Damien leaned against the rough stone wall and grimaced at the throbbing pain in his left hand. He’d tried to keep track of each twist and turn as he ran through the dark tunnels and he managed pretty well at first. The light from the glowing crystal had showed him his surroundings in minimal detail. Not that there was much to see, just rock and more rock. It hadn’t taken long for him to outrun the light and he soon found himself staggering around in the dark with only his injured hand trailing along the wall to remind him that he was still making progress. Progress to what, he had no idea other than away from the crazy warlock that wanted to use his soul force the way a miller used a stream to power his wheel.

Speaking of his soul force… Damien turned his focus inward. His core remained empty and his energy flow continued to run all over the place. He concentrated on directing the flow into his core, but it resisted all his efforts. Ann had never mentioned something like this and he didn’t know how to fix it.

Time will fix it. Be patient.

“I’d love to, but time isn’t something we have in abundance either.” A faint, distant howl echoed down the tunnel. “What was that?”

Nothing good, I’m sure. You should keep moving.

Damien pushed away from the wall and staggered on. Keep moving, she said. That was all well and good, but he wished he had a destination, or even a light so he could see where he was staggering to.

A weak, flickering red light appeared in the air beside him. The rough stone became visible along with a few feet of the tunnel floor. Though he couldn’t make out that much more than before, Damien found the light a comfort.

“Has your power recovered?”

A tiny bit. That light is about all I can manage.

“It’s more than I can manage. How come your soul force is recovering faster than mine?”

I can only guess. Probably the fact that I’m a spirit and I have divine soul force has something to do with it. Your body has also sustained serious internal damage. I’m not certain how you’re still on your feet.

“When the alternative is death, you’d be amazed what you can do. Besides, pain and I are old friends.”

Damien kept going, slow and steady. Lizzy’s light slowly grew brighter as her power regenerated. After a moment of jealousy he said, “You should store some of the energy. I only need enough light to keep from tripping.”

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The howls grew louder behind them. Where did Connor find wolves? Could he simply create any sort of monster he wanted from crystal and summon a demon spirit with the powers he required? Damien shivered. If that was possible it would give Connor a huge advantage, not that he needed any more.

Damien paused again and tried to figure out how far off his hunters were. The howls echoed through the tunnels, making distance impossible to figure and he couldn’t sense anything. Not only did he have no power to fight with, but even his sorcerous senses were useless.

Those things are connected. Regain the use of your soul force and the rest will follow.

Great, was that all he needed to do? The click of stone on stone sounded behind him. “Douse the light.”

The tunnel went pitch back. One of the hunters was close. Every step it took sounded louder. It wasn’t running. The creature must be having trouble locating him.

You have almost no soul force for it to detect.

So there’s at least some upside to losing his strength. Damien moved deeper down the tunnel, as silent as his warlord training could make him. He needed to find a side passage. Maybe he could set a trap and if Lizzy had enough strength gathered he might even live through it.

I only have about one percent of my full power. I doubt that will be enough to pierce the crystal shell.

“I’m not going to blast it.” Damien finally felt an opening and slipped through it. It wasn’t an actual passage, more of a small chamber. If this didn’t work they’d be trapped between a stone wall and an angry demon wolf. “Reinforce your tip. When I pierce the shell release all your power into it.”

You could just keep running. The hunter is still a little ways away.

“No more running. If I do nothing else it will catch us in a minute anyway. If I’m going to die, I prefer to do it fighting.”

I prefer you stay alive.

Damien smiled in the dark. He couldn’t argue with her.

The sounds of the demon wolf were close now, saving him from having to answer.

He took a tight grip on Lizzy with his right hand and put the heel of his left hand under her pommel. The broken bone in his hand shifted, forcing him to swallow a scream.

A glowing red eye appeared in the dark tunnel, giving off just enough light to reveal the sharp, savage features of the shoulder-high construct.

Damien thrust with everything he had. Lizzy hit the hard crystal shell and flexed before her hardened tip pierced its shell.

“Now!”

A feeble surge of power and the crystal wolf shot across the tunnel and slammed into the far wall. It scrambled to its feet and shook all over.

Damn it!

He raised Lizzy, ready to bash the creature to pieces with her hilt if he had to.

It turned burning eyes on him. If it were possible for a stone figure to show anger the demon wolf did it. The construct crouched and gathered itself.

Damien snarled back, ready to fight to the end.

A red line appeared on its flank followed by a second. Soon it looked like a red spiderweb covered the wolf.

Damien threw himself to the tunnel floor an instant before the construct exploded. Razor-sharp shards of crystal sliced his arms and back. Just shallow nicks, but enough to sting. He scrambled to his feet and jogged away from the site of the battle. If the demon wolves had senses as sharp as he feared, it wouldn’t take them long to find their departed brother.