Mortality: The Story of Mortanius

Chapter Fifty-Eight

Days went by with agonizing slowness. Mortanius was nearly at his wit’s end, trying to placate an increasingly-deranged Azimuth, while at the same time obsessively focused on Kain’s mission, thinking about it over and over again, trying to predict everything that could go wrong. Where would Kain strike next? Would he strike at all, or would he change his mind and abandon his quest for justice and revenge? Would Ariel tell him the truth? It was maddening to not know, but Mortanius didn’t risk trying to contact him.

Azimuth spent her time planning and plotting their defense of Avernus, believing that the Cathedral could be altered to protect her from an assassination attempt. In one of the conference rooms, she spread books and scrolls over a table and studied numerous different plans to defend herself from an assassination attempt. Mortanius no longer tried to talk her out of it.

“He’ll never get inside here,” she said. “And even if he does, he won’t be able to escape so easily. We’ll be waiting for him, won’t we? Nupraptor was a fool, obviously.”

“Yes, a fool,” Mortanius agreed.

She had both hands on the table, leaning on it heavily as she stared down at the papers and scrolls. “No assassin could ever kill two Guardians at the same time. We’ll stop him, Mortanius, the two of us. You and I, together. We’ll lure this damned assassin here and destroy him. He may have killed that bitch Ariel and that idiot Nupraptor, but he won’t get us. He won’t get us.”

Suddenly, a burst of magic announced Malek’s arrival into the room. The undead knight looked around warily and then said, “The assassin came for me today. The same one who slayed Nupraptor.”

A look of joy and relief came over Azimuth’s face and she clasped her hands together. “Then you defeated him? The assassin’s dead?”

Mortanius’s heart sunk in his chest, and he struggled not to let his grief show on his face. He leaned against the wall and looked at the floor. But neither Azimuth nor Malek was looking at him, so they didn’t notice. He had always known that Malek would be the hardest member of the Circle for Kain to kill. He had hoped Ariel would direct Kain to an easier target first, before going after Malek, but maybe Kain chose to fight Malek right away, hoping to surprise him. The thought that Kain was dead, that Mortanius’s desperate plan had failed, threatened to swallow him whole.

But the next words to come from Malek’s helmet saved him from the grip of despair. “No,” Malek said, “The bastard still lives. He was no match for me, but before I could cut his head off, he activated some magical item and teleported to safety.”

Azimuth groaned in frustration and clenched her fists until they turned white. “You didn’t kill him? What good are you, then? You’re supposed to be the greatest warrior in Nosgoth! But a single vampire assassin is beyond your skill?”

Malek glared at her. “I said he teleported away before I could kill him.”

“Why have you come here, then?” Mortanius asked. “To warn us?”

“Yes. The rest of you should be on your guard. I believe he will come for one of you next before trying to face me again. Keep your amulets in hand at all times. Don’t try to fight him on your own. He’s not to be underestimated. Contact me the moment you spot him.”

“Why?” Azimuth shrieked. “So he can escape your clutches again?”

“We’ll do as you say,” Mortanius said. “Thank you, Malek.”

Malek studied Mortanius for a moment, then gave him a brief nod and then disappeared.

“Useless!” Azimuth cried, sweeping her arm across the table, throwing the books, papers, and assorted equipment to the floor. “Even Malek has failed us! His job is to protect us, and he can’t kill one single vampire!”

“He’ll kill him the next time they meet,” Mortanius said, hoping it was a lie. “The assassin escaped this time, that’s all. Malek won’t let him get away twice.”

“No, no,” Azimuth said, tugging nervously at the sleeve of her dress. “We can’t rely on him to save us. We have to do this on our own. We don’t need him. We’ll turn this Cathedral into a fortress if we have to. That’s the only way to keep the assassin from getting to us.”

“Do you really think that’s –”

“We’ll have Hash’ak’gik’s followers help us. They’ll defend us to the death.”

“Why not ask the hylden for help?” Mortanius asked, keeping his voice neutral. He was honestly curious how she’d respond.

She stopped her fidgeting for a moment. One hand reached up to scratch her cheek. “No, we can’t come running to them like helpless children every time something goes wrong,” she said absently, not looking at anything in particular. She nodded to herself. “Yes, we’ll do this ourselves. When that assassin comes for us, we’ll stop him and destroy him. We don’t need Malek to save us.”

Under normal circumstances, Mortanius would have probably disagreed with her. They weren’t warriors and they didn’t know the first thing about defending themselves against a dedicated assassin. But if Azimuth wanted to face Kain without Malek’s help, then so be it.

Of course, he had no way to know where Kain would strike next. It occurred to him, perhaps belatedly, that Ariel might very well send Kain after he and Azimuth. He had somehow believed that he would be spared until the end, so that he could see for himself whether or not Kain ultimately succeeded in his quest, but he doubted things would work out that way. Having failed to defeat Malek, Kain would likely seek an easier target. Mortanius and Azimuth were high on the list.

Unfortunately for them, Avernus Cathedral was not a good place for a last stand. There were too many doors, too many windows, and other spaces to enter from. Azimuth proposed bricking up all the huge stained-glass windows and chopping up the wooden benches for wood to block the doors, but they didn’t have the time or enough people to possibly complete so many tasks in the short time that Azimuth wanted them done. Mortanius tried to gently dissuade her from her course of action, but all it did was elicit outbursts of arguing, complaining, and verbal abuse.

Eventually, Azimuth coerced the cult followers into boarding up some of the windows and blocking off access to some of the Cathedral’s upper floors, but their makeshift defenses would not be enough, or at least Mortanius hoped so. None of the cultists were skilled laborers, as the shoddy construction down in the catacomb could attest. They lacked skilled carpenters and masons to actually build the kind of defenses that Azimuth desired.

The work lasted for days, with no new information from Malek or anyone else. Mortanius considered contacting the other Guardians to see if they were as concerned about the assassin as Azimuth was, but he decided against it. It would be better to simply let the matter play out without bringing more attention to it. The last thing he wanted was to make the other Guardians take additional precautions.

What was Kain thinking right now? He had successfully killed one of the Guardians, but failed to kill another. Was he still dedicated to this quest? Did he realize that his mission to kill the Guardians was the entire reason he had been murdered and resurrected in the first place? Mortanius wanted to contact his vampire protege to check on his progress, but he repressed the urge to meddle with Kain any more than he already had. All he could do was hope that Kain was still seeking out the corrupted Guardians and would make his next move soon.

Who would Kain target next? Would he attempt to kill Malek again? Mortanius doubted that Kain would face Malek again so soon. He would probably go after an easier target.

The easiest target was Mortanius himself, but he had the feeling that Ariel would not send Kain after his maker right away. But with Ariel, who knew what her motivations were? It was very nearly a miracle that he had convinced Ariel to cooperate in his plans at all. Ariel hated him with undead vengeance, and would surely be glad to see Kain put him to the sword.

For all he knew, Kain was infiltrating the Cathedral at that very moment, ready to jump out of the shadows and cut him down. Would he recognize Mortanius when he stuck the blade in? Would he give Mortanius a chance to explain himself? Or would Mortanius simply be another notch in Kain’s sword, another necessary task to complete in his strange mission to save all of Nosgoth?

Mortanius didn’t know. All he could do was wait.

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