Brave Men Die: Part 2 Read online

  ‘I’ll go in when it’s all done, take a look and take whatever strikes my fancy.’

  ‘But you won’t have any idea what any of it is worth.’

  ‘Doesn’t matter. Carina will yell at me no matter what I select.’

  ‘You picked an odd one there, boy.’ Finn was shaking his head in disbelief, looking at Rigel as if he could answer.

  ‘There really wasn’t any actually picking involved. It just … happened.’

  Carina stood back as they reopened the chamber, her foot tapping against the ground as she stared at her nails. The mercenaries had dispersed throughout the ruins, apparently performing their morning routine, searching for intruders that might be lurking.

  They were a professional lot, Carina would give them that. Finn had them trained well. As soon as they were in sight of the ancient structure they had armed themselves and fanned out, each entering at a different location, and she imagined they would change those each day.

  The dig team had just stopped walking and now waited fifty metres from the ruins. Not a word of communication passed between them and the mercenaries, but they stopped as if waiting for permission. Carina had walked through them, ignoring their pleas to wait with them — who did they think they were to tell a mage what to do? She was Seventh Circle and these people were nothing.

  The chamber had been untouched since the first day that they had cracked open the centuries old seal. The creature that prowled around the ruins that night had deterred them from returning, and if it hadn’t, the whispers among the labourers about how the boys were slaughtered certainly had an affect.

  Carina followed the head archaeologist to the uncharted chamber, ignoring everything else including the older, more senile archaeologist who was ranting about a glyph he'd located on a wall. Fuck the wall. She then had to wait even longer until the labourers arrived with the tools needed to reopen the door. Carina wanted to blow the door off its hinges, but she knew better of it. Rigel was always telling her she needed to control her impatience.

  Why she let Rigel talk her into coming down to Firadon in the first place, she had no idea. Curse him and his charming smile. Everything happened so slowly outside of the Academy, and she couldn’t expect any of these fools to be as fast as Rigel. Her foot tapped faster as three men rammed giant crowbars into a vertical crack in the wall and pried open the door.

  As the dust settled Carina peered into the underground chamber. She took the stairs confidently, her heels barely touching the dirt covered stone. Stepping into the dark she snapped her fingers and an orb of magical light appeared over her shoulder. The orb illuminated a long stretch of hall, and hinted at an expansive chamber at the far end.

  Without hesitating she hurried forward, poise in each step. The archaeologists slowly followed down the hall, lanterns held above their shoulders. Carina didn’t care. They’d been in here before, only the once, but they could have taken the very best, the rarest, most coveted belongings of the magi that lived centuries ago.

  Ara had her dimensional research, Carina had her elements, but there was so much that had been lost during the breaking when Rayn had been brought down. The histories spoke of spells and incants that no one in the Academy knew how to cast. Ones like Ice Carnage and Soul Inferno that Carina wanted desperately to master.

  If there was anything in this room that would help her understand those forgotten magics, she didn’t care that Finn had only offered one artefact in lieu of payment. She could coerce Rigel to take whatever she wanted as his. But if there was more, she would need to take it without them noticing … or by force.

  Carina stopped at the end of the hall, sensing the residue of ancient magic dispersed on the walls, the floor, and the ceiling. Someone had wanted to protect whatever was in this chamber, and when the diggers entered weeks ago they had triggered it. Carina was surprised that the spell had kept its integrity over the centuries. Odd that Finn hadn’t mentioned it. There was no sign of any explosion around the chamber’s entryway suggesting whoever had set it didn’t want to destroy what was inside, so the incant had another purpose than a typical incendiary trap. The residue was too faint now for her to recognise but she had a feeling that she probably wouldn’t anyway.

  Entering the room, she stepped through the residue, her body tingling with the remnants of the incant, and her eyes widened as she scanned the contents. Two long tables ran the length of the chamber on either side, littered with miscellaneous items that were covered in dust. At a quick glance it appeared that only the items closest to the hall had been disturbed on that first day.

