And then the wailing began, a thin, eerie, high- pitched lament that shivered on the nerves and made one's teeth ache. As the hole grew larger, the screaming became louder.
Mika looked around nervously. He knew that it would be bu: a short period of time before the guard was alerted and they would be discovered.
' Quick! Get through-leave!" he whispered, pushing Lufa toward the hole.
"We can't! The hole's too small!" cried Lufa. Mika turned back to the wall and examined it. As Lufa said, the hole was still too small for even the smallest adult.
Mika began to kick and push the burning wood against the wall, forcing it into the hole, hoping that it would eat its way through more quickly. But as the hole grew, so did the screaming. And then the wall began to move all over, not just the one small area that was being burned. It rippled for as far as the eye could see. It shook. It heaved. Cries of alarm came from distant locations. Mika could only assume that the wall was reacting similarly along its entire length.
The fire was burning with great intensity now. Huge sheets of flame concealed the opening, and the underground people pulled back from the heat reluctantly, realizing that there was no way that they could pass through the flames in safety. Fearing the flames, the wolves huddled together at the edge of the buildings.
It was an amazing sight. The wall undulated up and down as the flames bit into its great expanse and spread as far as the eye could see. The screaming grew louder and louder as the pain drove the nearly inanimate wall almost insane with previously unknown pain.
The wall began to disintegrate, bits and pieces of it, wrapped in flames, falling off, sizzling on the ground. The pieces fell like fiery meteors, sometimes exploding and landing far from the wall itself.
Mika gestured for his small group to fall back even further, and they watched in awe as the wall burned. A large chunk exploded out of the wall and landed on the awning of a mercantile located a few paces from where they stood. The awning burst into flames immediately and soon spread to the building itself.
Fortunately, no one lived in the building. But residents of the area soon flooded the streets wrapped in various forms of night garb and stood staring at the fire with awe-struck eyes.
Indeed, it was an amazing sight. Mika congratulated himself on a job well done. He had done a fine job. For a moment he almost forgot about the king and the demon.
The entire wall was blazing now, shooting sparks and flaming pieces of itself onto the nearby buildings and into the crowds that filled the streets. It lit up the entire sky, illuminating the area almost as brighdy as daylight. Mika looked around and saw that the prison escapees were virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the crowd, most of whom had dressed hastily and presendy wore a coat of the soot and ashes that rained down from the sky.
But Mika also noticed something else: the look of joy on most people's faces as they watched the burning wall. A few people rushed about, throwing water on their buildings and stamping the flames, but most just watched as the fire consumed the hated wall.
The wolves were extremely disturbed, pacing in the darkest of shadows, whining high-pitched, nervous sounds, and panting loudly. They were clearly fearful, and that more than anything brought Mika back to reality, reawakening his sense of danger.
The underdwellers might now be safe, able to blend in with the rest of the crowd and make their way to the safety of friends, or even out of the city itself, but he and Hornsbuck and Lotus Blossom were far from safe. Their appearance and their wolves drew attention like lightning rods. Already a number of people were staring at them with as much interest as the fire. It would only be a matter of time before guards arrived on the scene. Mika placed a hand on Hornsbuck's arm and pointed toward the wall. Speech was virtually impossible over the roar of the conflagration.
And then it happened. As if from nowhere, he suddenly appeared before Mika. The king.
His eyes were alight with rage and madness. His hair was wild and stood out around his head in a spiky aura. He swung a massive, two-handed broadsword in front of him, cleaving a space through the crowds as he approached Mika.
"You!" he screamed. "You are the cause of my ruin! You foiled the demon and aborted the bargain! You caused me to be imprisoned! You dared get in my way, you nobody, you filth! I shall kill you!"
He advanced on Mika, driving him back steadily until he could go no further, his back against the wall of a building.
The crowd gasped and hovered, drawn, in the manner of crowds everywhere, toward the drama that threatened to spill someone else's worthless blood while sparing their own precious supply.
Mika started to draw his own sword, then remembered that the rusties had eaten it. A quick glance at Hornsbuck told him that he, too, was still disarmed. Hornsbuck and Lotus Blossom, grasping the situation instantly, began pushing through the crowd, searching for a sword. But by the time they found one, it might well be too late.
When help came, it was from an unexpected source. Tam had slipped in and crouched at Mika's feet, looking for an opening, when suddenly, there was a dark streak and a short scream. The princess! While the king's attention was focused on Mika and Tam, the princess had flung herself at her father, driving him back with the force of her attack. As he fell, she clamped her jaws around his throat. There was a short, burbled scream, and then it was done. The king's limbs thrashed and then he lay still, blood pouring from the gaping hole in his neck.
Mika stared at the princess, stunned. And then he lifted his gaundeted hand and saluted her. The man had been her father, but he had treated her as though she were a slave or an inhuman pawn. He had deserved to die. The princess acknowledged his gesture and then stepped back from the body, lifting her feet delicately as though stepping over a bit of overripe carrion.
A complement of guard hurried into the street leading several frightened horses hitched to wagons carrying huge barrels of water and sand.
Mika pressed himself into the shadows of a building and was quickly joined by Hornsbuck and Lotus Biossom.
"Thought you was a goner, that time, boy. You got шоге lives than a displacer beast," chuckled Lotus Blossom, eyeing him with respect.
"We've got to get away," said Mika. "Or we'll all be needing extra lives. Those guards will spot us GREYHAWK ADVENTURES soon."
"I don't think so, lad. They've got their hands full with the fire. Listen to that wall scream, will you? I've never heard anything like it," said Hornsbuck.
But Mika wasn't interested in the wall anymore; it could longer provide them with the means of escape. Its shrill screaming only aggravated him now and made him nervous.
"I don't like it; I wish it would stop," said Mika.
"Then our troubles would really start," said Hornsbuck. "Don't you see, lad? Those fellows have more than they can handle as it is without looking for us. We're safe as long as the fire keeps burning. That screaming is music to my ears. Look there, some of these folks feel like I do."
Mika followed Hornsbuck's finger and saw several guards attempting to force a group of citizens to help put out the fire. But it was obvious from their slow, reluctant movements and their sullen expressions that the citizens were not eager to help.
Just as Mika was beginning to think that Hornsbuck was right and that they were safe, he looked up and saw the high priest standing not two paces away, his bright blue eyes searching the crowd.
"Oh, Mika, isn't it exciting?" Margraf piped, his shrill little voice carrying as clear as bell. The priest turned and looked straight into Mika's eyes. He smiled, and Mika's heart sank.