Devryn - "The Night's Hungered Bite"
I awoke to a deep chill in my bones and my face resting on the
harsh stone.
I pulled myself to a sitting position. Night had
fallen. The evening clouds hung low in the sky and the winds had quieted
down to a gentle breeze.
"The crier has awakened," said one of the chained
prisoners in a thick Tressian accent. This brought a laugh from the one
sitting on the platform across the bridge from mine.
"Don't get him upset, he'll start screaming
again," said a second. Another round of laughter.
The current situation finally pushed through my muddled
mind. I looked down at the rune-knot, and then to the sky. No
light. I may be exhausted but I know I didn't imagine it.
"What's your name?" asked chuckles.
"Devryn." I looked down into the darkened
rocks below. "What does it matter when we are soon to enter the
eternal abyss? Plan on walking hand-in-hand through the
gates?" My mouth was coated in a fine dust, robbing me of any
spittle or pleasure of a strong, cutting tone.
"No abyss for me. I'm leaving . . .
soon." He pulled forth something from his lap, where the ankle
shackles were draped across. I could not quite make out what he offered
as his liberator in the darkness.
"The name's Seth." I could only see shadow
and a thin silhouette with what little moonlight pierced through the clouded
sky.
Climbing to my feet, fighting off the complaining muscles, I
could just make out the five of us unfortunate souls along the bridge. I
shifted my weight back and forth on the stone slab, trying to create some
warmth and get my blood flowing.
Working through the situation, my training kicked in.
The bridge led into a lengthy arched passage that extended
into the base of the tower, the one thing that seemed to have survived the test
of time. The attached, outer building at the top had several collapsed
sections and the tower itself was but a cracked finger with no tip.
The first joker spoke up again, "What I wouldn't give
for some blackened mutton and a warm fire."
"And a lady's bosom," added Seth. I couldn't
help but smile at that. "Tae-gron, would you even know what to do
with a bosom?"
"What do you mean? Of course I would!"
That brought everyone to laughter except the one at the
furthest end, closest to the rocky embankment. He erupted into a hissing
fit. He said something rushed and frantic in a garbled Tressian accent, I
couldn’t catch the words. I didn’t know Tressian well enough to
understand some of the countryside inflections.
Everyone quieted at once.
I tried to whisper loud enough for Seth to hear, "What
did he say?"
Seth's head was scanning the darkness, towards the
brushland. "He said he thought he heard some scivers."
We sat in silence listening hard to the noises of the
night. The harder I tried, the louder my heart pounded in my ears.
Scivers were hunters and scavengers, a fierce, dog-like creature known to
shadow caravans. The beasts would try picking off loose animals and,
during the leaner times, those stupid enough to wander too far out. I
have seen plenty before running about in the distance, but never had to worry about
being hunted by a pack.
The moment seemed to pass and conversation picked up again,
under quieter tones, between Seth and Tae-gron. All I could do was try
keeping warm. I had been stripped of my heavy coat and they replaced my
sturdy boots with a shoddy pair. These rags had little to offer for
protection from eventually freezing on this exposed outcropping. If not
for my childhood, nomadic lifestyle, my feet would have been blistered and
shredded thanks to those Cherrizarc shits.
It was in the lowest of moments, when all seemed to finally
sink in, that I heard the yipping that had now quieted the bridge again.
The stone walls and trench below subtly spoke back to the distant calls.
All eyes stared towards the mouth of the bridge as shadows crept to life at its
edge.
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