Descent Into Darkness (Book 2) (34 page)

"There is still so much I do not know about what you can do," Sadiek said, looking Ean over like he was a piece of meat. "You are quite the puzzle, and I do like figuring out puzzles..."

Sadiek's eyes started to drift off to the side, his attention seeming to go elsewhere for a moment. Ean took the moment to glace down at Azalea. The Yulari was on her hands and knees, but she was struggling to sit up. Ean felt nothing but determination through their new bond. If they weren't in such a bad situation, Ean would have complimented Azalea on her refusal to give up. Instead he settled on sending pride through their bond.

"Don't look away from me while I'm talking to you!" Sadiek was suddenly shaking Ean, small specks of spittle coming out of his mouth. "It is quite rude after all!"

Ean's attention snapped back to the man. "Sorry," Ean managed to get out before the man shook him any harder. Thankfully it was enough to calm him down. Not enough to get him to put Ean down however, leaving Ean still stuck in front of the man's foul smelling breath. Or was it the man himself that smelled...off...

"As I was saying..." Sadiek blinked a few times and paused, then shook his head and continued. "You are a puzzle, but a dangerous puzzle. Since I don't know exactly what you can do, or how many other creatures you have summoned," He waved at Azalea. "Or what I can do will mix or reject whatever is happening to your body already, it creates quite the list of problems."

"Which would be a good reason why you shouldn't try to--"

Pain exploded on the right side of his face as Sadiek backhanded him. Ean again didn't even see the blow coming. Black spots raced across his vision, fading in and out for a moment.

"Do not interrupt. If I decide to keep you around, you must learn to only speak when spoken to or say to others what I have given you permission to say. Our numbers are small, especially since your pet girl killed four of my new creations and none of the other ones have returned. If they are all dead, that would just leave the two of us to continue on with my mission. As powerful as I am and as you might be, I fear most of the people in both the Deadlands and back in Ven Khilada are not ready for what I have planned and would try to stop us. So it is best, I think, if you don't speak once we leave here."

"I completely understand."
That you are crazy
. "I can keep quiet."
Until I figure out how to escape
.

"Good." The older man set him down much gentler than he had Azalea. "Now, let us see how good you are at following more orders. Kill her." He gestured at Azalea like he had just told Ean to kill a gnat.

Why was he pandering to this lunatic? If he had to face the man and die, he might as well get it over with.

"No."

"Ean, Ean, Ean," Sadiek said, shaking his head. "For a moment there I thought you understood your situation. I suppose you need a few more lessons first." Ean tensed as Sadiek took a slow, deliberate step in Ean's direction. This was it.

A loud growl emanated from Ean's right, stopping Sadiek in his tracks. They both turned to look and found Yaeger slowly walking towards them both, his head low and his teeth bared. Ean had been so focused on his bond with Azalea that he had forgotten the hound. The huge beast moved slowly, its eyes locked on Sadiek as it took deliberate steps towards him. The older man watched the hound warily, a frown marking his face.

"If that is your animal, Ean, you better call it off," he said through clenched teeth. "I promise you things will get much worse if I have to put that creature, as well as your girl, down."

"I don't think so," Ean said, his tattoos glowing brightly as he took in even more energy. "I'm not going to let you hurt either of them."

"NOT GOING TO LET me? Interesting. I'm going to kill them both, and you as well now, and I promise the process will hurt a great deal."

Before the words were even completely out of his mouth, Sadiek took two quick steps towards Ean. The hound responded, covering the remaining distance between itself and Sadiek by the time the older man was taking his third step. Yaeger leapt at Sadiek, its teeth bared wide.

But the older man was fast, faster than even the hound. He sidestepped Yaeger's attack, the hound's teeth biting down and just missing Sadiek's chest. As the hound sailed past, Sadiek thrust out both palms, catching the hound in the side and sending him spinning off course. Instead of landing straight on his paws, the force of the blow sent the hound hitting the ground on its side, its head smacking into the smooth stone floor.

But Yaeger was up in an instant, turning around and facing Sadiek with squinting purple eyes. It growled loudly again, drool dripping from its open mouth. Steam rose as its slobber hit the ground, sizzling as it landed. If the hound could just land a bite or even get some of that drool on Sadiek's skin, it might distract him enough that they would have a chance. Ean would have to help.

This time when Yaeger charged, Ean went running in as well. Being faster, the hound reached Sadiek first, making a move as if it was going to leap at the man's chest again, then changing at the last moment and sticking to the ground, its mouth going for the man's legs instead.

Again Sadiek was just fast enough, leap-frogging the hound and barely avoiding its gaping jaws. Not a drop of saliva hit the man, but he was still on his way down when Ean reached him.

