The Heart of Alchemy by James Wisher (e book reading free TXT) 📕

“Trespassers, boss.” The marauder holding Jet shoved her into the room while another forced Otto over beside her. “We caught them in our tunnel headed this way.”

The man that had taken Otto’s sword hurried over to the leader with it. The fat man touched the hilt and hissed as if burned, confirming Otto’s assumption.

The leader shoved his subordinate aside. “Take the cursed thing away.”

The marauder looked down at Otto’s sword as if believing it truly cursed before tossing it into the rubble that filled the corner of the room.

“Which demon lord do you serve?” Otto asked.

The leader heaved himself up off his throne and stomped over to Otto. “And just how do you know my allegiances?”

“Normal humans don’t get burned by mithril.”

The fat monster threw his head back and laughed. “True. The wretched stuff purifies corruption. And if you can afford a mithril blade, you must be rich. That is good. We can always use money. Now, what else do we have?”

The leader turned to Jet and sniffed her hair. “The stench of Astaroth covers you. I hoped to catch Marius, but one of his followers will do until our paths cross.”

“What is a servant of Golmol the Torturer doing here?” Jet asked. “I thought only Astaroth’s followers had interests outside the Land of the Demon Binders.”

“You thought that because we wanted you to.” The leader smiled, revealing a mouth full of teeth filed to needle points. “We snuck in, quietly, and kept watch. Waiting for our chance to seize what you’ve built for our own. Though now it appears you’ve lost what little you had.”

Otto crossed his arms and gathered ether around his body. “What happens now?”

“We’ll find a cage for you. Assuming someone is willing to pay to get you back, you’ll go free. Since I doubt Marius would bother to pay a ransom or even try to rescue an ordinary human, the woman will serve as a canvas. I shall make an offering of her flesh to Golmol.”

The other humans cheered.

When they did, Otto lashed out.

Lightning streaked out in every direction. Men and women were struck down, the metal imbedded in their flesh making a perfect conductor for his magic.

A pair tried to flee out the far end of the chamber. Otto bound them in place and turned his attention to the fat monster. He held his hand out and threads pulled his sword to his grasp.

The leader roared and corruption rushed at Otto.

He slashed the mithril blade through the dark cloud, slicing it in half, and disrupting its power.

Otto slapped the flat of the sword to the man’s face, drawing a pained howl that was part agony and part ecstasy.

“Don’t bother torturing a follower of Golmol.” Jet had a dagger in her hand. “They just get off on it.”

She strode forward. “When you see your master, give him Astaroth’s regards.”

Jet slammed the dagger into the side of the cultist’s head, driving it in up to the hilt. He collapsed and after a final twitch went still. The corruption surrounding him dissipated, lightening the atmosphere a fraction.

After Jet had cleaned and sheathed her weapon, they walked over to the surviving cultists. Though his spell didn’t allow them to move, Otto saw the fear in their eyes. Watching their leader be murdered in front of them probably did a lot to knock the fight out of them.

“We really need to send a message now,” Jet said. “Lady White has to know about Golmol’s plans.”

Otto didn’t especially care about the internal politics of Hell, but he did want to complete his business as quickly as possible so they could move on to the Forbidden Garden.

He gestured and a tentacle of ether yanked the bound man to his feet. Up close Otto guessed his age at less than twenty. “We need directions. Tell me what I want to know and you won’t end up like your boss over there.”

Otto released his head, freeing him to speak. “Whatever you want to know. I only joined this group because I liked the look of the tattoos.”

“We should kill him simply for being that stupid,” Jet said.

“Let’s find out what he knows first. We’re looking for a place of corruption dedicated to Astaroth. It should be in this general area. Ring any bells?”

“Sure. I know the place. The boss had us watching it all the time so we could jump anyone that showed up. Not that anyone ever did, at least not as long as I’ve been here.”

Jet shot the man a hard look, but Otto ignored her. “Excellent. You’ll show us the way as well as pointing out any guards. If all goes well, you’ll have earned your life.”

“And if it doesn’t go well?” the prisoner asked, his voice barely a squeak.

Otto sent enough lightning into the bound woman’s head to make it explode. “Let’s hope for everyone’s sake that things go well.”

As they made their way through the dark tunnels, Otto kept a leash of ether around the neck of their reluctant guide. The last thing he needed was to end up stranded down here when the young man vanished down a side tunnel. Beside him, Jet had been muttering and shaking her head since they left the cult hideout.

Unable to stand it any longer he asked, “What’s bothering you?”

She looked over at him as if suddenly remembering he was there. After a brief hesitation Jet said, “Something our guide said. He claimed they’d been watching the aerie for a while and seen no one, but I know Marius has gone twice that I know about to send messages to Lady White.”

“How do you know?”

She blinked at him like a fish out of water. “What do you mean?”

“I mean did you join him when he went? If not, he could have gone anywhere and just told you he was going to send a message.”

“What? No. Why would he lie to me about something like that? I mean, we’re on the same side.”

“No offense, but