Unwanted Elves 22

 

Unwanted Elves

Chapter 22

 

“You are right Chessina, we should delay no further.” Tancyfrwys said, her voice now sounding firmer. She appeared to have got herself under control. “The weapons are in a warded storage room below ground, Pryd... Sekemhef insisted on this.”

“I imagine he didn’t want anyone picking up echoes of their nature.” Chessina said.

Tancyfrwys led us to a wide stairwell nestled against the inner surface of the tower’s wall. The wrought iron railing of the staircase was fashioned in the semblance of a twisted vine, and was the first decoration I had seen in this cheerless building. She was accompanied down the stairs by Blaithamlwg who was keeping protectively close to her. The stairwell passed through the floor and then opened out again showing the, presumably, first basement level. There were several walls there dividing up this level with a number of doors giving access to different areas.

“This is a general storage level.”  Tancyfrwys explained, continuing down the steps to the next level, “And this is storage for magical reagents and things of that sort.”

As we continued down I could feel a kind of tightening about my body, not restricting my movements and not really uncomfortable, but definitely noticeable. This felt like the effect of magical wards, designed to keep magical things or emanations from leaking out of the wards, and anything outside from leaking in. I glanced at Chessina, she was feeling it too. This was in contrast to the wards of the Tower which were indiscernible.

“As I’m sure you have already surmised, this is the warded level.” Said Tancyfrwys. “The magic weapons I made are in this vault.” She walked over to a metal door, with a solid bolt and a lock.

“The bolt and lock made of cold iron?”  I asked.

“It provides some resistance to being opened magically.” Tancyfrwys remarked, somewhat defensively.

“The Tower uses similar methods.” I said. Tancyfrwys gave a shy little grin at this, not being hopelessly outclassed by the Towermaster had to feel pleasant. She unlocked and unbolted the door and entered activating the lux rune as she did so. I had expected to see racks of near identical weapons such as those I had observed on a previous visit to an armoury. There were racks of weapons, but there was no uniformity amongst them. There were swords, both straight and curved in various lengths, axes, single and double bladed, maces, both spiked and flanged, no two weapons alike. Indeed some of the bladed weapons had wavy blades. All the blades were black.

“Why are the blades black?” I wondered aloud. Before Tancyfrwys could reply, Chessina said,

“They are made of black abyssal steel. It’s stronger and takes a better edge than normal steel, but it is unpleasant for non-demons to be around, and unsettles animals.”

“How many weapons are there?” Asked Blaithamlwg.

“Thirty seven at the moment,” Replied Tancyfrwys, “I would have been making more, but there was a delay in the delivery of the necessary black fire opals. Pryd... Sekemhef wanted a total of three hundred weapons.”

“Three hundred!” Exclaimed Blaithamlwg, “Thank goodness there was a delay.”

I’m afraid both Chessina and I looked smug.

“How did you cause the delay? Sekemhef was furious.” Tancyfrwys asked.

“We asked King Thorogar of the dwarves, and he asked his merchants to come up with believable excuses.” Chessina replied.

“Tancyfrwys, am I correct in thinking that the black fire opals are what aligns them to their demonic wielders?” I asked.

“I... I think so.” She replied. “I’m ashamed to say that I didn’t really understand what I was doing. I just followed instructions blindly without thinking. But I don’t think Sekemhef would have been so upset if the gems weren’t vital.”

Chessina had been looking at the weapons, staring at one in particular. She went out of the room and beckoned the rest of us to follow.

“What is it?” I asked Chessina.

“Tancyfrwys, would you mind locking and bolting the door to the vault.” Chessina said, “And Castamir, can you cast the spell that Dragovar devised to block sounds going out?”

“Ring of silence? Yes, I can.” I replied.

When we were all close together I cast the spell.

“What is the matter, Chessina? Blaithamlwg asked.

“The sword at the far end of the left hand rack,” Chessina began, “The one with the rather spiky blade, it’s not a sword, it’s a demon in the form of a sword.”

“Are you sure? Is that even possible?” Tancyfrwys asked, surprised.

“Oh yes, it’s very possible,” Chessina continued. “Demons can be cajoled, coerced or downright forced into the shape of inanimate objects. They retain certain attributes of their original demon form. I saw writing in Abyssal, three syllables of a name, presumably that of the demon.”

