Stormcaller (Book 1) by Everet Martins Page B

earth. The beast’s nubby appendages scraped the tunnel walls, dislodging clumps of packed soil. This was a fat one, hardly able to squeeze through.
    “You’ve been eating well,” he said, grimacing at the sight. The Shiv Fang responded by parting its mouth, thick saliva coating its waving tongue. The creature slowed in Walter’s perception. Walter shifted his weight to his back leg. He then explosively bore down on his lead leg, executing Cat Playing with Mouse. He swung Stormcaller in an upward angular strike, vibrant lashes leaving streaks through the darkness. The timing was perfect. The Shiv Fang didn’t have a chance to express pain as it was sliced into quarters. The four pieces of the creature slid from one another, tumbling from the velocity of its charge.
    Walter felt like he should have been enthralled with the power of this weapon. Yet he could only feel pity for this beast that was only trying to survive, like himself. This world was filled with danger and only the strongest survived.
    He paused for a moment and knelt, feeling strangely compelled to pray. If you had asked Walter a few days ago if he thought the Dragon and Phoenix gods existed, the answer would have been an absolute “no,” and praying an egregious waste of time. Now, he wasn’t so sure. A lot had changed in the past few days, fragmenting his paradigm of reality. This wasn’t only for this Shiv Fang, but for each of the fallen. His mother, father, Juzo, Nyset, Noah, and other Breden friends deserved this.
     
    Give them rest o’ Dragon of yore
    May the Phoenix shine upon thee for the rest o’ thy years
    Forgive thee and pass through the gates o’ Death
    To be born again in the heat o’ the Phoenix
    Given life by the Dragon’s grace.
     
    “You would have eaten me if you could have,” he sighed, emerging from Warrior’s Focus. He sauntered another eight paces, pausing to wipe dirt from his brow. A surge of hisses exploded from behind him, at least three. His inner cynic scolded him for praying and not moving when he could have. He wheeled on his heels, gritting his teeth. Four Shiv Fangs raced to the corpse of their fallen brother, inspecting it with their slithering tongues. A few seconds later, they turned running the other way, squealing in terror like pigs about to become bacon. I used to think cleaning the sty was the worst part of my day , he thought, snickering. These were apparently intelligent beasts, and knew when to fight and when to run.
    It was a pleasant change to be able to stand one’s ground. With proper weapons you had the option to fight. With the horrors Walter had experienced the last two days, this positive change loosened the noose he’d felt strangling him. He walked with a new lightness in his step, occasionally rubbing Stormcaller for reassurance.
    The tunnel continued to slope deeper underground. The fork he took ended in an expansive cave with a small pool of clear water. A sliver of light jetted through the strangely churning water. The transient effect threw dancing light ripples on the cave’s granite walls.
    Walter stripped off his trousers and shirt, stowing them in his brown satchel, leaving himself in his smallclothes. He rubbed at the oozing wound in his shoulder, which appeared to be healing well as far as he could tell. Stormcaller stays on, far too valuable to lose , he thought. If the weight of his satchel was too much of a burden, he would abandon it.
    He jumped into the pool feet first, not risking injuring his head with a dive. Icy water slapped his body with stunning cold. Water from the north, Lich’s Falls ,he thought. He swam against battering currents towards the light ahead, swirling eddies clouding his vision. The arduous swim taxed his body as the bright light source drew near. He desperately needed air. His vision narrowed, and peripheral vision went black.
    Reduced blood oxygenation will present itself with the initial symptom of failing vision. Following is unconsciousness,