Page 20 (1/1)

I steeled ainst the failure It beca tunnel of water

But… how do I reach it?

Glancing frouessed that I hardly had anything to lose… but everything to gain if I h waters before they could pull ain, but this tih it, I flattened le-- lake beneath

Slowly but surely, I sulide closer and closer to the base of the whirlpool As I arrived within several feet above them, they were still absorbed in their freakish conversation

Fixingaside houls beneath, I knew that I would only have one shot at this

I can do this I can do this

But as it turned out, I couldn’t

I didn’t even reach the entrance Far froed to close the final short distance between houls spotted me and whirled on me with such speed that I couldn’t help but wonder if they’d noticedAll ten of thea this attempt I had to abandon the rasp As one of them launched at e of water Entering the tunnel and speeding with all that I had along the canal, I heard a harrowing ht

E in the second cavern that held the main door, I didn’t even dare look behind h the wood Faster Faster I passed along the dark corridor and then through chahoul hadn’t caught up with h I was under no illusion that I’d lost him yet Far from it I still heard and sensed his presence But it was at least some comfort to realize that my speed seehouls, I could still flee froh, as I sped further and further fro" hardly see deeper into their clutches, s were a blur by noas vaguely aware that I was still trailing through chaht that whizzed by--but soon, even that fa disappeared All became darker, much darker Iis their lair?

After what felt like ten houl had beendisappeared I dared slon a little after I passed through what felt like the hundredth stone wall And then I even dared to stop coe chamber, lit by torches Its floors and walls were bare, with no signs even of thein every rooe at the opposite end of the room I couldn’t immediately see what it contained, as it was cast in shadow, and I didn’t have time to stand and stare I ed in the wall in case the ghoul was still hot on houl to burst through the wall at anyfigure stirred It extended… a tail? A long, thick, silver-scaled tail Ashead, I realized that it was a dragon

How on earth could these ghouls have caught a dragon? And where would they have found it?

As the dragon settled, lowering its head again and apparently drifting back into sluhoul He could be invisible of course, but I couldn’t shake the hope that perhaps, as I’d sped through corridor after corridor, chaed to lose him after all At least for now Maybe he didn’t even care I ay from the exit, back within the depths of The Underworld He’d think I would get caught sooner or later anyway, and dues of the rooh to the next Here, I was surprised to find an entire rooons’ In the flickering light of the torches, I realized that they were filled with s, cats, rabbits, horses, even a few donkeys I wondered how many of these were stray, and how many they had kidnapped from homes Then there were also soeons

I wondered what fate lay in store for these poor ani that houls The way they killed and ate their victi creatures here in these cells were being kept for food, unlike the ghosts ere simply for pleasure

Thankfully, I saw no humans… yet It was quite possible that they would be kept soht that I really did not want to see

My suspicion was confirmed as the next charuesome butchery room The tables were covered with knives and stained with blood And in the far corner was the dissected carcass of a horse

My stoI had alhouls tittering, co from the other side of the wall Then the sound of a door creaking open Ghouls were approaching My first instinct was to sink into the floor, rather than head back fro guard who’d been chasing me before