An Imperial Gambit by Jeffrey L. Kohanek

Author:Jeffrey L. Kohanek [Kohanek, Jeffrey L.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781949382037
Publisher: Fallbrandt Press
Published: 2018-12-26T05:00:00+00:00

17

Madness

Darkness. It surrounded Rena. Within the gloom, her father’s face appeared, his hands reaching for her, shaking her.

“Rena!” he shouted. “Rena! Wake up!”

Her eyes opened with a start. She gasped, blinking in confusion. Kwai-Lan was looking down at her with a furrowed brow.

“You hit your head when you fell,” Kwai-Lan said.

Rena sat up. Her head hurt. When she lifted her hand to it, she felt a lump.

“Are you all right?” Nalah asked.

“Yes. I’ll be fine. It’s just a headache.”

Kwai-Lan held his hand out and helped Rena to her feet. “It does not bode well to see our only healer as the first person injured.”

Rena found Bilchard standing with his sword drawn, the weapon pointed at a tall, thin man with a scraggly beard. The man’s eyes were wild and constantly shifting.

“Who’s that?” Rena asked.

“Good question.” Kwai-Lan turned toward the man. “What is your name?”

The man ran a hand through his untamed brown hair. “Name?”

Kwai-Lan moved closer to the man. Despite his short stature, the menacing weight to his glare was impressive.

“Are you Constable Hardy?”

The man nodded with obvious trepidation.

“What happened here? Where are the town folk?”

Hardy’s eyes shifted toward the open door at the end of the hallway. “Madness. It’s madness out there. Please close the door.”

Kwai-Lan nodded toward Kirk. “Do it.

Rolling his eyes, Kirk turned and walked down the corridor. With the front door closed, he returned and Kwai-Lan addressed the constable.

“You speak of madness. What happened, man?”

Hardy’s gaze remained on the closed door, but Rena had the feeling he was looking past it, recalling something.

“Vallerton…is cursed.”

Kirk guffawed. “Cursed! You are mad.”

The constable’s focus shifted toward Kirk. “You would be, too, if you had seen it.”

“Seen what, Hardy?” Kwai-Lan demanded.

“It began a few weeks back. Just as before, the first incident was at Vernon’s farm, but it wasn’t just a few cows and a broken fence this time.” Hardy’s gaze fell toward the floor. He shook his head. “Vernon and Ingrid, both dead. Their bodies were mangled, parts eaten. Their child, Olive. We never did find her.”

Hardy fell silent again.

“Listen, Hardy.” The hardness was gone from Kwai-Lan’s voice, his tone shifting toward compassion. “We are here to help. Do you recall the hunters who came to Vallerton this past summer? The ones who killed the monstrous badger?”

The constable nodded.

“We are part of the same group.” Kwai-Lan gestured toward his fellow wardens. “We are here to help you, but we must know what it is we face.”

“You wouldn’t believe me if I told you. It sounds…ridiculous.”

Kirk crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. “More ridiculous than a ten-foot-tall badger?”

“Honestly…yes.”

Rena couldn’t stop thinking about the farmer and his family. The description matched what they had found at the abandoned inn. “What about the rest of the people? Are they all…dead?”

Hardy’s haunted eyes met hers, and she saw madness inside them. “I honestly don’t know if any survived.” He stared down the hallway, toward the front door. “The men came here and took the weapons. They wanted me to come with them, but I refused.

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