The Black Robe (The Sword and the Spell) Read Free

with a broken leg which had been freed from its splints and dragged uselessly behind the man as he was hauled around the twisted beams. His face was white with pain and he was gritting his teeth so hard that blood trickled from the corner of his mouth. Tozaman could see why; the bone on his shin was sticking through his flesh and every movement exposed more of its jagged tip. He wondered at the man’s silence, if it had been him he would have been screaming his head off.
    He guided the man around the unstable beam doing his best to restrict the movement of the broken leg and waited whilst his armsbrother took the man’s hands and hauled him through to be passed down the line to safety. To his counting that left just the one miner to bring through; the one with both legs broken and a broken arm. He waited for signs of movement at the cavern end of the passage way and listened to the sound of the mine.
    The sounds had changed or perhaps he had become more sensitive to the noises the mine made. The hissing of sand as it filled empty spaces was still there but there was another sound; an ominous groaning as if the mine was in pain and behind that a grinding noise which turned his blood cold. He looked urgently towards the cavern wondering what was keeping Dravin from passing the last man through. A sudden fall of sand an arm’s length from his shoulder and a loud creak helped to make his mind up. He indicated for an armsbrother to take his place and made his way back to the cavern.
    Neither Dravin nor Bradge were where they should have been and when he stepped out into the cavern expecting to see them assisting the injured miner they were nowhere in sight. He scowled in irritation, angry that he would have to go and search for them and then realised what he was looking at. The walls of the cavern sparkled. In the feeble lantern light the crystals buried in the walls shimmered and reflected back small beams of coloured light so bright and pure that if the light from the lantern had been brighter it would have dazzled his eyes.
    This wasn’t just a cavern, it was a gem cave. He had heard about them of course, they were the source of Sandstrone’s wealth, but they were incredibly rare and he had never thought to see one. Its beauty astounded him and for a moment he forgot about everything. Then the reality of the situation came back to him and he turned his attention back to the injured miner.
    He walked across to where the man laid, his chest still and his eyes blank. The fact that he was dead didn’t surprise Tozaman, his injuries had been serious; what did disturb him was the wound on the man’s head which looked fresh and he didn’t recall seeing before. Dravin was his friend and he had known him all his life; he was reckless and thoughtless but was he capable of taking a man’s life for his own gain? The answer was clearly yes and that was going to cause Tozaman some real problems. His father had always told him never to make friends with those you command and now he wished that he had listened.
    As he looked up the sound of running footsteps attracted his attention and he turned as Dravin ran into view and skidded to a halt, the other missing armsbrother two steps behind. They both glanced quickly at the dead miner and then back at their brotherlord. “We were just checking that there was nobody trapped further back.” whispered Dravin breathlessly. It was the first words that had been uttered since they had entered the mine and they were full of lies.
    Tozaman glared at them both and turned away in disgust without responding. He led the way to the entrance of the narrow passage way through the rock fall and then hesitated for a moment. Dravin was his friend but he was also a murderer and a thief; did he really want to turn his back on him and Bradge as they crawled through the low tunnel? He decided the answer was no and stepped back to let them go in front of him. Dravin gave him a nervous smile but Bradge kept his