The Midnight Queen by Christopher Keene

Author:Christopher Keene [Keene, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Future House Publishing
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 16: The Acathia Ruins

Aelyph had been right; the Acathia ruins resembled an ancient city, but Otto had no idea how ancient. One thing about the city was obvious: the place was massive, the sprawl of it seeming to stretch out until the end of the Wood. Although the place was in obvious disrepair, with weeds growing up through cracked roads and toppled buildings, there were still some towers that remained standing.

“But that one . . . oh . . .” Princess Emerald turned to the next tower they were passing, saying, “But I bet there’s treasure in . . . but . . .” She ran ahead. “Oh! Look at that one, can you imagine what’s in . . .”

They walked past her in the eerie silence of the ruins.

“Oh, come on!” she called desperately. “You can’t say you’re not curious about what’s in there.”

Princess Sapphire shook her head. “We don’t have time, Sis. We need to pass through here as quickly as possible.”

“Besides,” Otto said, “we have no idea what monsters could be lurking in such places.”

Princess Emerald rubbed her hands together. “Exactly! Citrine would have a field day here! Come on, Spiky, surely you want to see what kind of monsters are in . . .”

She trailed off as a low, rolling rumble arose from one of the roads that branched off from the thoroughfare they were walking down. Within the rumble, Otto heard something else, like a whisper inside his mind.

“He’s dead and gone, Paladin, just like your Goddess!”

The thought stung, but his focus remained on the sounds that seemed to be coming closer.

Aelyph raised his lance. “I think we’re about to find out what kind of monsters inhabit this place.”

They turned to one of the roads and saw what was causing the noise. To Otto, the monsters looked like boulders rolling toward them, a strange thing to see considering it was on an upward slope. It wasn’t until they came closer that he made out the four shell-covered legs tucked under them. He had seen creatures like this before.

“They’re the same kind of turtles as in the Blackroot Grotto.”

Princess Sapphire shook her head. “They’re not moving like Slowpokes.”

“They’re Rollers, similar to turtle shells found in the Caverns of Roxor . . .” Aelyph said. “Me and a few Riftlings had to clear off a bale of them when preparing for an ambush years ago. With their hard shells, they’re rather difficult to kill.”

Otto drew his sword as the monsters started to circle around them, standing back-to-back with Princess Sapphire as he had in the Flicker Fire Grove. He was beginning to feel nervous as the circle of Rollers closed in on them.

“Blast!” Otto shouted. “Maybe we should flee!”

“Agreed,” Aelyph said. “Princess Emerald, use your rifle to send one off course! I’ll redirect them. Otto, Princess Sapphire, once the circle breaks, get free and run!”

“Capital idea!”

“Right!” Princess Emerald took aim and fired her rifle at one of the Rollers. The bullet pinged off of its hard shell.

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.