She was afraid to look back, but she could not stop her head from turning.
The black beast had made his way to this side of the maze and was standing before the wall that separated this section of the maze from the next passageway. His attention focused on the passage, he tilted his head curiously at some sound or scent he’d detected.
Suddenly, his great paw lashed out, striking the thin partition between cages.
Bamboo splinters flew in every direction as he smashed through the opening he’d made, and snuffling hungrily, lumbered over the debris and into the next cage.
A knife of pain stabbed through Kayla’s mind, making her fall to her knees and wrap her head in her arms, trying to force the pain under control again.
The crowd got louder as the psychic screams of terror broadcast by the De’Wa children penetrated even their insensitive minds.
It took several deep, painful breaths before Kayla was finally able to close her mind to the largest part of the sending. Her heart ached for the suffering of the poor child, but she could not function under the pressure of so much pain. With the psychic screams dimmed, she sent her eyes and mind in a frantic search of the maze for some sight of the hidden children.
She finally spotted the largest child as he scurried from one section of the maze to the next in search of a safer place to hide. She was about to move in his direction when she saw a hint of movement and felt a flicker of thought. When she concentrated on the area it had come from, Kayla spotted the motion of a rope twisting in the stagnant air. Half way up it, two smaller children clung to the wall. Momentarily frozen in fear, they stared for one fatal moment before abandoning the rope and ducking into a small tunnel branching from the high corner of an upper-level cage.
Opening her mind a little, Kayla attempted to calm the children for it was obvious by the speed that the bears were moving in on them that they were tracking them by the waves of fear emanating from them like light from a beacon.
But in opening her mind to the children, Kayla suddenly became aware of the powerful drain on the unprotected life force of all those in the arena.
She was not surprised when she felt the strong flow of energy emitted by the hunters and the hunted in their terror and excitement, but she was stunned by the amount of life force radiating from the aura of the crowd and their corrupted souls as they cheered on the attacking beasts!
And with sickening ease, she located the source of this drain, for almost directly across the arena from her hiding place sat Caleis.
Slouched back in a plush chair, he lounged, stomping his feet and pounding his fists to encourage the hunt, and at his right side sat Garth, intently watching the show.
Kayla felt her stomach churn and knot when she saw the man she thought she loved, lean over and make a comment to Caleis. The Emperor threw his head back. The peals of laughter, making the rolls of his huge belly gyrate.
“How could I have been such a fool!” she said in a low, angry voice.
“We are all apt to be blinded by love at some time in our lives, Lady,” answered Geko.
Kayla had been so lost in her own maze of pain and recrimination that she had almost forgotten the dwarf’s presence and the reason she was here. Returning her attention to the desperate plight of the De’was, she hissed, “There has to be a way to get to them!”
“Yes, perhaps! If we hurry, we might reach them from the other gate,” said Geko, but as she moved to follow him, he put a hand on her arm.
“Lady, you must know that we will be seen,” he warned her. “The guards won’t attempt to stop us while the bears live, but after, we must make our escape fast, before they can collect their wits, an-and, of course, there will be the Lord High Warlock to contend with.”
“I-I understand,” Kayla answered distractedly as another roar from the crowd reminded her just how urgent the situation was. “Let’s just get this over with!”
She followed the dwarf back into a tunnel that wound behind the kennels before it circled toward the far side of the maze. A hundred yards into the tunnel, Geko forced open another kennel door. By the powerful odor and the piles of fresh droppings, it was plain that this one had seen recent use.
Covering her nose and trying not to gag, Kayla followed him down the ramp into the maze. Following the dwarf’s example, she kept her back to the bamboo wall, hoping to conceal their move into the maze from the preoccupied crowd for as long as possible.
Suddenly screams of pure terror assaulted Kayla’s ears and mind, and the crowd went wild with excitement.
Kayla dropped to her knees, vomiting and racked with uncontrollable nausea. It took Geko’s persistent hand shaking her shoulder to finally break the grip of her mental torment.
With his arms wrapped around her shaking shoulders, he crooned urgently in her ear, “Let it go, Lady. You must let it go if we are to save the rest.”
Stifling the sobs caught in her throat, Kayla swiped at the tears flowing down her face with one sleeve, and staggered to her feet.
“That bastard! That miserable bastard!” she mumbled through her tight throat. “He’s feeding off the poor, little thing’s pain!”
Tugging at her arm again, Geko urged, “We’ve got to move now! If we don’t get to the other two fast, it will be too late!”
Willing her feet to move, Kayla dashed after the little man, ducking into one of the bamboo tunnels where she was forced to crawl on her knees along the sloping floor until they emerged into another cage. Squeezing out the exit beside him, Kayla saw that they were about ten feet up the opposite side of the large central cage who’s walls the smaller children had climbed.
When she looked across the forty-foot expanse at the black gap that was the cubbyhole the children had chosen to hide in, she was just able to see the glow of two small pairs of eyes.
The shouts of the crowd alerted her to the arrival of the mottled brown bear as he emerged from a side tunnel and entered the cage at ground level. Snuffling loudly, he ranged back and forth, searching for the scent he’d been tracking.
