The Debt (Dust and Silence) by L. R. Rüddek

Author:L. R. Rüddek [Rüddek, L. R.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: L. R. Rüddek
Published: 2012-01-07T04:30:00+00:00

**

Bergen was knee deep in something that had a stink somewhere between excrement and rotting logs. He had Nory tucked under one of his arms and Dagger Toes bouncing in his pack. Traveling had been slow, to say the least.

After LeRue went off with the soldiers, Bergen and the others had set off for the swamp. They had hoped to make it before the Felsians, so they could observe at a distance. But, from where Bergen was standing, he could only see dead trees and miles of black muck. There was no one else in sight.

Bergen was afraid he was walking in circles. The muck seemed to stretch on forever. He desperately needed a landmark, anything he could walk towards, but each tree looked the same. They all seemed dead and devoid of any branches. Even the horizon seemed unvaried.

The Orlorian spat into the muck, “Feck this place, and everything in it…”

“You’ve said that… a few times… now…” Nory’s voice was straining. Bergen had a hold of the Old Hound around the waist and was carrying him like a sack of groceries.

The Good Captain was losing his patience, “Do you want to walk, Nory?”

A voice from the Orlorian’s backpack called out, “Feck… feck… there you go again… what this ‘screw?’ You say it lots.”

“Oh, feck off…” Bergen was trying his best not to slip in the squishy ooze.

The backpack called out to him once more, “Feck off? I already feck on, then? Big man also say feck things and places? This word strange.”

Bergen tried to turn and see his pack, which did not work, but nonetheless, he called over his shoulder, “Hey, unless you have something constructive to add, shut your damn hole, alright? It’s not that bright out now, you can come out.”

“No… no… still… too bright, besides, you do good job. Big man keep carrying… shh…”

“Shh? What’s shh…” Bergen tried turning over his shoulder once more as if this time he would be able to see Dagger Toes through the canvas.

“Shh…” The fiend called to him from the hiding place, “something… something out there…”

“Bergen… something is out here… it’s right… there…” Aside from the strain in Nory’s voice, it carried something that sounded like fear.

Bergen looked over his shoulder just in time to see the large predator as it cautiously stalked towards him. Its brown and black shaggy fur drug through the muck and its paws sloshed and squished with each step. The creature’s features made it appear somewhere between a myrzel and a lizard, yet it had six powerful legs and a long whip-like tail. Its tongue swung wildly and, at times, dangled, dangerously close to the muck.

“What… is that creature?” Nory stared at the beast with a mix of wonder and fear. The thing was mesmerizing. The way this beast moved, the way it crept low but out of the mire, the way it hunted its prey. Nory suddenly realized what prey it might be seeking. The wonder he felt instantly vanished.

“That thing?” Bergen looked the beast over, “The feck if I know.

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