Erin Evans - Brimstone Angels

Havilar rolled herself onto her stomach and got her knees under her so she could pull herself upright. Mehen’s sword drove back the bloodied cultist, who stubbornly clung to her glaive as his other arm gushed bright red blood through a wound that peeled muscle back to expose the bright white of bone beneath.

He managed to block Mehen’s next two strikes with the glaive, then suddenly cast the glaive aside to reach into his pocket.

Havilar screamed through her gag: the amulet. One opening and Mehen would be knocked on his back as neatly as she had been. Oblivious to the danger, Mehen pulled his sword back for a wide slash. The shopkeeper held the amulet in his palm, leaning toward him.

Havilar got her feet under her and stood woozily. She lowered her head and charged, horns first at the shopkeeper. The crash shook her skull down to the neck and she fell to her knees. With a great cry, the shopkeeper was thrown from his feet and landed hard on the cobbles. The amulet flew through the air to skitter to a stop at Mehen’s feet. He kicked it into the shadows, and slashed the falchion across the hamstrings of the fallen shopkeeper, who was trying to find his bearings. The shopkeeper screamed again, his cries falling into great moaning sobs.

Mehen rushed to Havilar, unsteady on his feet, and tore the gag from her mouth. The air might have been humid and close, but it still felt cold and refreshing compared to the sodden rag, and she took great gulps of it before Mehen crushed her to him.

“Thank the gods,” she said, tears springing to her eyes. “I could not figure …” She trailed off as she realized Clanless Mehen was weeping too.

“You’re all right?” he asked.

“Bumped and scraped and bruised,” she said, as he cut through the ropes around her chest and wrists. “Where’s Farideh? And Brin?”

Mehen shook his head grimly. “Keeping the rest of these bastards at a distance. We’re to get Tam and the city guard. We’ll meet the others at the gate.” If they’re still alive, Havilar thought.

“No,” she said, “please. We need to help them. I can’t bear.… Please Mehen.”

“I don’t like it either, but there’s foul magic happening, and we can’t risk it.”

“At least let’s make sure they’re all right!”

Mehen hesitated-clearly he did not like being sent to cool his heels while Farideh risked herself any more than Havilar did. And surely-surely-the two of them could be of some use without coming too near Rohini.

“No.” He helped her stand. “Grab your glaive. We have to get the guard.”

Havilar cursed and grumbled to herself, but she did as he said. They moved through the side streets, away from the main road, away from the action. At every crossing Havilar looked for signs of trouble in the direction of the House of Knowledge. She needed to be there, not hunting up guardsmen to show up too late.

But the last time she’d run off on her own, she’d been caught by the shopkeeper.

Still she hurried ahead of Mehen. The Hall of Justice’s doors were hanging open, and from inside a cacophony of voices shouted at one another. There were half-a-dozen soldiers, their armor blazoned with lion’s heads and gauntlets like the one on Brin’s medallion. Two of them held Tam’s arms, and the wiry priest was making sure their work was cut out for them.

“I didn’t know about the fire,” he shouted. “I was only reporting the bodies. What sort of idiot do you take me for?”

“It’s the way things are done,” the armored woman before him said. “We’ll sort things out once the ashes cool. Never fear.”

“You don’t have time for that!

“He’s right!” Havilar said. A few of the guards turned to stare at her. The armored woman ignored her. This, she thought, is exactly why I should be with Farideh.

“Havilar?” Tam said. “What are you doing here? You were supposed to-”

“There’s a battle,” Mehen interrupted coming in behind her. “A battle brewing with cultists and devils and planes know what else. You need to send your troops to the House of Knowledge before all the Hells break loose.”

Hurry, Havilar nearly shouted. If they went now, perhaps she could still help.

The armored woman peered at Mehen. “Who are you?”

“He’s trustworthy,” Tam said. “And she was one of the two who saw the murder scene. Will you listen? ”

Outside a horn sang an alarm that echoed over the half-built buildings, the ancient temples and the mountains beyond. Havilar jerked toward the noise. “What’s that?”

“That’s the soldiers on the Wall,” the armored woman said. “Something’s wrong.”

That did it. Mehen could do as he liked, but Farideh needed her now. Havilar took off running toward the House of Knowledge, fast as her aching legs could carry her.

Farideh raced along the alleys that paralleled the main road, scrambling over refuse and scree and unconscious bodies alike. Overhead, hidden by his charm, Lorcan flew. If she glanced up, she could almost perceive the disturbance in the air that marked his passage, but she had not tried for several minutes, she was too focused not tripping over the detritus. Brin ran ahead of her, the pale of his shirt like a torch in the night.

They reached the hospital only seconds before the squadron of erinyes and tucked themselves behind an abandoned food stall in the shadow of one of the buttresses.

For a moment, it looked as if the erinyes meant to enter the House of Knowledge. But then a familiar figure launched herself from one of the high windows.

“Welcome to Neverwinter, my captain,” Rohini said, hanging in the air on wings made of nightmares. “A pity you’re too late.”

“Traitor!” Invadiah bellowed. “You’ll return to the Hells-in shackles or in pieces, I care not which. But you’ve broken your last oath.”

Rohini laughed. “And? I am beyond oaths, beyond allegiances.” She flew a little higher and the soldiers on the wall sent a volley of arrows over at her. Rohini gave them no notice. “Especially not for a hierarchy eager to use me up and leave me for dead like an enemy on the field.” She raised her arms, hideous light dancing up her skin and shooting off into the night.

A terrible cacophony came from the other side of the Wall-from the Chasm beyond. The soldiers on the Wall screamed and swords rang against the stone. One long tentacle reached over the Wall, and then another, hauling up a creature with a great gaping maw of teeth. Brin started.

“No,” Farideh said, throwing up an arm to stop him. “Let them kill each other. We’re only going to make sure Rohini falls.”

“And quickly,” Brin said, pointing to the slimy-skinned man standing in the doorway beside Brother Vartan. “That one serves the aboleths. I would stake everything on it. He can call the monsters from the Chasm, same as Rohini.”

Another three creatures-bristling, squidlike things that belonged in the sea and not the air at all-shot over the Wall and attacked the erinyes. The largest creature heaved itself to the ground, shaking the already fragile buildings.

Lorcan landed beside her, his invisibility gone. “Damn spell has run out.” He stared at the horrors of the Chasm. “Lords.… ”

The erinyes divided into clusters of three and went after the monsters with deadly precision. Still, for every grave wound or severed tentacle, an erinyes reeled from poison or dropped her weapons to clutch her head. Invadiah herself was in better stead, her flaming sword deflecting the worst of the largest monster’s attacks.

But none had reached Rohini. And they were falling.

The succubus landed lightly beside the servitor, sickly magic dancing over her like a second skin. She surveyed the wild battle with an air of amusement.