Descent into the Depths of the Earth (4 page)

The Justicar stalked carefully, scanning for the slightest
marks upon the silver frost. He walked only in the lee of the buildings where
the dew lay thin and unfrozen. He kept low, moving as stealthily as a rustle in
the breeze.

To the north, somewhere along the old weed-grown road, smoke
was rising slowly in the dawn—light, clean smoke, probably kitchen fires. Jus
filed the information in his head, never once ceasing his careful search of the
ruined village. Pausing at the huge skull of a long-dead giant. Jus watched the
empty streets.

Magic.
Cinders let the air run across his nose, his ears
pricked up into wicked points as he searched for signs of life.
On the roof,
one house to left. More magic—house roof on right.

The grass outside the tavern dripped. Something had brushed
the frost and set it melting. The Justicar knelt, scanned the roofs above, then
carefully examined the grass.

One shutter had been opened—just a tiny slit scarcely large
enough to admit a cat. Caught on the wooden shutter, a thin silken thread
drifted in the breeze. Blue and almost metallic in color, the tiny thread now
hung like a microscopic banner. Jus left it where it lay, narrowed his eyes,
then faded behind a stand of dead, dry weeds.

On the rooftops above, nothing moved, but he could feel
something there. Traveling with Escalla had taught him the knack of seeing the
faint ripples where an invisible creature passed. On the thatching, the neat
array of straw wavered slightly as an unseen creature shifted its stance.

It could not help but have seen him. Jus deliberately rose,
passed his gaze across the rooftops as though seeing nothing, then went walking
slowly down the open street. Above his helmet, Cinders grinned a gleeful, manic
grin. The two partners moved quietly down the street. Obligingly, the attack
came from the roof just above.

A blinding light stabbed downward. The Justicar whirled, put
his back to the blast, and hunched as a fireball exploded all about him.
Cinders’ black fur took the heat of the blast.

The Justicar was already on the attack. Burned and streaming
flames, the Justicar leaped through the dissipating fire, his black sword
already clearing its scabbard. Cinders’ head swung, and a vicious column of
flame shot from the hell hound’s jaws to blast the rooftops above.

Something screamed, and suddenly a shape materialized. The
tiny blue figure staggered, beating at itself. It shifted shape, changing even
as it dropped out of view.

Leaping across broken roofs, the blue-clad figure seemed
nearly human, but it was only two feet tall and sported a pixie’s wings. Long
black hair streamed in the wind as the creature landed on its perch and turned a
look of hatred at the Justicar. The creature wore a cloak that had been sliced
almost in half—a cut long and precise. Scorched blue threads trailed from the
damaged cloth.

Cinders fired again before the creature could finish the
spell half woven on its lips. It dodged aside, taking a painful blast of fire.
The creature turned invisible and fled, speeding so swiftly through the leaves
that twigs shattered as it passed.

Thatching gave a single tiny crack. Jus dived through a
cottage window, just as a spell thundered down from another roof farther along
the street. The second visitor had opened fire, missing Jus but collapsing an
entire row of houses. The assassin leaped from roof to roof, invisible and fast,
then sped over to the rubble. Mud and wattle steamed. Thatch burned. Hissing,
the assassin pounced upon a rooftop and tried to catch sight of its prey.

A black sword blade erupted through the thatch, ripping a
line of blood from the invisible assassin. The creature screamed a feminine
scream, rolling aside as the black blade stabbed through the roof again.

The Justicar burst upward through the straw, roaring like a
mad god as he ploughed the black blade through empty air, trying to cut his
invisible assailant down. Visible at last, the assassin briefly took the form of
a pixie and then suddenly became a spider with butterfly wings. The winged
arachnid managed to tumble sideways and stab out a spell that filled the street
with shards of flying ice. The Justicar disappeared in the hissing torrent of
razor-sharp frost, and a triumphant laugh rang out. Seeing its spell strike
home, the intruder hovered and laughed viciously, peering through the ice clouds
and looking for its victim’s corpse.

Streaming blood, the Justicar flung himself upward from the
ice cloud, scything his black sword downward at his enemy. The spider-creature
screamed and tried to leap aside. The sword tip narrowly scored a cut across its
back, springing blood into the air. The spider-creature sped aside, landed on a
roof ridge, and cocked back its limbs to summon energy for another savage spell.

