In this dark, dank whipping chamber, I take a chance of retrieving the keys and tiptoe to the side of the wall to see if I can reach them. Casey’s back is to me, and he’s a little too close for comfort. If he were to shut off that wheel right now, he would hear me for sure. Please don’t let him sense my aura or I’m dead. He sits on a stool sharpening what appears to be an ax. Gently, I reach for the many keys hanging on a ring, holding them in place, so they don’t make noise.
Tiptoeing back to the jail cells feels like an eternity. I hear the grinding wheel stop and I freeze. Please don’t turn around, I repeat in my mind several times.
A few scraping sounds from tools on tools clang together, as though he’s testing his craftsmanship. A stool scoots, and I hear Casey sit back down with a disappointing sigh and start the grinder again.
I take my window of opportunity and begin placing the first key into the lock and fail. I try the next one and then the next one. This is getting ridiculous. They all look the same. Of course, the last one I try clicks open. I rush to the next gate where the three children are caged in separate compartments. They wear thin pajamas and no shoes with a ragged blanket about their shoulders.
One, a boy not much older than seventeen, sees me and his eyes grow big. I put a finger to my lips.
A little girl around eight years of age curls in a fetal position, shivering in the adjacent cell, and a boy that looks to be no older than ten huddles quietly against the next cell over. “I’m going to get you out,” I mouth to them and work at each key again until the right one fits into the lock. This is going to take forever, if I have to repeat all the keys again.
In the cell that the younger boy is jailed, I see a brick pop out underneath a bench resting against the same wall. I’m confused at first, until I realize the eyes peeking out from the hole in the wall is Cory. How can one not notice glowing blue eyes? “Where have you been?” My thoughts distract me from the task at hand.
“Ran into trouble,” he says.
“And failed to inform the rest of us, how convenient.” I work the keys again, trying to reach the boy huddled in the same corner of the cell Cory is trying to break into.
I hear the voice of Cory say, “Tell the boy to come to me. I’ll pull him through. It amazes me Wynter was able to come through this tiny hole, at all. I can’t fit through without making a huge scene.”
I stop trying to search for the right key and move to the boy. “Hey there,” I whisper. “What’s your name?”
The boy shrinks away, frightened.
“We’re going to get you out of here, okay? I won’t hurt you. We—” I point to Cory— “won’t hurt you. That’s Cory over there. Go to him, and he will pull you through the hole to safety.”
The boy hesitates. “Go on, it’s okay. I promise.” I turn to see Casey is still concentrating at grinding down his weapon. I look back to the boy. “Quickly now before Casey stops and notices us here.”
I watch as the boy’s eyes grow large, and as though that’s his trigger, he scoots towards Cory.
I turn to the other children, both of them eyeing me intently with pleading faces. I fumble with one of the keys, knowing that grinding wheel is going to stop at any moment. Once more, I begin searching for the right key to unlock the cages and insert the first one into the lock. Luck is on our side this time; it unlocks the cell right as the grinding wheel stops. I have no choice but to come inside with the girl and cling to a wall to avoid being seen. I can hear his heavy steps, as though he’s coming our way. He stops, and it sounds like he has put aside the ax and picks up a new weapon. His steps pace back to the grinding wheel, and it begins to turn once more. I realize Casey must be prepping all his tools.
I crouch down to the girl who is scared out of her mind. Tears stream down her face. “It’s okay, I’m here to get you out, too.” I put out my hand, and she doesn’t take it.
“But she’ll come back, and she’ll kill us all,” the older boy in the next cell says, grabbing at the bars.
“What’s your name?” I ask.
“Marc. The name is Marc.”
“Well, Marc, we are here to rescue you.”
“We?” He looks beyond my shoulders to see nothing but the giant in the distance steady at work with his weapon.
“I’m not alone. Come with me where you will be safe.” I find the right key for his cell and open it.
The little girl runs to the boy, which makes me think they know each other. I look at him, stunned, but don’t press the issue, when he says, “My sister, Anja.”
“I promise to get you both out of here.” I look down at the dirty little girl. She flinches. “It’s okay. You will be safe soon.”
