The Last Thane (The Chaos War Series) by Doug Niles

Author:Doug Niles [Niles, Doug]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780786962860
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2012-04-03T00:00:00+00:00

“What do you mean ‘escaped’?”

Garimeth’s voice was low, but the rumbing menace in her tone was enough to whiten Karc’s already pallid features.

“J-just that, my lady. He’s gone! The door was still locked, but somehow your son found a way out.”

“How?”

“I don’t know,” the servant’s voice was shrill and filled with panic. “By your order we put him in a room with no windows, and the door was securely bolted and locked. It was never opened, I swear!”

“Did he walk through the walls, then?” demanded the matriarch, her tone loaded with sarcasm.

“They’re solid stone, lady! And the floor and ceiling as well!”

“You idiot!” screamed Garimeth. “They can’t all be solid or he wouldn’t have found a way out! I should have you killed right now for your carelessness!”

Karc cringed. This was not the first time he had heard this threat, but he knew from experience that it was no mere empty phrase.

“Go back and look, you miserable wretch! Search on your hands and knees! Use that pathetic brain that Reorx gave you, or I swear it will cost you your head! And know this: if you fail to find him, your death will not come quickly.”

Before Garimeth could continue her threats, the house was rocked by an earthquake of violent and wrenching force. She screamed as she was thrown headlong on to the hard stones of her floor. Looking up, the dwarfwoman gaped in stunned silence as the rock that formed the ceiling of her house began to ooze downward. It dropped with heavy, liquid plops onto the floor, nearly crushing her before she scrambled out of the way.

Karc was not so lucky. He groaned in pain as a gelatinous mass of rock struck him on the shoulder and knocked him face first to the floor. He reached desperately toward Garimeth, his mouth working on a silent plea for help.

But the matriarch was busy scrambling away. Finally she felt a wall at her back and crouched in the corner of the large room, watching in silent horror as the hole in her ceiling expanded. In moments the liquid rock had solidified, leaving a series of drooping tendrils, like smooth stalactites, dangling down into the room. The blobs on the floor had hardened as well, and now as the servant struggled to move he was anchored by a collar of stone that had clasped his upper body in a granite embrace.

When Garimeth saw the creatures that dropped through the irregular opening, her breath caught in her throat and she shrank into the shadows. Realizing that she was pressed against a large trunk, she quickly scooted behind the obstacle. There she crouched in darkness, peering with one cautious eye around the side of her shelter. Despite her ragged breathing, she forced herself to grow calm, sensing that she could give herself away as easily by sound as by sight.

She saw a gaunt, utterly dark shape, crouching over the squirming Karc. The creature reached down to touch the servant with a cold, clawlike hand and immediately Karc’s struggles ceased … and more.

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