She pushed her hair out of her face. “Nobody should be blown up. Not even the bad people.”
She sounded a little hysterical. Cantor put his arm around her shoulders and turned her to the closed door leading to the dungeons. “I agree. Let’s get the prisoners, then spread the word.”
Dukmee bent to put his hands on the door. A small flash passed between his fingers, followed by a click as the hidden bolt moved out of the doorjamb.
Feymare pushed the door open. Hot, putrid air flowed out and enveloped the four. Bixby clapped her hand over her mouth and nose. Cantor pinched his nostrils. Feymare and Dukmee waved their hands in the air, and the thick cloud dissipated.
Cantor lowered his hand and blessed his companions. The smell was gone.
Silently, they entered the hallway and began their search. Many of the cell doors stood open with no one occupying the tiny, squalid rooms.
“I hear her,” exclaimed Bixby. “Totobee-Rodolow is down this way.”
Feymare put up one hand to stop her. “Wait one minute.”
She paused.
“There are five spokes going out from the central location. One we just used.” His thumb over his shoulder indicated one. “There are four of us and four more to explore.”
He handed each of them a small glob of pliable material. “Roll this between your hands into a long, narrow cord. Wrap it around a lock, tap it with your fist, and the lock will snap. It’s much faster than generating your own force to pop open a door. Free everyone you come to. Send them back to this hub. I’ve communicated to Bridger to guide the prisoners to freedom. He’s left the bridge and is now doubling back to help us.”
Dukmee nodded. “Choose your tunnel and run.”
Bixby sprang into the one she believed would lead her to Totobee-Rodolow. Cantor didn’t wait to see where Feymare and Dukmee went, but plunged into the nearest opening.
As he ran past open doors, he reached with his mind, trying to contact Ahma or Odem. He got no response. This part of the dungeon rang hollow as if no one with life dwelt here. He ran into the wall that ended this spoke and turned, panting, to lean against the stones.
Nothing. He prayed the others hadn’t also come up empty-handed. He pushed off from the wall and ran back the way he’d come.
EXPLOSION
Bixby struggled to keep Totobee-Rodolow on her feet. The dragon’s body was heavy, and her friend was too ill to shift herself into something easier for Bixby to handle. She’d tucked the light orb into her lace vest so she could use both hands to help Totobee-Rodolow. The globe slipped, and she used her forearm to nudge it back into place.
“We’re almost there.” Bixby spoke to encourage herself as much as Totobee-Rodolow.
The dragon hummed an answer. It sounded like, “Yes, darling.”
She paused, thinking she’d heard a sound in the long corridor ahead of her. She peered out from under her burden and spied a globe shining on the chest of a man, then revealed his face as he came closer. Cantor.
“Did you find Ahma? Odem?”
He shook his head and put his shoulder under Totobee-Rodolow’s other arm. With a quick adjustment, he carried the dragon’s weight. Bixby stood aside and flexed her shoulders.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
He thrust his light globe toward Bixby. “Can you carry my orb as well?” He turned his face toward the dragon’s. “Totobee-Rodolow, are you in pain?”
Her lips moved but only a hum came out.
“What did she say?”
“I’m pretty sure she said, ‘No, just weary, dear one.’ Her thoughts aren’t much clearer than her tongue, though.”
Cantor nodded. “Lead on.”
She held up both light orbs and hurried toward the center of the dungeons. “How much time do you think we have?”
“No idea.”
Bixby turned and trotted backward a few steps. “What kind of explosives do you think they’ll use?”
“Dynamite, maybe.”
She faced forward again, and her clothes fluttered around her. “Who would light the fuse? Do you think there will be one explosion or several?”
“They couldn’t bring the building down with one.”
“So, several. That would mean several people to light the fuses. How could they synchronize the blasts?”
“I don’t know, Bixby.”
“I don’t think it’s dynamite. They’d need it to be a chain reaction-type setup. You know, one person sets off the first explosion and then boom, boom, boom, the rest go off in order. Quickly! It must happen quickly so the victims won’t hear the first explosion and have time to get out.”
