by David Angelo
“Figured you’d miss some of my old grit,” Chok replied, returning to his spot in the lineup.
“Not exactly,” Black-Tooth replied. “But we’re all glad you came back nonetheless.”
“How many of you are there?” Fin asked as they continued down the passage.
“Six, not counting myself,” Black-Tooth replied. “We used to have more, but members come and go over the years. The seven of us who remain just so happen to be the most dedicated members.”
“I don’t mean to ask so many questions,” Fin said, “but what are you guys?”
“We are a resistance group,” Black-Tooth said, “called the Children of the Dragon Storm. When we get a chance, I’ll tell you everything about us, what we stand for, what the Dragon Storm is, and how you are involved. But in the meantime, here’s our ride out of here.”
Ahead of them, next to a lit torch, a small cart was waiting with two horses at the ready and a hooded driver at the reins. The driver appeared to be a Cullidon, clad in the armor and cloak of a Triticon guard, with a green shroud over its head.
“Hey, Kaw-Ki,” Black-Tooth whispered when they were in earshot of the driver.
Kaw-Ki turned and let out a sigh of relief when she saw who was trying to get her attention.
“It’s about time,” Kaw-Ki said. “You had me worried sick. For a moment, I thought you got yourselves lost or killed.”
“Would I do that to you?” Black-Tooth said.
“You haven’t yet,” Kaw-Ki replied. She turned her attention to Fin. “Is this him?” she asked.
“Sure is,” Chok said. “All hundred percent of ’im.”
“He’s cute,” Kaw-Ki commented.
“Don’t get any ideas,” Black-Tooth said.
“I’m just kidding, Honey,” Kaw-Ki replied. “But Scarlet wasn’t lying when she said he was easy on the eyes.”
Fin did not know whether to feel flattered or uneasy. “Um…thanks?” he replied.
As Fin pondered this remark, he wondered what Kaw-Ki’s identity was like under her shroud. Was she a Cullidon deserter, a small minority of the Cullidon population who rejected the vanity of their peers and sided with the Faranchies? Or was she just a very large Faranchie who could impersonate a Cullidon with ease? Fin could not tell.
Glancing down at the open section of the cart, Fin saw that it was covered by a thick burlap blanket, which hung over the sides and the back and nearly touched the ground.
“All right, Fin, here’s the plan,” Black-Tooth said, pulling the blanket back. “You and I are going to get under this sheet and pretend that we’re both dead, while Chok is going to pretend to be a prisoner with a sickness. Kaw-Ki is the Cullidon guard who’s been assigned to dispose of us outside the prison walls. If everything goes to plan, the guards protecting the exit to the tunnel will fall for it, and we will be home free. But in case everything goes downhill…” Black-Tooth reached into the back of the wagon and took out a loaded crossbow.
“You ever used one of these before?”
“No,” Fin replied, shaking his head.
“Well, there’s a first time for everything,” Black-Tooth said. “Just try to look like you know what you’re doing, and let me do all the actual killing.”
Fin wrapped the strap of his baton around his wrist and took the crossbow from Black-Tooth. Nervously, Fin turned the crossbow over in his hands, examining the complex workings, and wondered what Black-Tooth was thinking. Fin had never fired a crossbow, and the idea of using one felt like an accident just waiting to happen.
Black-Tooth traded Chok’s sickles for a pair of fake handcuffs, which were rigged to come apart when necessary. Chok put the cuffs on and took a seat next to Kaw-Ki on the driver’s perch, while Fin and Black-Tooth climbed into the back of the wagon and covered themselves with the sheet. Fin heard Kaw-Ki crack the reins, and the wagon started to move.
“Just stay calm,” Black-Tooth whispered. “We’re going to get out of here, and everything’s going to be just fine.”
