Chapter 5: Three Hours Before Dawn
Cloaked by the dark of the Palace gymnasium, Valkersan felt power run through his blood. With each passing minute the Corthronos gave him new power and changed his body. Like a god, he thought, his teeth crackling with electricity as he smiled.
The tiny spitting arcs of lightning cast stark, distorted shadows across the gymnasium. Valkersan laughed quietly as he slashed his arms and legs with his newly grown claws. As the last traces of human blood flowed from his body, he changed even more rapidly.
He lurched across the floor as he grew, clawed feet scraping long lines on the floor. His bones creaking and cracking as he rose to half again as high as a man. He exhaled loudly in the dark as his skin dripped from his body to pool on the wood flooring of the gymnasium. He passed a clawed hand over his face, feeling his lower jaw separate into two mandibles, each spiked on the end, teeth sharpening to razor edges.
Stepping slowly into the illumination of moonlight cast by the windows, he admired his new form. Revenge, he thought, and conquest.
Asgrim stood behind and to the side of Tancred as the latter knocked on Solyma's door. After a few seconds it was opened by a floating helmet and gauntlets.
"Yes?" it said.
Tancred squinted at Hector and answered, "We're friends of Solyma, we were going to meet her here."
"Really?" Hector said, "Unfortunately she's not in right now."
Tancred hissed and clapped his hand to his forehead as Asgrim grunted. "Of course she isn't. Did she say where she was going?" he asked Hector. Aside to Asgrim, he said, "She's probably out of the city by now with every piece of silverware in the Palace."
"No, I am not," Solyma said from behind them.
They turned to look at her. Her hair was wild and she smelled of smoke and... "Sex?" Tancred said, sniffing loudly. "By the gods, Solyma, how many people have you had tonight?"
"Two," she said, nervously scanning the living room as she stepped inside.
Asgrim and Tancred followed her. "Do I want to know why you smell of smoke?" Tancred asked.
"No, but I'll tell you anyway. Valkersan found me and nearly killed me." She shuddered at the memory of the roof turning into an inferno and barely making the jump to a neighboring building.
"I told you we should have used you as bait."
Solyma ignored him. "Hector, are the bags packed?"
"Yes, and the supplies are ready as well," he answered.
"Good job,. We're leaving now."
"Very well, I'll go saddle Tom and Alice."
"I'll be along shortly."
Hector bobbed and floated out of the room, carrying their bags in both gauntlets.
"Are you coming with me?" Solyma asked as she turned to Asgrim and Tancred.
"I still think we should stay here. The Knights are very good at what they do," Tancred said after several moments silence.
"What about you Asgrim?"
"I must endeavor to atone for my past actions. By staying here I may be able to fight Valkersan and prevent more bloodshed."
"You could also atone for your past actions by coming with me and being my bodyguard."
Asgrim laughed, a deep vibrating rumble that caused glasses to shake. "Always amusing, Solyma. No, I shall stay here. I recommend that you do the same."
"No thanks. While I'm sure the Knights will be able to deal with Valkersan, I don't want to be caught in-between during the fighting. But you two can do whatever-" She was interrupted by a loud explosion from somewhere beneath the room.
Solyma swore and ran to the bedroom to fetch the last of her things. She snatched up her saber and stuffed her clothes into a satchel before pausing near the bed. She looked at Penelope, still asleep despite the noise, and quickly kissed her on the cheek before running out of the room. She scanned the living room for anything of value, passing over Hector's models, she scooped up two bottles of wine and a silver tea set.
Turning to the door, she saw Asgrim leaning his back against it, shoulders braced and his arms spread.
"Asgrim, I'm touched by your concern, but get out of the way..." She trailed off when she saw Tancred with his rapier in hand, looking intently at the door. "What-?" she began as a clawed hand punched through the door and pulled a good quarter of it down.
