Dungeon
Kelverin lay in a puddle, to weary, miserable and sick to care. He was chilled to the bone. His head swam and his stomach clenched in knots. Blood dribbled from his nose and mixed with his wet, matted hair. The dungeon keeper had been generous with his blows.
Around him, distantly, Kelverin could hear his companions. A soft moan, a cough, the slow click-clack of a chain through an iron ring. Someone was retching in the corner. It sounded like Valdemar. Kelverin would have smiled, but he felt the effort was beyond him.
After being softened up by the dungeon keeper and his guards, the nine companions had been unceremoniously tossed into a cell. Thick wads of damp straw covered the dirt floor and hid several puddles. The air was damp and clammy. Water dripped from the shadows up above.
"Kelverin, are you awake?"
The voice was the Prince's. His concern, evident in his voice. He and Kelverin had always played at hiding their affection, but he wasn't playing now.
Kelverin slowly lifted his head, propped it up on an elbow and nearly passed out from the effort.
"Yes, your Grace."
"You don't look well, old friend," said the Prince helping him to his feet.
"Come over here where the straw is dryer". The Prince and Tyrus helped moved Kelverin over toward the bars of the cell door and sat him down on a pile of dry straw.
"I'd give you my court cloak if they'd have left it on me." said the Prince.
"The thought is much appreciated, your Grace. I do feel a bit dryer over here."
"You and Valdemar both seem to have taken ill. You scholarly types don't take well to adventure." the Prince said smiling, trying to make light of their predicament.
"The stone, your Highness."
"What?". The Prince looked questioningly at Tyrus who shrugged.
"The stone," said Kelverin, pointing past the cell door at a nearby table. "A drellisian crystal. It shines with the light of the blue sun. It poisons magic. Corrupts it." Kelverin's voice was weak and breathless.
"And that's why you two look so pale? Because of a rock?"
"Yes. In the presence... of such a crystal... dweomers weaken. Spells go awry... incantations fail. My magic is curdling like sour milk within me," Kelverin paused, taking and deep breath," and I am suffering the effects as is Valdemar."
"You mean you and Valdemar can't cast any spells at all? Well, there goes our escape. We saw you and Valdemar become so sick so quickly, we decided to let you rest and recover before taxing you for spells."
The Prince cradled Kelverin's head in his lap and produced a bowl of greyish paste which he carefully spooned into Kelverin's mouth. It was hot, thick and tasteless, but somehow made Kelverin feel better. Apparently, their captors had at least fed them.
The jingle of keys brought all heads snapping up. The fat one with the long hair, the dungeon keeper, approached sorting through keys on a massive ring. Four guards with weapons drawn stood behind him.
The Prince leapt to his feet and approached the door.
"I am Prince Davillon, son of Auric and heir to the throne of Kitar. I demand to know why I and my party have been abducted and subjected to such cruel treatment. If you are in any way associated with Duthelm, then I remind you that this is in direct violation of the Duthelm-Rukemian Peace Treaty in accordance with-
"Quiet, whelp!" He found the right key and thrust it in the lock. "I knew you'd be the noisy one. High birth brats always are. You've not suffered poorly, boy." He paused and looked the Prince directly in the eye.
"But you will"
Ellison swung the door open and two guards grabbed the Prince while the other two kept the prisoners back at sword point. Tyrus leaped up to protect the Prince but received a ringing blow to the head with the flat of a blade.
With a clang, the door was slammed shut. The prisoners crowded against the bars to watch helplessly as the Prince was dragged away still protesting.
The mood afterward was sullen. The conversation weak and downcast. Some spoke of escape. Some had already given up. It wasn't long until the screams began. Tyrus was on his feet in an instant, clutching the bars. It was the Prince's voice. There could be no doubt.
"Cowards! He's just a boy! He knows nothing!"
Tyrus bellowed and shook the bars with fury, but the screams only grew louder.
"Bring your fight to me, weaklings!" Tyrus yelled. And this time, Ganz, Fenric and Belrin joined in the shouting.
The screams rose to a sudden climax and then ceased. The silence afterward was deafening. The whole ordeal had only last a few minutes.
"Is he... I mean, do you think they..." said Jerrik.
"-killed him?" finished Belrin, never one for subtlety.
There was a distant clang as a barred door was slammed shut somewhere down a hallway. A chilling quiet descending as the echo faded away.
"I don't know," ventured Ganz, "I thought I just heard a moan."
"Poor Prince Davillon," sobbed Jerrik.
