“I imagine that they are,” nodded HawkShadow. “Do not spread the word of your observations. I want to survive this mission.”
“I understand,” nodded the officer as he led the group through the gaping entrance.
The inside of the temple was cavernous. There was a large clear area immediately inside the doorway, with dozens of doors and corridors radiating off of it. The officer started to turn to the right, and HawkShadow halted his little group.
“We need to go to the left,” announced HawkShadow.
“No,” countered the officer. “The left side is full. You need to take them to the right.”
HawkShadow saw several hooded figures at the rear of the room. One of them looked curiously at the new arrivals. HawkShadow felt a chill race up his spine. He motioned for the officer to come closer and the man complied.
“Look,” whispered HawkShadow, “my instructions state a particular cell. If there are already prisoners in it, I will remove them and take them to the right side, but I do not want to stand here and discuss it. The mages in this room are already taking notice of the new arrivals, and Aakuta will have my hide if anyone finds out about these girls.”
The officer changed his position so that he could look to the rear of the room without it appearing obvious. He slowly nodded his head.
“You will owe me for this,” warned the officer.
“I am sure that I will,” HawkShadow chuckled softly, “but if my guess is correct, you don’t want the attention of the mages on you, either.”
“You are correct,” grinned the officer. “Still, you owe me. Follow me.”
The officer turned and led the group to the left. Mistake leaned close to HawkShadow and whispered to him.
“I think one of those mages was Aakuta,” she whispered. “He looked at us and immediately slipped through a doorway. We may have trouble ahead. I am sure that he must have recognized me.”
HawkShadow nodded his head and sighed slightly to ease his tension. The officer took a look over his shoulder to see if there was a problem and then continued across the large room. He reached the doorway to the cell area and stopped. As he fumbled through his key ring, HawkShadow noticed a group of three mages approaching them from the rear of the room. He gently tapped Mistake, who was next to him, and nodded towards the mages. Mistake alerted MistyTrail, and she alerted Tamar.
“Too many keys,” complained the officer as he continued to try different keys in the lock.
The officer fumbled the keys and they fell to the floor. HawkShadow bent down swiftly and retrieved them. He handed them back to the officer.
“Now I have to start all over,” complained the officer. “Why don’t they make all the locks the same?”
HawkShadow glanced over his shoulder and saw the three mages approaching. They were already half way across the floor and HawkShadow felt sweat forming on his brow.
“Start from the other end,” HawkShadow suggested to the officer. “There is no sense in trying the same keys over again.”
The officer nodded and tried another key. The mages were only twenty paces away when the officer found the correct key. He turned the key and opened the door. HawkShadow roughly shoved Mistake and MistyTrail through the door. Tamar quickly followed them, and HawkShadow thanked the officer as he slipped through. Mistake tried to put her foot in the door so it wouldn’t close, but HawkShadow pulled her away as he heard one of the approaching mages shout.
“Why did you stop me?” frowned Mistake. “It would be the quickest way to open the door if I jammed the lock before it closed.”
“Because the mages wanted to know who the two elves were,” HawkShadow answered softly as he saw the nearest krul approaching. “We must be swift in getting out of here, but we are not leaving by this door. We have already received too much unwanted attention. Where is Avalar?”
Chapter 32
Avalar
MistyTrail stared into the last cell and saw the calm male elf sitting with his back against the wall. He stared at her curiously. MistyTrail smiled broadly.
“Avalar?” asked MistyTrail.
The man smiled and nodded. “You should not talk in here,” he said softly. “They will punish you. Stay strong and preserve. Kaltara will aid you.”
“No talk,” shouted a krul as he advanced towards MistyTrail.
Tamar inserted himself between the krul and MistyTrail. HawkShadow tapped Mistake on the arm and pointed to the lock on the cell holding Avalar. He then straightened and rounded the corner, walking briskly past the krul. The krul frowned and turned to watch HawkShadow while Mistake raced to unlock Avalar’s cage. Avalar became suddenly interested in what was going on. He looked at Mistake and then at MistyTrail. He shook his head and focused on Tamar. Finally, he rose and stepped close to the door of the cage.
“Who are you people?” he whispered.
“We have come to free you,” MistyTrail grinned. “Are you all right?”
“Elves and humans?” frowned Avalar as he stared at Tamar.
“I am elven,” Tamar said softly. “The other male is human. Act calmly, but be ready to run.”
Meanwhile HawkShadow wandered from cage to cage sticking his face up to the bars on each one. He not only captivated the attention of the first krul, but every other krul at that end of the corridor was watching him. HawkShadow managed to keep an eye on what was going on at the end of the corridor as he moved from cage to cage.
The corridor seemed to stretch onward forever. HawkShadow counted over forty kruls before he gave up counting and he was sure there were more at the far end of the corridor. He had managed to pass by six of the giants while keeping their attention focused on him.
“Give him the uniform,” MistyTrail urged softly.
Tamar glanced over his shoulder at the kruls and then reached into his pack and passed the uniform to Avalar.
“You people have come prepared,” Avalar said as he hurriedly put on the uniform.
“It’s open,” Mistake grinned as she restored the piece of metal to her belt.
Avalar was struggling with the uniform. He had large bracelets on both arms and he could not fit them through the sleeves. MistyTrail opened the cell door and stepped inside. She grabbed the material on one of the sleeves and pulled hard. She heard the material rip, but she got Avalar’s arm through the sleeve. She immediately repeated the procedure on the other arm.
Suddenly, one of the kruls noticed MistyTrail in the cage. He bellowed loudly and pointed towards the end of the corridor. All of a sudden the corridor erupted into chaos. Kruls started running towards the cage with Avalar and MistyTrail in it. The kruls growled as they charged and it was obvious to everyone that the time for talking and bluffing was over.
Tamar drew his two-handed sword and stepped towards the charging kruls to make room for the king and the princesses behind him. MistyTrail and Avalar stepped out of the cell while Mistake’s hands filled with knives. Tamar slashed into the first krul, slicing his abdomen open. The huge krul continued to charge and Tamar jumped back a pace and brought his sword out in front of him. The krul impaled himself on the sword. When the krul tumbled to the ground, it pulled Tamar’s sword from his hands.
HawkShadow pulled his sword and charged at the kruls from behind. He swung his two-handed sword at the legs of the first krul he could reach. The sword sliced cleanly through one leg and half way through the next. The krul slammed to the floor. HawkShadow jumped on its back and drove his sword deep into the krul’s neck. The krul stopped struggling, and HawkShadow pulled his sword free and charged towards Tamar.
Tamar pulled his sword out of the dead krul just in time to swing at the next giant. He sliced deep into the krul’s extended arm just as Mistake’s knife flew into one of its eyes. MistyTrail threw a Sakovan star at the next krul and hit it in the head, but it halted only long enough to rip the star from its flesh and throw it aside.