Rojuun (27 page)

“At your service,” he said with a bow. “Let
us go now to the gate if you will.”

The tunnel sloped downward, taking them
deeper into the ground. The air was cool and the breeze that Tathan
had felt in Garrrn Cavern flowed around the party from behind.

After traveling about a mile and a half,
they heard a discordant yelping. There was also a new smell in the
air, like mold and slime mixed with mud. In the distance, iron bars
covered the entrance of the tunnel. Closed doors in the middle were
large enough to let four people through at once.

The horror was on the other side of the
gate. Numerous yelping, snapping creatures were crawling on and
around the gates. Their snouts were cruel and vicious as they bit
the bars.

“Those are sstejj,” Marrraa said calmly as
she continued walking toward them. “They will become very excited
when they catch our scent.”

The sstejj were just as described, with thin
bodies and stony, jointed legs. They crawled over each other trying
to get through the gate. As the party moved closer, the monsters
began to scurry.

About fifty paces away from the doors,
Marrraa stopped. “They feel our footsteps through the ground. You
can see by their thin bellies that they are hungry.” Her voices
were deadly calm. “We will kill the abominations, yet more will
replace them. They hunt us constantly. They will even pass a
smaller, tastier creature to feast upon Rojuun.”

Tathan looked thoughtfully at the crowd
around the doors. “It’ll be a fight to get past the gate without
letting any through.”

“We can kill them through the bars. It will
take a while to do, but we should be able to thin them out enough
to make it,” Sir Danth said.

Most of the bars had teeth marks on them.
The monsters were gnawing on them even more ferociously with the
party so close. Stony legs clawed the air through the bars, trying
to get at the party.

Marrraa turned with a smile. “Getting them
away from the gate isn’t a problem. The problem is that more always
follow. Wait here a moment.” She walked forward until she was
fifteen feet away from the gate. Sstejj screeched hungrily at her
presence.

Marrraa began casting a spell, using
gestures with all four arms. Speech emanated from her throat much
like the words Jarrrn Garrrn had used during teleportation.

All spells used magical energies from the
air, earth, water or any other thing that existed around the
caster. All life gave off excess energy that could be manipulated
for spells as well. Evil wizards could pull life energy from living
things whereas good wizards would use the energy in the air to make
a person better. There were many ways to perform magic. Some people
could take specific elements of energy and manipulate them while
others would just grab power from the closest source available.

When an individual cast a spell, that energy
gathered around them. When releasing the energy, it would blast
past the user from behind as though they were being hit by a gale
of wind. The more it looked like the caster was being hit by wind,
the stronger the spell. It was a good gauge for warriors to use
when determining whether or not to run away. Many young wizards
died when casting a spell that used more energy than they were able
to channel. Others lost their minds in the casting.

The companions could tell that the spell
Marrraa was casting was especially powerful by the amount of energy
flowing around her. An intense look of concentration dominated her
face. When she released the spell, magical wind ripped past her.
She braced her feet and bent her knees as it dragged her
forward.

The result of the spell was phenomenal.
Tendrils of icy mist rushed from her outstretched hands. The
creatures screamed in agony as the tendrils sliced into their
bodies. Wave after wave ripped through the sstejj near the gates. A
few, dazed by injuries, stumbled away.

As the last of the spell evaporated from her
fingertips, Marrraa fell to her knees. “That will keep them away
for a short while. If you humans intend to betray us, then this
would be the time, as I will be too weak to defend myself for a
short while.” She did not look back at them as she spoke, but
stayed on her knees waiting for whatever they might do.

Chapter
24

The companions looked at each other in
surprise. Marrraa was vulnerable and it would have been easy to
kill her. Magic did that to a person, which was why few wizards
ever traveled without some sort of bodyguard.

Tathan responded, “We’re not going to kill
you, Mistress Marrraa. We’re here to do a job and I don’t make a
habit of betraying my employers.” He didn’t mention that there was
no way they would antagonize the only people that could get them
home from wherever they were, deep underground.

“Not to mention that we happen to like you,
Mistress Marrraa.” Liselle assisted the Rojuun woman to her
feet.

