Dungeon Builder's Harem Book 01 Ch. 10

Chapter Ten

The darkness that wrapped up Mthunzi melted away. His spell had run out. I grinned in triumph. I focused on throwing another Lightning Spear and the words tumbled from my lips.

But he was already casting his spell.

"Darkness hides and shadows conceal, let the curse of Lord Zuen fall!" he cried out.

Blackness crashed over me.

I gasped and stumbled. I waved my spear before me, holding it tight. I couldn't see anything. It was like the lights had turned off. Panic rushed through me. A noise came from my right. I darted at it. My foot struck the dais. I tripped, slamming the butt of my spear down to keep from falling over.

"NEVER!" Lana shouted. Lightning sizzled to my left. I turned in that direction.

"Shadows flow and darkness sharpens, let the cunning of Lord Zuen stab!" chanted the enemy. He was behind me.

I whirled, this terror growing in me. Something struck my breastplate. Metal rang. The blow knocked me back. I groaned, feeling the metal dent. He chanted again and another dark dagger struck my chest.

"No!" I cried. I had to focus. To think. I couldn't see anything.

"LEEOOO!" screamed Lana. She sounded like she was in pain. This couldn't be happening. I didn't want to die. I wanted to fight back. To win.

I couldn't see.

Another dagger struck me. Mthunzi laughed. "Darkness is where fear is birthed. From the shadows crawls the terrors that consume men. Nothing is more frightening than the unknown, and to the blind, there is only darkness."

Did he blind me? That spell. Fuck. I had to--

Something hard struck me in the face. Light flared across my blind vision, bursts of neuron activity. I hit the ground hard in a clatter of metal. Lana shouted in fear. The butt of staff slammed down by my head. I flinched from it, struggling to think.

I had my spear. I tightened my grip and swung it out before me.

It struck something wood. His staff. With a snort of contempt, Mthunzi cracked his weapon into my wrist. Pain exploded. My fingers popped loose. My spear tumbled from my hands. It rolled away from me on the stone floor. Agony burst across my forehead. Fuzziness washed across my brain.

Everything went numb for a moment. I groaned, a nauseating writhe rippling through my guts. My head throbbed. Something warm trickled across my brow. I groaned. My body felt heavy. Sluggish. I needed to move.

"Waaayt" I slurred, my mouth thick.

"Now to cut that Glyph off of you," said Mthunzi. "I don't want to end up like you. If that other bastard near here finds me when I only have one Glyph, well, I'd end up like you, wouldn't I?"

"Bastard," I managed to spit out. I could feel him over me, but I couldn't see anything.

"I know," he said. "It's terrible. Back where we're from, I'd never do this. But this isn't civilization. There is no law but what we make. We build our own kingdoms. We're tyrants, you and I. We can do whatever we like. It's freeing, you know. You don't have to obey the rules. No more stopping at red lights. No more paying taxes. This is a better place. I'm going to rise far. I'm going to rule it all. I'll remember you... That boy who put up such a pathetic fight I barely broke a sweat stealing his Glyph."

He worked off the straps of my breastplate. Feeling slowly returned to my body.

* * / *

"GET OFF OF HIM!" snarled Lana. She crawled across the floor, her guts writhing in agony. "You bastard!"

"Don't worry," said Mthunzi as he undid the straps of her lord and master's armor, "once I have his Glyph, I'll heal you and Usiku up. Then we'll have fun. I bet you suck dick like a champ, Lana Fulmine."

"I'll bite it off!" she growled, her fingers digging into the joint between the stone tiles of the floor. She pulled herself another foot. Lightning crackled from her wings.

Leo lay on the ground, blood pouring from a gash in his head. Darkness covered his eyes. He twitched. His hand flexed and moved. The black-robed bastard ripped the breastplate off. Then he pulled a dagger from his robe. A wicked thing.

"I'll tear that cock off!" Lana Fulmine snarled. Her number one fan was in danger. She crawled another foot.

Mthunzi cut open Leo's robe.

* * / *

The cloth tore. I felt my chest exposed. Fear raced through me. I had to do something.

I had one more spell.

I focused on it as I thrust my hand blindly before me. "Sizzling touch, the spark of pain, let the prowess of Lord Enlil stun!"

He screamed. The dagger fell from his grasp. Pain burst from my collarbone where the tip scored me. Then it fell off of me. The bastard collapsed on me, his body twitching, stunned by the attack. Fury rippled through me.

"You have to kill him!" screamed Lana Fulmine. She was in such pain. "Cut out his Glyph!"

"Hurry, Lord Leo," Souleen cried. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, but you have to kill him while you can."

My helpless terror morphed into fury. A pounding rage. My Lana Fulmine was in pain. My will o' wisps dead. This bastard wanted to cut off my Glyph while I was alive. I roared out my anger. My hand grabbed the knife he dropped. My head throbbed as I sat up.

He groaned to my right.

I grabbed the dagger in both hands, point aimed down, and slammed it at the groaning man. I buried my weapon into him. He gasped. A gurgling cry burst from his throat. I pulled it up and stabbed into him again. And again.

I screamed my emotions. My body shook as I plunged the weapon into him over and over again. Blood splashed hot on my face. The bastard gave out one final sigh as I slammed the dagger into his chest.

My vision cleared.

He lay before me, his black robe sodden with red. More pooled around him. I panted, his blood and my own dripping down my face. I shuddered and stumbled back, leaving his dagger buried inside of him.

Then a light blazed through his robes. An intense brilliance in the shape of a square formed of four arrows like my lightning brand. My chest sizzled in pain. I gasped, grasping at my skin through my cut-open robes. I felt the new Glyph branding into me.

The stunned, purple-skinned monster girl gasped. She spasmed on the ground where she lay in a stupor. I sucked in a deep breath as I felt my power growing. I had new magic I could use. I had more capacity. Somewhere in his dungeon, his Void Crystal shattered and all its power rushed into mine, upgrading it.

You saved me, Lord Leo! cheered Souleen.

"Leo," Lana sobbed. She reached me. She had golden blood spilling down her silvery skin. She'd taken a hard sword through the guts. She threw her arms around me and pressed her forehead against mine. Her blue eyes filled my vision. "You're alive. You're alive."

"So are you," I groaned, hugging her tight. I held her to me.

"Lord Leo," groaned the purple-skinned woman. She sat up. She rubbed at a scorch mark on her throat. She groaned as she staggered to her feet. "Lord Leo, are you okay?"

I stared at her in shock. She rushed over to us and glanced down at her former master. She shook her head. Something almost like grief flashed over her face. Then she stepped over him and fell to her knees before me.

"My apologies, Lord Leo," she said, bowing low. "I am your thrall, if you'll have me. Usiku. I'm a fomorian. I can shape darkness. Create weapons out of it. I can serve you as faithfully as I did Mthunzi. Please, please, don't destroy me. I am sorry for attacking you. He was my master, but now I'm yours. Please, please, spare me."

"Not going to... destroy you," I groaned and staggered to my feet, Lana clinging to me. "Help me with her. She's in pain."

"Yes, my Lord," Usiku gasped. She stood up and darted around to Lana's other side. She slipped her arm beneath Lana Fulmine.

Together, we carried her out of the room.