Read Online The Way Into Darkness: Book Three of The Great Way by Harry Connolly - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Harry Connolly
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insides into clean water.
“Monument sustain me,” Lowtower muttered.
Tejohn couldn’t blame him. “I know. But we don’t have another truly effective weapon to use against The Blessing. Now line your men up.”
The commander formed the men into a long column. “You push forward,” he snapped at them. “You keep your shield high.”
Tejohn looked over the soldiers. They were all men, and they were a sorry bunch. Not as useless as the old tyr’s “guards,” perhaps, but they muttered and shuffled their feet as they formed up. Tejohn wanted to slap each of them on the helmet, and Commander Lowtower deserved three, at least, for letting them get into this state.
“How many of you have lost family to the Twofins?” Lowtower said. “How many more if we do not stop these madmen here? Shields high, do you hear?”
Tejohn wanted to be at the front of that line, but he had no shield or spear of his own, and no confidence that the soldiers wouldn’t knife him in the back on general principle. Instead, he lingered near the door.
“When I open, Pik, you charge forward. Hard.” Commander Lowtower lifted the latch and threw his shoulder against it. It moved a hand’s width before banging to a stop. He pushed again and again but came up against the same barrier each time.
“Is it barred?” Redegg called from the end of the hall.
“No.” Lowtower pushed against it with all his strength, but the door wouldn’t budge.
Tejohn stepped forward and looked through the narrow gap between the open door and the jamb. He could see pink granite from top to bottom.
“He’s blocked it,” Tejohn said. He paced back and forth. “Bluepetal, was this blocked when you made a delivery here?”
“No,” the merchant called, “but I have not been here for some eleven days.”
Tejohn paced walked up and down the hall. Twofin could be right inside this room. The question was: had Doctor Twofin fled here after his brother’s death and blocked the door from the inside, or did he block the door every time he left the room unattended, knowing he could shatter those stones easily when he returned?
In other words, was the man behind this door right now?
Tejohn was suddenly certain that the three sisters had lied to him—how could he have been so thick not to have seen it immediately? Tejohn should have forced them to come along and call to Doctor Twofin through the door. It probably wouldn’t work on a hollowed-out scholar, but it was better than standing here watching soldiers strain at a door.
Fire and Fury, he was supposed to slip quietly through the pass with Javien, and thanks to a moment of bad luck, he’d lost everything: his companion, his anonymity, and his escort into the Sweeps. Now he was stuck in Twofin’s holdfast, searching for an old colleague in hopes he could kill the man quickly.
But there was too much he didn’t know. How extensive were these tunnels? How many troops were down here, and how many on the surface? Was there a back door into Doctor Twofin’s room?
Doctor Rexler killed more than a hundred men and women before he could be stopped.
Tejohn moved westward along the hall. The far end was completely open, although here the wall extended several feet beyond the spot where the floor ended. Was there another gallery on the other side of this wall? Tejohn wanted to climb out and see for himself, but the stone was slick and the drop terrifying. They’d already descended several levels, but from here it looked like the same dizzying height.
“My tyr!” Lowtower called to him. Tejohn spun and hurried toward him, through the parted column of spears. “Part of the wall must have collapsed here.”
There was indeed a hole in the stone wall just at shoulder height. It was vaguely rectangular, as though a stone mason had come along and cleaned up the edges. Inside the hole was a beautifully built wooden shutter, exactly the right size to be wedged in
“Monument sustain me,” Lowtower muttered.
Tejohn couldn’t blame him. “I know. But we don’t have another truly effective weapon to use against The Blessing. Now line your men up.”
The commander formed the men into a long column. “You push forward,” he snapped at them. “You keep your shield high.”
Tejohn looked over the soldiers. They were all men, and they were a sorry bunch. Not as useless as the old tyr’s “guards,” perhaps, but they muttered and shuffled their feet as they formed up. Tejohn wanted to slap each of them on the helmet, and Commander Lowtower deserved three, at least, for letting them get into this state.
“How many of you have lost family to the Twofins?” Lowtower said. “How many more if we do not stop these madmen here? Shields high, do you hear?”
Tejohn wanted to be at the front of that line, but he had no shield or spear of his own, and no confidence that the soldiers wouldn’t knife him in the back on general principle. Instead, he lingered near the door.
“When I open, Pik, you charge forward. Hard.” Commander Lowtower lifted the latch and threw his shoulder against it. It moved a hand’s width before banging to a stop. He pushed again and again but came up against the same barrier each time.
“Is it barred?” Redegg called from the end of the hall.
“No.” Lowtower pushed against it with all his strength, but the door wouldn’t budge.
Tejohn stepped forward and looked through the narrow gap between the open door and the jamb. He could see pink granite from top to bottom.
“He’s blocked it,” Tejohn said. He paced back and forth. “Bluepetal, was this blocked when you made a delivery here?”
“No,” the merchant called, “but I have not been here for some eleven days.”
Tejohn paced walked up and down the hall. Twofin could be right inside this room. The question was: had Doctor Twofin fled here after his brother’s death and blocked the door from the inside, or did he block the door every time he left the room unattended, knowing he could shatter those stones easily when he returned?
In other words, was the man behind this door right now?
Tejohn was suddenly certain that the three sisters had lied to him—how could he have been so thick not to have seen it immediately? Tejohn should have forced them to come along and call to Doctor Twofin through the door. It probably wouldn’t work on a hollowed-out scholar, but it was better than standing here watching soldiers strain at a door.
Fire and Fury, he was supposed to slip quietly through the pass with Javien, and thanks to a moment of bad luck, he’d lost everything: his companion, his anonymity, and his escort into the Sweeps. Now he was stuck in Twofin’s holdfast, searching for an old colleague in hopes he could kill the man quickly.
But there was too much he didn’t know. How extensive were these tunnels? How many troops were down here, and how many on the surface? Was there a back door into Doctor Twofin’s room?
Doctor Rexler killed more than a hundred men and women before he could be stopped.
Tejohn moved westward along the hall. The far end was completely open, although here the wall extended several feet beyond the spot where the floor ended. Was there another gallery on the other side of this wall? Tejohn wanted to climb out and see for himself, but the stone was slick and the drop terrifying. They’d already descended several levels, but from here it looked like the same dizzying height.
“My tyr!” Lowtower called to him. Tejohn spun and hurried toward him, through the parted column of spears. “Part of the wall must have collapsed here.”
There was indeed a hole in the stone wall just at shoulder height. It was vaguely rectangular, as though a stone mason had come along and cleaned up the edges. Inside the hole was a beautifully built wooden shutter, exactly the right size to be wedged in
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