Excerpt from The Lost Lands - book 5 of my series
Alain stood in the shadows, watching as the sheriff escort Raven and Glorthal out of the bar, then ducked under a nearby table. Two large men were headed across the bar towards him, decidedly unfriendly expressions on their faces. He pulled himself into a ball and held his breath, willing them to go away. Their feet got closer, and then stopped beside a small door next to the corner.
?I'm tellin' ya,? one of them snarled, ?I don't like this! Something's gonna go wrong, you watch!?
?Something's already gone wrong,? the other shot back. ?The boss ain?t gonna be happy to find out Jake's gotten himself busted up and landed in jail.?
?If he lived after flying through that window.?
?He lived. He's too mean not to.?
The door opened and two pairs of booted feet stepped through it. It shut behind them with a faint snick.
So.... Alain thought. Friends of the man who tried to kill Glorthal? Maybe the sheriff would be interested in what they're doing.
He looked across the bar at Jarl and scowled. That figures, he thought as he watched Jarl flirting with a shapely barmaid. Fine. I'll do this myself. He crawled out from under the table and stole across the floor, opened the door and slid outside. He eased the door shut and looked around the narrow, dirty alley. The sound of footsteps walking away from him attracted his attention. He squinted into the darkness.
***
Light from one of the gas lamps pooled on the ground at the mouth of the alley and as Alain watched, two men strolled into it and paused. A grim smile crossed his face. He set his jaw and started down the alley toward them. The men stood in the light for a moment longer, then walked around the corner and vanished from view. That?s just great! And I can?t run; they?ll hear me. Alain increased his pace, struggling to reach the mouth of the alley without making too much noise. His eyes were fixed on the street ahead, and his thoughts focused on catching up to the men without being spotted. He was so absorbed in the task that he failed to notice a long, slender object laying on the ground.
A yowl split the air from a large tom cat as Alain stepped on its tail. It sprang to its feet and whirled around, hissing and spitting. Alain started and jumped backwards. He stepped in a puddle of slimy goo, his feet shot out from under him, and he fell, arms flailing wildly. His back slammed into the ground and he lay stunned, gasping for breath in the middle of the putrid mess for several seconds. Never had much use for cats, he thought as he rolled over to one side and struggled back up to his feet. Nasty creatures, always waiting to ambush you in the dark. He stood still, listening for the cat. Faint shuffling sounds reached him from the darkness, and his imagination kicked into high gear. His fears brought images of hideous undead to life. He gulped and slowly began backing toward the alley entrance.
By the time he stepped into the light of the gas lamp, his heart was pounding in his ears and sweat was flowing down his forehead into his eyes. The imagined undead bearing down on him had been joined by numerous other fantastic beasts, and Alain felt faint, terrified to stand in the light and afraid to turn his back on what might be stalking him. He shuddered and took another step backwards. A hand dropped on his shoulder. He let out a yell and spun around.
Jarl crossed his arms and looked down into Alain's eyes. ?Exactly where,? Jarl asked, trying to ignore the wet patch spreading over the front of Alain?s pants, ?did you think you were going??
New content added on a regular basis.
Visit Abandoned Towers at
http://cyberwizardproductions.com/AbandonedTowers
Reply With Quote
Yeah, sometime soon.
Bookmarks