Bound to the Abyss

Author:Vernon, James [Vernon, James]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2014-04-01T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

TEST OF CHARACTER

Why did he keep making such horrible decisions? He had always been so careful at home. Shaking his head in annoyance, Ean snuck along until he was only a few paces away from the figures. This close he could make out two distinct figures. The man seemed to be on top of the woman, his arms doing things that Ean couldn’t see. It was clear though that the woman wasn’t enjoying it. She thrashed around beneath the man, trying to escape.

Ean’s breath caught in his throat, and he wished he had just walked on by and remained ignorant of what was happening in this dark alleyway.

But he hadn’t.

Now he couldn’t live with himself if he just walked away. But what could he do without a weapon? He could try to cast a rune, but which could he use? The wrong one could make things much worse. His mind raced as his eyes jerked around on to the rocks on the ground, to a loose shard of glass, to the stack of firewood against the building. That would have to do. He grabbed a piece of wood … causing the rest of the pile to spill down with a clatter.

The man immediately spun, drawing a dagger from his waist. He was an average-looking man, not much taller than Ean, with scraggly hair and a misshaped beard. Dressed in shabby brown clothes from top to bottom with an empty quiver at his waist, his face registered surprise at first. When he sized Ean up, a vile grin spread across his stubbly face.

“Come here, boy.” His voice was harsh and gravelly. “Best if you don’t make me chase you down like I did this little tart.”

The man’s free hand beckoned reassuringly while the one holding the dagger was held back a bit. The girl stayed where he had left her, either too scared or hurt to use the opportunity to flee.

It was all Ean could do not to bolt away. He believed the man could catch him; Ean certainly wasn’t a fast runner, but if he threw the log at his leg, maybe that could slow him down enough so that Ean could get away. Or his throw could miss, which was more likely to happen, and he would end up angering the man. And what about the girl? If the girl would just get up and run, she might have a chance.

“Come on, come on,” the man said impatiently. “I don’t need to kill you, boy. A quick knock on the head and you get to sleep through this little nightmare. You wake up, me and the rest of my mates are gone, and you’re none the worse for wear.”

His voice dropped low, his grip on the dagger tightening as he inched forward. “But if I have to waste the time to catch you, when the villagers find you in the morning, it will take days for them to even figure out if the pieces I’ve left are even human.

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