“Jus!”

The entire house the creature stood upon exploded. Hovering
outside the tavern clutching her beaver skins about her shoulders, Escalla
snarled and blasted energy into the distant hut. Her enemy dodged, spider eyes
wide. Blinded by the power discharge, Escalla ripped her spell sideways in
pursuit of her unseen enemy, gouging stones from walls and sending thatched
roofs tumbling in a cloud of straw.

As the flying spider fled into the ruined cottages, a swarm
of little golden bees sped out from Escalla’s hands. The magic insects swirled
in a mad shield all about the Justicar. As a lightning bolt stabbed out from a
ruined house nearby, the bee swarm darted and swatted the energies aside.
Escalla snarled in glee as she saw a dark shape run flitting through the weeds.

“Hey, spider! Suck on this!”

Escalla slammed her hands toward the ground, and a savage
ripple tore the earth toward her enemy. Black tentacles writhed upward from the
street, lunging for prey.

With a curse, Escalla’s enemy dived through a garden archway.
Light flashed, and the assassin disappeared. The hungry tentacles slammed
against the archway and tore it to shreds in a petulant burst of anger.

Stones cascaded to the street. Maddened tentacles thrashed.
Clutching a bleeding shoulder, the Justicar hunched in the street, his face
savage, golden bees still weaving about him in a dancing shield. Magic flashed
as he shoved a healing spell into his shoulder, then another into his left hand.
Burns and wounds closed over. Ignoring the hurt, the big man straightened and
looked toward the thrashing tentacles.

“Thank you.”

The dancing bees faded and disappeared. Escalla settled down
to land upon Jus’ unwounded shoulder, pulling her beaver pelt about her naked
skin.

“What was that?”

“Spies.” Jus lifted his sword. The tip showed a brief sheen
of blood to which a fine metallic blue thread adhered. “There were two of them,
shapeshifters.”

“Shapeshifters?” Escalla carefully lifted her hand and
spellfire shone. She coldly and efficiently scanned the village. “Nothing.
They’ve gone now.”

Jus examined his black scale armor where an ice bolt had
punched a ragged hole through the shoulder and into the flesh beneath.

“Small. Magic using. One of them looked like you.”

“Like me?”

Dismissing it with a quirk of her brow, the faerie gave a
superior little smile. “That’s
really
unlikely.”

“Small humanoid. Wings.”

Escalla turned to take a sharp look at where her foe had
disappeared. She stared for a moment in puzzlement, then shrugged and dismissed
the whole idea.

“If it was a shapeshifter, then it could be anything.” The
girl shivered in the cold and tugged her beaver skin tight. “Are you all right?”

“It will pass. It’s only pain.”

“J-man, did I ever tell you that you’re my hero?” Escalla
ruffled Cinders’ fur, patting both of her friends on the head. “Let’s get
indoors. I forgot my wand.”

“And your clothes.”

“Hey, man! I just woke up!” The girl opened her hands in
protest then made a grab for her beaver skin. “I rescued you!”

“So you didn’t rouse the others as I told you?”

“Sure I did!” Escalla rolled her eyes. “They all fell back to sleep. You know
those guys—not a dedicated bone in their bodies.”

“Right.”

The Justicar took a careful look at the weeds, frost, and
buildings. Hell hound flame, magic spells, and tentacles had combined to
obliterate any hope of tracks and evidence.

“Cinders, anything still here?”

Gone. All gone.
The hell hound watched a cottage roof burn and happily
wagged his tail.
Burn bad guy! Funny!

Jus reached up to pat the hell hound and said, “Good boy. You just keep
burning them.”

The threesome trudged back up the street, Jus stepping over
the ruins left by Escalla’s tentacle spell. The big man looked at the spell’s
remnants and gave a grunt. “Good spell.”

“You like it?” Escalla preened. She sidled closer, waggling her brows. “Hey,
Jus! I finished reading that spellbook.”

“And?”

“We got
stoneskin
.”

“Stoneskin?”

“A spell! Oh, it’s hotter than a volcano. This one you’re
going to love!” Escalla rubbed her hands together. “I just need a teeny eeny
little ingredient or two. You reckon we can find some diamond dust anywhere?”

