Deathstalker 01 - Deathstalker

easily, and there were few indeed who'd earned the trust of both.
    As if to underline that thought, Hood and Valentine came to a sudden halt before the first warning sign. It was a dead man, hanging from the ceiling like a broken puppet. Its arms and legs had been smashed, with white points of splintered bone protruding from the bloody flesh. The corpse slowly raised its head to look at Hood and Valentine, and its eye sockets were empty. Blood spilled down the colorless cheeks like thick crimson tears. It opened its mouth, and maggots poured down its chin.
    "Go back," it said slowly, haltingly, as though it had almost forgotten how to speak. "Go back now."
    Valentine looked at Hood. "Be honest: Would this scare you if you were a crack squadron of the Empress' guards?"
    "Not really," said Hood. "But then, I've seen it before. They insist on running this routine even when they know it's me. I think they just do it for the practice."
    The dead man scowled at them. "Turn back. I mean it. I'm not kidding."
    "Oh, shut up," said Valentine. "I've seen scarier things than you in my
    daydreams."
    "He probably has," said Hood. "This is Valentine Wolfe. The Valentine Wolfe."
    The dead man disappeared between one moment and the next. The smell stayed pretty much the same, though. The empty hood looked at Valentine. "They've heard of you."
    Valentine smiled. "Everyone's heard of me." He paused. "Can you hear something?"
    A low roar began from somewhere behind them, building steadily in volume. The tunnel floor vibrated under their feet. Thick ripples surged across the surface of the slime. A growing pressure built in the air, like the wave of compressed air that precedes an underground train. The roar grew louder and the floor shook. Valentine looked quickly about him, but there was nowhere to run except further down the tunnel. The roar was deafening now, the pressure of the air flat and heavy against his face. Hood was standing very still, as though frozen in place by shock. Then a vast wave of rushing water came bursting through the tunnel toward them, thundering forward like a runaway train.
    "They've opened the damned sewers!" yelled Valentine. "Grab onto something or we'll be swept away!"
    The tidal wave loomed up before them, filling the tunnel, and then it was gone.
    No water, no noise, nothing at all. The air was quiet and calm and undisturbed.
    Valentine let his breath out slowly.
    "You bastards."
    Got you, crowed a voice in his head. I don't just do corpses, you know.
    Hood shook his head and chuckled slowly. "We did ask for it, didn't we?"
    Just practicing. I never get to do anything down here. No one comes for ages. I don't know why we bother keeping a watch. Go straight ahead and take the second left. Meeting's just ahead. You're expected. And tell them I could do with a
    drink.
    There was a lot Valentine felt like saying, but he didn't. He had his dignity to consider. He looked at Hood. "You can't get good help these days."
    "It never pays to underestimate espers," said Hood, starting off down the tunnel again. "They know everything you're thinking."
    "Oh, I doubt that," said Valentine, splashing through the slime after him.
    "Anyone who enters my mind does so at their own peril, after all the things I've done to it."
    "Good point," said Hood. "How did someone like you ever get involved with the underground in the first place?"
    Valentine smiled. "My experiments with various unusual substances led me to rumors of a new, very experimental drug that could make an esper out of anyone, even from those with absolutely no family history of psionics. If there is such a drug, I want it. Esp is one of the few experiences still unknown to me. Just the thought of something so new and vital makes my mouth water. I must have it.
    "Pursuit of this drug brought me to the elves and the underground, and for the first time I realized what a potential power base they represented. With their help, I could attain heights of power I would never otherwise have dreamed of.
    The espers will break free eventually, Hood. It's inevitable.
    They are the wave of the future, the next evolutionary step for humanity. And I intend to ride that wave as far and high as I can. Who knows, it might even carry me to the Iron Throne itself. Now wouldn't that be something." He paused thoughtfully. "Of course, I'd have to kill my father and Family first. I'm quite looking forward to that."
    He stopped talking suddenly. It seemed to him that he was saying