Game Play (32 page)

Mindar stared up at
the sky. The red
S
-scar on her forehead throbbed with the beat of her heart.
She could not offer any help to them now, couldn't give them any warning about
the Slave of the Serpent.

The golem set her
down, straightened her legs, and made sure she had gained her balance before
letting go. Mindar stood by herself, but did nothing else.

"Now what do
we do?" Vailret asked. "Do we just walk through?"

An ear-splitting
roar burst out of the shadows of the sagging tunnel, accompanied by a sandy,
grating hiss. The sound echoed in the hollow vertebrae. Something moved in the
dim light of the tunnel.

"And now for a
really
big
show!" Journeyman said.

A silhouette
appeared, and then the Slave of the Serpent stepped into view. The monster drew
in a deep breath and stood reeling, unaccustomed to the bright sunlight.

Delrael flinched.
The demon was huge, more massive even than Gairoth the ogre. It was hairy and
apelike, but had reptilian features, a chest plate and a flat angular head set
low upon its shoulders. The deep-set eyes looked pitiful and filled with
immense sorrow shining out from slitted pupils.

Coiled around its
body was a huge, oily green snake that raised its head high above the Slave's
shoulders. The Serpent hissed at the travelers with a sound like rain pelting a
fire.

The Slave took two
lumbering steps forward then stopped, planting its feet to guard the opening of
the tunnel bridge. The Serpent spoke.

"So
you
are
Delrael! We went to the Stronghold. We killed a human character who claimed to
be Delrael. But he was old and weak. We left him smoking on the ground."

Delrael felt his
heart freeze, wondering if it could be a trick. Did they mean Tarne? If the
Serpent claimed to be looking for Delrael, Tarne would have tried to trick
them.

The Serpent cocked
its head at him. "We came to get the Fire Stone and give it back to
Scartaris. Now you have brought the Stone to us
―
" The Serpent
hissed at Bryl. The half-Sorcerer cringed.

Delrael looked back
at the others. Vailret appeared weak and frightened with only his short sword;
Bryl had the Fire Stone; the golem looked ready to fight.

The Slave stepped
forward, and the Serpent spoke again with a note of glee in its voice. "I
bind you to the protocol of single combat in Rule #10!

Delrael
―
I challenge
you
. You must fight me alone."

Bryl let out a cry
of dismay. Journeyman said, "Aww, shucks!"

Delrael stood up in
shock, feeling cheated. Though the Serpent had used a loophole, the Rules still
constrained all characters. The Slave of the Serpent greatly outclassed Delrael
alone, but now the others could not help him. They could not break the Rules.
It was unfair. Vailret, Bryl, and Journeyman appeared helpless.

Mindar stood
without moving, unaware.

Delrael curled his
lip and snarled at the demon. "Don't underestimate me."

The Slave made a
grumbling bestial noise and tried to turn his head to glare at the Serpent. But
the pupilless red eyes of the snake ignored him. The coils squeezed the Slave's
chest, and he lumbered forward to meet his opponent.

"May the Force
be with you," Journeyman called.

Delrael breathed in
and out. He felt his heart pumping, the adrenaline flowing. He had fought a
thousand mock battles, and some real ones. He had been through his father's
training. He was ready. He had no choice.

Without giving any
warning, he surged forward as fast as he could. He held the sword in front of
him, howling at the top of his lungs, and swung.

The Slave stumbled
back in surprise, leaving deep footprints on the ground. Delrael drove in,
pushing his advantage of surprise for a few more moments. He swung, and missed,
and struck again with the blade.

The Slave grunted
and roared, batting at him with a bearlike paw.

Delrael turned his
sword sideways and slashed the Slave's arm. The edge bit into the monster's
fur, but made only a minor wound.

The Serpent's fangs
flashed like glistening swords. Delrael saw the snake strike an instant before
it was too late. He dove for the ground, tucking the sword against him to
protect it, and rolled.

