The Ruins of Melda by Matthew Cayle Adams & Thomas Cayle Adams

Author:Matthew Cayle Adams & Thomas Cayle Adams [Adams, Matthew Cayle & Adams, Thomas Cayle]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Home
Published: 2019-06-14T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 18

The sun had gone down and a chill swept over the land. A thin, foul odor of gnoll carcasses hung in the night air. Quillen had shoveled sand over many of the bodies, but the odor lingered.

The small company assembled around a fire near the site of the dwarf massacre. It was a time for gathering, for they had reached a milestone. Their flight from Riverlok had been successful; at least for now, the party had escaped the grasp of Mallivar. Only two days into their trek to find Lamus the Monk, they had discovered someone worse off than themselves. A dwarf, a huge dwarf by all measure, had been seized and taken west by a pack of gnolls led by a mysterious mounted being. These four had been transformed from a band of fugitives with an obscure mission to locate a reclusive monk into an alliance of men with the unambiguous purpose of rescuing a dwarf.

A feeling of kinship joined them together, for each one had made the decision to use the power of the elves and go to the aid of the captured dwarf. Prince Andre’s gift of elven magic would be their strength and weapon.

They stared silently into the radiance of the fire the hunter had built. Hasdel stood and walked back to the burial mounds in the dark, guided only by the light of the flame and moon. He moved slowly among the rows of graves they had made, his hands clasped behind his back. The messenger of the king studied every mound and then returned to the circle with the other men. The others had not moved during his absence, only vaguely aware that he had left them and had now returned. They stared into the glow of the flames. Hasdel spoke boldly to all. “Rest well. Tomorrow, with the help of the elven power, we will overtake the depraved creatures who slaughtered these noble allies of the realm.”

Kalo did not sleep well, though Hasdel had suggested they might. Digging the graves had tired him, and he fell asleep easily, but the ground was hard and cold, and he awoke several times. He lay facing the others, and more than once, he saw Ty move to change his position. Quillen sat in his usual upright posture, leaning against a rock throughout the night. It was difficult for Kalo to tell whether the hunter slept at all.

Before the sun had risen, Hasdel woke Ty and Kalo with an offer of warm broth. Quillen appeared to be in deep meditation as the three of them sat sipping the broth and eating dried meat and bread provided by Hasdel. Kalo and Ty took their cue from Hasdel and ignored the hunter. Soon Quillen stood and took the meal on his own.

When the sun gradually rose in the east over a ridge, the smell of the gnoll remains had grown stronger. Kalo had finished smoking his rum-soaked leaf the evening before, and he longed for it now. The odor of gnolls mixed with his taste, and the foul scent now rested on his tongue.

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