“Mongrel, I’ll tear you to pieces!” Livid barked. “I’ll eat your heart and liver...”
“Enough prattle, dog!” Happy cut him off. “I’m waiting!”
The werewolf howled in rage and ran forward, claws grating on the stones.
Man and beast jumped at the same time. The lightning-fast swipe of a clawed paw and the flicker of the knife fused into a single motion. A moment later, the two opponents were sent flying in different directions.
The beast almost immediately stood up to his full gigantic height. I saw a knife handle sticking out of his left side and was elated. I looked to Happy with hope. But alas, he was not getting up... He was just lying there breathless, his face down and his arms spread wide. And under him was a slowly spreading puddle, dark and viscous. A few seconds later it hit me. It was his blood...
Livid ran a victorious gaze over his whole pack.
“Anyone else have any doubts?!” he barked.
All the men looked down.
“Good. Then throw this swine into the abyss.”
Livid nodded his animalistic head toward Happy’s body.
Then the gaze of his yellow eyes turned to me.
“And that little piece of shit too...”
I shuddered in fear... Was this the end?! My life’s path would end here in this ghastly place?!
But it immediately reached me that Livid was not talking about me...
“Noooo!!! Cru-um!!! Nooo!!!” I shouted in a voice not my own as I saw one of the criminals, I think he was called Brown, grabbing Crum’s bony little body. Then he just unceremoniously chucked him into the abyss a second after Happy’s corpse.
Brown wanted to throw Probe’s body in too, but Livid stopped him.
“Leave that one. I need to keep my strength up.”
He slowly pulled the knife from his side. The wound healed right before my eyes. How is that possible?! Okay, I guess it isn’t all that easy to kill a werewolf. Happy probably knew that, but he still answered the call...
“Frodi!” Livid barked. “Have him show you where their hiding spot is. And from there you know what to do...”
* * *
“Their death is on your conscience,” Frodi muttered spitefully through his teeth, dragging me down the path toward the barracks.
“Oh no, scumbag!” I spat out. “Don’t even try to make me feel guilty! Happy and Crum were killed by the creature you call a master! And you stood by and watched with your arms folded!”
Frodi was not expecting such a bold rebuff and stopped stock-still. Surprise flickered in his eyes.
“You’ve changed, Rick,” he said mockingly. “You wanna live?”
“You think I’m stupid enough to trust you? Even an idiot could see that I’ll be a dead man as soon as you find out where the hiding spot is.”
Frodi smiled. But it was not the open and kind smile from before. No. Now it was more like an animal bearing its teeth.
“That’s a mistake,” he hissed. “Now you’ll die slowly and painfully. And believe you me, you’ll tell me everything I want to know. And you could have died quickly, almost without pain.”
He wanted to say something else, but three horsemen appeared from around a bend in the road.
“Eric Bergman?” one of them asked. A gaunt warrior with harsh facial features and an aquiline nose. I mechanically note his level — fifteen.
Two other stop next to him. I knew them. Hart and Flea.
“Yeah, Steinn. This is the kid!” Flea squeaked in his terrible voice.
“Is that true?” Steinn asked me shortly.
“Yes, sir. I am Eric Bergman.”
“Then you’re coming with us,” said the warrior and, bending down, grabbed me by the scruff of the neck.
I didn’t have time to realize what was happening before I found myself draped over a saddle.
“Steinn, he and Livid have unfinished business. He will be very displeased,” Frodi tried to object.
The warrior gave a half turn and said with threatening strain:
“One more word and I’ll order you whipped, trash. And send a message to your boss. If he has any problems he knows where to find me.”
When we got a bit away, I looked vengefully back. Frodi and I met gazes.
“Rick, if you think you’ve escaped death, you’re deeply mistaken!” he shouted malevolently after me. “People don’t live long in the place they’re taking you!”
I don’t know where they took me or how long we were underway. To be frank, I wasn’t especially watching the road.
After my rage and fury abated, they were replaced with a wave of apathy and grief. I kept seeing friends die before my eyes time and again. The brave Happy and the no less valiant Crum... They both gave their lives for me...
Much to my surprise, fury and rage again captured my heart. An oath formed itself in my head...
I solemnly swear! As long as Livid and all his gang are still alive, I will not know peace! And let the Great System be my assurance!
To my surprise, after the system message, a certain kind of peace washed over my soul. There was also a feeling of anticipation. Anticipation of revenge...
My eyes closed all on their own and darkness took me into its saving embrace...
I woke up to a pair of dry and heavy hands lightly slapping my cheeks. My eyes open, I see an old man leaning over me. Yellow parchment skin. A thin gray beard. Narrow squinting eyes. His bald head is covered with a wide-brimmed straw hat. Everything about him gives him away as a native of the eastern provinces. His eyes especially stand out. They are a saturated shade of dark blue. Just like Dalia the healer’s. That is a feature shared by everyone who has unlocked the third supply — Magic.
