The Unrepentant (Skharr DeathEater #6) - Michael Anderle Page 0,52

here? The lizardfolk are still keeping their distance and between you and me, they likely won't be a problem for the orcs or us anytime soon. Hey, do you think we might be able to leverage that into making them return our boat to us?"

"Dwarf—"

"Hell, for those kinds of heroics, we might be able to talk them into giving us the finest ship of their fleet."

Skharr stopped and peered ahead. They had reached a point in the tunnel where he could see where they had come from and interestingly enough, they didn't need a torch to navigate like they had before. Light streamed in from somewhere—a light that hadn't been there earlier.

"The sun is out!" Brahgen laughed and shook his head. "The mist the hags had created over this island has been blown away and the sun is shining through for the first time in…shall we say years? I think we can say years."

The barbarian narrowed his eyes and scrutinized the tunnel.

"Hells, we might be able to convince the orcs to give us two ships. One for keeping the lizards away for good and another for bringing the sun back to their desolate shores. We might have a few songs written about this little caper yet—if orcs were known for writing music, of course."

Orc music was one thing he had never heard of, but his mind was on the entrance to the tunnel. Something about it unsettled him although he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He continued to study the area as Brahgen advanced toward it without a second thought.

"I might simply write the song myself, you know? That way, I could make sure they get all the details right. Especially the detail about how I saved your life.”

Skharr suddenly realized what unsettled him. A gleam was reflected through the tunnel that didn’t quite match the stones. It meant only one thing and the dwarf walked directly toward it.

"Look out!"

He rushed forward but something sprang against his boot, followed quickly by a click.

In that moment, three sharp pricks touched his neck. A few more struck his chest and he looked down at two thin darts that had pierced through his shirt and into the skin beneath.

They weren’t deep enough to wound but he could already feel something swimming in the back of his head as another three pricks stuck him in the ass.

The effects were stronger than before and he wavered and leaned against the wall of the cavern as he shook his head.

"Look….look…" He struggled to recall what he had wanted to say.

"Shit!" Brahgen jumped away. "I'll get some help—hold on!"

The barbarian wanted to warn him but the words froze on his tongue as he dropped to his knees. Helpless, he could only watch as the dwarf reached the end of the tunnel and a net was cast over him.

All energy left his limbs and he planted face-first onto the ground.

"Not fucking again," he muttered before the world turned black.

Chapter Thirteen

Brahgen had no idea what he had expected to do. The orcs were already gone and he knew for a fact that he wouldn’t be able to help Skharr himself. But something had to be done and he had still been full of his previous success in the cave.

Racing out had seemed like such a good idea before a net closed around him. He hadn't thought about who might have set the trap that caught his companion before he acted. Although perhaps that wouldn't have made much of a difference given that they had traps both within and without the tunnel.

All he knew was that a net had been thrown over his head and he now struggled to reach the dagger at his waist.

There was movement all around him, and he thought for a moment that the lizardfolk were attacking, even though they were no longer under the control of the dead hags.

But the sight of weapons and armor around him told him unequivocally that all was not well, and the primitive reptile creatures had certainly not arranged the traps that caught both him and Skharr.

He began to hack at the mesh around him and even managed to pull it away from where it restricted his movement. Moments later, he felt a rush of elation when he escaped it entirely and crawled out from under it, but he realized he was still surrounded by a group of humans, all with their weapons trained on him.

"Drop the weapon!" one of them shouted. He was the only one not