Cantor grunted.
“If we could find the first blast, we could stop the whole thing before it even began. Even if we found one in the middle, we could limit the damage. One of us could follow the trail back and dismantle whatever they’re using, and another could go forward to disrupt the explosions that way. We can do this. We just have to find whatever they’re using.”
She pondered the possibilities as they traveled the last few yards to the center of the spokes. Light orbs illuminated the center room. She saw the glow and hurried forward, forgetting that Cantor carried no globe.
“Bixby.”
She turned and saw the problem, hurried back, and apologized.
“You’re going to be all right now, Totobee-Rodolow. Dukmee is there, and he’ll give you something to strengthen you. We’ll get you out of here.”
This time Totobee-Rodolow’s hum definitely had the rhythm of, “Yes, darling.” Bixby threw her arms around the dragon and gave her a quick squeeze.
Cantor grunted. “That doesn’t help.”
Bixby stepped back. “You’re panting.”
Cantor stopped. “Bixby, I ran all the way down one corridor and back, and then halfway down this corridor, and now I’m supporting a very limp and heavy dragon.”
Totobee-Rodolow made some comment that Bixby didn’t understand. She swallowed a giggle and choked when she realized the hum was an objection to being labeled heavy.
“Are you okay?” asked Cantor.
“Of course. A hiccup caught in my throat.”
Bixby smiled at the dragon, but Totobee-Rodolow’s eyes were closed. She patted one scaly arm. “We’re almost there. I can see the light ahead. That’s the core of the dungeon.”
She squinted as a bulky shape obscured some of the light. Bridger rushed out of the central room to meet them. Without a word, he embraced his sister, then picked her up and carried her the rest of the way. Following several paces behind, Bixby smiled as Totobee-Rodolow nestled against Bridger’s chest and rested her head on his shoulder.
Without thought, Bixby reached over and took Cantor’s hand. She had plenty of family, but no one close. Cantor had a family of sorts, but they were displaced. He squeezed her hand, and she knew. Sometimes friends are the only family one really has.
When they reached the hub, Bridger sat on the floor and held his sister, a low, soothing sound emanating from somewhere in his throat. Dukmee immediately knelt beside them to assess Totobee-Rodolow’s condition.
“She can’t be a party to the rest of the rescue. We need to get her away. No more stress. She’s had no food or water, and I believe they used a gas to keep her sedated.”
Cantor passed a drinking flask to Bridger, who tilted the water into Totobee-Rodolow’s mouth. The she dragon smiled sweetly at her brother and reached to touch Bixby’s arm.
“I knew you would come. It hasn’t been days, has it, darling?”
Bixby shook her head. The lump in her throat kept her from speaking.
Totobee-Rodolow closed her eyes. “It felt like weeks.”
Feymare arrived from the spoke he’d examined, followed closely by Toolooknaut, who looked disheveled and tired, but not ill.
Bixby saw a quick exchange between Cantor and Feymare. Cantor raised his eyebrows as if asking a question. Feymare’s eyes held a shade of sorrow, and his chin jerked once from side to side. N
o. He hadn’t found Ahma and Odem.
Bixby moved back to Cantor’s side, but she didn’t grasp his hand. That’s not what he needed now. Focus. Ahead, not to the side where spokes had already been queried and the answer was no. Ahead, not behind.
Dukmee checked Toolooknaut over and pronounced him well enough if he downed some water. “They didn’t have to use much force to subdue him, and they didn’t gas him to keep him in line. They used excessive force on Totobee-Rodolow since she was a serious threat.”
“I can be a serious threat.” Toolooknaut blustered a bit, then dropped the performance and looked sheepish. “I suppose I’m more of a threat when I’ve a pen in my hand. I did run quite a bit ahead of them. I’m fast when motivated. And I made them a wretched chase. But once they had me surrounded, I had no defense.”
He surveyed the others and evidently found no condemnation. He didn’t offer any more explanation. His eyebrows pulled together. “Feymare, what’s that you have?”
