City of Masks by Kevin Harkness Read Free Book Online Page B

the days had been dry of late, so there was only a thin layer of scum and mud covering the floor.
    He desperately hoped it was mud, but his nose disagreed.
    The ceiling was high, but the walls were close enough to touch with extended arms. Garet realized he had no room to swing his weapon effectively. After a moment’s thought, he wrapped the loose coils around his chest, layering them over his new sash.
    So much for these clothes. I hope the stores Bane won’t blame me for the state of them when we get back.
    If we get back , he added to himself, for there was a demon somewhere under the Plaza, and that never meant a sure homecoming.
    They heard Branet move off, calling to Kitoreth. Salick looked at how Garet was arranging his weapon: the spiked weight with a bit of slack in one hand, and the short-handled hammer and pick in the other.
    “Have you invented a new sash?” Salick asked. Her voice sounded odd, a high-pitched echo in this confined space. He felt twitchy himself, a dependable sign that a demon was about.
    “I suppose I have,” he said. “What rank would this be, Green Sewer Bane?”
    “Red at least,” she said, and chuckled nervously. “I’ll go first, Master Sewer Bane. You keep the light high and behind us so that we’re not blinded. If we meet the beast, watch my trident, so mind me if I say get down!”
    Garet nodded. He had to admit that Salick’s weapon would be more effective than his own. He just hoped that he could be of some use if the Snake Demon came their way.
    As they walked down the narrow tunnel, splashing in puddles of water and filth, Garet tried to ignore his nose and remember what he could about this particular type of demon. The beasts came in many forms, and each had their own dangers, from the tiny Rat Demons to the massive Bashers.
    He considered what he already knew. Snake Demons were rare, thankfully. No other had appeared in Shirath in the many months Garet had been in the Hall. From his studies, he knew they had tiny legs and arms, and a long body befitting their name. Moret’s Demonary said they could grow to the length of a tall tree, but Garet hoped this was one of those times when the old book was more fanciful than accurate. He stopped to hold the light near a side tunnel, but saw nothing within. Hadn’t Moret said something about their bite as well?
    “Listen,” Salick commanded.
    Fear jumped in Garet’s chest. The demon’s effect was growing.
    From a far distance, if the number of echoes were any guide, voices came, quick shouts back and forth, and over all a dry rasping sound, as if someone dragged an uncured hide over rough stone.
    The rasping sounded closer than the shouts.
    “Claws!” Salick said. “I can see a light far off. They’re driving it this way. Set the lantern as high as you can and get ready.”
    Garet propped it just within a head-high opening and prepared his sadly hobbled weapon. He would use the pick-hammer end on the demon if Salick could pin it down with her trident.
    The rasping grew louder. So did the shouts. Splashing feet followed, then a scream. The confines of the tunnel echoed the cry terribly, then the rasping was everywhere and the demon appeared in the light of their lantern.
    It was a thick cable of muscle and malice. Its head looked large in proportion to the rest of its body, the usual horn-like ridges of the skull sweeping back into serrated blades. Its beak gaped and the split tongue waved from a fringe of needle-sharp teeth. Two of the teeth were proper fangs and longer than Garet had ever seen in a demon’s mouth.
    It swayed for a moment, regarding them with small, black eyes.
    “Ware the teeth!” Salick shouted, and stabbed at the thing with her trident.
    The Snake Demon clamped its jaws down on the tines of her weapon and shook it—and her—like a toy. The Gold was thrashed repeatedly against the tunnel walls, but she held on to the shaft.
    “Salick!” Garet cried and rushed forward, only to be battered to one