Chapter 10

Note: Thanks to Alex for beta reading this!

The darkness that wrapped up Mthunzi melted away. His spell had run out. I grinned in triumph. I focused on throwing another Lightning Spear and the words tumbled from my lips.

But he was already casting his spell.

“Darkness hides and shadows conceal, let the curse of Lord Zuen fall!” he cried out.

Blackness crashed over me.

I gasped and stumbled. I waved my spear before me, holding it tight. I couldn’t see anything. It was like the lights had turned off. Panic rushed through me. A noise came from my right. I darted at it. My foot struck the dais. I tripped, slamming the butt of my spear down to keep from falling over.

“NEVER!” Lana shouted. Lightning sizzled to my left. I turned in that direction.

“Shadows flow and darkness sharpens, let the cunning of Lord Zuen stab!” chanted the enemy. He was behind me.

I whirled, this terror growing in me. Something struck my breastplate. Metal rang. The blow knocked me back. I groaned, feeling the metal dented. He chanted again and another dark dagger stuck my chest.

“No!” I cried. I had to focus. To think. I couldn’t see anything.

“LEEOOO!” screamed Lana. She sounded like she was in pain. This couldn’t be happening. I didn’t want to die. I wanted to fight back. To win.

I couldn’t see.

Another dagger struck me. Mthunzi laughed. “Darkness is where fear is birthed. From the shadows crawls the terrors that consume men. Nothing is more frightening than the unknown, and to the blind, there is only darkness.”

Did he blind me? That spell. Fuck. I had to—

Something hard struck me in the face. Light flared across my blind vision, bursts of neuron activity. I hit the ground hard in a clatter of metal. Lana shouted in fear. The butt of staff slammed down by my head. I flinched from it, struggling to think.

I had my spear. I tightened my grip and swung it out before me.

It struck something wood. His staff. With a snort of contempt, Mthunzi cracked his weapon into my wrist. Pain exploded. My fingers popped loose. My spear tumbled from my hands. It rolled away from me on the stone floor. Agony burst across my forehead. Fuzziness washed across my brain.

Everything went numb for a moment. I groaned, a nauseating writhe rippling through my guts. My head throbbed. Something warm trickled across my brow. I groaned. My body felt heavy. Sluggish. I needed to move.

“Waaayt” I slurred, my mouth thick.

“Now to cut that Glyph off of you,” said Mthunzi. “I don’t want to end up like you. If that other bastard near here finds me when I only have one Glyph, well, I’d end up like you, wouldn’t I?”

“Bastard,” I managed to spit out. I could feel him over me, but I couldn’t see anything.

“I know,” he said. “It’s terrible. Back where we’re from, I’d never do this. But this isn’t civilization. There is no law but what we make. We build our own kingdoms. We’re tyrants, you and I. We can do whatever we like. It’s freeing, you know. You don’t have to obey the rules. No more stopping at red lights. No more paying taxes. This is a better place. I’m going to rise far. I’m going to rule it all. I’ll remember you ... That boy who put up such a pathetic fight I barely broke a sweat stealing his Glyph.”

He worked off the straps of my breastplate. Feeling slowly returned to my body.

“GET OFF OF HIM!” snarled Lana. She crawled across the floor, her guts writhing in agony. “You bastard!”

“Don’t worry,” said Mthunzi as he undid the straps of her lord and master’s armor, “once I have his Glyph, I’ll heal you and Usiku up. Then we’ll have fun. I bet you suck dick like a champ, Lana Fulmine.”

“I’ll bite it off!” she growled, her fingers digging into the joint between the stone tiles of the floor. She pulled herself another foot. Lightning crackled from her wings.

Leo lay on the ground, blood pouring from a gash in his head. Darkness covered his eyes. He twitched. His hand flexed and moved. The black-robed bastard ripped the breastplate off. Then he pulled a dagger from his robe. A wicked thing.