The Twice-Enchanted Blade: Part 8

I found myself in quite a pickle. With no allies, no provisions, and desert on all sides, my chances of both escape and helping my comrades seemed slim. And in any case, I didn’t want to resort to the former, as abandoning my friends didn’t sit well with me.

Just as I was getting up to go scouting, hoping to find any idea what to do, I noticed two cat-like eyes and a shadowy figure at the entrance to my crevice. It was Astaroth. I drew my weapons, ready for the worst.

“Here to finish the job?” I asked.

“Oh, not at all. I am here on private business. Sit down, we have a lot to talk about”.

Cautiously, I followed his instructions. The demon followed suit and began to speak.

“Your comrades are still in the tower. Maximillian took a liking to your sorceress, so he still wants to convince her to accept his offer for mistress-apprenticeship. I give him a few more days before he loses his patience and they get shipped to the quarry. The best time for you to strike would be before then, while he is preoccupied with them, and pays even less thought to the tower’s day-to-day business than usual”.

“So, how do you suggest I achieve that? And why are you helping me anyway?”

He sighed.

“It is perfectly understandable not to trust demons under most conditions, but it is so infuriating when I am being honest for once. Why would I leave you with your weapons? Why would I toss you out the window and then break your fall? Why would I direct the gargoyles somewhere else to give you a chance to escape? It is because you are a competent fighter, and may suit my plans well. I am not helping you out of the goodness of my heart, of course, I don’t actually care what happens to you, but I do want to get out of Maximillian’s service. Can you imagine! Once-in-a-generation magical talent, wasted on that buffoon with no common sense whatsoever. Strong enough to bind a Duke of Hell to his will, and then using him as middle management. Scandalous! The way things are going, I will be kidnapping unwashed villagers until that savant dies of old age. Thankfully for us both, there are enough loopholes in our contract to give me some autonomy”.

“And what is your plan?” I was still sceptical but willing to hear him out.

“Master lets me manage the gargoyles mostly on my own, so I had them steal weapons in addition to people. They are stored in a small cave near the slaves’ quarters. While the slaves are resting – around midday – you should break into their barracks, free them, and arm them. I will make sure they are minimally guarded. If the revolt goes well, I will be dispatched to quench it, leaving me tragically unable to protect the tower from intruders. The door will be left slightly ajar. I will try to deal with the rebellion as slowly as possible, giving you enough time to infiltrate the tower. The first thing you should do is go to the library. There is a safe in there where my contract is kept. The librarian has the key. Dispatch him, and destroy my contract. Afterwards, I will no longer be bound to protect Maximillian, which takes care of your largest obstacle. From there, you can do whatever you want”.

“And what will you do with your newfound freedom?”

“Return home for a while. I have had enough of this frigid climate. After that, we’ll see”.

Reluctantly, I agreed with the plan. I had no wish to help the demon regain its freedom, but it seemed to be the only shot I had at rescuing my comrades. Besides, if Maximillian was left alone, he might by some miracle complete his ritual, unleashing who-knows-what upon the world.

Before dawn, I found the weapon cache and transported it next to the cave where the slaves were being kept. Then I camouflaged myself as well as I could and waited.

Noon arrived. To my relief, only one of the ram demons was guarding the cave entrance, while the rest were patrolling around the tower. I leaped from my hiding spot, stabbing the creature in the back. It roared and turned around, which gave me enough time for another attack, which proved fatal. I cracked the door built into the cave’s mouth with my hammer, opening it and shouting, “Come on, men! It is time to earn your freedom!”

At least some of them caught my meaning and rushed outside, grabbing the weapons I had piled up behind a rock. They were a sorry fighting force, but they did their job, catching the attention of the ram demons, who began to move towards us. A few gargoyles also started drifting in our direction, recalled from wherever they were. Our two lost mercenaries were among the released slaves, quickly taking command over the rabble and giving them some semblance of organization. They had a few ranged weapons, which they used to direct widely inaccurate fire at the approaching demons. Eventually, the two mercenaries realized that fighting in the open field would be lethal, and they retreated back into the cave to meet the enemy in a narrow space, where gargoyles couldn’t strike from above.

The first ram demon to approach was hit by multiple bullets once he got close enough, dropping to one knee, badly wounded. Around this time, Maximillian realized what was going on, and a familiar dark figure emerged from the tower. I ran outside, towards the tall building, passing next to Astaroth, who chose to ignore me. His orders were likely something like “deal with the escaped slaves”, and I technically didn’t fall under that category.

While on the move, however, I was spotted by one of the gargoyles, which swooped down to attack. For all his talk about having control over the gargoyles, Astaroth evidently didn’t bother ordering them to leave me alone. It picked me up, lifting me into the air. I frantically pulled out my warhammer and swung it above my head. A crack was heard, as if I hit a rock, followed by a screech, and I found myself falling. I tumbled to the ground to lessen the impact and turn around to face the creature, which was preparing for another attack. It tried to change directions when it noticed me raise my weapon, but it was too late, and I whacked it in the head, knocking it out. Not pausing to check whether my foe was dead, I continued onwards.

The door was, as promised, slightly ajar, but there was no ladder this time. Luckily, the whole thing being shoddily built, the wall was uneven and relatively simple to climb. As I was about to enter, I heard once again wings behind me. I hurried up through the door and slammed it shut just in time to prevent the gargoyle from following me.

I was inside.