Thralls of a Dread Lord (1.48T)
Welcome to my weekly serial. This is a rough draft that I am working on, for your reading pleasure.
It is a fairly grim tale, so be warned.
Here is the first post from this series.
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Keen-eyed Uyage led them through the maze of houses and villas. The elven houses were beautiful, well-crafted, and possessed of a kind of sylvan elegance that spoke of ancient forests abutting clear, slow rivers despite being part of bustling town. Hedges and garden arches provided much of the cover that they used for moving through Oystkivat unseen.
Retaak focused on the task at hand, trying to ignore Albyursia. He was the largest and heaviest of the band by far, and thus the greatest liability in remaining hidden. Uyage chose routes that would allow even him to move stealthily, but he had to focus on the route, not on the strangely attractive elf slung over his shoulder.
In the distance the attack on Greyrock was dissolving into looting and burning. The Spawn had spent their energy on the fortress and were far more interested in finding the few unfortunate elves left outside and grabbing riches for themselves. This orgy of pillaging was what most of the remaining forces were actually looking forward to. Elven goods and slaves could bring great fortune to most Spawn. The very idea disgusted Retaak; the elves were no friends of his, but no one should own another thinking being.
They ran until Retaak was breathing hard, about half way through the town, circumventing the slow moving looters. Uyage stopped in the shadow of a five story spire house, surrounded by immaculately kept birch trees, their white bark the exact same shade as the tower stone.
“They still follow,” whispered Uyage, eyes darting toward Albyursia.
“My people will hunt you as well,” said the elf frankly, meeting Uyage’s gaze.
“If they know of our quest, then they might be waiting for us as well as hunting,” said Kuzat.
Retaak nodded. An ambush in the mountains would see them dead, especially without Ashoktyaar. “We need to find a path back to the Fellspawn Warrens that our enemies do not anticipate. Do you know of any Uyage?”
Uyage shook her head.
“Any smuggling routes, Uyaashie?” he asked.
“None that I would trust with this,” she answered, pointedly looking at Albyursia. “I fear whatever Ushochhushi wants with this one; you saw her cell in Greyrock.”
Retaak nodded. If it were up to him he would not be giving anything to Ushochhushi, let a lone a living being. Even thinking of betraying the compelling power of Kaasukak, however, caused him to feel nauseous. Perhaps he could risk death from defiance on his own, but he would not subject Kuzat, Uyage, and Uyaashie to that.
“I know of a way, a place where none of our pursuers dare to follow,” said Kuzat, quietly. “A place where no spawn awaits us; The Desolation of Karniloth.”
“Are you mad?” asked Uyaashie, sounding alarmed and exasperated in equal measure. Retaak could not blame her shrill tone; the Demon-Spider was a power that even the Dread Lord was loathe to challenge. The Desolation was a once-fertile mountain valley that had fallen to her ruinous appetite. Now her only food was the unwary, the foolish and her own brood.
“No,” said Kuzat. “I have traveled through ancient Karniloth’s web-ways before and survived…”
“A tale worth telling, I am sure,” said Uyage, but we must move. “Retaak?”
“Let’s put some distance between us and our pursuers,” he decided. “If we must we can try The Desolation, but I would rather wet my blade on bloodaxes that test it against an ancient horror.”
Uyage nodded and led them out of their shelter.
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