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The dark haired man rushed into the room and skidded to a halt as his eyes fell upon the scene, obviously alerted by the commotion. It seemed as if he couldn’t pick what to focus on first, the body of his dead commander or the prisoners covered in hundreds of cuts and surrounded by broken glass. Unfortunately for him he was too surprised to react when Tara came hurtling towards him and tackled him to the ground, grinding him into the stone with her entire body. She pinned him down, her hands firmly clamped over his mouth to stop him from crying out.
“Help me!” she called back to Dusk.
He ran forward, the rope from his binds still clenched in his fist and knelt down beside them. Quickly he tied the man’s hands behind his back. Pulling the cloth off he had still wrapped around his arm, he helped Tara hastily stuff it into his mouth, stopping him from making any sounds to alert the others. Tara came to her feet and with a heavy grunt she lifted the man off the floor and slammed him into an armchair that sat near the fireplace causing the wood within it to crack. Seeing the situation was handled, Dusk ran back to Lex and began to undo his ropes, freeing him at last.
“Thank you,” Lex wheezed, gently touching his stomach where he’d been punched. “I really need people to stop punching me in the gut.”
“That’s the second time that’s happened because you can’t just stay quiet,” Dusk murmured, helping Lex to a sitting position.
“Should I just stay quiet when someone says they are going to kill you?”
“Yes,” Dusk replied simply. “I’m not worth it.”
Lex opened his mouth to respond, but turned away instead. One by one he checked his ribs with his index finger. “It doesn’t seem like any of them are broken. Lucky me.” He smiled and held a hand out to Dusk. “Help me up.”
Dusk slowly pulled him to a standing position, taking care not to jostle him too badly on the way up. Lex made his way over to the other chair near the fireplace while Dusk went around the front of the desk. He took the small pouch off the desk and bound it shut, attaching it to his belt. The book Falgorin had conjured still laid open on the surface of the desk. Dusk flipped through it quickly, unable to understand anything held within it, but he picked it up anyway, tucking it under his arm. He didn’t know if it could be useful in removing the collar that dug into his neck. Glancing down he began to rifle through the drawers, looking for anything that might be useful in their escape. They had to make it out of the tower and into Inahan if they wanted to survive. Most of the drawers were full of papers, stray quills, and a few bottles of ink. In the very top drawer he found a single iron key with a softly glowing silver symbol inlaid into its surface.
“Listen up you bastard,” Tara spat at the man tied up in front of her, causing Dusk to look up from his search. “You’re going to help us get out of here and you’re going to do it without a sound.”
The man in the chair glared at her.
“First you’re going to take me to my sword and then,” she came within inches of his face, “you’re going to lead us out of here and down the mountain into Inahan. Do all that and maybe I’ll let you live.”
He continued to glare at her. With a balled fist she reeled back and stuck him across the jaw. A muffled cry echoed inside his cloth stuffed mouth, but he made no other movements. Tara removed the dagger from her boot once more and pressed it to the bottom of his jaw.
“I killed your commander by slowly pushing this blade up through his mouth and tongue until it pierced his brain,” she growled. “If you don’t do what I tell you, you'll have it a thousand times over before I finally let you die. Do I make myself clear?”
The man looked at her, his bright green eyes flicking back and forth between hers. The fear was plain on his face.
“Understood?” she repeated louder.
He slowly began to nod his head, giving in to her intimidation.
“Good.” She grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and yanked him to his feet. Spinning him around she took hold of the ropes binding his hands and pressed the tip of the dagger over his kidney. “Now take me to my sword.”
For the first few feet he resisted, but a sharp jab of the dagger got him moving as a dark stain began to grow on his cloak under the point. Quietly they made their way out of the room, Dusk jogging to catch up. Down the first set of stairs they had to cross to the other side to go down one more level. As they crept by, Dusk saw the wolf still strapped to the table, the cloaked men pulling its body apart while it was wide awake. The noises of the other animals drowned out the sound of their footsteps as they came to the other stair and descended once more. The door nearest the landing was where the dark haired man stopped. He gestured with a nod towards it. Lex stepped forward and tried to pull the door open.
“It’s locked,” he whispered.
Tara began to rummage through the man’s robes, looking for the ring of keys he usually carried, but she came away empty handed. “Where are they?” she hissed through her teeth.
The man just smiled at her, his mouth stuffed full of cloth.
“Wait,” Dusk spoke up. “I found a weird key in the desk. Let me see if it works.” As Dusk pulled out he noticed the man’s smile fade, giving him a hint it might work. “I think it’s a skeleton key. It’s got a strange marking on it.”