The Slave bent over
to give the Serpent more reach, but the fangs dug into the sand. The Serpent
pulled up, hissing and spitting dust out of its mouth. Black pools of smoking
slag marked where venom had squirted into the dirt.

Delrael worked his
feet under him and stumbled back to a standing position. The Slave could have
attacked, but it hesitated, giving Delrael time to compose himself. He wondered
what was going on.

He heard Vailret
and Journeyman shouting at him, urging him on. Delrael blanked that out for the
moment. He needed to concentrate on the fight.

The Slave's sad
eyes struck his heart. This monster didn't want to hurt him, didn't want to do
what he did. The Serpent forced the Slave to do its will. He wanted no part of
this. Delrael stared at the eyes. It was a trick.

It had to be.

But the Slave's
eyes were
not
pupilless.

Then the Serpent
struck again.

This time,
inexplicably, the Slave stepped sideways, deliberately throwing off the snake's
aim.

In anger, the
Serpent viciously nipped the bare patch at the back of the Slave's neck. The
monster roared in pain and swatted with its great paws, but the snake bobbed
back and forth, weaving away from the clumsy grasp. It ducked in and nipped the
Slave again.

"Kill
Delrael!" it said.

Wet mucus dripped from
the Slave's eyes, either in pain or sorrow. With a roar, the Slave reached out
his huge paws.

Delrael held his
ground and lunged, trying to duck under the grasping arms. But the Slave cuffed
him on the side of the head. Delrael sprawled on the ground. His vision fuzzed,
and his ears rang. He heard Vailret and Journeyman shouting again. It didn't
make sense. He didn't want to listen to them, but he knew he couldn't lay
there.

He felt vibrations
in the sand as the Slave stomped forward. Delrael half-closed his eyes,
pretending to be unconscious. When he saw the Slave near him, he snapped open
his eyes and grabbed the sword with both hands. He scrambled to his knees and
put his chest, his shoulders, all of the muscles in his arms and back into one
swing. He aimed for the Slave's thigh and felt the blade sink in, cutting into
the meat of the monster's leg all the way to the bone.

Viscous yellow
blood oozed out, gushing in heavy globs. The monster howled in agony.

Delrael rolled out
of the way, but the monster kept staggering forward, propelled by its own
momentum and forgetting its pain. Blood spattered to the ground with every step
the Slave took. Delrael held the sword against him, smearing the yellow blood
across his leather armor. He tried to climb to his feet, but was not fast
enough.

The Slave of the
Serpent knocked him back to the ground, then wrapped both huge paws around
Delrael's chest and jerked him into the air. The monster shook him and
squeezed.

Delrael felt the
roar in his head grow louder. He couldn't breathe. He couldn't think. Loud
sounds and darkness echoed at the corner of his eyes. His arm went numb. He
couldn't control his fingers
―
they went limp, and the sword fell,
embedding its point in the sand. The weight of the pommel tipped it over,
spraying dirt in the air.

For a moment he
thought the Slave would cast him into the yawning black chasm where he might
fall through the map and be incinerated by his first glimpse of
reality
. Then
he saw the Serpent rear back. Its blank red eyes blazed fire as if Scartaris
himself were looking through the reptilian skull.

The Serpent opened
its mouth. The fangs oozed venom like miniature diamonds.

Mindar blinked. Her
vision snapped back into focus. She stumbled, suddenly regaining her body.

In the back of her
mind she heard a mocking voice, Scartaris laughing at her, telling her to
watch. Watch him die. You will lose. You will always lose.

She didn't know
where she was, how she had gotten there or what was going on. She remembered
nothing beyond the Cailee and the circle of firelight. And the pain, memories
sparkling with pain.

Then she saw
Delrael in the grip of the Slave of the Serpent.
Watch him die.
Scartaris had
toyed with her, showed his power. Now he would have fun by letting her witness
Delrael's death.

The Serpent drew
back to strike, and Delrael closed his eyes.

