The Book of Deacon: Book 02 - The Great Convergence (43 page)

"HALT!" Demont ordered.

Instantly the aura vanished. Darkness swept
in. Myranda conjured light. She could not afford to wait for her
eyes to adjust. Lain dispatched the first of his opponents. Ether
was still entangled with hers. Ivy stood with a confused,
disoriented look on her face.

"Much as I would like to see the cascading
reaction Epidime described, I must not permit it here. This fort
houses the only physical manifestation of a great many of my
creations, and I do not wish to destroy it unless it is absolutely
necessary," he said. "Now listen closely, all of you. I do not feel
that this place is an appropriate one to capture you, and with the
exception of the human, strict orders prohibiting me from killing
you have been reinstated. Thus, I must insist that you leave this
place. If you do so quickly and willingly, I shall do you no more
harm."

Demont made his way to a long case in the
corner of the room. A final swipe of Lain's sword finished his
opponent. He charged at Demont, but the case clicked open and ten
more of the centipedes charged out to his defense. Myranda, who had
yet to find something in her mystic repertoire to effectively
combat one of the nasty things, now had six to contend with. Lain
destroyed two of his own quickly, but the remaining three
maneuvered well within the radius that allowed an effective sword
strike, and proved more troublesome. Ether, however, managed to
tear the beast she tangled with to pieces, and weaved her way
quickly toward Demont. Of all of the skills these creations had,
intelligence was sorely lacking. They could not tell friend from
foe, and with Demont distracted pocketing the loose notes, books,
and tools from around the room, there was no one to guide them.

Ether sprung to Demont's leg. The
needle-sharp legs of her current form dug deep into his flesh and
she summoned all of the strength the abomination could muster. Like
a flash of lightning, The blade of a tail sunk just a whisper into
Demont's skin. Before it could slice further, a trio of the
creatures latched onto the shape shifter and tore her free. Dark
blood ran from Demont's back as Ether was stretched taught by the
creatures. With little more than a nod, creatures began to peel off
from attacking the others and assaulted the immobilized shape
shifter. Ether shifted suddenly back to stone, bursting from
beneath the beasts. She charged at him. In a swift motion, he
revealed one of the tools he had selected and drove it into her
chest. It was a rapier-thin serrated blade, striped with filaments
of the crystal. The filaments led back to the grip, which bore a
delicate metal claw. The claw held a large, finely crafted jewel.
On contact, the web of lines illuminated and the gem shone
brightly. Ether reared back and grasped the cruel weapon, trying
madly and futilely to tear it from her chest.

"It is a soul extractor, a simple tool.
Merely a clarified and refined thir crystal. A lesser soul would be
drawn from the body. Trapped entirely within. I suspect you exceed
the gem's capacity. We shall see," he explained.

Ether's motion slowed. Ivy watched, as though
from a great distance. Demont's command had shaken her to her core.
It felt as though her mind had been pushed aside. There was nothing
stopping her from moving, but she lacked the will to do so.
Somewhere far away, she heard Myranda cry out in pain. Her fingers
tightened on the grip of the club. Slowly her head turned. The
creatures were all over Myranda. A flex of her mind repelled them,
but as quickly as they were gone, others replaced them. Her face
was scraped and bloodied. She was losing the fight. Ivy's lips drew
back. Her teeth clenched. Demont waded through the carnage. It
dutifully parted before him. He reached the door at the top of the
stairs. This monstrous man, this fiend who would endanger her
friends, was about to go free. The thought burned at Ivy's mind.
Finally she regained control.

With a mighty blow of her club, she smashed
at the centipedes attacking Lain. He broke free from the creatures
and sprinted up the stairs to swing his weapon at the General. A
trio of the creatures hurled themselves in the way of the sword. It
sliced through them all and cut a cruel gash along Demont's arm.
All of the remaining centipedes scrambled to haul Lain away from
their master. He grasped the injury, his face finally showing pain.
It shifted quickly to anger.

"Congratulations. You have motivated me to
disobey direct orders," Demont hissed.

