“Good. Let’s go.” Moving out, he exits the room. Aleya follows him into the corridor, never taking her eyes off of Korgan until she’s out of the room.
“I think it’s a bad idea leaving him alive,” she tells him.
James remains silent as he walks down the corridor. At one point he holds out his hand and his orb appears on his palm. Canceling it, he nods to himself, very glad the leaves worked and that his magic is again at his command.
They pass through the interrogation room with the four torches and then move quickly down the corridor with the cell doors lining both sides.
When they reach the room with the lone guard that Aleya had killed with her arrow, James holds out his hand and says, “Let me have the keys.”
Giving them to him she says, “Here you go.”
Looking at the other exits he asks, “Which one?”
Pointing to the one that she and Jiron had entered, she says, “There.”
They cross the room and pass through the door to the corridor on the other side. James then closes the door behind him and uses the keys to lock it. Then he closes his eyes and concentrates for a full minute. When Aleya starts to say something, he holds up his hand and stops her.
As soon as his eyes pop open again, she asks, “What did you do?”
“Just a little something so Korgan won’t be alone,” he says.
Sitting on the floor, shoulder throbbing with pain, Korgan listens as their footsteps disappear in the distance. Once they disappear altogether, he works his way to his feet as best he can.
“Stupid of him to leave me alive,” he says to himself. Moving to the doorway they had passed through, he leaves the room as well and makes his way down the corridor. Upon reaching the interrogation room with the four burning torches in wall sconces, he immediately moves into the corridor with the cell doors lining both sides.
He can hear the door at the other end shut and the turning of the lock. None too worried about being locked down here, he knows that someone will be coming soon to check on things.
When he’s reached about halfway to the door, he comes to a stop when a noise disturbs the quiet. A clanking noise. Trying to figure out what it is, he’s soon to realize that it is the locks of all the cell doors unlocking by themselves. Then all of a sudden two of the cell doors between him and the door at the end swing open. The prisoners held within leave their cells and enter the corridor. One of them turns in his direction and sees him there. “Korgan!” the man exclaims in glee.
Seeing the prisoner moving toward him, Korgan begins to return back down the corridor. A glance behind him shows the prisoner has quickened his pace and is closing the distance rapidly. He breaks into a run as he races back to the room with the four burning torches. Every step sends pain radiating out from where the arrow is embedded in his shoulder. His hand that’s broken throbs very badly as well. Upon reaching the room, he enters and quickly throws his good shoulder against the door and slams it shut.
Bam!
The prisoner hits the door on the other side. “Korgan!” the man yells, “I’m going to kill you!”
Bam!
Again the man throws his weight into the door and manages to push it open an inch before Korgan gets it closed again. His arm extending from the shoulder with the arrow in it is numb and hangs limp at his side. Gritting his teeth he puts his other hand, the broken one, on the bolt in the door.
Bam!
The prisoner hits the door and knocks it open once more. Shoving hard, Korgan throws all his weight against the door and gets it closed. Then with an excruciating cry of pain, he pushes the bolt closed with his broken hand. The bones grind together as his muscles and tendons push and pull in his effort to lock the door. When at last the bolt sinks into its place, he gasps from the pain and sinks down to the floor.
Then a noise draws his attention to the other passages leading from the room as more prisoners begin moving into the room. Seeing him there, the prisoners grab various interrogation instruments and move toward him. His cries echo throughout the dungeon for a short time until finally becoming still.
Chapter Thirty Three
When James and Aleya reach the bottom of the spiral staircase, the sound of fighting can be heard coming down from above. Taking the steps quickly, they reach the corridor at the top. Emerging into the corridor, James looks toward the fighting and sees Brother Willim and Perrilin still several yards within the corridor.
“James!” Brother Willim calls to him. Waving him forward, he says, “They’re holding their own for now.”
“Anyone hurt?” he asks coming to a stop next to the pair.
Shaking his head, Brother Willim says, “Not so bad as to be life threatening. I think a couple of them have sustained injuries.”
“How are you doing?” he asks Perrilin.
“Better,” he croaks. His hand rubs the spot where Korgan’s knife had cut him. “I don’t think the knife touched my vocal cords.”
James can understand why that would be a concern for him, being a bard and all. His voice is his life. Just then Aleya rushes past with bow in hand and moves to the end of the corridor. She puts arrow to string and they hear the thrum of the string as she lets it fly.
“You better get out there,” Perrilin tells him. “We need to be gone before more reinforcements arrive.”
Nodding, James says, “Good idea.” Turning toward the fighting, he leaves them behind and rushes to the meeting room. Even before he arrives, he can see the dead bodies of Empire soldiers that litter the room. Tables are either lying on their edge or shattered. All in all the entire room is like a scene right out of a horror movie.
As he reaches the end of the corridor where it opens onto the meeting room, Aleya lets loose with another arrow and immediately reaches for a third. Placing it to the bowstring, she glances to James and says, “It’s almost over.”
She takes aim again as he enters the room. Three enemy soldiers are still standing. Jiron, Scar and Stig are faced off with them. Over to their left he sees Potbelly working to dislodge his sword that had been caught between the ribs of a fallen foe. Reilin stands near Miko as he bends over Shorty, the glow from the Star enveloping both of them. Coming over to them, he looks questioningly at Reilin.
“He took a slice along the side,” Reilin tells him. “Miko didn’t think it was all that serious.”
He nods. Then his attention is drawn back to where the battle still rages as the man facing Jiron cries out. He looks back just as Jiron yanks his knife out from the man’s armpit and shoves him away. Scar’s two swords dance in a weaving pattern before one of them suddenly darts forward and takes his opponent through the chest. His opponent stumbles into the soldier facing Stig and disrupts the man’s defense allowing Stig’s mace to connect with the side of his helm.
Dazed, the man is unable to defend against Scar who moves in and strikes his head from his shoulders. A calm settles over the room as the last opponent falls dead to the floor.
James quickly takes in the room. Over a score of soldiers lie strewn about the room, all but a few are dead. Those that are still alive won’t be for much longer, their wounds are too grievous and James doesn’t plan to wait around for Miko to heal them.
“Miko,” he hollers. “We have to go.”
The glow surrounding him and Shorty winks out and he turns his head to gaze to his friend. “All done,” he says.
“Good.” Then to Reilin he says, “You help Brother Willim with Perrilin. Stig, you help Shorty along.”
Shorty gets to his feet and announces, “I don’t need any help. The wound wasn’t that bad.”
“Okay then,” James says with a nod. He turns to Jiron and says, “Get us out of here.”
“You got it.” Moving out, he takes the lead with Scar and Potbelly bringing up the rear. He follows the most direct path to the gate leading out of the Keep. The halls of the Keep are eerily deserted and he comments on that fact to the others.
“It’s the fire,” Perrilin explains. “Word came when it first started for every able bodied man and woman to go
