Drenwulf's day of work was over. He dragged his weary feet over the stones. He was so tired he wondered seriously if he would be able to walk back to the hole where he and his mother sought shelter from the elements. He stumbled. his arm was still smarting from a whiplash. His sleeve was caked in dirty blood.
"Hey you! Boy!"
Drenwulf looked up. A Darkling stood nearby, a whip in his hands.
"Follow me worm!"
"Yes sir," Drenwulf moaned. The Darkling cuffed him.
"Speak when I tell you to speak! Come with me now!"
Drenwulf meekly followed his master into a cave carved out of a mountainside. Inside was a long hall lit by smoky torches. The Darkling pushed him through a door. He leaned on a wall and kicked off his metal shoes.
"Clean them!" he growled. Drenwulf nodded. Grasping an oily rag, he scrubbed the armor. Suddenly, the door burst open! Three more darklings strode in contemptuously.
"Argoth," one said. "Your Father wants to-"
"I know what my Father wants," Argoth sneered.
"Stop him then!" another said. "We have no wish to leave this place."
"We will not leave! We hate the sunlight, and the volcano's smoke blocks it here. We have slaves to obey our every whim, but Dacagoth has them breaking in the ground for metal!"
"You have grown soft," Argoth sneered. "You are yet young, you do not remember the old days. This place is a prison compared to our old home, now burning eternally, but no matter. We can live in the sunlight, and my Father's plan is a good one."
"But the rings!" another scoffed. "Fables and legends."
"They are not fables and legends!" Argoth laughed. "I have seen them, it was many hundreds of years ago, but I saw them. They were given to the Elves, Dwarves, and Men. Long ago the whole world was dark, and we thrived. Va created the lights and bound their powers up with the rings. The rings control the lights, if we the rings, we can break them, ending the light, and plunging the world into darkness!"
No comments:
Post a Comment