“Would that have been used to force it into the shape of a sword?” I asked.

“Almost certainly,” Chessina said.

“I wonder if Sekemhef moulded the demon into the blade, or if someone else did?” I pondered.

“He certainly could have fashioned the sword, but there’s really no way of telling, other than asking the demon,” Said Chessina, “And it would almost certainly lie. It is possible for a summoned demon to bring items with them, but I don’t know if an item could be sent or summoned on its own. I noticed that the runes on the blade are similar to that of the soul trapping knife that Dragovar was studying in the hopes of releasing the imprisoned souls. I’ve heard of such swords before, they consume the souls of those the sword slays, and provide some part of that energy to the wielder.”

“That’s horrible!” Tancyfrwys burst out.

“Yes, demons are horrible,” Replied Chessina, “I don’t know if the demon can hear us, so I wanted to talk out here. Wizards are cautious.” She grinned at me. “I would suggest that we deal with the other weapons first, so when we come to deal with the demon, it won’t be able to use any powers of any of the other weapons.”

“A good idea,” I said, “Breaking the opals seems the way to go, do you others agree?”

“It sounds a good idea.” Tancyfrwys agreed and the others nodded.

Back in the vault, we each took a weapon and hit the black gems on the stone floor. Opals are fragile and should break easily. They didn’t.

“Damnation.” I said.

“Exactly.” Chessina replied. “I hope Demonslicer can break them.”

“So do I.” I said.

“Demonslicer?” Blaithamlwg asked.

I drew the dagger.

“It’s a magic blade made by the dwarves,” I explained, “It... ah, slices demons. The dwarves are very literal people.”

I put the weapon I had been trying to destroy, a long curved bladed sword back in the rack, and aimed a blow at the opal forming the pommel. There was a satisfying ‘crack’ sound as I hit the gem and it broke into fragments. I cast sense magic on the blade, and there was none. It was just metal and could be dealt with later.

“Put the weapons back in the racks so I can deal with them.” I said, urgently. I wanted these weapons and the demon out of the way before Prydythaur/Sekemhef returned. Methodically, I dealt with each weapon in turn until all were deactivated, save the demon blade.

“I think the thing to do, is to break the black opal pommel and call the demon forth using the part of its name on the blade.” I said.

“I agree,” Said Chessina, “Tancyfrwys and Blaithamlwg cast what spells you can at it, but do remember that demons can resist magic to a certain extent. The more powerful the demon, the more resistance it tends to have, unless you know its name. We’ve had some success with bludgeoning fist.”

“I don’t know if the demon can cast spells so I suggest we take precautions.” I said, “Globes of protection cast around each of us seems prudent to me.”

“That’s a good idea,” Said Tancyfrwys, “I’ll do so for Blaithamlwg and myself. Thank you for the suggestions. I’m not used to fighting demons.”

“Although we’ve done so before, no one really gets used to it.” So saying I gripped my staff tightly and cast the globes around Chessina and myself. I didn’t want these elves, even though I liked them, to know that I could draw on the Tower without my staff. I also wanted Chessina to be as fresh as possible to cast her own spells. I heard the muttering of spell casting, and a shimmering fist of disembodied force glowed in front of Tancyfrwys.

“I have another idea.” Chessina said.

“I’m not an accomplished wielder of magic.” Blaithamlwg said diffidently.

“Just cast spells at it Blaithamlwg, any spells even nuisance ones will distract it somewhat, I know.” Said Chessina, confidently. “I think Castamir, it would be best if we took the sword outside the vault before releasing it. We could fight it more effectively with more room to move.”

“You’re right, Chessina.” I said. I carried the sword out, laid it carefully on the ground, gripped my staff firmly and readied Demonslicer.

I took a further moment to prepare myself mentally for the fight. The demon probably wasn’t too powerful, or it would not have been forced into the shape of a sword. Even so, it was never good to underestimate any demon

“Listen carefully when I use the demon’s name, I will only say it once. Get ready.” I raised Demonslicer and struck the opal, shouting, “Come forth Eskbarnak!”