Fin nodded, but the uncertainty he felt kept him from believing Black-Tooth’s words. They were going through the belly of the beast, and one wrong move could bring their doom. Fin tightened his hold on the crossbow, but it provided little solace as the wagon made its way down the death chute. Soon, the sounds from the other side of the blanket began to grow in volume. Fin could hear other wagons passing by, accompanied by the voices of guards talking to one another and the snorts of nearby horses. The ambiance was laced with a foul stench, the stench of death, as they passed carts full of rotting corpses. The smell inspired a burning sensation at the back of Fin’s throat, the feeling of acid bubbling in his mouth, remnants of yesterday’s lunch trying to break free. Fin swallowed hard and clenched his jaw, determined not to ruin his only chance at freedom. He closed his eyes and tried to think relaxing thoughts, to take his mind off the sickness. Fin began to reminisce about quiet nights under the stars, with Scarlet at his side and no cares in the world…
The wagon came to an abrupt halt.
“State your business,” a guard called.
“I’m taking these two dead bodies out of the prison, sir,” Kaw-Ki replied, “along with this sick prisoner.”
“I wasn’t informed that we had any sick prisoners,” the guard replied.
“Well, sir,” Kaw-Ki said, “it’s kind of a new thing that’s going around. This prisoner caught it a few days ago and passed it along to his friends in the back of the cart. We don’t know if Cullidons can catch it or not, so I was instructed to get him out of the prison, along with the other victims, so that none of us catch—”
“For your information, ma’am, if there was a sickness going around Triticon at this time, no matter how recently it started, I would know by now.”
“But sir, we were able to curb it before it came to your attention.”
“I find that hard to believe. Let me talk to one of my associates to verify your claim. Stay where you are, and I’ll be right back.” Fin heard the guard tell someone else, “Keep an eye on them,” before departing.
“They ain’t fallin’ for it…” Chok whispered over his shoulder. Fin felt his heart sink into his stomach, and he began to tremble with fear. The worst-case scenario was unfolding before him, and he had no clue what to expect when the guard returned.
“Don’t worry,” Black-Tooth whispered. “Things are just going to get really loud. Just remember to try to look like you know what you’re doing, and let me take care of all the difficult stuff.”
Ten minutes later, Fin heard a cluster of footsteps surrounding the wagon.
“Ma’am,” the guard said, “I could not confirm your story, and I’m going to need to search your wagon to authenticate your claim and try to identify the prisoners.”
“Okay, sir,” Kaw-Ki replied. She spoke in a loud voice, attempting to get Fin and Black-Tooth’s attention. “You can search my cart, but I don’t think you’ll find anything out of the ordinary.”
“That’s our cue,” Black-Tooth said, checking his arm-mounted crossbow to see if it was primed. The footsteps closed in, and the guards prepared to remove the blanket.
“Can I get some light over here?” a guard said. The edge of Black-Tooth’s part of the blanket lifted, and a lantern-wielding Cullidon peered inside.
He came face-to-face with the point of Black-Tooth’s crossbow.
“Authenticate this!” Black-Tooth said. He pulled the trigger, and an arrow flew into the guard’s face. It drove through the skull, and the guard dropped dead at the side of the cart.
Kaw-Ki tugged hard on the reins, causing the horses to whine and rear up on their back legs. The mighty steeds came down hard on the stone floor and charged forward in a powerful stampede. Guards dodged out of the way and attempted to shoot at the wagon with their flintlock pistols, but they missed. Black-Tooth kicked the blanket off himself and Fin, while Chok pulled his handcuffs apart and retrieved his sickles. Fin tried to stand up, but the motion from the wagon kept
him grounded.
“Keep your head down!” Black-Tooth said, just as two arrows flew over the wagon. Fin heeded Black-Tooth’s warning and took cover behind the cart’s rear. He propped his crossbow on the back of the wagon and took aim at a band of prison guards who tailed them on horseback. They were arranged two guards on a horse, with one steering and the other shooting. Some packed muskets, while others carried crossbows similar to the one Fin feebly tried to operate.
The guards had no difficulty spotting the fleeing wagon, as this section of the tunnel was better lit than the rest of the death chute. More torches lined the sides of the walls, and strings of lanterns hung from the ceiling, creating a dim environment that was just bright enough for Kaw-Ki to see where she was steering. It was also crowded, with wagons and carts cramming the road. Kaw-Ki wove in and out of traffic to avoid a collision, and angry drivers cursed at her from every direction. At the same time, the whine of conch horns echoed up the length of the tunnel, followed by the sound of gunfire.
