Adept (The Essence Gate War, Book 1) - By Michael Arnquist Page 0,83

pain merely to thwart me?”

Halthak said nothing, striving to compose his ravaged face into a tranquil mask. In truth, he was not certain he could have answered in any case, for his tongue was swollen and dry as parchment.

The Wyrgen spun away with a curse and slammed the blood-slicked weapon down on the table with such force that the other silvery implements there leapt jangling and spinning into the air. The device itself seemed to quiver even at rest, and the inset green orb pulsed hungrily, drawing blood along the blades to vanish into its glowing surface.

Halthak felt his stomach turn with revulsion and fear as he eyed the sinister device. Beyond even the considerable damage Grelthus could inflict with the thing, it seemed to magnify pain to a level he had never before experienced. He was not sure how much longer his will could hold out against that evil instrument.

Grelthus took several deep breaths, and then turned back toward him, outwardly calm once more.

“There is no need for you to suffer so,” he said in a voice laden with concern. “Your frail form cannot take so much damage, and you will surely die if you do not repair the wounds. I ask but to observe as you employ your magic, and there need be no further pain inflicted.”

Halthak knew it for a lie the instant he heard it. He decided it deserved company.

“My staff,” he croaked. “It serves as my focus, and I require it to direct my magic. Perhaps if it was retrieved––”

“Do not toy with me! There was no affinity for magic in that object,” Grelthus said, muzzle peeling back to reveal a mouthful of teeth like daggers. “Your friends are back in that room, trapped and alive only at my whim, and I will not return there until I decide what to do with them.”

The Wyrgen dropped to all fours and stalked forward until the stink of his hot breath washed over Halthak’s face. “It is within your power to save them, healer. Give me what I want, and I will release your friends and aye, even usher them from Stronghold. What say you?”

Halthak felt a stab of temptation, but he knew full well that it was but another of the creature’s empty promises. In any event, Amric and Valkarr would never agree to depart at the cost of him remaining captive here. So the Half-Ork grinned and said, through cracked lips, “What say I? I say we postpone this conversation until I can look through a fortress window and see their backsides departing the grounds. Not that I have any reason to doubt your word, you mangy mongrel.”

The wolf-like visage twisted with rage, and though Halthak never saw the blow coming, his head rocked back with its force. To his amazement, he managed to retain both consciousness and his upright position, even if he had not the faintest notion how he accomplished either. Woozy, he marveled at the boldness of his words, more than a little shocked they had tumbled from his own mouth. It seemed that time spent around the swordsman had bolstered his courage at the cost of his manners, and perhaps his self-preservation as well.

He glanced down at his torso to assess the damage that Grelthus had done to him thus far, for he was growing too cold and numb to know by feel alone. Some detached part of his mind nagged at him that this was a bad sign in itself, but he waved it away. His robes hung in tatters, as did the flesh beneath, soaked with the blood that was forming a languid pool beneath him. The Wyrgen was truthful in one respect: these wounds would prove fatal soon, if Halthak did not act.

He blinked the sweat from his eyes and regarded his captor, careful to keep his expression neutral.

“Do you still believe your friends will find and rescue you?” Grelthus was saying. He shoved one clawed fist into a tunic pocket and pulled forth the cube device he had used to unlock interior doors in the fortress. He thrust the device before Halthak’s weary gaze, pinched between his talons. “There is no way you could know this, Half-Ork, but this is not just any key. As Stronghold’s head scientist, I was one of a very few who commanded a set of master keys which can open any door in the fortress. And that is not all.”

The Wyrgen bounded to his feet and leapt across the chamber to stand