CHAPTER

22

“Cecily!” Calib cried, nearly melting with relief.

Cecily held up a torch, illuminating her wide grin. “Found him. Let’s get him loose, boys.”

Half a dozen squirrels and mice stirred out of the shadows, hollow-eyed but determined. Their chains dangled from their lank limbs in broken pieces.

“Stand back, unless you want to lose an eye,” one of the squirrels said.

He brought forward what Calib thought was a small, thin candle. The squirrel winked at Calib and shoved the unlit end into the keyhole on his cell. It made a sizzling sound that Calib had never heard before. The squirrel ran back to the rest of his group.

“Do as he says!” Cecily shouted, clapping her paws to her ears. Calib pushed himself against the back of the cell, just as the lock suddenly exploded in a crackling flash of light. When Calib’s eyes adjusted, he saw the lock had been broken and now hung uselessly warped. The door swung open.

“What was that?” Calib was dazzled by what he’d just seen. “Magic?”

“It’s something found inland, far from here,” Cecily said, sounding a little impressed herself. “They’ve been using it to make more tunnels in the mountains.”

“Two-Leggers call it fire powder because it explodes in reaction to flame,” the squirrel said. He looked at Cecily. “I hope this little mousling was worth the trouble we spent looking for him. It’s very valuable.”

“He’s worth it, I promise.” Cecily gestured for Calib to follow them. “Come, we don’t have much time.”

The group wound through more twisting tunnels full of unoccupied cells, until finally, they found themselves at a wall of rock, with no more turns to take.

“What now?” Calib asked.

“Help us push!” Cecily said, leaning her weight against the stone. The rest of the squirrels followed suit. Slowly, it began to pivot around on an axel. It was a hidden door!

“How do you know about this?” Calib asked.

“I’ve met some very interesting creatures since I’ve arrived,” Cecily said, smiling mischievously. “I escaped the very first night they brought me here. Percival must have figured that you would come along after me, so he set up the trap.”

“Why didn’t you try to leave?” Calib asked.

“You’ll see why,” Cecily said. Her mouth was set in a grim line.

On the other side of the wall, there was no tunnel; only a large horizontal crack in the mountains, just tall enough for the squirrels to go through if they ducked their heads.

Ahead, Calib could see the ruddy flickering of a fire against a cavernous dome.

“Head toward the bonfire,” Cecily said from behind.

The pathway was roughly hewn, with rubble scattered everywhere. Calib had to tread carefully for fear of getting his footpaw caught in a hidden crack in the rocks.

Eventually, they arrived in a large underground quarry where a whole new group of animals was gathered around the bonfire in question.

“I’ve brought him!” Cecily called out to the group. “I told you he would show up!”

Calib counted nearly fifty creatures gathered, including a number of the messenger larks who had gone missing from Camelot. They were the first to surround Calib with questions.

“Did General Fletcher sound angry when we didn’t arrive home?” asked one.

“It’s such an embarrassment. I have never been late with a message, ever,” lamented another.

A familiar voice cut in.

“Stop pestering Calib with useless questions,” said Ginny, one of the Camelot kitchen mice who was supposed to be spending the season learning Darkling cuisine. “There are more important things to worry about than what General Fletcher thinks of your punctuality.”

“Ginny!” Calib exclaimed. He ran to give her a hug, and she squeezed him tightly in return. “What are you doing here?”

“Obviously, I’m not here for my health,” Ginny said, pointing at the split ends of her whiskers. The mouse’s reddish fur had lost much of its luster and volume. “We were captured by the Saxons a few weeks ago, with Lylas and the others. I got put to work in the kitchens, naturally. And with some help, we were able to escape.”

“I see you caught on to my clue,” Lylas remarked as he roamed into the bonfire’s light. “Welcome, Calib.”

Calib smiled at the sight of the badger. He looked much more refreshed than when Calib had last seen him. “I did,” he said, “though it took me longer to get down here than it should have.”

Lylas smiled. “What matters is that you’re here, though.” He turned to Ginny. “How are we on supplies?”