“What’s the matter with him, Lee?” a harsh voice asked.
“His supplies are puny and exhausted,” the old man answered in clean-accented Orchusian. “He needs food and rest.”
“Can I count on him tomorrow morning?”
“Yes, sir. He’ll be in perfect shape by tomorrow.”
I looked around. There were gray cliffs everywhere. Where did they take me? And what would happen tomorrow?
When I heard heavy footsteps, I turned my head. Another person entered my field of vision. When I saw the unsightly burn scar covering almost the whole left half of his face, I finally realized where I was and what I would be doing tomorrow...
* * *
I woke up before sunrise. I looked around. I was seemingly in a big tent of some kind. That must have been it. Lying on a reed mat covered with old rags. And my whole body looked like a piece of tenderized meat. My bladder was insistently announcing its existence. That was easy to explain. I had basically slept through a whole day and night. It was all Lee. First he fed me, then gave me something to drink. And then I switched off.
I quietly threw the stinking rags off me and jumped outside. After I drained my bladder, I felt instant relief. But then came another of nature’s calls — my stomach groaning.
Commanding myself not to think about food, I took a look around. Alright... What did we have here...? A small travelling camp consisting of a few tents and lean-tos. The biggest one must belong to Skorx. The guardsmen brought me to his camp yesterday.
There were gray cliffs on all sides. I took a closer look. To the left, there was a black hole in the very farthest cliffside. By all appearances it was the entrance to a mine.
“Is he up?” a demanding voice behind me made me shudder. “That’s good. Let’s go.”
It was Skorx. He walked next to me in a quick gait heading toward the large tent. On the way, he tossed out:
“You don’t have much time to prepare.”
I do my best to keep up. I look over the local boss on the way. Also level fifteen. So he hadn’t hit the ceiling in all his characteristics and skills yet. He still levels with clay like the rest of them.
His figure made him somehow reminiscent of Hart and Steinn. The military bearing was immediately obvious. Stands up straight, takes
big steps. Torso, legs and arms protected with leather armor. Gives the impression of a man who’s always ready for combat.
Yesterday, I caught a fleeting glimpse of his face. I think before he got that ugly scar, Skorx must have gotten quite a lot of attention from the ladies. A powerful chin, high distinct cheekbones, a narrow nose and a stubborn gaze from dark gray eyes. I had seen the way women looked at men like him...
When we entered the tent, someone was waiting for us. A big broad-shouldered bearded fellow, a scrawny, homely, I’d even say ugly woman and a short thin man with a head shining like a cue-ball.
“Skorx! What the hell?!” The big guy roared, his black beard shaking. “Who’d you drag down here?! Miri! Chad! You see this?!”
“Skorx,” the bald guy supported the bearded one. “This is just too much.”
“He won’t even make it to the destination,” came the woman.
“What choice do we have, Dag?” Skorx asked softly, walking up to a wide table covered in papers. “Well, you need someone like this to crawl into the burrows, right? What’s wrong with this one? The local mothers are in no hurry to surrender their kiddos to be my scouts, so I say he’ll do just fine. The only person in the whole work camp who fits the bill, prisoner or peon, is this one. If Knud hadn’t told me about him, you’d be going in without a scout.”
“That is all well and good, of course, but he won’t make it,” Miri kept standing firm. “He’s nulled! This is the first time I’ve ever seen such a thing.”
The bearded and bald guys nodded in perfect timing.
“Kid,” the woman turned to me. “How much have you got in each supply?”
“Ten,” I answered. I felt no fear of speaking openly. After what I’d lived through yesterday, these people didn’t scare me.
Everyone laughed except Skorx.
“Whether he’ll make it or not is your problem,” he answered. “I need results. If he dies, we’ll find another. But for now, use what we’ve got.”
The bearded guy wanted to say a bit more, but Skorx sharply raised a hand to stop him.
“That is all!” he put a stamp on it. “Not another word! Pick him out some equipment and get on the way!”
Dag went to the door, angrily grumbling under his breath. His friends went after him.
“Let’s go,” Miri threw out coldly.
“Sir!” I turned to Skorx, who was leaning over the papers. “I have something to say. If I die underground, no one will ever know.”
The scouts pumped the breaks at the door and stared at me, intrigued and waiting to see where I was going with this.
“Speak,” Skorx nodded, his gaze fixed on the table. “But make it quick.”
“My friends died yesterday in the caves. One of them free.”
“Names of the deceased?” Skorx asked shortly.
“Crum, and a man everyone called Happy.”
“From Livid’s gang?” Chad asked.
