Page 76 of Vow of the Shadow King

I swing out over the edge of the drop, taking care not to disturb any of the sleeping devils. At least whenwogghasleep, they sleep soundly. Little enough can disturb them. Using the spines protruding from my forearm braces to help me cling to the wall, I begin my descent. It’s tricky business, navigating around the inert cave devils. I move with care, make as little sound and disturbance as possible. One of my men starts to come after me, but I shake my head, and he stops. I won’t have them adding to the risk.

Looking down to check my next foothold, my light flashes across something. I stop short. A face, a trolde face. My blood jolts with recognition. Hud. A brave fellow who has served in my guard for some years.

His head, neck, shoulders, and part of his torso are all held in the upper arms of a sleepingwoggha. Where the rest of him is, I do not know.

I swallow back bile in my throat. Then I climb down beside the sleeping devil, draw the knife from my belt, and plunge it into the base of its skull. A little shiver goes through its body. It drops, carrying Hud’s remains with it as it falls. None of the other devils stir.

Heart throbbing, I continue. I’m close to the fallen man now, close enough to realize that he lies, not on the floor of this pit as I originally thought, but on a ledge. The pit itself goes on much deeper. Down lower, thewogghaare more densely gathered. Gods spare us! My initial calculations were far too conservative. There are more devils here than I ever imagined dwelt in the whole of the Under Realm. Something must have driven them up from their habitat to seek shelter in the upper regions. Something . . . I don’t have to guess what.

I test my weight on the ledge before letting go of the wall and hastening to the side of my fallen guard. He lies belly-down and seems to be stretching one arm into the darkness below. I kneel, catch him by the shoulders. With a heave, I roll him over in my arms.

It’s Yok. Thank all the gods above and below!

With an effort, I swallow back his name. Instead, I search his body for signs of trauma. His leg is broken, bent at a terrible angle. Much of his armor is savaged, great chunks ripped away. He bleeds from numerous gashes. But he’s alive. By some miracle, he’s alive.

Gently, I pat his cheeks. Yok stirs. His young, boyish brow puckers, and his teeth flash in a grimace of pain. Slowly, he opens his eyes, his gaze unfocused and strange. Then he sees me. I clap a hand over his mouth as he sucks in a sharp breath. Shaking my head, I flick my gaze around us to indicate the sleeping devils. Yok’s eyes widen. He nods his understanding.

Carefully, I ease the boy into a seated position. Yok winces, but swallows back all whimpers of pain. Then he turns suddenly, points down into the dark below us. When I don’t immediately respond, he grips my hand hard, urging me to look. I lean over the edge, cautiously angling mylorstlight.

Toz lies another twenty feet lower. He’s dead. His armor is stripped away. Cave devil claws have penetrated his tough stone hide, ripped his torso wide open, spilled his guts. He looks gnawed. Savaged. I’m thankful I cannot see his face from this angle.

I draw back. Sickness roils in my gut. Toz was my friend. As was Hud.

What happened to them must not happen to the people in the city above.

I firm my jaw. I won’t let it happen.

Leaning over Yok, I place my lips close to his ear. “Let’s get you out of here. Then we’ll deal with theseguthakugdevils.”

Yok nods. Silent tears course down his face. I cannot blame him. A lesser man than he would have perished of sheer fright by now. I motion for the boy to stand, but he cannot manage it, not on his leg. He grabs my shoulder, draws me to him, and gasps into my ear, “Leave me, my King. I’ll only slow you down.”

As if I would even consider such a plan. “Get on my back,” I answer. “Put those scrawny arms of yours to use and hold on fast, do you hear?” Yok shakes his head, but I add a growling,“Now.”

Yok shudders, nods. He’s gray as stone under thelorstlight, but I’m relieved to feel strength in him yet when he grips my shoulders. I don’t know if it will be enough. But I won’t leave him. Hael would never forgive me if I did.

I begin to climb. At first, I’m not certain I can manage it—not up a sheer rock face, navigating between sleeping devils, with Yok’s dead weight on my back. From deep inside, I summon the strength of my ancestors, the ancient trolde kings, to aid me. Slowly, slowly we make our way up. Now and then, as we pass too near a devil, the scent of Yok’s blood seems to rouse them. One or two stir slightly. I see curled lips, flashing fangs. If one awakens, that will be it. Its savage snarls will soon alert the others, and there will be nothing I can do but pray we are devoured swiftly.

But our god of darkness must see us in our plight, for somehow, we reach the top of the pit. The relief when Lur’s strong hands grip Yok’s arm and take his weight from my back is so much, I nearly lose my hold. But Jork, a stalwart warrior, catches me by the hand and hauls me up beside him. “You’re a gods-damned lunatic, Big King,” he whispers almost reverently.

I grin back. Then I glance into the pit once more. We’ve not brought enough warriors to dispatch that lot. Not by a long shot. I give the signal to fall back. We need to regroup, come back with a real plan. Perhaps my chief engineer can rig an explosive, and we’ll find a way to safely bury them. A tricky business considering this lair lies directly under the city, but if anyone can manage it, it’s Ghat.

I take Yok back from Lur and nod for her to precede me back up the passage. She doesn’t like it, but none of them dare protest. Yok and I follow after her, dragging a little behind the others, while Jork guards our rear. When we’re far enough away from the pit, I whisper, “What happened?”

“I’m not sure.” Yok breathes out through pain-gritted teeth. “We were pursuing onewoggha, and Hud was up ahead. Suddenly he screamed. There was . . . blood . . .”

His voice trails off. At first, I think perhaps he’s fainted. Then I feel it—a tremor under my feet. I stare down. Small stones and pebbles begin to vibrate and move. The walls on either side of us shiver, dust and debris crumbling over our heads.

“Brace!” I cry to the others.

They don’t need my warning. They flatten themselves against the stone, holding hard. Someone cries out, struck by a falling rock. One man loses his balance and tumbles into Lur. I manage to press Yok against the wall, shielding him with my body. With every flash oflorstlight, I believe the walls are caving in, crushing us.

It doesn’t last long. Not a large stirring, possibly not even strong enough to be felt in the city above. Lur struggles to get to her feet, but neither she nor any of the others seem to be harmed. “Is everyone all right?” I call.

One by one they answer, ending with Jork, a few paces behind me. “Alive and in one piece, Big King!” he growls. “Only hope that we—”

He breaks off as a terrible shriek echoes up the passage behind us.

We freeze, stare at one another.

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