The Eating Woods, #2
Eldritch
by Keri Lake
Contents
Chapter 10
Overview
In the mines, Zevander reunites briefly with his emaciated father and resolves to share rations. That night, Warden Vicarek goads and mutilates Ravezio, provoking Zevander’s defiance. The warden orders Zevander into the Bone Grist, then privately vows Zevander’s father will die if Zevander wins, tightening the warden’s leverage and stakes.
Summary
In the scorching Solassios mines, Zevander hammers dead-vein ore alongside cellmates Ravezio and Kazhimyr, trading weary banter to endure the labor. A promoted orgoth guard, Jagron, passes, a reminder that obedience brings small favors. At the water cart, Zevander is stunned to see his father, now gaunt and limping, who quietly praises Zevander’s strength. Zevander offers to share food the next day, and they part with a fragile promise of bread and “tomorrow.”
That night in their cliffside cell, the trio talk about the approaching Eventide Somnial and their fraying hopes. Their joking turns to longing and crude fantasies as they try to forget the drop beyond the bars and the ever-present heat. Kazhimyr admits doubts about surviving the mines; Zevander counters with stubborn belief that he will see his family again.
Warden Vicarek arrives with two guards and targets Ravezio, mocking his Eremician body and tearing out scales with a gauntlet. Ravezio bleeds and taunts through the pain while Kazhimyr seethes. Zevander, pushed past restraint, threatens the warden despite earlier warnings that any defiance endangers his father.
Vicarek seizes on the outburst and declares a Bone Grist match: Zevander will fight. After posturing, the warden kneels and hisses the true trap—if Zevander wins, his father will die painfully. The guards leave them with the added punishment of reduced rations, and Zevander faces a rigged choice between survival in the pit and his father’s life.
Who Appears
- ZevanderMiner and prisoner; reunites with his weakened father, defies the warden, and is forced into a lethal pit fight.
- Warden VicarekCruel prison warden; mutilates Ravezio, coerces Zevander into the Bone Grist, and threatens to kill Zevander’s father if he wins.
- RavezioEremician cellmate; jokes to cope, is assaulted as scales are torn off, sparking Zevander’s defiance.
- KazhimyrLunasier cellmate; longs for freedom, bristles at abuse, supports Zevander amid escalating danger.
- Zevander’s fatherEmaciated elder prisoner at the water cart; shares a brief, tender exchange with Zevander.
- JagronOrgoth prisoner promoted to guard; passes the crew, symbolizing incentives for obedience.