THE HAUNTED KINGDOM 3 by CHARLES E.J. MOULTON (ereader that reads to you .txt) 📕

fire. I can tell you that. I found that out the hard way, in a dungeon. You fled for years. You fled even when there was nothing to flee from. Then one day you were alone and even that couldn’t stop you from fleeing from the real you, not the one who wants to prove himself master of creation. Your daughter had to pick you up from the gutter and tell you what to do. She returned from hell by her own determination just to save you. That took a lot of strength, no wonder she hasn’t been able to do so since.”
“I know what you mean. I’d hate to say it,” Alex said and smiled, “but you are right.”
Adnicul smiled and sighed. “That took a long time for you to grasp.”
“It did, didn’t it?”
“Better late than never.”
“I guess.” There was a long pause. Then Alex spoke again. “You know what?”
”What?”
“I think my time of adultery was the start. It was means for me to flee in the first place. It promoted my spiritual hell. Without it, I might’ve been able to save myself. I am even afraid to say that I long for that time, or have longed for it in the past. It was easy to long for, because it gave me an opportunity to flee and make it official that fleeing was a lifestyle, even getting away with it was. But one day truth would come out and challenge me again. So I could not flee completely after all. It would always follow me like a wolf follows a trail of blood. But by actually choosing my right friends I can eliminate that.”
“Friends?”
“Invisible and visible ones.”
“Ahh.”
“Should be a lesson to me.”
Adnicul seemed to drift off, his thoughts lingering among the shadows.
”There is a myth about the golden age, Alex!”
Alexander grew quiet. “What golden age, Adnicul?”
He waited. “The world we are fighting to win. When the day comes that darkness falls, the message of the fallen empire will come by way of a messanger from the air. A bird will bring you the message, not a rider.”
”Who says that?”
Adnicul shrugged.
“Someone long ago. Someone not so long ago. Someone I know. Someone you know. Does it matter? The fact is that when the dark empire falls, you will know by a raven or a dove or an eagle that it has fallen and it will be surprising, I guarantee it.”
Alex nodded. “I shiver at the thought.”
”The prospect is heartwarming.”
”A long way off though, we have a long way to go.”
”Still, we are on our way. We have joined forces.”
”True” Alex agreed. “Speaking of friends, as we did before, I just wanted to say this: no matter what your prehistory is, if you are honest than you can win.”
“By making the truth your bride … you will have something that is faithful to you … perhaps forever. Is that what you mean?”
Alex nodded. “The only thing that never leaves you.”
Both of them nodded and uttered what they both were thinking: “Honesty.”
“All kinds.”
A smile was exchanged and suddenly there was sympathy between the two men. Alexander was happy to realize that he was changing, his tolerance level much higher now than before.
He saw the two horses and it seemed that they, too, were sympathetic toward each other. How could he see that? He did not know how, he just did. They had not been friends before.
It was sometime in the middle of the night now.
They had completely forgotten about time.
There was no way that they could go on until the morning, which meant sleep was due.
Adnicul handed Alex the metal flask and just as he did a sound came from deeper inside the cave. The sound was a very deep growl, a gritted and hoarse snarl. After a few seconds it died down.
The two gentlemen looked at each other.
“What was that?”
Alex shook his head. “I have no idea.”
“Sounded like an animal …”
There was a deafening silence that made them both uneasy to even move.
Adnicul stood up. He grimaced, supported himself on the wall and looked around the corner.
“There is a tunnel down here. It seems to be leading downward to some deeper part of the cave. The sound came from down there.”
The two horses snorted quietly and shifted from hoof to hoof. Mercutio shook his mane.
“You should not be walking. Not with that ankle.”
”Never mind my ankle. I lost an eye and went riding to hell the same day. Forget the pain.”
Alexander stood up, picked up his sword and put in the leather belt.
Adnicul turned to Alex. “The sound seemed to have come from down that path.” The sound echoed through the cave again, a rasping, deadly noise from the open, breathing mouth of something. “We should check it, I think.” Adnicul limped to his horse.
“I still don’t like you walking around on a sprained ankle. We have a long way to go. I can check it, if you think it necessary.”
”Would you stop worrying? I had four hours of rest. That more than enough for an former tyrant.”
”As you wish.”
“You’re not my mother, so you don’t have to worry.”
“Really?” Alex mused in a high pitched voice.
There was a different tone of voice there now and Alex had noticed that several times. Adnicul could be as charming as could be, but then suddenly he could turn on you like a scorpion on a cat. Alex decided to let it go as long as it didn’t happen too often. He was a guide, not a brother. A voice within him was reminding himself of that he was growing attached to the man.
“Besides, I am interested in that sound.”
“Do we have to check?”
The growl penetrated the silence again, closer this time.
