Tales of the Frozen City by Joseph McCullough

Author:Joseph McCullough
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781472815552
Publisher: Osprey Publishing
Published: 2015-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

IN DARK PLACES

Martin J. Dougherty

‘Sun’s setting,’ Gee declared.

Jasper nodded absently, fiddling with his gloves as he eyed the tunnel entrance. Something had melted the ice that had covered and blocked it, leaving a trail of semi-frozen meltwater twisting down to the gulley bottom. It looked like it had happened recently and quite quickly.

Jasper had a bad feeling about the way the ice had melted, or maybe it was the dark tunnel that led slightly upwards through the gulley side. There was something disturbing about the odd smoothness of the floor. Someone had been chucking elemental magic around; magic powerful enough to melt the tunnel rocks as well as the ice.

Jasper took a deep breath and pulled his hat down more firmly. ‘I’m quite aware of that,’ he said, once he realised that Gee was expecting a reply. He’d go on expecting one all night, at least until he got sick of waiting and exploded in rage. Best to avoid that. Gee’s fury was an incredible thing, but best witnessed from a distance.

‘Be dark soon,’ Gee added. In the twilight his pockmarked skin looked even more like the stone he was nicknamed for. Nobody knew his real name, and it was dangerous to call him ‘Granite’ to his face. Jasper called him Gee and hadn’t been stomped for it. Not yet, anyway.

‘Yes, Gee.’ Jasper agreed. ‘But it’s always dark underground.’

‘I’m just sayin’,’ Gee muttered as he hitched his pack a little and unslung his crossbow, placing it gently down on a handy rock. Gee started sorting through the special bolts Jasper had made for him. Each one was closely examined, nodded at and then put back in the quiver in a different order. Finally satisfied, Gee picked up the crossbow and cocked it effortlessly before settling a carefully selected bolt on the wire.

Jasper paced while his companion prepared himself. He knew better than to interrupt Gee’s little ritual, though it might be possible to speed it along. ‘Well, we can’t wait for morning. Our ‘new friends’ will have caught up by then. So, time to get to work,’ Jasper declared. A mix of ice chunks and strangely pale gravel crunched softly under his boots as he struggled up the gulley side towards the tunnel mouth.

‘Huh? Oh, right. We’re goin’ in,’ Gee said. He slapped his dented helm hard down on his head, activating the glowing gemstone strapped to the front, and stomped after Jasper. There were animal bones – they looked like animal bones anyway – among the tumbled rocks close to the tunnel entrance. Gee kicked them aside even though they weren’t in the way, elbowed Jasper out of his path, and stepped into blackness.

‘Come on then, let’s see what you got!’ Gee declared to whatever might be lurking in the dark, gazing about him at the jagged tunnel walls and the path ahead. Then the stomping began anew. Gee didn’t look where he put his feet; he just marched forward, daring the world to trip him up.

It did.

Jasper rolled

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