The Sacred Lake by Secchia Marc

Author:Secchia, Marc [Secchia, Marc]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
Amazon: B00IISMQFI
Goodreads: 23590398
Published: 2014-02-17T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19: The Sacrifice

The King’s twin Brother hardly needed his magic to haul Shioni about by her neck. He was a huge man, as strong as an ox. Where she tried to drag her feet, he simply lifted her one-handed off the tunnel floor, not caring if the thick metal slave-necklet throttled her. For her own preservation, Shioni was forced to stumble along at his side. But she did not stop fighting him.

He strode down tunnel after tunnel, seeming to know the exact route, gathering strength and speed as they left the throne room behind them. His left hand still gripped the staff. Could she wrestle it away from him? Would he have any power left if she did? She tried to tangle up his legs; she battered at his mental grip. After a moment he cursed. Shioni heard a clamour break out somewhere behind them. She was hurting him. Good. She had forced him to free the others.

“Wretched slave-girl,” he snapped at her. “You’ve got some nerve. Never mind. When I’m done with you, my treacherous brother and his children–”

“He has children?”

“What do you care?” Haile seemed taken aback by the question. “Oh, why not tell you? You’ll soon be dead. I have his wife and children locked in a secret chamber beneath the throne room, where they’ll starve to death long before anyone finds them.”

Horror clenched her stomach. She had to escape!

Shioni sent back, hoping someone might hear: This way. Anyone listening … this way.

“Stop that,” snarled Haile. “They’ll never find you.”

“What’s that noise?”

He chuckled, “My secret escape route.”

At first Shioni thought she was hearing wind blustering in the tunnels, but the sound grew until it dawned on her: this was water, a rushing underground river. The tunnel bent upward. Haile dragged her after him, shaking her like a rat when she attempted to trip him once more. Shioni gathered her power, but he anticipated her attack. This time, it reflected off him as though he held a mirror. Shioni collected the edge of the backlash. She would have fallen save for the false king’s hand holding her up.

Shortly, they came to the edge of a rocky outcropping, lit by a crack in the rocks above. Below, a dark river swirled by. Shioni caught sight of a boat tied to a post down there.

Haile quickly kicked a rope ladder over the edge of the drop, which was more than five times Shioni’s height. “Come,” he ordered, stooping to gather her onto his shoulder.

Partly by luck and partly by instinct, Shioni raised her knee at exactly the same moment, jolting Haile from head to toe as she struck the point of his chin. Shouting in pain, he swung the staff. She half-dodged, rolling away from the force of his strike, but still collected a blow to her shoulder which rattled her teeth and spun her sideways. She fetched up against a rock, saw him coming, and gathered herself to dodge another blow.

Instead, he wiped his mouth, and hissed, “Right, slave-girl, I’ve had it with you.

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.