Marrraa nodded. “That is good to know. I
hoped you would be trustworthy, but trusting another race does not
come as easy for me as it does for my brother.” She fumbled food
out of her backpack to help her recover energy.

“That’s understandable.” Tathan looked
toward the gates. “How long do we have before more come?”

“They will be gone awhile,” she answered.
“Never try to hunt them alone, as they do not relent. I hope you
are capable of fighting them, but I have concerns,” she said,
looking nervous at the idea of going outside the gate with
them.

“Do not fear, Mistress Marrraa,” said Sir
Danth. “All will be well and the curs shall fall beneath our
might.” The knight had drawn his sword and stepped toward the gate.
“Now, let us venture forth to deal with these unnatural spawn of
evil.”

Marrraa pulled keys out of a belt pouch.
“The cavern on the other side of the gate is vast, three times
larger than Garrrn Cavern.” She unlocked and opened the gate.
“There is a fast river in the distance to the right, which flows to
a small lake on the far end. From what we have discovered, there
are twelve tunnels coming into this cavern.” She explained all of
this as they moved through the doors. “I recommend that we travel
along the wall to the left for now. It is not wise to walk to the
middle only to be surrounded by sstejj.”

“Wise plan, Mistress Marrraa,” Sir Danth
said. “Tathan, you will scout ahead, yes?”

Tathan moved forward wordlessly, sliding his
sword out of its sheath.

Marrraa took a few steps after Tathan. “It
is not wise to separate in such a manner. The sstejj are quick and
scouts are found dead, if they are found at all.”

Liselle put a hand on the feju’s arm. “All
is well, Mistress Marrraa. Tathan isn’t an ordinary scout. I notice
there aren’t as many plants in this cavern as in the last.”

“No, the sstejj trample them when they
gather in packs,” Marrraa said sadly as the rest of the party
followed Tathan at a slower pace. “It is as though their only
purpose is to kill Rojuun,” she said through clenched teeth. “I
don’t understand it. There are other creatures down here that are
dangerous, yet coexist.” Marrraa’s fists were clenched around the
knives she had drawn absentmindedly. She was angry and it showed in
her body language.

***

Tathan moved ahead at a low run. He ignored
Marrraa’s warning. The life of a scout was always dangerous. That
was part of what he liked about the job.

It wasn’t long before he found one of the
creatures limping around in a circle. One of its legs was missing
and another was broken halfway up from Marrraa’s spell. It stopped
and turned its head to the side. Tathan could see the gill like
openings, about ten of them, on the side of the head where the ears
would be on a normal creature. They opened and closed in a ripple
effect from front to back.

The sstejj was tapping the ground as though
searching for something. Tathan figured it was probably trying to
feel vibrations in the ground, which would be futile as he was
standing absolutely still. He carefully picked up a rock and tossed
it to his right.

The sstejj dashed to that area. When it
found nothing, the monster remained, puzzled as to where the
vibration had come from. The gills on the side of its head flared,
searching for the scent of its prey. Tathan had watched the
movement in order to learn. The sstejj moved like a fast spider.
There were no leg muscles for a leap, which was good considering
Tathan hated creatures that could leap.

It caught his scent again and took a few
steps toward him. Tathan saw movement coming from the center of the
cave. It would be bad to give the creature’s friends time to gang
up on him.

Tathan stomped his foot twice and then
readied his sword as the sstejj dashed toward him. The injured legs
caused the monster to swerve to the right of where Tathan stood. As
it passed, Tathan thrust his sword into the soft body between a
pair of legs. The blade slid easily and Tathan pulled it out just
as fast.

The creature screamed, jerking its head
around in reaction to the wound. Tathan ducked easily underneath
the snout as it swung past. It gave him a good view of the gills,
so he decided to poke his sword in one to see what would
happen.

He almost lost his sword as the head jerked
back around. The creature fell to the ground, screaming. Tathan
jumped back and watched the monster writhe in pain. It went through
a few death throes before falling still.

The shapes in the distance were moving in
his direction. Looking past the body, he could see about twenty
more sstejj approaching. That was more than he was willing to
handle by himself. Tathan turned back toward the rest of the
party.

