Wars and Wealth - Bargains with Exiled Fae

Chapter 10

"That's not how this works and you know it." Having worked with Nyx for years, David was all too familiar with the tales of fae who were prone to lust, bearing a libido to rival the gods of old. Such a charming body had its dangers to those who dared to take the fae at face-value, and the gods could only set restrictions upon the fae so that they could not engage with mortals without bargaining first.

That is, unless a mortal was foolish enough to follow them back to their home realm, where mortals were subject to fae law, instead of the other way around.

Nyx paused in her movements, teasing David to a new level of desperate frustration. She waited until another growl escaped his throat before compromising with a smiling voice, "Fine, a soul of your choosing."

"Hah, there will be no mortals left by the time you are sated. How about a favor instead? To be later determined." David felt that there was no reason to grant so many souls to this sly demon just for a night of pleasure. Certainly, there were plenty of criminals that he was bound to deal with that would satisfy this measure, but Nyx would be just as likely to amass the entire empire into corpses to repay her mounting debts to him if souls remained their only currency.

"The deal is made," David grinned in the darkness as he pulled her by her hair up onto his chest and turned her around to lay against him.

He could sense Nyx's pleasure as he arched her back and she eagerly followed his lead and gasped in excitement at the domineering aggression he unleashed. Without the worries of dealing with the frail mortal bodies of other women, David felt that he could finally reach satisfaction thanks to this lustful demon.

That night, David slept sated and content for the first time in years. The complete darkness enveloped him as he lay in the hammock, oblivion sweeping him into a dreamless slumber, Nyx asleep on his chest.

With no light to wake them and no sounds of nature this far down in the bones of the earth, the group slept through till near the noon hour before stirring from their slumber.

David awoke to the smell of coffee brewing over the small travel stove where Kat sat staring into the small flame, the only light in the pitch darkness.

“Morning.”

“Afternoon actually, if my watch is right. Down here it’s impossible to tell.” Kat replied.

Hailey stretched as she stepped into the dim light. “Well, that was a night for the record books.”

David grinned, “Glad I could be of assistance. I didn’t break either of you, did I?”

“Well,” Kat started with a grin, “I might not be the most stable walking today, but I think I am at least game for exploring this level.”

The group took it easy for the rest of the day, slowly exploring around the level looking for signs of human life and exploration.  It was several hours later that Hailey gave a shout from one of the far chambers.

When David and Kat arrived, Hailey was running her hand over a huge statue of some mythical beast. It had the head of a lion, but the tail was like a giant scorpion.

“How?” Kat asked.

“This wasn’t moved here from above. It had to have been carved here.” David said.

“Ouch!” Hailey flinched away from the beast’s head, sucking on a bloody finger. “Damn teeth are sharp as razors.”

David felt the hairs on his neck stand on edge as Nyx slipped up behind him.

“Be aware, something comes.” She whispered before drifting back into the dark recesses and way from the groups headlamps.

“Ladies, get behind me. Don’t ask questions. Just get over here.”

An ear-piercing screech sounded from deeper in the cave and before anyone could react, a beast burst forth from the deep shadows at the end of the light from their head lamps.

David only saw spider-like legs flash at him before they were plunged into darkness. The beast seemed to be attracted to light, or perhaps could only see the lights.

On impulse, David whipped off his head lamp and strapped it over a stalagmite. The nightmare before him made him gulp. Over a decade on the battlefield told him in a single glance that this beast was not of the mortal realm.

“NYX, 3 souls paid with the death of this thing! Two more credited if you land the death blow!”

While she would defend herself and was inclined to see David prevail, without a bargain in place, she was unlikely to assist against a beast such as this from her own realm. Even so, she may not be its match.

“Bargain struck, but this Aranea (pronounce: a rain E a) may be beyond even me. Beware its tail. The venom will paralyze,” Came her soft voice from just over his shoulder.

Tail? Did Araneae have tails?

“Kat, Hailey, get behind me! Stay behind the rocks!”

Hailey was already by his side as Nyx flashed past, using the shadows to her advantage to get behind the  Aranea.  However, Kat was still on the far side of the cavern, transfixed by the statue, as if in some kind of trance.

Hailey looked from Kat, to the Aranea, to Nyx, who she was only seeing for the first time.

“Who… What is that? What the hell is going on?”

In the next breath, Nyx launched herself from behind the Aranea and slipped a cable around its neck, yanking hard to pull the noose tight.

The beast flailed and a barbed leg slammed into Kat, knocking her like a ragdoll into the stone wall where she crumpled into a heap.

