Thralls of a Dread Lord (1.66T)
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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The sun winked at Retaak through the canopy of needles above. It was now mid-morning and his stomach was rumbling. As he exerted himself he could feel that the ropes were marginally looser than when he had begun. Uyage knew her knots well.
He pulled this way and that, familiarizing himself with which movements met with increasing tightness and which seemed to work against the knots. The he rolled his wrists as much as he could and pulled in the directions that seemed to work best.
Despair was not on Retaak’s mind as he worked his way out of his bonds; if Uyage intended to kill him, she would have slit his throat in his sleep rather than tie him up and leave him to starve. Ultimately he would escape, there was no doubt in his mind.
A rustle in the underbrush drew his attention and he looked up to see a mountain lion staring at him. The cat watched him intently. Retaak met the beast’s eyes. He remembered hearing from Uyage that it was not wise to stare at a predator, but he doubted that the beast wanted to eat him. He was too large and potentially dangerous and it had no way of knowing that he was bound.
The big cat, seemingly satisfied, turned and headed south into the the deeper woods. Retaak got a good look at it then. The cat was of a size that it would outweigh Uyaashie. It looked healthy and well-fed, with vibrant red and black spots on its pelt that would help blend in with certain kinds of underbrush. A beautiful beast, all told.
After the mountain lion left, Retaak pulled on the ropes with his full strength and felt some give,
“Won’t be long now,” he muttered.
He was not certain what he would do, what he could do when he caught up to the others. The Kaasukak would compel him to bring Albyursia to Ushochhushi. Could he fight the seneschal after that? He had many questions and no way of answering them, save through acting upon them and seeing what worked.
The Ogre redoubled his efforts and by noon the ropes were loose enough that he could slip a hand free. Even that little bit of extra freedom was triumphant. A moment later he slipped the other hand out and then quickly untied himself.
His stomach rumbled.
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