Shadow Hunted by Eric T Knight

Author:Eric T Knight [Knight, Eric T]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2018-11-09T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Cowley came slowly out of unconsciousness. He didn’t want to. He wanted to stay down there in the darkness where the pain was far away. He opened his eyes. It wasn’t easy. One of them was crusted shut with dried blood, and the other was swollen so badly he could hardly see out of it. He was hanging in the air, suspended by his arms. He’d been hanging there for what seemed like forever, high enough that he couldn’t reach the floor and take any weight off his shoulders, which hurt terribly. His feet were chained so that he couldn’t kick. He couldn’t do anything but hang there while Ely worked on him.

Ely had started with body punches, “softening you up” as he’d put it. He’d followed with a number of punches to the face, so many Cowley lost count. Still, none of that was so bad. What was worse was when Ely ripped his shirt away and went to work with one of the heated metal rods.

He remembered telling Rouk everything they’d done, the attacks on the ships and on the Devourer. He told Rouk where they met with Fen. He told them things he and Fen did when they were just becoming friends. He said anything and everything he could to make the hurting stop, but none of it did.

At some point he blacked out. Apparently, Ely had moved on to someone else, because there were no new pains being inflicted on him. He could hear someone screaming, but he couldn’t seem to turn his head to see who it was. He wished he cared more, but truthfully all he cared about at that moment was that it wasn’t him.

The screaming stopped. He heard the door open and footsteps crossing the floor.

“My king,” Rouk said. Cowley opened his eyes and saw Lowellin standing there.

“Take a break,” Lowellin said. “Both of you.”

“I have learned the places where they meet with Fen,” Rouk said. “Soldiers have been dispatched to watch them. But I have not yet learned where Fen is hiding out. My apologies, sire.”

“You’ve done well. Now go.” The two men left. Lowellin walked around the room, looking at them. The brothers, Wallice and Eben, were chained to the wall as Cowley was. Both were bleeding in numerous places. Wallice had a large purple bruise on one side of his face. A piece had been cut out of his ear. They gave him baleful looks.

Strout was strapped to the rack. He was bleeding from his chest, and there was a large burn on his neck. Gage was slumped unconscious in one of the cages hanging from the ceiling. Blood dripped from the cage in slow, steady drops. Lukas was strapped over a large barrel, his breath coming in gasps. His back was a bloody nightmare.

Noah looked the worst. He had cuts all over his face and chest and dozens of burn marks. One finger stuck out at a weird angle, broken. The fingernail was missing. His face was a mask of blood.

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