Shadows Book 1 in the World of Shadows (29 page)

Talking from the final dozen or so cells
ceased as our torchlight bounced off the walls. Axon cleared his
throat. “Is anyone down here from Lumini?”

Silence met his words, then, “Prince
Axon?”

My heart leaped in my throat and I ran
forward to grab the big hands that appeared through the bars.
“Dathien!” I glanced at the rest of the cells. “Are the others
here?” I asked excitedly.

“
I'm the only one that made
it,” Dathien said, his voice heavy. “As far as I know, the others
were killed on the ship by the Sathen before they could
escape.”

Axon knelt down next to the cage and touched
the giant Luminos’ shoulder as though trying to convince himself
that Dathien was real. “I can’t believe you’re here. I thought you
were killed.” His voice was tight with emotion.

“
How did you survive the
attack?” I asked, my heart pounding.

“
We were on deck when the
creatures climbed up the sides. We fought them as long as we could
and searched for Prince Axon, but he was no where to be found and
we hoped he was on the rowboat.”

“
He was rescuing me,” I put
in, my voice unsteady.

A smile touched the big man’s lips. “Of
course he was,” he said with a touch of his former humor. “I tried
to get to you, too, but there were so many Sathen by the time I
reached your side of the ship it looked like an ocean of teeth.”
His voice caught, his eyes filled with pain. “I thought they had
gotten you both. The Sathen swarmed over me like a man-eating wave,
but I knew someone in Lumini needed to know what happened, and I
fought back with the hope that there was someone left I could
save.”

Then he sighed with a deep heaviness. “I
couldn't find the others. I searched until the waves had taken half
the ship down and I knew I had to get off before it went under.
Since the rowboat was gone, all that was left were the barrels. I
lashed two together and held onto them. I floated around in that
vast watery wasteland with great toothy things circling about and
my mind so baked by the sun and lack of water I had almost given
up; then a ship appeared. It turned out to be a Lysus ship
returning from battle against Lumini.” He gave a breath of
satisfaction. “When I saw the state the Lysus were in, it gave me
some peace.”

Axon touched the lock. “Who has the
keys?”

“
The guards,” Dathien
replied. He waved toward the other end of the hallway. “Be careful.
They’re a mite touchy.”

Axon rolled his eyes. “Tell me about
it.”

He rose to his feet, but I couldn't bring
myself to leave Dathien's side. The big man didn't seem in too bad
of shape considering what he had gone through, but there was a
haunted look in his eyes that didn't leave when he smiled. I
reached through the bars and touched his arm. He cupped his hand
over mine, dwarfing it. “It's good to see you, little minx,” he
said, his voice warm despite the chill in the dungeon air.

I forced a smile to my lips. “I lost the
only friends I'd ever had,” I said in an almost steady voice. “It's
wonderful to have one of them back.”

He smiled wide enough to show his jutting
front teeth. “There's one friend that will never leave your side,
of that you can be certain.”

I looked down the hall where he indicated
and my heart warmed at the sight of Axon speaking quietly to the
four Luminos in the other cells. “You're right,” I agreed.

His face lit up, his eyes bright and free of
their previous pain. “Then you've realized it.”

“
What?” I asked, distracted
by Axon motioning for me to follow him.

“
That you were meant to be
together.” Satisfaction rounded his voice. “I have a suspicion that
Axon knew it from the beginning.” Dathien looked past me and his
eyes narrowed slightly, a protective expression taking over his
friendliness. “Who's that?”
I glanced back and saw Serion. I had completely forgotten he was
there. I motioned for the Duskie to come forward and he did so
hesitantly. “Serion, this is Dathien, one of Axon's closest friends
and bodyguards. Dathien, we have Serion to thank for leading us
here. He'll be going with us to the Caves.”

They shook hands as if they met in a
marketplace or passing in the street instead of in a damp, decaying
dungeon.

“
It's a pleasure to meet
you,” Serion said with full sincerity.

“
The pleasure is mine,”
Dathien answered with his customary smile.

