Necromancer

Chapter 26

"Hey wake up ya dolt!" I felt an elbow jab deep into my ribs. I jolted up in pain. "I dont wan ya sleeping on meh now alright boy!" Jamesons dirty hair shedded all over my clothes. I patted myself down making sure it was all gone. Looking over Jamesons shoulder I saw a big object jarre into view. As we came closer I squinted and saw a wagon stuck between two rocks. We came to a halt as the cruel man stopped in front. A dusky man with brown hair and a scraggly beard came into view. "What seems to be the problem?" The man was exhausted as sweat dripped from his peasant clothes. "The damn wheel just broke on me! I couldn't control it and went right off into the rocks I tell ya! Stupid thing had it fixed a week ago!" The cruel man sat atop his horse in a dignified manner. He did nothing as he peered down at him silently judging what to do. Leif and Rulf were silent as well waiting for the order. I looked away knowing exactly what was going to happen. I winced as I waited for the blow. "Let me check the wheel for you" To my suprise the cruel man got off his horse and went off to study the wheel. He knelt down on one knee as he ran his hand across the spokes. "It seems the iron cast broke off a completely, poor iron work is the reason." The man stood by wiping his eyes. On the other side of the wagon was a woman and a child, no older than 8 years. The cruel man went back to his horse and got something from the back of his leather satchel. It was a steel cast. "This should get it working again. You have a hammer dont you?  The cruel man banged on the wheel as he replaced the cast. In no time he put the wheel back on and it looked like new. The peasant man looked astonished. "I can't believe it, God must be watching out for me! Thank you, I'm forever indebted to you!" The cruel man got up and stared at him. "Indeed you are." The cruel man turned on his heel and got back on the horse. I looked at the people as I caught eyes with the young child. I saw a fear in his eyes that strangely reminded me of myself. Without another word we left leaving just a cloud of dust behind us. Leif sped up riding to the cruel mans side.  He spoke up annoyed, "Why didn't you kill them my Lord?" The cruel man, said nothing but quickly unsheathed his sword and slashed in a frenzy. A loud cry was heard and the sword was already gone. Leif fell back as he gripped his face. Droplets of  red blood fell on the ground. "Never question my authority Leif, lest you end up with another nasty scar!" He whined like a stray cat and held his tongue back. I swallowed loudly as I tried not to think of what would happen to me.