Fin tried his hardest to aim his crossbow, but the constant movement of the wagon thwarted his efforts. When a Cullidon guard fired a musket at the cart, hitting the side with a very loud ping, Fin flinched and fired it prematurely. The arrow flew past the guards and into the wall behind them.
“Damn,” Fin muttered.
Black-Tooth took a seat next to Fin and, locking onto a guard with his arm-mounted crossbow, fired and hit the guard square in the chest. The head of the arrow drove through the guard’s chest plate and burrowed into his flesh. He fell from his horse and got one of his feet stuck in the saddle. The guard behind the reins hardly noticed a thing, and his shooter was dragged behind on the stone floor, pummeled under the horse’s hooves.
“Practice makes better,” Black-Tooth said, loading another arrow into his bow. He turned to Kaw-Ki. “How long until we reach the exit?”
“Not too long,” Kaw-Ki replied. “At least I hope so.”
Black-Tooth handed Fin another arrow before turning his attention to another target. Fin tried to remember how to properly load a crossbow, but it proved to be more difficult than he had imagined. Meanwhile, a pair of guards on a horse cut through the sea of traffic and ran parallel to the left side of the cart. The driver pulled out a sword and slashed at them.
“Oh, no, you don’t!” Chok said, blocking the blade with one of his sickles. Chok reached over and hooked one of his sickles around the sword’s hilt. He pulled, forcing the guard off balance, and stuck his free sickle in the side of the guard’s neck. Seeing that his driver was dead, the gunner leaped from the horse and latched onto the side of the wagon. He reached for Fin, who froze where he was, with the unloaded crossbow in his hand. Then Fin remembered the baton hanging from his wrist. Instinctively, Fin dropped the crossbow, grasped the handle of his baton, and slammed it onto the Cullidon’s knuckles. The Cullidon fell off and landed in front of the heavy wheels. Fin could not see but still managed to hear a sickening crunch from beneath the wagon.
“You’re getting the hang of it,” Black-Tooth said, patting Fin on the back, but Fin was mortified. Even though this was the second time Fin had taken a life, he still could not believe what he’d done in the spur of the moment. But there were other things to worry about.
“Look!” Chok said. “The exit’s up ahead.”
Fin looked up and saw the white light of freedom at the end of the tunnel. To his amazement, they were about to escape from one of the toughest prisons in all of Edon, something he’d been told time and time again was impossible. Fin could almost feel the fresh air on his lips, the grass beneath his feet, Scarlet’s arms around his neck…
“We’re not going to make it!” Kaw-Ki said. “This wagon’s carrying too much weight. They’ll close the gate before we have time to reach it.”
“Mount the horses and ditch the cart,” Black-Tooth said. “We can get there faster that way.” He turned to his other two comrades. “Fin and Chok, you two get on one horse, and Kaw-Ki and I will get on the other. Now, we haven’t a moment to spare, so let’s go!”
Chok and Kaw-Ki got up from their perches and mounted the two horses, while Fin and Black-Tooth carefully made their way up to the front of the wagon. Black-Tooth was the first to get off, hopping off the driver’s perch and taking a seat behind Kaw-Ki. But Fin hesitated, frozen with fear as he looked down and saw the ground moving beneath him. Fin wobbled, trying to keep balance. His brain wanted to jump, but his legs refused to give.
“Come on, Fin!” Black-Tooth called. “You can do—”
Just then, the wagon went over a bump in the road. Fin lost his balance, fell head over heels, and got his foot caught on the edge of the driver’s perch. He hung upside down, his head less than a foot away from the ground and his body inches from the wheels. His baton slipped off his wrist, and Fin watched as the wheel in front of him crushed it like a twig. Fin jammed the claws of his toes into the wood and held on with all his might. But he could feel his grip weakening.
But just as Fin was about to let go, a streak of pain rushed up his spine. Someone was pulling his tail.
“We ain’t losin’ you that easily,” Chok said.
Fin opened his eyes to see the horse’s hooves directly in front of his face. Looking up, Fin saw Chok standing on the back of the horse, holding onto him by his tail. Using all of his strength, Chok reared back and pulled Fin up and out of harm’s way. Fin winced and gnashed his teeth, the pain in his tail too unbearable to ignore. It was enough to make Fin black out briefly. When he opened his eyes once again, he was on the back of the horse, sprawled out on his stomach, his torso hanging off one side and his legs and tail hanging off the other.
