Even Hell Has Knights (Hellsong) Read Free Page A

trouble, I’ll go to a Citizen. They all know me.”
    “You could get lost on the way.”
    “I won’t! I know how to get there. I can just head towards the Kingsriver until I get to the road.”
    Rick smiled and shook his head. “Perhaps you’re right, Turi. I do need help today, and I suppose it’s about time that you get some experience being out there on your own.”
    “Really?”
    Rick laughed and nodded.
    Arturus felt like hugging him. “Thank you! I’ll do the trades right, I promise.”
    “Go get your bag. I’ll help you pack. The barrel we need is for an AR-15, so you want to keep that part as private as possible. I don’t need rumors of us using 5.56 sp reading around Harpsborough.”
    “I’ll be careful,” Arturus said, his heart beating with excitement.
    “And make sure you get a good deal, understand, or when Galen finds out he won’t let you go to Harpsborough on your own again until you’re old and sodden.”
    “But you said I can’t get old!”
    “Exactly the point, my boy, exactly the point.”
    Arturus hurried back to his room to gather his things.
     

 
     

     
     
     
    “Stay alert,” Rick told him as he left. “Don’t forget to check the shadows twice before you enter every room.”
    “I will.”
    “I’m serious, Turi, we don’t need a dyitzu getting a hold of you. And don’t get lost. If you do, just find a river and wait for a hunter.”
    “I’ll be careful!” Arturus said.
    Rick gave him a serious look. “Keep your eyes peeled, and remember to announce yourself to the guards. People sometimes shoot first and look second.”
    “Of course I will.”
    “And don’t spend too much time with that Alice girl. She’s trouble for you—well, go on. And be careful!”
    “ I will,” Arturus said as he crossed over the river’s bridge, his feet thumping over the woodstone structure.
    He stopped on the far side and turned around, suddenly unsure of himself. Rick had also paused. His father smiled sadly, waved goodbye, and then walked back into their home chambers.
    I can do this.
    Arturus steeled himself with a deep breath and left the red river room.
    He’s so paranoid sometimes.
    Arturus began his journey, moving slowly and carefully through the labyrinth.
    The next few sets of chambers were fashioned out of blue stone. Their ceilings, supported by a varied array of arches and pillars, soared above him. The light came from the floor of these rooms so that the walls darkened as they rose. The floor itself was an almost neon color, and it gave his clothing a cooler cast. He watched his own shadow march across the ceiling.
    I better look where I’m going.
    Dyitzu had been scarce, but that didn’t mean he had to go out of his way to make sure he’d get eaten by one. As he traveled through the labyrinth, he imagined one of those devils—black eyed, hunched over, long clawed—finding him while he was staring at his own shadow. It would rip him apart. Then he would be dead, his soul descending to a level of Hell even worse than the one he was on now, and Rick would be alone. For some reason leaving Rick abandoned scared him even more than his own death.
    Just head towards the Kingsriver, you’ll see the rustrock road.
    He froze.
    He’d heard the scuff of a shoe. It had sounded like it was coming from one of the dark corridors which led into this chamber. He moved to one corner of the room and crouched, peering intently into the blackness. Gingerly, as quietly as he could, he drew his pistol, shifting slightly as he did so.
    He heard the sound again.
    Wait, is that my own foot?
    He jiggled his boot a little.
    I’m an idiot.
    He holstered his pistol and stood back up, feeling slightly relieved.
    Have I been here before?
    The stones of this room were frighteningly unfamiliar. Should he backtrack to another room that he knew? He had never seen a pillar like this before. Or had he? It was straight until its midpoint, where it began to lean off to one side until it melded