The following is a short story in my high fantasy book Nightwalkers.
. . . I had an inklin’ we was lost, so I turned to Poldi and I asked him, “You sure this is da right way, Po?” He was leadin’ the way to the treasure with a single lantern. Boy, if that thang went out, we was all done fer.
“Yeah, I’d reck’n it’s right up here.” He said back ta me. He was holdin’ the map, so I trusted the man’s judgment. I looked ova at Lutz, but he neva said much, so I figured I best keep my mouth shut, too.
We’d been walkin’ fer what seemed like days. We was inside the Eastern Mountains’ caverns, so we couldn’t see no sunlight. This was about the last place in all a Friedünn I eva wanted ta get lost, especially with all the rumors I’d heard a deadly creatures from the underworld out here. I remember thinkin’ ‘bout all dis when Po held out his hand fer us ta stop.
“Y’all hear that?” He asked. Lutz and I looked at each other, but neither of us heard nothin’. Then he grew a little more alarmed, you could tell on account a his voice, and said, “There it goes again!”
I swear I neva heard a damn thang, but that coulda been on account a all my years ringin’ that stupid bell in Enghor as a lad. I lived with my pa at the time, but I couldn’t stand the old man. That’s why I hightailed it fer Urstadt when I turned 13 years old. I knew thangs would be more excitin’ there. I met Po ‘n’ Lutz, ‘nd we came ta be the three baddest thieves in the world.
Anyways, back ta what I was sayin’ . . . this time, Lutz turned to me an’ nodded that he heard it, too. So I asked him, I says, “Whatchu think it is, Lutz?” Before he could answer, I saw ol’ Po pull out his sword ‘nd point it straight up to the top a the cavern.
He yelled, “Somethin’s crawlin’ up there, Sven!” His face was pale as a ghost’s. I pulled out ma sword, and I saw Lutz aim an arrow right up above us. It was so dark it musta been darn near impossible to see, but somehow Lutz managed ta hit whateva it was when he fired that arrow cuz there was a squeal that echoed through the cave, and black blood dripped down on top a us.
We still didn’t know what it was, but I had a hunch. I remember yellin’, “It’s one a dem gargoyles. Get ready boys. Let’s send dat thang back down to the underworld it came from!” ‘n’ I swear ta Enghor himself, right when I yelled what I yelled, a swarm a five swooped down on top a us.
I remember seein’ their lifeless black eyes and their jagged teeth ‘nd claws. They had dem fangs stickin’ outta their mouths, too. Nasty bastards. I gutted the first one I could see comin’ my way. I remember seein’ Lutz shoot off two arrows at once, ‘nd he also took care a one.
I gotta say, Lutz was the best damn archer I eva seen. He wasn’t as lucky when the next one came swoopin’ down. If I woulda seen it, I damn well woulda helped, but it grabbed him from behind and flew him away. Even in his last moments, the man didn’t scream er shout er nothin’.
Then there was Po. Like me, he cut down the first one dat came his way, and when dat fifth one came, him ‘nd I both greeted it with our iron.
I remember grabbin’ hold a Po and askin’, “You see where dat one took Lutz?” He shook his head no, but luckily the lantern was still around providin’ us with light, so we picked it up ‘nd followed a trail a Lutz’ blood. It wasn’t nothin’ ta worry ‘bout, as the blood was kinda thin. What worried me was what was gonna happen to him when dat thang sucked out his blood. I heard those gargoyles suck out yer blood ‘nd soul er somethin’.
Anyways, we saw ol’ Lutz lyin’ on da ground a short distance yonder. It looked like he was gonna be alright, but when we got closer, that damn gargoyle came down outta nowhere with two a his buddies.
Po dropped the lantern ‘nd it shattered. The oil caught fire though ‘nd we could see better than eva. I think what had happened was as I was choppin’ up a gargoyle, Po got caught by anotha gargoyle’s claws, causin’ him to drop the lantern. I guess he was able to grab its leg er somethin’ cuz he was wrestlin’ with one, beatin’ its face in. He was on top ‘nd winnin’ like I knew he would, but then the third gargoyle picked him up from his back ‘nd flew away. I jumped ‘nd tried to hit the thang with ma sword, but it was already too high fer that. I heard Po screamin’ in agony, and I couldn’t help but ta cry a bit. He was my best friend since I met him in Urstadt all those years ago. Damn . . .
Anyways, I ran ova ta Lutz who was still breathin’ hard on the ground. I rolled him ova ‘nd looked at his face. His mouth was foamin’ and his eyes was rolled back. He was moanin’ quietly and thrashin’ around. I did what any friend would do ‘nd stopped his sufferin’.
I heard more squeals echoin’ in the distance, ‘nd I really thought I was gonna die in those caverns with ma friends, but I wasn’t givin’ up without a fight. I ripped off a part a my shirt, wrapped it up in a ball, and put it in the burnin’ oil from the lantern. It made a decent torch, ‘nd I knew I’d need all the help I could get ta make it outta those caverns alive.
I started runnin’ in the direction we came from, ‘nd the screams from Po eventually stopped. He was probaly in shock like Lutz had been. I couldn’t save him though, so I kept on runnin’. I didn’t hear any a the squeals after a while, so I figured I could rest a spell. I had no idea how much longer I had ‘til I got outta dat cave, but I was gonna get out. I didn’t run all dat way just ta keel ova an’ die. I kept walkin’, ‘nd I eventually saw the light at the end a the tunnel.
I made it out to the Weitwood Forest, then all the way back ta our camp set up a short hike from Urstadt. We didn’t live in da village on account a we was thieves, but we did use the resources in it. It was here I thought long ‘nd hard ‘bout what I did all my life ‘nd how I had no one left ta watch ma back. I didn’t even have dat bloody treasure. I decided I should just go home ta Enghor ‘nd see if my old man would take me in.
Lookin’ back at it, I musta been delusional thinkin’ he’d be alright with me livin’ there with him. Right when I got there, dat ol’ bastard turned me in to some guards. There was a scuffle, ‘nd long story short I ended up shackled in the castle’s dungeon. I hung against dat wall fer so damn long I thought my arms was gonna fall off.
My luck turned though when I managed ta work out a deal with one a the guards. He let me down, but, in return, I had ta write all I knew ‘bout dem creatures ova there in da east, so I wrote all ‘bout dem nightwalkers ‘nd gargoyles. I figure he made quite a nice livin’ off a my work cuz, one day, he simply let me out. It was the best day a my life, even though I still had nowhere to go.
My time writin’ in dat dungeon inspired me to write this though, and I’m just hopin’ I can make a livin’ like dat guard did cuz I’m not tryin’ ta go back ta lootin’ folk just to get locked up again.
Anyways, that’s ‘bout all I can think to write fer now, so, if yer readin’ this, thanks fer helpin’ me keep my hands clean. Unless you’re the only one, then I don’t got time fer bastards like you, and ya best hope I don’t see ya walkin’ the streets a Enghor any time soon. That’s a joke.
In da end, all I can say is I lived a crazy life filled with highs ‘nd lows, death ‘nd triumph, and everythang in between. I also met the two best friends a man could ask fer in Po ‘n’ Lutz. I still miss ‘em to this day, but, if I had ta do it all ova again, there’s no doubt in my mind I would. That’s all I got ta say, ‘cept keep on livin’ cuz you got all eternity to be dead.
– A former thief, Sven