Dusk stepped forward and slid the key into the lock. He turned it in the lock and felt resistance. But after a moment the key grew suddenly warm in his hand and the lock began to give, almost like he was turning it through warm wax. After a moment the lock clicked and Dusk pulled the door open quietly. He took another look at the key. It’s shape had changed to fit the lock. The once flat bit of the key had taken on a unique shape. Dusk pushed it back into the lock again and it turned without resistance, locking and unlocking the door with ease. He wondered if it would work on any lock.
“Inside,” Tara whispered, pushing the cloaked man in. “Hurry up, get you things.”
The room was full of bags, supplies, and spare clothing for the members of the Circle. Lex located their bags easily, being the only dirty and unkempt items in the entire room. It looked as if the members of the Circle were all issued the same swords or bows, making it easy for Dusk to find their weapons. Both he and Lex shouldered their packs and attached their weapons once more. Once they had finished they looked back to Tara. She stepped away from the dark haired man, sheathing the dagger in her boot once more. Sifting through the crate she gathered her supplies and buckled her sword into place before looking around the room.
“Anything we might need, grab it now. We won’t have anywhere to stop for a long while once we get into Inahan,” she commanded.
Dusk came forward and began rummaging through the supplies. There were spare cloaks, torches, tinderboxes, flasks of lantern oil, and many other things that were useful for an underground operation, but not many items that were suited for travel. In the end he only took a spare length of rope and a small purse of coins to aid them on their journey. Lex and Tara both took a coin purse as well. There were many already packed into a small box, as if ready to take at a moment's notice should a member have need to travel outside the tower. But they left the rest behind. All of them knew from experience that traveling weighted down with gold was a great way to get into trouble. Dusk looked around once more, finding bags full of dry food goods or some filled with strange herbs. He was just digging to the bottom of a crate when the hinges of the door squealed behind him.
None of them were watching their prisoner.
Dusk turned and saw the dark braid whipping around the corner as the man took off onto the walkway. Grinding his heels into the ground, Dusk ran after him, boots pounding against the stone without care. He shot through the door and came around the corner to see the man trip on the hem of his cloak and strike the stone floor hard. He turned over and saw Dusk running after him. He kicked himself to his feet in one swift motion without the use of his hands. There was no way he would outrun his captors bound and gagged. Dusk watched his eyes flick to the railing, then back to him, a smile spreading across his cloth stuffed mouth. Still smiling he took a step to the edge and leaned backwards, toppling over the railing. Dusk threw his hands out, but only managed to graze the cloth of his robes, unable to get a grip on anything as he fell.
In silence, he watched white-knuckled on the railing as the man plummeted the full hundred feet in a few seconds, smiling the entire way. His body struck the stone floor far below head first into the excavation site. A sickening wet crunch echoed throughout the entire cavern causing all the hooded men working to go silent for a moment. Then, one by one, each of them began to look upward to see Dusk still hanging over the railing staring down at them all. The shouts started to radiate upward almost instantly. He turned to look down the walkway, seeing Tara and Lex frozen at the entrance to the supply room.
“Go... GO!” Dusk yelled, sprinting towards the stairs.
There was a crash above their heads from the experimentation chamber, but there was only one path to get out of the cavern. As they hurtled up the stairs, each of them unsheathed their weapon, even Dusk drew his bow and knocked an arrow. As they came to the top of the landing the two men that had been torturing the animals skidded out of the doors, each holding a wicked looking knife in their hands. Their hoods were thrown back to reveal their ashen faces. One looked to be in his early fifties with a gray beard braided down from his chin. The other was a younger man, around Dusk’s age, with a look in his eye that made his blood run cold.
“Runaways!” the younger man cackled. “Flesh to put under the knife!”
“Caution Dern, they’re well armed,” the older man commanded.
Slowly the two of them began to inch forward, their knives held at the ready. As they drew near the old man lunged at Lex, but he parried the blow. The old man dodged to the side as quick as lightning and struck Lex in the stomach with his other fist, causing him to double over in pain. Tara was already rushing forward with her sword. Dusk stood with his bow at the ready, watching them exchange blows until there was a yelp of pain. Through the tangle of bodies he could see that Tara had managed to run her blade through the older man’s stomach and out the back of his robes. In one last attempt to wound her, the older man lifted his hand to drive the knife into Tara’s shoulder. Before Dusk could cry out in warning, there was a flash of steel from Tara’s free hand and the man’s severed hand went flying over the edge of the railing. Blood spurted across Tara and Lex as the old man slumped down to the ground and died.
Dusk lowered his bow, looking around for the younger man who’d disappeared during the commotion. He moved towards one of the three doorways that led into the room full of cages, peering inside to see if he was there. The room was empty save for all the frightened animals and the pile of failed experiments in one corner. As he turned back to call out to the other two a hard blow struck him in the back of the knees and he crumpled to the ground. Before he had a chance to breathe the young man was on top of him, pinning his arms to the ground and laughing like a hyena.