Solyma dropped the wine and tea set, being careful to drop them on the cushions of the couch, and she drew her saber. She gulped as a distorted face, still barely recognizable as Valkersan, peered through the ruined door.
"Gooood evening," he hissed. "Am I interrupting something?"
Valkersan ducked as Asgrim punched through the hole at his face. Asgrim stepped away from the door, pulling his sword from his back and assuming a stance in front of Tancred and Solyma.
"Where are the guards?" Solyma yelled, "This is the Royal Palace! The last time I checked it had guards!"
She flinched as Valkersan blew away the rest of the door with a casual wave of his staff. He stepped through, ducking, and was taller even than Asgrim. He no longer would inspire any comparison to a human. He looked far more like Corthronos.
Tancred was already out the double doors and onto the balcony when Valkersan stepped closer and found himself blocked by Asgrim. Tancred motioned urgently at Solyma and then began to climb over the railing.
Valkersan raised his staff, "Join me Asgrim, I may still be forgiving."
"I am sorry, but never again will I join forces with one such as you," Asgrim rumbled.
"Very well," Valkersan said. He swung his staff in a whistling arc that ended in an explosion of magical energy on Asgrim's sword.
Solyma watched in awe as the two dueled back and forth, splintering furniture in their wake. Asgrim had the upper hand at first, his sword and strength forced Valkersan back towards the door. Sparks spat from their weapons as they clashed, Asgrim forcing his sword down against Valkersan's staff. They paused, locked together, and then Valkersan slowly began to force Asgrim back. Valkersan twisted and spun his staff away from Asgrim's sword, spinning around Asgrim to strike him with a double handed blow against his helmet.
The air filled with the boom as Asgrim's helmet was knocked off and sent flying through the wall, leaving a hole the size of a man's chest. Asgrim staggered to face Valkersan, still addled by the blow. His parries came slow as Valkersan began to beat him back towards the hallway. The staff swung in blurred arcs as he smashed and jabbed at Asgrim. Asgrim faltered for a moment and his sword was knocked from his hand to jut from the wall. Valkersan laughed contemptuously and smashed Asgrim through the wall into the hallway beyond.
Turning to Solyma, Valkersan grinned and began to approach, his staff slowly swinging. Solyma looked at the saber in her hand and compared it to the massive two-handed sword that had been knocked from Asgrim's hands. She turned and ran for the balcony.
Penelope's voice rang out, "Solyma? What's going on?"
Solyma slid to a stop and turned in horror to see the elf standing in bedroom door, rubbing her eyes sleepily.
"No! Penelope, get back in the bedroom!" Solyma yelled, but too late.
Valkersan had spotted the elf and snatched at her with his right hand. Penelope screamed as his claws drew blood from her arm as he pulled her towards him.
"A pretty little elf," he leered, "something to do after I'm done with you, Solyma."
Solyma stood at the balcony doors, fury and fear racing through her body. Behind her she could hear Tancred yelling at her to run and forget the elf. In front of her she saw Penelope's terrified face. Common sense and instinct told her to run, to get as far away from Valkersan as possible.
"Let her go!" she heard herself yelling. "Let her go, you rotted, impotent bastard!"
Valkersan laughed and shook Penelope, delighting in her fear. "Come and get her," he laughed, holding the elf out at arms length and supremely confident that Solyma would never risk her own life for another.
Valkersan stopped laughing when Solyma charged him, saber held high. He swept his staff around to crush her skull and was amazed when she rolled under it and hacked at his right arm. Solyma felt her saber slice deeply into his arm, bone grating beneath her blade. Solyma ducked in closer to him as he roared and swung his staff at her.
She was inside his guard now, his staff too long to be used in close combat. Solyma hacked at his right arm again, this time at his wrist. She shouted in triumph as the small bones of his wrist separated with the muscle, leaving a bare stump that gushed blood. Then she kicked his kneecap, causing Valkersan to stagger backwards.