Not slowing down, Ean ducked his shoulders and plowed into Sadiek, wrapping his arms around the man and taking them both down to the ground. To Ean it felt like he was tackling a tree, his shoulder ached from the impact, but he heard the satisfying whoosh of air escape from the man's mouth as the breath was knocked out of him.

They skidded along the ground a pace or two before coming to a stop, Ean quickly getting to his knees. Hovering over the dazed man, Ean began raining down blows with his fists. He only had experience receiving blows instead of delivering them, so he focused on landing as many blows as he could instead of going for one knockout blow. His fists found their mark, splitting the man's lip and bloodying his nose.

Sadiek curled into a ball for a moment then lashed out with his legs, kicking Ean squarely in the chest, the force sending him tumbling backwards. He stopped rolling and got instantly back onto his knees but Sadiek was already on the attack, this time tackling Ean the rest of the way down.

Now it was Sadiek's turn to hover over Ean and rain down blows. Ean brought his arms up to protect himself, but the older man simply varied where he was punching. If Ean blocked his face, Sadiek would land a blow to his chest or stomach, if Ean moved to protect his body, Sadiek would get in two or three blows to his face before Ean could change his guard. Sadiek was quickly wearing Ean down.

A loud thud was all Ean heard before the blows suddenly stopped. Quickly looking around, he found Sadiek and the hound a few paces away rolling along the ground. Sadiek's hands were somehow keeping the hound's mouth away from his own throat. Despite not being able to reach the man, Yaeger's mouth kept snapping at him, drops of drool landing to the left and right of the man and setting off little wisps of smoke when they hit the stone.

Ean tried to get to his feet but was still feeling woozy from the pummeling he just received. Unable to stand on wobbly legs, Ean instead began moving on his hands and knees towards the melee.

While Ean was moving, a scream erupted from Sadiek as some of the hound's saliva finally started hitting his arms and chest. With as close as Ean had gotten, he could see the man's skin start to peel and burn away as each drop made contact.

But the pain seemed to add to Sadiek's strength instead of sap it. With a great heave he rolled on top of the hound. Freeing his right hand, Sadiek raised it back preparing to strike, his fingers held together and pointing at the hound's exposed belly. Ean watched in horror as the older man's skin peeled away from his finger tips and exposed bone. Four small, pointed fingertips glistened with the man's own blood. Extending twice as long as they had been right before the change, Sadiek gave a triumphant yell and drove them into the hound's stomach.

The hound whined in pain as the small bony daggers pierced his stomach. The pain of it coming through the bond almost brought Ean the rest of the way to the ground. But if he went down, Sadiek would surely finish the hound off.

Using the pain to drive him as well, Ean scrambled a few paces more until he was close enough to launch himself again at the older man. He grabbed Sadiek's arm, his momentum pulling that dangerous hand out of the hound and taking them rolling away. They both landed on their sides, Ean's left hand locked on Sadiek's right wrist, his full attention on those bone blade fingers now covered in the hound's blood. Which left Sadiek's other hand free to grab Ean's throat.

Ean's eyes went wide as he was suddenly cut off from air. His free right hand went instinctively to grab at the hand around his throat, but the man's grip was iron tight. If he used both hands he might be able to free himself, but that would free up Sadiek's dangerous bone blades. Ean did his best to try and buck around on the ground, hoping to loosen the man's grip enough that he could get some air. It failed.

His vision started going spotty. He had to try wrenching the hand off his throat with both hands before he lost the strength. If he passed out, those bone-bladed fingers would be free to finish him anyway. Releasing the man's right wrist, Ean grabbed at the man's left wrist with both hands now and tried to pull him off.

But Ean had waited too long. He could not pull even the slightest bit. As the edges of his vision started to go dark, he saw a look of triumph pass over Sadiek's face. Casually, taking his time now that he was completely in control, Sadiek raised his right hand and pointed two of those pointed fingers directly at Ean's eyes.

This was it. The end.

A light blue hand grabbed that wrist before it could descend, four purple nails digging into the man's skin and pulling it back. Air suddenly rushed into Ean as Sadiek released his throat and attempted to rise. A small blue foot caught the man in the face as he rose, spinning him around. Sadiek landed face down, his hands catching him from hitting face first. He rolled quickly away and got to his knees, his eyes blinking quickly as he shook his head.

"Get up," Azalea said, grabbing Ean by his shirt and putting him on his feet. "I couldn't take this monster alone when I was completely healthy, which I certainly am not right now."

"Yaeger can..."

"You're hound is dying, boy," Azalea said, her words short. Risking a glance back he saw that the Yulari was right.

Yaeger hadn't moved and was lying on his side, blood pouring out of the savage wound in his stomach. Each breath by the hound was accompanied by a small gurgle and extra spurt of blood from the wound. The hound's eyes were locked on Ean as its head lay on its side, and actual fear accompanied the pain that Ean felt through their bond.

