The Chronicles of Kenrick

Chapter Six

Kenrick was pushed to the ground.


“Do that again and you’ll wish you were a woman.”


He could feel the coldness of the gnome’s steel blade resting against the side of his neck. The coolness almost calmed him. Slowly, he got back to his feet without being ordered to. He turned to face his new master placing his arms behind his back. He looked into the gnome’s eyes. His hands were instantly bound with thongs of leather.


Kenrick watched as the gnome glanced to his right and nodded. Seconds later he could feel someone tugging at his legs. Two gnomes knelt, wrapping what looked to be a white bandage around each of Kenrick’s legs and then wrapping both together. One of the gnomes stood back up while the last one opened a flask and poured the contents over the material.


At once it began to smoke, a yellow cloud drifted up Kenrick’s body and into his face. He could smell the acidic gas, taste the sour fumes as it rolled past his face. By the time the material stopped smoking, the last gnome was standing back in its original place.


“Try to kick us now,”


Sporting a similar bandage around his legs, the guard was forced into the crowd. He wobbled, then leaned to his right, keeping as much weight as he could off his still bleeding leg. His face was pale, with spackles of sweat reflecting the afternoon sun. His breaths were deep and ragged.


For a second, Kenrick wished he could somehow teach the guard his meditation process instantaneously, to block out most of his pain. But it took years and many wounds to perfect.


Without a word, the gnomes began to march towards the cloaked ones, pushing Kenrick and the guard. At first, Kenrick stumbled, the bandage around his legs restricted any movement that required more than half a normal step, it wasn’t long before he got the hang of it.


Several gnomes paused to gather the remains of their fallen. The gnome that had been shouting at Kenrick quickly took the lead.


Once the group reached the cloaked gnomes, the three fell behind the first gnome and the entire procession continued down the abandoned open-faced tunnel.


Only an hour passed before the procession started to slow. For several hundred feet the tunnel had started to decline, inching even further into the earth with every step. The top of the granite tunnel rose nearly thirty feet above. Over the heads of the gnomes, Kenrick could see a fork in the tunnel further down. In no time the group reached the divide.











Brock Sansome


Author of The Spheres of Caddock series and the interactive web-based novel The Chronicles of Kenrick.


www.brocksansome.com