Slavers of the Savage Catacombs Read Online Free PDF

which meant they didn’t engage in manual labor as far as Ran could tell. He approached them. As he did so, they looked up in surprise. One of them, larger than the others, hailed him.
    “What can we do for you?”
    Ran smiled. “I’m wondering where a warrior like myself can inquire about hiring on with a trade caravan. Do you know?”
    The man grinned. “What job did you have in mind exactly?”
    “Security.”
    He laughed. “You’re awfully young to be traipsing about with those swords. What do you know about security anyway?”
    Ran’s smile dissolved into a serious expression. “I’m not as young as I might appear. And as for my swords, they’ve seen plenty of action. I can assure you of that.”
    “Can you now?” The older man rubbed his chin. “Well, unfortunately for you, son, I don’t take people’s word for it. I need to see for myself what you’re capable of doing. Surely you wouldn’t object to a little demonstration?”
    Ran shrugged. “If that’s what you require, mister . . . ?”
    “You can call me Yasseh. If you do well on the demonstration, you might even call me boss at some point.”
    “What did you have in mind?” Ran shifted his two swords.
    Yasseh shook his head. “Nothing with those blades. The last thing we need is the authorities coming down here and making trouble for all of us. But you must possess some degree of unarmed combat skill?”
    “I do,” said Ran.
    Yasseh smiled. “Excellent.” He clapped his hands and a smaller man appeared out of nowhere. Yasseh didn’t even look at him. “Tell Gunj to come here.”
    “Gunj?” Ran almost smiled. The name alone conjured up images of a giant bear with lots of hair sticking out of odd places. Ran removed his swords and handed them to one of the other men in the circle. “Be careful with those.”
    When Gunj showed up, he looked nothing like a bear. He looked more like a wisp of a man, but his forearms stretched taut over ribbons of muscle. His face showed a lot of hard living, and the way he moved told Ran that he was exceptionally dangerous. He came up to Ran’s chest and no more. Ran nodded at him, but got no response.
    Yasseh smiled. “This is Gunj. He’s been with me for years. I will ask him to test you out. If he thinks you do indeed know how to handle yourself, then perhaps I’ll have a spot for you on my team. If not, well, I’m sure you’ll heal quickly enough.”
    “Rules?” asked Ran as he separated from Gunj and the circle around him widened.
    Yasseh shrugged. “I wouldn’t worry about rules. Do what you have to do to survive. Just don’t do anything that’ll make Gunj angry.”
    Ran frowned again. Gunj stood about ten yards away from him with his arms folded across his chest. He yawned and then removed his shirt. A blazing red dragon snaked its way down across his pectoral muscles, blowing fire toward his belly.
    Ran pointed at the tattoo. “Nice work.”
    Yasseh chuckled. “All the members of Gunj’s school have those emblazoned on them. It’s not by choice.”
    “Which school?” asked Ran.
    Gunj spat a wad of something at the ground and started moving around Ran. Ran brought his hands up in front of his chest. He had no idea what school of martial arts Gunj might have been from, so until he had some sense of what his fighting style was like, he would play it defensively.
    Gunj feinted with a punch and then launched a side kick directly at Ran’s ribs. But Ran didn’t fall for the feint and sidestepped the kick before dropping an elbow onto the side of Gunj’s leg above the knee. Gunj went with the blow and ducked down, trying to sweep Ran’s legs out from under him. Ran leapt high and away, regaining some of the distance that had been lost when Gunj closed the gap.
    Gunj came back up on his feet and looked at Ran with a bit more interest now. Ran couldn’t call it respect. Not yet. But Gunj clearly recognized that Ran wasn’t some idiot who thought himself a badass without any skill