Turning his attention back to Sadiek, he found the man slowly rising. Azalea's kick must have really done some damage to slow the stronger man down this much. Even so, Ean didn't like their chances as they were. But if he was going to die, he was going to make sure his companions at least had a chance.

As Sadiek started advancing towards them, Azalea tensed and readied herself. Ean on the other hand sent everything he had through the bonds to both Azalea and Yaeger. All of the energy from the Abyss, all of his own strength, and more went to both of his companions. He felt it all go to them both as his legs started to give.

With a roar Sadiek charged them, his eyes clear now and filled with rage. Ean knew he wouldn't be any help in the fight anyway, so instead of bracing himself like Azalea was doing, he tried something he hoped Sadiek wouldn't expect. Knowing his body was about to give out, Ean pushed off Azalea and tumbled forward. Ean watched Sadiek's expression as he fell and would have laughed if he had the energy. The older man's face turned from rage to confusion and then surprise as Ean fell directly at his legs. Moving quickly, Sadiek had no chance to dodge around Ean's body as it fell.

Sadiek's thigh smacked into Ean's face and spun him to the side before he finished falling. Sadiek also left his feet as he tripped over Ean's body, falling forward. Ean didn't see him land, as without any strength left, he wasn't able to even catch himself as he fell. All he was able to do was turn his head to the side right before he hit the ground, saving himself from breaking his nose and losing some teeth. He was able to hear the sound of the other man hitting the ground shortly after he did.

Lying on his stomach, Ean continued to pour everything he had into his two friends through their bonds. He could feel Azalea rapidly gaining in strength, a mixture of determination and anger flowing back to him through the bond. From the hound, Ean felt the fear and pain lessen. He hoped he was saving the hound's life, if not getting him back into the fight.

Unable to move, Ean could only stare ahead at one of the pillars while he listened as somewhere behind him Azalea and Sadiek began to battle. It started with the patter of feet moving around quickly, Ean feeling Azalea's focus through the bond. Then the sound of grunts and the thuds of fists and feet hitting their targets. A tearing sound at one point accompanied by a slashing pain to Ean's right shoulder told him that Sadiek had landed a blow. As time slowly moved on, he could tell that even with all of the energy he was giving Azalea, she was wearing down. Ean had to get back into the fight.

Ean let himself feel the hound through their bond. The animal was still in pain, but not as much as before, and a sense of relief floated along to him from the animal. Ean hoped the animal's relief came from being healed and not from its body just giving up. Either way he needed some of his energy back if he was going to help Azalea. Stopping the flow of his own strength through the bond, Ean kept a sliver of the energy from the Abyss feeding into the hound.

Feeling slowly returned to his body and he started to push himself up. A slashing pain to his left thigh--Azalea's--almost brought him back down but he worked through the pain. Once he was on his knees, he turned around and got a real view of what was taking place. Many of the nearby small flagstaffs were completely knocked over or leaning against the strange black rock that sat in the middle of the room. Drops of both red and blue were scattered about the ground and nearby pillars as well.

Azalea and Sadiek were circling each other, their eyes locked and their hands held out defensively in front of them. Azalea's shoulder and left leg was scratched and the beginning of dozens of bruises covered her body. She limped slightly as she circled, breathing heavily as she gave her opponent a cold stare. Ean could feel through the bond that her strength, even with what extra energy he was providing, was waning.

Sadiek's body looked slightly worse, claw marks covering a great deal of his exposed body, most of which were bleeding. The fingers on his hands now ended in those sharp bone blades, most covered in either the hound or Azalea's blood. As he circled around and faced toward Ean, the damage of the hound's saliva was clearly visible. A good deal of skin around the man's right shoulder was black, pieces of it hanging off his body. All of the wounds didn't seem to bother the man though, as he moved just as easily as he had before. Azalea's wings still clung to his back like a protective shield and his face was twisted into a horrible scowl, which worsened as he noticed Ean back on his feet.

Gritting his teeth, Ean began making his way towards his enemy. Sadiek stopped circling around as Ean began to move, backing up slightly instead and keeping both Ean and Azalea in front of him. As he moved back, Sadiek's eyes flickered occasionally to the hound before returning to watch Azalea and Ean.

Good, keep part of your attention on Yaeger.

Ean could tell through the bond that the hound didn't have the strength to roll over, let alone return to the fight. But Sadiek didn't need to know that. Let the man worry about the beast, Ean would take any advantage he could get.

Moving in to Azalea's left, he gave her the briefest nod before returning his attention to Sadiek. The older man's eyes were flitting back and forth now between Azalea and himself. When the man's arms dropped slightly, Ean braced himself, expecting the man to rush them.