I gripped Dathien's shoulder, then rose and
followed Axon, my heart so full I had to glare at the floor for a
few seconds to chase the tears away before Axon saw them.

Axon took my hand, his expression soft as if
he guessed how I felt even if I didn't say it. His own eyes shone
with a touch of their own damp brightness in the torchlight before
he turned away. We left the torch at the end of the row of cells
and crept down the long hall and up the flight of stairs to the
door.

“
Let me,” I whispered. I
pushed the door open a few inches, then stepped back into the
shadows of the landing.

A minute later, voices spoke close to the
door. “Did you leave this open?”

“
Not me; must have been
Ros.”

The door was pulled shut; I pushed it open
again and winked at Axon. He smiled, his eyes tight with
caution.

The voices spoke again. “I thought you
closed it!”

“
I did,” the second voice
argued.

Both fell silent for a moment, then the door
flew open and the two armed guards we had met earlier rushed past
us. I followed the one closest to me and hit him on the head with
the hilt of my sword before he realized his mistake and turned
around. Axon did the same to the guard with the scarred cheek. He
didn't go down quite as easily, and struggled to get back up as
soon as he hit the ground. Axon wrapped an arm around his throat
and shut off his airway until the guard fell unconscious. Breathing
hard, Axon pulled a set of keys from the guard's belt. I shut the
door so no one would hear, then stepped over the Luminos and
followed Axon back to the men.

He quickly unlocked each cell, then Serion
helped us pull the guards we had downed into the cell furthest from
the door. “Hopefully this’ll buy us time if they regain
consciousness before we’re gone,” he said, watching Axon lock them
in.

Dathien glared at the guards. “And hopefully
no one checks on them for a very long time. I doubt they’ll be
missed.” He rubbed his shoulders meaningfully and I wondered if he
now bore scars like mine. He caught my glance and winked as though
guessing my thoughts.

I grinned. “It’s good to see you.”

He patted my shoulder. “I can’t tell you how
relieved I was to hear your voices.”

“
Your family-“ I stopped. I
didn’t know how to tell him they were mourning.

He lifted his hand from my shoulder and
smiled reassuringly. “Will be happy to see me when I return. I
trust they’re alright?” He glanced at Axon for confirmation.

He nodded. “Lumini is safe and well
protected by all its citizens.” He smiled at me. “It was close for
a while, but our new Duskie attack force proved very timely.”

Dathien's shaggy eyebrows lifted and an
exclamation escaped one of the other men we had freed before he
could stop himself.

A guard moaned.

“
We’d better get out of
here,” a soldier with gray hair and faded blue eyes said. He ducked
his head and started to cough. Dathien touched his arm, but the
soldier shook his head, stubborn lines around his weary eyes and
mouth. “I’ll be fine if we can get out of this damp
dungeon.”

Axon led the way to the hidden door, then
glanced at his torch, reluctant to leave it.

“
Take it,” I said. He
looked at me in surprise. “Serion and I can’t guide everyone and
they’ve obviously forgotten about the hidden walkways. We’ll be
gone from here long before they start to question how we got our
men out.”

He nodded and ducked into the small doorway.
Dathien followed with a steeling breath and Serion trailed close
behind; the rest fell in without complaint.

“
You should go,” the older
soldier said, motioning for me to follow Dathien.

I shook my head. “I’ll bring up the rear. If
anyone does follow, I can lead them away.”

He hesitated, then nodded and ducked into
the tunnel. I made sure the guards were still down and everything
looked undisturbed, then went in after them.

The journey back up the walkway was much
faster with the torch. Axon led us silently and swiftly, and we
were back in our old rooms sooner than I had thought possible. He
crossed straight to his room and started pulling clothes from the
closet.

“
You’ll have to leave in
disguise. If King Raden needs to think he still has some leverage
on us, so be it. But I’m not leaving any of you here.”

The old soldier began to cough so hard he
had to sit down and put his head back catch his breath. When he
did, his lips had a bluish tint and it was easy to see the sickness
he suffered was less simple than he implied.

