Chapter 7

• A magic sword or a suit of armor would have come in handy right about now. Damn, he would even settle for a warm coat.
• 'Three seconds. You can rest for three more seconds,' Sunny thought.
• After all, the nightmare was far from over.
• A few moments later, he forced himself to come back to his senses and looked around, trying to ascertain the situation.
• The larva was dead, which was great. However, he was still tied to it by the damn chain — the shifty slave and the scholar, both pale as death, were busy untangling it to buy the three of them at least some freedom of movement.
• Further away, torn bodies and pieces of flesh were lying on the ground. Many slaves were killed. A few had somehow managed to escape and were now running away.
• 'Fools. They're dooming themselves.'
• The chain, as it turns out, was at some point broken in two — that's why it suddenly slackened when Sunny was being dragged by the mass of panicking slaves. If their shackles had a less sophisticated locking mechanism, he could have tried to free himself now. However, each pair was fixed to a specific link: without unlocking them, no one was going anywhere.
• The tyrant — Mountain King, presumably — was hidden from sight by the bright glow of the bonfire. However, Sunny could feel its movements due to the subtle tremors spreading through the stones, as well as the desperate screams of those slaves who were yet to perish. An angry below or two could also be heard, indicating that some of the soldiers were still alive, desperately trying to fight the monstrosity off.
• What pulled his attention the most, though, was the fact that several of the maimed bodies were starting to move.
• 'More larvae?'
• His eyes widened.
• One after another, four more corpses slowly rose to their feet. Each beast looked as disgusting as the first one had, and not a bit less deadly. The nearest was mere meters away from Sunny.
• 'Damn it all!' he thought.
• And then, weakly: 'I want to wake up.'
• As strange clicking filled the air, one of the beasts turned its head toward the three slaves and gnashed its fangs. Shifty fell on his ass, whispering a prayer, while Scholar just froze in place. Sunny's eyes darted to the ground, trying to find something to use as a weapon. But there was not a single thing he could use: full of vitriol, he simply wrapped a length of chain around the knuckles and raised his fists.
• 'Come at me, you bastard!'
• The larva dashed forward with incredible speed in a flurry of claws, fangs, and terror. Sunny had less than a second to react; however, before he could do anything, a nimble figure moved past him, and a sharp sword flashed in the air. The monster, beheaded with one strike, fell gracelessly onto the ground.
• Sunny blinked.
• 'What was that?'
• Dumbfounded, he slowly turned his head and looked to his left. Standing there with a valorous expression was the handsome young soldier who had once offered him water. He looked calm and collected, if a little grim. There was not a speck of dirt or blood on his leather armor.
• 'He is. Awesome,' Sunny thought before catching himself.
• 'Poser! I mean he's a poser!'
• With a short nod, the soldier moved forward to face the remaining three larvae. But after taking a few steps, he suddenly turned around and gave Sunny a long look. Then, with one swift motion, the young warrior took something from his belt and threw it to Sunny.
• 'Save yourself!'
• With that, he was gone to fight the monsters.
• Sunny reflexively caught the item and watched the soldier go. Then he lowered his gaze and studied the thing clutched tightly in his hand.
• It was a short and narrow iron rod with a straight bend on its end.
• 'A key. It's a key.'
• His heart began to beat faster.
• 'It's the key to the shackles!'
• With one last glance at the fierce battle starting between the young soldier and the larvae, Sunny dropped on one knee and began to maneuver the shackles, trying to get his hand into a suitable position to insert the key. It took him a few tries to understand how the unfamiliar lock worked, but then, finally, there was a satisfying click, and he was suddenly free.
• The cold wind caressed his bloodied wrists. Sunny rubbed them and smiled with a dark gleam in his eyes.
• 'Just you wait now.'
• For a moment, visions of violence and revenge filled his head.
• "Boy! Over here!"
• Shifty was waving his hands in the air, trying to get his attention. Sunny briefly considered just leaving him to die, but then decided against it. There was strength in numbers.
• Plus, despite Shifty's previous threats to kill him and overall unpleasantness, Sunny would have felt bad leaving a fellow slave in chains — especially since freeing him would not cost anything.
• He hurried over to the other two slaves and quickly unlocked their shackles. As soon as Shifty was free, he pushed Sunny away and did a little dance, laughing like a maniac.
• "Ah! Free at last! Gods must be smiling upon us!"
• Scholar was more reserved. He squeezed Sunny's shoulder in gratitude and smiled weakly, casting a tense look in the direction of the ensuing fight.
• Two of the three larvae were already dead; the third one was missing an arm but still trying to tear its opponent apart. The young soldier danced around it, moving with a graceful fluidity of a natural-born warrior.
• "What are you waiting for?! Run!"
• Shifty made a move to run away, but was stopped by Scholar.
• "My friend, I would…"
• "If you say "advise" again, I swear to gods, I will bash your head open!"
• The two slaves looked at each other with open animosity. A moment later, Scholar lowered his eyes and sighed.
• "If we run away now, we will surely die."
• "Why?!"
• The older slave simply pointed at the tall bonfire.