Servants of the Pit

At his feet lay a growing pile of the narrow bands of cloth, but still his body and arms and legs were wrapped tight. How many layers did he have to pull and tear? He stared down at his chest as if to see through the layered cloth and gauge how much more there was to go. And then his face turned white. Beneath the first layer of torn bandages was a second and upon this second band of cloth was painted sygils and pictures of arcane and diabolic make. He did not know what they were but his immortal soul instantly recognized them as symbols of evil. He knew now that his fate was not just to be buried alive, but that that was only the beginning. A tremulous groan issued from his lips and he pressed down violently upon the painted characters. He wanted to wipe them away, erase them from his body. But the vile ink that made them did not smudge.

"Shakrav nepel themen!" an eerie voice cried out from behind him. He turned and stared at a short, round, dusky skinned man. He wore a black skull cap, a wide glittering braided necklace that hung from shoulder to shoulder and a red skirt dyed with black and gold zigzags. On either side of him were two more of the black skinned giants. "Stay away from me!" Paulito shouted and backed out of the pit, away from the three strangers. The short man grinned a cold and jagged smile. He reached out with one hand and pointed at Paulito. Suddenly strong arms grabbed him from behind. It was the men who had fought with that brave and now obviously dead knight.

The short man stepped up to Paulito who still struggled vainly against the arms that held him. "I am Shechem," he said. "I am His servant, and these are His slaves," he waved toward the towering, silent, muscle-bound men. Paulito shivered and broke out in a sweat.

1. "Who do you serve?" the knight asked, fearing the answer.

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