Darkness and Hellfire

Chapter 23 I Greet Darkness.

Black armored warriors charged towards Phantom who stood alone in the dense fog against the group of moderately trained but decently armored thugs. Before any of them got within melee range the two in the back that had leveled crossbows at him received a very sudden and painful surprise. The one on the left was abruptly hurled at the one on the right. The pair of crossbowmen collapsed onto the ground in a heap. Right at their time of impact a thunderclap rang out and a bolt of lightning lanced towards the ceiling of the cavern above them. Stone splintered on impact and a few small pieces of stone rained down on the caravan.

Phantom engaged in a dance of steel as a dozen men bore down on him. Every step he took was a retreating one that took him further into the dense fog and every swing of his swords carved notches into his opponents blades or cleaved them in two. Phantom started to get worried because he knew that he was approaching the edge of the fog cloud. They were less than a dozen feet from the Cloud in a Bottle. Very soon the fog cover would vanish and he would be surrounded. As it was, only a few of the gangsters could bring their blades to bear on him at a time. Suddenly he was yanked backwards as a feeling of nothingness assaulted his skin. Shadows had covered him from head to toe and a familiar figure suddenly came into sight dragging him away from the group of gangsters and towards the Cloud in a Bottle.

“Cork it and run.” Darkness ordered and vanished. Phantom did as he was told and in a matter of moments the only traces of his presence were the broken blades of his enemies and the quickly fading fog.

—

Isaac shook his head as he appeared next to Lenna and Kahtesh as they approached the caravan from the rear. “That went so completely off the rails.” Isaac complained to Lenna as he appeared next to her. He was still draped in shadows so thick it gave the illusion that he was made of them.

Lenna shook her head. “He is like you, but worse in every way.” She commented.

“I don’t know how I should take that.” Isaac replied honestly.

Lenna nodded. “Exactly how I said it.” She stated. The caravan in front of them had stopped completely so they were soon standing just behind the rearmost wagon. A small woman with a crossbow slung across her back froze as she heard their voices. She turned around slowly to get a look at who was talking and visibly paled.

“Boo.” Isaac purred in a deep gravelly voice that carried a hint of dark amusement. The woman flinched back and Isaac chuckled darkly. Isaac’s amusement didn’t help her regain her faculties.

“Y-You’re him, r-right?” She stammered.

“There are a lot of… hims.” Isaac purred. “Who do you think I am?” He questioned. The woman swallowed dryly but didn’t answer right away so Isaac pressed her. “Say, my, name.” The woman started to flounder as her mouth opened and closed. “Well? Out with it.” He ordered.

The woman tripped over something as she tried to back away and she went down in a heap. Lenna sighed. “You are going to break her.” Lenna commented.

Isaac rolled his eyes. “She’s weak.” He replied. “How long until the dwarves arrive?” He asked.

Lenna listened hard and could just make out the sounds of horseshoes on stone over the sounds of chaos from the front of the wagon train. “Two minutes, give or take.” Lenna replied.

“Good.” Isaac purred. The pair stood there in silence for a long moment as the half-dwarf woman in the back of the rearmost wagon slowly got herself back under control and soon dropped out of the back of the wagon to face them. Her crossbow was still on her back so it was clear that she didn’t intend on attempting to fight them.

“I-I am Jess Stonewarden.” The half-dwarf stammered out. “I greet Darkness.” She said with a bow. She kept her head low as if she was afraid that the slightest offense would relieve her of her head.

“And Hellfire.” Isaac added.

Jess seemed to hitch for a moment before she added with her head still bowed: “And Hellfire.”

“Good.” Isaac purred. The cold sweat on the woman was visible from almost ten feet away through the fading fog. “Now, why are you so afraid of me? I haven’t killed…” His voice trailed off as he realized that what he was about to say wasn’t truthful. “I haven’t murdered anyone in cold blood in a while.”

If Jess could have gotten smaller she would have. “I-I have heard stories.” She stammered in reply.

“What about?” Lenna asked.

“They say that Darkness is the strongest person in the Innerworld, ma’am.” Jess replied. “And that he is prone to… removing things he doesn’t like.”

“Like Jallen V’Nova.” Isaac added.

Jess nodded. “Y-Yes. Like the immortal Jallen V’Nova, slayer of dragons and bane of Safeharbor.” She continued.

