El-Vador's Travels (67 page)

Whatever
force drove her onward faltered, and Anacletus made no move to shield
any of them further. She sank to her knees in disbelief and stared at
her fingers as the darkness ebbed away from them, murmurs playing
silently upon her lips that the Elf could not read.

'Stay
clear of her.' the assassin warned, leading by example in keeping his
distance. 'She is not entirely undone, even in this state she may
lash out.'

They
watched silently as Mina sank to the floor with a sob, clawing her
way toward them in a pitiful attempt to finish them off. There was
something about her resolute determination to destroy the figures
before her even in her impotence that sent a chill through the
atmosphere.

Struggling
over the broken form of an Orc, she finally stilled. It was some time
before Anacletus made his way over to the body and checked for a
pulse.

'She
lives yet, and Mina has departed her body.'

El-Vador
found himself sighing in relief, then checking himself as Salvarius
and the assassin stared at him. At least, he thought it was relief.
He wondered idly if Judicael had made it to the surface, if only to
stop his own thoughts from wandering in uncomfortable directions.

Anacletus
smiled at him, in what he thought was an all-too-knowing way, then
turned his attentions to the other human. 'What do you plan to do
now, half man?'

Salvarius
stared down at the armour encasing him, the serpentine mosaic upon
his chest had stopped squirming but something had changed deep within
him. 'I do not know where I am headed, but I have no quarrel with
forces who oppose the Brotherhood.'

The
assassin nodded, acknowledging the truth in the admission. 'Then you
need not die this day, see to it that it remains that way.' he then
turned to El-Vador and fixed him with an appraising look, kicking one
of the corpses by way of example. 'You still have Orcs to kill,
El-Vador of the mountains.'

'Without
the Brotherhood's interference the task is one that I relish. We
shall undoubtedly meet again, assassin.'

'Of
that I am sure, Elf.'

Seeing
no need for further conversation beyond these terse words, Anacletus
vanished in a cloud of dark smoke that worked its way upward and on
to the surface.

'You
could have killed me.' Salvarius stated simply, as they walked toward
the prone form of Aliana. 'Yet you chose the path of reason, I will
not forget this, El-Vador of the mountains.'

'I
am finding that words can be an even more effective weapon than the
sword if spoken with honesty. I hope that when next our paths cross
we may do so as allies, rather than upon the field of battle.'

The
man surveyed the bodies of his former servants before answering.
'Likewise.'

They
made their way through the suffocating silence of the countless dead,
slowly winding their way up to the surface under the guidance of
Salvarius. El-Vador tentatively carried Aliana, still not entirely
convinced that she would not spring into life once more and attempt
to kill them.

There
was a brief detour in which they raided the kitchens for supplies,
but so far Salvarius had shown none of the malevolence he had
displayed previously. El-Vador did not allow himself to relax totally
around him, that would have been foolish, but in the aura of peace he
radiated it felt like there had been a cessation of any imminent
threat.

The
whole burrow emanated a mausoleum quality that made El-Vador's
directions to Judicael seem prophetic. The silence was at once
gratifying and suffocating, his senses stretched out but he could not
hear anything beyond the flow of the sewers they left behind. Nor was
there any sign of the thief.

Every
so often they would come across an Orc that had been cut open with
ruthless efficacy, a torn jugular or a missing eye spoke to the
lethality of the attacks. Had the diminutive man been playing both
El-Vador and his captors by understating his capabilities? Anacletus
had held him in surprisingly high regard, and as the challenges
mounted Judicael had shown the gritty persistence of a survivor.
Someone to take note of in any future encounters.

They
exited the burrow without any attempts at hindrance from the Orcs,
Salvarius had intimated what El-Vador already suspected, those
involved in the procession had not been the sum total of the
inhabitants.

The
evening sun greeted them with a lurid red glow as they walked back
into the barrens. Salvarius turned and let out a sigh. 'It would seem
that everywhere I go you destroy, Elf. I plan on returning to my
people in time, my true people. May I have your word that you shall
not slay them too?'

El-Vador
smiled at the jest. 'Provided that you do not attempt to kill me
indirectly or otherwise, I see no need to kill humans.'

