The Darkslayer: Book 01 - Wrath of the Royals by Craig Halloran

Author:Craig Halloran [Halloran, Craig]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0578056615
Amazon: B003UV8X6O
Publisher: Two-Ten Book Press
Published: 2010-01-02T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 40

Oran did not waste time traveling away with new information about the Darkslayer. The lords and masters of the Underland might find his musing useful. Oran the cleric, also known as Oran the outcast, might regain some lost favor. They were not very approving of his dealings with the other races. In fact, they had forced him from his home, the Underland.

The underling’s always feared he might reveal too much about his own kind, despite his proven reliance. He had not betrayed his kind, but still he was mistrusted and shunned. The pit in his stomach deepened at the thought. He was an odd underling, and that much he would admit. He was more concerned with the pursuit of knowledge than the pursuit of world domination. You cannot have one without the other. But they did not listen.

Oran was one of the few underlings to have stepped inside a human city of his own free will. An underling in the City of Bone was unheard of and so far as he knew, he may have been the only one inside of Bone in centuries. He had crossed paths with Lord Almen after the siege of Outpost Thirty-One. Lord Almen became a person of interest with him and he allied himself with the man.

Oran wasn’t a fool though, knowing Lord Almen was a dangerous man who liked to take risks. He saw it as an opportunity to learn more about his enemies. Oran was one of the main reasons the Almen house had moved up so fast over the recent years. So far their relationship had paid off, for Oran also liked risk—and its rewards. One day, Oran would make Almen pay much more for his services, but so far Almen had served his needs well.

Oran had left Almen’s mansion via the dungeons, and through a secret tunnel that led into massive caves far below the castle. He traveled by torch, with his twenty new captives, until they reached an underground river. There, an ample barge was waiting, and he loaded the slack-jawed humans aboard. They offered no resistance as he shackled them with chains and gagged them with dirty rags. Pathetic. Their glassy stares showed no alarm. He tossed the torch into the murky black river. It was extinguished with a hiss and sank.

The cavern that hosted the stagnant river was pitch black and the sound of dripping water echoed inside the tunnel. Oran sat, soaking up the darkness, and muttered an incantation. The barge slid over the water, deeper and faster into the darkness. A mild breeze ruffled his robes, raising goose bumps under the hairs of the naked prisoners.

The prisoners sat, silent and helpless in the darkness, in the last moments of peace they would ever know. Oran’s sanctuary was only a few score miles south of the City of Bone, where they would come to learn that true horror lay not in the hearts of men, but in the world deep below.

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