Jaleigh Johnson - Unbroken Chain - The Darker Road

“Everything was fine, when all of a sudden the cages rattled and the beasts hollered like I’ve never heard before. The noise was so loud, we heard it over the storm. Risic went and lifted one of the tarps, and a panther clipped him on the shoulder. The wound wasn’t bad, but the beasts were all acting crazy.”

“Bashed their brains against the bars,” Tuva said. “We found a pair of shadow hounds, male and female, dead in their cages. You can’t imagine the mess.”

“I can,” said a voice from the sickroom doorway.

Ashok turned and saw Olra, the head of the Camborrs. She and her subordinates trained and cared for the beasts the caravan crews brought back from the Shadowfell. They’d dealt with all manner of strange and deadly monsters. Camborrs served an important role preparing the beasts for sale or use in defense of Ikemmu. In addition to his duties as a Guardian, Ashok had been training with the Camborrs under Olra’s supervision.

Olra’s scarred face looked more grim than usual. She’d obviously heard what had happened. “What did Risic do when the beasts went mad?” she asked.

Vlahna answered her. “Risic thought the storm caused it-maybe the beasts were terrified at being helpless in cages. He told us to let them loose, that we’d round them up later once the storm passed. If we didn’t, he said they’d likely kill themselves, and we’d end up back from a tenday caravan run with nothing to show for it.”

Olra shook her head. “The fool,” she murmured.

Tuva grunted. “The big she-panther managed to break out by herself. She was stronger than she looked. Once the others were loose, they ran out of the storm, circled back around, and came after us.”

“The she-panther killed Risic,” Vlahna said. “He never saw his death coming.”

Olra nodded. She glanced at Ashok. “Only a mad beast or a starved one would have run back into that storm to hunt.”

“Maybe they were already tainted in some way,” Cree suggested. “Did Risic or anyone else notice anything strange when you captured them?”

Both Tuva and Vlahna shook their heads. “Everything was fine until the storm,” Tuva said.

“Then we have to accept that as the reason, or at least the trigger,” Ashok said. He exchanged a glance with Olra, who shrugged. He could tell she had her doubts, but she had no better explanation to offer.

“Thank you,” he said to Vlahna and Tuva.

Ashok left the tower with the brothers. Olra followed them down. They didn’t speak until they were outside.

“For the time being, I’m giving you Risic’s duties,” Olra told Ashok. “Think you can handle yourself?”

Ashok nodded. “I can do it,” he said, “as long as these two can watch the wall themselves for a few days?”

Skagi put a hand to his mouth in mock alarm. “You hear that, Brother? Ashok’s leaving us. What’ll we do? First it’s guard duty alone-what’s next? Sleeping alone? Bathing alone? How will we undo our breeches and piss without him?”

Cree nodded gravely. “I’ll aid you, Brother.”

Ashok stiffened, but then he saw the brothers’ easy grins, and he relaxed. They taunted him in jest.

“Tomorrow at the Monril bell, Ashok,” Olra said, ignoring the brothers. She left them to head in the direction of the beast training grounds and forges.

When she was out of earshot, Cree sobered and said, “There’s truth in those jests. With Risic’s duties and your own, you’ll be a Camborr in truth before long.”

“When that happens, you’ll need a new one of these,” Skagi said, lifting Ashok’s arm to expose the tattoo of leaping flames that extended from his forearm to his wrist. He’d gotten it for training the nightmare-and because he’d survived the maddening dreams the beast inflicted on its victims.

“I think it should be claws this time,” Cree said. “You took down the she-panther, after all.”

“He still hasn’t told the tale of how he did it,” Skagi muttered. “At least you can give us the bloody details, every rip and slash.”

“You’re right. I’m sorry,” Ashok said. “Truly.”

Cree nodded. Skagi clapped him on the shoulder. “Fine then, speak,” the big man said. “I’m not going to stand out here all day.”

“Guardians!”

The shout came from the training grounds. Ashok turned and saw Olra vault the paddock fence and take off at a dead sprint toward the nearby blacksmith forges. He and the brothers raced to catch up with her.

The forge huts spewed black smoke at the cavern ceiling. Thick clouds of it hung in the air like choking shadows. When they got near the closest hut, Ashok heard shouts and the clang of metal coming from within. At first, he attributed it to the normal sounds of forge work, but then Olra ran around the side of the building.

“Escaped from the pens,” she said, breathless. “Two shadow snakes. They came this way. We have to warn the forge masters.”

Cree and Skagi split off and ran to two of the other forges. Ashok yanked his chain off his belt and kicked in the door of the closest hut. A wall of heat struck him in the face. Olra darted in the room ahead of him, a barbed whip in her hand.

The air reeked of iron and smoke and made Ashok’s eyes water. To his right the forge fire blazed, and on his left were workbenches and tables. Some held swages and hammers, while others gleamed with finished swords, axes, and polearms.

The blacksmiths had already found one of the snakes. A shadar-kai man crouched near the weapon tables, and a woman stood silhouetted against the forge fire, her sweat-stained hair stuck to her face, fending off a two-headed black shape with a set of iron tongs.

The snake’s two heads struck and darted at the woman. Its thick, black-scaled body wove in and out of the shadows, movements too fast for even Ashok’s keen vision to follow. Ashok came forward and swung his chain in tight, deadly circles around his body. The links caught the forge light and drew the snake’s attention away from the woman. Tongues flicking, it slithered toward Ashok.

“That’s right,” Ashok said, his voice rough with the effort of holding himself back. “Come to me.” He wanted to send his spinning chain across the small space and cut the snake in two, but he held on to the impulse, letting it strengthen him. Vaguely, he was aware of Olra moving stealthily along the back wall of the hut toward the forge. The only sound he heard was that of his spikes slicing the air. He fell into a hypnotic rhythm, the chain spinning, spinning. He wouldn’t strike until the snake was well away from the woman.

Then he saw, to his left, the other blacksmith grab a dagger off the weapons table.

“Don’t!” Ashok shouted, but he was too late. The blacksmith hurled the weapon at the left head. Spinning in the forge light, the dagger missed and struck off the far wall, shattering the hypnotic spell Ashok had been weaving with his weapon.

In a fluid movement, the snake darted around and sank its fangs into the muscle of the woman’s arm. She uttered a strangled scream and shook her arm convulsively back and forth to try to tear the snake loose, but her movements only made the wound worse.

“Get the left head!” Olra shouted. She didn’t wait for Ashok to acknowledge the command but charged forward to get the attention of the right head. Her whip struck repeatedly at the snake’s skin, tearing away chunks of flesh.

The right head obligingly came around and struck out at Olra’s thigh. The Camborr knocked over a wood bench and deftly slid it between her and the snake. The right head hit the wood, tongue flicking between the slats, then just as quickly retreated. Olra kicked out against the bench and pushed the snake back before coming in overhand with her whip. This time the barbed strands barely missed an eye.