stairs. Before she could overthink the plan, she darted across the courtyard to the stairs. Her heart pounded and her ears burned. She felt convinced that eyes were upon her. She reached the stairs and, staying as flat against the wall as possible, she slinked up the stairs.
Comforted by the shadows at the top, she proceeded toward the far end of the citadel. Lacking her armor, she was instilled with both a sense of dread and of freedom. The freedom and ease of movement without her stiff leather plate was pleasing, but she knew she would not survive long without it if she were forced into battle.
Several paces ahead, she saw the dim light of one of the watch posts, where guards remained stationed instead of pacing the perimeter. She crept forward, hoping the guard on duty would be one of her own soldiers. As she drew nearer she was disappointed to see instead the features of one of the Chondathans. Moving to the inside wall of the walkway, she inched toward the man. Adeenya was two steps from an ideal ambush position directly behind the man when he spoke.
Taennen clipped short the scream of frustration he had almost loosed. His face turned a light crimson as he trembled with impotent rage. The formian leader, in spite of the display before him, stood as silent and unmoving as ever. Taennen stepped back from the creature and calmed himself. He could hear more activity outside the building, soldiers answering some urgent call issued from the rear of the citadel.
'Where are they?' he demanded. 'Where are the invaders?'
'We do not know,' Guk replied. 'You just-' Taennen began.
'We do not know where they are at all times, but where they come from, into this place, that we know,' the formian said.
'How? How do they get into the citadel?' 'Under,' Guk said. 'Under? The ground?' The formian said, 'Tunnels.'
It made sense. How else could the invaders have entered the citadel without discovery? It explained the lack of fires in the forest and how the patrols had found no trace of camps in the woods. His mind slammed the pieces into place, but he found one that did not fit. They had fought the enemy in the woods. If they moved and slept in the tunnels, how did the barbarians know to find them in the forest?
The answer came readily. The enemy knew where to find them because someone told the enemy where they would be. There was a traitor.
'You will free us now,' Guk said, interrupting Taennen's thoughts.
The Maquar durir looked up at the fbrmian and considered the words. He had implied the formian's freedom for cooperation, and he would not dishonor himself by failing to follow through on even a tenuous promise. Freeing them would mean his career, he did not doubt. Not freeing them might cost his life.
'Show me the tunnels and then leave by them,' Taennen said.
Guk's head shifted from side to side for a moment, his antennae flickering, followed by the same motions from his cohorts. 'Agreed,' the formian leader said.
Taennen went to the door, opening it a crack to peer out. He saw no one in that part of the courtyard. He opened all the cells, untying the formians' bindings, and motioned for them to follow him. He stepped out of the building and looked both directions down the narrow paths between structures. He was turning to hurry the creatures when he found they were already behind him, moving so quietly that, even at a few paces, he could not hear them.
'Where?' Taennen asked.
Guk pointed to one of the outlying buildings, one of only a few not built on piers, and moved down the prison's steps toward it, his fellows following. The structure was one of the smallest, and it seemed an unlikely choice for an entrance to a secret tunnel. Perhaps, Taennen thought, that was the point. He fell into step beside Guk, keeping his movements as quiet as he could. His hand rested on the hilt of his khopesh, and his shield arm flexed in anticipation. They made the front door of the building, and Taennen ushered the formians through the door. Inside, Guk stood in the middle of the room, his antennae weaving back and forth.
'Where is it?' Taennen asked.
'I do not know,' Guk said. Before Taennen could reply, he continued. 'I know it is here but have not seen it from this side.'
'What? You've been in the tunnels?' he said. 'No,' Guk answered. 'Then how did you see it?' 'Others showed me.'
'What others?' Taennen asked, clutching his weapon. 'My people.'
Taennen looked around the room at the formians and said, 'There are more out there? More who are not prisoners?'
'Yes. Small ones. Workers.'
'How did they show you the tunnel?'
Guk's head jerked again, his mandibles clicking together. After a few moments, he stopped but said nothing. None of the creatures spoke or even moved. Taennen did not believe they wanted to be uncooperative or that they were trying to be secretive. Guk had proven himself honest to a fault, after all. Perhaps they could not explain it, he thought.
'That noise you were making, that humming… is that how they showed you?' Taennen asked.
'Yes,' Guk said, and Taennen thought he saw something akin to relief on the creature's face.
'Well, this room is small, so it can't be hard to find.'
Together, Taennen and the formians moved crates and barrels from one of the room's corners but found no trapdoor. The floor consisted of about twenty square blocks of stone. Taennen directed the formians to lift them. After only a few attempts, they found four adjacent stones that moved. Under the stones was a wooden door with iron hinges and handles. The door was opened and Guk ordered his people through it before Taennen could even offer to go first. All but one of the formians entered the tunnel. Taennen eyed the creature warily but slipped through the door to stand next to Guk. Soft light shone from a magical orb on the ceiling of the tunnel.
Taennen pointed up through the portal and asked, 'Why isn't that one coming?'
'Our route of escape must remain hidden,' Guk said.
Taennen felt ill when the truth became clear. Guk had ordered one of his people to stay behind to replace the stones over the door and lead anyone who might be searching for them away from the tunnel entrance. He had ordered men to make sacrifices before, but never like that. Above him, the door closed and he heard the scraping of the heavy tiles being moved into place.
'They'll kill him when he's found,' Taennen said.
'Yes,' Guk replied, and turned to move down the tunnel. 'But the whole will benefit.'
Chapter Eighteen
Would you believe me if I told you that no harm will find you if you surrender?' the wall guard asked, turning to face Adeenya with a grin on his face.
Adeenya did not spare even the briefest moment to curse her luck. Instead she threw herself into the Chondathan before her. Though no stranger to physical confrontation, Adeenya had never tried such a maneuver in mortal combat without her armor on, and at that moment she understood why. Pain shocked her shoulder when she made contact. When she heard a cracking noise, she felt sure the bone was broken, but to her relief the terrible sound was the guard's ribs snapping, his leather armor having failed to absorb the force of her charge. Propelled by her momentum, the enemy lost his footing, and together they piled into the walkway's parapet.
With the man stunned by the impact of her attack, Adeenya managed to win the race to act first after the tumble. She sent a knee into the man's stomach and a forearm into his nose. Her opponent fell, huddled against the parapet, his face buried in his hands. Muted moans of pain streamed from his mouth, and blood ran down his wrists.
Before his groans could turn to shouts that might alert his fellows, Adeenya jerked his hands from his face and lashed out with Jhoqo's falchion. She drew a wide, ugly line across his neck. The Chondathan thrashed for only a moment before stillness overtook him, his head lolling. Adeenya checked his body for anything of use to her. Pleased with Jhoqo's sword, she left the dead man's weapon behind but paused to strip some of the armor from his
