El-Vador's Travels (30 page)

They
came now to the walls without any opposition but in spite of the lack
of surrounding mountainous terrain they seemed as impenetrable and
imposing as they had been to when El-Vador had last set his eyes upon
them. How exactly were they meant to pass having trekked all this way
only to find the same obstacle even under this spell?

He
smacked the granite with his hand in frustration, there had to be a
way in. It sank into it as if it were no more than slush, he quickly
withdrew it in shock and then realised what he needed to do.

Pressing
forward, El-Vador walked straight through the wall of the fortress.

The
dark grey pressing into his eyes finally resolved into a corridor.
El-Vador let out a gasp, not daring to breathe while immersed in the
strange substance, Eihblin joined him silently.

He
allowed his eyes time to adjust to the gloom and then proceeded
silently down the corridor, knowing that it was the first step toward
finding both Anacletus and Sarvacts.

'Where
are we?' Eihblin asked, not having moved from her position.

El-Vador
jumped at her voice, whirling round with his sword at the ready.
'Eihblin!' he cried, 'you can talk!'

She
glared at him then. 'Care to offer me some kind of explanation as to
what's going on?'

He
looked around, an expression of confusion upon his face. 'Where's
Phaedra?'

Eihblin
stared about the corridor as if expecting her to materialise from a
dark corner. 'I have no idea.' she replied, 'I still want to know how
we got here, is this Sarvacts' lair?'

Though
he wished to press on, the loss of Phaedra just as he needed her to
guide them and the insistence of the now-vocal Eihblin gave him
pause. He found himself briefly recounting the strange time he had
spent practically alone in the oddly coloured land. This in turn led
to an explanation of just how they got there in the first place,
which invariably resulted in his having to speak of the past.

When
he finally came to a halt, Eihblin had a thoughtful expression on her
face. 'It's going to be very difficult for us to retrieve the
heirloom and get out of here alive, isn't it?'

El-Vador
shrugged. 'Getting the heirloom is your problem, not mine.'

He
felt her bristling beside him, but she knew he had a point and
remained silent for a time. They had journeyed together this far out
of mutual interest, first in pursuit of Anacletus and then in
attempting to divine a way into the fortress. Now their paths
diverged for the first time since their meeting, was Eihblin going to
hunt for the heirloom on her own or did she expect him to follow her?

'If
we stay together we may yet prevail, two blades are better than one.'
It had been the initial thinking that had resulted in their being
brought together, where once it was reasonable it now rang hollow
about these great walls.

'It
would take a hundred blades to rid this fortress of its occupants,
this is a job for stealth rather than steel.'

Eihblin
glared at him. 'How do you propose we leave this place without
getting caught? Assuming that we somehow retrieve the heirloom
without being seen and manage to murder both a dangerous shadow
assassin and his master, a powerful conjurer that has eluded you once
before.'

She
had a point, curse her but she had a point.

They
may be able to get to their targets by stealth but there was no way
they were going to leave this place without a fight. In a fight, two
blades were better than one.

El-Vador
nodded at her to follow and she offered him a curt one in return,
together they set off in search of the hidden heirloom.

Sarvacts
grew tired of waiting, he had given the Elf ample opportunity to
attempt a breach of his defences and yet his keen-eyed watchers had
reported nothing. He needed the Elf sooner rather than later, his
power was waning significantly and many of his forces were passing
into the ether that they had been summoned from. He knew he had must
gather up the final remnants and send them forth to apprehend this
Elf. Even if they were to slay him his corpse may still suffice,
albeit not as potently as it would have been if taken alive. It was a
risk he had to take if the Elf wasn't going to come to him.

The
remnants of his forces were brought together into a large antechamber
within short order, a much depleted group that he was beginning to
lose all control over. Sarvacts stared at them from upon high and
thought them a pitiful reminder of his failure to apprehend the Elf.
There were just about enough to take a village, his visions of
storming cities would have to wait until his power had been
replenished. He cast his arm forth in a gesture of power, waving over
the combined forces and willing them with what little he had left.

