Rheen had been watching quietly the whole time, trying not to draw attention to herself from the tiger or anyone else in the room. When Jekka looked over, Rheen’s heart started pounding hard in her chest. The piercing golden eyes, sharp teeth, and massive size were terrifying. She hadn’t wasted any time in coming up with a plan though, and when Jekka started racing towards her, Rheen jumped up and grabbed onto the netting over the side wall and pulled herself up. Jekka leapt up and swatted one of Rheen’s ankles just as she climbed out of reach. Rheen squeezed her eyes shut, bracing herself against the wave of pain she was certain would come. She was confused when nothing but soft padding came in contact with her feet. She looked down at her ankle to be sure she wasn’t injured, and, sure enough, her skin was perfectly intact. Her gaze was then quickly drawn to the snarling beast below her, and then she continued her ascent, not wanting to push her luck with the animal. When she’d climbed a little farther, Jekka went tearing around the whole arena in feigned outrage.
Rheen was now about ten feet above the ground. She looked around the room just as Bierno, Gillio, and Aenin came halfway down the big staircase on the south side of the room.
“I hope they know what they’re doing,” she said to herself. She looked around the room at the hundreds of people and sniws and hoped that her friends hadn’t just fallen into a trap.
As fleeting as her glance was, the warriors on the staircase saw Rheen look over in their direction.
“I really hope she’s figured out it’s Jekka,” Aenin said.
“Couldn’t I run over and tell her now?” Gillio asked. He wondered what Rheen must be thinking of them right now as they stood by and watched her flee.
“You would draw way too much attention to yourself,” said Bierno. He turned to Aenin. “How do things look outside?”
“I haven’t seen anyone come out of the doors yet. It’s difficult to see with the trees and the lighting though.”
Bored of watching Rheen climb netting, a few sniws swooped down and knocked her off. Jekka was right underneath her, and Rheen landed on top of her.
Gillio grimaced. “I can only imagine the things Jekka would be saying if she could talk right now,” he said.
Rheen rolled off of Jekka and darted away, amazed and relieved that she still hadn’t been harmed. She glanced up at the warriors and was surprised that they still hadn’t moved. She’d assumed they’d come in to rescue her. If that was their intention, she figured, they were running out of time.
All of those thoughts flew through her mind in a fraction of a second. She knew she didn’t have any longer to mull over it, and she took off running towards the opposite side of the arena with the intention of trying to climb the netting again – if she could make it in time. Adrenalin coursed through her veins helping her to run faster than usual, but it wasn’t enough. The tiger caught up and pounced on her, pinning her down to the ground with her face in the dust. Rheen half expected to feel sharp teeth digging into her neck and half expected the animal to fall limp with two arrows sticking out of its side. With that thought came another.
“Where is Jekka?”
Rheen felt herself get picked up by the back of her belt and flung into the air.
“She wasn’t on the stairs with the others.”
The thoughts just barely broke through the fear that was screaming through her mind. Stars exploded behind her eyes when she hit the ground several feet away. The room filled with roars of excitement.
Rheen gasped, trying to catch her breath, but a second later the tiger was on top of her again, its weight squeezing the air out of her lungs. This time, Rheen was pinned with her back to the ground. She looked sideways up at the tiger’s face, expecting to see something like the crazed expression she’d seen on the sniws when they were getting ready to kill her. Instead, the tiger gazed back at her searchingly.
As the seconds ticked past and the fear ebbed ever so slightly, Rheen turned her head to look full into the tiger’s face. As soon as they locked eyes, her mouth dropped open in shock. Those same penetrating, golden eyes had met hers many times before.
“Jekka,” she croaked out, “You’re really heavy.”