Salvarius
sported the tired grin of a man who had seen too much, he clapped his
fist to the strange stone armour in salute. 'I take my leave of you
then, perhaps in a distant time we shall meet again.'

'Perhaps.'

As
the man departed, El-Vador lay Aliana down upon the floor of the
barrens. Her eyes fluttered behind closed lids as if deep in dreams,
and he thought better of disturbing her after all she had suffered.

Crossing
his legs, he sank down onto the floor with her and stared back at the
shadows of the watch towers in the evening sun. He closed his own
eyes and cast his thoughts out into the darkness, probing the burrow
beneath them for any spark of life, any brief light that had yet to
be snuffed out from his venture. He found nothing.

He
woke from the darkness to a touch on his shoulder from a foreign
hand. He clasped it firmly in reflex before realising it was Aliana
that had shaken him from the trance. A wave of dizziness hit him like
a wall, sending him careening down onto the dusty barren floor and
retching involuntarily.

Words
were being spoken to him, but a ringing in his ears and a static
descending over his sight prevented him from acknowledging them. He
tried to right himself but to no avail, instead vaguely feeling firm
hands pressing down upon him.

The
specks of nothingness over his blurred vision cleared shortly after,
the now-darkened sky coming into sharp focus and the muffled sounds
gaining clarity once more. He ventured a brief tilt of his head and
found two palms pressed down upon him and sheathed in darkness.

'What...
what are you doing to me?' he croaked, completely at the mercy of
Aliana. For a panicked moment he thought that Mina had returned and
caught him unawares. No, she would have killed him given another
chance, this was Aliana.

'You're
an idiot.' was the reply.

His
mind woke from its sluggishness and he began to piece it together. He
had tapped into his power in order to probe the burrow without
remembering that he had exhausted his reserves in the preceding
battle.

Aliana
watched the dawning comprehension on his face, she wasn't smiling as
she continued her task. 'You slew the entirety of that burrow only to
nearly kill yourself with your own power.'

He
nodded, inwardly cursing himself for a fool. Had Aliana not awoken he
would have been reduced to a mewling vegetable, trapped between this
plane and the dark he had encased himself in.

'Here
I was thinking we would finally part ways, El-Vador of the mountains.
It looks like you need my help more than I suspected.' she said, an
infuriatingly playful smirk on her lips.

El-Vador
tried to form a derisive snort in response to this but couldn't find
the strength.

'You
saved me from the horrors of Salvarius and undoubtedly slew him in
the process. For that I thank you, I am in your debt and plan to
repay it by caring for you. Again. A task I seem to have been cursed
with being good at.'

He
said nothing, she need not know that he had been merciful, that he
had let the man depart with a half-charged artefact into the unknown.
It mattered not, he doubted Salvarius would ever return to the
burrows that El-Vador sought, and therefore the human was beyond his
consideration for now.

She
let a final surge of darkness seep through into his chest and
disengaged her arms from him. 'There.' she stated, 'You should have
enough energy to wrap your arms about me if nothing else.'

El-Vador
blinked as she stood, beckoning him to rise and join her.

'We
have a long flight ahead of us, and I'm not going to save you a
second time if you don't hold on.'

He
nodded dumbly, not wasting any of his strength on words.

'I
have to say, I like you much better when you're silent.' she quipped,
offering him another mischievous grin at his plight.

El-Vador
said nothing, instead forcing himself to his feet and clamping his
arms about her rather too firmly to express his distaste.

They
stood there for a time, simply breathing in the night air and being
thankful to remain alive and in each other’s company. He
wondered for a time why she hadn't unfurled her wings, if he was
somehow impeding her and if so, why she hadn't said anything.

The
logical part of his mind shut down then, simply enjoying the company
and warmth of another soul.

A
brief sigh split the silence, the faintest of exhalations but one
that was picked up easily by his keen hearing.

'We
had best depart, I can take you as far as the nearest human town.'

'And
then?' El-Vador whispered near her ear.

'And
then we shall see.' she replied, unfurling her wings and forcing him
to disengage momentarily.

They
sped through the cool air under a dark curtain, silhouetted by the
stars and onward into a future unforeseen.

Questions? Feedback? Typos?

Email me at
[email protected]
or visit
www.jrkarlsson.com
for more information.

Thanks for reading.