Rise of the DarkWalker: The Chronicles of Carter Blake, Book II

The gnomes led him down a corridor. The section ahead was dark. Raniero pulled a stick wrapped with jute and used a flint to ignite it. The acrid tang of pitch filled the hall as the torch ignited.

Carter noticed the hall ahead was a shattered and ruined mess, widening out into a large open space filled with tumbled stone, broken masonry, and bare earth. A pool of stagnant water was nearby.

As the group entered the cavern, the ground under their feet trembled for a moment, and then a rumbling sound filled the air. Seconds later, a huge, three-armed monster erupted from the ground, scattering dirt and debris everywhere. Its gaping, jagged tooth-filled maw at the top of its head snapped hungrily. The creature had a wide, pebbly, and rocky body resting upon three stumpy legs. Six eyes opened above each arm.

“Be careful, Lavitz.” Raniero held out his free arm. “That’s a norz. They’re immune to fire, electricity and slashing damage.”

Carter glanced down at the sword in his hand. “Well, this is useless.” He stuck it behind his belt.

“There may not be a need for a fight, though.”

“Really? Why?”

“The norz may simply be looking for food.”

“What does it eat?”

The rocky monster made a sound like gravel being crushed. A gnome with a ponytail made a similar noise and then spoke to the others.

“The norz is hungry and wishes to barter for any minerals we may have.”

“I don’t have any on me,” Carter said. “I lost my things a couple of days ago and haven’t been able to get back to them.”

“I have siderite.” Raniero pulled a large chunk of the reddish mineral from his pack. “What does the norz have?”

The ponytailed gnome spoke with the creature and then said, “It has hypersthene.”

Everyone stiffened. The rare gem was worth kingdoms.

“How much?” Carter’s voice was strained.

The ponytailed gnome crunched at the norz and then gasped.

Carter placed his hand on the gnome’s shoulder. “What is it?”

“It has thirty pounds and it thinks hypersthene is worthless. It knows of a huge vein in the UnterRealm.”

“Whe—?”

The Walker of Worlds was limned in a silvery light and then vanished in a flash of brilliant white.

###

Carter appeared in the middle of chaos. His Moment of Prescience activated, slowing the world to a crawl. A charging demon that looked like a horrific cross between a silverback gorilla and an Asian elephant from his home world rammed its tusks into his chest via his back and then flung him as it trampled Adora underfoot sending a wide splatter of blood and gore across the ground.

Things slammed back into normal speed and he dove at Adora, knocking her to the right and out of range of the demon. He curled himself into a ball and peered up in time to see the demon run overhead. ‘Ew, it’s anatomically correct for a bull elephant.’ The inane thought ran through his mind as he jumped to his feet.

He ran over to Adora and picked her up to her feet. “What did you summon me into, woman?”

“We need help with that maledict demon.”

She pointed and he turned to see it returning.

“Fucking hell. I don’t have my equipment.”

“Why not?”

They dove apart, barely missing the demon’s charge.

“I’m still trying to figure that part out.” He got up. “I have an idea. Let me borrow your mace.” He held out his hand.

“What do you have in mind?”

He grinned. “You’ll see.”

The maledict came to a sliding halt and turned.

“Be careful.” She passed him her weapon.

“Aren’t I always?”

He charged to meet the rush of the huge demon.

“Not in all the time I’ve known you, my love.”

She said it quietly, certain he wouldn’t hear it.

Carter ducked under the maledict demon’s swipe and smashed Adora’s mace into its knee. The fiend roared with pain as its limb buckled.

Carter stood to the side as the huge demon collapsed. He redirected its swipe at his head to his right and spun inside its reach. He then grabbed the mace handle with both hands and brought the weapon down with all his strength on its head. The maledict’s skull gave way with a sound like a breaking watermelon.

Before he could celebrate, seven L’Arc demons landed around him.