Solyma pulled Penelope to her feet and propelled her towards the balcony and Tancred.
"Get her out of here!" Solyma yelled as she turned back to Valkersan. She could hear Tancred cursing as the vampire hoisted Penelope over his shoulder and leapt from the balcony.
"Amazing," Valkersan hissed, his wrist already healed. In his left hand he pointed his staff at Solyma.
She began to pull together what weaves of defense she could, knowing that Valkersan could brush them aside like cobwebs. Just as Valkersan was about to unleash a killing blast of magic, Asgrim rose behind him and swung his sword at the monster's neck.
Valkersan sensed the blow and spun, managing to partially deflect the blow with his staff. The sword still cut deeply into Valkersan's shoulder, slicing deeply into his chest.
Asgrim wrenched his sword from Valkersan's chest, his eyes blazing crimson, and readied another strike. Valkersan staggered away from him to collapse in front of the fireplace, the massive wound to his body already healing. Asgrim lunged at him, trying to kill him before he could heal, but Valkersan managed a desperate parry as he stood.
Solyma swore loudly as Valkersan stood, completely healed but for one missing hand. She turned at the sound of loud footsteps and was relieved to see Palace guards and Knights rushing into the room. At their lead was Kerrith and another Knight dressed in exquisitely crafted plate mail.
Valkersan hissed in rage as he saw them, backing away towards the parlor.
"Come on!" Solyma yelled, "Before he can recover!"
Asgrim charged after the retreating Valkersan, Solyma just steps behind with the assembled men-at-arms behind her. Valkersan stood in the middle of the parlor, his mandibles clacking together in frustration and rage as he surveyed the warriors rapidly surrounding him on all sides.
"Time to finish this," Solyma said grimly as Valkersan turned his hateful gaze on her.
"Perhaps," he said, "perhaps not." Solyma saw him begin a portal. As fast as he could trace its outline on the floor around him, Valkersan had summoned a portal and fallen through it.
"Not this time," Solyma grunted as she hurled herself through the portal. A second behind her Asgrim tried to follow and found the portal shrinking too fast to do so.
Solyma tucked and rolled as she hit the ground on the other side of the portal. She hopped to her feet and spun madly, looking for Valkersan. Too late, she realized the foolishness of following him through his own portal as a binding weave hit her in the back and slammed her to a wall, her saber fell from her hand to clatter on the floor. Expensive wallpaper, she thought inanely as Valkersan spun her around to face him.
He wheezed for breath, exhausted by the effort of healing and creating a portal in such a short amount of time. He collapsed into a chair, nearly breaking it under his weight. Solyma watched him as he sat, too spent to even threaten her or do anything other than maintain his binding weave. Carefully, without showing any sign on her face, she began to extend her own counter-weave and began to slowly pick at his binding weave.
Selene awoke suddenly when she heard the heavy thump from the other side of the wall. She sat up in bed, heart pounding, listening for further noises. There was another louder thump against the wall, then silence. Selene pressed her ear to the wall and strained to hear anything. She slid back down under the sheets and fell back asleep.
Chaos reigned in the parlor. Knights and guards were shouting as the massive demon, Asgrim, crouched on the floor, trying to detect where the portal had gone, using the traces of magic. Kerrith stood off to the side, trying to remember where he had seen furniture and wallpaper like he had seen through the portal.
"Adramas above," he gasped. "They're at Dragoon's Helm Inn!" he yelled.
The room went silent.
"How do you know?" asked Dravon, the current Guardian Knight of the Shield.
"The wallpaper and furniture, my lord. I was just there."
Dravon nodded to the other Knights and they began to quickly file out of the room with the Palace guards.
Asgrim said, "Good job, Kerrith. Let's go, we'd better hurry if we're going to save that woman."
Kerrith nodded and followed the Guardian Knight. As he was leaving the room he paled. Selene, he thought. His walk became a jog and then a run as he raced towards the stables to retrieve his horse.