“It might come after us. We cannot leave here in the dark. We need to protect the horses from might creep up on us in our sleep.”
Alex nodded. He picked up a truffle from his bag and walked up to his horse and gave it to him.
“We might be gone for a bit, so eat up. We will be back.”
The stallion munched and swallowed. He received a pat on the mane from his master just as the raucous reverberation was magnified again by the multiple corners of this grotto.
Alex looked its way, but knew that it was a mistake to look for it.
“That sound bothers me. It sounds bad.”
Adnicul walked slowly again to the flames and picked up his sword. He put it in his belt.
“I don’t know, Alex.” He took a very thick branch from the side of the cavern beside them. He took some of the leaves and grass that they had bound together earlier and tied it to the stick with a thin rope that he had brought in his saddlebag. “We will have to find out.”
Alex began searching for the second branch they had brought along.
“Are there many beasts here … in your country?”
Adnicul looked at Alex, surprised. “Nocturania was never my country, Alexander.”
The Prosperanian king tied the second bunch to the branch and lit it on Adnicul’s torch.
“I mean have you ever come across a beast over here?”
“What is your definition of a beast?”
“Something with fangs.”
Adnicul laughed. “Aha. Have I ever come across a beast here?”
”Yes.”
”Except Lucinda, you mean?”
Alex smiled. “Right. Except the beast Lucinda.”
Adnicul nodded.
“This is undiscovered country, Sire. Not even the darkest of us have seen all of this.”
Adnicul took a few steps forward and then turned to Alex again.
“Remember that this here is another version of reality, so we could come across some beasts that have no counterparts in our world.”
Alexander walked up a few steps in front of Adnicul and took the lead.
“Let us go then and find out what it is.”
The two men began walking down the hill. It was indeed a tunnel leading down somewhere.
What was strange was that the moss on the walls were lighting up the tunnel.
“What is this?”
“The gypsies call it ‘blue moss’. Partly phosphor, it lights up in the dark.”
“Thank God for it.”
“The torches help.”
“Yes, but only so much.”
The sound came again. It was closer.
They saw some kind of light coming from the inside of the hole at the tunnel’s end. The creature inside there was obviously eating and had obviously just woken up. There were loud munching sounds coming from the inside of that cave.
With his one free hand, Alex picked up his sword and did his best to balance it while carrying his torch in the other hand.
The hill was quite steep so they had to hold on to the walls whilst walking down.
“Take care, Adnicul.”
”I shall.”
Just as he had said that, he skidded and fell down on his bottom. Alex saw the huge shadow of a beast approaching them on the wall. But there was no way to stop them skidding. The hoarse growling sound was very loud now. Adnicul skidded down and hit Alex who fell backward as well. Soon enough, both of them were racing down as whatever creature this was came thumping toward them.
The two men landed a meter or two from the corner just as the thing looked around it and grinned.
It was a hideous thing. Two long husks peaked out from each side of its otherwise toothless mouth. Its pitch black eyes were huge and took up half of its face. It had brown fur on its head and was clothed in some sort of leather outfit, an apron of some sort. The apron was bloody. Its hands were massive, the size of wagons and its long tail kept swinging back and forth.
It opened its mouth to speak.
“Namarari suffuse?”
The voice was hoarse and deep.
The two men were too stunned to speak.
“Agilely rump Uri, Assuror …”
The thing stood there and panted, obviously distraught about having uninvited guests knock on his wall.
“Namarari suffuse?” the creature again bellowed.
Alexander’s voice was trembling. “What is he saying?”Adnicul shook his head and held up a hand.
The beast took another step toward them and it was now that Alex saw that the thing had a dead wolf in his left hand. “Suururaria bekalatop, Assuror!”
“He urges us to tell us what we are doing here?”
Adnicul nodded. “Múntor aliva, Assuror. Agilely Namarari in jurnos dis Yambollah.”
The beast looked at the travelers for a bit and then started smiling. “Yambollah?” There was a happy sing-songing wave to his response. Adnicul nodded.
“Tus suffuse?”
“Adniculo Nocturnos.” Adnicul pointed to Alex, who was amazed how intact both torches were after this fall down the hill. “Zur es Alexander Winsletenna, jurnos au a Yambollah.”
The beast leaned forward and ended up two meters from them. “The loser kings.”
“You speak our language?” Alexander said.
He looked at the king. “Only on special occasions do we speak this very primitive tongue.” The thing grinned. “This is indeed a special occasion when the butcher of the underworld meets the reasons for Lucinda’s hatred.” He laughed. “I have been told to spare you if I meet you, but kill this one.” He pointed at Adnicul. As the thing took one step further toward them, Alex took up his sword and pushed it toward his forehead. The thing withdrew his hand. “Oh, angelic weapon. Hold it up. So I can see it. Hard