Wizard Ch. 20

A hot, moist, dark tunnel awaits John and his ladies...

You can find Chapter 19 here, Chapter 1 here, and the story (Enchanted) that started it all here

"What are you doing?" John demanded as Artesia joined them at the mouth of the pass that led along the cliff. Her pace had been slow, even if she'd shown no limp.

"My job, my lord."

John frowned. "You were walking dead a few minutes ago."

Zynga snickered.

"What?" Artesia snapped at her.

She shook her head. "Walking dead... it's... never mind, it wouldn't make sense to you."

Artesia sighed through her nose and turned back to John. "Sadie healed me."

John stared at her. "And you should be resting now, I saw you, Artesia, you were injured badly. You're armor is rather mangled too."

"It still works fine," she said. She drew her axe and dagger and said, "My sword's done but I can use these."

"Artesia--"

"My lord, you need me. We don't know what awaits us, but we expect to fight something none of us has ever fought before."

"Or seen," Jennaca pointed out.

"Or seen," Artesia agreed. "There may be dozens of dragonkin awaiting us too. You need me."

"John, she's right, we do need her," Roxanne said.

Helleen spoke in support of her twin. "Artesia killed two dragonkin and a draconian by herself. She was prepared to fight the one I helped her with too but it was Artesia that struck the killing blow. Roxanne and I fought the others together, not by ourselves, and you helped us as well.. and all of that was because of Artesia's plan and the guidance she gave us all to know how best to fight them."

"She's got my vote," Jennaca said with a wink to Artesia.

John let out a sigh. "Fine, but don't-- bah, who am I kidding, you won't listen to me anyhow."

"Thank you, my lord," Artesia said.

John shook his head and turned back. "All right, let's get going."

They turned and started to walk down the path and almost bumped into one another. Artesia spoke up and said, "Roxanne and Heleen, take the lead. Jennaca, stay back with your bow and Sasha. Find whatever position you can to assist when we fight them. John, you and I will be behind the twins."

"Told you we needed her," Helleen teased John.

They rearranged themselves and push ahead, with Roxanne on the left near the steep hillside and Helleen on the right, less than two feet from the cliff's edge. Artesia insisted John stay on the inside edge away from the cliff as well. Zynga trailed along behind them.

The path was well worn by both boots and claws. It curved left and dropped down until their objective was visible. The path leveled off nearly fifty feet ahead and then went up a short incline before ending in a dark cave. Two dragonkin were lounging at the entrance.

Artesia growled beside John.

"What?"

"Open ground, we have to charge them!" she said.

"So we charge," John agreed. "I had an idea I wanted to try..."

"What--"

Instead of answering her, he showed her. Infernal fire burst out of his hand and raced up his spear, burning like a torch of anti-light. He swung the spear around once and willed the flames forth in an arc. It flew through the air and splattered from one of the guardians to the other.

The dragonkin leapt to their feet and started to writhe as the flames blinded them and convinced them there were a thousand insects chewing their way in.

"Charge!" Artesia barked.

Roxanne and Helleen were off. Jennaca climbed the hillside, leaping from one foothold to another. She fit arrow to string and fired so smooth and fast she didn't even stop climbing to a better vantage. The arrows flew true but the dragonkin's hide proved resilient. They bounced away or ended up stuck without penetrating deep enough to injure them.

"Come on!" Artesia said and took off after the twins.

John was a step behind but after a half dozen paces he caught up to her and was soon passing. He heard her panting and wanted to slow down but ahead lay the unknown. He knew better than to stop.

Roxanne and Helleen reached the dragonkin as the flames died away. The demon-fire on the ground between them lasted longer, licking greedily at the dirt.

Roxanne met her opponent with her shield to the side of its head. She bashed it back a step and then staggered a half step herself as its claw swatted her thigh in a defensive strike. Her armored skirt protected her and her mace crashing onto the dragonkin's head dropped it like a stone to the ground.

Helleen saw her chance as the flames died on the right dragonkin. She aimed a chop that made it jump to its right. Her right foot came down and planted, allowing her to drive her left into the dragonkin's shoulder. It jumped back to its left, landed, and swung its tail forward.

Helleen spun under the attack and grabbed her sword in both hands so that when it hit, it hewed into the beast's side and shoulder. The dragonkin flung itself away before her blade could sink deep enough to end it... and then began scrambling as it realized it was surrounded by open air.

"Nice," Roxanne hissed as Helleen stood tall and watched the monster flail in the air until it disappeared in the pine tree forest below. They heard distant tree limbs snapping and then a thud that marked the creature's demise.

"Well done," John panted as he ran up. The black flames disappeared at his approach so they could enter the cave unimpeded.

"Couldn't have done it without... There you are," Helleen said. She smiled at Artesia and got a nod in response. Helleen turned back to John and said, "Artesia's been teaching us to use our training in choreography and combos to plan and execute attacks. I know how I wanted that to go before I even reached him."

"Nice... did they sound an alarm?" he asked.

The twins shared a look and shook their head in unison. "No," they spoke together.