The sword warped, morphed and grew rapidly, as Eskbarnak reverted to its true form. I heard voices calling out its name and casting spells, but could spare no attention from the demon. It was my height but much heavier, vaguely resembling a blue-scaled ape, but with claws and fangs. Eskbarnak smiled displaying many sharp teeth inside its mouth as well as the dagger like canines. Before it could move a fist hit it on the side of its head stunning the demon momentarily. I lunged forward and stabbed at the scaled body. I felt Demonslicer hit, cutting through the scaly skin of the demon, but felt the blade grate against a rib. Judging by the howl it had nonetheless damaged the creature.

It countered by swinging its right claw at me but missed wildly, as its movements were clumsy. It swung the other limb and the... bunch of limp rhubarb flailed ineffectually at me. It looked down in surprise at this appendage, taking its attention off me. At this point it was hit again by a bludgeoning fist, causing the demon to be so distracted that I got in a hard strike on its left arm causing Eskbarnak to scream once again, and jerk away from Demonslicer, yellowish-green ichor oozing out of the wound.

Its movements were very uncoordinated and I glanced down at its feet. I had expected to see some form of clawed limbs, but I didn’t expect to see a pair of ducks feet with tiny and ineffectual claws. I stabbed again at the left arm and sheered away a stick of rhubarb which caused great discomfort judging by the demon’s cries, pinkish juice dripping from the stump.

Once again the fist struck, this blow hitting the site on its chest where I had previously wounded it. The scream this brought forth was almost deafening. Eskbarnak desperately tried to move closer to me, but fell over its duck feet. Its arms spread out instinctively to try to break its fall, giving me a clear opportunity to stab into its left armpit. Demonslicer plunged deep into the creature eliciting less of a scream, and more a frothy gurgle. It crashed to the floor and lay stunned for a moment. I heard more bones break when the fist again struck the prone body, eliciting bubbly groans. I raised my arm and brought Demonslicer down on the back of the demon’s neck, severing its spine.

The demon’s body went limp and started to give off yellow-green smoke which smelled so foul we involuntarily stepped back gagging. The smoke rose towards the ceiling but disappeared... elsewhere before reaching it. The smoke grew thicker while the body became diffuse and translucent. Quickly the body dissolved into nothingness, even the spilled ichor turning into smoke. The smoke continued to dissipate until it vanished, even the vile smell diminished to nothing. The demon’s remains had completely vanished leaving no indication that they had ever been there.

“Rhubarb?” I said in astonishment.

“It was the funniest thing I could think of on the spur of the moment, that and duck’s feet. You know how amusing I find ducks and their antics.” Chessina replied.

“I wouldn’t have thought this was an appropriate time for levity.” Said Blaithamlwg, his voice sounding more worried than huffy, I thought.

“On the contrary, Blaithamlwg,” Said Chessina repressively, “This is a most appropriate time for levity. Demons have no sense of humour and the calculated levity caused it great confusion. As it was changing its form, I reasoned that it would be vulnerable to spells from the transmogria name. I was correct.”

“My apologies, Chessina.” Said Blaithamlwg, a trifle stiffly.

“There is no need to apologise Blaithamlwg,” Said Chessina, “You were worried for Tancyfrwys’ safety and thought I was treating the matter lightly. I will use any means necessary to defeat demons, and humour can be a weapon.”

“That was...” Tancyfrwys began speaking and then tailed off.

“Horrible, startling, unbelievable?” I replied, “Oh yes, all of those. But you have helped to defeat a demon and I thank you most profoundly for your assistance.”

“The way the demon just... dissolved, it was uncanny.” Said Tancyfrwys, still stunned by the experience.

“The residue went to be a part of the creature’s new body.” Chessina said, and was interrupted by a cry from Blaithamlwg,

“It’s not dead?”

“Far from it, Blaithamlwg,” Chessina went on, “Demons can only be permanently killed by destroying their body on their home plane of existence. The creature, it’s not wise to say its name, will spend the next few years reforming a body. If it’s any consolation, the process is painful and it will be mercilessly mocked by its fellows. In addition, it can’t return to this world for one hundred years and a day. By the by, speaking of residue, I don’t think we should leave the shards of the black opals lying around. Would you mind using your fist to crush them to powder, Tancyfrwys?”

“Not at all.” She replied, and went back into the vault to do so, still seeming somewhat dazed.

 

Into this brief moment of peace came Silavara, using the voices on the wind spell.

“Castamir, Chessina, Prydythaur is on the move, he’s left the Enclave.”