Tancred tried to comfort the weeping elf girl as he led her towards the main wing of the Palace. "Don't worry," he said soothingly, "Solyma can take care of herself."
"But that monster was trying to kill her!" Penelope sobbed. She sneezed explosively. Tancred handed her a handkerchief and winced as she blew her nose loudly.
"Solyma has faced worse things than that and she has Asgrim to help her."
Penelope nodded, hope on her face. "So you think she's all right?"
"Of course she is. I think we should worry more about your cuts."
"Oh, I guess so." Penelope sneezed loudly three times in rapid succession.
"Might I ask, do you normally sneeze this much?" Tancred asked as Penelope blew her nose on his last handkerchief.
"Oh no, someone left roses on the bed. They look very pretty but they make me sneeze-" she sneezed again, "I'm allergic to them." She looked up at Tancred. "You really think she's all right?"
"Yes, I do," he said, "Most likely she's already tied up that monster and is waiting for the Knights to haul him off."
Solyma cursed silently as her counter-weave failed to do anything against Valkersan's binding weave. She cursed again as she watched Valkersan create a large portal in the air. All he needed to do was activate it and he could travel dozens or hundreds of miles in a second. She stopped her picking at the binding weave when he slowly turned to her.
"All is ready," he hissed, his voice slurred. "In a moment I will open a portal to the realm of the Corthronos and we will wipe this petty kingdom from the map."
Solyma remained silent, groaning inside. Valkersan was even more insane than when she had first known him. Her eyes flicked to a door across the room as she saw a bloated corpse stagger and approach Valkersan.
"Merkin, faithful servant," Valkersan's voice dripped sarcasm. "You shall be released when the Corthronos pass into this world. Won't that be nice?"
Merkin struggled to make his lips and tongue shape words. He failed as the swollen flesh around his mouth prevented him from moving them. All that came from his mouth was a raspy rush of air.
Solyma watched as the corpse sat heavily in a chair. She grimaced as a large amount of its left cheek slid off its face with a wet slurp and splattered on the rug.
"They're going to bill you for the damage," she said.
"Let them," Valkersan said, turning back to his portal. He began to gather his strength to activate it.
"Valkersan?" Solyma said quietly. She took a deep breath.
"What?" he hissed, not turning from his portal.
"I'm really sorry for killing you, really, really sorry," she said, her voice contrite.
Valkersan turned in amazement. "What?"
Solyma did her best to simper from her position stuck to the wall. "I'm reeeaallly sorry. I was being stupid, as usual." She giggled inanely. "Could you pleeease let me down? I'll show you how sorry I am." She tilted her head to the side and licked her lips slowly.
Valkersan limped over to her. He stood in front of her, looking at her face. "Do you really think that would work on me? A pathetic seduction? If I wanted you, I would take you and you could do nothing to stop me." He leaned closer to Solyma. A harsh smell of decay wafted over her as he extended a long tongue to lick at her cheek. "Do you truly want me?" he whispered.
Solyma gulped, "Of, of course I do." She smiled as best she could but couldn't help wincing as Valkersan squeezed her breast.
"We will have time after the Corthronos arrive. An eternity if you wish." Valkersan seemed to grin and turned away from her.
With a wave of his stump he activated the weave forming the portal. It throbbed to life, the spiraling and looping pattern beginning to spin. The space inside the portal began to twist and warp as the weave finished forming and began to push a tunnel to the home plane of the Corthronos.
A high humming filled the room, Solyma recognized it as the same that had filled the basement of her tower when she had accidentally summoned the Corthronos.
Plaster began to sift down from the ceiling and the furniture began to skip and jump over the floor. A dog began to howl in the distance as the space within the portal began to form into a hazy image of the Corthronos home-world. Solyma could see the Corthronos already gathering on the other side, eerily still and bathed in a reddish light.