***

A black rift appeared in the air before Adora. The center glowed red as a demon stepped through. A tall, crimson-skinned figure with the head of a moose, and a rack of blood-soaked antlers jutting from his skull stood before her. His eyes were deep pools of black, which smoldered with a crimson spark of malignant intelligence. The figure’s torso and arms were those of a hairy, muscular man, but his lower half was like a minotaur’s, ending in legs with cloven hooves. The menacing figure brandished a large mace with an antlered head much like his own.

Adora stared at him, eye bulging. Her body trembled and her jaw clenched. Unnoticed sweat ran down her face. As she backed away, her legs felt like they were going to give way at any moment.

The demon took a single step towards her, and she fell to the ground, shaking her head. “Nononononono.” The denial fell from her lips.

***

Carter moved in a tight circle as he studied each of the L’Arcs. In a sudden flurry of movement, they attacked.

One ran in and jumped, throwing a clawed hand at his face.

He leaned back and as she landed from her miss, he swung the mace and smashed in the back of her skull.

Two others attacked. One threw out a left handed swipe while the one next to her threw out her right a second later.

He knocked away the first strike with the handle of the mace and blocked the second with the top.

His right leg swung out and he kicked the first attacker’s left knee, buckling it, and then rammed his left shoulder into the chest of the second, the impact sending her to the ground.

A fourth bellowed as she attacked from behind with an overhand right punch.

He spun around and deflected it with his left elbow. He then straightened his arm, sending the back of his fist into her face.

As the demon recoiled, a fifth punched at his head.

Carter rotated his right arm, blocking her strike with the mace. He stepped forward and head-butted her in the nose.

The demon’s nose broke with a crunch and black blood gushed out as she stumbled back, putting clawed hands to cover the afflicted area.

A sixth demon threw a roundhouse kick at his body.

He caught her leg, dropping his mace. He then threw his left elbow forward into her pelvis.

The demon dropped with a scream, clutching her groin.

The seventh demon bent to retrieve the weapon.

He stepped forward and rammed his knee into her face. The L’Arc was driven upward into his downward elbow. Her neck snapped.

When the queen screamed, he whipped around. He saw the demon raise its massive club.

“Adora!” His bellow was loud enough to catch her attention. “Catch!”

He hurtled her mace and she raised her hand. The weapon went from flipping end over end to flying handle first into her hand.

She swung it into the demon’s leg, but it didn’t even react.

The demon reached down, gripped her by the neck and hoisted her in the air.

She kicked and swung her mace at the demon’s arm.

It drew its massive club back.

Carter could see what was coming. “Noooo!” His cry was loud enough to get her attention.

As Adora looked at him, he launched into an all-out sprint.

The demon swung.

“Please, please, please. Let me get there in time.” Tears rolled down his face which felt like it was on fire. His gaze was locked on the demon’s arm. He strained for it, visualizing himself getting in the way of its strike. His muscles tensed and tightened.

Everything else faded away. Men stopped their battle cries, their screams of pain and shouts of determination. The roars, bellows and noises of the other demons dropped. Wind against his face from his run disappeared.

A rut in the earth, barely wide enough for his foot to fall in, tripped him up. In his heedless drive to save his wife, he was unable to maintain his balance and he hit the ground in a belly flop.

The impact with the ground knocked the breath from him for a moment. He shook off the pain and shoved himself upward. His fall knocked him out of his panic induced tunnel vision.

No one and nothing moved. ‘What the fuck?’ He stared around, finding impossible things.

Demons were frozen in mid-leap. Fireballs, ice-bolts, arrows, and streaks of lightning hung in the air. Adora’s soldiers were caught with weapons stilled from their attacks - some in the bodies of demons, some whiffed with their enemies having dodged out of the way and a couple were in the bodies of their fellows having over committed to their swings. A demon paused with its face buried in the guts of a warrior as another held the heart of its opponent in its upraised claw, blood hanging down in the air.

Carter returned his gaze to the moose-headed demon and was mesmerized by the glowing silvery blue and green tether attached to its back. He walked up to the demon and reached out to touch the light.

Before his hand could touch it, a feeling like a shock ran through his nerves as it bent away from him. He yanked his hand away and the light returned to its previous place. ‘How the hell is everything else frozen but this?’