Roxanne blushed. "I didn't hear anything."

"Me either," Helleen said.

Jennaca snatched up three arrows off the ground and tucked them back in her quiver. Another had broken and two had gone over the ledge with Helleen's opponent. She fit another to her string and waited. "Into the cave?" she asked. "Looks dark."

"I can fix that," John said.

"John!" Jennaca hissed.

John turned away from the cave mouth to face her. "What?"

She pointed at the arrows in the quiver on her hip. "Can you enchant my arrows?"

John frowned. "I need to conserve my power. Enchanting multiple weapons draws a lot of magic because I don't have to concentrate to maintain it."

"No, not like you did our weapons, I mean with light. Make them glow bright or something. I'll carry them with us until we need them and then when I shoot them we'll have something lighting up our target... you know, in case it's something bigger."

John thought about the spell and the arrows and then smiled. "Oh... that I can do."

"That's a good idea," Artesia praised the huntress.

Jennaca beamed while John channeled magic into a newly drawn spell and fed it into each of her remaining three arrows. They began to glow brighter and brighter, though it was difficult to tell until Artesia motioned for Roxanne and Helleen to lead the way into the cave.

"People have been in here, a lot of them," Jennaca said as they walked across level ground and then began to follow the cave down into the mountain.

The decline increased for a moment and then leveled out somewhat. Their boots scraped and crunched dirt and pebbles over the hard rock of the cavern floor. The air reeked of musk and decay with a touch of both smoke and damp earth beneath it all.

The smell of smoke grew stronger as they followed the cave around a bend. Passages branched out from it, some only wide enough for two of them abreast while the main continued up another incline.

"The smoke's coming from there," Jennaca said while pointing to a smaller passage. "Smells like somebody's cooking something."

"Or being cooked," Zynga offered.

Roxanne's eyes widened at the prospect.

"Let's--"

A hiss from a tunnel on the opposite side swung them around. A dragonkin burst out of the entrance and crashed into Roxanne, knocking her down and trying to bite through her shield.

Helleen and Artesia hacked at the creature, forcing it back from Roxanne. It hissed and turned to flee down the tunnel when John stepped in its way. The dragonkin's rear leg was dragging from the combined assault but it gathered itself to spring at him. John lunged forward and drove his spear at it.

The dragonkin lurched to the side but without its rear leg it didn't move fast enough. John's spear plunged through its hide where its neck met its shoulder and didn't stop until John felt the thrum of power as his spear claimed the tiny spark of energy the dragonkin called a soul.

"Down that tunnel," John said after pulling his spear free with a sucking sound.

"Quickly," Artesia hissed.

Roxanne and Helleen entered the small corridor and moved ahead as far as Jennaca's light reached. Once they were all in the passage shadows danced and distracted them from the light that was coming ahead.

"I smell water," Jennaca said.

John sniffed the air and nodded.

"It's hot down here," Helleen noted and looked at the walls and ceiling. Each step was either on slick rock or caused a squish of mud. "And wet."

"Should be your kind of cave," Zynga quipped.

John ignored the imp.

A few more twists brought them into an uneven room with a high shelf of rock that had stones piled around it and a cooking rack built over it. Pots rested around it and a goat was being turned on the spit by a woman in a dress so torn and dirty it was little more than rags. A layer of mist hovered over a pool of water to the side of the shelf. Another woman was there, scrubbing pots and utensils in it.

The woman tending the spit looked up at them and froze. She stayed still a moment and then turned and hissed at her companion.

"We've come to rescue you," John said.

"We must be quick," Artesia reminded them all.

"Hold on," John said. "How many of them are there?"

"Jennaca, take Sasha and guard the tunnel," Artesia hissed while John interrogated the women. Jennaca grinned and turned to where Sasha was sniffing the hot pool. The woman washing dishes stared with huge eyes and gaping lips at the tiger.

"Sasha!" Jennaca hissed.

The cat dipped a paw in the water and drew it back. She let out a soft roar before turning and joining Jennaca. They two slipped back up the passage and left the others with only the light from the cook fire.

The women looked back and forth now that Sasha was gone. The cook was about to say something when she saw Zynga and gasped.

John winced. "She's not one of them, she's... she's my servant I summoned to help fight them. I'm a wizard."

Zynga snarled but remained quiet.

"Now how many more of the dragonkin are there?"

"The... we've seen dozens of them," the cook said.

The other woman left the dishes beside the hot spring and approached. "They been running back and forth and then it got quiet the last couple days. That because of you?"

John nodded. "I expect it is. We freed Highpass and Hawk Hollow."

The women gasped. "What about Rock Haven?"

"Rock Haven's empty... but protected by some friends until our return. Are you from there?"

They nodded.

"Are there more in here now, do you know?"

"There's always more," the dishwasher said. "They come from down that big tunnel. There's something else down there too."

"Hush Karin," the cook said.

"They should know!" Karin insisted.

"Yes, we should," John agreed. "What is it?"

"Something... loud," the cook said. "We've heard it roar and shake the very caves. Not often, but it does."