Tyrus let out a great roar of frustration and sank to his knees with head bowed. His voice echoed about the corridors.
Silence.
Kelverin, exhausted and overwhelmed with despair, could think of nothing else but to close his eyes and give in to exhaustion. Perhaps sleep could save him from the demons that plagued his waking mind.
The Slavers Guild
Sinjin sat perched high in a [x] tree watching the entrance to the Slavers Guild. Under the starlit sky, she blended into the foliage, little more than a darkening of shadows. It was an ugly squat building with little decoration. Bars enclosed most of the windows. In her hand she clutched the bloody sash taken from the body of the Slaver she had just killed. His blood still stained Bodywrecker.
She watched a small group of slavers talking outside the main door. The slaver uniform was a sleeveless black shirt and black pantaloons tied at the waist with a sash. The color of the sash denoted rank, or so the barkeep had said. Yellow was for common slavers who were the laborers. Little better than street thugs they were. Red indicated a Slave Master, well armed and trained. She had only seen three red sashes out of twenty so far. And although the barkeep had told her that a blue sash was a Slave Lord, she had not seen one. The sash she held was yellow.
She moved slowly around the entire building toward the other side. The back of the building consisted of a high walled courtyard. From within she could hear chains and whips. A massive iron gate stood closed and locked. The rear of the guild faced an alley. Obviously, the slavers didn't want the public seeing the movement of "merchandise".
Sinjin crept up to the gate and peered between the bars. She could see dozens of cages built into the courtyard. Some were bar covered pits, others tiered atop one another. Bits of garbage, chains, manacles, and skeletal remains littered the ground.
Two guards sat in a corner playing rune dice in the flickering light of a torch. The bone cubes clattered noisily in the darkness. The guard rolling was a skinny man who moved in nervous twitches. His companion was a bloated thing that made a wheezing sound as he breathed. Sinjin thought they looked like a hippo and a bird.
Sinjin quickly examined the lock and began poking and prodding with her dagger. She winced as the dagger brought forth a squeak, but the two guards didn't notice. Giving up on the lock, Sinjin sheathed her dagger and began climbing up over the gate. She dropped noiselessly to the ground and began to boldly stride across the grounds.
She noticed several of the cages were occupied. It was difficult to tell if there were alive, asleep or just corpses. A soft moan rose from one of the cages. The hippo guard began to turn and look up. She was still twenty paces away. Launching into a sprint, she shot across the courtyard while drawing her sword. The hippo fumbled for his own weapon and started to say something. The bird guard sensed motion behind him and saw a look of alarm sweep over his comrades face. Bodywrecker found its way out of its sheath and sang through the air. The tip burst through the chest of the bird guard as he started to turn. Sinjin tore Bodywrecker free leaving a gaping hole in the first guard. A fountain of blood sprayed freely and the bird guard collapsed.. The hippo reeled back tearing his short sword free from its scabbard, but he tripped over a skeleton and crashed to the ground. Fearing for his life, he rolled quickly to the side just as Bodywrecker came down stabbing into the soil. The guard followed through with an attack, but due to his awkward position, was not able to reach Sinjin. She yanked Bodywrecker out of the ground as the hippo wobbled to his feet. Once, twice their swords met and parted. She circled using wide attacks and feints, trying to draw him out and bring him off balance without contacting blades again. The ringing of metal would should bring other guards.
The hippo was sweating profusely and his attacks became slower and less frequent. Sinjin sensed him tiring and waited for the right moment. On his next attack, she parried with the midst of her blade, and pulled in sharply catching his blade in one of Bodywrecker's barbed tooth. With a twist of her wrists, she caught his blade and yanked it out of his hands. The startled guard took a step back and fumbled for a horn at his belt. As he raised it to his lips and inhaled, Sinjin leapt forward and ripped Bodywrecker across his belly. Pink entrails spilled out from the wound and he went down with a gargling yelp.
Quickly wiping off Bodywrecker, she hurried over to the nearest cages and peered in. Several humanoid figures huddled in the shadows. In the darkness, she couldn't tell race or sex, but most seemed awake and aware. They watched her cautiously. She began to tug at the lock, testing its strength.
"The keys." said a voice.
Sinjin looked to her left and saw a prisoner in another cage, a huge humanoid with horns sprouting from his head, pointing to the body of the slain bird.
"That one has the keys."
Without wasting any time, Sinjin lightly stepped over to the bird guard and began searching his body for a ring of keys. A soft noise sounded above her. She whirled and looked up, hands on her sword grip. A shadowy figure stood on a balcony above her, silhouetted against a field of stars.