'Go
forth and find El-Vador.' he said, using the last vestiges of his
diminishing power to will the image of his hated enemy into their
minds. 'Bring him to me alive or dead, it matters not.'

Should
the Elf arrive a corpse he could only hope it would still provide him
with enough power to send his summoned army forth to take the next
Orcish life. If he could somehow manage that, he could then quadruple
his power within the next strike against the heartland of his people,
there were many there that had defied him for too long. Once he had
taken the heartland there would be none left with the power to oppose
him, he would take control of his kin and guide them into a glorious
age. Finally he could lay this ghastly summons and its enthralling
power to rest.

Let
them go out and find the Elf, he was done waiting for Anacletus' ploy
to come to fruition, his failure would be dealt with soon. It was not
enough to hold payment, not enough even to subjugate the hired
assassin for his failure, he needed to become an example. An example
to all those who would stand in his path.

Anacletus
reluctantly filed out of the great hall surrounded by the
monstrosities that Sarvacts had conjured up out of the depths of his
fortress. He had watched the man from his overlooking podium with
nothing short of contempt, fighting desperately to shoot forth into
his shadow form and throttle the Orc that had enslaved him. No matter
how hard he tried he remained impassive until given his marching
orders with the rest of the automatons. He could not bend Sarvacts'
will in the slightest and for the first time since his initial
enslavement he felt genuine fear. He had tried to tell himself that
the previous attempts to break the hold could be put down to his lack
of understanding or tiredness, yet even with his greatest mental
alacrity he found it impossible to do anything but that which his
master desired. He cursed himself for admitting that he was now a
slave to this man. The plan had gone poorly, the Elf for some reason
had not attempted to sneak into the fortress and be apprehended, nor
had Anacletus had the chance to get the boy on his own with those
women at his side every waking moment. He relied largely on stealth
and while he could potentially take all three of them in the dark of
the night he did not want to risk fighting an automaton. He very much
doubted that a blade would kill them and the few he had seen appeared
to not need rest. All this hesitancy had cost him the ultimate price,
a loss of self-control in the grandest order and enslavement to a
tyrannical being.

The
one unknown in all of this was the swirling smoke that was his
constant companion. He had made to explain the oddity to Sarvacts but
the Orc appeared to be entirely unaware of it, this made him wonder
even further about where it had come from and its intentions.

Lost
in his thoughts, he barely noticed Phaedra walking straight up to
him.

'You!'
he exclaimed, powerless to take action against her without Sarvacts'
express permission. 'What are you doing here?'

She
didn't offer a response and continued down the hallway in the
direction of the chamber he had just left, moving slowly against the
tide of her fellow automatons.

'You
were under Sarvacts' control all this time?'

She
offered him a chilling smile that answered his question.

'Why
then do you not return with the Elf?' he asked, realising now that
Sarvacts had multiple plans for capturing his prize asset.

'He
went to a place that I could not follow.' she replied, seemingly
pained at having to admit her failure to the likes of him.

He
managed to will his way into falling in line with her steps. 'How can
he do this? I thought he was but a creature of flesh and bone. Do
these Elves possess powers beyond mere mortal ken? '

She
shrugged. 'I know not the answer, I must report to my master. Leave
me be.'

Anacletus
found that the more he attempted to stay in the fortress instead of
following the herd of automatons, the harder it became. Finally, he
said, 'Very well then, go to your master. We shall see what cruelty
he will inflict upon you for failing him as badly as I have.'

'If
the automatons do not find him, he will eventually be forced into
making an attempt on the fortress by Eihblin. She still seeks her
heirloom.'

'Foolish
wench, does she not realise that is a mere bauble for Sarvacts to toy
with? She will undoubtedly get caught in her actions. Our mutual
master must be killed before any attempt to recover property could be
made.'

'So
you wish the death of Sarvacts.' came a voice out of nowhere..

