“We killed a darkling,” said Sorus his eyes wide in the gloom. “They didn’t seem so tough,” he continued and put his hand to the blade at his side. It was difficult to believe that not many days ago Sir Germanius used it to fight the white dragon.
“They come in many shapes and sizes,” said Odellius and put his own huge hand on the thick blade at his side. “I’ve seen them eight feet tall and covered with black fur,” he continued, “and wizards and priests as well. The little ones come in waves and they pop out from any nook or cranny. Do not take them lightly. We defeat them easily enough on the surface as they cannot stand up against a cavalry charge but here, in their black lands, we are the strangers and our tactics a disadvantage.”
Vipsanius nodded, “Odellius is right, Sorus, never underestimate a foe in any case. That’s a certain way to die. I’ll take the lead; spread out a few feet between each man so we can keep watch and move slowly. Sorus, you come second, Jon third, and Odellius bring up the rear.”
The four immediately spread out in this order with the appropriate amount of space between them as each looked up to the ceiling and the many rocky protrusions that seemed to hang over them like dark clouds on a cold day. “They could be anywhere,” said Jon as he pulled out his huge gray sword and poked at a little hole in the wall.
“They’ll see us before we see them,” said the First Rider shining his light ahead. “Their eyes are light sensitive and they only use dark red and blue glow stones. Our bright lights will attract their attention long before we see them.”
“They’ll know about the reptile men too,” said Sorus with a grin, “and they’re in front of us.”
“That’s true,” said Vipsanius from up ahead, “but it doesn’t mean they won’t attack us. The reptiles might have an alliance with the creatures down here, something prearranged.” Suddenly the First Rider came to a complete halt and stared at the passageway that opened to his right.
“What is it,” said Sorus from directly behind.
“Look at this,” said the First Rider, his hand on the stone cut as he ran it back and forth. “It’s smooth, like glass, like a door frame.”
Jon and Odelluis came up to examine the wall and nodded their heads. “What does it mean?” said Jon, “I’m not much for caving.”
“I’ve read about cuts like this,” said the First Rider as his hand came to his chin, “but I’ve never seen the like. It might be a secret passageway just opened by the lizards,” he said and shone his light down the path. “Or someone just cut this pathway with significantly more precision than any we’ve yet found.”
“I don’t like the idea of coincidence,” said Odellius as he paused to take a look behind him just in the nick of time as a little darkling warrior stabbed at his back with a sharp knife. “Watch it,” he shouted, turned his body to the left, lifted his sword, and caught the creature under the chin with the hilt of his blade. The creature flew through the air, smashed into the wall behind them with a crash, and then crumpled to the floor.
More of the little creatures came out of nooks and crannies in the wall in a wave, and a huge, furry beast with four horns coming out of its head joined them from the open corridor ahead of the First Rider.
Jon, nearest to Odellius, flicked his huge stone blade at the first of the charging little creatures and connected, which immediately sent it to the floor with a crushed skull and one eyeball popped out of its socket. Odellius formed up with Jon, although the two of them barely fit side by side in the corridor, and faced off against the dozen or so creatures that came at them. One of the beasts, attached to the wall like a giant black spider, launched a dagger that sailed by Jon’s ear and hit the First Rider in the back of the shoulder, but luckily hilt first as it spun half a rotation too far.
Jon leaped at that foe, his long reach catching the creature by surprise, and chopped its arm off with a little flick of his wrist. Odellius reached up and grabbed a second creature that tried to drop from the rocks behind him and used it as a shield when a brace of daggers flew through the air. The young knight of gray raised his sword to swing again but the narrow confines of the cave knocked his swing off target and the little darkling he tried to hit dodged easily away and, with a riposte strike, nicked Jon’s arm just under his chain shirt.
“It’s too damn close in here,” shouted Odellius, dropping his sword and hurling the dagger-poked darkling past Jon. It smashed into two more of the beasts that hung from the wall. “Just smash ‘em.”
Jon instantly dropped his sword and plucked another creature from the wall, his massive grip catching it around the leg. He squeezed hard and a snap was followed by a high-pitched shriek. He tossed the creature at another up ahead; the second creature tried to dodge, and this allowed the huge gray knight to stride forward and punch it in the face shattering its nose and cheekbones. It seemed almost instantly that Odellius joined him, and their fists snapped the faces, ribs, arms, and legs of the two or three creatures that remained while the rest suddenly fled into little nooks and crannies in the walls.
At the front of the long corridor Vipsanius and Sorus stood side by side as a massive shaped loomed out of the darkness. It stood over seven feet tall, was covered by thick white fur, its pink eyes glared out at them, and it held a massive stone club in its hand. “Steady,” said the First Rider with a quick nod to Sorus as they pulled out their blades.
“I’ve got your left,” said the boy as his feet shuffled, and he moved a few inches backward unintentionally. The creature did not have room to swing its massive weapon in an arc so instead lunged forward more like a fencer with a rapier, and Sorus brought up his own sword to deflect the blade before Vipsansius could stop him. The weight of the stone smashed aside Sorus’s blade and his arm suddenly went numb as the club caught him between the elbow and the shoulder. The First Rider jabbed forward with his own blade, the tip embedding itself in the beast’s shoulder. It screamed in pain and whipped the club around towards Vipsanius, but the First Rider managed to bring up his shield and soften the blow although the force still knocked him against the wall with a thump.
A terrible splash of dark blood poured from the wound in the creature’s shoulder, which it stared at stupidly for a moment before it raised the club again and brought it down in a short arc against the shield of the First Rider. The metal shield rang out as the stone club hammered down and drove Vipsanius back, his head snapped against the wall with a loud thud. He saw little yellow stars twirling around his head for a moment as the creature reached forward with its free hand to grab him around the neck, but the First Rider managed a quick slash with this sword that severed the massive paw at the wrist and set a spurt of blood cascading in an arc across his eyes.
At that moment Sorus stabbed at the back of the creature with a small knife gripped in his left hand and plunged it deeply into the flesh of the beast. The thing roared, spun around with its fist into Sorus’s shoulder, sent the boy down and across the floor, but this gave the First Rider a momentary respite in which he gathered his wits.
When the beast turned to face Vipsanius the man lunged forward with his blade and buried it in the thing’s neck which killed it instantly. The beast’s legs immediately collapsed, it fell forward against the First Rider, and pinned him against the wall with a crash.
Jon and Odellius, just returned from their own battle, came up on the First Rider just like that when they returned to the doorway. Sorus lay on the floor in a heap and gave off a soft groan while the great furry creature lay, half upright, against the wall. It wasn’t until Vipsanius called out, “A little help here,” that they realized the location of the First Rider.
Odellius peered around the side of the beast and spotted Vipsanius pinned to the wall as he pushed mightily, but completely ineffectually, to remove the burden.