One of the other soldiers saluted Axon. “My
Prince, I think it would be better for all if we hid in town for
your return. I have some friends here and it won’t be hard to keep
under cover.”

The worry in Axon’s eyes over their safety
was evident, but we all knew a trip through the desert was the last
thing the older soldier needed. He nodded and handed the soldier
who had spoken a small bag of gold similar to the one he had given
me. “Take care of yourselves. We’ll send word when we get
back.”

The soldier nodded and touched a fist to his
heart in respect and gratitude. Dathien handed out cloaks and spoke
to the men quietly at the door to our chambers. The soldiers
listened, then nodded and left.

Dathien went to his room and returned
quickly in the light robes of the desert. “Nice to scrub off some
of that dungeon grim,” he said with a grimace.

Axon looked him over critically, taking in
his massive size. “You’re pretty hard to miss in a crowd. We’ll
have to be careful until we’re out of the city.”

“
I planned to leave early
and catch up, if you know what I mean,” Dathien said. He touched a
new blade at his belt meaningfully.

Axon nodded but his eyes were tight. “Take
care of yourself.”

“
I will.” They gripped
forearms in respect.

Dathien turned to me. “I know you can take
care of yourself, but try to at least limit the number of risks you
take.”

I thought of the foth and blushed, but
nodded. He hesitated, then swept me up in a hug. I hugged him back
as tightly. He grinned at both of us, then left through the door
after making sure the way was clear. The ache at losing my friends
had eased around the edges at finding Dathien, but it was hard to
see him go. I couldn't fight back the fear that I wouldn't see him
again, and wondered if I would feel the same way every time someone
I cared about left.

Axon put a hand on my shoulder. “We'd better
get going,” he said softly.

I hurried back to my room and gathered some
clothes. I shoved them in a bag and smiled grimly at the fact that
I felt a whole lot less guilty about taking things from Lysus than
I had before.

Chapter 32

We started across the desert before the sun
set. Luminos soldiers wore packs of supplies on their backs, and
many of them carried stretchers bearing sleeping Nathos. When the
Nathos awoke they would carry the Luminos in the same fashion. At
dusk and dawn, the tents were to be put up again because there were
too few Duskies to defend the entire company if Sathen did find our
trail. I realized then what trust both races had to have in each
other, and also what power the Duskies could have if allowed to run
rampant during both parties’ weak times. I thought of the ship and
was amazed how much faith they had in us, especially after the
attempted mutiny.

Dathien caught up with our party just after
we left the city. It felt right to have at least one of our
original party back, though the others' absence was more harshly
felt because of it. Dathien kept step beside Axon and I and we
walked in silence through the day. Commander Jashen had inquired
about taking a few of the remaining lamaks with us as pack animals,
but it was feared that the dust they caused would act like a beacon
for the Sathen, so we walked in a small file stretching back across
the desert with sentries posted on the dunes to alert us if they
spotted anything usual.

Pyth sat by me at dusk the first day and
stared past the tent to the cooling desert beyond. The sand sat
quiet and red with the touch of the setting sun. The Duskies that
came with us held positions around the perimeter of the tent and
stared out at the desert with worried expressions. A sand crab
scurried up to the top of a dune, leaving small rifts in its wake
that would soon be erased with the sand’s endless moving. A small
beetle crawled toward my foot and I lifted it up so the heat from
the bug’s silver back wouldn’t burn me.

“
I can’t believe you did
this by yourself the first time you crossed,” Pyth said with a
shake of his head.

I glanced at him. “It was an interesting
journey.”

He smiled. “So I heard.” He pointed his
sword casually at the sleeping Luminos and Nathos around us. “What
made you trust them?”
I frowned thoughtfully and remembered the first few days. “I’m not
sure. They kidnapped me and I couldn’t have gotten far without them
anyway. And I was glad to be free of the Caves.” I looked at Axon's
sleeping form, knowing there was more to it than that, but unsure
how to phrase it. “There was just something about them.”