A Dirge for the Gloaming by Joshua Lehman

Author:Joshua Lehman [Lehman, Joshua]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-05-25T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

In the Underground

Uruck the Unkillable considered his surroundings with contempt. Utterly dark; not even his keen Canidae eyes could penetrate the black. The dank, stale air was like death in his nose, reminiscent of a tomb. The Underground was no place for his kind. He longed to run under the Fall moon and the open sky. Instead, the Prime had Uruck's pack, and many others, encamped in some abandoned mole man settlement. The place was heavy with the reek of the diminutive creatures. Why was the Prime demanding this action? The moles had nothing of interest to the Canidae. Their homes were completely unsuitable for habitation and their flesh was absolutely wretched! Many would rather starve than eat the stringy, bitter meat of the Suncu.

The large Alpha could not comprehend how anything would choose to live down here, covered by oppressive tons of stone and earth. Uruck closed his lupine eyes, practically worthless in this locale anyway, and inhaled the stagnant air around him. He found himself wondering how the place would appear to the keen ears of the moles. It must have some redeeming qualities, but they certainly escaped him. Even the chambers which were illuminated by the diffuse light of lichens or glow worms were confining and ill-suited to the Canidae.

The Prime promised that great rewards were imminent. The leader of his people claimed to have communed with the Great Father himself. Indeed, when the Prime returned from the Holy Sojourn, he bore a great gift, claws and teeth of pure obsidian black, grown to unnatural length. He quickly recruited the other Alphas to pledge their wolves to the new vision. It was time for the Canidae to rise and claim their rightful place in Saerna. No longer would they be a loosely affiliated group of separate packs. The Great Father declared that the packs should set aside their autonomy, unite, and conquer.

Uruck joined his pack to the Prime; the tangible evidence presented seemed to prove the leader's claim. He did not, however, accept the gifts offered. Many of the others had, but Uruck preferred to take such things slowly. He never acted rashly or in haste, and that had kept his pack strong for years. The Promise, as it was now called, seemed an honorable path when Uruck first heard of it.

His reservations quickly grew, however, the more time he spent near the Prime. The actions of the All Pack Leader seemed uncharacteristic of the warrior Uruck had helped gain the position. His old friend was not himself. Uruck ignored his worries, sure that the change was simply caused by the rapturous experience of having communed with the Great Father. Uruck believed that the Promise was meant to bring the honorable ways of the Canidae to the unscrupulous races of Saerna.

That was not what was happening. Uruck was disgusted with the actions of his people at the cliffs of the goat men. The Prime used some dark magic to cause the normally altruistic race to brutally attack one another.

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.