The Hollow God by Alec Hutson

Author:Alec Hutson [Hutson, Alec]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B08B8G4JNP
Published: 2020-07-13T14:00:00+00:00

9

I awaken to blackness, my face pressed against cold stone. My head is pounding and my bones ache as if I’ve been squeezed in a giant’s fist. I moan, feebly exploring my surroundings with my hands: the ground is made up of ancient, cracked tiles inlaid with some design, scattered with ancient bones that feel human.

I hear a shifting in the dark, and then soft hands are touching me. “Talin?”

It’s Bell. She sounds unhurt, to my relief.

“Are you all right?” I ask, trying to sit. She realizes what I’m doing and helps pull me up.

“I’m fine,” she replies. “I didn’t fight back. Deliah, though . . . ”

My heart seizes as her words trail away. “Where is she? What happened?”

“She’s here,” Bell says quietly, finding my hand and guiding it to touch a smooth arm partially covered by chitinous vambraces. It doesn’t move at all, but at least the flesh is warm.

“What’s wrong with her?”

“It’s her head. They cracked her skull, I think. Her hair is matted with blood and she hasn’t stirred at all since we were dumped in here.”

Fear claws at me. Please, by all the dead gods, let Deliah be all right. She healed remarkably fast after having her arm broken by the temple guardians in Ysala, recovering in weeks when it should have taken months. But how serious is this head wound? Panic is rising in me, making my insides twist.

“Valyra. She can heal her. Where is she?”

My eyes must be adjusting to the darkness, as I can vaguely see Bell’s shrug. “Not here. If I understand the old man correctly, she would be welcomed into their tribe. Congratulations, Talin, we succeeded.”

I ignore her bitter tone. “She doesn’t want to be here. She’s a prisoner, same as us.”

“Well, presumably she’s not dying in a dark cell without food or water.”

“Deliah won’t die,” I say forcefully.

“I hope not,” Bell whispers.

Silence settles between us as we each retreat to our own thoughts. I stroke the lamias’s limp hand, willing it to twitch. She remains motionless, though her pulse is strong. I wouldn’t expect anything less from Deliah – she would not be one to slip away quietly into the dark.

Time passes, and perhaps I doze for a while before a distant sound draws me back.

“Did you hear that?” Bell says from the darkness, and from the thickness in her voice she also must have just awakened.

“Yes. Food?” My stomach twists as I say this – it has been at least a day since I last ate anything.

Bell’s silhouette shudders. “Ugh. I can’t imagine what horrors these troglodytes eat.”

That is a good point. In the confused frenzy after the corpse was consigned to the flames, I thought I’d seen some of the Azure tribespeople scooping the ashes of the dead into their mouths. Surely I must be mistaken.

Footsteps are approaching, though whoever it is does not carry a torch. There’s a solid crunch that sounds like someone kicking the wall, and then a muffled cry of pain. I know that voice.

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