Free Easy Betrayals by Richard Baker

here, Belgin? Can you tell?”
    “Look here,” the sharper said. Smooth, dark pebbles made up the shoreline, but a shallow groove showed where some of the pebbles had been displaced. “There was a boat here.”
    “Eidola took it?”
    “I couldn’t swear to it, Miltiades. It’s almost impossible to track over stone, and she might have turned out away from the wall before she came here. The boat that made this mark might have been here minutes past, or it might have only landed once years ago.” He stood and peered out over the Stygian lake. “Can you dim your magical light?”
    “Of course,” the paladin said. He lowered the hammer and allowed the silver light to fade.
    As Belgin’s eyes adjusted to the darkness, he became aware of a strange glimmer far off across the water. Phosphorescent green seemed to swirl and dance beneath the surface of the water, but beyond that a sickly yellow glow seemed to illuminate the far end of the cavern. “I think that’s lantern light over there,” he said. “Do you know where we are, Miltiades?”
    The paladin nodded in the darkness beside him. “Yes, I think I do. It’s Skullport.”
    “Skullport? What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “Trouble.” Miltiades glowered across the underwater channel, his face unreadable in the gloom. “Thaf s where Eidola must be.”
    “How do you know?” asked Belgin.
    “If there’s anyplace in the world she can lose us, that will be it. Come on, we’d better find another boat.” The paladin led the way as they started up the shoreline, scrambling and slipping on the wet rocks. They’d only gone a few dozen paces when Belgin suddenly lunged forward to catch the paladin’s arm, motioning him to silence. “What is it?”
    “Something’s coming up behind us,” the sharper whispered. As they stood in silence for a moment, the clatter of rocks and scrape of awkward footsteps in the darkness behind them was obvious. Belgin quietly moved out away from the shore into the center of the cavern, seeking to flank their pursuer. Behind him, he sensed Miltiades steeling himself for a fight. With a whispered prayer to Tyr, the paladin brightened his hammer to the fullest power of the spell, flooding the cavern with silver light.
    “Who goes there?” he called in challenge.
    “Miltiades? Is that you?” Stumbling out of the darkness, Jacob blundered into the light, shielding his eyes with his hand. The fighter held his sword at the ready, and his armor showed battle damage and sand scratches from the desert storm. “I never thought I’d see you again!”
    “Jacob?” Miltiades clasped the fighter’s arm. “I’m sorry we left you behind, but I’m glad to see you now.”
    “I understand; the quest comes first. You did the right thing, Miltiades. What happened to you after the storm hit?”
    “We waited for you, but—”
    “One moment,” said Belgin, advancing out of the darkness. “Where is Rings?”
    The fighter stood silent for a long moment, and then said flatly, “He didn’t make it, sharper. He died in the city.”
    Belgin closed his eyes and sat down heavily on the cold stones. Kurthe, Brindra, Anvil, now Rings. Will any of us be left by the time this is all done? Any of us? The paladins watched him, but they kept their distance. They’d traveled with Rings only a few hours, and they didn’t presume to offer any platitudes for Belgin. It would have been ridiculous. Of all of them, why is it that I’m the one still standing? the sharper thought bitterly. How much longer do I have, anyway? A month? Six months? But I’m alive, and they’re all dead.
    All dead.

Chapter 5
Betrayal
    “I hate this place,” Miltiades muttered beneath a heavy cowl. Eyes narrowed at the mindless dead who milled and trudged past them in the warrenlike streets, the paladin clutched his dark cloak closer to his breast and shifted the hammer in his hand. “When I’ve finished with the doppelganger, Fve a mind to muster a dozen or so of Tyr’s