FIREFANGED

Chapter 17 (Hell-Diving)

After a short talk with Khamros, King Ylamil eagerly agreed to my terms. Two hours later, a dark elven warband marched from the city. We had fifty dark elves armed with long-bladed spears plus Lorna and her seven Royal guards, all armed with spears and their heavy black blades. Yseria carried a black blade as well, to augment our sentinel axes.

I was beginning to appreciate the easy decisiveness of the King. A century or more of leading his people had endowed Ylamil with plenty of insight and self-assurance. Of course, he was risking very little at this point, and if things went south later today, he could always change his tune. In my mind, the day would only go badly for the minions of Hell.

It was mid-afternoon when we reached the suspected mine site. Standing at its mouth, feeling the burning void, smelling the sulfur, eyeing the inhuman tracks, I knew we were in the right place. Raven's redemption waited in the dark labyrinth below.

Lorna and I wasted no time planning our attack on the cave. Lorna and her Royal Guard contingent would accompany me inside, while Yseria Warric would remain outside with my two sentinel guards and the company of elven spear. She would be in overall command of our external forces. Their job was to act as a backstop until we returned.

Why didn't we all flood in? The numbers would go against us in the cave's narrow spaces. That, and no way was I going to risk my young bodyguards on this dive into Hell. I wondered if Vigil Snow would risk my life in the same situation. I came to the conclusion that he was smart enough to stay out of any Hell-cave. The underground complex might shield his senses from afar, but standing this close, I had no doubt he'd see the same thing as me.

Lorna and her seven royal guards each wore a hunter's amulet to help shield their presence. They were the best fighters the dark elves had to offer, and having the edge of surprise might make all the difference.

We hoped to find most of the demons close to the entrance where the mine was the widest. After eliminating them, I planned to work silently with Fei-Krull, my fang-blade's resident soul, until I found whatever was producing or controlling the local horde. It was a plan, anyway. We would see how long it held together.

We moved through a natural cave opening and down a man-made tunnel until we found our first demon stretched out on the floor of a large circular room. Our shamanic talismans worked their magic, and the man-crab demon waiting in its center didn't notice us in time to avoid the long elvish blades.

Too easy, I thought.

We brought in a few torches and tossed them on the floor behind us as we met our first foe, but we didn't need them. The walls pulsed with a reddish light. The floor was covered in the tracks of hundreds of demons—the cave filled with their scent and that of their victims. Old blood stains and bones lay everywhere.

Toward the back of the cavern, three snarling shapes swept forward in the gloom, and a hairy, spider-like fiend dropped from the ceiling.

As traps go, it was well-timed.

Unfortunately for the Infernal beasts, I was hanging back, waiting for that hairy demon to drop. It met my axe while its eight legs were still eight feet short of the floor, and its head had no other option but to split, a dozen demonic eyes parting on either side of the wide blade. The spider-demon thrashed uncontrollably on the floor while the approaching wolves grew louder, their claws tearing at the rough stone.

Turning to face the triple threat, I whipped my axe into the nearest fiend racing our way. The weapon struck hard, knocking it back but leaving it alive.

The other two monsters veered toward the elves that were finishing off the crab-shaped beast. I drew Fei-Krull from its sheath on my back and leaped upon the injured wolf, quickly punching smoking holes in its head and neck.