Shadow Phantoms - H.P. Mallory Page 0,56

As the scars along his face still retained their pink hue, I could deduce he had received them not long ago.

“And when shall we make this trek?”

Adrik shrugged. “I know and care not.” Then he faced me squarely before dropping his gaze to the clay pot at my feet. “Have you finished?”

“Aye.”

“Kick the bowl to me. I’m in no mood to come after it.”

I nodded, not wanting to make waves with this one. Aye, this one would come in handy at some point. Hopefully in the near future. He would aid me, either intentionally or not. In the time I had been doomed to walk the lands of the Abyss, I had learned how to become a good judge of character.

I placed the clay bowl before my right foot and kicked it toward the iron gate, close enough that Adrik was able to retrieve it through the bars.

“Do as your mistress says and you will find your time here as good as it is possible to be,” Adrik said in a low tone. There was something defeated about his overall demeanor. It was a weakness I would use to my advantage. When the time was right.

I nodded, saying nothing. Adrik took the clay bowl and left.

I remained in solitary for perhaps an hour more. At the sound of light footsteps, I looked up to find Ermolai standing before me. She was accompanied by Brunor, the younger Veit.

“You will be put to work starting today, slave,” Ermolai announced, a smile accompanying the statement. “Stand.”

I did as I was instructed and watched as Ermolai unlocked my prison door and Brunor entered. He eyed me narrowly, clearly wary of me.

“I willnae attack ye,” I offered, holding my handcuffed wrists out before me.

“That’s right,” Ermolai said with a quick nod. “To do so would be foolish as you would be outnumbered and outmanned in seconds. I have hundreds who follow my command.” I could not say whether such was the truth or mere bluff. “And, furthermore, you do not want to put yourself on my wrong side.”

I believed this was truth.

Brunor approached me and released the shackles around my ankles. Then he proceeded to lead me from my cell, pulling on the chain that connected to the iron collar about my neck. I followed Ermolai down the narrow dirt path that wove in between the immense stalactites, doing my best to take reconnaissance of my surroundings. The cell in which I had been housed sat at the top of the cavern and was accessed by one pathway only. Beneath my cell were numerous other cells, each inhabited by at least five creatures.

“You shall begin your labor here, slave,” Ermolai said as she stopped short and Brunor pulled against the iron chain, yanking my neck upward. I stopped walking. “You will empty the chamber pots of both the prisoners and my guards,” Ermolai began, the twisted smile upon her lips stretching. “Then you will assist in the filling and hauling of the water barrels.”

“They are extremely heavy,” Brunor added.

“Yes, and owing to your physique, this job is well suited to you,” Ermolai continued as her eyes roved my uncovered chest to my legs and back to my chest again. “Do a poor job and you will be forced to redo it.”

Scarce a few minutes later, I found myself retrieving overfilling chamber pots from each of the prison cells. The offensive things were handed to me by a selected prisoner who passed them through an opening in the prison gate, barely wide enough to fit the chamber pot itself. Consequently, dung and piss splashed over the rim of the clay bowl and landed upon my hands and lower arms.

“Do a better job,” one of the prisoners piped up. He was sitting inside the prison and was shackled such as I was. There were five other inmates beside him, each stationed to a position upon the ground.

“I ain’t gonna clean the ground after you,” another one added as I glanced down and found I had spilled the excrement upon the cave floor.

After retrieving each pot of misery, I carried it, as instructed, to a cesspool that was not twenty feet from the cells. The pool was mayhap five feet wide and seven long. It was bordered by thick rock on each side and sunken into the ground. The pool was darkly colored with feces and the stench of it was near unbearable. I was surprised I had not smelt it from my prison at the top of