He motioned to the rune-inscribed tablet
before sprinting out the door. One of the beasts launched toward
it, shattering the brittle stone. It was as though the whole of the
structure shattered with it. The floorboards creaked, the cries of
a thousand horrid beasts rang out at once. The spell that had
paralyzed the countless monstrosities on display above was broken.
They were awake. Trampling feet shook the ceiling. The cauldron
held above the fire gave way, spilling its foul smelling contents
and scattering the flames. Myranda, momentarily left alone by the
centipedes, put her mind to work. She swept up the liquid and
guided it to the cluster of creatures. When they were mired in it,
she froze it solid. She then tried to use what was left of it to
extinguish the spreading flames, but it merely sizzled and
blackened. Instead, she turned her mind directly to the task. The
flames, as though guided by an unseen hand, had spread directly to
the supports in the room. Already they were buckling and
splintering under the weight. She turned her mind to keeping them
together.

"Myranda, come on! We need to go now!" Ivy
said, fear quickly moving in to take the place of anger.

"I need to keep the fire under control. Help
Ether," Myranda managed, sweat running from her temple at the
rising heat and massive effort.

"Why? She likes fire! Now that the teacher is
gone we can go!" Ivy urged.

"With that thing . . . in her chest . . . no
telling what will happen. Can't afford . . . to lose her . . . for
any amount . . . of time," Myranda struggled. The flames were
slowly creeping forward, and the supports were beginning to split.
She redoubled her efforts.

Ivy rushed to the motionless Ether. She
tugged and pulled at the extractor, but the hands that had tried so
hard to pull it free were now locking it in place. Looking at the
rapidly failing supports, panic made her decision for her. She bent
low and pulled the stone form forward onto her shoulders. One arm
was hooked behind its legs, the other over its neck and still
clutching the ever-present club. The weight was enormous. Straining
desperately, her fear fueled muscles hefted the shape shifter from
the ground. She turned her head to Myranda. Their eyes met.

"I will follow . . . I swear to you," Myranda
said.

With that, Ivy made her way up the stairs.
With each step she gained speed. Fear, determination, and a
cocktail of other emotions empowered her every motion. She emerged
into the next floor. Madness itself lay before her. Nameless
nightmares, maws belching flame, wretched black mist, and
substances that defied description filled the room to every corner.
In the center, a swath of shredded beasts led to Lain on the stairs
across from her. His sword dripped a dozen shades of blood as he
fought to clear the way ahead. She rushed as fast as she could, but
the gap he had created was closing. In her ears there was naught
but the thunder of unnatural cries. Her legs worked of their own
accord. There was no hope of warding off the fear now. She could
only hope to lend the urgency and purpose she felt now to whatever
it was that would very shortly rob her of her wits.

Lain sunk his sword to the hilt in yet
another beast and tore his weapon free. His senses were under
assault from every conceivable direction. There was no telling what
these creatures were capable of. No two were the same. There was no
time to learn their motions, to plan, to think. His instinct
slipped directly from his mind to the tip of his weapon, guiding it
to whatever patch of scales, fur, skin, or shell might suffer worst
from its bite. The darkness that had made his first encounters with
these creatures all the more difficult was now banished by the pale
blue light pouring from Ivy. Her thumping footsteps increasingly
shook the weak floorboards. Myranda was not behind her. Before his
eyes in the moment he could spare to see her, she changed. Her eyes
clouded over. She surged forward with an impossible speed. The blue
tinge of her aura vanished, leaving a brilliant white. The last few
creatures before her were swept aside by the sheer force of her
motion. With a single stride she leapt up the stairs and past Lain.
Foregoing the landing entirely, she planted a second stride on the
wall of the twisting stairway. From there she thrust herself to the
floor above without touching a single step.

Tiny scampering creatures were crushed
underfoot. Huge hulking beasts were outmaneuvered. Lain now
followed in
her
wake. Keeping close as he could manage, he
slashed at any beast that ventured near enough to threaten either
of them and as many others his weapon could reach. Utterly unique
creatures, similar only in purpose. Creatures made to kill.
Prototypes, failed attempts, discarded imaginings. The first and
last of their kinds. They leapt at him from all sides. The air was
thick with their stench, their breath, their blood. He struck down
as many as he could. He had to. His mind, in fleeting whispers,
turned to Myranda. Every level of monstrosities that they left
behind was one that still lay before her.

