The Orb of Wrath (The Merchant's Destiny Book 1) (27 page)

That's when the putrid stench of kaltas hit their noses. Everyone started to feel horrible nausea. They could hardly contain their stomachs. If they had eaten something they would probably have vomited. The flying hammer hit a blow on one of the kaltas, moving it away slightly. The other, who was very close to Thost, pounced on him and managed to scratch his arm. Under normal conditions, the knight probably could have stopped the blow with his shield, but the nausea he felt had diminished his reflexes. The scratch produced an effect that surprised Erion and his brother, but not Ithelas. Thost froze, petrified. He couldn't move. Meanwhile the other two kaltas and the shadows had covered much of the distance between them. The situation was complicating.

Ithelas cast a new spell, and as he completed it, touched his father's back, who gradually regained his movement as if someone who is waking up from an unpleasant nightmare. Mithir cast his images spell and this time three other Mithirs were in the room to be added to the real one. Samar shot a kalta that was approaching from behind with one of her special arrows and again it blew to pieces. Erion knew he had to take risks to help Thost, who was in a vulnerable situation. He took his short sword and tumbling, surprised a kalta that was about to hit the knight. Nailing the sword in the side of the monster, he finally shot it down. The flying hammer hit the last kalta of the front line, killing him.

Meanwhile the two shadows and the last kalta had arrived with the group that was trapped down the hall. They all retreated through the door behind them and that overlooked the room through which they had originally come. However, they didn't do it in time to close the door. The kalta came in right behind them. To their surprise the two shadows came at the same time, through the wall as if there was nothing there.

The horrible stench made them all unwell. The kalta launched two claws against Mithir. The first destroyed one of his images and, unfortunately, the second hit another image that turned out to be the real Mithir, who ended up paralyzed and useless. The two shadows pounced on Thost, who had huge problems to contain them. He managed to avoid the blow of the first, but the second touched his arm through the shield, as if he wasn't wearing it. With the cold touch of the black figure, Thost felt his strength fading. All of a sudden, his chain mail and sword weighed significantly. He was much weaker. Suddenly, what they feared most happened. In the opposite corner of the room they could see clearly a young man with elegant but vintage clothes. They had no doubt that he was a vampire.

CHAPTER 9: LIFE OR DEATH

The moment of truth had arrived. They had done everything possible to avoid this confrontation, but it had not worked. They would have to fight for their life against a formidable enemy, without the help of the magician and the knight's forces in an extreme situation.

With a huge effort to control his nausea, Ithelas raised his symbol again and repeated his prayer from before. He wasn't sure what the results would be as the symbol prayer was usually very effective against weaker undead, but not against the more powerful ones. After completing his prayer on one of the shadows, which was closest to the cleric, ran in fright and disappeared through the wall of the room.

Erion watched the two figures of his brother that were still paralyzed. The young man attacked the second shadow with his sword, but his blow went through the place where the monster was as if hitting the air. Erion realized that, somehow, the blow had not been effective. Thost drew his sword and tried to hit the kalta, who managed to dodge him. The knight moved his sword slower than usual, with a lot of effort. The shadow counterattacked and hit Thost. His two arms were hanging down, dropping his sword and shield, without force to hold them.

The flying war hammer shook the kalta's back with its impact, who gave a horrible shriek of pain. Then the hammer vanished into thin air. Enraged, the kalta took a blow which reached Erion's arm. The young man felt how his arm and then his body began to freeze. But with a supreme effort of concentration he managed to avoid paralysis. It was like avoiding falling asleep, barely, when you're exhausted. Knowing that there was no possibility of holding anything in, Samar loaded her last special arrow in her bow and, after making a quick turn at the last moment, she aimed at the vampire that was advancing towards them from the corner of the room, and fired. The arrow shattered the monster, who immediately turned into smoke and floated through the door.

Although the situation was complicated, given the growing constraints, going up against only two enemies after a long fight instilled courage in the hearts of the group. Samar loaded her bow with a conventional arrow and shot the kalta. The arrow had pierced its chest from side to side but it hadn't finished it off. One of Mithir's images vanished, leaving a single image of the magician, who was still frozen in the middle of the room.

