“The corridor opens into a large room,” he reported as he peered through the window in the door. “I can see another door like this one in the distance, but there is much between us and it.”
“Do you see any people?” asked MistyTrail.
“None,” Eltor responded.
“I will unlock the door so we can have a look,” declared Mistake as she moved closer to work on the lock.
“You must not leave your tool this time,” Eltor said nervously. “We will need it for the door on the other side of the room.”
“Then I will not leave it,” nodded Mistake as a loud click came from the door lock. “Should we be prisoners again?”
“That worked the last time,” nodded Eltor. “Let’s try it again.”
Eltor held the door open as MistyTrail and Mistake walked through. He closed the door and immediately moved behind them and pushed them forward. The corridor was only a few paces long before it opened into a huge square room. When they entered the massive room they halted with horror stricken faces.
The entire perimeter of the room was lined with prisoners shackled to the walls. The prisoners sat lifelessly on the floor with one of their wrists chained to metal loops attached to the wall. There were over a hundred of them. At one end of the room was a huge altar. The altar and the floor around it were soaked in blood. Beyond the altar were two doorways with open doors. Eltor began scanning the faces of the prisoners while MistyTrail and Mistake stood horrified as they realized that the altar was used for human sacrifices. As Eltor moved to the right along the wall leading away from the altar, Mistake headed for the two doors beyond the altar. MistyTrail followed Eltor.
Mistake stuck her head through one of the open doorways. She was surprised to find a small kitchen. On the wall opposite her doorway was another door. She moved silently across the floor and peered through the window. A chill raced through her body as she saw rows of bunks with soldiers on them. She moved quickly away from the door before anyone saw her face in the window. Her eyes scanned the kitchen and she brightened somewhat when she saw long loaves of bread on a rack. She moved quickly to the rack and began filling her pack. A large wasooki on a spit hung over a roasting pit. She sliced off generous slabs of meat. When her pack was full, Mistake returned to the large room.
Eltor saw Mistake emerge from the kitchen and waved frantically at her. She moved swiftly, but silently, across the great room. Eltor was kneeling before one of the prisoners.
“This is Caldal,” whispered Eltor as Mistake arrived. “Unlock his manacle.”
The prisoner looked up at Mistake and offered a weak smile. His face was drawn, and his clothes were shredded and bloodstained. Mistake moved to the manacle and extracted her tool from her belt. Caldal’s wrist was bloody and raw, and he twitched painfully as Mistake worked on the lock. She bit her lip as she tried to minimize the movement of the manacle.
MistyTrail knelt beside Caldal and began casting a healing spell on Caldal’s right leg. The leg was entirely bare and showed the signs of a recent whipping. The flesh was raw with numerous lash marks that were swelled with blood still trickling out of them. Caldal groaned softly and his arm fell as Mistake succeeded in removing the manacle.
“Will he be able to move on his own?” Mistake whispered.
“Give me some time,” MistyTrail replied tersely. “I am doing what I can.”
Mistake nodded and her eyes scanned the room and landed on the open doorway that she had not yet explored.
“Do what you can for him,” Mistake whispered. “I am going to search for some clothes or weapons for him.”
Before Eltor could object, Mistake began moving swiftly across the room. She moved in an arc across the room to avoid the bloodstained floor near the altar. She approached the unexplored doorway with caution. She peeked her head into the room. The room was long and held half a dozen long tables. At the far end of the room two people sat talking softly with plates of food before them. Mistake was not sure who the colorfully dressed woman was, but she recognized the man. She had seen his face in Khadoratung driving a caravan of wagons. He had been with the same man who had accompanied the hooded magician in the Wine Press Inn. She had figured out much later that he was the mage that everyone had been talking about. He was Aakuta, the dark mage. She inhaled deeply and pulled her head from the room.
Aakuta and Lady Mystic looked up as they heard Mistake inhale deeply. They saw her face for only a fraction of a second, but that was long enough to identify her as an elf. Lady Mystic immediately rose to her feet, her eyes twinkling with excitement. Aakuta rose and quickly followed Lady Mystic to the doorway as he pulled his hood over his head.
Mistake raced across the room to where Eltor and MistyTrail were helping Caldal to his feet.
“We must leave now,” she urged. “There are people here. Hurry.”
MistyTrail stared across the room and saw the two distant figures in the doorway. She knew that they were two far away to kill with a thrown knife.
“Stop!” shouted Lady Mystic with a voice of authority as her arm rose menacingly.
Eltor threw Caldal over his shoulder and raced for the door they had used to enter the room. Mistake dashed past him to unlock the door. MistyTrail was torn between running with her friends or trying to kill the two people with a fireball. She gauged her chances of killing them both to be rather low. She raced after her friends.
Suddenly a door slammed open in the kitchen and loud voices shouted orders. MistyTrail heard the clanging of swords hitting stone and the trampling of many feet. She saw a fiery streak from the corner of her eye and dove to the floor as a fireball flew over her head.
Suddenly, a cloud of fog surrounded MistyTrail. She rose to her feet and raced forward, hoping that she would find the short corridor that led to the exit. She heard the shouts of the soldiers as they filed into the room. A loud click echoed nearby, and MistyTrail ran with her hands before her face. She felt the corner of the wall and moved into the short corridor. The fog thinned, and she saw Mistake pushing the door open and Eltor racing through it. She quickly followed her friends.
Caldal was muttering incoherently. The only words that MistyTrail could understand as she raced past Eltor was something about a chamber of horror. She pushed the thought from her mind as she reached the next intersection. She quickly checked both ways before turning to the right and running towards the next stairwell. She wondered if they would reach the library before the soldiers caught them.
* * *
Back in the chamber of horrors, the soldiers milled about in confusion. Lady Mystic turned and scowled at Aakuta.
“Why did you do that?” she said with anger in her voice. “I could have fried the last one easily if you had not jostled my arm. And where did that fog come from? Were you deliberately trying to help them escape?”
“Help them escape?” echoed Aakuta. “Why would I care what happens to some elves? As for jostling your arm, I apologize. I am used to working alone. I must learn to anticipate the actions of others.”
Aakuta’s face slowly transformed into a mischievous smile as he gazed into Lady Mystic’s frustrated eyes.
“Now that they appear to have a head start,” offered the dark mage, “perhaps their attempts to escape may prove to be enjoyable.”
Lady Mystic’s face turned from anger to contemplation.
“What fun can we have with them escaping?” she asked.
“I am not sure,” admitted Aakuta, “but it has to be more interesting than watching a simple thrashing by the soldiers. I suppose that the city will be crawling with soldiers vying to be the ones to find the escapees. How long before the alarm is issued?”