The Clock and the Talisman by Dean Anthony

Author:Dean, Anthony
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-10-05T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Xerx moved with inhuman speed to place himself between the attackers and his cousin.

One of the men with no eyes stumbled just enough to cause the other to enter the lethal radius of Xerx’s sword first. That man took a blade to the side of the ribcage and fell to his knees.

The second attacker arrived a split second later, and Xerx had no time to clear his blade from the first. The elf raised a booted foot and drove it into the second man’s midsection to stop his forward progress, and then he drew a dagger from his belt and slashed it across the eyeless man’s throat.

Xerx pulled his blade from the first man and assumed a new attacking posture, but it proved unnecessary. Within a few seconds, both of the strange men lay still.

“I should have done better with that first one,” Xerx muttered.

Gwen was the first of the others to speak. “What ARE they?!”

Xerx said, “They are men who have lived below the surface for many, many generations, would be my guess. And like the madfish, they have lost their vision over time. Not to mention their humanity.”

Alfie approached one of the fallen men and crouched nearer. “I suppose it’s clear what the ‘Sightless’ are now. But how can they survive in heat like this?”

Xerx said, “I imagine they roam connected pits beneath all the tunnels that are not on the correct path to the underground cave, and that they spend most of their time scavenging at depths that feature a more comfortable temperature.”

“Wait...you think there are more of them?” Alfie asked.

“It seems improbable that we encountered the only two of them the first time we made a wrong turn. But let’s test that.” Xerx reached into his pouch and drew out part of a ration of dried beef. He unwrapped it, broke off half of what remained, and tossed it underhand over the ledge at the end of the tunnel. It made a very small echo when it hit the ground far below.

Within seconds, the sounds of shuffling feet from several directions issued from whatever space lay at the base of the ledge. There were sounds of short sharp inhalations. Then there was a single grunt of satisfaction. And then there were many groans and shouts and the unmistakable sounds of blows being struck by feet and fists. Xerx spread his hands as if to say, “And there you have it.”

Roland took a long pull of water and said, “They are like the madfish in more ways than one, perhaps. They have been placed here as...obstacles...to make reaching the final cave more difficult and more dangerous.”

“So it would seem,” Xerx said.

“But how could the ancients do such a thing?” Gwen asked. “These are men! Or at least their ancestors were...but no, no, men still.”

Xerx shrugged. “Perhaps it was a punishment. Or perhaps the originals were deemed to be undesirables. Humans have always possessed an uncommon creativity when it comes to devising ways to be cruel to one other.

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