Promise of Wrath by Steve McHugh

Author:Steve McHugh [McHugh, Steve]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction, Fantasy
ISBN: 9781503940062
Publisher: 47North
Published: 2016-09-13T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 22

September 1195. City of Acre.

I punched Mordred in the face. I’d asked a simple question about why Isabel had been turned into a vampire, and why they’d then sent her back to us, and all Mordred did was snarl and threaten me. It had gotten old, and frankly I was bored with it.

Gilgamesh wrapped his massive arms around me and dragged me away to the far corner of the room. “Stay here.” It wasn’t a suggestion.

I thought about disobeying him, but in the long run it would only cause more trouble, and I needed answers more than I needed to pummel Mordred into a fine paste. I left the room, allowing Gilgamesh, Irkalla, and Nabu to complete their questions, and walked over to Nanshe, who was sat alone.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Asag is in the city,” she told me. “He escaped and killed his guards. He fled into the city. More death and destruction. I’m getting exceptionally tired of it. Tired of listening to Mordred’s babbling, too.”

“He’s hard work, isn’t he?”

“Was he like that when you were friends?”

I shook my head. “Nothing about the current man is the same as he was when we were friends.”

“He still asked to see you when he was captured, though. He was quite insistent, and wouldn’t talk to anyone else.”

I got up and walked back into Mordred’s prison, just as Gilgamesh was leaving. “Did you know that Isabel wasn’t going to be killed?” I asked Mordred.

“No,” Mordred admitted. “I didn’t know they would turn her instead. I believe that was probably the plan all along. I doubt they wanted you to find her so quickly, though. Putting a newly awakened vampire in the city would have resulted in carnage.”

“Yes, it would have,” I agreed. “I think that was the plan. We split our troops into those manning the walls, dealing with a vampire, dealing with Siris, and dealing with Asag, not to mention those who still guard you, and anyone cleaning up the fake knights and their mess. That’s a lot for the guard to undertake.”

“They’re stretching us thin,” Nabu said.

“Yes. While our resources are all over the place, they’ll attack. I wouldn’t be surprised if they do something else to take our attention away from the defense of the city.”

“Tiamat’s children,” Nanshe said. “That’s what you told us those knights were after. Unleashing her children.”

“They’re safety locked away in another realm,” Nabu said. “Been that way for a long time.”

“So what does Acre have in its boundaries that they think would allow them to bring her children into this realm?” I asked.

“The catacombs,” Nanshe said. “There are lots of old relics down there—maybe something that might help them. Or help us.”

“How far beneath the city are the catacombs?” I asked, as I saw Mordred smirk.

“Quite far,” Nanshe confirmed. “And it would take a lot of effort to find anything they were searching for. Those things go on forever. It’s a maze of corridors and rooms, and it’s been abandoned for centuries.”

“Any chance there’s a realm gate down there?”

Nabu nodded.

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