Freya's Freedom (The Tower and the Eye Book 3) (10 page)

The Aracan Katuvana shook his head and turned to the window.

* * *

At least I’m a bit more comfortable now,
Freya thought as she stared across the table at her brother.
The ball and chain is preferable to having my head dunked in flesh eating fish.

“And that is how Erendell and I met and fell in love.” Grald smiled at his wife, who was busy slicing up meat and bread.

“Very sweet.” Freya didn’t even try to keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “Why did you have to become a Dark Paladin though? Surely she would have fallen for you as a good knight.”

Erendell turned to look at her, her golden eyes gleaming molten in the lamplight.

“Never. I have been a follower of the Aracan Katuvana for many hundreds of years. Your brother would never have had a chance with me,” she laughed.

“Besides which, I enjoy it.” Grald looked at his hand, which sparkled with red flame. “I always did struggle with the honour required of a Gladiator Slave, not to mention having to lead raids for Lord Southnra. Only the thought of your fate should I break the rules, kept me from enjoying my kills.”

Erendell put the food on the table between them and massaged Grald’s shoulders.

“Now you can enjoy it as much as you want. The Aracan Katuvana only wishes results; he doesn’t care how he gets them.”

Freya dropped her eyes as they kissed passionately.
I have to get out of here. Where are the others?

“Eat up, Little Sister. You and Erendell are going to get to know each other and you’ll need all your strength for that.” Grald poured her a goblet of deep red wine.

“What are you going to do?” Freya ignored the wine.

“Sadly my resident Devil demon was decapitated by your friends. I’ve been sent a temporary replacement, so he and I are going to deal with the problem.” He swallowed deeply from his own goblet.

Freya’s heart leapt.
They’re alive!

“Then I have to deal with your ‘champion’ in the holding cell,” Grald finished.

“Please, allow us to deal with him.” Erendell said. “Your sister will need someone to take out her
frustration
on and we do have orders to take him alive.”

Grald nodded.

“Excellent notion, My Love. I’ll leave it to you then.” He smiled and looked at the laden table in front of them. “Shall we eat now? It’ll be the first family dinner we’ve had together for ages.”

Freya forced a smile onto her face.

“Of course, big brother.” She picked up her goblet. “To my big brother, the one who always rescues me.”

Grald’s smile broadened.

“Thank you, I’m glad you noticed.”

Erendell laughed and the two of them drank together.

Freya sipped from her goblet, recognised the tingle of a familiar drug and put it down to eat.
That’s the compliance cocktail Jetara used to use. I need to eat to mitigate the effects. I just hope that Lin and the others get me out of here before it takes full hold.

* * *

“The Holding Cell is just up here,” Vox said when they caught up with it at a heavily barred oak door.

Lin rolled her head on her neck, easing the strain from the fight they’d just had.

“How did you get through the guard post without fighting?”

“I just walked through,” Vox shrugged.

“You could have helped us.” She frowned at him.

“But you and Kraarz seemed to be having so much fun with the skeletons that I didn’t want to interfere.”

Lin’s face flushed.

“Peace, Lin.” Kraarz patted Lin on the arm. “That was a difficult fight, Vox. We needed your help.”

“Just because I help you sometimes, doesn’t mean I should fight your battles for you.”

Lin contented herself with scowling at the nonchalant Flixen and pushed the door open. She recoiled at the scent of decomposing flesh and sour blood that rolled out on the steam.

“What in Calliale’s name?”

There was a flash of bright blue light and a tiny transparent hummingbird appeared in front of her.

“It’s about time,”
the bird said, its wings a blur.
“Don’t you know we deities have to be called upon to help humans?”

Lin bowed her head.

“I apologise, Lady Calliale. I did not know you were intending to help us.”

“So my show with the hawk fell on deaf ears, huh.”
The humming bird charged at Lin’s face, stopping just in front of her nose.
“Typical. The Empress is in danger and you are going the wrong way. If you don’t get her out of here by sundown, our Nemesis shall have gained another willing servant and a foothold in Elysia.”