“She doesn’t speak…she hasn’t since Moyer kidnapped us.”
I look up at him. “Kidnapped you? Never mind, we need to get out of here. Can your sister slip through that hole there?” I point to where Cory is.
“I think so, but she won’t leave without me.”
I look the boy up and down. Clearly, he hasn’t eaten in days. “I don’t think either of you will have a problem slipping through there.” I look back to where Casey is on the stool. “Go now, before the wheel stops again.”
“All right, sweetie. You’re coming with us, okay?” I grab her cold hand.
Her big blue doe eyes fill with more tears. “Promise me one thing, though,” I whisper, “keep very quiet. We don’t want to alert the big bad giant, okay?”
She nods.
I pull them near the hole where Cory still is. He has an arm extended. “The girl first,” he says.
The grinder stops again, and I hear Casey move off the stool. I motion to Marc to hurry with his sister, placing a finger to my lips, gesturing them to move faster.
I see Casey catch us out of the corner of his eye. “What’s the meaning of this?” he said in a loud, gruff voice.
My body stiffens, and we make eye contact. I pull the cell gate closed, locking us inside. “Go!” I push the children towards the open hole in the wall where Cory is on the other side.
I still have the keys, but it won’t hold Casey out of reach for long. I won’t allow this beast to get those kids and pull from my pocket the bag of sleeping potion. I’ll wait until I have a clear shot to throw it in his face.
Casey powers through the outer iron gate leading into the jail chambers swinging his axe. His steps shake the whole basement. Fragments of mortar and dust fall from the walls and ceiling. If the compound wasn’t aware of our intrusion before, they are now. Right before Casey is about to plow through to the cell I’m trapped in, I grab a handful of powder and blow dust in his direction.
Casey stops, takes in a deep breath, and begins to sneeze, but it doesn’t affect him like I’d hoped. He appears a bit dazed but recovers.
Not enough. Frustrated, I grab another handful as Casey begins to collect himself, and I blow a second time in his face. This time, he is much closer to me. The potion makes a huge cloud of dust. It worked. I’m guessing not for long, though. Casey falls to the floor with a loud thud, shaking the basement once again.
I reach into the bag and realize nearly all of it is gone. I dump the remainder of the flakes over his body.
Thom and Dom come running around the corner to see the job already done. They look stunned that Casey is knocked out cold.
“I see there’s no need for our help,” Dom says.
I smirk.
“Have you seen Cory and Arryn?” Dom asks.
I turn to see the children are safely out and grab a ragged blanket on the cot thinking it might help with the younger children from freezing to death. “Cory’s behind this wall,” I say, kneeling near the seated bench.
“Of course, he is.” Thom grimaces.
I begin to slip through the same hole that Marc and Anja passed through, feet first. “Meet us in the tunnels at the turnoff.”
Thom and his brother scatter away, around the corner, where the manhole is located.
I land on ice, falling
on my backside. “Ouch!”
“That first step is a doozy,” I hear Cory tease.
Glaring at him, I get up and brush myself off. The younger children giggle. It does make me smile, in spite of the fact that we’re in the height of danger. “I’m glad I could amuse you all,” I say. “Cory, get us out of here. I’m not sure how long Casey will be out.”
“How much powder did you use?” he asks.
“The whole pouch.” I grin.
His raised brows and wide eyes say it all. “All right then. Let’s get out of here.”
I throw the blanket I have around the two smaller kids. “Here, this should keep you warm.” Akira walks close beside them and purrs. “Don’t be afraid, he will protect you.” I smile at Arryn and she nods.
We round the corner at the other end of the tunnel and hear faint footsteps. “I hope it’s Zak and the dwarves and not reinforcements of the enemy.”
Akira growls, shielding the children, pushing them backwards with his body.
Cory puts a finger to his lips and grabs the hilt of his knife, while I snag my arrow and bow. His eyes glow blue, and we see nothing in front nor behind us. The footsteps become louder, and we soon discover it’s more than one pair. A moan lets out, echoing against the walls of the tunnel.