Jekka bared her teeth and snarled in Rheen’s face then shifted her weight back just a little. Rheen drew in a gulp of air and then grabbed Jekka’s forepaws and pushed them off to the side. She still wasn’t sure what was going on, but she figured she needed to play along. Jekka threw herself in the direction Rheen had pushed her in an overdramatized fall. They both immediately jumped to their feet and Jekka began batting at Rheen with her front paws. Rheen backed away slowly while blocking each of Jekka’s blows with her forearms. The whole room was roaring in either laughter or outrage by now, and the chief sniw stepped forward to the edge of its platform.
“Enough!” it bellowed above all of the noise.
Everyone stopped and stared at it, including the girl and the tiger in the arena. It hobbled down from the platform until it was inches from the edge of the arena wall, staring at the two inside through squinted eyes.
“You think you have me fooled, don’t you?” it hissed, squinting from one to the other. “One is the southerner and the other a friend, but which is which? All is not as it seemed. It was a clever trick, but what have you gained from it? Now we have a southerner and her human friend in a cage and at our disposal!” It ended in a hideous laugh. “Open the gate!”
It launched its huge form into the air and flapped over to the larger door at the other end of the arena. Bierno, Aenin, and Gillio ran down the remaining stairs and pushed their way through the crowd. Within a few seconds, the gruesome beast was inside the arena with Jekka and Rheen. It landed before them and shook the ground.
“Every second counts,” Bierno told Aenin as they stood with Gillio just outside of the arena looking in.
Jekka shifted into her human form and pushed Rheen behind her as they both backed away. People all over the room gasped at Jekka’s transformation and murmured to each other as they tried to figure out what was going on.
“I expected the King of the South to send rivals here sooner or later,” said the chief sniw. “You will all be defeated as will anyone who tries to stop me. Vree will soon be feared by all of the King’s men, and no one will dare to challenge me.”
“You desire to be feared?” asked Jekka. “You’re looking in the wrong place. To die on a quest to save Rundyl’s captives is an even greater honor than to live through one.”
“You want to save Rundyl’s captives?” it asked. “Save yourself if you can because that is exactly what you have become. I have you in a cage, cat.”
Though she would never admit it when recounting the story afterword, Jekka’s heart was pounding. Rheen was shaking like a leaf behind her and felt so confused about what was happening.
“Congratulate yourself if you’d like,” Jekka said in a commanding tone that masked any trace of the fear she was feeling, “but I am only a small part of something so much bigger than you and your petty realm of influence. You can enjoy the satisfaction of killing me as much as you want, but you will have accomplished nothing.”
“Nothing?” it said. “Is this not Jekka, the great werecat of the south? Is this not one of the southern King’s greatest assets I have just cornered?”
From the other side of the wall, Bierno, Aenin, and Gillio held their breath, but they needn’t have worried. Jekka never faltered.
“You appeal to my pride,” she said. “I’ve studied history, and I know that worked for you before. Well, not again.”
The sniw laughed. “I see you are every bit as perceptive as I’ve heard. And I suppose it is for your own advancement that you are so eager to accept death as a result of our standoff? What better way to make your story sung and written for generations to come?”
“What better way to show you the relentless power of the King I serve?” replied Jekka. “You see only his strength in me, and it does not die with me. His fire will rage on until every inch of da
rkness has been exposed.”
“Let the fire come!” screeched the sniw as it rose up on its hind legs and spread out its wings. “I am ready for it!”
With that, it launched forward towards Jekka and Rheen. Bierno finally gave the cue and Aenin loosed his arrow. It sliced silently through the air, through hide, through flesh, and through scum. The chief let out a scream. It spun around and laid eyes on Bierno, Aenin, and Gillio for the first time.
Behind it, Jekka whipped out her bow. She’d shifted forms for the sole purpose of having access to it and had been waiting for the sniw’s attention to be off of her for a moment to wield it. She nocked an arrow and shot the sniw a second time as it was racing towards the large open door of the arena to get to the men outside. It cried out again and whipped its head around to look back at her. It was obviously weakening from the shots, but with its last bit of strength it charged at Jekka and Rheen.
