Down a Lost Road (26 page)

We’d left before nightfall yesterday, with a
crude copy-coin in our possession. Yatol had kept us at a brisk
march all through the night and straight through the day, with only
a few brief breaks for food and rest. The pain had been bearable
while we were in the forest, but as soon as we came to the shifting
desert, I thought I was going to die. But we were going after
Damian. I couldn’t hold up the rescue mission. I’d rather have
stayed behind than risk compromising the effort.

I suddenly realized that Aniira was watching
me, a frown of concern knotting her brow. A blush of shame warmed
my cheeks, and I forced myself up into a half-sitting position.

“
Are you all right?” she
whispered.

I wanted to snap that I was fine, but she
seemed genuinely worried. I managed a nod instead.

“
I don’t know how you did
it. You never even complained.”

I stared. Faltered. Was that praise? I
couldn’t think of a single thing to say. I didn’t have a chance to
anyway, because at that moment Yatol turned to us.

“
We’re going. Stay here
until nightfall, then make your way to the grate. With any luck one
of us will be there to meet you.”

I snatched his hand, suddenly terrified.
“Yatol! Be careful.” I unsheathed the little knife he had given me
in Enhyla’s hut. “Do you want this back? You might need it.”

“
I’d rather you kept it,”
he said softly, closing my hand around the hilt. “See you on the
other side.”

With that, he was gone. I inched up a little
higher on the mound to watch as he and Tyhlaur strode across the
sand, their pale cloaks gleaming silver-blue in the twilight. Soon
they were little more than dark blurs against the horizon. Then
they halted, and almost out of nowhere, two Ungulion appeared in
front of the Tower. Aniira beside me drew a sharp breath, reaching
out to grip my hand. Kurtis laid his hand over both of ours. We
waited, and watched.

“
Something’s happening,”
Kurtis suddenly whispered.

I almost hadn’t seen the shift in dynamics,
it happened so fast. The brief conversation ended abruptly, with
one of the Ungulion advancing a half step toward Yatol. Yatol
shifted and raised his arms against the night. The Ungulion
recoiled, almost like it was expecting an attack. It didn’t
approach Yatol again. The two Ungulion circled behind Yatol and
Tyhlaur and drove them toward the fortress.

I closed my eyes and let my head drop onto
the sand. What if they had no chance to escape? What if the
Ungulion were ready for them? What if we’d sent them to their
death?

Not if I could help it.

I gathered my thoughts and all my muscles
tensed. I’d have to clear the rest of the distance between us and
the fortress, but surely the Ungulion would see me coming and wait.
I had to stop them.

Aniira’s hand suddenly clamped down on mine
like an iron claw.

“
No, Merelin!” she
whispered fiercely. “Wait!”

“
This was a
mistake!”

“
You have to trust them. We
stick to the plan.”

“
Yatol never meant to go
back,” I murmured. “I’m afraid the Ungulion won’t even bother
interrogating him this time.”

Aniira only met my gaze in silence. She must
have been thinking the same thing, but she still didn’t let me go.
We waited. Darkness dragged over the desert, tinged only with the
faintest twilit blue. A torch appeared above the battlement,
bobbing like a tiny candle down the length of the fortress wall. We
stayed put until it began moving away from us, then we ran.

We covered half the distance to the tower
when we saw the torch flickering back into view. Kurtis caught
sight of it first. He ran a little in front of Aniira and me, but
suddenly he dove headlong behind a mound of sand. Aniira and I
followed, flattening ourselves against the ground as best we could.
I only prayed our cloaks didn’t shine too much in that dim
half-light. We waited, breathless, but the torch bobbed on without
the slightest pause.

Another sprint through the churning sand and
we met the wall. Under the shadow of the battlement the tower face
was black. I couldn’t see a thing anywhere down its length. We
moved slowly, Kurtis brushing his fingertips against the rock high
above his head, Aniira and I feeling over the wall lower down. Just
when I was certain we’d never find anything without a light of some
kind, my hand met a ring of rough, cold metal, a grate of rusting
bars about chest-high.

“
Found it.”

I peered through the grate. I thought I
could glimpse the faintest shifting light and shadow down the
shaft, but couldn’t be sure. Neither Yatol nor Tyhlaur were
there.

