Page 77 of Shadow Throne King

Tallu and I followed behind the Kennelmaster. The lanterns cast uneven, dancing shadows, and the corpses on the wall seemed to move as the light shifted.

Sagam finished crossing the room to where the wall had been the day before, but when he lifted his lantern, it revealed only a gaping hole in the wall, a tunnel that must have been hidden behind the stone wall.

A whisper of steam came in through it, bringing with it that horrible stench. The room heated, and soon the bodies would begin to decompose, making it almost impossible to enter. Tallu stood in the center of the room, frowning as he looked from one side to the other. The Dogs were arrayed around him, and one lifted his lantern, examining one of the corpses hanging from the walls by its neck.

The body lifted its head, opening its mouth and reaching with an arm. The Dog reacted instantaneously, drawing his blade and slicing through the joint, using the same motion to bring his blade up and chop off the corpse’s head. The body dropped to the floor, the head continuing to move for a few moments before it fell still.

“Maki was here,” I said. It was the only thing that made sense. Unless the Shadow King had acquired more electro mages, Maki and his men were the only ones in Krustau who knew the technique of bringing these bodies back to life.

At the door, someone gasped. I turned, but they had a lantern, so I raised my hand, shielding my eyes.

She dropped the lantern down slightly, and I saw who it was.

“Topi,” I said. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“They didn’t tell me when you returned, and now they say you’re going back. Does he have my sister?” Her question was panicked, and I saw a servant behind her grasp her shoulder. “I’m going to go with you?—”

“You will not.” Tallu’s words were final. “Lady Topi, perhaps you bear the misunderstanding that you are more than a prisoner here. You are not coming with us.”

She raised her lantern again, her expression fierce. “Your Imperial Majesty?—”

“Take her away,” Tallu ordered, raising his hand to gesture at one of the Dogs.

The Dog moved to where Topi stood, and Tallu turned away, not bothering to watch his order being followed, proceeding for our audience with an emperor’s supreme assurance that everything happened as he willed it.

“We must follow the tunnel,” Tallu said.

“They will expect us to come,” the Kennelmaster pointed out. “They will know that we have seen this madness—” He interrupted himself, raising his blade and decapitating a nearby body that had begun to twitch. “They will be expecting us.”

“Then let us give them what they are asking for, a fight worthy of the emperor and his Dogs.” Tallu raised his eyebrows.

As they faced off, I walked forward, frowning as I examined the wall. I ran my fingers up it, considering. The rock was over two feet thick.

Another breath of warm air flowed down the passageway.

“Bring the lantern here,” I said.

The nearest Dog lifted their light, holding it just inside the mouth of the tunnel. Lerolian stepped forward, following the light, and he shouted back, “There are bodies here.”

“There are your Dogs.” I could just see the outline of a fallen body, slightly darker than the stone around it. “Are you saying that we should let the Shadow King have his way?”

“I am saying I have lost four men already,” the Kennelmaster said. “We only have five left.”

“And you would let them have died for nothing?” Tallu challenged.

The Kennelmaster spun on him, his voice fierce. “They did not die for nothing. They died foryou. And if you cannot see the value in that, then you are not the man I think you are.”

I leaned forward, tilting my head. I could hear something in the darkness, a chittering sound that was all too familiar. Revulsion crawled up my spine.

Slowly, I stepped into the tunnel, drawing my blade. On my shoulder, Naî shifted, her long tail trailing down my back as her claws dug in.

I had to lean slightly to account for her weight, but I couldn’t complain.

Tallu’s footsteps crossed the room and then were muffled on the earthen floor of the tunnel. Two Dogs moved around us, stepping in front. The blood monks moved even further ahead, a scouting party for us.

“Leave two men here, guarding the door,” Tallu said. “If there is something terrible at the end of this, I would not release it on the servants who have already suffered the death of one emperor.”

The Kennelmaster shook his head once, murmuring, “This is a fool’s mission.”