Jekka shifted forms again and shot forward as a tigress. The two collided in the middle of the arena. The sniw snapped its beak and missed Jekka by inches. She latched onto its neck with her claws from underneath and sank her teeth into its flesh. It nearly crashed down on top of her, but she swung out to the side just in time. It finally lay dead.
The entire room was silent. The sniws perched in the rafters and on the walls were in shock. They had trusted in their chief’s abilities enough to sit back and spectate. Most of the people in the room didn’t know what was going on, who the warriors were, or what to think of any of it.
There was only one man in the room who did know who the warriors were. Filen Elsley stood up on the platform and stared, mortified, at the limp shape in the arena that once was the sniw that controlled him. He felt helplessly lost. Suddenly, he burst out in rage.
“Throw them in the arena with the others!” he shouted, pointing towards Bierno, Gillio, and Aenin.
Immediately some of the people nearby grabbed the three by the arms and pushed them towards the open door.
“Who’s giving orders now?” shouted Bierno as he was pushed along. “Your chief is dead. Shouldn’t its assistant take charge?”
Davick’s sniw had been resting at the back of the platform. It had managed to avoid confrontation from the chief and had watched silently while Davick himself absorbed all of the chief’s contempt. It had been overjoyed at its master’s destruction and now jumped at the opportunity to take charge.
“The southerner is right!” it screeched. “I am the rightful successor, Filen, and I say take all of the prisoners and throw them into the dungeons.”
“No, let’s not go near the dungeons,” said Gillio just loud enough for Aenin and Bierno to hear him. They all had the same thought of wanting to stay away from the wings where the rescues were taking place.
“The chief and I both held the head position!” shouted Filen at Davick’s sniw. “Your treachery against him was treachery against me, and I say you die for what you did!”
The sniw shrieked and flew at the man. Meanwhile, several men in the crowd and a few of the sniws agreed that Filen should be in charge and jumped in to protect him. At that point, fights broke out all around the room. Most of the sniws took the side of the Davick’s sniw and they fought the sniws who didn’t. Some people jumped in to help one side or the other, but the majority of the people just wanted to leave and started for the ladder. The people who had grabbed Bierno, Gillio, and Aenin were among those who were escaping the fight. Now free, the three warriors ran for the large arena door and met Jekka and Rheen who were running out. Together, they all sprinted to the nearest bar counter and ducked behind it.
“How do things look outside?” Bierno asked Aenin.
“I’ve seen plenty of people coming out of the side doors on both sides, and one of the lamps is lit. The west side is cleared out.”
“We could go help finish on the east side,” said Gillio. “There’s so much going on here now, I doubt we’ll be noticed.”
“Okay, let’s go,” said Bierno.
“Wait!” shouted Rheen. She stopped and pointed up at the ceiling. The others looked up and saw that many of the sniws fought up near the support beams. The worn boards that had suffered so many years of neglect were starting to shift and shake. Small bits of plaster were falling down around the room. They all looked up at it, horrified.
“Jekka, Gillio, go through the east section of the building and tell everyone to get out now,” commanded Bierno. “Everyone else, stay with me. We need to clear everyone out of this room.”
Jekka and Gillio jumped up and ran across the room.
“I told you,” Jekka shouted over the noise. “He especially does it when we’re so crunched for time that we don’t have a chance to argue about it.”
“If we don’t make it through this alive, there’s something I need you to know,” Gillio shouted back. “I think you’re right about Bierno sticking us together on purpose all of the time. I’ve always thought so. I just can’t help giving you a hard time about it.”
“And I want you to know that I’m not opposed to you,” Jekka shouted back. “I decided a long time ago.”
Gillio smiled and stopped as he waited for Jekka to catch up. She had held back for a moment to pull a familiar black and silver handled dagger out of the chest of a sniw with a crooked beak.
