A snippet from Book Six, Darksiege Triumphant!

Here's a small tease to the upcoming Book Six in the Forging of a Knight series, Darksiege Triumphant. Qualtan and Darksiege...ALLIES? Yep...!

Qualtan took stock of his ally. The Evil One had closed his eyes for a moment, mumbling strange words. Hearing the knight, his eyes opened, and his fanged smile returned.

“Yes, doorman. Some of my strength has returned. I am ready.”

Like a rising shadow, the Evil One returned to stand. Walking side-by-side with his foe, Qualtan kept his sword high, ready to call upon its shield in a moment’s notice.

A few moments later, they entered the keeping cells. A vast space of open pens and floating prisons greeted them. There were thick chains, bizarre implements, and manacled tables. Bubbling vats and metal pedestals spoke of what was done.

“So this is where you perform your work of torture.” Qualtan said.

“Torture? What you call torture, I call improvement. Suffering does little to aid in my “work”, as you call it, doorman. Here, it serves as a distraction. There are other places in this citadel for such things, and those places bring delight to my soul.”

“The cages are all open.” Qualtan noted, staring at the hanging enclosures. Stains of blood and other liquids streaked the floor and coated the walls. The knight inwardly shivered, thinking back to the horrid transmutations of the Ruinous Ones, and the altered creations Bartholomew told him he and the female knight Jesepha had encountered when they had found the hidden lair of the Evil One.

“All living things are but playthings for my kin and me to use.” Darksiege said. “To serve us, provide for our entertainment, and to satisfy our needs. All needs, doorman.”

The lust in his voice only brought Qualtan's further disdain. “Your hunger has surely grown, Evil One. Tell me, how weak have you become?”

Darksiege glared, but the tinkling of a dangling chain took their attention.

“There are many creatures Shaz played with here. Some that I have used as well. They are here, smelling us, sensing our presence. I know what our foe will have done to them. He will have done what I would. I will be unable to drain them with my touch.”

A prison door swung loose.

“Let us hope they do not remember what you have done to them.”

“They are mindless. How else to make pawns that serve in the game? Ah, they approach!”

A shadow skirted nearby. A large metal chandelier swayed from a burst of wind.

There was a scratching, and a moan that grew close, and then went faint. The sound of many feet, rushing, coming near, began to grow.

“Quickly, we will need space.” Darksiege said. Both he and Qualtan ran, passing table upon table, and cage upon cage. They paused in an open section, where chains dropped from above, emptied cages dangling at their ends. There were multiple doorways, and the scrabbling of hurry echoed from each.

“Back-to-back, then.” Qualtan said. “Though my trust in you has grown little.”

“Back-to-back.” Darksiege said, placing himself behind the knight. “Do not fear, doorman, as I said, I still need you.”

The madness of the situation made Qualtan smile. Of all the allies he had made, and all the enemies, never did he think he would hold his sword together with Those That Stand in Shadow! His eyes searched every opening, waiting for the eruption that would come.

Groans became loud. Shadows of arms and twisting bodies extended from the doorways.

“For our mutual enemy.” Darksiege said, as the floor began to tremble.

“For our mutual enemy.” Qualtan agreed.