Secrets of Arkana Fortress Read Online Free Page B

know who they were.
    Bollocks – their faces were hidden from him.
    Kelken ground his alcohol-bleached teeth together, the frictional sound vibrating through his head. ‘Careful, you freaking nut jobs; I was once a knight of the old Traseken Order… I know my stuff.’
    The blonde man rolled his eyes and backed away, his black uniform now splattered with the muddy water from the floor. ‘Smooth, old man, very smooth indeed; they’re gonna fucking kill us.’
    ‘Oh come off it,’ Kelken spat. ‘These whelps wouldn’t know what the… hell to do if the answer was right in front of ‘em.’ He put one hand on his belt.
    ‘Yeah,’ the blonde man began as he clapped his hands sarcastically. ‘Way to calm them down, eh?’
    Kelken motioned for him to remain still and quiet. ‘I’m the experienced one here, not you .’ He turned back to the three gang members who were now encroaching upon him in an ever-widening semi-circle.
    ‘Smart move, boys. This means you’ll have to make me work for my…’
    One of the hooded men fell onto his side, blood spurting out like a fountain from a gaping arrow wound in his neck. The other two jumped from the sudden attack and whipped their heads around searching for the assailant.
    Another arrow shot through the stale air, slicing it open with a graceful force before jamming its tip into one of the remaining men’s forehead.
    Kelken turned his head around and scanned for the archer that was taking these men out for him. ‘Saves me the trouble I suppose.’ He turned to the blonde man expectantly, only to find him cowering on the floor with his arms wrapped over the back of his head emitting odd-sounding whimpers.
    ‘Damn pussy.’
    Kelken swivelled around slowly and eyed the last thug who was now crouching low with his blades held up in front of him with the low hopes of deflecting the next missile. A muffled crash echoed around the deserted street as he barrelled into the man with un-nerving speed for someone who had been drinking all night and most of the morning. His shoulder connected with the hooded man’s side in a flash move, his entire weight shifting as he took the attacker down to the floor.
    He felt the thumping blow of a fist against his jaw and he reeled away, the pain slightly numbed by the mental film of intoxication. He groaned as he received another punch, this time to the chest.
    ‘Get the fuck off me, you little shit,’ he scathed as he struggled against the man’s unyielding swiftness. ‘Oi, blondie… give me a goddamn hand… please?’
    The blonde man looked up then stared with acknowledging blue eyes at the corpses of the two hoods. His legs found footing as he stood up, shaking, and started stepping forward to pick up one of the blades from the dead bodies. ‘I rarely use these things.’
    Kelken fought back with a head butt while his hands locked with the thug’s wrists to keep the steel of a newly unsheathed blade away from his chest. ‘It’s easy… pointy end goes into the flesh… man dies. Now, hurry the hell up.’
    The thug fell to one side, blood seeping from his neck.
    The blonde man stared, the blade lodged firmly in his grip.
    Kelken clumsily got up to his feet and kicked the dead body sharply with his boot. ‘Thank you for that. Good place to kill a man is in the neck.’
    ‘But… I didn’t do anything.’
    ‘I wasn’t talking to you, blondie,’ Kelken replied before pointing behind the man. ‘I was talking to her.’
    The blonde man turned around and promptly stared in awe.
    A slender female emerged from the shadows, a winged recurve bow held powerfully in her right hand, and a quiver of foreign-looking arrows on her back. As she moved into the dim light of the emptiness; her mane of long, wavy red hair became apparent to them both.
    ‘And so the cavalry has arrived,’ Kelken chuckled before stifling a burp.
    Without a word, the woman walked up to him and slammed her palm into his cheek, a look of pure anger and scorn on