The Way Into Darkness: Book Three of The Great Way by Harry Connolly Page A

 
    “Keep back!” he said in a low, harsh voice. “The guards at the gate do not believe the tyr is dead. They want to talk to the tyr’s brother.”
    “So do I,” Tejohn said.  
    “Hey!” a woman called from the far end of the corridor. “We hear you out there! Who is that? Is that Findwater?”
    “Findwater is running an errand,” Tejohn shouted back. “For me.”
    “Who are you?”
    “Tyr Tejohn Treygar.”  
    “And who is that with you? Kelvijinian himself?” When she spoke next, she had given in to her anger. “You can’t play games with me!”  
    “No games,” Tejohn called. There was something in her tone… “I arrived with Granny Nin’s caravan. Doctor Twofin recognized me—we were both tutors to Lar Italga in Peradain—and I was bound hand and foot by Twofin spears and dragged into the great hall. Tyr Twofin bragged to me about his plan to murder every living thing in the lowlands, so I broke his skull. He’s dead, by my hand. When I catch up to his brother, he’ll be dead, too.”  
    “Is that supposed to help us?” Lowtower whispered.
    “If you’re telling the truth,” the woman called. Tejohn peered into the corridor. It was dark at the far end. Fire and Fury, he hated torchlight. He thought he could see an archer way down there with a bent bow, but everything was too dim. “If you’re telling the truth, you’re going to be hanged and fed to the leviathans.”
    “Maybe so. However, there’s something you haven’t considered. I may yet hang, but you are free.” Lowtower gave Tejohn an odd look. “You no longer have to do this dishonorable duty. Those children—”
    “We care for them!” The woman said hotly. “We bring them extra food from our own rations, and make toys for them, and—”  
    “You don’t have to do any of that any more. You did your duty, and now you can set them free. Children should be allowed to play in the sunlight.”  
    There was silence from the far end of the corridor. Tejohn risked a quick peek into the darkness; was that archer still there? He couldn’t see that dim figure anymore.  
    “What will happen to us?”  
    That wasn’t Tejohn’s choice to make. He glanced down at the commander. “My quarrel isn’t with them,” Lowtower said.
    “War is coming to Twofin lands,” Tejohn called out. “Every spear and bow will be needed on the walls. Come out of that pit and take your place among the other soldiers.”  
    The response came much faster than Tejohn expected. “Stay where you are! We’re sending them out.”  
    A few moments after that, there was a sound of bare feet on stone. They weren’t running, just walking in a tired way. A woman stepped into the torchlight. Her hair was gray and her face was pale. Lowtower cried out at the sight of her; she didn’t react. She looked fifteen years older than her husband, and Tejohn bit back a surge of anger. The two girls with her looked to be fourteen and twelve. Lowtower embraced them both and lifted them off the floor with tears in his eyes.  
    More people shuffled down the hall—small children, elderly women who couldn’t stand straight, grown boys. All looked dirty, haggard, and undernourished.  
    If Tejohn hadn’t already killed Tyr Twofin, this sight would have driven him to it.  
    “Thank you,” Lowtower said in a quiet voice. He extended his hand to Tejohn. It was a farewell gesture.
    Tejohn shook his hand and held on. “You can’t go home. Not yet. Doctor Twofin is still alive; the old tyr’s whisperers are spreading rumors that his crimes are fabricated. Soldiers are turning on other soldiers—the man you put in charge is on his way to a sleepstone right now. Where are the merchants?”  
    “Gathering others,” Lowtower said. He held onto his children as though he was afraid they would disappear. “They’re going to bring four other merchants to Doctor Twofin’s lab so that people learn the truth.”  
    “Good. Who is left to take control of the