Belly of the Beast Warren Thomas (e novels for free .txt) 📖

attention. The clouds above glowed like hot embers, swirling around and above the city, making Tane dizzy as he watched with dreadful awe.

            “I’m too scared to sleep,” he said. They stared at the maelstrom a moment. “It looks ten times worse in the dark.”

            “I agree,” Quinn said. He suddenly cocked his head, staring off into the surrounding shadows. “Horsemen coming down the road.”

            A few moments later a platoon-sized element of heavy cavalry came into view on the road to their lower right. They made straight for Caeren, and were admitted with only a brief delay.

            “They’ve been coming and going all night,” Quinn said. “Mostly coming. That was one of the smaller units.”

            Tane nodded, then turned his gaze back on Caeren. The shudder that coursed through him had nothing to do with the biting cold. The tornado-like eruption of crimson clouds from the city’s center terrified him like nothing else. Just the sight of it tore at his resolve. That evil maelstrom came from Dakar’s unholy Realm.

            “The entrance is at the base of that whirlwind,” Tane said. “We’ll have to seal the portal that..." he waved angrily at the maelstrom, "…that is coming up from.”

            Quinn sounded as grim as Tane felt. “I figured as much.”

            As Tane stared at the city, it felt like he fell into a daze. A trail lit up before him.

            “What was that?” Tane asked.

            Quinn was instantly on one knee, looking all around for a threat.

            Tane pointed to a spot about twenty paces below them. All he saw now was dark forest. Quinn regarded it a moment.

            “The game trail? What about it?”

            Squinting his eyes, Tane tried to find the trail. Quinn could see it. And he saw it start to glow a moment earlier. As he stared, the trail brightened up again, while the surrounding forest remained dark.

            “Do you see that?” he whispered, trying his best to remain calm. “The trail is glowing silvery like moonlight.”

            “Not that I can see,” the half-elf whispered, giving him an odd look. “Is Kamain trying to guide you?”

            Tane’s breath caught. Quinn’s word struck bone. There could be no other explanation, because he found himself drawn toward that trail. He needed to follow it more than anything else. And then a vision filled his head, of a rocky, mossy hillside. The rocks parted to reveal a doorway into the hill.

            “We have to go under the city,” he whispered. “Not into the city, but under. Follow me.”

            “What about the horses?”

            “Leave them,” he said. “Follow me.”

            Quinn rushed to wake the others while Tane headed for the glowing trail. He plunged into the dark forest, guided by the now faintly glowing trail. Everything else stayed in darkness.

            The others caught up a few minutes later. He sensed more than a little anger and confusion. It couldn’t be helped. Tane felt the pull of his destination more and more as he went. Desperation began to fill him as well.

            “Where are we going?” Armin whispered.

            “Under the city,” Tane said.

            “Yes. Quinn told us that, but how are we going to get there?” he asked. “And what exactly is under the city?”

            Tane stopped. He only had the vaguest idea of what awaited them. Answers were not forthcoming from the Gods. So he pointed up at the maelstrom looming over everything.

            “We’re going to stop that.” He started walking again, still heading downhill. “That is the source of Dakar’s power.”

            He knew that wasn’t exactly true. But it was close enough. Tane didn’t know much, but he knew he had to stop the maelstrom, and that would stop Dakar.

            Seal. Seal something, he thought, getting a vision of a round well-like structure in the ground, with the maelstrom swirling up out of it. Seal it and save the world.

            Kamain still didn’t tell him how to seal the portal. He just had to trust his god would do it. Tane did know it would involve making swords. Swords of Power. Dakar and Nizar told him that, and Kamain didn’t correct him. No one had told him what to do with the Sword of Power once made.

            Must trust the Gods.

            A creek blocked their way at the bottom of the hill. It proved too wide to leap over, so they waded across. The cold water sucked the strength out of his legs, but he pushed onward. They emerged wet from the waist down. Well, the water reached higher on Joelle and Raven.

            If anything, his soaked trousers felt even colder in the open air. Didn’t matter. Tane clenched his teeth and continued up the trail.

            “Slow down,” Quinn whispered about a third of the way back up the hill. “I hear voices and the sound of work ahead.”

            The city walls loomed above them. Tane found the hill a lot steeper on that side of the stream. He had to slow anyway. And a few minutes later, he heard the sound of men working. It sounded like they were digging with picks.

            “Wait here,” Quinn said, slipping past Tane.

            They came to a stop, huffing and puffing. The struggle up the side of the hill had taken his breath, but had also warmed him up. Raven even fluffed her shirt to cool down a little. Joelle took the opportunity to sit.

            “I’m sorry,” he whispered. Looking upward, “I feel pulled toward something. I can’t stop.”

            He took a step, but Armin moved up quickly and stopped him with a hand on the shoulder. Tane felt anger flare, but stopped himself from lashing out. Why did that make him so mad? Was it the stress? Or was it from Kamain?

            Quinn appeared before him, without a sound to warn him.

            “There are mercenaries above us. They are supervising zombies,” he said.

            “Doing what?”

            “Digging into the side of the hill,” he said. “They’ve already exposed most of a stone arch. A doorway into the hillside.”

            “How are we