Kraarz raised white eyes to the bird. “Lady Goddess, we thank you for this instruction, but how are we to get her out of here unscathed? I suspect that the Custodian of this Dungeon will be here to deal with us in force shortly.”

“It seems that
Urakhs are becoming as dense as humans. Vox, you were given that body for a reason. Use it.”
The hummingbird circled Vox’s head.
“I cannot stay much longer or I shall bring too much danger upon your heads. Rescue the Empress and get her out of here by sundown.”
The bird disappeared.

Lin looked at Vox. “What did that mean?”

“I don’t know.” The Flixen looked puzzled. “Look, let’s go look in here and I’ll see if I can figure out what I’ve been given.” He padded in through the door, steam billowing out around him. “It’s all clear!” he called back.

Lin and Kraarz followed.

“My goddess!” Lin coughed as a wave of foul tasting smoke blew over her. “Have we stepped into the punishment circles of the netherworld?”

“I believe I would have felt it if we had,” Kraarz snorted. He sniffed the thick smoke and steam clogged air. “No. This is one of the Aracan Katuvana’s Torture Chambers.” He drew a deep breath, catching a hint of familiar perfume and smiled. “Our Lady has been here and left, but we have the chance to rescue another companion.”

“I know. I can see him,” Vox snapped and bounded across the cavernous room.

“He always has to throw that into my face,” Kraarz said sadly. “However, as I can see in other ways, the situation is not a difficulty.”

There was a crash as Vox cut the holding cell bars in four with two quick swipes of its front paws.

Lin and Kraarz hurried over.

“A little bit noisy, but effective,” Vox said, examining his claws. “No damage to my claws at all and the bars are solid steel.”

“Are you trying to get us killed?” Vrenstalliren snapped from the back of the cell.

Kraarz rummaged around in one of his many pouches and produced a suit of leather hunting gear. “Here, I took your spare set from Ohtár’s saddlebags. Something told me you might need them.”

Vrenstalliren dressed hurriedly.

“No chance of you having a sword in there is there?”

“Sadly, no,” the Urakh shrugged.

“I saw your weaponry in the Guard room,” Lin said. “I just didn’t realise it was yours.”

“Thank Espilieth for that.” The Paladin started to push past Vox, but the massive Flixen growled at him.

“Don’t move,” Vox sniffed the air. “We’re about to have company.”

“Control your creature, Urakh. Let’s go get Freya.” Vrenstalliren tried to push past again.

“There’s someone coming, Sir Vrenstalliren,” Kraarz told him. “Vox told you not to move.”

“Wonderful.” Vrenstalliren flexed his hands. “I have some revenge to exact.”

“Don’t be stupid, elf!” Vox snapped. “If I’m right about the abilities this body has been given, we should be able to get out of here without fighting.” He turned towards the cell. “Lin, Kraarz, get in the corner with the elf prince and sit still.”

Kraarz and Lin started to move, but Vrenstalliren stood his ground.

“We have to get me a weapon, I can’t fight with my bare hands like a commoner,” the elf prince objected, but Vox pushed him into a corner of the holding cell with one wing tip. “I told you to control your pet, Urakh.”

Lin sighed. “Vox doesn’t make it easy.”

Kraarz laughed. “He never did. You just never had to work with him in physical form before. We’d best do as he says.” He moved over beside Vrenstalliren and sat on the floor, pulling the elf down beside him.

Lin sat the other side of Vrenstalliren and Vox sat in front of them.

“I’m going to enclose you in my wings. I don’t have a huge wingspan just yet, so you can’t move.”

“What is the creature doing?” Vrenstalliren started, trying to stand up. “If there are creatures of evil coming, then I should fight them in Espilieth’s name. Give me your sword, woman.”

