Elder Sign
The shovel hit something soft. Abermal stopped the other, got on his knees and started to dig with his bare hands, slowly revealing the buried torso of a men. Ed was confused, he had been hired to dig a gate, not a corpse. Not that was against the few and sparse remaining principles he had, but he would have like to know beforehand. Not the same price.
As the professor slowly unearthing the corpse, Ed saw chains and rags. The body was completely mummified, and that was curious. It should have decomposed in this soil. Ed dropped himself on a nearby stone, lit a fig and let the professor do the work. He could hear him mumbling to himself.
– “Careful, careful…What a cautious fellow we have here… tatoo? smart! …very smart indeed, Sir Pilcevot…”
Ed forced himself not to look. If they was restrains, this fellow has not departed in a pleasant way. The eyes were the worst, Couldn’t bear them. The professor was completely and utterly absorbed by his task. Ed wondered if he could sneak away now the digging was done. His first plan was to stay a while and require a couple of quids to cover the grave, but now…
– “So the guardian was indeed the gate. Poor knight… The legends were both true then! He did get corrupted by the old ones AND manage to stop them entering our world. Someone must have buried him alive to do so, while the evil has engulfed him. And of course, tatoo him with the Elder Sign to kept the evil from leaking out…”
The professor went silent. for a while. Ed took the time to shake the dirt on his legs. then throw away the consumed fig.
– “Yer okay in there prof ?”
– “No.”
– “Beg perdon ?”
– “No, that’s not okay. The sign’s broken. Your shovel must have…”
– “Must have what ? Yer should have warn me bout that, y’know. Sooo… Need help move this fellow ?”
– “Run.”
– “Wha ?”
– “RUN YOU FOOL!”
For hector111
Pencil doodle on A6 sketchbook