Then, when their hopes were reborn, a man of about fifty years old who was very elegant appeared in the door of the room; his bloodshot eyes left no doubt of his nature. They had before them another vampire. But this one was different. His presence filled the room like a tsunami beating against a beach. A primary, absolute, fear consumed them completely. Nobody could do or say anything. Their bodies were not paralyzed, but they felt an uncontrollable panic.

Unexpectedly, Ithelas had a vivid image in his mind. It was a memory of his childhood, when he was a young kid and played with his father and mother in a field in front of the family castle in Borydos. That had been the happiest time of his life. With a superhuman effort, Ithelas managed to chant a prayer, almost in inaudible whispers. Although it was hardly heard, those murmurs reached the ears of his teammates that while they were still feeling a great panic, somehow it didn't grip them to the point of being unable to move. Soon after, the panic had softened to a deep fear, but a more conventional kind.

Erion and the kalta in front of them simultaneously attacked. The looter managed to nail his short sword in the belly of the monster but, unfortunately, this happened while the kalta struck the young man's neck with his claw. This time Erion couldn't avoid being paralyzed by the vileness of the corrupt monster. Erion was at least consoled when he saw how the beast fell dead on the floor of the room. Thost had to make a quick decision. He could, on one hand, bend over to try to collect the shield or at least his sword. But this would open his guard and leave him in a very vulnerable position against the shadow before him. In addition, he was so weak that he doubted he could hold those heavy weapons. So, he chose a second option, if anything, a more reckless one. He took a knife from his belt and stabbed the monster. Somehow, he surprised the shadow that was hit and emitted a strange moan.

With a devilish speed the vampire lunged against Samar, who was in profile with regard to the door. With the first blow on the elf's back, her quiver was shattered and the little ammunition she had left was scattered on the floor. The second blow was even more violent. Samar was thrown through the air to the other side of the room and fell on the only wooden chair, shattering it. The blow knocked her unconscious against the wall. Without missing a beat, the vampire turned and moved towards the knight.

Ithelas threw himself in front of the shadow and chanted a new prayer; the same one he had used days ago in their unpleasant encounter with the spiders. The shadow began to throw punches on the theoretically defenseless cleric, but the spell prevented any of the blows to reach him. Thost used this moment of confusion to stab his dagger. This time he was successful and the monster's cry was so horrible that it froze their blood. The figure broke and faded, finally, leaving some ash remains on the ground and the knight's dagger.

But the joy did not last long. The vampire was quite close to him now and looked him straight in the eye with a terrible look. Thost felt his will leave him. First, he became very still. Then he began to feel that he must obey that creature.

Ithelas was still chanting with his eyes closed. But the skilled vampire didn't try to attack him. Finally, he simply stood in front of him and waited a while. Shortly later Ithelas could not sustain his enchantment any longer and stopped praying. In just a moment the vampire lunged at him and grabbing his head, forced him to look at him. Ithelas resisted with all his will, but after a long struggle, he couldn't help but feel his body become unresponsive as well. He became still and calm. He would do the will of his master.

The end had come. Erion and his brother were still paralyzed because of the horrible kalta scratches. Thost and his son had seen their will subjugated to their powerful adversary. The anger and hatred that conveyed the look of abject creature seemed endless.

“You’re going to pay dearly for the tremendous insolence that you have committed. You're going to die, one by one; but before that I promise you are going to suffer until the day that you came into the world,” the angry monster said.

The vampire then hit Thost in the leg. For a moment they thought they broke it. The knight fell and could not help wincing. However, he said nothing; his master would not allow him to speak.

“Leave him alone you coward! You only hit him because you know he can't defend himself,” Erion managed to stammer, still unable to move.

“Why would I allow him to defend himself? He would be no match for me anyway, insolent insect,” the vampire said, turning to Erion.

Vuthral then carefully looked at Erion and felt a special connection between him and Mithir. He had no doubt that they were relatives or close friends.

“I see you appreciate the magician a lot,” he told Erion with a vile grin. “It's time for you to bid him farewell,” he added while he lunged at Mithir's neck.

At that time, when all hope was lost, the vampire threw an agonized and angry cry. A wooden stick had pierced his back and peered now on the left side of the chest. After writhing for a moment the vampire dropped dead. Ithelas and his father felt, suddenly, how they were released from a horrible trance. What had happened?