“It’s Zak and the others,” Cory says.
I can hear the thoughts of the dwarves. Seconds later, we see them with Chad and Blair’s naked bodies covered from Dom and Thom’s cloaks.
“Boy, am I glad to see you guys,” Thom says, as the three of them come around the distant corner.
“Miss us?” Cory teases.
“A little, but don’t tell anyone,” Dom says.
“Who do we have here?” Thom asks. He comes closer to see the children first. “Don’t tell me Moyer had you all in the cells?”
Marc nods.
Cory looks past Thom to see the limp male body carried about Zak’s shoulders and Blair about Dom’s.
I see Cory’s eyes begin to glow an angry blue. The blue I’ve seen when he’s about to change into a beast.
“Cory, stop,” I say. “The anger will get you nowhere right now. Let’s get them back to Isalora’s cottage… Come to think of it…. Where is she by the way?”
Cory takes a quick look at Chad and then his mother Blair. “What have they done to you?”
“Cory, come on, we have to get out of here. I’m not sure how much time we have before they will come running,” I press.
Anja takes the blanket from around her and the other children and hands it to me. “They need it more than us,” she says. The child who hasn’t spoken until now moves me to tears.
“But you need it, too,” I say.
“Wait,” Cory interrupts. His hands begin to glow, and a swift breeze wisps by. He manages to conjure coats for Chad, Blair, and the children. “That about took all the magical energy I have for now.”
It eases my fear a bit to know we might escape this hellhole in one piece, after all. Akira’s purrs can be heard through the tunnels as well, assuring the rest of us we have a big, fierce cat by our side that can take on several would be attackers.
Cory lifts Blair onto his shoulders. “You’re safe now, Mom.” He looks at us, saying, “You’re right, Rory, we need to move. Once Moyer finds out her prisoners are missing, she will sound off the hounds and send out an alert.”
Arryn lifts the small children onto Akira’s back, and we begin to rush out the tunnels as soon as possible, but not before sounds of sabretail prowlers close in.
Cory’s eyes glow as before, lighting the way. Heavier growls intensify, and I realize Moyer knows of the tunnels now. She’s got them heavily guarded with sabretail prowlers.
“Please tell me that’s your stomach, dear brother,” Thom says.
“No, I ate some stew like you, remember?”
“I don’t see them, but I hear them,” I say.
A sphere of light comes charging, blinding us. In a matter of seconds, Isalora appears. “They’re straight ahead. Wait on my signal before continuing. We’re about to have a small battle, folks. Lay Chad and Blair down, so I can shield them. The children, too.”
Zak and Cory do as instructed, and Isalora forms a bubble around them.
“How many?” Dom whispers.
“A half a dozen or so. It appears Moyer has done her homework. None of you will survive and they will tear all of you apart, if we don’t figure out how to defeat them,” Isalora says.
Akira roars and tugs at Arryn with his teeth.
“Your familiar can see them, right?” I ask.
“Yes, I told you before that Akira can,” Arryn reminds me. “Can you see them?”
“Yes. I think you, Akira, and I are the only ones who can, aside from Isalora.
“They will slice us all in two if we can’t see them,” Dom adds, concerned. He reaches for his sword that is nestled behind his back.
“We’ll buy you time. Back out slowly, though. Sudden movements will have them attack us all.”
The growls increase, as though the beasts are about to pounce. It’s so dark, in seconds, even my eyes are no match for the blackness, making it diffucult to see the predators.
I hear one of the dwarves yell in pain. “Get it off.”
We turn around and see nothing. “How is it I cannot see them?” I ask, beginning to panic. I shoot blindly, hoping I don’t hit the twin. Hearing the thing yelp, I know I nailed it.
The damage inflicted on Dom is gruesome. His chest has been slashed, as well as his face. Akira leaps into action, pulling another sabretail prowler off him. All I see is its glowing red eyes, nothing more. The second beast yaps and backs away.
“We need to get out of here,” Zak calls, “before we’re surrounded.” He, too, gets sliced in the shoulder, and I hear Zak hiss in pain.
