Another One Becomes Dust
"This must be the second rockslide you caused," Meridion said to Grunthor as they came to another obstruction in their path.
"Yup; Oi just hope that the demon was on this side when it 'appened. Or better, 'ee was under it."
"Not quite so lucky, but it looks like he was forced to detour," Meridion said as he dismounted and began tracing recent hoof prints off the side of the path. "Looks like he's making the same cross country trip that we had planned on making."
"Good; let's keep moving," Achmed said.
Nodding, Grunthor once again cleared their path as they pressed on, hoping that now they might be able to gain ground on the demon and maybe even beat him to the city.
Crouched behind some boulders along the path to the city gate, the four companions watched as their target rode through the gate.
"Damn," Meridion said. "Didn't quite make it here before him. Now how are we going to get in?"
"Can't we just walk up and tell them who we are? I doubt that Faedryth would turn the King of the Bolg and the Lord and Lady Cymrian away because they showed up unannounced," Rhapsody said.
"Faedryth wouldn't, but I'm sure that Gyrlyth has men in the guard and he won't like to hear that the people that were supposed to be dead or possessed have just showed up on his back trail," Meridion said.
"Well, Oi could make us an entrance," Grunthor suggested.
"Thanks Grunthor, but I think that breaking down the door is not the type of entrance we had in mind," Rhapsody said smiling.
"An' neither did Oi. Oi meant OI could tunnel us in,"
"Use your Earth lore to tunnel into a Nain city? The Nain are masters of the Earth themselves, I'm sure that they would be able to sense it," Meridion said.
"Not when Oi've got help from the Earth 'erself," Grunthor replied.
"What do you mean?" Rhapsody asked.
"Da Nain are good at Manipulatin' the Earth, but Oi can do wha' Oi do 'cause the Earth knows me. She'll keep my secret from 'em,"
"Grunthor, are you sure that this will work?" Meridion asked.
"Yup."
"It sounds good; now let's get moving before the demon can make his move," Achmed said, finally joining the conversation. He was still obviously very ill and having difficulty focusing.
"An' what 'bout that thing?" Grunthor asked about the Glythery that was still perched on Achmed's shoulder.
"It has been a help for us before and it obviously knows how to remain quiet," Rhapsody said.
Grunthor nodded in accent and turned to begin their path into the city.
Not long after that, they found themselves immerging from a rocky tunnel into an underground passageway.
"Not bad," Meridion said as he surveyed the area.
"Now how do we figure out where to go from here?" Rhapsody asked as she looked around the deserted passageway.
She slowly turned in a circle, looking around as she waited for someone to come up with a solution. It was then that she noticed that Achmed was kneeling on the ground with the Glythery on the floor, watching him intently. Her first thought was that he was about to pass out again, but then she noticed that he had his hand pressed against the floor of the hallway and looked like he was concentrating. She had seen that look before; he was using his path lore.
She watched him for a few moments as his brow suddenly furrowed for a second, and then everything went slack as he broke his hold with the floor and began to topple over.
Grunthor and Meridion, who had also been watching him intently, reached down and prevented him from impacting the stone. The Glythery made a bit of a chirping noise as it scrambled out of everyone's way.
Rhapsody quickly joined them, kneeling on the floor around Achmed. The Glythery decided that she was going to be its new perch and climbed up again to her shoulder. Achmed was still shaking off the effects of his use of the path lore when she reached his side.
"Achmed?" She asked.
He waved her of weakly as he took a few deep breaths. Finally he gained enough of his composer to respond.
"He's with Faedryth right now… Thrown room, three floors up. No guards first two floors, two at third floor entrance and two more at the thrown room entrance," He gasped, still trying to gain control again.
"Which direction," Meridion asked.
Achmed waved his hand to the right of the hall. "Second corridor on the left is the stairs."
Nodding, Meridion stood first, quickly followed by Grunthor who reach down and lifted the King from the floor, bring him to a wobbly stand.
"Are you going to be alright?" Meridion asked.
Simple nodding, Achmed waved Meridion on ahead. Rhapsody came to his side and offered her shoulder as a support for him as the Glythery quickly switched from her right to left shoulder. Gratefully, he put his arm around her and allowed her to help him.
They continued up the first two flights of stairs without any resistance as Achmed had said. Once they reached to third floor, they paused at the door. They could here two men talking in low voices.
"Why has the captain returned already?" one was saying. "I thought that he was supposed to be out on the Northern border?"
"Don't know. It all seems rather odd. And when was the last time that he met with the king in the thrown room? It's usually in his study; they haven't been this formal in years."
The four exchanged looks before Grunthor moved into position. Grabbing a hold of the knob, he barged through the door, flinging it wide. The guard on the left never even knew what hit him as the door flew into his face, jarring him back to make contact with the stone wall behind him. The second man didn't even have tome react to his comrades attack as Meridion leapt from the door and rewarded the guard with a swift blow to the back of the head with the hilt of his sword.
Meridion nodded to Grunthor as the giant checked the first guard to make sure that he had been knocked out as well, which he was. Looking back, Meridion mouthed, "Which way?" to Achmed.