The snake's head
flashed downward as Delrael heard racing footsteps, a
swish
. It all happened
too fast. He opened his eyes and saw the Serpent still descending toward him
with its mouth open and fangs bared, but somehow the head had become severed
from the body. Squirting blood, the snake's head continued its arc, struck
Delrael in the shoulder and bounced off. It fell on the sand, staring up with
dead red eyes.

Mindar regained her
balance and swung the rippled sword back through empty air, flinging droplets
of the Serpent's dark blood into the air.

Apparently stunned,
the Slave released his grip and let Delrael fall to the ground. His right arm
was still numb, but he managed to snatch up his sword as he scrambled out of
the way. He heaved in great gasps of air. His ribs ached. Sand crusted the
globs of yellow blood sticking to his leather armor.

Mindar stood poised
and ready to fight the Slave, wearing a snarl on her lips. Her red
S
-scar
glowed. She had returned. Delrael wanted to go to her.

The Slave pivoted
around. Yellow blood drooled down the matted fur of his leg. He seemed to
ignore the pain of the wound. He stared at Delrael with his liquid, anguished
eyes. Then he gawked in awe at the ragged dripping stump of the Serpent. His
face wore an impossible, stupefied expression. When he lifted up the dead
Serpent, dark blood ran down his fingers, but the poison did not harm him.

Then he raised his
huge paws into the air in a gesture of triumph.

"
Sadic is
free!
" The monster's words were clumsy, as if the flat, plated mouth was
not suited for speech. The Slave unwrapped the entwined body of the Serpent as
if he were casting off a heavy chain.

Delrael continued
to breathe hard. He didn't know what to think. He saw Mindar raise her
eyebrows.

Moving with obvious
disgust, the Slave held the snake's body away from him. Black blood drizzled
from the decapitated end, leaving foul pools smoking on the ground. The Slave's
fur had been worn off in pink, raw-looking patches by the Serpent's scales
rubbing against his hide.

"Ring around
the collar," Journeyman mumbled out of the side of his mouth.

The Slave of the
Serpent stalked to the edge of the deep crevasse. He raised the Serpent's body
over his head and, with a roar of exhilaration, cast it down into the void.
Then he turned back to Delrael and Mindar, dragging his wounded leg behind him
along a trail of thick yellow blood.

Delrael grabbed his
sword, ready to fight again, though his aching ribs and numb arm protested.
Mindar stood glaring at the demon. Journeyman, Vailret, and Bryl all joined
them.

The Slave of the
Serpent stopped and stared at them, pleading. He spread out his massive flat
paws. "Sadic will not hurt you. You freed Sadic.

You killed
Serpent."

"Just stay
away, big fella," Journeyman said.

The Slave kept his
distance, trying to look harmless. He made no sudden moves. "Sadic will do
no more harm."

Then Mindar turned
pale and sick-looking. Her rippled sword fell to the ground. She staggered and
dropped to her knees, making strange noises. She covered her face. Delrael
heard her sobbing.

He put a hand on
her shoulder, hesitant. She didn't flinch. Then he put both arms around her in
a hug. He felt her trembling, the spasms as she tried to control herself.

Mindar choked out
words. "I don't know what happened. All I remember is fighting the Cailee,
and then the pain, and blackness..."

"The Cailee
almost killed you," Delrael said quietly, soothing. "But Scartaris
didn't let you die. He ... he controlled you. You were like the other Tairans.
Your eyes..." He let the words trail off.

"Scartaris
released me only so I could watch you die. For
fun.
" She looked up, and
her dark eyes were filled with a complex mix of emotions.

"I saw my
daughter, I think. She was like a dream in the darkness, and it's fading. The
more I try to hold onto the memory, the faster it slips away." Mindar drew
a hitching breath and pulled herself to her feet, brushing her singed green
tunic. Feeling awkward, Delrael took a step away.

"The first
thing I saw was you fighting. And the others were just standing there, not
helping you. I knew what I had to do."