Chapter 11: 10: The Shadow Scourge

Shadow Scourge! The deadly beast of the deep!

Although he had never seen one until now, he had heard tales about their viciousness. His parents had told him of their encounter with a level twenty five Scourge when they were searching for a rare herb in an ancient cave. They had managed to kill it, but it was something of a bloody fight.

He wasn't sure of the level of this particular beast, but he knew he wasn't a match for it. Not even close.

Lindley prayed the heavens would continue to protect him in this desolate tunnel. Not only was the Scourge blocking his path, but the collapsed passage behind him was full of jumping spiders. Even if the passage was functioning, he knew he couldn't fight his way through them.

He slowly made his way back to the chamber containing the heap of straw. He took a closer look at the room and discovered that the heap of straw that saved his life seemed to be a nest of a giant rodent.

Lindley had seen much about animals in his short life to know what a rodent's lair looked like. And as weird as it might sound, what he was staring at, resembled a giant rat's nest. He patted the nest closely and nodded in gratitude and fear of what could've been. Hadn't he landed on the padded straws and hays, he would now be laying on the floor over forty feet below, gruesomely wounded or, more likely, dead.

Then, he realized what the giant nest meant regarding his situation. The owner of the nest could be alive and hunting, meaning a giant rat must be somewhere around the vicinity.

This tunnel was getting more and more dangerous for him, maybe he should take his chances with the plains? He would have taken that way but the tundra-wolves and the Amarok had cut off this route. Maybe he should just risk it. Who knows, they could have gotten bored and left.

Could he make it out of the tunnel by climbing back up?

Craning his neck, he gazed upward. He could just make out the edge of the tunnel from which he had fallen, around twenty feet above. There was no way he would reach that but it didn't matter.

The possibility of being torn to pieces by tundra-wolves, or his soul being devoured by an Amarok kept him in place.

What about the pit of Scourge? With no robe bridge to cross, no way, he would be dead meat before he knew what was happening. Lindley shook his head in despair. He had no other choice but to chance the tunnel.

But before him now was a small dark pit he had to cross before the Scourge finished enjoying its meal and looked his way.

Lindley crept out onto the ledge and studied the gap ahead. The chasm extended as far above and below as the eyes could see, as well as to the right and the left. The gap between the ledge on which Lindley stood and the one that opened onto the tunnel leading to the outside was several paces wide.

At the center of that gap was a narrow pillar of stone that served as an all-too-narrow landing point between Lindley's ledge and the tunnel across from him. It appeared as if at some point in the past, there had been a rope bridge across the chasm. But the ropes alongside the bridge had been cut down years ago. Moldering strands of rope hung from the pitons that had once secured them.

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Lindley had no rope, and he had been told not to trust any rock like this. They were too fragile and easily fractured. After seeing how loosely the rope anchors were, he agreed with the advice he was given.

Instead, he would jump. There was just enough room on the ledge to get a good running start, but the gap between the ledge and the spire was wide. Too wide for a young death-seeker to take.

Even with his long legs, Lindley believed he would only just be able to make the jump. On top of that, the stone here was slippery. It would be a treacherous leap.

Lindley wrapped his ancestral sword and sheathed his steel sword before fastening them to his back. He didn't need them sliding about and throwing him off his balance. He whispered a quick prayer to the gods of his ancestors, and then, he ran.

A leap, and he was sailing through the chill air, with nothing between himself and the jagged rocks far below. With his arms flailing for balance, Lindley threw his body forward into a run the moment his foot touched the Spire.

Still running, he counted three steps and leaped a second time. Sudden movement to the right and far below caught his eye. The Scourge was winging its way upward!

The distraction threw off his landing, and he stumbled badly on the distant ledge, his lead foot twisting off the edge. He crashed down, half on and half off the ledge, sliding backward.

He scrabbled for a crack, any crack, to jam his fingers into. It was of no use, he couldn't stop his momentum. Rough stone scraped his cheek as he clawed at the stone desperately. It was his clawing fingers that kept him from going over the edge.

The rest of him dangled in empty space.

"Living gods," he gasped, knowing that in a moment more his trembling hands would betray him. "Please, protect me."

In his desperate grasps, his hands came in contact with a protruded shard and he managed to pull himself up before the Scourge could reach him. As he scrambled away from the edge of the pit, the Scourge flew past, lashing out with its tail. The whip-like tail caught Lindley on the thigh and he let out a deafening scream. Without waiting for the scourge to return, he ran and hid behind a large boulder nearby.

The Scourge returned and looked around before screeching in anger. Slowly, it returned to the deep chasm.

As the echo of the Scourge's wails faded into the distance, Lindley heaved a sigh of relief. He rummaged through his satchel and brought out some healing herbs. He chewed the leaves and roots, and smeared it on the wound on his thigh, binding it with a piece of cloth.

After taking a few minutes to regain his energy, he pulled himself up, took a glance at the deep pit, and cautiously headed towards the tunnel ahead.

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