With a nod of his head to the right, they set off down yet another stone hallway. The place seemed entirely deserted.
They slowly made their way to a corner in the hall. They all pressed themselves up against the wall as Meridion took the lead, preparing to glance around the corner. He was about to lean around to peer when Grunthor reached behind him to his array of weapons and silently removed a short sword and handed it to the Lord.
Nodding, Meridion took it and slowly passed the highly polished piece of metal around the corner, using its reflective properties to show him what was just around the corner. What he saw was the two promised guards about twenty feet away, standing at strict attention.
Well now what? Meridion wondered. They wanted to take the guards out as quietly as possible, but getting to them with raising an alarm was going to be a problem. If only Achmed had his Cwellan.
As he thought about his options, a slight movement on the floor grabbed his attention. The small Glythery was scrambling along the stone corridor towards the guards. Meridion froze, he had no way of stopping the little thing without giving himself away, but the creature was about to do just that.
Meridion quickly withdrew his sword and listened to what the result of this creatures stunt was going to be.
"Look, a Rylth," one said, pointing at the small animal at his feet.
The other looked down before rolling his eyes. "Looks like the royal grandbrat's pet escaped again."
"You want to return this time, or should I?"
"I'll do it," the other said.
There was a moment of what sounded like the guard chasing after the Glythery before they heard a triumphant cry, "Got ya."
Meridion could here that the guard, with his newly caught Glythery, was heading in their direction. He quickly motioned for everyone to back away from the corner. He remain right at the edge, waiting for the unsuspecting guard.
Just as the Nain rounded the corner, Meridion reached out, clamping one hand over his mouth and placing the edge of his blade against his throat. In surprise, he dropped the Glythery he had been carrying who scrambled up the side of the wall and glared down at the guard.
"Listen carefully and you may just escape with your life," he whispered into the Nain's ear. "Call your friend there for help with the creature," Meridion said. "Understand?"
The guard nodded.
"Are you going to warn him when I let go?" Meridion asked in a deadly whisper as he brought the blades edge close enough to the man's neck to nick it.
Cautiously, the frightened guard shook his head.
Meridion slowly released his grip from the man's mouth and nodded to him.
"Hey," the Nain called. "Good you help me? The damn thing got away again."
There was a bit of grumbling as the other's foot steps approached "Can't handle a little thing like tha…" the other was saying as he rounded the corner, only to encounter a giant with a wicked grin.
Before he could manage any sort of a cry, Grunthor delivered him a crushing blow to the top of head, causing the Nain to crumple to the floor on the spot.
"That was very wise of you," Meridion said to the guard that he still held. "Now, I applogize for this, but it's for your own good," he said as he knocked that one out as well.
"Well, Oi''ll be, the little thing came through," Grunthor said, eyeing the Glythery as it took a place on Achmed's shoulder once again.
"How'd it know to do that?" Rhapsody asked.
"Doesn't matter. Let's get in there," Achmed said.
"Well this is new," Achmed grumbled as they burst into the thrown room.
Standing in an arc in front of the royal dais was about twenty armed Nain, swords drawn. In the center of the arc stood Gyrlyth himself, glaring down his sword at King Faedryth.
The king stood in front of his throw, his own sword drawn, flanked by his two personal guards, prepared to defend their king.
"What an unexpected surprise," Gyrlyth said, after a moment of stunned silence. "Strange how I thought that two of you were dead, one in Ylork, and the other on her way back to Ylork, no longer herself."
"Sorry to disappoint you," Rhapsody said, drawing her sword, bring forth a resounding ring.
"Well, no matter," he said with a smile. "I can take care of my mistakes right now and complete my other task at the same time," he said with a smile.
"Take them!" Gyrlyth cried to his men, returning his attention back to Faedryth. "Leave the king and his men to me, but bring that Dhracian down first!"
Suddenly the room was a whirl of action. Rhapsody grabbed Achmed and brought him to the side of the room, using her sword and naming note to draw a circle of protection around them. Grunthor had Friend-maker in one had and Sal in the other, swinging both blindingly fast at the oncoming attackers. Meridion immediately sprang into action, attempting to fight his way through the throng to Gyrlyth.
Achmed braced himself against the wall behind him and took a breath, preparing to begin the Thrall. He was still very weak and he hoped that he would be able to make it through the ritual without passing out. He knew that he was going to have to put all of his trust of defense in Rhapsody at this point; it was going to take all of his strength just to make it through the Thrall.
Gyrlyth seemed to completely forget about the action taking place around him. His was signally focused on the King before him.
"A demon?" Faedryth said flatly.
"Of course. Who else would you expect to bring you down after centuries of rule?" Gyrlyth grinned wickedly as he held a black fireball in his palm, swinging his sword in his other.
One of Faedryth's guards rushed down the few steps to confront the demon. He barely made it two steps before he became a pillar of ash. The poor man never ever saw the fireball leave the demon's hand.
