Hell's Bane (COMPLETED)

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Blood Moon

Kazim was having a feast.

My last meal, he mused, remembering Davis' panic-stricken face before he was shot. Brunlin, the Gaulinslott, would revive him soon enough. Kazim would make his brother suffer a thousand deaths, each of them filled with torturous acts, each of them Davis wishing that he had remained dead – or silent. Looking back to what he was eating, Kazim frowned. My last meal...or their last meal. There's no turning back this time.

Another thought came to Kazim. Davis had been there... but where was Susan? The spy couldn't have escaped. No, even though he had trained her from the moment she was found and taken to Gladwyn, the student could've never outsmarted the master. Susan had to be somewhere there in the confines of the castle, and whatever it took, he would find her – and kill her. Kazim had already been too overconfident keeping her alive.

"Sir?" a soldier gasped, suddenly dashing into the banquet room. "Sir, we're missing over fifty soldiers now, every one of them disappearing and their bodies resurfacing sometime later in the sewers."

Kazim bit violently into the last of his turkey and threw it onto the side. "You people are supposed to be on your guard! How have we lost fifty people with just one bloody spy lurking about?"

The soldier swallowed. "We're as careful as we can, but-"

"Be more careful! Or your body will never be sounded under the Ceremony of A Thousand Men, and will be forgotten over the years!"

The soldier nodded. "I understand, sir. But there's also another problem-"

"What?"

"There's a massive army circling up the hill. Practically bigger than any army we've seen before, other than our own and the original Brimstone Faction."

Kazim raised an eyebrow, not the least bit concerned. "Then why are you not opening fire on them?"

The soldier swallowed. "We're awaiting your orders."

Kazim sighed and clutched his forehead in exasperation. "Then listen closely, for now, I appoint you as messenger to the commander of our armies. Do not strike yet, but wait until you gather half of our numbers to..." the leader's volume turned into a faint whisper, so quiet that the soldier could barely pick out the words.

"There." Amandalin pointed to a place far higher up the hill, where the edges of a gaping hole sat, beckoning them to come. The miner-soldiers nodded.

"Hugo, you try to lead the charge to knock down the gates," Joss ordered. "I'll try to get soldiers into the windows. Fair enough?" Hugo nodded. With an afterthought Joss added: "You still have the map from Oswin's Chest, right?"

Hugo suddenly turned pale. "Joss!... but I thought I gave it to-"

Joss grinned and took the map out of his pocket. "I have it, don't worry."

Hugo grinned back sheepishly. "Well, you're the one with the eternian. You keep it safe."

Joss nodded and left.

"Don't you feel like the Scavenger is up to something again?" Amandalin asked, looking at the hole suspiciously. "I expected that they would've noticed that thing by now. And if they haven't, they should've noticed us by now."

Hugo nodded and grimaced. "Who knows how Kazim thinks. But this time..." Hugo eyed their army, practically swallowing the hill as they flowed upward. "...I think this time, we have a chance."