NexLord: Dark Prophecies by Philip Blood Page B

thrust from Dono's
blade.  His friend's face was twisted in
hatred.  Aerin reached out
of the doorway and grabbed Dono's arm to stop his next
attack on Lor.  As his hand touched Dono's arm, the boy's
face changed to a look of horror. 
    "What was I doing?” he exclaimed, staring at
the knife in his hand.
    Aerin didn't know what was happening, but he
knew his touch on Dono's arm had set his mind free.
    Lor saw his opening and locked his hands
around Dono's throat, and instantly the hatred fled and his mind
returned to normal.
    "Don't let loose!"  Aerin yelled
and hauled on Dono's arm, pulling him into the
sewer.  Lor held onto Dono and the three connected
friends landed in a pile. 
    Malachai was only ten feet away now, and he
was coming fast.
    The boys tumbled down the stairs into the
darkness.  They landed with a splash into a two-foot-deep stream of sewage
water.  Above them, the
silhouette of Malachai stopped in the doorway. "We will meet
another time then, children."  He said as though nothing was wrong, and then turned and
called loudly, "Tagak, gethrunk utoblen !" fluidly in the Togroth
barking language.  A faint barking answer showed the
Togroths had heard.
    Dono leaped to his feet, splashing fetid water everywhere.  "Run for
it, the Togroths are coming for us!” he exclaimed.
    The boys all splashed their way down the dark
tunnel in full flight.  The floor suddenly sloped down
and the slimy footing caused them to slip and fall, sliding down a
long chute with the water toward a drop-off below.
    Aerin yelled when he went over the falls,
getting a mouthful of the foul tasting sewer water for his
trouble.  The water was deeper here and he had to swim to
keep his head up.  He thought he saw one of the other
boys ahead, but could not be sure. He began making for the
side.   Eventually, he
found a place where he could get up onto a ledge that followed the
coursing water.  He ran ahead and found Dono holding onto
the side, after quickly helping him up, they both ran forward and
found Lor already out and heading back their way. His bare white
legs stood out in the darkness below the thigh length tunic.
    The sewer was lit by a green glow of
phosphorescent moss, though it was only as bright as a half moon's
light in the tunnel, still they could see well enough to
navigate.
    In the distance they heard the barks of the
Togs, so they quickly ran until they found an access ladder that
led to the streets of Strakhelm above.
    Aerin had never been so glad to see the stars
in the dark sky above. 
    "What, in Gedin's name, happened in
there?"  Dono demanded.
    Lor answered him, "He hexed us somehow!"
    "It doesn't matter right now how he did it,
we've got to get to the Guardsmen!"  Aerin exclaimed.
    A passing mill worker on his way home looked
curiously at the wet boys emerging from the sewer, but he knew
enough of Strakhelm not to become involved in something he didn't
understand.  He kept a tight rein on his emotions and
moved on.
    Glancing at the retreating back of the mill
worker Lor kept his voice low.  "And tell them
what?  Tell them that the priests grabbed me for no good
reason when they caught me snooping around?  Or tell them
that they suddenly made me hate my friends?  Even if by
some chance they take us seriously, by the time they get to that
church the bodies will be gone and the Togroths will have
disappeared into the sewers. They'll think we are just children
with overactive imaginations.  It won’t work."
    "They're going to kill the Warlord's son,
tonight!" Aerin blurted out.
    "What!" Lor exclaimed with his chin trembling
from being wet in the cold night.
    "I heard that priest tell the other one about
the traitors they have inside, who are going to open the gates to
the Seat and let in those Togroths and some of the cult
members.  They’ll kill the Guardsmen in their sleep and
then go murder Gandarel Trelic, the heir to the Seat of Stone,"
Aerin explained quickly.
    "I