The second creature’s hand covered the wound on its throat, which did little to quench the spurts of blood, and watched open-eyed for a moment until Jon walked over and almost casually crushed its skull with a flick of his wrist as the flat side of his massive blade crashed down with terrible force.
The crack of the blow seemed to wake Sorus and events suddenly seemed to resume at their normal speed.
“Nicely done, Jon,” said Proteus and moved up next to the young knight. “Are your ribs all right?”
Jon lifted his arm and the club slipped out although Proteus reached forward with a hand, grabbed it before it hit the floor, and then lowered it gently to the ground. Jon stretched his left side over and pursed his lips, “I’m good,” he said, “it only hit me with the handle, hurt a bit at the moment though.”
“Quiet,” said Proteus and put his finger to his lips. “Keep the light stones away, we can see well enough. I’m going ahead for a second to see what’s there, you two wait for me and see if those creatures have anything valuable on them,” he finished and pointed to the two dead-bear like darklings on the floor.
Jon leaned over, gave off a little grunt of pain, reached into a satchel around the waist of one of the creatures and pulled out a flask, a small clam shell of some kind, and a beaker of some sort of liquid. He opened the flask, brought it to his nose carefully, and smiled, “alcohol.”
Sorus went to the second creature who wore a similar satchel around its waist and detached it with a quick motion. Inside was another flask much like the one Jon took, a small pouch that chinked when Sorus touched it, and another bag filled with something soft that smelled musky when the young knight brought it to his nose. “There are some coins here,” he said and looked up at Jon with a smile, “and more of that whiskey I’d guess.”
At that moment Proteus appeared at the entrance to the natural cavern, a strange look on his face. His eyes were open wide to see in the darkness, his teeth clenched, and his jaw tight as his eyes darted back and forth between Jon and Sorus.
“What is it, Proteus,” asked Sorus while Jon continued to examine the items found on the strange bear creatures.
“It’s like you said, Sorus,” said the knight with a nod of his head. “It’s a skeleton of some sorts, wearing robes, and a creature that looks like a human snake. They’re down the passage a bit. It’s darkling made for certain. The natural cavern ends not far past the archway here,” he continued and pointed to the natural formation above their heads. “I couldn’t hear them but they seemed to be arguing about something. There are more exits from where they’re at so if we want to attack them, now’s the time.”
“If,” said Jon and looked at Proteus with raised eyebrows.
“They look…,” started the older knight with a shrug his shoulders, “they look like they are perfectly capable of defending themselves. The skeleton wears a sword but the snake is a wizard or a priest I’d bet.”
“We could just follow them,” said Sorus as he looked back and forth to the two men. “They don’t know where the staff is either but they might lead us to it eventually.”
“Down here, among the darkings,” said Jon with a shake of his head. “It’s too dangerous, we’ll be spotted soon enough and have them down on us like a hoard of grasshoppers. We take them out now and see if we can get information from them after that.”
“I agree,” said Proteus the strange look still in his eyes, “Do you mind if I say a prayer to the Black Horse first, Jon?” he continued and knelt to the floor.
Jon watched him silently for a moment. Soon Sorus joined Proteus on his knees.
“May my steed be swift, my blade be true, my heart be strong, and my seat steady,” said Proteus from his knees and Sorus said the same. “There,” said Proteus and stood back with a smile at Jon. “My fate is my own.”
Jon nodded, “Lead the way, Proteus; Sorus and I will follow.”
Proteus took his sword in hand and walked steadily past the tall archway and into the red glow beyond. Jon went next and Sorus followed behind in the rear. Jon’s huge body blocked his view for the most part and the young knight of Elekargul strained his eyes in the dim red light to see further ahead. The natural cavern quickly gave way to shaped stone walls and a smooth floor worked to perfection by skilled hands. The red glow came from stones embedded in the walls and Sorus did not notice when Jon suddenly stopped in front of him and he banged into the young knight and bounced backwards a step. Jon didn’t chastise him but simply looked at Proteus, who stood with his hand raised just ahead.
“Right around this bend,” he said in a whisper and lifted his sword. “Now!” he suddenly shouted and dashed around the corner. Jon went next and was instantly out of view of Sorus who charged after. When he turned the corner he saw Proteus already halfway across a narrow chamber where the skeletal creature stood in mid turn and the snake thing still had its back to their approach.
Chapter 19
“We’re lost,” said Thaddeus to Odellius and about a dozen other knights as they stood in a small circle, the moon shining overhead like a baleful eye watching their predicament. Around them the groans of wounded knights and the hisses of reptile men sounded intermittently. “Why don’t they finish us off?” he said to the rotund knight whose face was visibly red even in the darkness and who sat on one knee as his breath came in great gasps.
“We surprised the bastards,” huffed Sir Odellius between labored pants. “Killed more than we had any right,” he continued. “They’ll probably wait for morning to finish us off. The darkness isn’t their friend and they don’t like the terrain.”
“That gives us about an hour,” said Thaddeus, and some of the other men, their eyes hollow and many with wounds on their arms and legs, nodded their heads as well.
“Should we attack or wait to be annihilated?”
“Normally,” said Odellius as his breath becoming more shallow, “I’d say attack and die, but every hour means the chance for more knights to find us,” he finished and put his hand on the ground. “How many are we?”
“I count fifteen able to fight,” said Thaddeus looking around the group just as a dart flew through the air and missed him by a few inches. “Shields up!” he ordered, but the men formed up in a circle with their shields linked to provide protection before he finished.
“I don’t think they want to wait until morning,” said Thaddeus to Odellius with a wry smile. The sound of darts as they clanked off heavy shields sounded almost like thick rain drops hitting a thin metal roof. “Luckily they don’t use crossbows or heavy bows,” he continued, “or this would be over in a few moments.”
“Lucky indeed,” said Odellius just as a lucky dart penetrated the shields and embedded itself in the shoulder of one of the men. The unfortunate soldier stifled a cry of pain and kept his shield in position as another man, inside the circle, moved quickly to attend to the wound. “It’s just a matter of time though,” he continued, “perhaps I should revise my original plan.”