Kara (22 page)

Kara breathed easily, yet still at a loss to
explain what had happened.

Be still.

What?
The voice had returned. When
Kara jerked at the sound, she noticed that she could move one leg a
little and some fingers. Her spell bond must be slowly weakening.
But how much longer until she could run out of here?

I will help you, Kara.

Who are you?
She wanted to speak, but
the spell held her tongue. She was only able to communicate in her
mind. The voice still answered back.

Rose. Please trust me. You are not
alone.

***

Tyr dragged Jesset by the hair to a private
torturing area. He said nothing during the whole process. Once he
had Jesset shackled, Tyr left.

With the pain subsiding, Jesset came back to
the image of Kirt in a cell. Not dead, after all. If he had only
known before trying to escape, maybe his plan would have
worked.

Minutes later Tyr returned chuckling.

“Very good.” His impossibly deep voice filled
every particle in Jesset’s body with fear.

“W-what?” Why would the torturer be
complimenting him?

“We left them in the cell.” Tyr commented as
he inspected a few of this room’s décor accessories. A variety of
whips, as well as a few similar items Jesset wasn’t sure he could
classify as whips, hung from a nearby wall. A table tucked in a
corner held miscellaneous bladed instruments.

Tyr decided upon a very used-looking
cat-o’-nine-tails. The leather held bloodstains all along each
strap, some darker than others. The dungeon master inspected the
metal bits tied into one of the lengths. Some looked shiny and new,
while others were beginning to rust.

Jesset had only once made pieces for
something like this. He remembered the rough scraps of metal he
pounded out flat and to a point for the customer. After completing
only enough for one strap, his heart was not in it and he had
dismissed the not-so-happy customer.

“No animal can get in this room with the door
shut. So we will have no interruptions.”

Raw terror wracked the Mordock. The huge
dungeon keeper turned toward him, the weapon gripped tightly in one
hand.

A smile cracked Tyr’s stony face. It conveyed
delight, but it was not a sentiment Jesset shared. The torchlight
danced upon black skin, giving Tyr a demonic aura. This visage did
nothing to help calm Jesset. Plans were gone; all hope given up. He
had failed.

“Please! I haven’t done anything!” A last
desperate plea, one that would not suffice.

Tyr raised the weapon high. “Neither have I.
Yet,” he said. He swung the whip with the force of a hurricane.
Jesset flinched, turning his face away, offering his side for
penance. Seven of the nine straps struck and did their intended
business. Jesset felt each jagged piece tear at his flesh. His once
good shoulder now sang out with pain—far more than the throwing
dagger had inflicted.

A wrenching cry came from deep within him,
possibly from his soul. The ache spiked. Agony like he had never
known before. And so far, he had endured only one lash from the
weapon.

Tyr’s smile grew. A look of satisfaction
crossed his face. He drew back the whip again.

Jesset knew another strike was coming, even
though he did not watch the dungeon keeper deliver it. But
mid-swing there came a pounding on the door that distracted Tyr
with his aim. Only three straps connected, and not at full force.
Still, the pain was intense; the new wounds cried out as harshly as
the first.

“Master Tyr!”

Tyr threw down his weapon and wrenched open
the cell door. “What?” The guard before him cowered but then
quickly delivered his message.

“Mackroy has escaped his cell! And someone
has lit fires in three of the empty cells!” The guard tried his
best to regain his composure.

“How?”

“A master key is still missing. One of the
Witch Guard had it on him when they went to visit one of the
prisoners. We are not sure where it is.” He stopped a moment, took
in a breath before delivering more news. “Mackroy also grabbed a
sword and…and…” The guard shuddered. Tyr stepped up to him. One
hand shot out and pinned the man by the throat against the
wall.

“Watch this prisoner. I will take care of the
situation.” Tyr stormed off, and left the wide-eyed guard to
supervise Jesset.

The man watched the dungeon master go,
trembling slightly. Quickly the soldier ducked into the cell,
looking at Jesset. Behind the man, someone else appeared but Jesset
couldn’t see who it was.