“No one uses my blade, but me.” Lin held back a laugh at the look on his face. “You chose the wrong goddess to become a Paladin of. Espilieth only helps with healing and magic. If you wanted aid in fighting then you should have chosen Tyr or Fiörna.”

The elven prince spluttered. “What are you trying to say?”

“Shush! They’re here,” Vox hissed at them.

Through the steam and smoke, Lin saw Grald stride in. He wore black burnished armour, and carried a massive bastard sword, blade bared, against his shoulder.

Lin blinked. “Looks like Vox is right about him then,” she whispered to Kraarz, touching his hand.

“I’m always right about people’s souls. I can see the state of them, remember?”
Vox said in her mind.
“Quiet.”

Around Grald swarmed a hundred or so dragon spawn and behind him rose the tall black horns of a Devil Demon.

“Another one. Damn,”
Vox growled in their minds.

“Fan out, search everywhere. My senses say they haven’t left the dungeon, so find them,” Grald commanded, using the tip of his sword as a pointer.

The Devil Demon moved up beside Grald. His golden eyes gleamed with intelligence and his body looked as hard as polished Redstone.

“No chance of tricking this one,”
Lin said.
“He’s obviously one of their better devil demons.”

“He has not succumbed to the greed of the demon half either,”
Kraarz added.

Vrenstalliren saw the demon and his eyes went flat.

“I will not allow filth like that to bestride the world.”

“Shhh,” Lin whispered. “I don’t know how far Vox’s invisibility will shield us.”

“You figured it out then, Lin,”
Vox said, sending an image of a smile to her.

Lin rolled her eyes and held onto Vrenstalliren’s arm stopping him from moving.

The three companions held their breath as four Dragon Spawn examined the cut holding cell bars. One took a sample back to Grald who looked at it and passed it to the devil demon.

“Interesting. Clearly cut by an animal’s claws and yet, I know of no animal living that could do such a thing.” The devil demon’s voice carried clearly across to them.

“If you could name any animal that could do it?” Grald asked, impatience colouring his voice.

“Any? Well it would have to be the Sabre Toothed Flixaren. Our Forest Flixen and the Alethdanian Plains Flixen are related to them,” the demon smiled and Lin shuddered at the shreds of flesh between his teeth. “Sadly, the Sabre Toothed Flixaren died out many thousands of years ago, during the War of The Gods.”

“I don’t need a history lesson, Iniran. What does it look like?” Grald barked, swinging his blade round to the demon’s chest.

“I was getting to that.” Iniran sounded hurt. “It’s six foot long with white fur, black stripes and wings. It has claws stronger than steel and if there is one in here, then we wouldn’t see it.”

“Why?” Grald ground the word out from beneath his teeth.

“The Gods of Light created it as a stealth assassin. It is invisible to Dark Creatures,” the demon told him

“And how do you know what it looks like if it’s invisible to us?” the dark Paladin appeared to be getting annoyed.

“You humans have a wonderful curiosity and you write your findings down. I read the description in a book.” Iniran smiled. “Wonderful things books.”

“A reading Devil Demon? That’s a first.” Grald turned his back on him to watch the dragon spawn’s efforts. Iniran rolled his eyes and stopped talking.

The Dragon Spawn finished their search and reported back to Grald. He slapped several around the head and sent them back to their lair.

“Nothing. Whatever it was that cut the bars must have eaten Vrenstalliren and scarpered. There’s no sign of Lin or her Urakh friend either.”

“What now?” Iniran looked relived as Grald sheathed his sword.

“Back to the Dais Room.” Grald rolled his shoulders. “If they are going to appear anywhere, it will be there. Take out the crystal and the dungeon falls apart; remember?”

Lin and Vrenstalliren exchanged an excited look. They waited until the room was clear, then Vox stood up and folded his wings back.

“You’re up to full growth now, Vox,” Kraarz commented, struggling to rise. Vrenstalliren helped the Shaman to his feet. “Thank you, your highness.”