They were taking their time, talking nervously among themselves. He could understand them now. Baliger was there; he was trying to convince them to let him have few minutes alone with Luric. Piltrim and Suisel were there too, arguing fervently against it. Were there only three this time? Suddenly all of them went silent. He heard light footsteps come to a halt. Someone else had joined them.

“Our apologies, Sir, we didn’t mean to take so long. We’ll get’im right out,” he heard Piltrim say with a trembling voice. But to whom? It couldn’t be the priest, because Piltrim didn’t call him ‘Sir’? Was it the Chief? No, Chief Slatrim wouldn’t have been so quiet.

There was a creak as the door finally began to move.

It was Piltrim pushing it.

His right arm came into view as the amber light from the torch behind him started spilling into the room and around Luric. He was sitting in Piltrim’s shadow, so he didn’t get spotted right away. He had to make his move before Piltrim’s eyes could adjust to the darkness, but just as he started to tense his legs, Piltrim got grabbed by an arm and shoved to the side.

Storming inside now was Baliger. He was the one holding the torch, so when he entered, the entire platform Luric was on lit up.

“Where are ya, ya little-”

And then Baliger saw him. In that split second Luric noticed Baliger’s expression change from fury to surprise, and he understood he had to act before it settled on comprehension. There was something else Luric noticed; one hand was busy with the torch, the other still pushing Piltrim behind him. His entire stomach wide open.

Perfect.

He lunged.

Luric forced every muscle in his lower body and propelled himself forward, arms stretched in front of him and pointed directly at Baliger’s big, fat belly. Despite everything, he closed his eyes as he heard Baliger’s grunt of shock turn into a scream. He didn’t feel the shard go in, but it must have, because Baliger stumbled backwards and fell to the ground holding his stomach. There was a brief flash of white as the torch got whipped around and then dropped to the floor, shadows twisting and convulsing along the walls of the hallway and then freezing still in long, dark strokes when it stopped rolling.

As he had hoped, Piltrim and Suisel glued their backs to the wall to get as far away from him as possible. With the poor lighting they probably thought that he had managed to get his restraints off and had attacked using his claws or something. He had to move before they realized he was completely defenseless now. The shard had shattered to pieces when he stabbed Baliger with it. He could only pray enough of it got lodged in Baliger’s flesh to keep him writhing on the floor.

There was a figure standing in the middle of the hall a little further away, the light not quite reaching them. The mystery person. And they didn’t seem at all shaken by what had just happened before them, giving no sign of whether they intended to withdraw or come at him. Which meant Luric would have to push past them to get out. It was risky, but he had no choice.

 Luric sprinted, rushing straight towards the figure. If he could gain enough momentum he might be able to intimidate the person into moving out of his way, or he could trick them into thinking he was about to ram into them, and then, at the last second, plunge into the space between them and the wall. He’d decide when he got there.

Not even four steps into his run he felt something grab his ankle, making him lose his footing, and fall face-first to the hard floor. When he turned to look behind him he saw Baliger’s face grimace back at him.

Kick it! he immediately thought. Kick his fucking teeth in!

Luric drew his right knee up, prepared to punt the ugly bastard right in the nose, but Baliger raised his other arm and grabbed his right leg too. He tried to wrench himself free, only Baliger’s hold was firm and painful. Without letting go, Baliger got up on his knees, grunting and swearing, then dragged Luric’s body underneath him. There was no blood on his tunic. The stab had done no real damage.

I should’ve gone for his throat!

Baliger braced one large hand against Luric’s neck, not really tightening, but letting his entire weight push down on his windpipe. Luric looked up at him, trying desperately to hit Baliger’s face, his neck, his armpit, any soft, vulnerable place he could reach, but with the thick leather bag constricting his movement the only thing he could manage were weak, dull punches against his chest that resonated pathetically in the hall. The right side of Baliger’s face was glowing from the light of the discarded torch, blotches of red marring his cheeks and forehead. He was staring down at him like a mad man, eyes large with fury, the whites visible even in the darkness. He curled his lips back in a fierce snarl, revealing his crooked, broken teeth. Luric had seen drawings of demons before, and none had come close to what was before him now.

I’m supposed to be something worse than this?