A distant creak and snap rang through the
structure and the very floor beneath their feet shifted. Far below,
a torrent of shattered wood, burning embers, and ruined creatures
tore through a widening hole in the ceiling above. Myranda was
thrown back. The fire was all around her, long ago having slipped
from her control. She struggled to her feet, gasping a lungful of
choking smoke and pushing aside the searing pain of the fire that
lapped at her ankles, Myranda assessed her situation. The staircase
was blocked by the very remnants of the floor it led to. Injured
but threatening creatures began to pull themselves from the rubble.
Above, the supports for the next floor were giving way. She forced
every last drop of her will into maintaining the integrity of the
floor. Her life was lost. It didn't matter. All she could hope to
do was to give the others a chance. Flames climbed to her legs,
smoke strangled her lungs, and half broken beasts drew menacingly
close. With a strength she did not know that she had, she managed
to force the shaky floor back into place.

Above, Lain and Ivy entered the final floor.
The massive creatures found here were far too big to be swept aside
by Ivy, despite the momentum that had continued unbroken since she
had begun her ascent. Lain managed to inch ahead of her just as the
tangled mass of snakes that dominated the room attempted to strike
with one of its many mouths. The bite of his weapon caused the
beast to recoil out of Ivy's path. As she approached the door she
lowered her shoulder, leveling the stone body of Ether with the
solid planks. With a force that was difficult to comprehend, the
speeding hero struck the door, using the petrified shape shifter as
a ram. The planks fairly disintegrated on impact, the door
destroyed utterly. Ivy was staggered by the blow, losing her
footing and tumbling violently across the frozen ground outside.
The stone body of Ether, though riddled with cracks after the
collision, skidded to a stop just outside the walls in one piece.
Lain darted out the door, followed by a flood of beasts and a vast
billowing column of black smoke.

Many of the creatures below had been designed
to breathe flame, and thus had set the fort alight in a dozen
different places. It was clear now that the horrid place had been
designed for just this purpose, to consume itself and all within
rather than fall into the hands of an enemy. Myranda, still in the
very heart of the structure, sensed that her task was done, that
the others had escaped. She began to release her agonized mind's
grip. As she did, like a waterfall, the ruined wood, ash, and fauna
began to pour down before her. The floorboards she stood on and
those above her head began to buckle. Finally they gave way.

Ivy's aura faded as Lain rushed to her side,
turning to the creatures that had filed out of the fort. With a
rush of smoke and superheated air, the whole of the structure gave
way. It collapsed into the pit it had been built in, disappearing
into the black smoke that belched out. Red and orange flames cut
through the smoke here and there, casting swaths of light upon the
night-darkened field as the column rose into the sky. The rumbling
collapse of the structure was a blessing in at least one way. The
worms that had guarded it now flowed into the fiery hole,
destroying themselves in attempts to attack the source of the
rumbling. Silhouetted against the smoky orange glow of the ruined
fort were the only survivors of the collapse, the snake
monstrosity, the horned tiger, and the scorpion-tailed hawk. Lain
held his sword ready.

Ivy held her head, dizzy but still managing
to get to her feet after her ordeal. She looked to the spectacle
before her, seeing it but not comprehending. Her wits had returned,
but the intense few minutes gone by were lost to her, a blur of
sound and light. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, or even
where she was. The last she remembered was being inside the fort,
now there was no fort in sight. A piercing cry came from above and
she looked up in time to see a needle-sharp black tail whiz by her
head. She jerked away from it, reeling and falling back to the
ground.

Her blurry vision locked onto a hulking form
she had made sure to ignore when she'd entered the fort. Lain was
standing in front of her, facing down a dark shape that moved
toward him with alarming speed. The assassin slowly side-stepped.
Each time he did, the creature charging at him turned slightly,
shifting its path toward him and away from Ivy. She turned her eyes
to the sky. A barely visible shape wheeled about and began toward
her again. She felt about for the club that had finally slipped
from her hand when she had fallen.