The Scarlet Knight (The Kingshield Series Book 5) by Robert Ryan

The Scarlet Knight (The Kingshield Series Book 5) by Robert Ryan

Author:Robert Ryan [Ryan, Robert]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Trotting Fox Press
Published: 2021-01-22T16:00:00+00:00


15. Corridor of Fear

They moved forward along the narrow tunnel, and Faran strained his eyes in the dim light. Yet he saw nothing of the harakgar.

Kareste must have guessed what he was thinking, but that was probably not difficult.

“They don’t always appear straight away, but they know we are here. The moment any living thing enters the tombs, they know.”

Faran did not doubt it. “But why do they delay coming, then? They have never done that before.”

Kareste laughed softly in the dark. “Be wary of assumptions. You say they have never done that before, but you have only been here once before. The harakgar know you now, and they know you are back. Their tactics may change. I, who have been here several times, have seen that. Likely they’ll do something different. Or maybe not. Never think that you know what will happen because the moment you do you become ripe for falling into a trap. That applies not just to the harakgar.”

What she said was true, and he realized his mistake. He had thought he knew something, when in fact he did not. His expectations had outrun his logic, and it was an error. It amused him though to think that he would always be learning. No matter his training or his experience, there was always something else to know, or an attitude to be wary of. Strangely, he found that comforting. Knowledge had no bounds, and that encouraged him to keep learning. The mind that was only half full was easier to fill than the one already brimming over.

The tunnel took a sharp turn to the left. It remained narrow and unadorned, but it began to descend, and after a short while it did so steeply. They were moving deep into the earth now.

Soon they came to a winding circle of stairs. These turned halfway around and opened up into a kind of landing before plunging downward again. Faran studied the small chamber, and it was different from the tunnel. Here, although there were no images as often decorated the walls of the tombs, there was writing and a small stone bench. Likely, it was a place to sit and rest.

“There are several such places as these,” Kareste said. “Nine in total, if I remember rightly. Here the initiate would answer a question posed by a wizard-priest. If they could not answer correctly, they had a choice of going on or going back. But to go on meant they must get the remainder of the questions right, or be killed.”

More and more Faran had respect for those initiates of long ago. Theirs was a tough life, and he began to wonder about the Letharn. Certainly they had raised the greatest empire ever to rule in Alithoras, but were they good?

It was not his place to judge. How could he, looking back from where the world now stood, decide on the morals of another age with different problems? This much he knew, though. The Letharn were always under threat. There were other empires, and they all sought dominion.



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