Michael Mathias - Kings, Queens, Heroes, and Fools

“I’m all right, m’lady.” He forced a smile. “It’s just that I need to get that Silver Skull away from here.” He doubted that Queen Shaella even knew Cole was tampering with its magic.

“Eat and rest.” Princess Rosa was barely older than him, but her smile was motherly. She offered him the bigger part of the meal that had come up. “Getting some rest will help you think.”

“Aye,” he agreed and reached for a piece of the hard bread on the tray. “What’s this?” he mumbled. He could see the corner of a gap in the floor. He snatched up the bread and took a bite, and then held it in his mouth as he moved the tray over and began dusting the filth off of the wooden floor. In a matter of moments he revealed a rectangular trapdoor with a finger hole in one end to use as a handle. He stuck his finger in it cautiously and raised the hatch, revealing a ladder that led down into the darkness. Chewing his bread, he smiled at the Princess.

He cast an orb of light into his palm, causing Rosa to yelp, then he leaned his head into the hole. Phen was delighted at what he saw down there.

“What is it?” Rosa asked, peering down to see what had the boy grinning so broadly. “It’s just a room full of old books.”

“No, m’lady, it’s much more than that.” He grabbed one of the sausages from the tray and started down the ladder. “It’s Pael’s library. There’s more power hidden in this room than anywhere in the world, save for maybe Xwarda.”

“What will you do?”

“Hopefully, I’ll be able to find a spell that will help get us and that Silver Skull away from here.”

“Do be careful, Pin,” Rosa said rubbing the stump where her fingers used to be. “Pael’s was such an evil sort of magic.”

Phen reached up and gave her good hand a squeeze. “It wasn’t his magic that was evil, Princess,” Phen said, hoping that it was true. “It was his heart.”

Gerard could smell the evil radiating from the archway before him. His eyes saw nothing but black on black, for there was no light here. The darkness was so thick, so absolute, that a torch flame would have been swallowed whole. But his ears heard the shape and texture of the walls, and his nose smelled the sweet taint Deezlxar left in the air. The dark master of hell was close. Gerard could feel it. The battle lust began to boil in his blood. His teeth ached for demon-flesh and his heart was pounding a potent rhythm in his chest.

After craning his elongated neck to and fro to stretch his shoulder muscles, he eased through the archway into the greater blackness beyond. He was ready to face the thing that stole his ring. He was ready to face his destiny-or so he thought.

“How dare you come seeking my destruction!” A voice so deep that it shook Gerard’s guts exploded all around him. “What are you, that you think you can challenge me?”

“I’m the one that terrorizes your domain, the thing that you cannot control,” Gerard growled back defiantly. “I’m the thing that makes your minions tremble. Now show yourself.”

A sweeping blow sent Gerard tumbling sideways. He hadn’t seen it coming, or what had made the attack, but whatever it was, it was huge. He saw that he wasn’t mistaken about its size when he sent an orange gout of flame up into the air above him. The illumination revealed a three-headed crab-like monstrosity that had six legs. It was already bearing down on him again. This time Gerard ducked the coming appendage and raked his claws across the creature’s underside. His claws found thick leathery hide and hard bone where he’d expected to find vitals. The beast squatted down, almost pinning him to the hard flat floor, and only the slick greasy coating on Gerard’s plated flesh let him slip free.

Gerard sent a churning blast of purple energy into the demon’s side as he rolled away. It struck with a thump and exploded, sending wet pieces of matter everywhere. The thing howled out in pain as it danced around to face Gerard. As big as it was, the great gouge in its side was only a minor wound. It retaliated with its own magic, a triple blast of white-hot demon’s fire, one coming from each of the dragon heads that loomed over Gerard. Gerard howled out a primal roar and charged right through the scorching blast. He was part dragon and therefore fire, even demon’s fire, had little effect on him. He leapt at Deezlxar’s chest, where the three necks branched away, using his long hand and toe claws as if he were a raccoon leaping up on the side of a tree. The monster shrieked and darted one of its other heads at him. The blackness was now punctuated with long bright burns in his vision, but Gerard somehow sensed the attack. He jumped away and latched onto the attacking head just as its jaws clamped down on itself with a bloody crunch. Then Gerard blasted out another fiery roar. One half of Shokin cackled, while the other spoke a spell. Ancient whispers sounded in his mind and a static lavender blast pulsed from his hand exploding a chunk from the head he was now clinging to.

Gerard had to dive away from the beast as it twisted around and screamed. He somersaulted through the air, churning his tail and contorting his body so as to land on his feet, but Deezlxar continued around with a bone crunching lash of one of his six appendages smacking Gerard in midair. Gerard spun and flailed, trying to land well, but it didn’t happen. Mostly his head and neck caught the floor with the bulk of his body coming right down on top of him. He crunched into himself so hard that his tail bones impacted the back of his head. Bones were broken. One of them jutted up out of his arm. He could feel raw, nauseating pain where exposed nerves and marrow were touching air. With his other arm he yanked the broken one crudely back into its proper shape and let loose a horrific yell. Then he turned and called forth blast after blast of magical energy, while Kraw, and both halves of Shokin did the same inside his mind. A swarm of poisonous insects, a jagged streak of crimson lightning, then several balls of roiling purple energy came pulsing out of his fingertips and assailed the beast.

Deezlxar countered most of them with shielding spells. The poisonous bugs found his blood more toxic than they were and they soon sputtered to the ground and faded into nothing. The lavender blasts charred the Abbadon’s flesh as it advanced, but none of it did enough damage to stop the coming attack.

Another streak of lightning found Deezlxar’s wounded head, and sizzled the life out of its eyes, but still Deezlxar came on. The Abbadon had taken Gerard’s best and it was still ready for more. Gerard knew that he had to retreat and regroup. There was no way that he could win this battle, not this day. His armor plates were crooked and several other bones were broken besides his arm. The gore that had splattered his body was starting to sizzle on his flesh.

Gerard spun and clawed deep slices across one of the Dark One’s necks, then he did the only thing he could do to survive. He flashed himself away with a spell.

He appeared in the empty blackness somewhere away from Deezlxar and immediately began trying to heal himself with his magic. He wasn’t done with the Abbadon yet, but he was no fool.

As much as Shaella wanted to march the huge, hairy, bone-wielding gorax into Locar to straighten out the breed, she couldn’t. She’d promised Ra’Gren aid, and the gorax would go far toward keeping Queen Rachel’s army from crossing into Dakahn. Shaella had to remind herself that it was Bzorch and his barbaric breed giants she was mad at. Not all of the people of Locar had betrayed her, just the breed.

She found that she couldn’t be mad at Flick for retreating from the battle as he had. His Choska had been critically wounded, and Ra’Gren’s men lost the fight anyway. The feel of the wind in her hair, and Vrot’s young, strong muscles churning his wing strokes under her, confirmed the decision.