“
Should we wait for them?”
Kurtis asked.

“
How are we supposed to get
in?”

Aniira tugged on the bars. “The grate isn’t
very sturdy. Seems like it’s been shoved back in at least
once.”

I remembered prying the bars out of the cell
window. It hadn’t been easy, but there were three of us now. Maybe
we could get it out.

“
I think we should wait for
them,” Kurtis said, answering his own question. “At least for a few
minutes. Even if we get in, we won’t know where to find them. We’ll
be hopelessly lost.”

Aniira nodded. Finally I gritted my teeth
and agreed. We couldn’t possibly coordinate our rescue efforts if
we couldn’t communicate. It’s not like we had cell phones or
anything. The thought struck me as funny. Kurtis and Damian both
did
have cell phones. If only they worked here on Arah Byen.
I could just imagine what would happen if Damian’s phone suddenly
went off in front of the Ungulion. He had a crazy techno ringtone,
too.

I giggled out loud before I could stop
myself. Kurtis put a hand on my shoulder. He probably through I was
delirious.

“
What’s so
funny?”

“
Nothing. Just imagining
what we could do if your cell phone worked here.”

“
Call Damian, you mean? I
wish.”

“
What’s a…
cell
phone
?” Aniira asked, and Kurtis and I both laughed.

Kurtis pulled his phone out of the pouch on
his belt, flicking a key to make the screen light up. The faint
blue glow washed over our faces, turning them ghastly in the
shadows. Aniira’s eyes looked like they would pop out of her
head.

“
It’s a way to talk to
people, when you can’t see them,” Kurtis said.

“
Wouldn’t
that
have
been helpful trying to find the grate?” I remarked, nodding at his
makeshift flashlight.

“
Never even occurred to
me.”

Kurtis hesitated, then suddenly he shook my
shoulder – the hurt one. When I winced he jerked his hand away,
looking physically pained himself.

“
Sorry, sorry!” He tapped
the phone excitedly. “But Merelin, that’s brilliant! We
can
use my phone.”

“
How?”

“
If we need a diversion, we
can set the alarm to go off – really loudly. We can put the phone
somewhere hidden, and the Ungulion will all try to find
it!”

Why hadn’t I thought of that? Aniira
frowned, not just confused but even peevish. Right. Yatol had said
she
could be the diversion. Didn’t like being supplanted by
a square of plastic, apparently – even one that could light up and
make noise.

A soft splash down the conduit silenced us.
Someone was coming. Kurtis started to lift the phone, tapping the
key again to brighten the screen. I grabbed his hand and pushed it
down.

“
Don’t!” I hissed. “We
don’t want to startle him, whether he’s ours or theirs!”

In a moment Tyhlaur’s head appeared at the
grate. I wanted to breathe a sigh of relief but couldn’t.

“
Where’s Yatol?”

Tyhlaur shook his head. “No time. Stand
away.”

We moved aside. Tyhlaur moved back, out of
my view, then I heard his feet slam into the grate. It shot out of
the wall and landed in the sand with a dull thud. As soon as it
landed Aniira took a two-step running jump and pulled herself
easily into the shaft. Showoff. I stared at the opening for at
least half a minute, trying to figure out how to get up.

“
Ever gotten a leg up onto
a horse?” Kurtis asked.

I shook my head, and Kurtis dropped to one
knee in the sand. Tyhlaur appeared in the opening above, ready to
lend a hand.

“
Step up onto my leg, and
Tyhlaur will help you the rest of the way.”

My face burned with shame, even though I
knew they were only helping me because of my hurt arm. I stepped
tentatively onto Kurtis’s leg, so that the hole in the wall came
level with my stomach. Somehow with Tyhlaur’s help I managed to
clamber into the conduit. Kurtis came behind me, joining us where
we huddled together in the cramped, fetid space of the shaft.

“
Where’s Yatol?” I asked
again.

“
The Ungulion were going to
seize the fake Pyelthan without releasing the prisoners. Yatol
persuaded them not to, so the Ungulion had to take us inside. Once
we’d gotten in, Yatol gave me the signal to break free. Only he
didn’t try. I didn’t realize he was still with them until I’d
gotten clear. I would have gone back for him but he warned me
away.” He hesitated. “I’m afraid they will take him to
Azik.”