Ginny looked troubled. “We’re running low. If we rescue any more, we might not be able to provide enough every day.”

“Well, I don’t plan on staying here for another day,” growled a deep voice. “Not with Calib Christopher here to assist us.”

The largest creature stepped forward. He was broad-chested and fearsome, with wild yellow fur, and Calib immediately recognized him.

“Leftie!” Calib exclaimed. He gave a swift bow to the leader of all the Darklings. “It’s good to see you, sir.”

“You too, mouse,” Leftie said, strolling forward to clap a massive paw on Calib’s back. To Calib’s surprise, even the wildcat supported broken chains. “Though I wish it were under better circumstances.”

Calib nodded solemnly. “How long has this been going on? No one has heard from you in months. Camelot, well, they were getting nervous.”

“Feared I was turning traitor, eh?”

Calib cleared his throat. “Something like that.”

Leftie sat down on his haunches and smoothed his whiskers. “Winter was only just starting to end, and I was weak,” the lynx growled. “I hadn’t even had time to get my wits about me before they captured and brought me here to work in their forges.”

Leftie snarled at the memory, revealing both his fangs. “There are others who have been here even longer, held captive since the Battle of the Bear. We now realize that Morgan and the Saxons only provoked that fight with the hope of storming the castle and stealing the Grail. When that did not work, Morgan le Fay cursed Britain with the white fever, in order for the Manderlean’s creatures to sneak into the castle and find it.”

“But what’s she waiting for?” Calib asked. “She has it now.”

“Yes,” Leftie said as he threw an extra piece of coal onto the fire, making it hiss. “But she doesn’t know how to use it.”

Cecily nodded solemnly. “My first night, they questioned me about it.” Her right ear twitched, and for the first time, Calib noticed nicks in it that hadn’t been there before. His blood boiled, but he tried to stay calm, the same way Commander Yvers would have.

At the thought of his grandfather, Sir Percival’s words rose up to sting him again. He no longer had time to think about that now. He didn’t want to linger on the past. Part of him was too afraid to.

“How did we not know this?” Calib asked, reeling from the information. “How could they have done this right under our whiskers?”

“We were too distracted by the petty squabbles between Darklings and Camelot,” Leftie said. His bobbed tail began to swish in agitation. “But now we know better. We’ve managed to free a good number from their chains.”

“But it’s not enough!” Cecily burst out. “They still manage to capture more to replace the ones we’ve freed! They work the miners until they die from exhaustion, and the smiths until they’re so tired they nearly fall into their fires. We need to fight for their freedom!”

At her words, a hum went around the group of freed prisoners.

“Don’t speak of what you don’t know, mouse-maid,” Lylas said. “You’ve seen battle, but you haven’t seen war.” At the badger’s words, the animals around him murmured in agreement.

“You’ve only just arrived here, little groundling,” a wizen old crow added. “You haven’t seen what we’ve seen.”

“But we can’t keep tunneling forever,” Cecily said with a stomp of her footpaw. “If we can convince all the prisoners to revolt . . . There’s an army here that we could use against the Saxons! Don’t you agree, Calib?”

Though he admired his friend’s bravery, Calib hesitated. Remembering the many warships that edged the sulfuric lake, he asked, “How many Saxons are there?”

Leftie stroked his chin. “From my estimate, at least one thousand animals and five hundred Two-Leggers, with more coming every day. The Manderlean and his Saxons outnumber us free folk, ten to one, and with the stink of magic everywhere, I don’t see how we can do anything yet.”

The wildcat looked at Cecily. “I’m sorry.” The flickering red flames threw shadows across Leftie’s face, but even the shadows couldn’t hide the sadness in his eyes.

This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. Calib was supposed to find Cecily and bring both her and the Grail back to Camelot triumphantly. He wasn’t supposed to be stuck in the Iron Mountains for the rest of his days.

“What can we do?” Calib asked, feeling helpless as he looked at the older and wiser creatures around him.

Lylas handed him a shovel. “We keep digging. We keep exploring. We keep holding faith that one day, we will see the sun and sky again.”