Read Online Rojan Dizon 03 - Last to Rise by Francis Knight - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Francis Knight
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muttered as he threw himself through the doorway and around a corner, out of the line of fire.
“You got that right.” I was half a step behind him.
Halina yanked on the mechanism, but the door stayed where it was and laughed at us. More bullets whizzed past, making us all duck for cover.
“There was another lever inside to shut the door,” I said from behind the false safety of a wall.
Halina shook her head. “The whole thing’s jammed – there was a coupling inside it and that got smashed. What about the other ones? That you told me not to touch? Bet your life those do something.”
“Got to be worth a go.”
Only, naturally, getting to them meant crossing the line of sight of the guns that were rapidly approaching. Unless I used my juice.
I slid down the wall and worked as fast as I could. They weren’t big, it shouldn’t take much. A clench of my buggered hand, a quick spike of pain, a call of the black that I could shove back and down, for now, and the first lever moved. Nothing happened except the Storad got closer and I got more desperate. If they got inside the castle, or even if they got back to their camp and told everyone where this tunnel was, we were screwed. Worse than screwed.
How old were these levers? It didn’t matter, all that mattered was whether they worked. Another burst of pain, another surge of juice. I overdid it, and the second lever snapped in two.
Pasha muttering behind me didn’t really help, though I thought I could hear something odd down the tunnel, like two of the Storad had decided to get into a fist fight.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Halina said, twisted her fingers and glared at the third lever as though it was personally thwarting her. It slid down like a dream, trailing a rumbling noise in its wake, followed rapidly by a thud like worlds colliding. A cloud of dust billowed out of the tunnel. Pasha swore violently to one side of me and clutched his head in his hands.
Nobody was shooting any more, which was a relief. Pasha didn’t seem capable of talking – he was moaning fit to bust – as I took my life in my hands and peered into the dust.
“I thought you were going to leave us in there for a moment,” I managed to pant out at Halina.
“Considered it,” Halina said with a grin that could have felled angels. “You’re a pain in the arse, but not that much. I may be tempted if that changes.”
“Thanks. I think.” The dust began to clear, and I began to wish it hadn’t. Pasha’s moans took on a whole new meaning.
I looked back to where the Storad had been about to leap out of the tunnel. “You know what I said about a ten-ton slab of rock?” I said. “I think I was right.” Then I threw up.
Chapter Five
That sneaky old warlord who built the castle and its attendant tunnels knew what he was about all right. Turned out this particular tunnel was constructed, not to be found exactly, but to be just that little bit more findable than the rest. A sort of false hope for anyone looking, to lure them in and kill them with a series of fiendish traps, deadfalls, spikes and other nasty surprises which the Storad had been patiently dismantling or finding ways round. It also turned out that the lever I’d snapped, when fixed, raised the ten-ton slab. What was left underneath wasn’t pretty.
The rest of the tunnel had various ingenious devices all along its length, at every twist and turn, all set to spring on anyone coming
in
, but not on anyone going
out
. If not for them, we’d have had about twice as many Storad to deal with as we had.
Goddess’s tits, that ancestor of ours had a mean streak and a very inventive mind, which had saved our arses for now, or at least slowed the Storad down. Perak had doubled the number of guards searching for the rest of the tunnels too, and Lise had an afternoon of fun dreaming up a few chemical traps that would terminally deter anyone wandering in.
Once Pasha had got over the shock of having all those voices
“You got that right.” I was half a step behind him.
Halina yanked on the mechanism, but the door stayed where it was and laughed at us. More bullets whizzed past, making us all duck for cover.
“There was another lever inside to shut the door,” I said from behind the false safety of a wall.
Halina shook her head. “The whole thing’s jammed – there was a coupling inside it and that got smashed. What about the other ones? That you told me not to touch? Bet your life those do something.”
“Got to be worth a go.”
Only, naturally, getting to them meant crossing the line of sight of the guns that were rapidly approaching. Unless I used my juice.
I slid down the wall and worked as fast as I could. They weren’t big, it shouldn’t take much. A clench of my buggered hand, a quick spike of pain, a call of the black that I could shove back and down, for now, and the first lever moved. Nothing happened except the Storad got closer and I got more desperate. If they got inside the castle, or even if they got back to their camp and told everyone where this tunnel was, we were screwed. Worse than screwed.
How old were these levers? It didn’t matter, all that mattered was whether they worked. Another burst of pain, another surge of juice. I overdid it, and the second lever snapped in two.
Pasha muttering behind me didn’t really help, though I thought I could hear something odd down the tunnel, like two of the Storad had decided to get into a fist fight.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Halina said, twisted her fingers and glared at the third lever as though it was personally thwarting her. It slid down like a dream, trailing a rumbling noise in its wake, followed rapidly by a thud like worlds colliding. A cloud of dust billowed out of the tunnel. Pasha swore violently to one side of me and clutched his head in his hands.
Nobody was shooting any more, which was a relief. Pasha didn’t seem capable of talking – he was moaning fit to bust – as I took my life in my hands and peered into the dust.
“I thought you were going to leave us in there for a moment,” I managed to pant out at Halina.
“Considered it,” Halina said with a grin that could have felled angels. “You’re a pain in the arse, but not that much. I may be tempted if that changes.”
“Thanks. I think.” The dust began to clear, and I began to wish it hadn’t. Pasha’s moans took on a whole new meaning.
I looked back to where the Storad had been about to leap out of the tunnel. “You know what I said about a ten-ton slab of rock?” I said. “I think I was right.” Then I threw up.
Chapter Five
That sneaky old warlord who built the castle and its attendant tunnels knew what he was about all right. Turned out this particular tunnel was constructed, not to be found exactly, but to be just that little bit more findable than the rest. A sort of false hope for anyone looking, to lure them in and kill them with a series of fiendish traps, deadfalls, spikes and other nasty surprises which the Storad had been patiently dismantling or finding ways round. It also turned out that the lever I’d snapped, when fixed, raised the ten-ton slab. What was left underneath wasn’t pretty.
The rest of the tunnel had various ingenious devices all along its length, at every twist and turn, all set to spring on anyone coming
in
, but not on anyone going
out
. If not for them, we’d have had about twice as many Storad to deal with as we had.
Goddess’s tits, that ancestor of ours had a mean streak and a very inventive mind, which had saved our arses for now, or at least slowed the Storad down. Perak had doubled the number of guards searching for the rest of the tunnels too, and Lise had an afternoon of fun dreaming up a few chemical traps that would terminally deter anyone wandering in.
Once Pasha had got over the shock of having all those voices
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