The Power of Fear by P.S. Osborne

Author:P.S. Osborne [Osborne, P.S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2021-06-28T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Yawning loudly, Tobias rubbed at his eyes and stretched out his muscles. They felt stiff and knotted but the tension was slowly easing.

‘Don’t go falling asleep now,’ Hex said from across the room.

‘I won’t,’ Tobias replied. He didn’t know if he would be able to sleep even if he wanted to. His body needed rest but his mind was still very active. ‘Do you really think this is going to work?’

‘Please don’t tell me you are having second thoughts now. Not after coming so far.’

‘It’s not second thoughts,’ Tobias admitted. ‘I just don’t know if this is the right way to do it.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I don’t know, but using hate and fear like weapons feels wrong. Yet I can’t stop thinking about how strong I feel when I am doing it.’

‘That’s fair. From what I understand of it, this is a malignant energy, not designed to be wielded by a mortal.’

‘Do you think it is safe?’

‘I very much doubt it but I don’t see any other option. You will just have to be careful.’

A scraping noise caught Tobias’ attention and as he looked up to see what it was, Scavenger’s head poked out from one of the pipes along the wall. After a quick look around, Scavenger scrambled into the room, turned back around and, reaching into the pipe, pulled out a brown cloth bundle.

Dragging the parcel over to Tobias, he proudly unfolded it to present a large hunk of stale bread, a round ball of cheese and a bottle of water.

‘Where do you think he finds all this food?’ Hex asked.

‘I don’t know. He has probably been stealing it his whole life. I guess he’s just gotten pretty good at it.’

‘A little too good if you ask me.’

‘I didn’t ask you,’ Tobias replied curtly. ‘I trust him and that’s all there is to it.’

‘Whatever you say.’ With that Hex went quiet.

Tobias turned back to the bag of food and gave Scavenger a gentle pat on the head. He even let Scavenger take the cheese for himself.

‘You’ve earned it,’ he told his friend before wolfing down the bread and taking a swig of water.

‘Right. Back to practice.’

Tobias was picturing his uncle every time now. Remembering times when the man had berated and beat him. Memories which not only stirred up sensations of fear but now also conjured anger and resentment.

With this to feed his efforts, he could repeatedly encase the blade of the knife in the smoky energy before throwing it out like streaks of lightning, shattering the stone where it struck.

There was no subtlety to the trick but every time the stone exploded, an overwhelming sense of power washed over him and he couldn’t help but feel exhilarated.

‘Lets go,’ he said confidently as he slid the knife into his belt, scooped up Hexalbion’s stone and strode from the small round chamber. Scavenger followed but was forced to dodge and jump over several small piles of debris which now littered the floor.

Hexalbion directed them back through the sewer tunnels and up into the stone corridors above.

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