The Gauntlet ( A Fantasy Novella) by Michael Diack

Author:Michael Diack [Diack, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2015-11-03T23:00:00+00:00

Ash and Janna got a small fire going with kindling and flint. Janna placed the blade of her knife in the flames and it soon became a glowing red.

“Ash, just pin me down will you? I don’t want to bite down on anything, my teeth are not exactly the strongest part of my body.”

Ash nodded and took a firm hold of Ugg from behind.

“Just do it,” shouted Ugg, “I’m ready!”

Janna took the red hot blade and pressed it down firmly onto Ugg’s wound. Ugg cried out in pain, the kind of scream the knights had heard up in the valley yesterday and again just moments ago. Ash struggled to pin down Ugg who was frantically thrashing around, but managed to keep him secure. Janna was glad she had Ash now in a situation like this, three was stronger than two. Ugg’s flesh smouldered and sizzled, becoming a charred black and it wasn’t long before Ugg passed out from the overwhelming pain.

“Good. That will do it. You shouldn’t stop until the person faints otherwise you probably haven’t done it firmly enough,” said Janna.

“Ouch, that looked and smelled horrific. At least he will live, that was too close. The scream we heard, it sounded very near. Almost like it was behind the other side of the trees. In fact, I think it was.”

“It was near, there is no doubt about that but I’ve still got my knife and my bow and arrow. We’re not completely defenceless. Whoever it was knows we’re here now anyway, our presence is no secret. The sun is setting, it will be pitch black soon. I do not think it is wise to proceed until sunrise and besides, Ugg needs time to recover. Let’s rest here.”

“He lost a lot of blood, we should give him more of our food or he will be too weak to continue for some time.”

Janna agreed with Ash and smiled at the knight.

“You two have almost restored my faith in the males of our species.”

“Only almost?”

“Two good men does not make up for a dozen bad. In Harwell women are outnumbered by men with dark hearts and ill minds, but here, in the strangest of places, I am with two of the few good ones. I am a lucky lady.”

“I’m not perfect. I never intended to have a child, but we were both drunk and we just hit it off. I was weak to give in to temptation.”

“You only did what was natural. What happened to your child’s mother?”

“She died during childbirth. I grew up without a father, I was determined my child wouldn’t. I should have left the service, but I needed the money to support my child. I’ve done the same thing for so long I didn’t think I could do anything else. I was more afraid of change than I was of The Gauntlet.”

“Most men would have left after the one-night stand. You are a good man.”

Ash nodded, before replying: “Have you explored what’s beyond the next corner?”

“Not yet. I

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.