Temple Interior Art from Of Orcs And Men [https://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-24/art/ooam-temple-interior.jpg]
https://www.creativeuncut.com/gallery-24/ooam-temple-interior.html
Note to Readers: I do apologise for the long gaps in between chapters, but I do have some good news. Book 3 of Heroes & Legends will soon become available for sale.
As Gauldryon stared down at the creature he had cut down, he couldn’t help but feel a touch of pity for it. Coming at him from behind as it had, Gauldryon had but a moment to react before he had gutted the demon with a well-aimed thrust. His longsword sticky with its blood, he peered down into his shocked pitch-black eyes and saw a heavily muscled body covered in thick fur and a snout that reminded him much of a bear.
Having traveled further into the temple, he had been surprised to find little resistance, when this group of demons ambushed them. Armed with little more than kitchen knives, they wore white robes and fought with a kind of madness in their eyes. However, that was not what had given the knight pause. Lying in a puddle of blood beside the dead creature were carved figurines that had fallen out of its pouch. Shaped in the likeness of a female that looked very much like it did, there was also a little bear cub, and what he assumed was the demon he had slain. All of them were carved from a single block of wood.
Daria, equally shocked by what they had found, stood there beside him when she gestured to the hall. “Why would they sacrifice themselves like that?” A question that caused Gauldryon to ponder as he studied the colorful tapestries of demons that decorated the walls, the statue of the old woman on the mantelpiece, and a knocked-over long table that had scattered plates and spoons. It was as if they had interrupted them in the middle of their supper or prayer. But that did not explain why the demons, who were clearly not warriors, would attack such a well-armed party.
Again examining the demons that lay all around, he answered, “the better question perhaps is what it is that drove them towards us?” A chilling thought considering the odds that were already stacked against them, and yet, all he could think about was that feverish look in their eyes as they had fought. A look all too familiar to Gauldryon. Recalling his time in the monastery, he pictured the many faces he had called companions and friends, and they all had that same look of blind devotion.
Unable to hide his own disgust at the thought he had been just like that, he shook his head from side to side, and said, “We should search the area for any supplies we can use.”
Daria, her gaze fixated on the doorway ahead of her, nodded her head in reply. “You still think Gregor came this way?”
His eyebrow crooked upwards in surprise, Gauldryon turned to face her. “You do not?”
With half her face painted in blood, her hair slick with sweat, Daria shrugged her broad shoulders. “Gregor is by no means a fool, but neither is he so stealthy. We would have seen some sign at least that he had come this way. And yet, all we have seen are abandoned homes, empty hallways, and demons too weak to defend themselves. Something must have happened.”
Feeling a twinge of pain in his shoulder, Gauldryon rolled his shield arm and had to admit that the big barbarian woman indeed had a point. Their battles for the upper halls of the temple had been small nasty things, ill-organized, and poorly prepared. “Those dragon riders you were with? Could they have warned them of our coming? Mayhaps these were sent here to delay us until they could better prepare their defenses?”
Her braids shaking from side to side, Daria replied, “they swore an oath to serve Gregor, I do not think they were the kind to break it. They also think they meant to return home until they are once more called to battle.”
“A pity, they would have made powerful allies in this place.”
Her left eyebrow crooked upwards at that, Gauldryon let out a light chuckle. “You must forgive my earlier actions. I…I was not myself. I do not truly believe all demons to be evil. Even the light of four suns must warm these stones.”
And while Gauldryon realized that might not be enough of an explanation for his sudden change in attitude, he also knew that his path had become more convoluted since forming his stalwart band of fighters. Something he would have to thank Gregor for. Because of him, Gauldryon was beginning to see that there was more to this world than evil and good. More so now as he stared into Daria’s chestnut-colored eyes. Saw the slight quiver in her jaw as he looked at her as though never seeing her for the first time, when her cheeks reddened, and she asked, “Something wrong?”
His mouth dry, he felt a sudden urge to clear his throat, when Pelwar’s voice boomed out from across the hall. “Lord, I think that one of them is still alive.” The powerful dwarven cleric, waved his arm in the air as he knelt down beside a robed female lizard. Bleeding from a wound to her belly, Pelwar did his best to staunch the wound, while his other hand dipped into his satchel to pull out a sparkling red flask. The terrified lizard woman refused to drink as the dwarf pushed it toward her bloodied lips.
Recoiling as Gauldryon moved to join the dwarf, the green-scaled lizard let out a loud hiss, “invader! defiler!” and attempted to scramble away from them. The nimble dwarf was forced to hand over the elixir to Gauldryon as he pinned her down with his arms. “Ye shouldn’t move lass, ye’ll bleed out.”
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But if anything the lizard woman seemed to struggle all the harder. “Mother, take my spirit and forgive me for allowing this sacrilege.”
Gauldryon, his lips pursed thoughtfully at that, asking, “And this mother, she would want to see you dead?’
Still quivering as she shook visibly in the dwarf’s arms, the lizard shook her head. “No, but I will not aid your cause, invader.”
Half smiling gently as he bent down, Gauldryon replied softly, “Do you have a name?”
Weariness settling into her golden eyes, she gave an affirmative nod. “I am Dayorna, Third Acolyte, and Priestess of The Mother.”
