Karn - Senses and Breathing

The town was safe from invasion by any but aquatic creatures or armies with boats…or silver golems that did not breathe.

Emerging from a brake of cane, Karn waded down into the black water of the placid lake. Cool silt rose around him, caking his legs and grinding in ankles and knees, but still he continued. Soon, water poured into the deep silver collar around his neck, and lapped at his jaw. He sensed, too, the empty inner cavities of his torso filling, the spaces that were supposed to hold the items of Gerrard’s Legacy. Though cool liquid coursed into his innards and water closed over his head, Karn’s anger felt hotter than ever. The ropes of seaweed that dragged past him as he descended into the murk only stoked the flames of fury. Vuel would pay not only for the injustice of taking his stepbrother’s possessions and using them to buy an army, but also for the indignities suffered in recovering that Legacy.

The bed of the lake dropped away in lightless steppes to a bottom perhaps fifteen fathoms deep. The cold, muddy depths did not deter Karn. He could see past the blackness to the spot below where five gigantic anchors clutched the bottom. Tireless, Karn strode to the central one, grabbed hold of the massive chain that rose from it, and climbed.

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Rath and Storm: Karn's Tale