  Closing her eyes she cast silently, then reopened them to see the room awash with the glow of magic. There was residue over nearly everything in the room, but that could just mean they were handled by a mage that had cast before placing them there. But there was nothing active. She blinked, and the sight was gone, and she walked carefully into the room without fear of another spell trap.

  Without an inventory of what was in the room she couldn’t possibly know what to claim. Or what to tell Rigel to take. And with all the dust, taking anything now would leave an obvious indicator that something was missing.

  ‘You need to clear all this dust,’ Carina ordered.

  The middle-aged archaeologist, the one who appeared to be in charge of the dig, coughed into his hand and stepped forward. ‘This is our site, you can’t order us around here.’

  ‘I was brought in to help with all the magical items in here.’

  The other diggers were busy behind him hanging the lanterns from the wall and moving further into the chamber. Carina noticed them all doing their best not to meet her eyes and look extremely busy.

  ‘Not by us you weren’t. The mercenary captain sent for you to aid his team, not help us in here.’

  ‘But you agreed to the payment. I want to know what’s in here.’

  ‘And you will get paid when the job is done. Now leave the chamber and let us do what we do.’

  She cursed to herself but kept a look of serenity on her face. Carina was furious that he was right. She needed to wait for them to catalogue what was in here, but gods damn it she wanted to get her hands on anything that could reveal the secrets from centuries ago.

  ‘I want to see an inventory list as soon as you have it finished,’ she ordered as she brushed past him, extinguishing the orb of light above her shoulder and walking down the darkened corridor.

  Rigel pulled open the flaps of the tent, ducked, and entered. Carina noted the gleam of sweat on his forehead that he casually wiped off. It ruffled the front of his short hair, pushing it in all directions. His easy grin brought out his dimples under the short whiskers that had grown while in the countryside.

  He casually smiled when he saw her on the bunk and winked. ‘How was your day sweetheart?’

  ‘Don’t call me sweetheart,’ Carina replied coolly.

  She hated how he knew which buttons to push. She pulled her hair back behind her ear and looked away.

  ‘But you hate it when I call you pumpkin.’

  Carina rolled her eyes and shook her head.

  ‘Was the chamber everything you were expecting?’ Rigel asked, ignoring her pained expression.

  ‘I scanned the room. There are plenty of magical objects in there so it was worth coming to this shithole.’

  ‘Know what you want to take yet?’

  Carina wondered why he was so inquisitive today. Rigel wasn’t known for his social skills, and she kind of liked that quiet, reserved attitude he had.

  ‘No, the diggers will give me a list once they have figured out what’s down there. Then I’ll know what the two most valuable artefacts down there are, and that’s what we’ll take.’

  Rigel didn’t bat an eyelid at her suggestion, just moved further inside. Carina was curious why he wasn’t attempting to defy her about this. It was something he would have enjoyed, telling her he would take what he liked no matter how much she insisted.

  Rigel was definitely acting st
range.

  ‘Is there anything I should know about your day? Like what you were doing in the woods?’

  ‘A casual stroll. Keeping myself fit. You know, things us warrior types like to keep on top of.’

  He was lying, but he wasn’t giving anything away.

  ‘That would only be the case if you were actually a warrior.’

  ‘There is that.’

  ‘Did you find anything out there?’ Carina pressed.

  ‘That I should seriously reconsider my decision to be your acolyte?’

  He said it with a grin and she knew he wouldn’t ever take his decision back. Carina would never be fazed by his little jeers about that at least.

  Rigel enjoyed the perks; the strength, the speed. She knew it. All the acolytes did, it was a feeling of exuberance. His outward portrayal of hatred was even more of a ruse, a performance for all the onlookers. Carina knew exactly how he felt, not that she ever planned to tell him that. When they'd bonded, his soul was open to her when the magic transferred to him and his feelings had overwhelmed her to an almost shocking extent.

