An almost festive mood carried them to the foot of the great wall, where the shadow of the mountain fell on them like a bad omen.
Upon closer inspection, the wall appeared to be constructed of normal adobe. Mika began to wonder if Lufa were wrong, if it were all just some giant hoax perpetrated by the priests to keep the inhabitants of Exag in line. Well, he would soon find out. He gestured for all of those who held torches and those who had gathered pieces of wood along the way to join him at the wall. Following his instructions, they piled their bits of wood close to the base of the wall yet not actually touching it, hoping to avoid triggering the mechanism that would bring the wall to life. When the wood was stacked, Mika looked around him one last time at the circle of hopeful faces, all of them believing in him, trusting in him for the miracle of freedom.
Margraf left his father's side and slipped his small hand into Mika's, his bright eyes shining with admiration.
Mika smiled, a grimace really, and hoped that the boy had not misplaced his faith. Turning to the others, he gave a signal and tossed his torch on the small pile of wood. The other torches followed, arcing through the dark night like falling stars and landing on the wood with a shower of bright sparks.
The wood burned quickly. Mika eyed the row of shuttered buildings closest to the conflagration and hoped that the flames would not waken anyone who might raise an alarm.
The fire bit into the wood, crackling as it leaped higher and higher. As the last of it caught, the men used whatever lengths of wood and metal they had been able to arm themselves with to tip the whole fiery pyre over onto the wall itself.
For a moment nothing happened. Mika strained to see past the glow, to see whether or not the wall was burning. Then he smelled it, an awful stink, like that of burning feathers. The wall began to ripple, attempting to pull itself away from the fire. A hole appeared, small at first, but one that grew larger and larger before their eyes.
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.