Kayla and Geko froze, hoping the bear would not be able to detect their human scent over that of the kennel.
The brown rose to his rear legs, his nose lifted high as he sniffed only inches from their feet. Slowly, he turned away and, walking in an awkward waddle, he continued sniffing along the perimeter of the cage until he came to the wall under the cubbyhole.
He announced his discovery of his prey with a hungry snarl and lunged at the wall, seeking purchase for his claws.
No longer able to contain their terror, the children screamed and crowded against the far wall of the small cubical making it rock precariously.
The screams of the trapped prey attracted the second bear, who came crashing through a partition into the clearing. Rising to his full eight feet, he threw back his blood-covered muzzle and roared hungrily.
Evidently afraid that his competitor would steal his prize, the brown bear attacked the frail walls of the bamboo maze and began ripping at it with his powerful claws until he’d broken loose a large chunk under the children’s cubbyhole.
The cubical toppled and began slipping into the gap, and as the small box slipped within reach, brown slashed with a big paw and hooked it with his claws. The fragile bamboo box was sent flying into the middle of the cage where it bounced and rolled on its side.
Taking advantage of this windfall, the black pounced, wrapping his massive arms about the box, sniffing loudly at the delicious scent of terror.
Seeing his prize seized by another, the brown attacked the poacher, sending the crowd into a frenzy.
Knowing that this might be their only chance, Kayla leaped into the center of the cage with her sword held ready. Her attention was on the bears, but at the edge of her awareness, she was also aware of the sight of Caleis, leaning forward in his chair, his eyes wide, drool leaking from the corners of his mouth. Behind her, she could hear the soft scratch of Geko’s sandals on bamboo as he scrambled down the side of the wal
l to help her.
Having lost her hat when she’d jumped, Kayla shook her long, silver-blonde mane back from her face and shouted, “Hee-Yaa!! Over here, you greedy pigs!” at the top of her lungs in an attempt to draw the bears away from the box and the two children that were spilling from its opening. Unfortunately, the bears were too engrossed in their fight to respond to her challenge.
Kayla saw the inevitable, but she could not reach the children in time.
The bears rolled, smashing into the frail bamboo cube, crushing it with their weight, leaving their quarry cowering unprotected before them. The sudden explosion of fear filled their nostrils, and the bears forgot the purpose of their altercation. Shaking their heads, they grumbled warnings of future mayhem and ambled away from each other as they reoriented their senses on the delicious aroma of psychic fear.
Knowing that this would be their last chance to divert the beasts before they reached the helpless De’wa children, Kayla and Geko both darted in. Slashing with her blade at the brown’s exposed back, Kayla spun away and into a crouch, waiting for his attack while Geko darted in to stab his knife into the thick rear haunch of the black.
The bears roared in surprise at these attacks and quickly locked eyes on the two humans. Evidently, they’d had some experience with humans for they did not immediately attack, but instead they circled, appraising this addition to their menu.
The shrieking of the excited crowd faded to silence as they realized something unplanned was happening.
The bears rumbled threateningly at the new arrivals but seemed unafraid of the inadequate weapons and more concerned with the strong scent of the psychic delicacies huddled on the ground.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Kayla charged the bears, slashing with the tip of her sword at the noses of both. She left behind a stinging trail of blood as she quickly retreated, drawing the enraged beasts after her and away from the little De’was who still dared not move from where they’d fallen.
“Geko! Grab the children and get them out of the way! I can’t kill the bears without injuring them, too!” Kayla shouted as she ducked aside to avoid a sudden lunge by the black.
“Kaay-Laa!” Her name echoed from the arena walls.
Kayla tried not to turn her head toward that voice, but of their own volition, her eyes flicked to the place across the arena where she’d last seen Garth. The sight of his black-clad figure climbing over the side of the emperor’s booth, evidently intent on reaching her, made her heart stop beating for one endless moment. One moment too long.
The powerful blow to her chest sent Kayla flying a dozen feet back before she struck the ground.
Gasping to get the breath back in her lungs, she was unaware that she was clutching her right arm to her chest until her efforts to crawl back to her feet sent her rolling into the churned mud of the arena floor.
Tears of pain and frustration momentarily clouded Kayla’s eyes, and she nearly didn’t see the bear pouncing with all fours, intending to land fully across her chest. Flipping to her side, she rolled to avoid the beast’s belly flop and came up behind him before he could regain his feet.
She was on her feet and waiting for him when the bear spun about and reared back, intending to attack her again.
The crowd of spectators roared excitedly when the bear froze in midair, held above the ground by the force of the blast of blue flames engulfing him.
Knowing that the blazing beast would soon hit the ground, Kayla had disengaged and was backing away from the flaming body of the giant brown, putting some space between her and it when Geko’s shriek of warning stopped her in her tracks.
“Lady! Behind you!”
Kayla spun about and found herself face to face with the black. Showing more intelligence than she’d expected from him, the beast had circled behind her, intending to attack while she was distracted. These nearly sentient beasts plainly had encountered men in the past and did not expect much resistance. The black paused in his attack, surprised by his prey’s lack of fear, and Kayla calmly locked eyes with the beast.
