Page 73 of Queen's Griffon

“What is in there?” Frisk asked, frowning at the blockage.

“Bats,” Basil replied somberly.

“You’re worried about bats?” Lenno mocked. “Everyone knows bats eat bugs.”

Basil leaned close to Avera and whispered, “Not these ones.”

She could have warned her captors, but… Honestly, so long as they didn’t send her in, she didn’t care enough for them to bother. Thugs who kidnapped people and treated them poorly didn’t deserve consideration.

Lenno nudged Frisk. “Go and move that stuff and tell me what you see.”

“Me?” Frisk huffed. “Why can’t it be one of them?”

“Because I said so,” snapped Lenno.

“I ain’t paid enough for this shit,” grumbled Frisk as he approached the detritus blocking the entrance.

It didn’t take him long to create an opening he could fit through, but Frisk hesitated. “It’s dark in there.”

“Good thing I came prepared,” drawled Lenno. He pulled a torch from his pack and lit the end of it. “Here.” Lenno handed over the torch and Frisk put the fiery end through the gap.

“Still can’t see shit, but I can hear movement,” Frisk stated. “Hold on, let me get to the other side for a proper look.”

Frisk slipped into the other chamber, and they could only see part of him in the light he shone around. He whistled. “Holy shit. He wasn’t kidding about the bats. The cave is full of the fuckers. And they’re huge!”

“Do you see the stones?” Lenno called out.

“Not yet. I’m standing on a ledge that seems to run around a large room. Can’t see the floor.”

“Where are the rocks?” Lenno asked Basil.

“Last I saw them, they were tucked inside a box at the bottom of that chamber. There are stairs going down if he moves to his left.”

Frisk must have heard because he replied, “Going to check it out.”

He didn’t get far. At least so she assumed because suddenly there was a strident shriek.

“Fuck. Get off me. Argh. It’s biting. It’s—” Frisk uttered one last long scream before silence fell.

Lenno looked shocked.

Basil, however, appeared smug as he said, “Told you to avoid going into the cave at night. Bats sleep during the day.”

Chapter 23

Griff

Enteringhis childhood home filled Griff with nostalgia. There was the banister he used to slide down. The door to his father’s study—a place he’d been banned from entering when his father wasn’t present. The dining room only used when his father entertained important guests—most of their meals were taken in the general cafeteria. The parlor where they would sit by a fire while his father grilled him about school.

“You grew up here?” Simhi craned to look around. “It’s nice.”

“Even nicer when it was clean,” Griff remarked, his boots kicking up dust and disturbing cobwebs.

“Doesn’t look like the raiders ever got this far,” Monty said as he glanced into the parlor for a peek. “Furniture is intact and there’s knickknacks all over.”

“Given the hazards getting here, I’m not surprised,” Griff murmured, staring around, the surrealness of actually being there discomfiting. He’d never thought he’d see his home again.

The paintings of his ancestors still hung on the wall flanking the stairwell, the glass crusted. Griff wondered how his old bedroom fared. But he’d not come here to reminisce about the past.

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