“These damn rats are everywhere down here,”
the soldier exclaimed. He tried to step on one as it ran into the
cell. The soldier bent slightly, and Jesset saw who stood behind
the soldier.

Kirt raised a large rock and brought it down
upon the guard’s head.

Maybe the escape plan was in the works after
all.

Chapter Eighteen

“Snow!” Hambone cried out as he hiked through
the forest. The rabbit was quick and he only knew her general
direction from the house. Grace floated next to him, and the wizard
stumbled a few steps behind.

The hiking in the forest took its toll on
Ynob more than anyone else. “Can…we…rest a…moment?” The wizard
panted as he finally caught up to the dwarc. This was the most
physical exercise he had had in a long while.

“She could be up ahead.” Hambone said,
looking further ahead and seeing nothing.

“Then why…would she…not have…answered
us?”

Hambone turned around and faced the pathetic
man. “Maybe because you are with us.” He turned back around and
continued in the same direction.

“Oh.”

They had been on Snow’s tail for two hours
now, with never a word from Dante or Snow. Both were clan were
quick animals, but both had some sense to them as well.

Grace chimed a simple twitter as they
progressed, before she sped off ahead. Hambone looked up from his
feet and saw too. In front of them a huge, old wall
materialized.

But this is not what excited the party. A
rabbit ran back and forth along the wall.

Grace reached Snow first and flew down right
by her face. It took Snow a minute to realize who it was.

“I didn’t think you would follow.” Snow
looked back and saw the rest of the party. “Hambone! And oh….”

Hambone approached, but the wizard kept his
distance mainly due to fatigue. “Where’s Dante?”

“That’s what I was going to ask you! He’s not
with you?” Snow asked, starting to look concerned. Grace piped up
to answer her. “He was first? I didn’t expect him to be the first
one to follow me.” Her voice trailed off and she scanned the
forest.

“I’m sure he will be right along,” Ynob said.
“He probably got turned around and will make it here
eventually.”

Everyone turned and stared at the wizard
after he said this. Snow hopped up to him and said. “That is the
first nice thing I have ever heard you say.”

The wizard merely brushed it off.

Hambone cut in. “So Snow, what is your plan?
Are you attempting to jump the wall?” He looked up remembering
rumors that soldiers used to patrol the walls. No one was up
there.

“You’ve been hanging around the wizard too
much.” Snow moved away from Ynob and stared at the wall. “There has
to be some way around it. Katrena took Kara somehow to the other
side.”

“There is.” The wizard stood straighter than
he had before, now rested a bit from his long hike.

Everyone looked at him, awaiting more to his
comment. When it didn’t come, Snow spoke up first. “Well? You can’t
say that there is a way around and not go on.”

“I can actually.”

“Wow, just when I was starting to like you,
the old rude wizard pops his pointed hat back on,” Snow said with
disgust.

“If you give me a moment, I’ll….”

“What? Be rude again? Waste our time?”

“Snow! Settle down. Let him speak. He did
hike all this way with us,” Hambone scolded.

She gave him a dirty look.

“Thank you.” Ynob addressed Hambone. “As I
was saying before I was…interrupted. It has been a long time since
I used the door, so finding it may be tricky.”

“A door?” Hambone asked.

“Yes, the story goes, if one believes it,
that the architect for these walls fell in love with a dryad or
nymph of some sort. So he designed a secret door that once the
walls were in place, he could secretly use to visit his love. He
died one night after visiting her and the key to the door was
lost.”

Grace twittered. And then Hambone added in.
“I remember that too. At the market place, a troll or somebody was
trying to sell a special key.”

“Well, that’s the thing. I have seen many
people selling many keys. It is a story that comes and goes in the
market place. Maybe there are real keys to the door.”

“That’s all fun and games, but how do we get
on the other side of this wall? Kara is still in trouble. Remember
Katrena? The one who kidnapped Kara and almost killed Grace? So
unless we find this…” The rabbit trailed off as a glowing outline
of a door formed farther down the wall. She quickly glanced back at
the wizard who finished a spell.