Penelope tugged on Tancred's sleeve as they half-ran along the street. Several blocks away, the sign of the Dragoon's HelmInn could be seen, lit by a small magical light.
"Penelope, this is an idiotic idea," Tancred said.
Penelope slowed slightly and turned to face him. "Don't you care about Solyma? I thought you said you were her friend."
Tancred rolled his eyes. "I do and we are. But she certainly wouldn't expect me or you to come down here and rescue her. Look," he pointed at the Knights and mages gathering outside the inn, "they are quite capable of handling it."
"But Solyma might need our help!" Penelope pleaded, tears in her eyes.
Tancred rolled his eyes again. "Fine, but stay behind me and don't do anything stupid."
Hector returned to the suite of rooms to find it destroyed. Every piece of furniture had been destroyed in the living room along with most of the furniture in the parlor. The doors hung from their hinges, splinted and cracked. Blood had splattered over the carpet and eaten through to the floor. He floated around the living room, trying to salvage anything. He picked up a model ship, amazingly still intact within its bottle. As he lifted it to inspect it, the model collapsed to splinters. Hector sighed and went to unsaddle Tom and Alice. He had a feeling that Solyma wouldn't be needing them anytime soon.
Asgrim looked over to Tancred as he walked up, Penelope in tow.
"Why is she here?" Asgrim asked.
"Don't ask," Tancred scowled. "When are they going in?"
"Soon. They're just waiting for the Chancellor to show up."
Tancred stopped his reply and looked up at the inn. "Do you hear that?"
"Yes."
A high pitched humming echoed across the street. Dogs began to howl in the distance as awakened citizens began to pour into the street.
"Everyone, get back in you homes and stay there!" Dravon ordered. Most complied although a few hovered in their doorways to see what was going on. "We move now," he said, pulling down the visor on his helmet and hefting his sword and shield.
A senior mage from the College walked up to Dravon and inclined his head. "We've found which room contains the renegade. We're ready to open a portal as soon as your men are ready."
Dravon nodded and signaled the Knights to line up. Among them, Kerrith nervously shifted his grip on his sword, worry for Selene eating at his heart. As the order came to move out, he lowered his visor and steeled himself for the coming conflict.
Valkersan turned from the portal rapidly forming in the room, to face Solyma. He released the binding weave and let her drop from the wall. He pulled her toward him with a curl of his claws.
"Now, I will take you up on your offer," he said, voice dripping with menace.
Solyma forced herself to keep from drawing back as he lowered his monstrous face to her's. His mouth opened and his tongue snaked out to flick across her lips. Solyma closed her eyes and opened her mouth to accept his tongue. She barely stifled a shudder of revulsion as it slipped between her lips. She began to gently suck on it, tasting like iron and dirt.
Solyma slowly raised her hands to the back of Valkersan's head and drew him closer. She nearly gagged as his tongue slid deeper into her mouth, tickling the back of her throat. Opening her eyes, she could see the portal almost complete behind Valkersan. Steeling herself, she bit sharply down on Valkersan's tongue. Valkersan jerked back, eyes wide as he tried to free his tongue from her mouth. She bit down harder and felt his tongue separate.
Valkersan roared as he tossed her against the wall. She spat the end of the tongue out and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
Valkersan was quickly recovering from the pain and reached for her. She drew a dagger from her boot and dove between his legs to slash at the tendons on the back of his ankle.
With another roar he dropped to one knee as his foot gave out from under him.
Solyma desperately jumped at the portal, trying to cut the weave forming it with her hand. Just as she touched the weave, she felt a clawed hand close over her ankle and drag her to the floor. She stabbed her dagger into the floor and clung to it with all her strength as Valkersan tried to pull her to him. As her grip began to falter, she saw another portal form in the room. An armored Knight jumped through.
"Solyma!" the Knight yelled.
"Aggg, Kerrith!"
Kerrith slashed downward, cutting deeply into Valkersan's arm.