  He was loyal beyond anything she had ever dreamed possible. Rigel would die for her and she wondered if the situation was reversed whether she would do the same for him. She honestly didn’t want to find out. She had her doubts.

  ‘So the thing that killed some of the help?’

  ‘Nothing I can’t handle.’

  ‘So you don’t need my help?’

  ‘I’ll be fine. I’ll take care of it when it comes out to play tonight.’

  Carina smiled and stood up to look him eye to eye, although he still tilted his head to make it possible. She tugged at his belt. ‘That means you’re mine until then.’ And then she kissed him.

  Sunset was hours ago and Rigel was finally strapping his sword belt back on. He spent moments staring at Carina’s sleeping form. Gods she was beautiful, and every moment he was with her it was harder for him to leave. She grunted and rolled, bringing the sheet up to cover her exposed breasts.

  He couldn’t say she was elegant, but she was his, and every little quirk …

  Rigel was hoping that he would get this over with before she even knew he was gone. He hoped even more that he’d just come back to her. The thing out there was fast, brutally strong, and it tore those men apart. Even though he could track it, Rigel knew it could slaughter him if he wasn’t careful.

  He just didn’t want to disappoint her. Dying would totally give her the shits.

  Pulling the tent flap across carefully so as to not disturb his blonde, Rigel moved quickly into the night air and across the compound. A few of the mercenaries nodded their heads as he passed and he returned the gesture. Once again, Finn had made sure that all his men were on duty tonight.

  The captain was waiting for him at the gate with the same two men as last night. All three were heavily armed, and heavily armoured, and would be too slow if they were actually participating in combat tonight. If the creature attacked the gate, they wouldn’t even draw their blades before its claws tore through the steel plate they all wore.

  ‘It isn’t midnight yet boy.’

  Rigel tilted his head to look at the rising moon. ‘It won’t be long.’ He wanted to be out there waiting when it arrived, not in here where it would slaughter everyone to get to him. And then there was the chance it would track down Finn before it found him.

  ‘Doesn’t feel right, you going out there on your own.’

  ‘You didn’t even see it last night did you?’

  Finn was silent. Both men knew the answer. There wasn’t a man in the camp besides Rigel who had been able to track the beast’s movements as it traversed the woods last night. Rigel put his hand on his uncle’s shoulder and smiled as confidently as he could.

  ‘It will be fine. I’m much better at this kind of thing than I look.’ Even he sort of half believed that. It was enough for Finn to let him walk out of the compound, alone, and that was all he needed.

  Rigel stopped halfway between the camp and the woods. He had two hours to wait until midnight. He didn’t know exactly what it was but the creature was magically enhanced and took the shape of a giant wolf crossed with something from the depths of hell.

  He swallowed and his throat was dry.

  Rigel stood perfectly still, his eyes trained on nothing but the woods. His arms rested by his side, his leather armour stretched as he breathed deeply, meditating. His hands clenched and unclenched, his fingers flexed out of nervous habit. His blade was never far from reach.

  He noticed the movement on his left without having to actually see it, his heightened senses picking the creature up as it stalked him. Without betraying himself, his green eyes shifted to his left slowly until he found the beast.

  It hugged the tree line, perhaps five to ten metres back under the safety of the shadows, darting across his line of sight as if weighing him up. Rigel kept his arms by his sides, nonchalant, as if the creature wasn’t there at all, slathering and scratching the ground with its claws. He resisted the urge to arm himself, the fear of confronting something from hell making his stomach drop.

  Rigel knew Finn and the other mercenaries were watching him, their eyes glued to his back. Instinctively, he knew Carina was still asleep in the tent. Over the last few weeks no one else had even seen the creature and tonight, when it made its move, he doubted they would see it launch itself at him. They would probably just hear his screams and find his corpse in the morning.

  It was directly in front of him now, waiting, its chest rising and falling with heavy breath. Rigel waited, his fingers dancing on the hilt of his blade. The moment dragged. He locked eyes with the beast, those deep red eyes held his stare. Then it charged.

