Verge of Darkness

  *******

   

  Outside the tower, Kirinos-Halbro stirred. His right arm was almost torn from his body, and the shattered bones of his sternum and ribcage shone white beneath the huge gash on his chest. Grasping his sword in his left hand, he dragged himself toward the doorway, leaving a wide trail of blood on the rocky ground. Agony tore through him with every movement, but he made it through the door and up to the swirling liquid gateway.

  Back in the tower, Moon rolled to his feet. “Won’t this pigging thing die?” he snarled, chest heaving as he sucked air.

  Ausak powered through the foetid air. Its black blades sliced through the searching arms, but four new appendages appeared, pincers opening and shutting with chitinous clangs, seeking the flesh of the humans who had dared challenge it in its own demesne. “Worms!” the voice echoed in Elphemina's and Moon's heads. “You cannot kill me!” Then came the grating titter of laughter.

  The liquid gateway swirled and the Axeman and Elphemina were stunned to see Kirinos-Halbro appear. The horrendous gash on his chest had stopped bleeding, and there was a gaping wound where his right arm and shoulder had been. He had no right to be still alive, but the light of life shone balefully in his slitted yellow eyes as he raised his red-bladed sword in his left arm.

  “Sutr's balls!” whispered Moon in astonishment, as Elphemina lifted her sword and moved toward the Suanggi who like his master, simply refused to die.

  The Axeman's eyes widened in shock, and his jaw dropped, as Kirinos-Halbro hurled himself at Surgat. Landing on the bloated body with a loud squelch, he brought his sword down with all his remaining strength, driving it through the pulsing pulp all the way to the hilt.

  As the sound of the Gualich's agony reverberated through their skulls, Moon and Elphemina acted as one. Moon brought Ausak down with all his strength, virtually cutting the bloated body in half, while the Priestess plunged her sword of light deep, alongside the Usurper's red blade.

  Mercifully, no screams of agony invaded their skulls this time. The nightmarish bloated thing that had been Surgat simply disappeared, leaving Kirinos-Halbro lying face down in the putrid gore on the floor, his and Elphemina's sword lying next to him.

  Moon and Elphemina glanced at each other in bewilderment then approached the twitching body. The Axeman placed his foot under the body and flipped it onto its back. Light shone weakly in the Suanggi’s eyes.

  Kirinos-Halbro fixed his failing gaze on the two humans; their faces hovering over him fading in and out of focus. He tried to smile...He took a last juddering breath over a thousand years after he first betrayed his people and humanity. He so hoped this last act had helped tip the scales somewhat, but he doubted it. His slitted yellow eyes filmed over...