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Authors: Daniel F McHugh
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folded across the ridged hide.
The wings created an eerie, rasping noise that sounded strangely melodic. The
nightmare crept forward, swaying to the rasping.
The maw of the beast came into focus. A heavy, wide
jaw held a row of long, pointed teeth. Deep set, angular eyes boiled red with
an evil rage. Thick brows, encrusted with stone, supported a crown of blunt
horns.
It halted within a yard of the colonel. A guttering
torch bled light onto its snarling muzzle and those crimson eyes held the army
officer fixed to the wall. They inched closer and acidy drool spattered on the
floor at the colonel’s feet, blackening the stone.
“P-Please Lord Izgra .... spare me from this hideous
creature .... I beg you,” the colonel cried as he fought to avert his eyes from
the hypnotic gaze.
The beast shifted its weight forward and hovered
over the man. A guttural rumble issued from the depths of its cavernous chest.
It threw its head back and a cold laugh boomed from beneath quivering lips.
“Hideous creature. One day I will snap your bones
and suck the marrow for those remarks,” growled the beast, “but today you are
still valuable to my master.”
Its weight shifted backward.
“Know that you speak to Sulgor, Lord of the
Malveel. As old as the mountains. Immortal. Guides and Guardians tremble at our
sight. Obey me and you shall live.”
As the creature spoke its mouth curved into a
wicked smile, exposing the massive black fangs that dripped with spittle.
“The General failed to secure our quarry,” Sulgor
glared at the charred body in the chamber’s corner. “You will start where he
left off. You will return to the city of Zodra and spread the story of a
cowardly ambush by the Keltaran giants of the West. The giants waylaid you and
the General while you rode on a scouting mission. The General fought the giants
bravely, but his decision to ride with only his aide-de-camp and no troop
escort was a foolish one. It cost him his life.”
The creature paused.
“You suffered grave injury but were able to escape
death.”
The colonel remained trembling near the floor of
the chamber during this exchange, his eyes caught in the charmed gaze of the
Malveel King. However, the news of his impending release emboldened him. His
mind raced through different ways to achieve the deception suggested. It would
be difficult to convince the king’s military staff that the General was killed
and that he, Colonel Udas, somehow escaped a dozen Keltaran giants. A grave
injury? How might he feign a grave injury?
The Malveel hovering above him smiled as it saw
recognition enter the colonel’s mind.
“How am I to ...?” muttered the man slowly.
With lightning speed the creature’s claws slashed
down upon the colonel’s forearm, severing it from the elbow. The armored limb
spun through the air and clattered off the stonewall ten yards away.
Three hulking Ulrog stone men rushed into the room.
One sprang forward and threw a powerful chokehold about the colonel’s neck
stifling his screams of agony and terror. The second clumsily looped a noose
around the stump of the man’s right arm, pulled the noose taught and stabbed a
searing hot torch onto the gushing wound. The third lumbered forward with a
pair of bulky, military saddlebags, dumping them at the restrained man’s feet
and spilling the contents across the chamber floor.
Even through madness and terror the Zodrian colonel
recognized a small fortune in gold and precious stones. The Lord of the Malveel
sneered at the struggling human.
“When you recover, collect your treasonous bounty
and attend to my master’s business!”
CHAPTER 5: UP THE WINDING STAIRCASE
Kael tossed and turned the entire evening and did
not feel rested when he woke before sunup. He was worried how Aemmon fared
during the night in the Nagur. He dressed quickly and moved to the doorway.
What was he to do? Was he allowed to roam the castle without an escort? His
hand shook as he grasped the handle and
The wings created an eerie, rasping noise that sounded strangely melodic. The
nightmare crept forward, swaying to the rasping.
The maw of the beast came into focus. A heavy, wide
jaw held a row of long, pointed teeth. Deep set, angular eyes boiled red with
an evil rage. Thick brows, encrusted with stone, supported a crown of blunt
horns.
It halted within a yard of the colonel. A guttering
torch bled light onto its snarling muzzle and those crimson eyes held the army
officer fixed to the wall. They inched closer and acidy drool spattered on the
floor at the colonel’s feet, blackening the stone.
“P-Please Lord Izgra .... spare me from this hideous
creature .... I beg you,” the colonel cried as he fought to avert his eyes from
the hypnotic gaze.
The beast shifted its weight forward and hovered
over the man. A guttural rumble issued from the depths of its cavernous chest.
It threw its head back and a cold laugh boomed from beneath quivering lips.
“Hideous creature. One day I will snap your bones
and suck the marrow for those remarks,” growled the beast, “but today you are
still valuable to my master.”
Its weight shifted backward.
“Know that you speak to Sulgor, Lord of the
Malveel. As old as the mountains. Immortal. Guides and Guardians tremble at our
sight. Obey me and you shall live.”
As the creature spoke its mouth curved into a
wicked smile, exposing the massive black fangs that dripped with spittle.
“The General failed to secure our quarry,” Sulgor
glared at the charred body in the chamber’s corner. “You will start where he
left off. You will return to the city of Zodra and spread the story of a
cowardly ambush by the Keltaran giants of the West. The giants waylaid you and
the General while you rode on a scouting mission. The General fought the giants
bravely, but his decision to ride with only his aide-de-camp and no troop
escort was a foolish one. It cost him his life.”
The creature paused.
“You suffered grave injury but were able to escape
death.”
The colonel remained trembling near the floor of
the chamber during this exchange, his eyes caught in the charmed gaze of the
Malveel King. However, the news of his impending release emboldened him. His
mind raced through different ways to achieve the deception suggested. It would
be difficult to convince the king’s military staff that the General was killed
and that he, Colonel Udas, somehow escaped a dozen Keltaran giants. A grave
injury? How might he feign a grave injury?
The Malveel hovering above him smiled as it saw
recognition enter the colonel’s mind.
“How am I to ...?” muttered the man slowly.
With lightning speed the creature’s claws slashed
down upon the colonel’s forearm, severing it from the elbow. The armored limb
spun through the air and clattered off the stonewall ten yards away.
Three hulking Ulrog stone men rushed into the room.
One sprang forward and threw a powerful chokehold about the colonel’s neck
stifling his screams of agony and terror. The second clumsily looped a noose
around the stump of the man’s right arm, pulled the noose taught and stabbed a
searing hot torch onto the gushing wound. The third lumbered forward with a
pair of bulky, military saddlebags, dumping them at the restrained man’s feet
and spilling the contents across the chamber floor.
Even through madness and terror the Zodrian colonel
recognized a small fortune in gold and precious stones. The Lord of the Malveel
sneered at the struggling human.
“When you recover, collect your treasonous bounty
and attend to my master’s business!”
CHAPTER 5: UP THE WINDING STAIRCASE
Kael tossed and turned the entire evening and did
not feel rested when he woke before sunup. He was worried how Aemmon fared
during the night in the Nagur. He dressed quickly and moved to the doorway.
What was he to do? Was he allowed to roam the castle without an escort? His
hand shook as he grasped the handle and
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