Thralls of a Dread Lord (1.55T)
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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Retaak was the last to turn and run as a tree toppled on a rise just east of them and a great leg, as long as three bull ogres lying head to toe reached up over the ruins. What followed next was an enormous body like that of a spider, but much larger and covered in jagged spines. The head was like that of a human or elven woman with golden hair and pale skin but the mouth was stretched and split to reveal a horrific set of mandibles and the eight eyes were all red and hateful. The expression on the beast’s face was one of enraged indignity and the whole of the valley seemed to shy away from her dark presence. Karniloth!
“Run, idiot!” hissed Uyage.
Retaak tore his gaze away from Karniloth, and ran. He felt the beast give chase, the very ground shaking as her eight legs crushed earth, stone, and wood as she game at them. He was aware of a feeling that came with her, a kind of dread that was not born of natural response, as fearsome as she was.
They scrambled up out of the passage and over a wall, following Kuzat through the maze of ruins. The pounding grew closer. Then, just as Retaak was sure that he would have to turn and face the beast to save his friends, it stopped.
“I remember you, little Goblin,” came the voice, speaking their tongue fluidly, even beautifully. Retaak was expecting Karniloth’s voice to match the ruin of her form and environment, but the sound called to him to turn and listen. “You left me the sweetest gift…your sister. I savoured that one for a long time.”
Ahead of him, Retaak saw Kuzat drop to his knees. Albyursia and Uyaashie flanked the little one as and his grief and range boiled over.
“We need to run!” shouted Uyage.
Karniloth laughed. “Run to where, little orc? I am queen here and my guards are all around you you.”
And they were there. Thousands of them, huge and terrifying, and small and scuttling. Retaak gripped his weapons in his hands as they crawled out of every shadow and from under every rock. He could see no escape.
“Its a trick, its a trick,” said Kuzat, wiping his eyes. “Keep going, they are illusions. Ignore her voice. Keep going.”
Karniloth laughed. Kuzat got up and ran, the spiders reached out for him and Retaak was certain that he would be snatched, but he kept running. Uyage followed, and then the others did. Retaak wanted to turn and face Karniloth once more, but he stopped himself; losing track of his friends would be fatal. So he ran.
(This was written using wordpress’s block system. As the old adage says: ‘if it ain’t broke keep trying to fix it until everyone gets annoyed’)