“Then listen well, Dayorna, we do not wish to harm you. We simply seek knowledge. Knowledge that will allow us to leave this place.”
Her lips trembling as her voice quavered, she asked, “You are not with the shaggy-haired monster?”
Exchanging an apprehensive glance with Daria, Gauldryon replied, “what monster?”
But as he spoke, he could see the demon slowly fading away, her rail-thin arms almost drooping by her sides.
Worried that she might die, he attempted to press the flask towards her lips, but she shook her head again. “It will not help me. Potions like these are not made for my kind.”
His blue eyes wide, he asked, “Tell us then, how can we help you?”
But to his surprise, Dayorna gave him a sad tired smile. “I did not think it possible to find a surfacer that cared about our kind. Our teachings tell us that all who live above us are hateful deceitful beings that refuse to share our world, but I see now that they may be wrong.” She reached out an arm and lightly caressed his cheek. “My life belongs to The Mother now, but if my answers can help you now, I will.”
His breath quickened at the thought of another life lost, Gaudlryon did his best to hold his tears in check. Although why he felt grief? He did not know. But as he gazed into those shimmering golden eyes he could finally see what the others had been trying to tell him all this time. That these were not the evil he was meant to eradicate, but fellow creatures of this great world. And for that reason, he was filled with shame and sorrow that another piece of light would soon be extinguished from this world.
His heart aching, he asked, “That monster you spoke of? Where did he go?”
Her hand clammy as she cupped his chin, the lizard replied softly as her eyes fluttered closed. “He was captured, but he escaped. He now gathers an army to kill us all.”
Gauldryon, who could no longer stand by and watch her die, pressed the healing potion to her lips and poured it down her throat. Her choked gasps for air as she struggled to move, eventually subsided as she released a heavy sigh. “The Mother protect me, the Mother guide me, the Mother show me the way. The Mother protect me, the Mother guide me, the Mother show me the way. The Mother protect me, the Mother guide me, the Mother show me the way. …” Then as she lightly panted for breath, she stared up at Gauldryon, “I go now to be with her,” before her eyelids finally snapped shut.
Pelwar, his expression haggard with sympathy, gazed up at him. “She is gone, my lord.”
And it was as though the words had torn a hole in Gauldryon’s heart. This was his doing, this was his fault, and he slammed a fist into the stone when he felt an arm upon his shoulder.
Daria, her head lowered, met his gaze with a steady look. “We should leave my lord.”
But it was all Gauldryon could do to look away from the dead body, when the big woman shook him by the arm, and repeated herself, “we should leave my lord.”
Releasing a sharp intake of breath, he told himself to pull it together, and slowly stood back up. “You are right. Gregor still needs us, and it seems he has gotten himself caught in more trouble.”
Glindol, unable to help himself, splayed on a wry smile. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less of him. I suppose this also means we will face less resistance moving forward. What with Gregor drawing everyone’s attention elsewhere?”
“It also means there is less chance that he will be alive when we find him,” grunted Pelwar with a disapproving snort. “And I ain’t exactly lookin forward to killin more of these deluded fools.”
His eyes still on the dead lizard before him, Gauldryon whispered, “Neither am I, my friend. Neither am I.” But as if to undercut his words, he heard the stomping of boots on the other side of the doorway, as well as voices raised in anger.
Searching around him for a place to hide, he had scarcely begun to form a plan, when dozens of acolytes in white robes burst in through the doorway. Armed with knives, hatchets, and cleavers, Gauldryon found the thought of killing more of them difficult to stomach. But as he raised his arms to plead with them, he again saw the look of madness in their eyes. “Die, invader!”
The big creature that rushed towards him, was another bulky demon with thick black fur, a head of shaggy long hair, and long pointed fangs. Longsword spinning in a defensive strike, he disarmed the bear-like warrior and slammed his shield into its nose. Its scream as blood spurted out, causing it to attack Gauldryon in a frenzy with wild swings.
Again maneuvering himself out of its way, he avoided the worst of the demon’s blows and saw his companions similarly engaged in deadly melees. Each of them followed his lead as they attempted to disarm their opponents without bringing them harm. But as he saw Tileya become pinned in a corner, Gauldryon could see that his plan would not work. It didn’t seem to matter to the demons that they would die here as well as they came at them in a furious rush of screams.
Fearing for their lives, he let out a wide grimace, and as the bearlike creature came for him again, he spun, slitting its throat. Its gurgling cries as it stumbled forward, left a wince on Gauldryon’s lips before he raced to Glindol’s aid. The tiny gnome deftly whirled his staff, doing his best to keep three lizardmen at bay, when Gauldryon leaped in from behind stabbing one of them in the spine.
He then knocked a second one off its feet with his shield, when with a single word Glindol burnt them both to ash. “It had to be done.” He muttered.
Gauldryon, spinning on his heels to check on the others, found them lightly panting for breath, covered in blood, and shaking their heads in disappointment. Daria, who stood over a lone slim figure that had the shape of a female, wiped the blood from her forehead and released a heavy sigh. “I pray to the Lightbearer that he is worth it.”
And as Gauldryon gazed around him at the mass of bodies, he hoped so too, otherwise, all this death and carnage would have been for nothing. “Come, we must head to the dungeons.” Perhaps there they would find another clue as to where Gregor had gone.