The Dungeoneers: Blackfog Island

by Jeffery Russell

  He waited a long minute then kicked the door again.

  “What d'ye want?” A voice from above. A pale face looking down from the tower. Elongated jaw, sunken nose, gleaming eyes. A ghoul. In his keep?

  “What in the hells are you doing in my keep?”

  It cackled, a noise that sent chills through places Larry had forgotten he had. “Our castle now. Was sitting empty and our warren got washed away so we moved on in.” It paused to add a sinister chuckle. “Well, empty enough at least. Freshly stocked larder, as it were. Plus William likes having the kitchen now to practice his cooking.” It grinned down at him, teeth gleaming. “You’re welcome to pop in for dinner if you want.”

  Larry turned away, looking out over the bay. The wreckage lined beach, the pilings jutting from the water like broken teeth, the bits of debris bobbing about in the waves. He leaned his back against the door and slid slowly down it until he sat on the packed sand.

  The parrot screeched with joy and shat on his shoulder.

  Laughing Larry began to laugh.

  THE END

  Afterword

  Thank you very much for reading The Dungeoneers: Blackfog Island! Be sure and subscribe to the Dungeoneers newsletter at www.jefferyrussell.net. I promise you a spam-free mailing list experience and occasional free stuff. If you’ve not read the first Dungeoneers book you’ll find links at that same url to the various versions of it. There are also links to my Twitter and Facebook. Feel free to send me any questions or comments. And last but not least, leaving a review would be a splendid thing for you to do. And yes, The Dungeoneers will return.

  Acknowledgments

  The history, gods, magic system and some of the characters in The Dungeoneers are based off an an RPG campaign I was part of back in the days of yore. I am indebted to Joe Meeks and Jayson Bucknell, the other players, but most of all to Corey Moore, the sort of person that coughs up a few worlds over breakfast. The core idea of a maze in the water was Corey’s and his alter-ego character, Catchpenny, makes a guest appearance here to help sort things out.