Brayan’s face fell. His frown deepened and his eyes grew dark. ‘Titus fled when the monsters attacked. They came straight through those doors.’ He gestured at the two rooms whose doors had been torn free.
Annev’s heart leapt into his throat as he imagined his friend being chased through the bowels of the Academy by metal monsters – monsters Annev might have led to Chaenbalu. Without another word, he dashed past the hulking quartermaster and ran down the hallway. Brayan followed, but Annev’s magic boots carried him faster, bringing him to the large iron door Myjun had opened for him. The door had been shut, but its rusted bottom had been torn up from the floor and curled in on itself, creating a hole just large enough for a person to crouch and pass through. Another feurog lay dead on Annev’s side of the door, and he could see more bodies in the space beyond. He pushed through the hole, crawling with his sword in front of him, and found two more dead feurog there, their hooked fists and metal arms wedged beneath the base of the door, dying even as they tried to break through the iron portal. He also found two dead avatars – Hans and Colven – impaled on the long iron spikes dotting the surface of the door, which had itself been marred by half a hundred dents and scratches. He stepped past the carnage and found the upper body of Folum, the Master of Customs.
Annev raced past the grisly scene, jogging up the spiralling ramp on the other side of the door. A dozen steps on, he found the other half of Folum’s body, but he continued onward, holding his breath and taking care not to lose his footing on the bloody surface.
As the curving floor evened out, Annev entered the hallway with the short staircase. Walk single file here, he thought, remembering Myjun’s warning, on the right side of the stairs. Skip every third step.
The truth of Myjun’s words was evident: nearly every step of the staircase had crumbled to leave a gaping chasm. Only the right side remained intact. Annev ran up the stairs, easily clearing the gaps between the stones, and reached the top floor of the Academy’s subterranean levels. As he sprinted down the long hallway, his cape flapped wildly behind him and the fiery light of his sword flickered in the darkness. He soon came to the first junction in the corridor and halted. He looked left, right, and straight ahead, but the shadowy hallways all looked the same; no matter how long he studied the three passages, he couldn’t remember which way Myjun had brought him.
Someone yelled nearby. Annev paused, cocking his head. After a few seconds, he heard it again.
‘No! Someone … SOMEBODY HELP ME!’
It was Titus.
Annev raced down the right-hand corridor, heading for the young steward’s voice. He came to a bend in the hallway and continued onward towards a row of closed doors. He had just passed them when Titus screamed again. Annev spun around, searching, and saw that one of the ironbound doors stood slightly ajar. He nudged it open with his shield and entered, sword leading the way.
Inside the room, the blue-white flame illuminated hundreds of sacks of grain and flour stacked atop one another. A narrow path had been cleared through the centre, allowing access to a second door at the back of the room. Next to that door, standing behind a chest-high stack of grain, was a feurog.
The beast turned to look at Annev, its muscular chest covered in red bands of metal that reflected the light from Annev’s sword. Its arms and throat were clad in the same metal, as was the top of its skull, but the rest of its face and head were unmarred, making it seem less feral than the other monsters Annev had encountered.
When the copper-capped feurog saw Annev, he smiled, revealing teeth that were white and whole – and altogether too human. Annev took a step towards him and Copper-cap raised his right hand above the stacks of grain, pivoting to expose a slender rapier clutched in metal fingers. Annev’s mouth fell open as the monster then bent his knees and extended the sword, giving every impression he knew how to use it.
‘Youuu,’ Copper-cap growled. ‘Find youuu. Found youuu.’
Seas and skies, Annev thought. It can talk!
‘Kenton?’ Titus’s voice whimpered from behind the stack of grain. ‘Help me, please!’
‘It’s me, Titus!’ Annev yelled, taking another step down the sack-lined pathway.
‘Annev!’
The feurog took a step towards Annev, his back leg trailing, his sword leading.
‘Come with meee,’ Copper-cap said. ‘Bleeed with meee.’
Annev’s mind reeled.
‘You want me?’ he said, lowering his shield and raising his sword. ‘Come and get me.’
‘Yesss,’ Copper-cap hissed, his free hand dropping to his belt. ‘Get youuu.’ As the words left his mouth, the feurog hurled a knife at Annev’s chest.
Annev jerked the shield in front of him, blocking the attack. The knife slammed into the steel plate and ricocheted away. There was a loud crackle of electricity and a mild boom as the knife flew backward, denting the feurog’s metal chest.
Copper-cap stared at the fallen weapon in shock, his eyes filled with hate. ‘Youuu … die.’
Annev took a cautious step forward, his lightning shield leading the way. In response, the monster planted his left foot and lunged. Annev lifted his shield arm, blocking the rapier, and the tip skittered across the metal surface, sending up a cascade of sparks before piercing Annev’s left shoulder. Annev grunted, taking a step back, and Copper-cap lunged again. Annev responded with his flamberge, attempting to parry and engage, but the fiery longsword was too slow. He succeeded in knocking the rapier away from his chest, but the feurog twisted his wrist, disengaged, and followed through with another lunge, scoring a hit on Annev’s right shoulder. A second pinprick of blood spread across Annev’s white shirt.
How is he beating me? Annev wondered, taking another step backward. He’s just a beast! Or was he? Annev chided himself for treating his enemy as anything less than human. If he was going to beat the creature, he mustn’t underestimate him.
It’s the rapier, he thought. It’s too fast for my flamberge, and my shield doesn’t offer enough protection.
Before Annev could puzzle out the solution to his problem, the copper man slashed a bag of flour and kicked its contents towards Annev. White powder filled the air. Annev coughed, taking another step back, and instinctively raised the shield in front of his face and chest, ducking his head low.
The feurog’s rapier stabbed through the cloud, slamming into the shield. There was a dull boom and a bright spark of lightning went up, throwing Copper-cap’s sword back.
Seeing his opportunity to attack, Annev stepped forward and aimed a heavy overhand stroke at his opponent’s head. The copper man sidestepped the falling blade and stabbed at Annev’s feet and legs, making Annev dance backward, his magic boots aiding him as he evaded the feurog’s lunges.