Dragonforge: A Novel of the Dragon Age by James Maxey

Author:James Maxey
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Epic, Fantasy, Fiction, Action & Adventure, General
ISBN: 9781844165810
Publisher: Solaris
Published: 2008-06-24T16:28:17.461000+00:00

Pet gingerly touched his face. His left eyebrow was a hard, swollen knot. He wasn’t certain he could open the eye beneath it—in the pitch black cell, there was no difference with his eyes opened or closed. He was missing three teeth, two on the top and one on the bottom. His hair was tangled and glued to his face by dried blood. His nose was too painful for him to explore its new contours. He couldn’t breathe through it, which was just as well. He could taste hints of the odors that haunted the cell. He’d barely been awake earlier when the guards fastened the manacles onto his arms and legs. An earth-dragon had sullenly washed the floors by pouring stagnant water from a wooden bucket onto the area where the girl’s corpse had been. The traces of urine and vomit that crossed his tongue were dreadful; he was glad his broken nose spared him the full impact of the stench.

He drifted in and out of wakefulness. He wasn’t certain how much time had passed; though it felt as if he’d been here an eternity, he suspected he hadn’t even endured a day, since the guards hadn’t yet fed him.

In the tomblike silence, Pet’s attention was drawn to a scratching, clicking noise nearby. A rat? No, the scraping was more metallic, like long needles tapping against iron. A moment later, a loud clank echoed through the chamber, the distinctive sound of a padlock opening. The hinges of the iron door groaned as they inched open. Dim light seeped through the ever-widening gap.

Two women squeezed into the doorway, their faces barely visible in the light of a small vial that glowed with a yellow-white phosphorescence like an oversized firefly. The women had shaved heads tattooed with serpentine designs; their bodies were hidden beneath heavy black cloaks. They moved barefoot across the floor toward Pet.

A yard away, they drew to a sudden stop.

“That’s not Deanna,” one said.

“Help me,” Pet whispered, his voice sounding like someone else’s as it passed through his damaged mouth.

“Kill him,” the sister who carried the light said, drawing her dagger.

“Wait,” the sister on the right said. “I’ve seen him before. He’s the one they chained before the crowd in the Free City. His face is messed up now, but I remember his hair.”

“That’s me,” Pet said, summoning the strength to sit up. “I was the one Albekizan tortured. You were in the Free City?”

“Yes,” the girl said bending down to take a closer look at his face. “Is it true? You’re the great dragon-slayer?”

Pet turned his head, ashamed that these girls were staring at his damaged face. He felt like a monster. “I’m not a great anything anymore,” he whispered.

“We should free him,” the woman said, kneeling and grabbing his chains.

“Are you crazy?” the other one hissed. “This isn’t the mission.”

“Missions change,” the woman answered as she started working her lockpicks within the manacle that bound Pet. With a snick, the band loosened. He rubbed his free arm.

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