Bone Traders by Rachel Ford

Author:Rachel Ford [Ford, Rachel]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-03-18T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

The basement was dark, lit here and there by a few torches. But they were too far apart, and insufficient in number, to do much. So I waited again for my eyes to adjust.

The air here was cold as above, but damp and still too. The dankness of moisture long undisturbed filled my nostrils. Liss had pulled us to a shadowy patch behind the stairs, and she surveyed the basement while I got my bearings.

We were the only humans down here. Not that I was surprised, with how dark and dank the place proved to be. Still, that did make our jobs easier, and I breathed a sigh of relief as I glanced up and down the way.

The lower portion of the keep had been divided by stone walls, some of which still stood, and some of which lay in heaps of crumbled mortar and hewn stone. A long hall stretched out in either direction, behind and in front of us. Behind us, I saw smaller rooms. But before us lay a long, straight patch of hall off of which ran cells. Iron bars, and sometimes stone walls, separated the spaces. Rust and age had done a number here too, and gaps filled the barriers.

“There,” Liss whispered, directing my attention to a far cell, and a great, dark form in it. It was too far away to make out with any clarity in the dim light, but I knew in my heart what – who – I was looking at.

Njál. I fought the urge to rush forward, to find and free my friend at once. Instead, I concentrated on our surroundings, listening and feeling for any magical snares.

I found three, one just past the stairs and two among the cells. One by one, I undid them as I’d undone the one on the window. Liss grew impatient, moving and shifting at my side. “Hurry. They’re going to send someone down here, sooner or later,” she said. Then, “How much longer?” And, “Can I go yet?”

Finally, I could answer, “Yes, I’m done.”

“Good. Let’s go then.”

I fell in behind her. She’d drawn a blade – a long, heavy-looking sword that glimmered in the reddish orange torchlight. I didn’t know what trouble she expected, but I readied a spell anyway. I thought of the energy I’d need for a good fireball – and, just as quickly, decided against it. Fireballs were too volatile, or else I was still no good at managing them, even after my brutal weeks of practice.

Either way, I didn’t want to risk it. So I let the energy go easily, calmly. I thought of something else, something tranquil but no less brutal: ice. Deadly, and seasonally appropriate.

Gods, but I needed sleep. I’d slept far too little on the road, and barely at all when we made camp. I’d suspected Liss would try to give me the slip. Just like, I suppose, she suspected I wouldn’t take no for an answer. Oh well. We saw how that played out.

Now who is laughing, eh? Her, probably.

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