Read Online Return of the Ancients by Greig Beck - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Greig Beck
Tags: Fantasy
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all silver rivets, wild eyes and fangs.
Arn felt a sudden urge to yell to them – let them know he was there. Perhaps he might even get some answers. But something in their shape held him back. At that moment, the mounted warrior lifted his hands to his head and removed his helmet.
Arn’s breath caught in his chest. The shape of the helmet was no simple design of fancy. Instead, it looked as if it had been moulded to its owner’s actual features; a silver grey wolf’s head looked up to the sky, and the knight lifted one hand and ran it across his fur from snout to forehead. He opened his mouth in an anguished grimace, long teeth gleaming whitely in his long face.
Arn was frozen with fear and indecision. Given the dangers he had encountered to date, he fully expected these creatures to be carnivorous. The knight turned his head, and eyes like twin gun barrels fixed on Arn. Even from that great distance, Arn saw them momentarily widen in surprise. Those long teeth flashed again as the knight spoke to another, now standing at his shoulder. He pointed, and then the other armoured wolf also looked to where Arn was standing.
Arn wasn’t going to wait for these creatures to come and fetch him for dinner, but as he turned to run back down the hill, he found himself face-to-face with a sinister, robed figure.
It was no more than four feet in height. From under the hood of its robe, eyes that were yellow slits embedded in night-dark orbs stared unblinkingly. Beneath a small, flattened snout, a wedge-shaped mouth hung open to reveal rows of needle-like teeth in black gums.
Arn thought he saw it smile as its furred hand, which was little more than a clump of wickedly curved hooks, snagged his shirt and dragged him forward. As he struggled to free himself, something hit him on the side of his head, and mercifully everything went black.
Chapter 8
I Come in Peace
Arn woke to feel a chill across his belly and chest, and pain across most of his upper body.
He tried to sit up but couldn’t, and realised he was roped, spread-eagled, to a wooden frame. Worse still, he was naked. He leaned forward and saw that his clothes had been ripped to shreds and dumped in a pile. His wallet lay open, its contents also shredded, his sticks of gum scattered on the grass. Another piece lay chewed up in a small puddle of slimy goo, as though someone had tasted it and then spat it out.
Arn saw that his pocketknife lay unopened on a bench nearby, its stiff hinges obviously proving too much for the creature’s clawed hands. But there was no diamond. A small sound made him whip his head around, and the frame squeaked underneath him.
Several more robed creatures, squatting nearby, heard the movement and got to their feet. All moved to stand beside the frame, staring for a moment, before talking in a whining singsong language to each other. One pointed to several bits of Arn’s anatomy, this followed by more hissing and whining that grated on his already stretched nerves.
A hooked claw was pointed at his groin. The look of disgust on their flat features was plain to see – he was obviously as repugnant to them as they were to him.
There came a noise from behind the strange group that immediately quietened them, and then the frame was lowered until it lay at about his captives’ chest level. Feels like an operating table , Arn thought as he watched the creatures, and teased the ropes at his wrists.
With their robed heads bowed, they parted to allow a grey-faced creature to approach. It moved immediately up to his head, and bent closer to examine him with an unblinking stare, its yellow slitted eyes never straying from his own. The gaze was so intense, Arn felt it was stripping him down to the bone.
Arn tried to return the stare, but found it hard to look into the hypnotic gaze for very long. Instead, he looked into its mouth, which hung open to reveal the same needle-like teeth the others had, but these were grey and decayed with
Arn felt a sudden urge to yell to them – let them know he was there. Perhaps he might even get some answers. But something in their shape held him back. At that moment, the mounted warrior lifted his hands to his head and removed his helmet.
Arn’s breath caught in his chest. The shape of the helmet was no simple design of fancy. Instead, it looked as if it had been moulded to its owner’s actual features; a silver grey wolf’s head looked up to the sky, and the knight lifted one hand and ran it across his fur from snout to forehead. He opened his mouth in an anguished grimace, long teeth gleaming whitely in his long face.
Arn was frozen with fear and indecision. Given the dangers he had encountered to date, he fully expected these creatures to be carnivorous. The knight turned his head, and eyes like twin gun barrels fixed on Arn. Even from that great distance, Arn saw them momentarily widen in surprise. Those long teeth flashed again as the knight spoke to another, now standing at his shoulder. He pointed, and then the other armoured wolf also looked to where Arn was standing.
Arn wasn’t going to wait for these creatures to come and fetch him for dinner, but as he turned to run back down the hill, he found himself face-to-face with a sinister, robed figure.
It was no more than four feet in height. From under the hood of its robe, eyes that were yellow slits embedded in night-dark orbs stared unblinkingly. Beneath a small, flattened snout, a wedge-shaped mouth hung open to reveal rows of needle-like teeth in black gums.
Arn thought he saw it smile as its furred hand, which was little more than a clump of wickedly curved hooks, snagged his shirt and dragged him forward. As he struggled to free himself, something hit him on the side of his head, and mercifully everything went black.
Chapter 8
I Come in Peace
Arn woke to feel a chill across his belly and chest, and pain across most of his upper body.
He tried to sit up but couldn’t, and realised he was roped, spread-eagled, to a wooden frame. Worse still, he was naked. He leaned forward and saw that his clothes had been ripped to shreds and dumped in a pile. His wallet lay open, its contents also shredded, his sticks of gum scattered on the grass. Another piece lay chewed up in a small puddle of slimy goo, as though someone had tasted it and then spat it out.
Arn saw that his pocketknife lay unopened on a bench nearby, its stiff hinges obviously proving too much for the creature’s clawed hands. But there was no diamond. A small sound made him whip his head around, and the frame squeaked underneath him.
Several more robed creatures, squatting nearby, heard the movement and got to their feet. All moved to stand beside the frame, staring for a moment, before talking in a whining singsong language to each other. One pointed to several bits of Arn’s anatomy, this followed by more hissing and whining that grated on his already stretched nerves.
A hooked claw was pointed at his groin. The look of disgust on their flat features was plain to see – he was obviously as repugnant to them as they were to him.
There came a noise from behind the strange group that immediately quietened them, and then the frame was lowered until it lay at about his captives’ chest level. Feels like an operating table , Arn thought as he watched the creatures, and teased the ropes at his wrists.
With their robed heads bowed, they parted to allow a grey-faced creature to approach. It moved immediately up to his head, and bent closer to examine him with an unblinking stare, its yellow slitted eyes never straying from his own. The gaze was so intense, Arn felt it was stripping him down to the bone.
Arn tried to return the stare, but found it hard to look into the hypnotic gaze for very long. Instead, he looked into its mouth, which hung open to reveal the same needle-like teeth the others had, but these were grey and decayed with
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