Nighttime began to fall like a curtain over the landscape. Loud insects chirped as we rode on. The road seemed to go on forever and ever with no end in sight. Stars lit up the sky in a brialliant fiasco. I tried to focus on keeping myself awake and clutched my ribs. Only realizing how hungry I was. Hadn't had a decent meal since two days ago. The hunger was knowing inside me like a rabid dog wanting out of a cage. "We are getting close to the camp just about a mile or so from here." The familiar sickly fog of Caern came into view. Jameson spoke up, "Wha the heck are weh gonna do wit tha lad me Lord?" The cruel man spoke in his deep voice. "Theres a cellar made just for holding criminals like him, dont worry." We entered into the city and begin making our way through the streets of Caern. There were still tons of people moving about in the dimly lit street. We slowly made our way through the crowds of people and into another alleyway. The road became narrower so we had to go into a line. I sat in the middle as Lief gaurded the back. I glanced back every now and then to see him glaring at me. His fresh wound still visible from the slash of the cruel mans blade. It went from the tip of his nose to his ear. Even a bit of ear seemed to be gone. "This is it, tie your horses over on the other side of the alley. We stopped in front of a stone building with slits in the walls for windows. A large iron door sat in the middle with a strange symbol on the front. I slid of the horse and felt rulf- cross bow stick into my back. The cruel man came over to me and stared me in the eyes. Then quickly went towards the door. I followed as Rulf pushed me along. I could feel the hatred from Lief radiating from him. If we were alone together we would almost certainly kill me. The cruel man knocked on the iron door as it slowly creaked open. A man with a black hood over his face greeted us. The only thing visible was slits for his eyes and mouth. The hooded figure began to speak, "So this is the  young necromancer you've spoke off?" His voice had a strange accent to it. "Yes we finally caught the little rat. He ran all the way into the middle of the deadlands, looking for his rat friends. Luckily he led us right to them. Sadly we didnt get to their leader, but I killed many of their ranks. Janshai will have a hard time bouncing back from this." "I imagine so, put him in the cellar below I've already prepared it for you."  "Good, Rulf go put him down there and meet us back up here once your done. Make sure to lock him up tight." Rulf nodded and ye pushed me towards the back of the room a set of stairs descended down into the darkness. Walking down I tried not to trip it was almost pitched black near the bottom as the light didn't hardly reached. Rulf cautiously walked in front and began unlocking the door with a giant set of mutliple keys. The door creaked open and he pushed me into the room. It was a decent sized sqaure room bare of any furniture. The thick stones walls isolated me from the outside except a window near the top which was the only sort of light. Rulf shoved me on the ground, dust flew into my mouth and I quickly coughed and spit. He grabbed my arm and began to restrain them in iron cuffs he ordered me to sit with my back to the wall as he but a iron collar around my neck. It had spikes on the outside so I couldn't grab it. Crap how I'm I gonna sleep like this? Rulf got up and quickly left slamming the thick iron door behind him. A wicked cough began in my throat as the dust stirred in the room. No one had been in this cellar for a long time from what I could gather. I pulled on the cuffs until I made my hands raw. It was no use. I tried to cast a spell but somehow I couldn't. These restraints had some sort of anti magical properties. The silence grew as I laid my head against the wall. It felt like hours went by but I couldn't sleep in this position. I looked around for some sort of entertainment to keep me from going crazy but found nothing. Just bare limestone walls looked back and mocked me. losing myself in the deep silence. Trying to think of a more pleasant place. A sort of strange mumbling then could be heard. I turned my neck slowly looking for the source. The strange mumbling began to get louder and louder. It was erratic and incoherent. I stood up and could just tiptoe myself to see out the window. Through the iron bars and in the nasty alleyway. A heap of tatted clothes laid on the ground. It moved slightly and the mumbling became louder. I croaked in a dry voice, "Hey" the ratted clothes stopped moving and for a second I thought I was crazy. But then the pile stood up into the form of a man. "Hey hey you!" The cuffs began   to cut deep into my wrist. "Huhhh! Whastit! Stay back devil!" Through my cloudy vision I saw a familiar face. I became astonished and excited, "Richard! Is that you!? I can't belie-" my voice choked as I tried to speak through the dryness. "Richard, it's me! Your friend remember! From the bar!" Richard's familiar peppered grey beard and bloodshot eyes came into view. He look at me with a crazed expression. His clothes were even worse than before and were held on my dirt and filth caked into his skin. He shuffled closer yelling loudly, "WHO DA HELL AR YU!" "Richard shut up, it's me the kid from the bar!" Richard flopped back on the ground and twitched his head towards me. "Languines?" I could barely get any more words out. "Yes that's it, I-" I began to feel tears come out and my voice quivered as I spoke. Soon i was sobbing uncontrollably. "P-please Richard I-I nee-ed help I ca-ant do this anymore! Fi ind a rock or something so I can bre-ak out of th-ese cuffs! Ple- ase! I beg of you!" Richard began to twitch uncontrollably on the ground he sneered though his rotten teeth. "I dont kno yu boy who the hec sent ya here? I tol you peple I don ned naw help not now not ever! you scum I wan the thron bac!!!" Dammit this isn't going to work! This fool is drunk out of his mind! I'm going to die now because of this fool! The tears wouldn't stop as they flowed down my cheeks my black dirty hair stuck to my face as I sobbed. My hand trembled as I sat back down. "Lis en don yu cry I'll go find dat pony yu lost of yers! I will I tell ya le me go find it!" I heard loud shuffling as it grew quiter into the distance. And soon it was gone.