The Demon's Blade Read Online Free PDF

light in the room into the blade. The torches went out. "What now?" the Master chided. "Do you really think the darkness will save you? As one of my students, you should know better." Then, as the darkness filled the room, his mind went back to something he had learned as a child, something that he had forgotten for a long time, but now, at this moment, he remembered. He lifted his hand, remembering the technique his mother had taught him so long ago. He hoped his elven blood would avail him where the sword and its power could not. As he channeled the magic, a dazzling light suddenly filled the room. Darien had shut his eyes tight, but everyone else around the room was utterly unprepared for the assault upon their eyes. To creatures of the darkness, the light was painful, especially when so bright and so close. Many of them cried in pain, and many fell in shock or blindly crashed into one another, but they were all dazed and distracted for a moment, and a moment was all he needed. Darien ran.

Chapter 3: The Flight
    Confusion and desperation filled Darien’s mind, as he had never planned for an escape. He ran out of the main hall and down the spiral staircase that led to the stables, where his horse, Darkstar, was kept. Already the alarm had gone out and soldiers swarmed about. He pushed past several confused orcs he encountered, who hadn’t yet realized he was a traitor and fugitive. Fortunately, he encountered none of his fellow mages in the stairwell. He had chosen a time for his attack when Shade Castle was all but deserted.
    Darien reached the stables in mere minutes, slew the two orc handlers, and saddled his horse as quickly as he could manage. He urged Darkstar forward and the black stallion thundered out the gates of the stables into the courtyard. Some two hundred yards lay between the Executioner and the main gate. He steered his mount among the smithies, armories, and barracks that were scattered inside the walls. The keep loomed behind him, casting its menacing, many spired shadow onto the courtyard.
    A handful of goblin archers had taken positions atop the high black stone walls, and were firing inward upon him. Against the arrows, he raised a shadow void upon the end of his sword, smaller and less destructive than the earlier one, but one which he could hold steady as he rode. The arrows twisted and snapped as they were drawn to the power of the void. Here and there, dark shapes of orcs began to emerge from the ground, swarming the courtyard from the multitude of hidden tunnels and stairs that led to the massive underground complex beneath Shade Castle. He avoided as many as he could, and rode down the rest.
    Finally, the main gate lay directly ahead, across perhaps fifty yards of open ground. Only an iron portcullis barred the arched passage. Shade Castle had not been built for sieges, for no army had come within a hundred leagues for centuries. A regiment of guards was forming at the gate to block the Executioner’s escape. Perhaps two dozen orcs, two great minotaurs, and the guardian of the gate, Gorlak stood against him. Gorlak was a chimera, a warped amalgam of beast and man created by placing enchantments directly upon living creatures, one of many grotesque monstrosities the Master had created. Gorlak had the legs and lower body of a massive lion with an apelike torso jutting upwards where a head ought to be, complete with two oversized black and hairy arms. Atop the massive ten-foot-tall creature was a fanged snakelike head. Somewhere inside the terrible beast was the twisted, warped mind of some poor soul who had been unfortunate enough to end up in the Master’s dungeon. The chimera wielded a long staff with a half-moon shaped blade at each end.
    Darien slowed Darkstar's pace, letting go of the reins and balancing upon the horse's back. In his right hand he held out the dark sword. He held his left hand out straight in front of him and razors of ice flew from his fingertips. The hail of frozen