“All right, ditch the wagon,” Black-Tooth said. The hooks connecting the cart to the horses were undone, and the cart was let loose. Fin looked behind and saw the cart careen backward, crashing into the wall of the tunnel. Relieved of the extra weight, the horses darted down the corridor. Looking forward, Fin saw the mouth of the exit as the metal bars of the gate started to descend.
“Duuucccckkk!” Black-Tooth wailed as they reached the threshold of the exit. The bottom of the gate was close enough to graze the horses’ manes.
Fin shut his eyes and braced for impact, but the only things he experienced were the feeling of cool air on his skin and the sound of the gate closing behind them. Fin opened his eyes and saw a cluster of guards crowded by the gate. They yelled in frustration and tried to pull it open, but it was useless. The horses charged ahead, getting farther and farther away from the death chute.
“We did it,” Fin said to himself, choked up as tears pooled in his eyes. “We did it. I’m free. Thank the Elder, I’m free!”
8
THE HORSES DID NOT slow until the mouth of the death chute was just a small, dark blemish on the snow-covered countryside. A little farther, beyond the hump of the death chute’s hill, stood the black figure of Castle Triticon, poking up over the edge of the horizon like a Peeping Tom. The two massive battlements, positioned on either end of the castle’s front gate, had large windows that caught the sun’s glare and resembled a pair of beady golden eyes. Combined with the spiked, teeth-like gate, the front of Triticon resembled the freakishly deformed face of one of its prisoners. Conch shells blared from beyond the walls, and it seemed that the castle itself was throwing a tantrum over its latest defeat. With the horses no longer charging, Fin pulled himself up and sat upright on the back of Chok’s horse. He cringed as he did, a dull pain settling at the base of his spine. Fin guessed that his tail would pain him for a while, at least until his spine had time to heal. If he was lucky, perhaps Scarlet would give him a massage when he came home. Besides his tail, Fin’s head still ached, and his eyes continued to burn. To top it off, he was still dealing with the lasting effects of the sedative, which made him feel groggy and in dire need of sleep. When his stomach growled, Fin started to wonder how long it would be until they were home.
“How much longer before we reach Notnedo?” Fin asked.
“I’d guess an hour or two,” Black-Tooth said. “There is, however, something I’d like to show you first, and that requires us to make a stop at our base camp. It isn’t too far away from Notnedo, and besides, your family knows that you’re coming.”
“I can do that,” Fin replied wearily. “Whatever it takes to see Scarlet once again.”
“How long have you two known each other?” Kaw-Ki asked.
“I’d say four or five years,” Fin said. “We’re planning on buying a plot of land and starting a life for ourselves, when we can afford it.”
“Ah, yer that serious, eh?” Chok asked. “Tell me, Fin, are you sure Scarlet is, you know, your flavor?”
“My what?” Fin asked.
“Aw, damn it,” Chok said. “I meant to say your type. I always get those words confused when talkin’ ’bout love and such.”
“Chok, quit heckling him,” Black-Tooth said. “Fin’s been through enough already, and he doesn’t need to be grilled on his personal life.”
“It’s okay,” Fin said. “I can take it. And yes, Scarlet is my type. I’m pretty sure about that.”
After a few miles, the group came to a stop at the top of a hill on the edge of a thick forest of pine. They dismounted, and Fin collapsed onto the wet, snow-covered earth. Looking up into the blank, white sky, Fin savored the feeling of freedom.
“Looking at the sky has never felt so good,” Fin said.
“Triticon would do that to ya,” Chok replied, sitting next to him and stretching his legs. “Just lookin’ at nature really helps the feelin’ sink in.”
“I wouldn’t get too comfy if I were you,” Black-Tooth said, also taking a seat and stretching. “They might send a patrol in this direction to try and capture us. However, our air support should take care of that.”
“Air support?” Fin asked.
“You’ll see,” Black-Tooth replied. “In the meantime, where’s our sword master?”
“Beats me,” Kaw-Ki said, taking a seat next to Black-Tooth. “But you know Rocklier, he only comes on his terms.”