Crimson Cobra

By Thomas Green

Slavers attack the village.

Evelyn's peaceful night at the local inn thus turns into a battle for survival. And it does not go well. Struck into chains, Evelyn is captured and dragged away with the remaining survivors of the village. Will she manage to escape or will she end up being sold into slavery?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thomas Green
• Release date: Nov 16, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386305705

Thomas Green

Thomas writes grimdark fantasy. When he doesn't write, which isn't often, he works as a Tech Consultant and constantly struggles to balance writing, playing DnD and spending time with his beloved wife, who is not amused by his hobbies. Not in the slightest.

Book preview

Chapter 1

The sound of the alarm bell echoed through the village. Evelyn leaped up from the bed and reached for her clothes, a leather tunic and high boots. She crossed the small room of the inn, opened the wooden door and dashed out.

The inn was in an uproar. Half-dressed people were swarming out of their rooms, while trying to take whatever belongings they had. Evelyn skillfully weaved through the crowd to reach the stairs while the old wood creaked under her feet as she descended.

The people of the village thronged in the main hall of the inn. More people kept rushing in. The ones inside were building makeshift barricades out of chairs and tables. The aged innkeeper was hiding behind the bar.

Evelyn sprinted to the old man, gripped his hair and pulled his head backward. Concentrate! Where are the cellar keys? Hmm?

He stared into her emerald eyes, absent-minded.

Evelyn kicked him in the shin. Focus! Cellar keys, where?

He pointed to the wall, his arm shaking.

Evelyn grabbed the keys and jolted to the stairs. The cellars were but a hallway leading to three rooms. Hard packed earth made the floor ground, and the hallway had a small window at the end.

The closest room was the wine cellar where barrels were stacked upon each other. Evelyn drew her dagger from behind her belt, stabbed the cork bung of the barrel, and ripped it free. Red wine burst out of the gaping hole, splashing onto the ground. She weaved through the room, repeating the process and then stove in the ends of three of them once they were empty.

When she finished, she dashed to the next cellar. Smoked meat hung from the ceiling, piles of cheese and bread lay on shelves. Useless.

Evelyn walked into the third cellar, which was an empty room. She turned and ran back into the main hall.

The air reeked of fear, weeping women and children filled the bar while the men stood guard by the windows and doors. Most held an axe, a few had a spear, and the rest wielded whatever sharp object they could find.

The women stared at Evelyn as she peered at them.

I can hide twenty-four children, one boy above twelve, and the rest under ten.

But... there are... over fifty, a woman said.

Twenty-four, not a soul more.

You can’t decide that! An old woman shouted as she stood up before Evelyn. We can all hide!

Evelyn jabbed her throat, the woman collapsed to the ground, gargling through her bruised windpipe. Twenty-four.

The remaining women fell silent. Slowly and reluctantly, they started letting go of their children.

There are stairs around the corner, wait for me at the bottom, Evelyn commanded as she counted the children. She let twenty-four pass, but stopped the twenty fifth one. Tough luck.

What the hell do you think you’re doing? A man shouted from behind her.

Evelyn stomped on his ankle, spun on her heel and jabbed his throat with rigidly extended fingers. He coughed and fell onto his knees. Evelyn pried the axe he was carrying out of his hands and slammed the flat of its blade into his temple. He collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

Evelyn bolted down the stairs to the cellar, slid past the terrified children and stepped onto the wine-covered floor. The wine had turned the floor of the entire cellar into a pool of blood. Three of you get in there, hide in the three open barrels, and don’t touch the others.

The children stared at her breathlessly.

You, you and you, move!

The three