Ebudae by John H. Carroll Read Free Book Online Page A

hammered his chest with
every breath wasn’t helping.
    Frath was delighted to see a hallway instead
of stairs, but after a hundred feet, he realized there were more
stairs going down. “Really?” was all he said before making his way
down. By the end, he was sweating and his jaw clenched from the
pain.
    The dark and damp passage turned soon and
then turned back. When they reached an intersection, the shadows
guided him down another passage. Time started to fade into a haze
within his mind as he stumbled down passage after passage with his
unconscious baggage. There were times when he wanted to give up,
but the shadows were always there, guiding him on. They refused to
let him stop or rest.
    Dralin was built above the ruins of cities
long gone and it was still possible to travel in some sections of
them. A sliver of fear shot down his spine when Frath realized he
was walking through the dark streets of those ruins. There was no
way in his current condition that he would be able to fend off the
horrifying creatures that dwelled in the crumbling buildings. He
concentrated on forcing one foot in front of the other and hoped
the shadows would protect him.
    Frath didn’t know how much time had passed
when he tripped on a step and fell to his knees. The pain brought
him out of the fog for a moment as he yelled. His eyes focused on
purple-flamed candles lining the sides of the steps. Etched into
each step was the familiar image of a crow, letting Frath knew he
was at his destination.
    Somehow finding strength, Frath began up the
steps. It seemed like an eternity before he reached the basement of
the church. Shadows dancing in the candlelight guided him to a pile
of cloths. Frath tried his best to set the body down gently on
them, but did so roughly, eliciting a weak cry of suffering from
the man.
    “Well, at least you’re still alive.” Frath
pulled the pack off his shoulder and dropped it down by the sheets.
Then he stood and staggered to the side from disorientation. The
shadows braced him as he stumbled a few steps. He went to the
stairwell heading up to the church and forced his feet to
climb.
    He was at the cowled statue of Distra, not
remembering the rest of the walk up the steps to get there. “I hope
he’s important,” Frath told her as he fell to his knees from
exhaustion, not worship.
    The cowled head lifted and the eyes began to
glow purple. “He is,” the goddess whispered. Purple candles
guttered as a chill breeze flowed through the church with the
words. Distra entered Frath’s mind and he felt the pain begin to
disappear as she stroked his skin from the inside out. Shadows
lowered him to the ground as he lost consciousness.
     
    Chapter
4
     
    The late afternoon sun had wilted the two
young women. They were vainly trying to find shade in between the
crowded tents after having sat in the sun for the last two hours
while watching a play.
    “You pretty ladies need shade?” a giant man
asked, looming over them from behind. He was so large that he
provided shade for both of them.
    Ebudae hid behind Pelya, suddenly afraid.
“No thank you.” The fact that she could blast him with a variety of
spells left her mind as she stared at the seven-foot giant. Not
only was he tall, but muscles bulged from every part of his body,
even his chiseled face.
    “Hello. What’s your name?” Pelya asked the
giant man.
    “Pelya,” Ebudae hissed. “Don’t talk to
him.”
    “Lizor is my name.” He flexed his muscles.
There was no shirt to cover his shaven chest and he wore leather
shorts that showed off more muscles in his enormous thighs. His
mouth had lopsided teeth and green eyes gazed lovingly at a bicep.
He had a falsetto voice that didn’t fit his body. “You don’t want
shade?”
    “We do want shade, Lizor, but this is
a dangerous place for girls like us. How do we know you’re not
going to kidnap us?” Pelya asked, placing a hand on the man’s other
arm. Her boldness shocked Ebudae.
    “Lizor isn’t going