Solyma sprang to her feet as Valkersan lost his grip on her ankle. She sprinted to Valkersan's portal and seized it with her hands, pouring every ounce of strength into severing the weave. Too late, she thought, as a gust of foul metallic wind blew her hair out behind her.
As the portal completed itself at both ends, Corthronos sprang to their feet and charged into the room, weapons at the ready to be met by Knights leaping from the other portal. The clash of metal rang through the air as the inn room was filled with combatants. Solyma rolled under the portal as a Kerrith ran a Corthronos through with his sword and was pulled to the floor by the still struggling monster.
Solyma covered her ears as a lightning bolt split the air, the thunderclap shattering the windows and breaking every glass in the room. Ducking under a leaping Corthronos, Solyma reached out to the portal and began to pull madly at the weave.
Asgrim and Tancred watched in horror as a wall on the second floor disappeared in a cloud of fire and smoke. Corthronos tumbled from the second story like a deadly waterfall to land on the street and sprint in every direction.
One charged for the screaming Penelope but was cut in two by Asgrim. The sounds of battle filled the streets as Knights and guards chased after the fleeing Corthronos. Tancred ducked as a wild fireball flew down the street.
"Come on, we've got to get out of here!" he yelled as a lightning bolt blew chunks of stone from the wall above his head. "Penelope! Penelope!" he called. He grabbed the frightened elf and threw her over his shoulder. "Asgrim! Let's go!" He cursed in three languages when he saw Asgrim charge towards a nearby melee.
Tancred staggered towards an empty alley, dodging a spray of razor sharp ice crystals and weaving around a mortally injured Corthronos.
"Stay here!" he told Penelope as he set her down. "As soon as things quiet down, I'll check on Solyma."
Penelope nodded, her eyes fastened on the cloud of smoke billowing from the upper floor of the inn.
Solyma tugged at another strand of the weave, searching wildly for the pattern that held the portal open. As she severed it, the portal rocked and began to spin on its axis. Solyma backed away as the portal rolled toward the street and fell from the room. She crawled over to the edge of the floor in time to see the portal slice a corpse in half. Following its course, the portal would end up in that empty alley across the street.
Solyma sighed in relief until she saw Tancred and Penelope hiding further back in the alley. She swore and stood, looking for a way down. She found a rug hanging over the edge of the floor.
Before she could climb down, Valkersan stepped in front of her, clawed hand raised. He began to unleash a weave to kill her but before he could complete it, a bloated figure crashed into him. Valkersan rolled, trying to dislodge Merkin's death grip from around his waist.
Merkin looked up at Solyma as Valkersan struggled to his feet and started to conjure a fireball. Solyma threw her dagger, missing Valkersan but striking the bloated belly of Merkin. He seemed to smile as the gases trapped within his decaying body rushed out and touched the fireball in Valkersan's hand. There was a smell of the sewer and then a damp explosion that hurled everyone in the room to the floor.
Where Valkersan had stood, there was only a sputtering fire and scorch mark. On the wall behind it, the remains of Valkersan and Merkin lay smeared across the wood paneling.
Avoiding the flames, Solyma rose and quickly ran to the hanging rug. She climbed down and dropped the last few feet, narrowly avoiding landing on a mage. Solyma kept low, trying to avoid attracting the attention of any Corthronos as she ran towards the spinning portal.
"I think most of the fighting is moving away," Tancred said as he peered around the alley entrance. He jerked back as a Corthronos stabbed at him with a long barbed spear.
Motioning for Penelope to retreat further into the alley, he drew his rapier and waited for the beast to approach. As it lunged for him he seemed to blur sideways, the spear passing through empty space and clattering against the wall. Tancred brought his sword down in clean cut on the Corthronos' neck, neatly severing its head. He was amazed when the monster dropped its spear and began to flail around with its bare hands. Tancred ducked around the monster, cutting and slicing at its flanks and legs. Eventually he had sliced every major muscle and tendon in the monster's body, leaving it crippled on the alley floor. Despite the massive amounts of blood sizzling on the stone of the alley and eating at the leather of Tancred's boots, the Corthronos was still twitching.