The Primen warrior held up two hard-skinned, bulbous objects. Large, smoothly shaped, and colorful, they looked like the seed pod of some exotic plant. “I picked them up in the corridor. These are kantablash gourds.”
Cantor caught his breath. “Those are illegal.”
Dukmee went over and took one. He sniffed it, turned it over carefully, and sniffed the other end. “It’s primed.”
Bixby watched the interaction between the men. Their concern for a vegetable seemed out of line. What was so unusual about finding a gourd in a tunnel next to a food storage? And why illegal? “Primed? What does that mean?”
Cantor answered. “They don’t need dynamite, Bixby. Kantablash gourds when permeated with the acid from buntornut berries form a highly explosive liquid. Very unstable. This would easily start that chain explosion you spoke of. And who is going to be suspicious of a plant pod?”
She gingerly touched the smooth hard skin of the gourd in Dukmee’s hand. “So how do they ignite the first one?”
Dukmee sighed. “They shake it vigorously and put it down.”
“Then run like a bull is chasing them,” Bridger added.
Bixby looked from one man to the next. “What are we going to do?”
Feymare smiled without any joy in his eyes. “Same plan. We evacuate as many people as we can and disarm the weapons.”
He turned to Bridger. “You and Toolooknaut will take your sister and find Ponack. You’ll be in charge of moving the people in the immediate vicinity away from the Hall.”
He gestured toward the building above. “The rest of us will move the servants and staff.”
“What about the other prisoners?” asked Bixby.
Feymare herded his people toward the hall leading to the storage area. “There weren’t any other prisoners.”
Bixby resisted the gentle push on her back. “What about the councilmen in the forum?”
“We’ll get to them.”
“Will it be in time?”
Feymare stopped and turned Bixby so he could look in her eyes. She found his gaze patient and sad.
“Your heart is in the right place. We mustn’t allow anyone to remain in danger by not warning them. You can go back through the entrance we used. Go to the front of the hall. Find someone who will tell the gathered councilmen of the danger. I don’t think they would believe you.”
“Penny Lunder?”
He shook his head. “Find a councilman. The councilmen gathered above us are the ones to be eliminated. One of these condemned men might be willing to risk his life to save the others.”
Bixby followed the others who had already entered the hall leading to the storage room. Cantor, Dukmee, and Feymare headed off in the direction the boy baker had taken. She and Toolooknaut went with the dragons to the tunnel under the bridge. From that point, she left her friends and tore along the river, up an embankment, and down the street to the front of the Hall.
The congested traffic slowed her down. She wanted to yell warnings, but knew she should follow the directions given her. If she caused a commotion and was arrested by the city guard, she wouldn’t be able to relay her message to the councilmen. Toolooknaut and Ponack were assigned to these people.
She ran up the steps of the hall where she overtook a man dressed in the robes of a councilman. She grabbed his sleeve and forced him to stop.
His face reddened as he glared at her. “What is the meaning of this?”
“Sir, are you going inside?”
“Yes.”
“To the forum?”
He shook his arm, trying to dislodge her hold. “What is it to you?”
“You have to warn the councilmen. Tell them to get out of the building. There are explosive kantablash hidden inside. It’s a plot to kill you all.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“No, no, it’s not.”
He studied her face for a moment. “You’re one of the new realm walkers. An initiate. Princess Bixby D’Mazeline.”
“Yes.” Bixby bounced on her toes.
“Explosive kantablash?”
“Yes. Do you believe me? You have to believe me, or all those men will die.”
“It is rather a bizarre story to make up.” He frowned and pinched his upper lip, where a bushy mustache hung below a pointed nose.
She saw when he made his decision. His hand came down and clamped on her shoulder. His fingers pressed into her bones.
“I’ll tell them. If we get out and there is no explosion, at least we’ll be alive. Looking foolish, but alive.”
He released her shoulder and sped into the building.
She charged the door, opened it, and yelled after him. “And the staff. Not just the councilmen, remember all the people working in the offices.”
