The Iron Wolves by Andy Remic

Author:Andy Remic
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: bloodshed, gritty, warfare, Science Fiction & Fantasy, sorcery, Battles, mud orcs, iron wolves, Fantasy, drimdark, Epic, Literature & Fiction
ISBN: 9780857663566
Publisher: Angry Robot
Published: 2012-12-31T13:00:00+00:00

Narnok had drained a flagon in one, and went to clean himself up. Kiki sat, a bowl on her lap, cleaning the blood off Dek’s face as the pit fighter tested each tooth in turn. “I hate breaking a tooth. Do you know how hard it is to find a good dentist? Last bitch almost burned off my tongue with her bloody hot steel tools. I broke her jaw for that one.”

“It occurs to me, that you are not a subtle man,” said Kiki, dabbing a cut above his eye.

“Aye. Well. Some of us are made that way.”

“You weren’t like that on the walls of Desekra Fortress when the mud-orcs screamed and charged towards us. ‘Tall he was, noble and proud, a cloak he wore as if a shroud; his shining armour blazed like fire, the enemy burned on a funeral pyre!’”

“Fuck off, Kiki; that was a bad poem back in its day, and unlike wine, it has not matured with age. Whoever wrote it should be killed.”

They stayed in silence for a while, and Kiki dabbed the cloth into a water and blood filled bowl, and slowly cleaned the blood around Dek’s mouth.

“You let him beat you, didn’t you?”

Dek met her questioning gaze. “I don’t know what you mean,” he said, eventually.

“Narnok is a fearsome warrior with an axe. And a formidable man in a fist fight. But I’ve seen you in the Pits, Dek; you’re a machine. You’re unstoppable. You scare me.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Dek, gently, and smiled. “The point is, Narnok got some kind of a revenge. A small one, I’ll grant you, but up here,” he tapped his head, “it’ll do him the world of good. And now we can travel, can we not? Now, we can head for Timanta.”

“Good. I think it’s time we got some sleep.”

“Together?”

“Nice try, mister. But not tonight. Not in this life.”

“But we…”

“No.”

A commotion came from downstairs. A crashing sound, followed by a repeated banging, as of wood on wood.

“Narnok fall down the stairs?” grinned Dek.

“No…” said Kiki, frowning. “That was far too loud…” She gathered her sword and moved to the door leading to the stairs. Dalgoran came from his room, his own blade in his hand, closely followed by Ragorek.

“What is it?”

Kiki gave a shake of her head and opened the door. Another crash echoed up the stairway and Kiki ran to the top of the wooden flight; Ralph was at the bottom, backing away, hands outstretched. “No,” he was saying, hands trembling, “No, please, no!” and then he turned, and saw Kiki and his face contorted and he screamed, “Please, help me!” as something big hit him hard and fast, a blur of movement that shocked Kiki so much she took a step back. A ruptured shrill scream pierced the tavern and the creature, a twisted, grotesque deviation of horse and something else lowered its head and bit straight through Ralph’s red puffed cheeks, allowing his brain slop to spill out like jelly from a bowl.

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.