“I thought you said it would be
‘tricky’?”

The wizard looked back at her, adjusting his
robe and standing a little taller. “I will take that as a thank
you.”

Hambone approached the door with Grace
trailing behind. He pushed on the door, but it didn’t open. He hit
it harder to see if a little force would do the trick, but all he
succeeded in doing was bruising his shoulder.

Snow watched and then turned to Ynob. “Okay,
blow up the door.”

Ynob looked at her quizzically. “Blow up the
door?”

“Let loose with a fireball or whatever and
destroy it.”

The wizard started to speak, and then held it
for a minute thinking over his response. “These days I tend to use
non-violent, defensive magic.”

“Pretend the door is attacking you and blow
it up.”

“Really, rabbit….”

“Don’t you call me…”
Schunk.

“Guys!”

Snow was almost in Ynob’s face before they
both turned to look at Hambone. He stood by the now-open door.
“Grace picked the lock.”

Grace twittered happily and flew through the
door. Hambone followed.

Snow looked back at Ynob. “You were shown up
by a sprite.” She smiled and ran to the door.

***

The Witch Guard dragged Katrena to a small
room where they shackled her to a wooden X, the best shape to keep
arms and limbs away from each other. Once inside the room, they
stripped Katrena of her disguise and small arsenal of weapons. Her
screams echoed in the tiny room, echoing back inside her soul as
the demon from the box tormented her. Katrena thrashed about
uncontrollably.

Kreitan smiled at her anguish. Katrena could
see the wonderment in his eyes. He never knew he was dealing with
an elf. But like a good captain, he hid her true elf self from the
rest of his men. Katrena could only imagine how other humans would
react to her presence here. Most men feared, hated the other races
in the Territories. That fear kept them away from the walls and
from crossing the rivers.

The lid of the mahogany box slid closed and
released the struggling Katrena from the demon’s magic. She was in
agony.

“So I ask you again, where is the
necklace?”

Katrena ached mentally. Her mind felt as if
she had been spinning in circles. Trying to form a clear thought
was nearly impossible. It was the fourth time now that Kreitan had
used the box to coax the answer out of her. Such a stupid mistake
with the sleep bomb. She needed her head clear to plan an escape,
yet that was proving to be harder with each attack.

“Come now. It must be getting extremely hard
for you. Tell me what I want to know.” Kreitan moved very close
now, his warm words cascading down her cheek, his breath holding
the smell of onions and fish.

“The…girl…” Her words came out in slurred
chunks.

“No, no…We have covered this. She is no
longer important. I obtained what I needed from her uncle. Now, you
have what I need. Tell me where the….”

Kreitan.

She heard a faint whisper of his name.
Katrena looked toward the captain, surprised. She left her head
hanging as not to remind Kreitan that she still possessed some of
her physical strength.

Kreitan continued on dismissing the voice.
“Where is….”

Kreitan!

This time the voice vibrated Katrena. It was
not the sweet whisper like before, but a harsh cry from a scalded
child—sharp, high, and biting.

Come to me. Now!
It was insistent.
Katrena looked about, wondering who and where the voice originated.
Krietan seemed to know.

“I will return to finish this.”

Kreitan slammed the box down on a nearby
table.

Now!

Kreitan shuddered visibly at the sound. He
slammed and bolted the door as he left.

Katrena lifted her head. Her mind felt as if
it was made up of loose pebbles tumbling back and forth. She took a
deep breath and focused herself both mentally and physically. Once
her mental capabilities were back up to speed, she was confident
she could escape. But race-hating humans were everywhere and there
was not a disguise in sight. Plus, she was still confined.

And how long would Kreitan be gone? Would
escape even be possible?

Chapter Nineteen

Ynob led the pack among the trees. He told
them they needed a change of clothes and maybe some transportation
if they were going to the castle. He told Snow to stay in her
rabbit form and try not to speak when other humans were around.

“Where the heck are we going?” Hambone
complained. He was not happy being on the human side of the wall.
The wizard had done his best to disguise Hambone, but the dwarc
felt all wrong.