Bedlam Unleashed by Peter Welmerink & Peter Welmerink

Author:Peter Welmerink & Peter Welmerink [Shrewsbury, Steven]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-941706-52-7
Publisher: Seventh Star Press

* * *

ACT V -- Into the Castle Deep

* * *

Winding down the stone steps, I swallowed and tried to pry my dry tongue from the roof of my mouth. I looked down the center of the building at the shattered flooring—the path Bedlam must have taken when he fell. The entire place seemed ready to collapse; the cold stone walls even quaked as if their strength waned.

My boots clomped dully along my path as I left two floors and the wizard’s roost above me. A small window lent a view of the outside as I settled upon the second floor of the decaying castle. Dark winged forms jumped and weaved at the bottom of the hill where even smaller forms darted underneath them. Not wanting to think about the grotesque gargoyle or foul dwarf in heated battle, I attuned my eyesight to the area before me. This floor was intact and seemed safe to traverse.

Lifting a foot to advance, I nearly jumped and toppled when the sudden sound of wooden objects breaking and an angry voice shattered the eerie castle silence. I calmed when the loud swearing rumbled through the air, knowing it was Bedlam who made the ruckus.

“Get off me, you little sons of bitches!” Erik growled and more wood splintered.

Thinking him besieged by the dwarves, I charged down a narrow hallway and into the room where Bedlam thrashed. However, he was the only human in the room. The place had been full of great wooden cabinets and cases for weapons, all long gone. These were reduced to splinters by Erik’s insane body blows for he was wrestling with dozens of tiny rats that scrambled all over him. The gray walls were stained with bloody spots for Erik had smashed many of his tiny attackers to their doom as he raged. Coming clean of the filthy rodents, his flaring eyes glared at me.

“Erik! Is the maiden below?”

“Pass water on that maiden of yours!” Erik roared. “I would have done with this place. Even the rats hasten to escape!”

“The wizard Kendrick…” I started to say, but Erik shoved me to one side.

“I would have his tongue,” Erik promised and thundered out of the room and down the hall, axe in hand. I wondered if his ability to see darker domains outside our world lent him the access to wander this gloomy place without torchlight, for I soon heard his heavy heels, heading upward, upon the stone stairway.

“Alanis,” a feminine voice cooed in my ear.

My body jerked, and I glanced around, but no one was near. I could sense her, smell her, feel her, and my heart raged on. I ran to the stairway, torchlight flickering, bouncing, and returned to my descent. The ground floor was a catastrophe of broken furniture and dusty tapestries. My footfalls made odd sounds as they stepped silently along carpet then tapped upon flagstone.

I found myself in the center of this level, lungs gasping the musty air. My hand reached to an immense beam in the middle of the floor, something for me to lean upon as I caught my breath.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.