“It’s the pieces,” Selene said. “They were cut into pieces.”
Immediately inside the front door was a set of stairs leading up to a landing above. Two figures lay on the stairs, their heads no longer attached to their bodies. The remaining four corpses were scattered over the living area in front of us. A couch was now so covered in blood that its original color was a mystery. All the corpses wore black leather armor, making it hard to identify much about them without getting closer.
“This was less of a fight, and more of a lesson in butchery,” Zamek said, replacing his battle-axe on his back before moving from place to place, using his hands as if he were holding a sword. “It’s artistry. Whoever did this moved like water.”
“One person did this?” Sky asked.
Zamek nodded. “One exceptional warrior.”
I walked closer to the bodies in the living area and picked up an evil-looking sword, all black metal and jagged edges. “This is a blood-elf sword.” I tossed the sword aside and picked up one of the corpses, removing the helm to reveal a blood elf beneath it.
“How?” Selene asked. “This is impossible. How did blood elves get here?”
I looked over at Sky. “Any ideas?” I asked.
“I have no idea. Aren’t the blood elves those things you fought in the dwarven realm?”
“You look here. I’ll go check some of the other rooms on the left of the building,” Selene said. “Just in case more of these bastards are hiding.” She walked off without another word.
“They used to be shadow elves,” Zamek said, removing the helm off a decapitated head before tossing both aside. “Then the magic twisted them into these monsters you see before you. They’re made for murder and fighting, and that’s it. They care for nothing else. And thankfully they’re trapped back on my realm.”
“So how the hell did they get here?” Sky asked.
“I’ve seen a few blood elves outside of your realm,” I said. “Tommy had a run-in with some of them a while back. Something to do with Nergal. You’d have to ask him more about it. It didn’t seem like Nergal had an infinite resource, though. Maybe they figured out a way to get some of them into our realm.”
“Doesn’t explain how they got into this realm,” Sky said.
“There’s only one realm gate,” I said.
“That’s true. After you found a second gate in Avalon, and in Shadow Falls, my father spent a long time trying to find one here, too. Nothing.”
Zamek and I shared a horrified gaze. “The tablet,” we said in unison.
“The tablet that lets you go between realms without a gate?” Sky asked. “I thought there was only one of them, and you have it. And doesn’t it only go from the Earth realm to one very specific place in the dwarven realm? A place in the middle of the blood elves?”
“Maybe they made a second,” Sky suggested.
“Let’s find Charon,” I said, looking around the room for signs of where he might have gone. “And get out of here. We need to talk to the Titans and let them know there could be more of these bastards running around.”
“I’ll go join Selene,” Sky said, walking off in the direction Selene had gone a few moments earlier.
“Could Charon have done this?” Zamek asked when we were alone.
“He’s an old man, albeit only outwardly.” I saw the confusion on Zamek’s face. “He drank the lake water a few thousand years ago. He’s aged on the outside, but a young man still on the inside. Actually he’s an old man on the inside, too, but he’s not human, so it’s hard to tell what is and isn’t old for someone who’s about five thousand at last count.”
I turned toward a sound that came from the front door, igniting a blade of flame and waiting for more attackers as the door slowly moved open to reveal Grayson.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked.
“I arrived at the compound about a half hour after you. I had to row all the way here.” He looked around the room. “What happened in here?”
“We don’t know, but you’re welcome to come help find Charon,” Zamek said.
Grayson nodded, and joined Zamek and me as we searched the right side of the house, and it didn’t take long before I found Charon in a bathroom at the far end of the house. He sat on the gray-and-white-tiled floor in a large pool of blood. A bloody dagger lay beside him. He looked pale and gave a weak smile when he saw me.
“In here!” I bellowed, and dropped to my knees beside him. “Hey.”
“Nathan Garrett. It’s good to see you, my friend.” Charon’s voice was weak, although he spoke with confidence and no hint of the danger his life was in. “Dagger is silver. Venom coated. Gorgon, I think. It’s been a while. Thought they were all dead.”
“Don’t talk. You’re pushing yourself too far,” I told him, and moved his hands and tunic to look at the wound, which still trickled blood. “How long have you been here?”
“Hour or so. I killed them all. Still a young man at heart.”
I smiled. “Yes, you are.”
“One got me.”
“I know. We’ll get you patched up.”
Charon coughed and winced as the pain of it wracked his body. “No. You’ll go save the Titans. There will be more elves. Or whatever they are.”
“Blood elves, long story.” Zamek said as he entered the room with Grayson, who immediately went to Charon’s side, moving me out of the way.
“I’m going to need to stitch this up and stop the bleeding,” Grayson said, removing a small packet from his jacket. “I’ve got what I need to stitch, but it still has to be cauterized.”
I ignited some fire magic on one of my fingers and poured power into it until the orange flame turned white hot. “This is going to hurt,” I told Charon, and passed him a shoe to put in his mouth. “One, two . . .” I pushed my finger against the wound, and Charon screamed into the shoe and promptly passed out.
“I can smell the Gorgon venom,” Selene said. “I’ve smelled it before.”
“I can take it from here,” Grayson said. “Go to the town; help these people. We won’t be able to get anything from anyone if they’re all dead. I can defend myself if I need to.”
“Are you sure?” Zamek asked. “You’re a doctor, not a warrior.”
Grayson’s expression hardened. “Go.”
“I’ll see you soon,” I told both Charon and Grayson. Selene and I left the room, almost bumping into Sky.
“Will Charon be okay?” Sky asked.
“I hope so,” I said. “Grayson is with him. I’ll explain on the way. You coming to the town? I think there are going to be more of these things.”
Sky and Selene nodded and walked with me and Zamek through the house. I picked up one of the blood elves’ swords on the way. I was certain it was going to come in handy.
The second I stepped outside again I saw the thick black smoke in the distance. The run to the main town took only a few minutes, and even less until the view of large Roman-villa-like houses ablaze became all I could see in the distance.