Priestess of War (The Bowl of Souls Book 10) by Trevor H. Cooley

Author:Trevor H. Cooley [Cooley, Trevor H.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2016-12-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

The Black Lake didn’t act like water. It didn’t ripple with the breeze. The edges of the cliff face surrounding it weren’t reflected on its surface. The lake was, in fact, not truly a liquid at all, but a flowing mass of larvae and decaying organic matter with the consistency of hot tar.

The blackness absorbed the light that shone on it and, instead of rippling in the breeze, it shuddered slightly like the skin of a pudding. Every once in a while, the stillness of the lake was disturbed, its surface swelling and shifting as some monstrous form contorted within its depths.

The air above the lake was filled with shifting swarms of flies that weaved with the currents produced by the lake’s heat. The shoreline was covered with hundreds of corpses, lying in an unmoving state. The dead came from many races, most of them goblinoid, but there were also a mix of humans and members of the blood magic and demon races, along with more strange and exotic beasts whose lives had been taken by the lake’s evil.

Normally, the heat and flies would equal a quick deterioration of the dead, but the corpses rotted very slowly. The larvae that infested them retarded the decay of the bodies and kept the connective tissues firm, keeping them useful to the evil power that dwelled at the lake’s bottom.

The Black Lake’s surface bulged again not far from the shoreline as a rounded shape emerged. A glistening sludge-covered thing, looking as if it were made from the essence of the lake itself, stepped up onto the shore. It was about the height of a man, but bulky, the details of its form obscured by the blackness that weighed it down.

The corpses lying on the shore stirred, some of them lifting their heads to watch as it moved up the slope past them with heavy ponderous steps. The thing moved up the one clear pathway between the dead, headed towards the large rock building that protruded from the side of the cliff wall.

The building was tall and square with smooth walls that looked as if they were formed from a single sheet of rock. It’s door was a flat sided boulder and the building was topped with a slanted roof that pointed towards the lake. A steady stream of smoke belched from the single chimney that protruded from the roof’s highest point.

The lake thing stepped onto the flat rocky porch and waved a dripping arm. The heavy boulder rolled back from the building’s entrance and the thing made its ponderous way inside. As soon as it passed through the doorway, the boulder rolled shut behind it.

Inside was a stark entryway. Lit with glow orbs, its only decoration was a box full of ash. The thing made to move towards the open doorway beyond, but stopped in the center of the room.

Slowly, the sludge rolled off of the creature in great clumps. Emerging from the blackness was the Priestess of War, hooded and covered by a red cloak.

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.