The Gatekeeper Trilogy by Scott Ferrell

Author:Scott Ferrell [Ferrell, Scott]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503348691
Amazon: B079KKVV1R
Published: 2018-02-02T00:00:00+00:00

14

BATTLE IN THE SWAMP

We sloshed through the swamp for several hundred yards. The mists and stink closed in around us. It was thick enough to block out the sky and I hoped it did the same for the dragon machines looking down on the swamp. Knowing our luck, though, they probably had some kind of magical infrared vision or something. We had no choice but rely on the hope that they couldn’t see us and keep moving.

Aoife and I were exhausted, sore, and in dire need of a chance to catch our breaths. She spotted a relatively dry mound of earth. We climbed to the top and bent with hands on knees. Minotaur watched us with those obsidian eyes while we breathed in short, shallow gasps. Breathing through the heavy, wet air felt like trying to breathe through a bowl of soup.

“What now?” I puffed, gingerly poking at my raw lower back. The gnarliest bruise was spreading over my skin.

Aoife shrugged her shoulders, unable to find the breath to speak.

“Maybe Sholto will help,” I wondered. “He did say I was welcome.”

“Sholto is the lizard king of this swamp, yes?” Minotaur asked.

I nodded.

“Then, this Sholto knows we have entered his swamp. It won’t be long before he shows and you can ask, I imagine.”

“I think I hear him coming,” Aoife said, standing up straight, her chest heaving.

I frowned and listened. I heard splashing somewhere off to our right. “I don’t think we’d hear him coming,” I said slowly.

“I think you are right, Gatekeeper,” Minotaur agreed. He pulled the sticks from his back and tossed them to me. He gripped the dagger he had used to destroy the dragon machine in one large hand and produced another smaller one for his other.

I looked at the sticks in my hands, wondering how effective they could be against whatever was out there. When he had passed through his swamp the first time, Sholto had made it clear there were creatures we couldn’t even imagine in the swamp. I didn’t think I would be very helpful beating some swamp creature with a couple sticks.

The splashing grew closer. The mists played havoc on my sense of hearing. The noise seemed to echo from all directions.

“They’re everywhere,” Aoife whispered.

The mists hadn’t been messing with my hearing. Not as much as I thought, anyway. They were coming from every direction. “What is?”

“Balataur,” Minotaur grunted.

Aoife moved to position herself between Minotaur and me. “What are we going to do?”

“You are going to stay out of the way,” Minotaur snorted.

I gripped the sticks tighter. The smooth wood felt warm in my hands. They felt good there, perfectly balanced. My stomach clenched. What was I going to do with a couple sticks against the large beasts? Knowing what was out there was somehow worse than the unknown.

“Greetingsss, Gatekeeper,” a voice came from nearby.

Aoife and I jumped. Minotaur’s eyes merely rolled that direction.

“I must sssay, I did not expect you back in my swamp so sssoon.”

I followed the sound of his hissing voice to a large, dead tree a few feet off.

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