The Crimson Party

Chapter 11

The door was no larger than the door of a normal room, yet even now, despite being only on one side of it, and the lack of light in the dungeon, Thomas knew it would be thick. The pure steel of the door was cold to the touch, and Thomas tensed as he put an ear to it.

He heard nothing. For now.

The part of the passage before the door was a narrow curve, and Thomas was not crowded by anyone as he stood before it. Only Egil and the Grey lady behind him. Thomas focused. The steel door was too thick and too large to cut a square into, Thomas would need to think.

"Go wake the other prisoners" Thomas told Egil, "Take some of the others with you, and silence any that yell or speak."


Egil went, and then it was Thomas and the Grey Lady.


"What's your name?" He asked her.

"Grendel", her voice was like the rocks at the beginning of an avalanche. She did not whisper.




Thomas felt a flash of rage, and then whispered.

"Go back and guard the path behind me. I require solitude and silence."

Grendel turned around and walked. Thomas waited until she was beyond the curve of the corridor to look back at the door.

Silence. And the massively dense steel door shining in the dark.

Thomas marshalled the scattered parts of himself and began to work.