Eternity Row by S.L. Viehl

Author:S.L. Viehl
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

Swimming back to consciousness wasn’t difficult. One of the Taercal helped by dousing me with a bucket of cold, white water.

“Wha—” I spluttered and shook my head, trying to free a hand to wipe my face. Only I couldn’t.

I was pinned inside stone—one of the stone blocks we’d seen all around the city. Only my head stuck out through the hole at the top. Something soft and slimy wriggled against my body. Worms. They’d put worms inside this thing with me.

“Reever!”

“Beside you.” My husband, Salo, and my ClanBrother occupied the nearest stone blocks.

I tried to lift my arms out, but there was no room. “Where’s Alunthri and Dhreen?”

“I don’t know. Stay calm.”

Something hopped up on the stone in front of my nose. A small animal with mud-colored fur, four stunted limbs, and translucent hide wings. It hissed at me, and displayed two rows of needle-sharp teeth.

I did not need my face eaten off. “Get away from me!”

It shrieked, hopped back, and took off into the air.

“Drown the demon lack-wit!”

Trying to see who yelled that hurt my neck, then something slipped down the back of my collar. I tucked my chin in and saw that the top of the stone block was heaping with worms, which were crawling into the cavity holding me.

I was going to vomit. Soon. “Duncan—”

“I know,” he said. “Don’t think about it.”

A mob approached the stones. In front of them was a long row of monitors, Tadam Ortsac, Hawk, and Dhreen. Alunthri was nowhere in sight.

Ortsac nodded to the monitors holding Dhreen, and they jerked his head up by yanking on his orange hair. My Oenrallian patient, who should have been in his critical care berth, looked numb and pale.

“Behold the blood polluter, the defiler, the inflictor of pestilence.” Big Bird lashed Dhreen across the face with a stick. Orange blood beaded along the long line of the resulting weal. “Sadda shall rend its flesh and suck from its bones!”

“Stop it!” I fought the stone box, desperately trying to work my arms free. “You can’t do this. Let us go!”

No one so much as glanced at me. Everyone shouted as Ortsac struck Dhreen in the face a second time.

“Cherijo.” My husband nodded at the nearest ziggurat. “Alunthri was taken within, there. They seem to believe the Chakacat is the reincarnation of their messiah.”

“Space their messiah; they’re going to kill Dhreen.” I stopped writhing and tried to concentrate on feeling for any spare inch of room or loose spot. “Why are they beating him? He just got here. He hasn’t done anything.”

Xonea’s head jerked as he struggled with his stone cage. “He resembles the pictographs over the thresholds.”

“What?” I stared at Dhreen as they dragged him toward us. “I thought they were some kind of horned deity.”

“Judging by their reaction, I think not.”

“Hey, Doc.” Blood stained Dhreen’s smile. “I was feeling better before I got here.” He grimaced as another monitor struck him on the back of the neck.

“Be quiet and keep your head down.” I caught the official’s eye.

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