Thom and I grab Dom, pulling him to the protective bubble. As though the boy, Marc, knows what to do, he grabs Dom behind the barrier. I watch, helpless, as the sabretail prowlers try to attack each member. Arryn manages to sink an arrow into another one of the invisible dog’s back, and it snarls in pain. That’s when another one attacks Arryn, but before it can gain any leverage, Akira pounces on it.
The chaos prompts Isalora to turn into a wisp.
Shockwaves of electricity flood through the tunnels, and in that moment, I realize the magnitude of the severity of our situation. We’re surrounded on both sides.
There’s much more than a half a dozen dogs, but an army of them, as well as Shadow Walkers.
“How are we going to get past them? There are too many,” I murmur.
Isalora’s glow grows bigger, and I hear her say in my mind, “Take cover behind the shield. Protect your eyes.”
“What is she doing?” Arryn asks, astounded.
There is so much power emitting from the wisp that is now Isalora that the brightness burns my eyes. “I don’t know, but she said get inside the protective bubble with the others. Move now. Call Akira to stand down.”
Our whole party huddles together. The children whimper in fear. “Don’t look at the light, or you will burn your eyes,” I say, repeating what Isalora has said in my thoughts.
The pack of dogs and the clan of Shadow Walkers attempt to strike us down, but they bounce off the shield like a ball.
I hover over the children, saying, “Remember to cover your eyes!”
In that moment, it feels like the mere concealment of our eyes isn’t enough. The light is so bright. I hear the screams, tortures, and groans of death: the yelps of the dogs, and smells of burning flesh, and rotten eggs. The sound of water and fire merging together sizzle, and heat penetrates my skin but doesn’t burn. The few minutes of silence gives me pause. Is it over? Am I dead?
“You can open your eyes now,” Isalora says. She touches my shoulder and I jump. “Moyer will send reinforcements. You must go now. Follow me,” she says.
“Is everybody okay?” The children nod, with tears wetting their cheeks. Dom has a bandage wr
apped around his torso, and I realize it’s the nasty blanket I had snagged before leaving the cellblock chamber. I pull at Cory’s sleeve. “Isalora said to follow her. Do you think they can make it?” I nod over to Chad and Blair. They both are not in any state to walk.
Zak grabs onto Chad. I see Zak wince as he tries pulling Chad to his feet.
“Zak, you’re injured, too,” I say.
“It’s a scratch. Let’s go.”
Thom grabs at his brother Dom, helping him to his feet, and Cory pulls Blair to hers. She’s too weak to stand, so he cradles her in his arms, as though she’s weightless.
Arryn puts the two younger children upon Akira’s back saying, “Move. Let’s get out of here.”
We follow after Isalora as fast as we can, stepping over the remnants of the burned and decayed carcasses lying in the tunnel ditch. More sounds in the not-too-far distance warns of a second encounter. Isalora manages to hold them off before the pack charges towards us. I can see the iron gate ahead, as we frantically trot with all the stamina we have, considering our wounded party. The grate is still wide open from when we first entered the tunnels a few hours ago.
The growls of the invisible dogs increase as each person passes through the exit.
I manage to slam the gate just in time and latch the lock before the sabretail prowlers reach us. Their teeth gnaw on the bars, persistent to escape.
I trail behind the others as we all make haste down the bank of the river.
Zak calls, “We need to get in the water to cover the scent should those dogs manage to open that gate.”
Dom’s makeshift bandage around his chest soaks through with blood. “Isalora, if Dom doesn’t get medical attention soon, he will die.”
We all run along the shore as best we can. Howls of wolves fill the air.
I pull out an arrow from my quiver.
The trees whisper in the breeze and the leaves—what are left of the winter storm from the night before, flails across the snow drifts.
We keep running towards the cottage. Chimney smoke can be seen escaping through the flue.
Marc runs alongside Akira. “Hold onto that tiger tight,” he calls to the children riding on the animal’s back. Akira races forward faster than the rest of us, and soon he’s out of sight.
Wynter Reign Page 23