddis cursed furiously and set herself between him and the evil one.

Behind them, sounds of fighting ceased. Eddis hoped, but didn’t dare look tosee which side had won. Slowly, Panev was gaining the upper hand. A finger’sworth at a time, he pressed the evil priest back, but every step took them both closer to Mead, who stood helpless, eyes black with fury as he remained bound in a serpent’s coils.

Blorys swore weakly. Eddis helped him up.

“This has to end. Now,” she said flatly.

Blorys nodded. He was short of breath, but his eyes were dark furies.

“We end this. If we can,” he added.

The two ran forward, swords high, and brought them down across the priest’s neck. Blorys’ sword rebounded with a loud dang. Eddis’slashed through flesh, and the priest howled, staggered back, breaking away from Panev, who staggered and nearly fell on his face. The foul priest spun around, eyes glittering with hate, the mace a blur as he swung at Eddis, but she darted back out of reach, and Panev’s mace slammed down on the priest’s exposed head.

Eddis ducked as somewhere behind her Willow urgently shouted, “Arrow!”

One of the black-fletched magic arrows sang across the chamber and buried itself deep in the priest’s eye. He fell to his knees.

Horribly, Eddis realized, he wasn’t yet dead. But as hestrove to rise, Blorys lunged, stabbing through his throat as Panev brought the mace down two-handed.

The snake released Mead, vanishing in a roil of oily black smoke. The elf came slowly across the room as Panev gazed down at the fallen priest, mace ready to strike if he moved again, but the man’s blood no longerflowed, and his eye stared glassily, unseeing at the ceiling. Panev staggered back into the wall, eyes half-closed, his breathing shallow.

Mead felt in his pouch for a healing potion and came up with a small, dark bottle. “A good thing you aren’t much hurt, priest. I’m runninglow.”

“It scarcely matters how I fare, if he is dead,” the priestreplied.

“But others depend on us to escape this place,” Mead remindedhim.

The priest took the little bottle and drank down the contents.

“That’s him?” Jerdren peered around the doorway. “That’s… that’s it?”

Panev nodded.

“Anything here we dare take?”

The priest shrugged. “I am too worn to dare trust my ownthoughts about that. Mead?”

The mage shook his head. “I used my last reveal spell. Still…” He drew a slender scroll from his pouch, unfurled the thing and read itunder his breath. “It is safe now. Search for things of value if you wish, butdo not touch that priest or any scroll or bottle.”

“Good. Because we need to…” Jerdren frowned, turned.

“Where’s Kadymus? He’s the one who wanted to search this room!”

M’Baddah leaned against the doorway, Flerys holding himupright. The outlander reeked of things long dead, and his armor was black-splashed.

“The thief? He ran past me, a little while ago. I heard himsay something about gold, a statue of a golden beast. One of the guards got between us about then, and I lost sight of him.”

“How long has he been gone?” Jerdren asked.

“Saw him go,” Flerys told her. “Just when Eddis went in here.Little sneak went out past the long doth.”

“He’s lost, if that is so,” Panev said. When Jerdren moved togo after the youth, the priest caught his sleeve. “Search for him, if you will,but there are still undead here. Perhaps this death has released such slaves and unmade them, but I cannot tell, for I am worn.” He turned abruptly and left thechamber.

Jerdren shook his head, then turned away, joining Hebold as the man searched through a deep coffer. Two of the Keep men crowded in to help, but after a few moments, they gave up.

“Too many hiding places here,” Jerdren said. “Panev’s right.This place doesn’t feel any safer, even with that one dead. Let’s go.”

Panev, the cut on his face healing at what Eddis thought to be unnerving speed, stepped aside as Mead splattered oil around the chamber and tossed in a guttering torch. Flames exploded, licked at the dead priest, and roared up from the bedding as the elf mage shoved the door closed.