Tancred watched it for a moment, wondering if its blood was palatable. Seeing the moss and weeds that grew in the alley shrivel upon contact settled the issue. Gradually the movements of the monster slowed and finally ceased.
"That is a hard beast to kill," he said, wiping his sword on a rag picked up from the alley floor. He looked up at the sound of retching.
Penelope was throwing up on the other side of a trash bin. He was about to move to her when he felt a disturbance in the air behind him. That alone saved his life as he instinctively dodged the spinning portal.
The portal sliced the Corthronos' leg off as it rolled into the alley wall and stopped. Tancred eyed it suspiciously and called for Penelope to join him. The portal was jammed halfway into the alley wall, almost parallel to the ground. It began to pulse and throb alarmingly.
"We'd better get away from this thing," he said, pulling Penelope away from the portal.
Without warning the portal gave a great shiver and expanded rapidly, its edges tattered and falling apart. Penelope screamed as she fell into the portal. Tancred grabbed for her hand and missed, barely avoiding falling into the portal himself. He could see the elf lying about fifteen feet below him, apparently unconscious from the fall, or the sight of hundreds of Corthronos gathered about her.
"Kersvan protect you," he whispered as he pulled a dagger from his belt, hoping to at least give her a clean death.
Solyma screamed from the alley entrance as Tancred raised his dagger to throw. She tackled him, slamming the vampire into the alley wall. The dagger fell from his hand to bounce off the edge of the portal and fall to the rocky ground beyond.
"What are you doing?" he said, "Those things will tear her apart!"
Solyma looked down into the portal. She could see that it was deteriorating rapidly, its last expansion a side affect of the weave's destruction. Penelope was stirring slowly below. Solyma watched as Penelope gasped and rose to her feet, turning to flee but finding no escape in sight. The elf looked upward and saw Tancred and Solyma.
"Help me!" she yelled.
Solyma wove ring of fire and threw it around Penelope. The fire rose to the height of a man, temporarily halting the Corthronos' advance. It would soon die, and with it Penelope. Solyma lay on the ground and leaned over the portal, her arm extended as far as possible. Penelope jumped but fell far short.
"Give me your sword belt and grab my legs!" Solyma yelled. Tancred obeyed as she bent further over the portal. Still Penelope could not reach her, although her finger barely brushed the leather of the belt. Solyma cursed as she saw the fire beginning to die out. She handed the belt back to Tancred and pulled her legs free of his grasp to drop into the portal.
She landed with a cloud of dust next to Penelope. Penelope looked at her with a mingling of relief and sadness. Kneeling, Solyma formed a stirrup with her hands.
"Get on!" she ordered.
Penelope saw what she meant to do and placed her foot on Solyma's hands. Above them, Tancred was leaning as far over as he his belt dangling down. Solyma grunted and lifted Penelope up and onto her shoulders. She staggered as the elf's skirts swirled around her head. Arms waving for balance, Penelope managed to grab the belt with both hands as Tancred pulled her up.
"Come on!" Tancred yelled, dropping the belt as far down as he could manage. Solyma crouched and jumped but failed to come close. The portal, already unstable began to close swiftly.
"Can't she fly or something?" Penelope cried out.
"No, she never could get those weaves to work," Tancred grunted, leaning further over until he would have fallen if Penelope hadn't grabbed his legs. The portal was large enough to fit two people at one time.
Again Solyma jumped. Again she missed the belt. She looked around her at the dying fire. It had gone out completely. Now the Corthronos were waiting and watching her futile attempts to escape. The portal had shrunk to a size that would allow a good sized man through.
Tancred stood and dropped, swearing, into the portal. He landed next to Solyma who immediately began yelling at him.