"I expected as much," John sighed. "All right, let's get you to out of here. The men being forced to build the keep are waiting near it with a priestess of Eile named Sadie. It's safe there... for now. We'll get you to the main tunnel but you will have to join them on your own."

"Alone?" she asked.

"It's safe," Artesia said. "Safer than coming with us."

"You're going in deeper?" Karin asked.

John nodded. "We need to hurry too, before more of them show up."

The cook whimpered.

"Stay if you want, when we're done we'll let you know," John said.

"Unless we die," Helleen pointed out. "In which case, you missed your chance to escape."

The two prisoners looked at each other and then rushed to the exit.

"Damn it, wait!" John hissed but they were already heading up the passage. He looked to the others and gestured with his spear. "Let's go."

Helleen and Roxanne went first up the passage. The others followed behind and soon ran into the women. Jennaca and Sasha blocked the passage, forcing them to wait.

"Anything else show up?" Artesia asked through the crowded tunnel.

"Not yet," Jennaca said.

"Are there any more prisoners?" Roxanne asked the two frightened women.

"We sleep in there," the cook pointed across the hallway at the passage beside the one the dragonkin had come out of.

"Let them go," John called.

"Thank you," Karin said.

"That's Lord John that saved you," Jennaca said as she and Sasha stepped into the main passage and let them out. "Remember that."

"Jennaca!" John hissed.

"What, you're a good man, you deserve to be known for it."

John was still shaking his head when he got out of the passage and into the main tunnel.

"Free the others?" Artesia asked.

"Yes," John said.

She nodded and motioned for Roxanne and Helleen to lead the way. They walked through and were soon able to spread out into a series of interconnected chambers. A barrel of torches with some flint and steel on a niche in the wall was located near the entrance next to two buckets that smelled like used chamber pots. Scraps of cloth and piles of dirt lent evidence to the claim of the two women but they didn't find any prisoners.

John cursed and said, "She said they sleep here. They're all out working now."

"So they're nobody left?" Jennaca asked.

"Just the bad guys," Artesia confirmed.

John nodded. "Let's go say hi."

"What about the other tunnel?" Roxanne asked.

"We need to check it," Artesia said. "Can't have them flanking us from behind."

"All right, let's go. Same order?"

"Same order," Artesia said.

John noticed she held her dagger at her hip instead of her shield. Her axe was up a little but her grip was under the head, not low on that shaft where it should be. She was holding herself together but she was tired. He'd even outrun her earlier. He had to make sure she didn't put herself in harm's way, she might be too slow to protect herself.

He almost smirked as he realized he'd just vowed to protect his protector.

"Oh saints," Roxanne gasped as they started down the new tunnel and into a horrible stench.

Helleen gagged and slowed down. "I can't... this is bad."

Artesia looked pale and sickly. Her cheeks hollowed and she forced herself to swallow.

"Oh wow, that is ripe," Jennaca agreed from the back.

"Stay here," John said. "Zynga, let's go."

"How can you stand that?" Helleen gasped.

"Magic," John said.

Helleen turned and retched.

Roxanne saw her and rushed to turn so she vomited the other direction.

"Back!" Artesia growled them. "Hold at the top!"

John slipped past the sick gladiatrixes and moved down the passage with Zynga quickly stepping up beside him. She chuckled when they'd made it further down the passage but still heard the echo of one of the twins puking.

A few minutes later John heard the rushing water before his infernal vision revealed a stream that cut across the tunnel. There was some room along the edge of it both up and downstream, but the banks of the river was already covered in the source of the stench.

"Well, at least they come down here to shit," Zynga said.

John noticed a few bones that looked human. "More than that," he said.

Zynga followed his pointed finger and cackled. "So that's where they came from!"

"Seems like it," he said. "Nothing for us here, let's rejoin the others."

"You're the Master, Master."

John return up the tunnel taking care to avoid the three puddles of sick they passed by.

"Thank the saints you're back," Helleen said. She still looked a little green.

"What did you find?" Artesia asked.

"You don't look well," John said.

"It will pass," she said. "I'm fine."

John scowled.

"So?" Jennaca asked. "What was it?"

"Baby dragon droppings," Zynga said.

"Dragon?" Roxanne and Helleen said together.

"Dragonkin," John corrected her. "Probably the draconians and the men too."

"Those buckets in their cave," Roxanne reasoned.

"They had to dump it down there too," John said. "Only one place left to go."

They filed back into the main chamber and avoided the dead dragonkin on the ground. John shared a look with all of them before turning to the dark tunnel that seemed even more ominous than before.

"Let's go," John said and he started forward.

"My lord, remember our marching order," Artesia insisted.

John shook his head. "Not this time, Artesia. You may walk beside me if you want, but I need to be in the front."

"That's foolish," Artesia hissed.

"So is traveling with three consorts that treat one another almost as well as they treat me," John pointed out. "Trust in me, Artesia."

Artesia grumbled in her throat and then nodded. "I'll be right behind you though."

"I wouldn't have it any other way," John said. He nodded and, without another word, took the first step down into the darkness.

3 More chapters remain!