Total pages in book: 169
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 161535 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 808(@200wpm)___ 646(@250wpm)___ 538(@300wpm)
The guards turn to look at us, confused. “My lord—”
Kalos touches one and blood spurts from his mouth. The man’s eyes roll back and he topples over. Kalos reaches for the other, and the man’s skin blisters and turns pink with welts. He moans in agony before collapsing, too.
“Jesus Christ,” I whisper as we step over them. “Do you have to make it so awful? You can’t kill them quickly?”
“I am disease,” he says, and I have to stifle another sneeze that crawls up my nose. “I am just accelerating things they are already fatally infected with.”
God. And this is the best option we have? I swallow hard, choke back the tickle in my throat, and let him lead me through the castle.
It feels like it takes an eternity for us to escape, but I suspect it’s only a few tense minutes. The process goes like this—we run down a hall as quietly as possible, with Kalos feeding Dingle scraps and leaves he’s been gathering, all to keep the goat quiet as we race through the keep. We turn down a hall and run into guards. Someone approaches to stop us. Kalos touches them.
Bad things happen. Lots of bad things. I watch people bleed from places I didn’t know they could bleed. I see things grow and erupt, and people topple over painfully. One by one, Kalos fells each person in Seth’s personal guard. We head down a set of stairs and when we hear a great many voices, cut through the kitchens instead. To my relief, Kalos doesn’t kill anyone there. He just snarls for them to keep silent. Thankfully, the staff does.
A young girl points at the root cellar. “Secret passage. It leads beyond the moat.”
Kalos draws up next to her, his expression baleful. “How do I know you’re not lying?”
“Because I want to go with you.” Her face is full of terror. “Please.”
“We can’t take anyone with us,” Kalos says. “Our path is too dangerous.”
“Just out of the keep itself. You won’t see me afterward. I swear to all the gods.” Then her eyes widen, and she bobs into a curtsy. “You most of all, of course.”
Dingle starts to wander towards a bucket of potatoes, and I grab one, shoving it into the goat’s mouth. “We need to decide quickly.”
Kalos, thin-lipped and pale, nods. He flicks a hand indicating the girl should follow us, and we descend a rickety ladder into the root cellar, one at a time. I hand Dingle down to Kalos, and climb down myself, followed by the stranger. The root cellar is lit by a small globe tucked into a corner, and it’s massive, full of shelves of cheese wheels and barrels of alcohol. She heads off, passing shelves laden with vegetables and what looks like an entire butchered pig hanging from a hook, and leads us deeper.
“There’s a trap door down here,” she whispers. “Just past last year’s pickled turnips.”
Naturally. But something about this doesn’t make sense. I speak up as she leads us down an even narrower portion of the cellar with jar after earthenware jar lined up on shelving. “I don’t understand. If you’ve wanted to leave, why haven’t you?”
“Because there are guards stationed at the other end of the tunnel,” she says, glancing up at us. “Lord Seth knows about this. He places three large men there day and night. I cannot get past them myself, but they will be nothing for my lord Kalos.”
Some secret. I snatch a carrot from one of the storage bins we pass by and offer it to Dingle. I’m not going to think about the body count. I’m not. “Let’s just keep going.”
The girl pulls the trap door open. It leads to another dank tunnel, accessible only by another wooden ladder. I hand off Dingle again, stuffing a few more carrots into my sleeves for the goat to keep him quiet, and we’re heading down the new tunnel. This one twists and turns, and there’s nothing of interest here except for the occasional barrel, as if someone got tired of hauling it away and abandoned it here. It’s darker than before, lit only by a handheld candle the girl leads the way with. The claustrophobia of our situation grates on me, the taste in my mouth metallic and unpleasant. I’m sweaty and nervous.
I’m also not entirely surprised when we come to another door, this one heavy and old. The girl turns and looks expectantly at Kalos as she tugs it open, the wood creaking in protest.
Moonlight spills out and I can see a few guards nearby, camped out on the hillside in a covered lean-to. They look up in surprise as we emerge from the door, one drawing his sword.
The god strides out to meet them, hands raised.
I sneeze violently. Once. Twice. Three times. My eyes water and I choke from the sudden onset of vicious sneezes, and I can’t see as the torrent rips through me. Kalos is using his power, and it’s taking its toll on me. I can’t breathe, and gasp for air even as vomit surges in my throat. He’s making me violently ill and I’m helpless before the onslaught. Collapsing, I barely manage to cling to Dingle as the fight breaks out, and the girl screams nearby.