“Yes.”
“How did they die?” Skorx asked.
“Livid turned into an animal and killed Happy, then ordered Crum killed as well. He was just eight years old. They threw him into the Maw of the Demon.”
When they heard about Livid, the scouts cursed loudly.
“Where did you learn of this?” Skorx was now standing opposite me, his arms crossed over his chest.
“I saw it all with my own eyes. Livid was forcing me to work in a mine, then taking all my tablets and esses. I had to hide some of them. Crum was helping me. When we were discovered, Crum got beaten half to death. Happy spoke up on our behalf and fought with Livid over it. He did manage to wound the beast, but lost his life. Then Livid ordered Crum thrown into the abyss. And I was saved by your people before it was too late.”
“I see,” Skorx said. “Anything else? If no, you gotta go.”
“No, sir,” I answered and headed for the exit.
Crum was right. Skorx doesn’t give a crap about what goes on in the village and nearby caves. He is single-mindedly obsessed with his goal and cannot see anything else around him. As he spoke, I could see impatience and annoyance on his face. Like his duties as a steward had been weighing on him heavily for a long time.
Miri brought me to a small wooden barn with all kinds of junk laying around on the floor.
“Pick something out for yourself,” she nodded in disgust at the pile of old clothes. “Make sure there’s no blood on the clothes. Almost all the subterranean creatures are blind. But they have incredible sense of smell. If they smell blood, we’re all toast. Got it?”
“Yeah...”
“Then go find old man Lee. He handles provisions. Buy enough grub for a whole week. Remember, no one will be feeding you even if you start dying of hunger. We meet in one hour at the entrance to camp.”
Without waiting for an answer, Miri left.
With a heavy sigh, I looked into the barn. What smells... Some of the items really did have dark brown spots of dried blood. Cold sweat covered my back. I felt a lump rise up my throat. Hopping out of the barn, I spent a long time spewing the contents of my stomach.
While I cleaned myself up, I asked a logical question. If I couldn’t take anything with bloodstains into the caverns then why were they keeping all this bloodstained equipment? Wouldn’t it be simpler to just burn it all?
“I don’t think you’ll find anything useful there,” old man Lee’s voice made me turn. “You’ll only attract death.”
“But Miri said...”
“That was for effect,” the healer interrupted me. “Even if you did choose something from this rubbish heap, they’d force you to take it off before you went.”
“But why?”
“It’s like an initiation ritual for the scouts. You have a lot of thoughts while digging through old rags that belong to dead men. You mentally adapt to the job. Get used to the idea that you’re worthless. After that, you’re easier to manipulate, more pliable.”
“I think I’m starting to understand...”
“All beginners do,” the old man assured me. “This tradition has lasted many years. I hope your things don’t end up in this barn one day... Follow me.”
“I’d like to believe your hopes are realistic...” I muttered, following after the healer.
One hour later, I’m at the entrance. An old sail-cloth cloak on my back. My head is covered with a worn out panama hat made of crude leather. That was all I could find there for level zero. But I was thankful even for that. I also have my knapsack in hand, full of food. The old man took me for twenty esses for the items and food. Highway robbery, but better that than nothing. When I heard his inflated prices, I realized why Lee was being so friendly.
When I paid up with the old skinflint, I considered my good fortune. Back in the cave, neither Livid nor Frodi ever thought to search me. After all, there were tablets and essences in my knapsack that I got for drying moss...
Here no one checked or even asked. Although yesterday... Who knows what Skorx’s scouts did on the way here...
There was no one waiting for me, so I decided to sit down and have a bite to eat. Among the things old man Lee sold me, I could feel a small cloth bundle. Ah, the sandwiches Crum packed for me yesterday...
My heart ached. A lump rose up my throat. I hid behind a big rock, slowly fell to the ground and covered my face with my hands... I wept silently, furiously wiping away hot tears with my hand...
“I’ll get my revenge... One day, I know I will...”
Chapter 13
IT’S BEEN THREE DAYS since I was brought below the ground. When I think back the beginning of our strange journey, I shudder. The scouts scared me so bad I felt like death was lurking under every pebble and around every corner. And for the most part, that is accurate... The native creatures of the caverns, starting from plants and ending with animals, are all marked by extreme aggression.
I first noticed it when I just about fell into the toadstool of a lilac fungus. These insidious half-plant-half-animals hunt by luring prey
with a light purplish coloration. When their victim leans over to get a closer look at the unprecedented beauty, the fungus releases a cloud of toxic spores. Its powerful poison takes effect almost instantly. And that is where a no less horrid process begins — dissolving and absorbing the prey. Honestly, the ghastly spectacle contained by that particular mushroom saved my life. It was already digesting a cave worm.
Dungeons of the Crooked Mountains Page 15