A sudden sharp pain shot through her side and a wave of warm nausea swept over her. The world began to distort and time seemed to slow. The warmth spread and became a fire that consumed her. The night seemed to deepen. Her arms and legs became lead. Her head began to throb and pound and she sank slowly into blackness.
Sinjin awoke suddenly as a bucket of icy water was dumped on her. She came up fast, sputtering with wet hair sticking to her face. A blue sash slaver lord was standing outside her cell with his arms folded. He had a beak like nose, smoldering dark eyes and graying hair. An air of authority and charisma surrounded him. Two reds stood behind. She struggled against bonds that held her wrists and ankles.
"So! The bitch lives!"
Sinjin made a rude gesture with a few fingers and turned away.
"Ah. A feisty one. I like that."
He nodded to the two other guards. "Get her out."
The two brutes strode forward. One lifted the heavy iron gate on the Sinjin's cell while the other walked in and grabbed her roughly. She struggled violently, spitting and screaming. Her mouth found the guard's forearm and she bit down hard. This drew a yelp of pain from the man who, clutching his wounded arm, lashed out with his foot and kicked Sinjin in the stomach hard. A whoosh of air exploded from her lungs and she collapsed in a heap. As she gasped, struggling to regain her breath, the guard picked her up and slung her over one shoulder. Both guards quickly undid the leather strips that bound her wrists and ankles and held her firmly, spread eagle.
The tall, hawk nosed man stepped forward and tore her leather tunic from her body, leaving her bare. He looked her body over with a practiced eye as if he were examining a slab of meat. He forced her mouth open and checked her teeth and tongue.
"You're right, Berell. She will bring a fine price." One of the guards smiled and nodded. His eyes roamed over her shapely body slowly, admiringly.
"Clean her up," the slaver lord said, "tag her and put her inside. I'll make preparations." With that, he turned and strode out of the chamber.
The two yellows dragged down a short corridor and turned into a large chamber. Manacles were bolted in the walls and floor. Mops, sponges, buckets and rags lined shelves. A drain was in the middle of the floor. Without ceremony, they chained Sinjin into the manacles facing the wall. She heard water being poured and then felt the mops and rags on her body. Thick, waxy soap frothed up and the two guards began scrubbing her thoroughly.
After several minutes of this treatment, they threw several buckets of water over her and toweled her off. She was unshackled and dragged into an adjoining chamber. There a stone table stood with manacles. Again, she was bound and secure with the iron things, this time face down. She turned her head left and right struggling to see what the two slave masters were doing. One held her down with an iron grip. The other put on a pair of thick gloves. He then took a pair of tongs and dipped them into a jar of viscous, black liquid. The liquid moved and thrashed about as if agitated by the metal instrument. He clamped down on something and pulled the tongs out. A small worm like creature struggled in the grip of the tongs. It's dark red body flailed wildly. Abject terror filled her at the sight of the hideous little thing. She struggled against the manacles, but the other guard only tightened his grip on her. The guard with the tongs moved the creature out of her body and passed out of her range of sight.
She heard the squeak as the tongs opened slowly and felt something small and wet drip onto her back. She shuddered as she felt the wormlike thing move. It began to quickly crawl up her back following the spine. It was cold and clammy and made her skin crawl. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain stab at her back... like a prolonged sting. The pain become intense and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. One of the guards began to chuckle. Sinjin cried out as white hot pain lanced through her. It felt like someone was driving a hot blade into her spine, electrifying every nerve. The guard with the tongs smacked her on the back of the head with a gloved hand.
"Quiet!"
The pain faded and was replaced by a dull, throbbing cramp along her back. She felt the worm squirming and realized that it was now inside her, gripping her spinal cord. Nausea flooded her belly and she was sure she was going to throw up. She didn't resist as the guards undid her arms and legs and hoisted her to her feet. The two men half carried, half dragged her down down a corridor. She didn't pay attention to where she was or what was happening to her. She didn't care about anything except keeping her mind off the sensation of the worm moving inside her. Small twinges of pain flashed along her spine. Just enough to keep her aware. She closed her eyes. The two men laid her down on something soft. She heard them leave and door shut. A lock clicked. Slowly, she curled up into ball, clutched her knees to her stomach and drifted off into a nightmarish sleep.
This page last updated Wednesday, December 24, 2008. Copyright 1990-2009 David M. Roomes.