About twenty minutes later, Lord Basil arrived to join the guards peering down the hole. Torches had been brought in to light the cave, and most of the insects had fled back into the darkness of the cracks and crevices of the walls, leaving only the crushed and broken bodies of those that had had the misfortune to be trodden on by the Tharians and the guards. A few feet away, two men were busy building a makeshift framework of metal poles that would lower a rope ladder down the dark and enigmatic hole.
“You let them get away!” screamed Lord Basil at the Captain of the dungeon guard, a nasty looking man called Rakkus whose voice Shaun had heard shortly after killing the archer. “You let them get away, you incompetent fool!”
“It wasn’t our fault,” protested Rakkus fearfully. “How were we to know a worm’d been here?”
“You should have checked the tunnel more often!” roared the nobleman furiously. “The borehole should have been found and sealed up. If you spent more time seeing to your duties and less time abusing the prisoners this wouldn’t have happened.”
“I never touched ‘em!” protested Rakkus. “You said the renegades were to be left alone...”
“Oh shut up you fool,” shouted Lord Basil impatiently. “You think I don’t know what goes on down here?”
“We’ll get’ em back,” promised Rakkus in terror. “I promise. I’ve already sent six men after them, and they’ll be found and brought back. I promise you.”
“I don’t want them brought back!” screamed Lord Basil. “I want them dead! They attacked me and stole my ring! They stole my ring, d’you hear? I want them dead for that! I want them dead! And I want my ring back!”
“You’ll get it, I promise you,” said Rakkus, bowing his head in fear and misery. “You’ll see. I’ll get it back for you.”
“You’d better!” shouted the nobleman, his face turning crimson. “Get my ring back or I’ll make you pay for your incompetence! I’ll have you strung up in the forecourt while you bleed to death from a thousand cuts!” He then stormed back to the mansion, leaving the guards to breathe a sigh of relief.
Rakkus’s terror ebbed away as the nobleman left, to be replaced by a seething fury directed at the Tharians. They’d made him look like a fool in front of Lord Basil and he hated them for that, hated them so much that he clenched his fists until his fingernails drew blood from his palms. He wouldn’t rest until he’d redeemed himself in the eyes of his master, and he swore that, when he returned the ring to Lord Basil, he would be carrying their heads in a sack to spill out at his feet.
He felt a glow of warmth as he imagined the praise and heartfelt thanks that would follow, and was suddenly impatient to accomplish the deed as soon as possible. “You three, follow me,” he said therefore, pointing to the three nearest guards, and then he jumped down the hole in pursuit of the Tharians.
To be continued.
Coming soon, the Chronicles of Tharia will continue.
The Caverns of Kronos
Thomas Gown and his companions have escaped from captivity, but only by fleeing deeper into the unknown, to face new dangers. They are carrying a secret that could save the world, though, and they have a duty to take it to those who can make use of it, but to do that they must return to the city of Kronosia, go back among those from whom they have only just escaped…
The Scrolls of Skava
The fate of the world hangs in the balance. Belthar faces imminent defeat, and if the empire falls there will be nothing left to oppose the armies of darkness. One hope remains, one last all or nothing gamble, but for it to succeed the heroes of civilization have to find a way to team up with their bitterest enemies. Creatures every bit as evil as the Bone Prince but whose existence is also threatened by the undead hordes. Side by side, they must march together into the very heart of the Shadow…