“Zanos!” he gasped.
Lanna looked up, and went pale as death.
“You betrayed me, ‘ said Zanos. “You sold me out, just as I was about to free you. If Vortius had drugged you, I would have understood-but you acted of your own free will!”
“Zanos, no!” Ard pleaded. “How could we refuse to do what Vortius wanted? With all his power-?”
“His power can be defeated by people who work together!” Zanos shouted.
“But he’s got a whole army!” Lanna pleaded. “Zanos-he’ll forgive you. Don’t hurt us-come work with us for Vortius-”
Their group was causing an eddy in the fighting. As Zanos lifted his sword to dispatch Ard-who was making no attempt to defend himself-he was hit from the side by several fighters toppled by another group-
And before he could recover and reach him, Ard was clubbed by another fighter, while Lanna, screaming, “Ard!’ was dragged off by three men, and disappeared into the melee.
Zanos stopped only long enough to see that Ard was dead. Then he tried to follow Lanna through the mass of struggling humanity.
He found Kimma holding off two brutes with her short sword, and stepped in to take one of them off her hands. “Thanks!” she snapped-and used the feint she had showed him to rid herself of her opponent, while Zanos easily slashed the throat of the other, who had lost the neckpiece to his helmet.
“Kimma, where did Astra-?” Zanos shouted over the clanging of swords.
But just then, Brodik saw Kimma. “Hey, girl! All women and wounded take shelter in the dungeon-now!”
“I can fight as well as any man!” Kimma protested.
“Go!” said Zanos. “If Vortius’ men break through, the other women will need your protection. Most of them can’t fight!”
Kimma began working her way toward the entry to the castle. Zanos followed, assuming Astra had taken shelter with the other women. If only he could Read for her!
He could also not be sure how the battle was going. By sheer numbers, Vortius’ men would win- but a strategic retreat into the castle might allow the defenders to hold out until help arrived. The watchers, receiving either no messages from the castle or word of the attack, would send out a call for all troops in this area to converge here. If Vortius didn’t have the castle secured and ready to defend by that time, he would be defeated.
But Vortius’ minor Adepts, who had apparently been saving their strength earlier, began to operate. Fires broke out in the castle, sending people fleeing from the smoke. Men dropped heated weapons, or fell dead of heart failure.
Zanos turned from his progress toward the door into the castle, certain that these events presaged the arrival of Vortius himself.
And indeed, through the splintered gates rode Vortius-surrounded by Zanos’ gladiators!
He knew how loyal they were-just as loyal as he had been under the influence of white lotus. They would give their lives in defense of Vortius now.
Torn between finding Astra and facing Vortius, Zanos wavered for a moment-and then decided on a strategic retreat before Vortius knew he was here. He could not defeat six dedicated men whom he had trained himself! His only chance was to bide his time and take Vortius by surprise.
So he fought his way to the door into the castle, which was guarded well-but one of Brovik’s soldiers recognized him, and he was allowed in. “I’m going down to help protect the women and wounded,” he announced.
“Good work,” replied the man. “We’ll hold this door as long as possible-but it don’t look good.”
Zanos wound his way down narrow, torch-lit stairs until he came out in Lilith’s dungeons. Here he found two pregnant women, several children, and all the wounded who had been able to get down those treacherous stairs. Kimma guarded them while the women of the castle dressed wounds, gave medication, and comforted those in pain.
Astra was bent over a man bleeding from a gut wound, the smell warning that he would die of infection without the aid of Adept healing.
Zanos stepped to his side, and put the man to sleep. Then, as Astra looked up at him wordlessly with her beautiful smile, he started healing heat to destroy the infection. At Astra’s directions, he drew together the man’s intestines, then the muscle over them, healing the wound from the inside out to a stage where his body would repair the rest while he lay sleeping.
Astra sat back on her heels with a sigh. “They keep coming. I’m afraid to Read the battle.” But she did, he could tell, as her eyes took on a faraway look. “Help is coming! But they’re far away yet-and Vortius is nearing the door into the castle.’
“He has no reason to come down here,” said Zanos. “You’ll be safe.”
“Oh, but he has good reason,” Astra replied. “Come and look.”
She led him along a narrow passageway cut deep into the bowels of the mountain. Light faded, but flickered up ahead when they turned a corner. It was cold and dank here. Puddles of stagnant water pooled on the stone floor. A single torch lit the way.
At the very end of the passage, a sturdy door stood-locked, of course. “Any Adept can open it,” said Astra, “but no one else. The mechanism is on the inside-lift the lever directly behind here,” she pointed,
“and it will be unlocked.”
Zanos unlocked the door, and Astra pushed it open to reveal-
Chests upon chests, most of them closed, but several open to reveal gold rings, gold and silver coins, precious stones-
“Lilith’s treasure!” Zanos exclaimed. “By Ma-wort-if Vortius can’t hold the castle, he can buy himself an army big enough to take the whole territory if he can carry all this away!”
“And Drav was an officer of Lilith’s guards. Vortius surely made him tell where the treasure is kept. So he will fight his way down here if he possibly can.”
Zanos took a deep breath of anticipation. “Excellent,” he said. “The perfect bait to bring the enemy into my trap!”
Astra stared at Zanos as she pulled shut the door to the treasure room. He was unReadable, automatically set to use Adept power at the thought of wreaking vengeance on Vortius. It sent a chill down her spine- and yet what could she do? He could never rest until he had met his nemesis, face to face.
So she said, “How can we lay a trap that will actually capture him? Besides you and Kimma and me, we have no one down here capable of fighting.”
“Lilith’s soldiers will fight all the way, protecting helpless people as well as the treasure,” Zanos replied.
“But you’re right-we could certainly use a few more good fighters. Can you contact Javik?”
“He’s on his way here now, with someone wounded,” Astra replied. “But I’ll tell him-” Quickly, she relayed the situation to the Dark Moon Reader, and as
he worked his way through the fighting in the castle hallway, he located Trel and told him the plan. The old man, blood-spattered and still fighting strongly, began shouting to what villagers he could spot.
Brodik heard, and directed several soldiers to retreat to the dungeon-and they helped Javik carry the casualty he had found down the treacherous stairs.
It was a woman, severely beaten-and raped. It sickened Astra to Read what had been done to her, but she set that aside as she knelt beside her. “Zanos- her spleen is ruptured-she’s bleeding to death!”
Even so, the woman came to-and the moment she was conscious Astra recognized her despite her distorted features. “Lanna!”
“No! No!” the woman moaned, her head thrashing as Astra Read flashes of memory that told her several of Vortius’ men had wanted the pretty young woman, but she had remained faithful to Ard, creating jealousy that had erupted today-
Lanna’s eyes focused. She looked past Astra to Zanos, and her heart pumped violently in terror.
“No-not you-”