The Justicar looked at the girl and said, “We have exactly eleven gold pieces
left.”

“Ack.” Escalla crossed her legs as she sat on Jus’ shoulder. “Well if you
see any diamonds, give me a yell.”

“We will not steal diamonds.”

“Steal?” Planting her hands at her breast, Escalla goggled at the mere
thought. “Would I steal?”

“Yes.”

“What!” Escalla puffed up, feeling her honor impugned but
lacking evidence or moral ground to stand on. “For your information, when faerie
girls take something, it’s loveable! It’s not stealing!”

“No diamonds.”

“Well, unowned ones then! You know they grow in the ground
somewhere.”

Escalla, Jus, and Cinders stared once again across the quiet
roofs.

The faerie drew her brows into a frown. “Shapeshifters, huh?
We must have pissed someone off mightily.”

“Someone has plans we must be interfering with.” Jus flexed
his hands. “Be careful.”

* * *

Outside the tavern, the open street offered the best view of
the surrounding land. Smoothing Polk’s map under his hands, the Justicar looked
thoughtfully at his painted lines and squiggles. The map was hopelessly
inaccurate. The party’s position could be virtually anywhere dozens of miles
from where he imagined them to be.

To the southeast lay the sea. To the west lay a ruined castle
in which Escalla’s hydra had made its lair. Northward, many hundreds of miles
away, lay Furyondy and Hommlet. Keoland was a broad kingdom. The forest
supposedly served as its southern border, although the map seemed to be made
mostly from wishful thinking and pure guesswork.

The road through the village seemed old and abandoned, yet
perhaps it led to another settlement where they could find directions and
purchase food. The smoke he had seen earlier in the morning seemed to suggest
that there was some sort of settlement nearby. Jus amassed his information
swiftly and methodically, while behind him ash cakes baked in the tavern’s
hearth for breakfast.

Blowing through his scraggly moustache, Polk watched
disapprovingly from afar. He finally marched out of the tavern and took position
behind the Justicar’s map.

Jus folded the map without bothering to look up. “Polk, shut
up.”

“What are you readin’ for, son? You’re addled! Touched in the
skull!” Polk squared his silly hat upon his head. “This is a time for action,
boy! A time for sword and blades and magic!” Polk stamped in impatience at a
student who seemed to be eternally dim. “Never mind the maps. Let instinct be
our guide!”

“Polk, you have
personally
managed to put us at least
three hundred miles off course.” The Justicar’s voice rumbled in an ursine
growl. “Let me tell you just how much I respect your instincts.”

Cinders lay spread across the table, his shark-toothed grin
gleaming with a piece of coal between his jaws. The Justicar borrowed a coal
flake to draw on the map.

“May I?”

Welcome!

“Polk!” Jus drew a circle around the supposed location of
distant Hommlet. “We have just been attacked by something that seemed really
annoyed.” The ranger tapped a finger on the map, guessing at the possible flow
of local rivers. “I’m in favor of moving very carefully and fairly swiftly,
looking for inhabited villages and keeping our heads down while we see who might
want us dead.”

Enid had found a tall stone tower at the edge of the village.
On tables dragged from a dozen houses, she had begun laying out scrolls,
riddles, books, and parchments found on an eventful journey from Trigol. More
loot from the ruined castle’s library gave her even more toys to play with.
Plain and sweetly curious, she was reading through her books and thoroughly
enjoying herself. She looked over the edge of a scorched volume, raised her
brows, and said, “Aren’t we staying here, then? I was so looking forward to
catching up on a book or two!”

“Someone apparently doesn’t want us to stay.”

Jus stored the map, patted Cinders, and then cocked one brow
as a strange noise came drifting from the tavern door.

Light-hearted, happy singing astounded one and all. It came
pure and sweet, a girlish voice without a trouble in the world.

Through a window, Escalla could be seen hovering in mid air.
She had fixed her hair and wore a beautiful silk costume bought in Trigol. She
primped herself happily in a mirror, then turned a little pirouette.

The faerie drifted lightly out into the morning air, twirling
merrily as she came. On seeing Jus she paused, made a knowing little smile, and
then hovered at his shoulder with her head tilted to one side. She smiled
secretly at him for a moment. Finally, to everyone’s shock, Escalla kissed him
on the ear and said, “You’re
most
welcome.”