Back near the bar they had used for a hiding spot, Bierno and Aenin sprang forward and started fighting off the flock of sniws that swarmed them. Rheen darted past them and across the room. Behind her, she heard a huge section of ceiling fall in. She looked back to see that Bierno and Aenin were alright and then raced on.
“Where is she going?” Bierno yelled over the noise of fighting and screeching and screaming.
“I have no idea,” Aenin yelled back. They ran after her.
Rheen had grabbed a set of knives from behind the bar and now raced up to the top of the huge staircase. She thrust the tips into the lock and tried to turn it. It didn’t budge.
Everyone in the room was flocked to three areas by now. Filen and the Davick’s sniw were fighting each other at the far end of the room with some of their most devoted followers. Almost everyone else was fighting over the ladder while a steady stream of sniws blocked the small opening at the top. The third group was by the big doors at the top of the staircase and it consisted of Rheen who was trying frantically to get the rusted handle and lock moving, Bierno and Aenin who stood defending her, and another flock of sniws who were attacking them.
After a few maddening minutes of scraping and picking with the knife, some skinned knuckles, and broken nails, Rheen finally got the handle to turn. She threw herself against the door. It let out a tired groan and opened a small crack. Rheen jumped out of the way as a swarm of sniws bashed the doors the rest of the way open in a frenzy to escape. The force upset the support system of the building and even more ceiling fell in.
At this point, everyone except for the Filen and Davick’s sniw gave up on fighting and flocked towards the door.
**********
Outside, Rove and Jess came running through the gate with a lit torch and found Kenn waiting for them in the midst of the frenzied crowd rushing past and disappearing into the streets.
“You finished before us?” asked Jess in surprise.
“Yes, it’s all done,” said Kenn, smiling.
“You’re sure you didn’t miss anyone?”
“Of course not,” said Kenn. “This is really important; I wouldn’t mess it up.”
Jess gave him a skeptical look before walking over to the second street lamp and lighting it.
“That’s that,” she said. “And now we should get out of here. Something crazy is going on in there. We could feel the building shaking as we left.”
**********
“Both lanterns are lit,” Aenin announced inside.
He now stood with Bierno and Rheen next to the wide open doorway. The building was getting quieter now as the last of the people ran out of the main doors. The majority of the sniws h
ad flown off. The room was a terrible mess though, and it was difficult to see very far because of all of the dust from the plaster. They could still hear the noise of the ongoing fight between Filen and Davick’s sniw at the far end of the room but couldn’t see a thing. Suddenly, Jekka came running up out of the dust, coughing.
“This is a mess,” she said. “The building could fall over any second now, and we’ve still got several cages of helpless animals to clear out.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” asked Bierno.
“I checked on them already,” said Jekka. “They’re frantic because of all of the commotion and the fires. As soon as they see the door, they’re just going to run out and get as far away from the building as they can.”
“The fires? And what happened to Gillio?” asked Bierno.
“We saw Rove and Jess leaving the east wing with a torch to light the street lamp,” said Jekka. “He went out after them. He’s going to patrol the streets nearby to make sure there aren’t any sniws making trouble with our escapees. The fires are starting all around the main room. I’m guessing lamps and torches got dropped or knocked over during the stampede to get out. It appears old, dry wood burns pretty easily. Imagine that.”
“Rheen, why don’t you go see if Gillio needs any help?” asked Bierno.
“Close the gate behind you when you go out,” said Jekka. “Then most of the animals will be contained until we figure out what we’re going to do with them.”
Rheen nodded and ran off. Bierno, Aenin, and Jekka looked at each other and then back down into the mansion’s basement. They could just barely make out the uneven lines of fallen support beams.
“I’m going to see if I can save Filen,” said Bierno.
“I’m coming with you,” said Aenin.
“Watch out for wild beasts,” said Jekka. She shifted forms and leapt down the stairs as gracefully as only a cat could, disappearing into the dust.
Eilinland- Through the Wall Page 17