  The mercenaries would have blinked and missed it. His eyes remained focused on the demon, the steel sliding against his sheath scraped at the night air, opposing the growls from the depths of the beast. Rigel moved like a blur himself, charging to meet it, his blade up in front of his torso.

  A claw scraped against his left shoulder as his blade sliced the beast’s chest and Rigel instinctively rolled with the blow to lessen the damage. Blood was already streaming down his arm, but he raised it to take a two-handed grip as they began circling.

  The beast snarled and leapt. Rigel darted to his right and slashed at its side, cutting through its thick fur and grazing it slightly. It turned quickly and smashed Rigel down on his back. Barely managing to get his blade up, he pressed it against its throat, holding the back of the blade up with his wounded arm to keep its snapping jaws from his jugular. Saliva dripped down on his face and he blinked furiously to get it out of his eyes.

  Rigel tucked his legs up underneath the beast and kicked it over him, rolling quickly and stepping back to avoid the slashing claws that took chunks out of his armour. His blade twirled through the air and came crashing down through its face, taking an eye and some teeth. It howled in pain and retreated a couple of steps. Rigel approached quickly, wanting to end it before he bled out, and had his blade raised to take off its head when it moved suddenly, charging in low and sunk its fangs into his flesh. He swallowed the scream that wanted to come out of his chest.

  He hacked into the creature’s head, raised his arm and smashed it down repeatedly, drenching the steel and his body in the creature’s blood. When it wouldn’t let go he reversed his grip, twisted his body so he could grab the hilt with both hands and slam the tip of the blade down between the creature’s shoulder blades. He stabbed it over and over again, until its body finally slumped.

  Rigel released his blade and put his hands between its jaws, still clamped around his leg, straining under the vice-like grip. Moments passed before he snapped the bottom jaw bone, carefully removing the fangs from his muscles. He grimaced as he steadied his footing to wrench his blade out, before taking off the thing’s head with three heavy blows. Wiping the blood off with the thick mane of fur, he sheathed his blade and picked up the mangled head, then slowly headed back toward the mercenary
compound dragging his prize with him.

  Finn and the two mercenaries at the gate stood aside as he hobbled through. They hadn’t moved the entire time, they’d just stood there as he limped back bleeding. They stared open-mouthed at the creature’s head, its broken jaw and gaping eye. A trail of gore smeared along the ground behind him.

  ‘Told you I could handle it,’ he managed to get out between rasping breaths.

  Finn only nodded and accepted the head when Rigel lifted it in offer. Its remaining red eye stared vacantly back at him.

  ‘We can deal with that in the morning. Maybe Carina can tell us exactly what it was.’

  ‘You don't even know?’

  ‘My job is just to kill things like that, not to worry about what they are. Now, I’m going to bed to try and stop the bleeding.’

  ‘You want us to patch you up first?’

  ‘Nah, I’ll let Carina do it, she just loves it when I bleed on the sheets,’ Rigel said with a grin as he limped back.

  CHAPTER SIX

  The sun hovered listlessly as Cronos stared into the Fatelli Pass. He watched as the yellow globe dropped inch by inch into the western sky, knowing that every moment that passed was another that his forces were waiting twiddling their thumbs. The Kyzantines had time to grow stronger. He scratched his cheek and gave up his vigilant post, stalking along the wall back and forth.

  Cronos had sent out a scout but it seemed like ages ago, when the sun was higher in the sky after they had first managed to retake Black Claw. Hell, he just wanted to make the most of the day.

  ‘Shields up,’ he snapped at two soldiers on the wall. ‘They could attack at any moment. Do you want an arrow in the chest boy?’

  ‘No sir’, the lad stammered, raising his shield.

  Cronos stormed off and looked over the rampart. The sides of the pass were dark in the shadows and a wind funnelled through sending a chill down his spine. He strained his eyes, ever looking for his man. A hand touched him on the shoulder, his head turned slightly to see the master of arms.