In the other corner of the room Samar was panting wearily. Although he had no ammunition, she had gotten one of the thin and splintered legs of the chair that she had just smashed and somehow had managed to use it as a projectile in her bow. Not only that, but despite the precarious balance that such a projectile could have, she had reached the monster's heart. It was a shot in a million.

*******

The paralysis of the brothers had referred at last. The group was battered but whole again. Though they had survived, they knew they didn't have much time. They had almost exhausted their ammunition and their magic, and there were at least three vampires that would return a few hours later. They had to finish the job and get out of there as soon as possible.

Before restarting their search they had to eliminate the lord of the castle. Although a wooden stake into the heart kills a vampire, if removed, the monster comes back to life with intact abilities. They have to destroy the body. Erion opened the hatch in the roof of the laboratory, which gave access to the tower. He helped Ithelas carry the corpse and, between the two, climbed the spiral staircase. They pushed the body into the room, which was illuminated by daylight that entered directly through its four large windows. After leaving the body on the floor they immediately descended through the trapdoor, only poking their head in, observed impatiently. In a few moments the sun burned and destroyed the vampire's body, turning it into ashes. They returned to the group.

They had to find the damn box and get out of there. They decided to explore the crypt first. The room adjacent to the crypt of the five vampires was undoubtedly the main vault where the lord of the castle lay. It was a huge sarcophagus, carved in stone. The work had great artistic merit; it was like a great sculpture, but it also was gloomy, with four huge gargoyles in each corner and the figure of a dragon on the lid. Huge chandeliers lit the room. In the back wall, a multicolored stained glass depicted the scene of a dragon flying over rugged mountains. One of the windows was broken and they saw that behind the window was only the castle's stone wall. The light effect must be maintained by magic. With great disappointment they could see that there was neither sign of the box nor any valuables.

They entered the last crypt that was down the hall. It was similar in everything to the lord of the castle's crypt, and again had only one sarcophagus. The only difference was that this was somewhat smaller. They found no trace of what they sought for.

Mithir looked in, illuminating with his stick the big room at the end of the hall where the army of the undead had come out of.  The room was very large. There were traces of rotting meat, bones and even members lying on the ground in several places. The room had an indescribable odor. There were also animal remains in a corner. Possibly, they used the rotting bodies, after removing all the blood, to feed that gruesome troop. Mithir didn't have to look much to certify that the box was not there.

The door of the narrow hallway was the only left they had yet to explore. Erion opened it without any issues. As he had suspected, it was noisy but that didn't matter anymore. The group ventured down the long corridor that spun at end to the left. It was a dark, damp and dirty corridor; a real dungeon. After the corner, the hall showed eleven doors, five on each side, and one at the end. They were all open and were basically dark dungeons with shackles on the wall and, in some cases, a cot of the worst quality. They found nothing, until they came to the last door on the right. A young woman was lying unconscious on the ground. Erion used his picks to open the bars. She was alive, but appeared malnourished and weak. She had wounds on her wrists which undoubtedly had been caused by the shackles. He looked at her face and hands. She was very beautiful. Erion felt pity for the sorry state of the young woman; he wanted to help her. He picked her up and left the dungeon.

Meanwhile, Samar and Thost had explored the last room down the hall. It was essentially a torture chamber. There were traces of blood in various colors on the ground. Various instruments and tools appeared to have been used recently. There was no one there, nor did they find anything else. They left that horrendous basement area and returned to the main hall. They had checked all the doors and hadn't found what they were looking for.

Erion led them to the elegant lounge of gloomy paintings. There was a comfortable couch where he placed the young woman. He asked Ithelas to do what he could for her. The cleric checked her and made some cures. Then he confirmed that she had no serious wound, at least in her body; she was just exhausted and malnourished. They could do more for her when they left that place.

Erion instructed Samar and Thost to take down the paintings and, repeating the operation of the hall upstairs, they removed them from the frames, folded and stored them. Thost felt his forces partially recovered and returned to the room to pick up his shield and sword. He hadn't had enough energy to carry them until now.

Erion left the room and returned to the hall, coming back moments later. He stood in the doorway, looking to one side and the other several times.