“My temper isn’t that bad.” Isaac joked with Lenna but he kept his voice low and gravely. Fear as strong as what the woman in front of them was showing would only serve to keep her in line so Isaac saw no reason to try to change her perception of him.

“It can be.” Lenna replied casually. “Like that time I had to keep you from dusting a pedestrian that swore at me.”

“He was screaming racial slurs at you just because you’re purple.” Isaac argued.

Lenna shook her head. “Regardless, it sounds like the dwarves have arrived.”

“Stonewarden.” Isaac said to get Jess’s attention. The woman nodded with a gulp. “Go forth, gather all of those you travel with. Bring them to the front of the caravan. Tell them who is coming.” Jess nodded and hurried off to complete her new mission.

“You like bullying people.” Lenna commented.

Isaac looked at her as if she had just slapped him. “That hardly counts as bullying.” He tried to argue. “I wasn’t going to do anything to her.”

“That’s what Fen said about Alice.” Lenna reminded him of the misunderstanding that almost ended both Isaac and Fen’s lives. The territorial bulls had immediately jumped from posturing to shedding blood with little preamble. In the end Isaac had to regrow his heart and both of his arms and then save Fen by repairing the older man’s mana pathways before their degradation bled him dry of his own life.

Isaac was silenced for a time by Lenna’s very direct and very accurate retort. Eventually it sounded like everyone had been gathered at the front of the wagon. The fog had almost entirely cleared so their walk towards the front did not go unnoticed. A dwarven man on a short and stocky horse approached them at a trot. Both man and horse were covered in thick steel that was adorned with dozens of one-time-use enchantments. He gave the pair a nod as he pulled his horse to a stop. “Ahoy there.” He greeted them.

Isaac nodded, the dipping of his silver eyes the only visible expression of the gesture. Lenna nodded towards the dwarf as well but hers was clearly seen. “You got them all?” Isaac asked.

The dwarf grinned widely with his bright teeth shining for all to see. “Aye we did!” He affirmed. “I take it ya are the Legend Slayer everyone’s talkin’ about?”

“I am.” Isaac replied and let his shadows fall away for a moment. “There should be slaves hidden somewhere inside of these wagons. That is what this whole operation is about.”

“Plan Mousetrap.” The dwarf stated.

Isaac gave the dwarf a flat look. “Yes, plan Mousetrap.”

“Ya didn’t tell the guards, confused the poor sod that informed me.” The dwarf complained.

“I take it you are the captain then?” Isaac asked.

The dwarf nodded firmly. “Aye I be.” He replied. “Captain Patty Stonewarden at yer service.”

“Stonewarden, like the girl with the crossbow?” Isaac asked and nodded towards the front of the line.

“Aye.” Patty replied. “She’s me uncle’s kid’s kid to his first wife.”

Isaac looked at the dwarf flatly. “So your second cousin.” He surmised.

The dwarf wrinkled his face in thought for a long moment. “Aye, that be the case.” He eventually replied just before Isaac was going to change topics.

“When you said ‘to his first wife’ did you mean your uncle’s first wife or your cousin’s?” Isaac had to ask. The dwarf’s wording had been anything but clear.

“Boys.” Lenna cut in and both of them froze. “Please, let us stay on target.”

“Aye, the lass is right.” Patty replied. “I’ll have me men do a good search but ya might have ta scare the hidin’ spots outta the ones upfront.”

Isaac nodded. “Sounds like a plan.” Isaac said. Captain Patty hurried back to the front of the caravan and started ordering his men about. Isaac and Lenna both went full Darkness and Hellfire as Isaac’s Shadowcloak materialized and Lenna’s Armor of Ire bloomed into being along with her aura. The pair of them emerged from around the side of the caravan like figures of nightmares. All commotion halted as those present took in the pair.

—

A figure of living shadows with only a pair of barely visible silver eyes seemed to float along the ground. The almost formless void of shadow seemed to drink in all of the torchlight that was shed its way. To its side was another figure just as if not even more imposing. Her dark armor looked as though it were made of hardened shadows and fire in a solid representation of the inferno of the depths of the hells. Wisps of fire and shadows flaked off of her as she walked and the dark embers looked as though they would burn the soul on contact. The pair stopped in front of the man the dwarves had singled out as the leader. The void of shadows leaned down towards the leader, a motion that looked unnatural given its form, and its silver eyes bore into the leader’s eyes. “What’s, my, name?” It, he, asked in a voice that was deep and gravely and promised torturous pleasure if the one he’d spoken to did not cooperate.