He waved his hand, indicating he’d heard, and dashed on.
Bixby turned and leaned against the closed door. The glass felt cool against her back. This side of the building was shaded. Soon the traffic would abate as all the citizens went to their homes for the evening. She could join Toolooknaut and Ponack now in their efforts to clear citizens from the area.
Rushing down the steps and across the avenue, she entered the In Shadow Inn. Pushing past the customers standing near the entry, she launched herself up on a chair and then a tabletop.
“Everyone out. There are explosives in the Realm Walkers Guild building. Everyone must flee. Get away.” She looked around at the skeptical faces below. They didn’t believe her. “Go!”
A man in a city guard uniform plowed through the crowd and swept her off her platform. She felt a prick in her thigh and a hot flow traveled across her skin, leaving her numb. He had her by the legs, and she fell over his shoulder, draped down his back.
“Let me down!” She tried to beat on his back, but her arms whipped at him like two strings on a wet mop. “Let me down. I have to warn them.”
He didn’t stop, but carried her out into the street.
He’d disabled her, probably with essence of pardox leaf. She wouldn’t give up. If he wasn’t going to let her down, she was still going to warn as many people as possible.
“Get away from here. The Guild Hall will explode. Run!”
She didn’t quit. She wouldn’t. Even as the burly guard carried her away from the cultural area and toward the city jail, she cried out. Still no one listened, only scoffed and turned away. She hoped Toolooknaut and Ponack were having more impact.
Only one man seemed to heed her calls. A councilman followed them.
With hair in her eyes and tears streaming down her face, she couldn’t see him well, but the robes were unmistakable. If he could catch up to them, he could help. He must have been warned in the forum and dashed out.
The guard rounded a corner, and Bixby lost sight of the man behind them. She searched the throng of people until the councilman came around the corner.
Grabbing the guard’s belt, she shook it. “Stop! Stop! A councilman’s coming, and he’ll tell you I’m telling the truth.”
The
guard slowed, but she soon realized that it wasn’t because of what she’d said, but because they’d reached a paddy wagon. He fumbled with the door. He would throw her in and she’d never be able to get these people to safety. She thought of her friends. Would they waste time looking for her? Her heart froze to think of them lingering in danger because of her. She sobbed. Choked on the emotion, then with all her will banished the weakness. Part of it must be the pardox leaf she couldn’t control. But part of it was her, and all her training enforced the concept of self-control. Now was not the time to doubt.
“Please, just talk to the councilman. He’s coming. We have to move these citizens.”
The guard grunted. The iron door screeched as it opened. He tossed her in and slammed it shut. The chains rattled, and the key turned in the lock. The man tested the door to make sure his prisoner was secure.
“What’s the matter, guard?”
The councilman! Bixby pressed her ear to the door. Tiny slits close to the floor allowed air to waft through the enclosure, but the paddy wagon was built without a window to see through. Bixby stretched out on the grubby floor and put her eye to the vent. She could see both men from their shoes to their knees. She abandoned her position as uncomfortable and useless.
“The girl made a fuss at the In Shadow Inn. Brackett doesn’t put up with any disturbance. He tips us to take care of things quick.”
Bixby opened her mouth to beg for aid.
The councilman spoke. “That’s good. That’s good. Everything should be done in an orderly manner.”
His voice! He was the councilman who had said he would warn the others. She closed her eyes and leaned her forehead against the metal wall. She’d enlisted the wrong man. He hadn’t warned anyone.
Sobs shook her to the floor. Collapsed against the narrow vents, she called out. “You didn’t help.”
“Oh, I helped, child.” He laughed. “I’m the fastest, you see.”
He shook the gourd.
No sooner had the thought registered than an explosion knocked the paddy wagon on its side. The pardox leaf was wearing off, but Bixby still had no coordination to speak of. As the prison cart tumbled, she bounced against the walls. She heard the horse’s panicked squeal over her own shout of alarm. Screams from all around. A second explosion followed the first. And then a third. And a fourth.
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