"Why did you do that? You idiot!" She pointed to the portal, now too small to admit any adult. "Now we're both going to die!"
"Maybe," he said, pushing his rapier into her hand and picking up his fallen dagger.
Above them, Penelope let out a distraught cry. "Solyma!" she yelled, her face barely visible through the portal. Solyma looked up and gave a jaunty salute with the rapier as the portal closed, leaving only the yellow sky of the Corthronos' world.
"We certainly picked a nasty way to die," Solyma said.
"I don't know, they'll probably tear us apart so quickly that we won't even have a chance to feel the pain," Tancred said, waving his dagger at the Corthronos.
Together, they stood back to back and watched the Corthronos advance.
It had taken nearly a week more to scour the Corthronos from the capitol. Sewers and abandoned warehouses had to be searched from top to bottom, but in the end no trace remained of the Corthronos thanks to the Knights and the diligent citizens and guards of Corannon.
Asgrim, Hector, Kerrith and the Chancellor sat in the latter's office, medals of bravery for Tancred and Solyma lying on his desk. They had sat most of the morning, silently staring at the two medals.
"They were very brave," Asgrim finally said.
The others nodded.
"When is the funeral?" Kerrith asked.
"It's being held in three days, the King is going to deliver a speech," the Chancellor said.
Kerrith nodded. "Amazing considering how he reacted when he first heard the news."
"Yes, I'm told on good authority that he wanted Solyma tracked down and arrested until he learned she was dead. He wasn't too kind in his orders concerning Tancred either. He mentioned a stake and a long stay in the sunlight."
"So why did he change his mind?" asked Hector.
"They're dead, they can serve better as heroes for their sacrifice than examples to other reckless types," the Chancellor said.
"And they did save Penelope."
"Yes, I imagine saving an elf princess does a lot for one's reputation. I hear that Queen Amadrin is awarding them posthumously as well."
They sat in silence for a while until Hector finally said, "You know, I don't feel as if she's dead."
"Really? Why?" asked the Chancellor.
"I think I can still feel her, although when I try to contact her I can't."
"You can communicate with her at will over a distance?"
"I could."
"Remarkable. I've never heard of a familiar being able to do that before. I wonder how she did that?"
"I believe she said it was an experiment with an artifact she found."
There was a long silence.
"Does anyone really know what Solyma did with Valkersan's crystal?" Asgrim asked.
They turned to look at Hector.
"Could I see your monocle?" the Chancellor asked.
Hector raised his visor and floated closer to the Chancellor who was flipping through a thick tome.
"The Crystal of Valkersan was said to have been a disc roughly an inch and a half in diameter fitted with a metal rim, much like a monocle," he read. "Clever, incorporating the Crystal into you would hide it from someone looking only for the crystal. I wonder where she got the Crystal in the first place?"
Asgrim coughed. "No doubt in her conflicts with Valkersan."
"Yes, no doubt. I wonder if she really is dead? Do you think you could keep trying to contact her, Hector? The faculty here at the College will lend assistance, after all, she is a lecturer here."
Hector nodded.
The Chancellor nodded back and there was silence again. It was broken by a knock at the door.
"Enter," the Chancellor called out.
A man dressed in robes dusty from hard travel entered. He bowed and greeted the Chancellor.
"Ah, Bradley. What is the status of the summoner's tower?"
"Destroyed. I fear that another mage may have taken the bodies of the Corthronos and incorporated them into his own. If he has-"
"Then he will attempt to summon the Corthronos into this world, yes, that has already happened and been dealt with."
Bradley gaped in astonishment. He began to stammer an apology for being so late with the news.
"Do be quiet Bradley, your news wouldn't have helped us anyway. Have a seat, we're drinking to departed friends. Hopefully they'll be back one day."
Continued in Epilogue
The World of Alderest - II - Solyma Van Dolcies - Chapter 5
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