Empire of the Saviours (Chronicles of/Cosmic Warlord 1) by A.J. Dalton Page B
Authors: A.J. Dalton
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backhanded the old man.
Norfred crumpled to the ground, Darus shrieking as he discovered he’d again fractured his arm that had only recently mended.
With a roar louder than any rockfall, Freda surged towards the hated Gang-leader. Darus had brought two of his biggest men with him, and they came forward now to meet her. One slammed a giant fist into her chin, but she barely felt it, while the bruiser cried out as several of his knuckles broke. She smashed her forehead into his nose, instantly turning his face into a bloody mess. Then she swung her right arm and hit the other miner across the chest with it. He flew backwards into the cave wall, his head cracking sickeningly against the rock. He slid to the floor and blood began to pool around him.
She advanced on Darus now, intent on pounding him to dust. The Gang-leader whimpered in fear and she smelt urine.
There was a weak cough and Norfred called to her. ‘Freda, don’t! I need your help. Leave him! Freda, come lift me up and take me somewhere safe. Freda, I need you.’
She hesitated with her two boulder-like fists raised above Darus’s head. Then she lowered them slowly and turned back towards the other, he who made her complete, he whom she only wanted to make happy and protect. But she had not done enough to protect the other, and now he was hurt. She was suddenly terrified that he would stop completely. She stumbled to him in haste and lifted him as gently as her clumsy hands would allow. He was so light and fragile. She could tell he was weakening. She sensed something like a small cave-in in his head, but this time she didn’t know how to save him.
‘Freda is sorry, Norfred!’ she moaned.
He ran trembling fingers across her cheek and whispered, ‘Do not be sad, Freda. I have had a long life, longer than most. And I am happier than any that ever lived that I got to know you.’ He coughed weakly and his rheumy eyes clouded with pain. ‘Promise me?’
She lowered her head closer to his lips. ‘Anything, Norfred!’
‘Promise me that you’ll go to the top of the mine and beyond. You deserve to be free of Darus and his cruelty. I wish I had listened to you before, and now it is too late, my dearest Freda. If you see … if you see Jan, tell him I … I miss him and love him.’
‘Don’t stop, Norfred, pleeease!’
The life in him guttered like a miner’s candle. ‘There’s no pain now, Freda. Take me to the women. They will know how to tend to my body. Be free and happy, my dearest Freda.’
And then all was darkness. Where once she had found comfort, nurture and texture in that darkness, now it was empty. It was a void where the silence was eternal and deafening.
‘You’ll pay for this, you freak,’ Darus promised quietly as he watched the monster retreating down the tunnel, cradling the old bag of bones.
The women had always been kind to Freda, although she didn’t understand the look of sympathy that was always in their eyes when she spoke to them. She was grateful for it now though.
‘Place him here, you poor thing,’ Mistress Widders said gently. ‘That’s it. We’ll look after him and see to it that he’s prepared in the proper way. He’ll join the spirits of those who went before him, dear. He’ll be cast into the bottomless pit, which is one of the eternal places.’
Freda’s sharp ears picked up shouts in the distance, but no one else seemed to have heard them yet.
‘It goes on forever, you see. There is no death or unhappiness there. He’ll be welcomed by the Overlords who have gone before him, and he will be treated as if he were their equal. They will celebrate his life and name him an Underlord of this world. And he will wait for you, Freda, and you will see him again one day.’
‘I will?’ she asked in wonder, suddenly filled with hope and smiling so widely that flakes of skin rattled off her cheeks. ‘If I cast myself into the bottomless pit, maybe I can see him straight away!’
Mistress Widders’s
Norfred crumpled to the ground, Darus shrieking as he discovered he’d again fractured his arm that had only recently mended.
With a roar louder than any rockfall, Freda surged towards the hated Gang-leader. Darus had brought two of his biggest men with him, and they came forward now to meet her. One slammed a giant fist into her chin, but she barely felt it, while the bruiser cried out as several of his knuckles broke. She smashed her forehead into his nose, instantly turning his face into a bloody mess. Then she swung her right arm and hit the other miner across the chest with it. He flew backwards into the cave wall, his head cracking sickeningly against the rock. He slid to the floor and blood began to pool around him.
She advanced on Darus now, intent on pounding him to dust. The Gang-leader whimpered in fear and she smelt urine.
There was a weak cough and Norfred called to her. ‘Freda, don’t! I need your help. Leave him! Freda, come lift me up and take me somewhere safe. Freda, I need you.’
She hesitated with her two boulder-like fists raised above Darus’s head. Then she lowered them slowly and turned back towards the other, he who made her complete, he whom she only wanted to make happy and protect. But she had not done enough to protect the other, and now he was hurt. She was suddenly terrified that he would stop completely. She stumbled to him in haste and lifted him as gently as her clumsy hands would allow. He was so light and fragile. She could tell he was weakening. She sensed something like a small cave-in in his head, but this time she didn’t know how to save him.
‘Freda is sorry, Norfred!’ she moaned.
He ran trembling fingers across her cheek and whispered, ‘Do not be sad, Freda. I have had a long life, longer than most. And I am happier than any that ever lived that I got to know you.’ He coughed weakly and his rheumy eyes clouded with pain. ‘Promise me?’
She lowered her head closer to his lips. ‘Anything, Norfred!’
‘Promise me that you’ll go to the top of the mine and beyond. You deserve to be free of Darus and his cruelty. I wish I had listened to you before, and now it is too late, my dearest Freda. If you see … if you see Jan, tell him I … I miss him and love him.’
‘Don’t stop, Norfred, pleeease!’
The life in him guttered like a miner’s candle. ‘There’s no pain now, Freda. Take me to the women. They will know how to tend to my body. Be free and happy, my dearest Freda.’
And then all was darkness. Where once she had found comfort, nurture and texture in that darkness, now it was empty. It was a void where the silence was eternal and deafening.
‘You’ll pay for this, you freak,’ Darus promised quietly as he watched the monster retreating down the tunnel, cradling the old bag of bones.
The women had always been kind to Freda, although she didn’t understand the look of sympathy that was always in their eyes when she spoke to them. She was grateful for it now though.
‘Place him here, you poor thing,’ Mistress Widders said gently. ‘That’s it. We’ll look after him and see to it that he’s prepared in the proper way. He’ll join the spirits of those who went before him, dear. He’ll be cast into the bottomless pit, which is one of the eternal places.’
Freda’s sharp ears picked up shouts in the distance, but no one else seemed to have heard them yet.
‘It goes on forever, you see. There is no death or unhappiness there. He’ll be welcomed by the Overlords who have gone before him, and he will be treated as if he were their equal. They will celebrate his life and name him an Underlord of this world. And he will wait for you, Freda, and you will see him again one day.’
‘I will?’ she asked in wonder, suddenly filled with hope and smiling so widely that flakes of skin rattled off her cheeks. ‘If I cast myself into the bottomless pit, maybe I can see him straight away!’
Mistress Widders’s
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