The second guard came to interject himself between the king and the advancing demon. Gyrlyth smiled and brought his sword, swinging it wickedly and faster than the guard could keep track of. It was only a brief exchange before the Nain's head left his shoulders, rolling down the steps.
"Your turn, Your Majesty," Gyrlyth pronounced huskily.
A loud clang rang through the room as Faedryth's and the demon's swords connected.
Meanwhile, Rhapsody was having difficulty keeping her ground. The men that rushed her were very well trained. She was doing all she could just to keep herself alive. She certainly had taken a few minor nicks as she tried to maintain her position of protection.
Achmed was having difficulty just finding enough strength to maintain his chant. He had one false start where he lost the first wind. Now he was slowly building all over again. It was slow and agonizing how he kept having to keep himself from loosing consciousness in order to perform the ritual. It didn't help that Rhapsody was being forced step by step further away, bring the attacker's passes ever nearer.
Grunthor was across the room with an entourage of his own. These men were very well trained. Of the five that had attached themselves to him, four still remained. As the men continued to evade him, he roared in frustration. Starling at least one of them enough to find the giant's pike sticking through his middle.
Meridion was dealing with Nain of his own. His blue sword flashed and roiled like a sea caught in a hurricane. He was gaining ground towards the demon, but ever so slowly. He began to wonder if these thralls of the demon were being given an unnatural speed and strength or if they had just been that good.
"You know you'll never win," Gyrlyth said as he backed off from another unsuccessful pass with the King. Faedryth literally thousands of years old, and in that time he had become a very skilled warrior. Even as king for centuries, he maintained his form, never trusting his safety to his guards.
"You'll eventually tire; I'm Immortal and can wait you out."
"You may not have as long as you think," Faedryth said, glancing out over the scene below him.
"If your hoping for that Dhracian to save you, setting yourself up for disappointment," Gyrlyth grinned wickedly as he called forth another ball of black flame. Glancing back to where the battle raged below, he set the flame flying bearing down upon a now nearly unprotected Achmed.
Gyrlyth laughed as he looked back in time to block another blow from the king. Faedryth's eyes were half on the demon in front of him and half on the scene below. There was no way that he could warn the Bolg King in time he realized as the flames took out one of the demon's own men on its path, not even slowly a bit.
Achmed looked up in time to see the fireball come screaming towards him. There was no stopping it this time. Rhapsody probably didn't even realize that he was in danger as she fought for her life. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as the heat waves of the flame grew nearer. The caustic smoke from the flames burned the back of his throat, causing him to nearly end the chant.
Suddenly, there was a scream above his head as a shadow swooped his head, aiming for the ball of fire. He knew that the silhouette was that of the Glythery, but suddenly it seemed to have grown in size and had a bluish glow about it.
Instead of gliding as he had seen it do before, it almost seemed as if a brisk wind were propelling it, driving it ever faster towards the dark flames.
And suddenly, in the instant before the creature met its doom, a silence settled as the glow from the Glythery tripled in intensity. It was as if the thing were creating a shield of light against the flames.
The ball erupted against it's body, flames swirled around it reaching towards his body, but they were extinguished before a single tongue was able lick his body.
Gyrlyth had put the danger of the Dhracian from his mind the second that he threw his fireball. He knew that there was no help for the Bolg King now. Finally he was going ot be rid of that thorn in his side once and for all.
But as he sensed the fire impact, he noticed a slight smile on the Nain King's lips. "It seems that you don't have as long as you thought," Faedryth said as he took a step back.
Gyrlyth spun around, glaring through the haze left behind by his fire and was stunned to see the Dhracian still standing as, with a flip of his wrist, the net of winds swirled around him, locking him into place.
He had lost, but there was still one small chance of escape. The very thought made his borrowed skin crawl, but this was the last desperate move left to him.
Rhapsody watched in horror too late to act as the fire soared through the air, bearing down on her husband. From the angle she was at, it looked as though the fire had engulfed Achmed at first, but as the blast cleared, she nearly fainted with relief seeing him still standing. And as he ensnared the demon, suddenly all of the men that were still fighting came to a halt and stared bewildered about them. Apparently one the demon was trapped, he was no loger able to control his Thralls.
Both Rhapsody and Meridion rushed around the confused Nain and dashed for the demon, knowing that Achmed would not be able to hold him for very long.
As Rhapsody rushed to bring the F'dor down, she watched as he slowly looked down to Achmed. For a moment, there seemed to be a hint of surprise on his face, as if he had never thought that he would be in that position. Then slowly an evil smile crossed the demon's lips as he clearly said, "You may have destroyed me, but you have already lost."
And at that moment, Faedryth brought his sword in a sweeping arc and severed his second in commands head. Not more then a fraction of a second later Meridion ran his blade through the demon's heart and Rhapsody set what was left of the body a light, causing her pure fire to burn the demon to ash.
As the cinders from the demon smoldered at her feet, Rhapsody looked first to Meridion and exchanged a brief smile. They had won; the F'dor was dead.
Then she looked out to share the moment with Grunthor and her husband only to feel her moment of elation popped.