Anacletus
froze. He knew that voice, it was the sound of death and release.
Phaedra looked as shocked as he did, stopping in her tracks.
'El-Vador!' she said, 'how did you get beyond the defences?'

But
El-Vador only had eyes for Anacletus, approaching the former assassin
with his blade drawn and a tension emanating from him. 'I have come
here to kill you, assassin.'

Anacletus
stiffened, his potential saviour was of no use if he wanted to kill
him too.

'What
say you to that?' the Elf asked, noting the silence.

'I
murdered your friend to will you into Sarvacts' grasp. I have
conspired to murder you and in turn found myself enslaved to his
whim.'

The
look in the Elf's eyes told him he wasn't going to find any pity
here. 'That you are but a pawn in his game does not exonerate your
actions, cur.'

Anacletus
now looked at Eihblin, who in turn was eyeing him with a murderous
glance. 'I can take you to the heirloom as a show of good faith. I
swear that I will not harm you should you manage to slay Sarvacts.'

Eihblin
considered his words, then spoke to El-Vador. 'It is a trap, he is a
snake El-Vador. Do not listen to him.'

'Indeed
he is a serpent, but he bares not his fangs and his venom may have
practical uses for our cause. The man you slew was no great friend of
mine, I swore your death but if you can aid us in destroying Sarvacts
then I will forget the matter.'

'You
would let me go free after the deed is done?' he asked his would-be
killer. 'I swear that I will do everything in my power to fight the
Orc if it means my freedom.'

El-Vador
looked at Phaedra, ignoring the assassin for the first time. 'What of
you? Where did you disappear to on our journey to the fortress? Why
do I find you here now?'

'Whatever
you did,' she said, eyeing his blade. 'It meant that I could not
follow, one moment you were at the inn and the next you had vanished.
I assumed you had gone where an automaton such as I could not
follow.'

He
eyed her suspiciously but said nothing more on the matter. Anacletus
thought that this merry group seemed distinctly divided. He knew he
couldn't afford to exploit that division with his life in the Elf's
hands. Instead he would observe, and see where their strife took
matters. He found it most interesting that Phaedra had not mentioned
that she was still in the services of Sarvacts. He would need to keep
an eye on her.

'Take
us to the heirloom, slowly.' El-Vador said, sheathing his weapon and
instead stringing his bow. 'One false step and I shall put an arrow
in you, understood?'

He
nodded at the Elf. 'I understand the gravity of our circumstances.
You will be brought to the heirloom and we will overcome any
obstacles in our path.'

Without
further word, the uneasy allies proceeded down the corridor with
Anacletus toward Eihblin's heirloom.

To
disregard a snake is dangerous, to trust one is fatal. Yet it is
always the hidden snakes that are the most lethal of foes.

'
W
hen
last I paced these corridors there were fellow automatons.' Anacletus
said, his billowing black cloud trailing in his wake. 'I do not know
if Sarvacts has sent all his defences forth to apprehend you, but if
he has not then we can expect his treasure room to remain guarded.'

'I
do not wish to risk my neck for an heirloom, I came here to kill
you.' El-Vador said. 'I require all the help I can get in defeating
this Orc. So let's make this quick for Eihblin's sake and then get to
destroying Sarvacts.'

Anacletus
nodded and they continued toward the treasury unopposed. El-Vador
silently wondering how long it would take for Sarvacts to realise
that he was inside the Orc's domain.

The
empty corridors continued for a seemingly endless length of time, it
was difficult to maintain constant vigilance on Anacletus and the
surrounding fortress. Was the assassin really that against Sarvacts
that he would aid a former target in destroying him? Thankfully he
wasn't alone in keeping a close eye on matters. Phaedra and Eihblin
both scouted out every inch of the area they passed through with
their sight. The assassin wasn't going to get the slip this time,
though from the looks of things he didn't seem to want to.

They
rounded a corner and a large door stood before them with three
guards. They drew their weapons immediately and advanced, there was
to be no deception this day.