Sometimes I wonder if the prompts are an attempt to nudge me in a specific direction, and then I forget about that and wander off down whatever tangent the prompt has inspired :)
Retrieval "Derby!" sang Grace, drawing out the first syllable. She actually had a very nice singing voice, though the acoustics of the ravaged quarry did nothing to support it. "Oh Derby, come out, come out wherever you are!" Lord Derby looked around, but Tomasz and Szymon had disappeared. Jakov and the other soldier -- much to Derby's annoyance he couldn't remember the man's name -- appeared to whispering to each other, but since he couldn't hear them he felt reasonably certain that Grace couldn't either. Then he looked at Samual, who was trying hard not to shake. He leaned in close so that his mouth was by the other man's ear. "She won't stay down there forever," he whispered. Samual twitched as the warm air tickled his ear. "We're going to have to do something when she comes up here." "Like what, milord?" Samual's whisper was very soft as he couldn't bring himself to get too close to Lord Derby's head for fear of invading his personal space. "I think we're going to have to kill her." "Derby! Where are you, Derby? Did you really walk through that Gate into the middle of nowhere?" Grace's voice was still singsong, but there was a knife-edge of sharpness underneath it now. "How?" Samual's whisper was loud but only because he was also staring aghast at the King's Investigator. "We have no weapons and she's a mage. There are dozens of bodies down there of people she murdered. Effortlessly, milord!" "I was going to suggest pushing her over the edge of the quarry when she comes up here," said Lord Derby. "Mages are human too, they die like ordinary people. But what happened to the spear?" They both looked around now, squinting into the darkness, trying to make sense of the shadows and shapes. Ernest noted with a little concern that Tomasz and Szymon were still missing, and then with more concern that Jakov and Pyotr had disappeared now too. "Oh Derby, are you perhaps hoping to push a rock down onto me? Are you thinking a Lady Grace pancake would make for an excellent breakfast? Is that why I cannot find you amongst the bones and the flesh and the remnants of the demons I summoned? Must I come there and retrieve you?" Grace's voice now carried a note of vicious satisfaction. "Or shall I just scour ground level around us for a couple of miles? The King doesn't care for anything that lives, and I shall be safe down here in this pathetic little hole." Samual very delicately nudged Lord Derby's elbow and pointed into the darkness. "The spear, milord," he whispered. "I think we might be in trouble," whispered Lord Derby back. "Get it, and get ready to run back down into the quarry." If there had been more light he might have seen the blood drain from Samual's face, but the man pressed himself against the wall of the stone hut and started sneaking for the spear anyway. Down in the quarry, Grace started chanting.
2 comments:
Sometimes I wonder if the prompts are an attempt to nudge me in a specific direction, and then I forget about that and wander off down whatever tangent the prompt has inspired :)
Retrieval
"Derby!" sang Grace, drawing out the first syllable. She actually had a very nice singing voice, though the acoustics of the ravaged quarry did nothing to support it. "Oh Derby, come out, come out wherever you are!"
Lord Derby looked around, but Tomasz and Szymon had disappeared. Jakov and the other soldier -- much to Derby's annoyance he couldn't remember the man's name -- appeared to whispering to each other, but since he couldn't hear them he felt reasonably certain that Grace couldn't either. Then he looked at Samual, who was trying hard not to shake. He leaned in close so that his mouth was by the other man's ear.
"She won't stay down there forever," he whispered. Samual twitched as the warm air tickled his ear. "We're going to have to do something when she comes up here."
"Like what, milord?" Samual's whisper was very soft as he couldn't bring himself to get too close to Lord Derby's head for fear of invading his personal space.
"I think we're going to have to kill her."
"Derby! Where are you, Derby? Did you really walk through that Gate into the middle of nowhere?" Grace's voice was still singsong, but there was a knife-edge of sharpness underneath it now.
"How?" Samual's whisper was loud but only because he was also staring aghast at the King's Investigator. "We have no weapons and she's a mage. There are dozens of bodies down there of people she murdered. Effortlessly, milord!"
"I was going to suggest pushing her over the edge of the quarry when she comes up here," said Lord Derby. "Mages are human too, they die like ordinary people. But what happened to the spear?"
They both looked around now, squinting into the darkness, trying to make sense of the shadows and shapes. Ernest noted with a little concern that Tomasz and Szymon were still missing, and then with more concern that Jakov and Pyotr had disappeared now too.
"Oh Derby, are you perhaps hoping to push a rock down onto me? Are you thinking a Lady Grace pancake would make for an excellent breakfast? Is that why I cannot find you amongst the bones and the flesh and the remnants of the demons I summoned? Must I come there and retrieve you?" Grace's voice now carried a note of vicious satisfaction. "Or shall I just scour ground level around us for a couple of miles? The King doesn't care for anything that lives, and I shall be safe down here in this pathetic little hole."
Samual very delicately nudged Lord Derby's elbow and pointed into the darkness. "The spear, milord," he whispered.
"I think we might be in trouble," whispered Lord Derby back. "Get it, and get ready to run back down into the quarry." If there had been more light he might have seen the blood drain from Samual's face, but the man pressed himself against the wall of the stone hut and started sneaking for the spear anyway.
Down in the quarry, Grace started chanting.
Greg - hah :)
Ooh, this is delightfully tense. Not sure I like where things are heading, but I'm enjoying the ride!
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