Stepping to one side, she coldly watched as he twisted and thrashed in the dust of the arena floor in an agonized attempt to extinguish the flames. She felt no more remorse for causing the bear’s pain and suffering than he’d felt for the small child he had so recently mauled and eaten.
The sudden hush of the spectators reminded Kayla of her mission and the fact that the bears were not the only threat. With a hurried glance at the far wall of the arena, Kayla dodged between the flaming corpses of the bears and ran to Geko and the children huddled within his protective embrace.
“Hurry!” Kayla hissed at Geko as she pulled the larger child to his feet. “We’ve got to get out of here before anybody has time to think about what they just saw.”
Seeing the children up close for the first time, Kayla realized that this was the same little boy and girl she’d come into contact on the prison wagon.
Geko grabbed the little girl in his strong arms and threw her over his shoulder. “This way, Lady,” he hissed urgently as he raced for the ramp.
Dragging the little De’wa with her, Kayla followed the dwarf back through the kennel and into the tunnels under the spectator stands, but she would have missed the turn in the dark if not for Geko’s hissed call.
“Here. This way!”
She ducked and hurried down the spiraling tunnel, stopping only once to help the tired child get to his feet when he slipped and fell against the rough stonewall. There was another sharp bend in the tunnel, and they were met by a loud rushing sound as they emerged into a dark cavern dimly lit by the faint glow of a fluorescent moss.
“Geko, where are you?” Kayla whispered as she slowed her pace to keep from tripping on the nearly invisible rocks littering the floor.
“Over here!” he hissed.
Following the sound of the dwarf’s voice to a rift in the stone wall, Kayla forced her body into the crevasse, dragging the De’wa boy after her. The passageway was narrow and strong gusts of wind fought them, covering her and the child with salt spray. It was hard going, but they finally squeezed through the cleft and out into the open.
Kayla took a couple of steps and stopped to stare around her at the moonlit scene of the white sand beach and waves breaking over wet sand. Behind them towered the stone walls of the city.
“Thank the gods you were able to get them out!” rasped a voice Kayla recognized as Hacknose’s. At his side towered the dark shadow that she knew was Troll.
She turned away from the wall of stone and trudged through the heavy sand toward her friend. “I only wish…” she began, trying to express her sorrow at not being able to save the child lost to the bears, but she couldn’t find the words. Leaning her head against Troll’s strong shoulder, she tried to gather the strength to deal with the terrible feelings of loss and pain thudding against her chest.
A woman wearing a dark green cloak took the shivering child still huddled against Kayla’s side and wrapped him in a blanket. “You did what you could,” she grunted. “Five small lives saved is better than six lost to those demons!”
A man in the same dark green garb emerged from the shadows and mumbled something to Troll.
Nodding, he clapped the man on the shoulder. “Thank you, friend,” he said and turned to Kayla.
“We’re running out of time. If you plan to be out of here before the Lord High Warlock finds you, we must leave now.”
Too exhausted to reply, Kayla could only nod her head in agreement. She watched silently as Geko, Hacknose, and the others disappeared with the rescued children into the night shadows before turning back to the beach and following the path Troll was cutting in the virgin white sand.
MySoultoKeep
Chapter Ten
In spite of his awkward shape, Kayla found she had to stretch her legs to keep up with Troll’s gallop along the sand, but she was holding her own until they reached the shore of a narrow inlet cutting across the beach. Following Troll’s lead, Kayla plung
ed into the cold water and nearly fainted from the pain when the salt water assaulted the torn flesh of her wound.
Hearing her gasp of pain, Troll returned for her, reaching for her with strong hands as she slipped in the stiff current. Troll was a strong swimmer, and they were soon wading through shallow water.
When her feet touched the soft sand on the opposite shore, Kayla determinedly righted herself and forced her shaky legs to carry her across the sandy beach. They’d gone only a few feet when a soft rattle of stone against stone touched Kayla’s ears.
Stopping, she peered into the gloom ahead, afraid their pursuers had somehow circled around and ahead of them. To her immense relief, it was the long-legged shadow of the Ral’i that emerged from behind a large formation of rocks.
“Hawk! I’ve missed you so much!” She threw herself at his thick neck, hugging him with all her might with her one good arm.
“But…” She stepped back from Hawk and looked around them in alarm. “Where’s Starr! I can’t leave without her!”
“Te-he-he!” A familiar sound of giggling imps rose from amongst the dark rocks ahead.
Before Kayla could separate their figures from the shadows, the Lorilli were bouncing from their hiding place, running to her side.
Giggling and bouncing, little Lori reached her first, thrusting the small blanket-wrapped bundle she carried into Kayla’s arms.
With a deep sigh of relief, she clutched the precious bundle to her chest and hugged the babe to her. Not until her heartbeat had slowed to something resembling normal did Kayla peel back a corner of the blanket to inspect the babe.
Her smile could have lit the whole beach when she looked down into baby Starr’s sleepy face. She barely heard Troll’s hushed explanation over the cooing of the babe.
“These two volunteered their services to watch Hawk and the babe.” Seeing the look of confusion in her eyes, Troll repeated, “The Lorilli have been spying for the underground ever since Caleis took them.”
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