“KAT!!” Hailey yelled as David rushed past her towards Nyx and the Aranea.

In an instant, David’s eyes shifted to a coal black and he took in the dim light around him. His mind ran calculations a hundred times faster than most people could think, factoring angles and probabilities. His new understanding of the punch spectrum fueled his thoughts and he struck with the force of a semi truck, aimed at the underside of the Aranea as Nyx pulled hard on the cable.

The beast screamed in pain and one of its huge limbs lashed out. David raised his defenses and tried to catch the arm. While he managed to keep it from smashing his chest, he too was tossed across the cave, his back striking hard against the stone wall.

Nyx rode on the back of the beast and as she gripped the garrote in her right hand, a black dagger appeared in her left. She stabbed down trying to brain the Aranea.

It bucked and smashed Nyx against the ceiling, knocking her unconscious as the scorpion tale lashed forward and struck Hailey in the midsection. The tail recoiled, dragging Hailey towards it, speared on the barbed spike.

David struggled to his feet, the metallic taste of blood in his mouth. Cold filled the room as battle energy surged through him, sharpening his focus to the cold, calculating precision needed to survive. He had been on the killing fields of the deserts, the frozen mountains, and even the fae realm. But never before had he fought in complete darkness against such a monstrous foe.

This long lived creature from the fae forests was one of the few things that could pose such a deadly threat to him. Mustering all his strength, David flashed forward as the beast reared for another attack and smashed his fist into the lightly armored spot under what passed for a chin on this being.

His fist smashed through the thin carapace and up into the thing’s skull, sinking past his elbow. He opened his hand and raked through the thing’s brain, pulling a huge chunk out as he withdrew his arm.

The Aranea let out a low moan as it collapsed towards him and one of its legs struck his shoulder as it collapsed, driving him to the ground under its sheer weight.

David breathed heavily in the darkness, trying to recover his strength. It had been several years since he had fought anything from the fae world. In truth, rescuing Nyx had been more a matter of keeping her alive in the mortal realm than facing any of the lords of the Fae.

Instead of facing them outright, he had managed to escape before they could bring their true power to bear.

David finally was able to slow his breathing and shove the huge leg off him. He rolled to his feet carefully, feeling the cracked collarbone, three broken ribs and at least several bruises along his back and spine.

It had been a long time since he had sustained this kind of damage.

David quickly checked on Nyx and found her laying limp deeper in the cave behind the beast. She was breathing but had clearly sustained damage. For now, she lived.

He retrieved the headlamp and checked on the women, only to find Kat was barely breathing and Hailey was still impaled on the scorpion tail of the Aranea. It was difficult to confirm that she was still alive, the beast’s venom having rendered her motionless.

“Shit.”

David sat back against the wall and turned off the headlamp. In the dark, he considered his options. The women were all in bad shape. Nyx could heal in about a week, given time, space, and easy food.

The human women, however, would never make it out of this cave in their current condition. It would take everything he had to get them back out through four levels of cave, and then to hike out of the forest area would be another half day.

Then there was the Aranea. A fae beast like that shouldn’t even be in the mortal realm, let alone down here. There is no way it came from the surface. There must have been a portal in the depths, and that was a problem. While the Aranea wouldn’t have made it out of the cave, other things might be able to.

He needed to find the portal and seal it. Besides, a portal would explain the rumors of an ancient cult. It was not uncommon for the ancients to set guards against the fae. Perhaps this cult had been one such guardian sect.

If the portal was open, it could jeopardize the entire empire with a steady stream of fae beings escaping into the Amaranthine forest, making it impossible to track and hunt them until they found population centers to decimate. The potential lose of life was to much to leave to chance.

David clicked on his headlamp again and set off to find the portal. As much as he wanted to help Hailey and Kat, right now, there was almost nothing he could do for them. Perhaps when Nyx woke up, she would feed on them to restore herself.

While the notion didn’t sit well with him, he didn’t see a better way out for them.

Deep in the cave behind where the Aranea had come from, David found a wide chamber that had a smooth floor. Alcoves were carved into the walls like small rooms.

At the far end of the cavern, a section of the wall was ringed in onyx black stone. The light from the headlamp seemed to be absorbed by the stone, making it appear as pitch black nothingness. Inlaid in the stone were ancient runes wrought in silver and edged with gold.

Wyrd stone. The gateway to the fae. Here, soldiers of this guardian order must have lived and guarded the passage to one of the fae realms. For most of the world, these were only rumored about in legend, but David knew better.

Thank the gods this one seemed sealed and inactive.