Bladedancer by Michael Wallace

Author:Michael Wallace [Wallace, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy
Publisher: Balsalom Publishing
Published: 2020-06-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

A small collection of demons was waiting for Narina when she first reached the escarpment that stretched like a causeway toward the heights of Manet Tuzzia. The volcano had grown into a monster that towered over the lower peaks surrounding it. Such was the slope of the lava canals that she suspected the main reason for its growth had been simply to fuel the demonic works below. It was now so high that the lava could reach the interior of the range, not just flow down and destroy the plains below.

The demons numbered roughly fifteen in all, with three overseers and a dozen slaves. Clearly they’d been warned, based on how they’d lined up with fiery clubs and whips in hand. Yet they no longer frightened her. Indeed, the way they braced themselves to fight, tentative in posture like they wanted to flee, told her everything she needed to know about the outcome of the battle.

She couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up, unbidden. She felt almost giddy from her run, from the battles against two-headed crocodile demons and other, lesser monsters. She’d been growing stronger with time, more confident, more sure of her powers. Demons that had once terrified her seemed predestined to impale themselves on her blades. Even the crocodiles, as dangerous as they were, presented only momentary obstacles.

Her first impulse was to blast into this new mob of demons like she had the others. Such a battle might take several minutes to win, but would be another blow to weaken the demonic activity emanating from Manet Tuzzia. Once she’d dispatched them, she’d continue up the slope toward what she supposed would be their main encampment.

Unfortunately, there were other demons in the canals, chipping away at congealed stone to get the lava flowing again after the setback caused by Lady Damanja’s death. They lifted their heads as she approached, hissing and belching smoke and fire. Some scrambled out with sledges and picks in hand, while others grabbed stone buckets and filled them with lava.

There had to be at least fifty more of the creatures in total, and if given time to mass, they’d provide a serious obstacle. And what about the lava pits pocking the slopes of the volcano? More of the two-headed crocodiles, no doubt. She couldn’t afford to fight them all.

Instead, she leaped over the top of the cluster of demons blocking her path. They gawked up at her, mouths open and tongues lolling as she sailed past, out of reach. She landed on the ground behind them with a thump that sent up a cloud of ash, and sprinted up the edge of the escarpment. The crown of the volcano lay ahead, and within, she was convinced, was whatever it was that drove these creatures.

The ground rumbled, and Manet Tuzzia launched gas and rock into the sky. The heavier pieces came raining down moments later. She deflected some with her sowen and dodged other rocks that pounded the ground all around her. Soon, she

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