“I wanna know what you look like on the inside,” he sneered, saliva dripping from his open mouth. “I’ve seen all of these creatures and what makes them tick. Now I want to see people and you... you look like the perfect specimen. It only takes one little cut. Let’s find out what you keep in there shall we?”
Dusk managed to free one leg and kick the man hard between the legs, dropping him to the ground. He scrambled away through the door and into the room, taking shelter beside the large table. Dern grasped at his stomach, coughing and snarling like a rabid dog. The noises were terrifying, but they gave Dusk an idea. He ripped his dagger from his belt and sliced the thick leather cuffs pinning the wolf to the table and hoped he didn’t come to regret it.
The wolf began to move almost immediately, throwing itself off the table. It yelped as it hit the ground and came to stand, one leg held off the ground to its chest. It wheeled around and the amber eyes locked onto Dusk, a deep growl reverberating through its body. Its lips peeled back revealing rows of long sharp fangs that were made for tearing and ripping. The wolf took two steps towards Dusk, the fur along its spine raised to a point. Another small groan sounded off to their left and it turned its attention. Dern had gotten to his feet and was coming towards the table, the knife still grasped in his right hand.
The wolf took one last look at Dusk and turned its back, locking its focus on Dern.
“That one is half dead already. I can take care of that,” Dern growled. “Then I get to cut you open and take out your insides.”
Without warning the wolf launched itself at Dern who threw up an arm just in time to have powerful jaws clamp down around it. He cried out in pain, hitting the beast in the forehead with the pommel of his knife. When that didn’t work he went to stab it in the chest, but nothing seemed to deter the animal.
“Dusk!” Tara yelled from the door. Next to her Lex stood covered in blood clutching his stomach. “Come on!”
Dusk pushed himself off the floor and ran towards the door, but then he stopped, remembering the key on his belt.
“Get up the stairs! I’ll be fine, just go!” Dusk yelled, but they didn’t move. “I’ll meet you at the exit. JUST GO!”
Tara grabbed Lex by the forearm and yanked him up the stairs. Dusk quickly tucked his dagger away and took out the key. Dern and the wolf were still locked in a struggle to the death, but he was going to give the animal some much needed help. He ran up to the largest cage that housed three more wolves, each just as wounded as the next. A couple of them were already sprouting strange horns or spikes, parts of their bodies swelled and mutated from the powder implanted into their bodies. He looked at them with pity as they backed away from the door, evidently worried they would be next to be operated on once more. With one last glance he drove the key into the lock and turned it hard. The lock popped open and when he took the key back out, the bit was a different shape again. He smiled,pulled the door open, and ran to the next.
To each of the half dozen cages he went, wrenching the locks open so that the wolves, large cats, foxes, and even a brown bear, all in various states of health and mutation, could be let loose. After he threw open the final cage he heard Dern swear loudly. He turned around to see the wolf had finally succumbed to his wounds and was lying dead on the floor in a pool of blood. Dern’s arm was torn and bloody, but he still held the knife and his eyes were locked on Dusk.
“I’ve had enough of this!” he screamed as he came running, holding the blade high.
Dusk went to dodge, but it became unnecessary as a large clawed paw struck the side of Dern’s body, throwing him into the stone wall. Seeing him hit the ground, the wolves who were now free pounced on him, tearing at the fabric and exposed flesh. The bear that had struck him looked to Dusk and roared loudly, drowning out the screams of Dern as he was torn apart. Dusk bolted from the room, wheeling around the doorway and towards the stairs. As he reached the stairway he heard shouts from behind him. The other men had finally reached the walkway and they had their crossbows aimed up at him. Before they could fire, one of the large cats came shooting around the corner and sank its fangs into one of their throats. Another cat followed, screaming at the men with its ears flat against its head. Dusk smirked and ran up the stairs, knowing the crossbows were no longer trained on him.
Dusk flew up the stairs and across the last walkway in front of Falgorin’s study. He took one last quick glance in the room before he ran to the spiral stairway that went up into the roof of the cavern. As he came around the last bend he found Tara and Lex standing with their swords at the ready. They barely had time to pull back as he darted through the heavy iron banded door and slammed it behind him. Taking the key back from his belt he pushed it into the lock and turned it the opposite direction, hearing the lock click into place.
“Are you crazy? What was that all about?” Lex cried.
Dusk was about to reply when a loud horn sounded above them, filling the chamber with its reverberating sound. Within seconds there were boots thundering down the halls from all directions.