“
Azik is here?”

“
Who is Azik?” Kurtis
asked.

“
Yes,” Tyhlaur said,
ignoring him. “He arrived just before we did,
apparently.”

I covered my mouth, drawing a few deep
breaths. “That’s why he stayed behind, then. They know him. Know he
probably has information, whereas Damian and my uncle, maybe not.
If he’d escaped, they would have taken one of them to Azik. But now
they will probably take—”

I couldn’t finish. The voice choked in my
throat. Tyhlaur nodded.

“
I have to save him,” I
whispered.

“
We get your brother and
uncle first,” Tyhlaur said, firmly. “Otherwise you make his
sacrifice pointless. He was trying to save
them
.”

I bit my lip, hot tears stinging my eyes.
“All right.”

“
Aniira and I are the most
experienced of us here – no offense to you two,” Tyhlaur said.
“Merelin, you stay with me. Aniira, you’re with Kurtis. Two in
front, two in back. The prisoners are on the third level. Four
Ungulion patrol each level, and one patrols the stairwells in each
corner tower.”

“
Where is Azik?”

“
In the dungeon,” Tyhlaur
answered, readily enough, then suddenly his eyes flashed and he
gripped my good arm fiercely. “We aren’t going down there. Not yet.
Understand?”

I frowned, sullen. “I just wanted to know
where all the pieces are placed.”

“
All right. Let’s
go.”

We followed him through the conduit, running
half-crouched over through the darkness. When we arrived at the
corridor Tyhlaur and I stopped, peering up and down and listening
intently for any sound of the Ungulion patrol. The corridor was
shadowy and broad, with little alcoves placed every twenty feet or
so. I could imagine that in some earlier age, guards would have
been posted in them. The shadows would serve for good cover.

“
Clear,” I
whispered.

“
Clear.”

Tyhlaur gestured over his shoulder at the
others, pointing to the right. He apparently had the same thought I
did. As soon as we had scrambled out of the shaft, he ran straight
for the first dark niche. He pushed me in first, then pressed his
back against the wall and leaned to glance over his shoulder. In a
moment I saw Aniira and Kurtis dash past, their feet hardly making
a sound. Kurtis had abandoned his dress shoes along with the rest
of his earthly clothes at Syarat’s camp, and now, except for his
glasses, he blended in perfectly with the rest of us. His new
sandals made the faintest tapping on the stone floor, but nothing
that would raise an alarm.

“
They made it,” Tyhlaur
whispered.

“
Are we going?”

He shook his head. His arm reached up, held
me back. I caught my breath and sank as far into the corner as I
could. The unmistakable ringing of metal-clad boots grew steadily
louder. Sputtering light danced off the walls, creeping toward us.
Then the Ungulion appeared. I didn’t see him until he was already
passing us by. His torch lit up the wall of the alcove opposite us,
and he never paused to check the other side. He’d probably never
had a reason to. I couldn’t imagine he thought the patrol was
anything more than a formality. After all, who would go to such a
place willingly?

We waited till he was almost halfway down
the hall, then we ran to the next furthest alcove. There was only
one more, then the grey wooden door in the corner that opened onto
the staircase.

My mind raced, and my heart ached like it
was actually being torn in two. I couldn’t think. Couldn’t decide
what to do. Nothing made sense. What would Damian tell me to do?
What would Yatol?

Tyhlaur waved his hand again, signaling
Aniira and Kurtis to go. I wondered why they were hesitating. After
a moment they passed us by, and I watched Tyhlaur, frozen and
anxious, until he relaxed. They’d made it. After a moment Tyhlaur
straightened, his whole body going tense.

“
What was that?” he hissed
suddenly. “Clear or not?”

He paused, poised to run, checking and
re-checking the corridor. Finally he stepped out, and halted. I
knew without anyone telling me that he had walked out right in
front of the Ungulion. Without thinking, I reached out and grabbed
him by the tunic, hauling him back into the alcove. Down the
corridor came a soft scraping sound, then a wet sort of thud. I
risked a glance and saw Aniira standing over the bowed form of the
Ungulion, two knives bare in her hands. And the Ungulion, just
kneeling there like he’d been turned to stone.