***

Hearing the screams of the sstejj, Marrraa
stopped in place. “He should not have gone alone! The sstejj will
kill him.”

“He’ll be fine. The sstejj are the ones who
will die.” Liselle had seen his cousin fight and had no doubt he
would handle himself fine.

The sstejj screamed again, causing Sir Danth
and Vevin to spring forward at a trot. Liselle gave Marrraa a smile
in response to the dubious look on the feju’s face. “Let’s go see
what Tathan found.”

***

“About twenty of the sstejj are coming up to
the dead one over there,” Tathan said, pointing at the body of the
one he killed. “Cut their bodies if you want to kill them easily.
If you slide your sword into their gills, you’ll hit whatever it is
they have for a brain and they won’t be able to fight anymore.”

“You slid your sword into a gill?” Marrraa
said in surprise. That is difficult. Many Rojuun warriors try
desperately for that feat.” She shook her head. “I will have to see
you do it before I can acknowledge the accomplishment.”

“It wasn’t that much of a feat,” Tathan
admitted. “It had a missing leg and another one injured. I had
already stabbed it once in the side too.” What he didn’t say was
that he was going to try to stab every sstejj he came across in the
gills from that point on.

“Alright, I’ll take on these twenty. The
rest of you cover the flanks,” Sir Danth said with casual
confidence. He turned to the Rojuun woman. “Mistress Marrraa, Relax
for now. Regain your strength. We’ll take care of the creatures. I
would like to examine their tactics.”

“It is good that you wish to become used to
fighting them, but foolish to think you can take on twenty by
yourself, Sir Danth Human,” Marrraa warned.

The pack of sstejj reached their fallen
brethren. The companions were appalled when the first three began
feasting upon it. Others began scurrying in her direction.

“They’re eating each other,” Vevin said
slowly. “Cannibalism is the lowest form of evil.” There was a dark
swirl in his silver eyes.

“Yes, they eat each other when one falls. We
never have bodies to clean up,” said Marrraa. “It is disgusting and
adds to our loathing of the abominations.” She spat on the
ground.

“Well here they come,” said Tathan. He moved
to a crouch, covering Sir Danth’s flank. The knight had been
walking forward all the while, tossing his greatsword from hand to
hand in anticipation of the battle. Vevin moved to the left
flank.

“Vevin Human has no weapon,” Marrraa said in
alarm to Liselle. “I have extra knives I can give him.” She pulled
out two.

“No. Vevin will be fine.” Liselle looked
around to find an area clear of plants before pulling off her cloak
to set it on the ground. “We should just sit here and let the boys
have their fun, I think.” She then sat as per her own
suggestion.

Marrraa looked at Liselle in disbelief. “But
. . . they . . . sstejj . . .” she sputtered and remained
standing.

At that point, the slaughter began. Just as
the first sstejj was about to reach Sir Danth, the knight suddenly
shifted forward in space. One moment he was ten paces away, the
next he appeared right next to the creature’s head and rammed his
sword into the gills. Apparently, Tathan wasn’t the only one going
for gill shots.

The creature’s head stopped abruptly while
the rest of its body continued forward. It flipped over itself,
snapping the neck joint. Sir Danth didn’t budge under the force of
the sstejj’s movement. He twisted his sword and pulled it out. He
shifted to the side of the next one and rammed the sword into its
gills as well.

Sir Danth’s sword flashed through the air.
By that point, three more had surrounded the knight, trying their
best to get at him. They also died quickly; one through the gills,
the next with cuts to the body, and the third with a great slash
across the neck. His enchanted blade even cut through the legs of
the creatures without slowing down.

Liselle glanced at Marrraa, who was staring
at the knight in wonder. She didn’t blame the feju for being in
awe. Liselle knew that Sir Danth was dangerous, but it was another
thing to see him in action. She turned to look at her cousin.
Tathan was stomping the ground to get the attention of a sstejj
near him. There was a mischievous grin on his face. “Oh look, Sir
Danth is going to let Tathan play with one too,” she said, pointing
Tathan out to Marrraa.