The Fourteenth Key (The Chronicles of Terah Book 3) (92 page)

As the time grew close, Kevin’s nerves began to settle down. At 6:15, after changing into a fresh uniform, he met with Alek, Rigel, and Gen. Crandal in the general’s office. He told them he’d found out there were some women being held in the caves to cook for the men, and they’d be rescuing them, too. Then he said he had a few last minute arrangements to make, but he’d be back around 6:30.

He made a quick trip out to the stable to pick up Nikki. “I’m going to take her inside for a bit, but I’ll be pretty busy later this evening. Will it be all right if I bring her out to your place later?”

Marshall nodded. “I’ll be there, and good luck with the rescue tonight.”

Kevin felt his stomach knot up. If the rescue attempt was common knowledge, Rolan’s spies would know, and if they’d passed the information on, Gwendolyn might know. And if she knew, they’d be walking into a trap. And worst of all, she’d move Chris and Elin.

Marshall’s eyes widened at the look on Kevin’s face. “Guess I wasn’t supposed to know about that.”

“What do you know? And how do you know it?”

“I overheard Neiven and Cpt. Lawrence this morning. Cpt. Lawrence said you were going to rescue some men and take them to a camp, and they were going to need some eating utensils. Neiven spent most of the day making them.”

Kevin nodded. “That’s fine. Did you mention anything about it to anyone?”

Marshall shook his head. “Neiven told me when I first started out here that I’d probably hear stuff I wasn’t supposed to, and if I wanted to keep my job, I’d keep whatever I heard to myself. I haven’t ever repeated anything I’ve heard out here. I’ve asked him about a few things, but I’ve never mentioned any of it to anyone else. I like my job. I want to keep working here. I don’t want to mess this up.”

“Don’t worry, you haven’t. Just remember what he said. Don’t ever repeat anything you hear. You can ask me about it, or Chris, or Neiven, but no one else. Deal?”

“Deal.”

Kevin nodded. “Now I need to get back inside. See you later.”

It was time to get started.

~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin couldn’t shake the sinking feeling he’d gotten when Marshall mentioned the rescue. If Marshall had overheard Cpt. Lawrence and Neiven, someone else might have, too. Darius was no longer in the stable area, but there was no way to be sure they’d uncovered all of Rolan’s spies. And who knows how many other sorcerers had planted spies in his castle.

King Merdin and Dani were waiting when he and Nikki reached his room. Dani picked up Kevin’s thoughts as soon as he came through the door.
“He thinks Gwendolyn might be expecting us,”
he told King Merdin.

“Have you decided how you want to do this?” King Merdin asked.

“I want to get the men out first. By then, it will be time for the women to get up anyway, so maybe they’ll be up and dressed.”

“You could run into a couple of guards.”

“I know, but it’s a risk we’ll have to take.”

“All right. I’ll take you to the cave where the men sleep first and then to the women’s quarters on our way back. If they’re not in their room when you get there, the kitchen is across the passageway.”

Kevin nodded.

As Kevin picked up his red sash and tied it around his waist, King Merdin continued. “I think it would be best to go in between the two caves, in that small hallway between the men’s sleeping area and the guards.”

Kevin straightened his tunic. “If we run into any trouble, hit the floor. I’ll be right behind you, and I won’t hesitate to use force if I need to.”

“Got it.” King Merdin petted Nikki, who was trying to ease her way past him to get to the cat sitting behind him. “Stay right here, girl. I’ll be back in a minute.”

Dani put a paw on his back as Kevin laid a hand on his shoulder. With a twist of the key, they were off to the caves in Landoryn.

When they emerged from the energy field, they were in a narrow tunnel. Kevin could see a dim light around the opening on his left, but the room off to his right was well-lit.
“Anything happening?”
he asked.

“Not at the moment,”
Dani answered.
“There are four guards, and they’re all asleep, not sound asleep, but I could push them that way if you’d like.”

“Maybe when we start moving the captives out. I like the idea of them sleeping through the whole thing.”

“Most of the captives are asleep, too. They’re scattered around the other room in groups of four or five. But there’s one group towards the back who are awake and talking.”

“They’ll be the first to spot us. I guess how smoothly this goes depends on their reaction.”

“I could put them to sleep,”
Dani suggested.
“Why don’t you and King Merdin check out the women’s quarters and then go back to Milhaven? I’ll listen to their conversation while you’re gone and see if there’s anything we need to know. You can decide what you want to do when you get back.”

Kevin shook his head.
“I don’t like leaving you here without a key.”

“You’re coming back, aren’t you?”

“Of course.”

“Then don’t worry about it. No one will even know I’m here. Go on.”

A moment later, Kevin felt a hand on his leg, and a couple of seconds after that, he was in another passageway. It was a bit larger and had glowstone torches attached to the walls.

King Merdin made himself visible and pointed to a room off to the right. There was no door, but there weren’t any guards stationed anywhere around there either. Kevin nodded, put his hand on King Merdin’s shoulder and they went back to Kevin’s bedroom.

When they came out of the energy field, King Merdin pulled off his key and handed it to Kevin. “Now go. Get your men and get this rescue under way. I’ll be right here with Nikki when you’re done.”

Kevin’s face was full of worry.

King Merdin frowned. “This one’s easy. It’s nothing like marching into that crazy guy’s office. What’s the problem?”

Kevin shook his head. “I was the only one in danger that time. This time I’m dragging a bunch of people with me. What if something goes wrong? What if one of them gets hurt?”

“That’s a chance everyone takes when they get out of bed in the morning. But I can tell you this. They won’t be in any more danger tonight than that little girl and Chris were the day Gwendolyn burst into your office and started this mess.” King Merdin took a breath and added, “You’ll be there to watch their backs, and you aren’t defenseless. Plus, you have a secret weapon no one knows about. You have Dani. Now go. Get this over with. You’ll feel better once it’s done.”

Kevin gave a quick nod, turned his key, and went to Gen. Crandal’s office.

Alek, Rigel, and Gen. Crandal stood up when Kevin arrived. He handed King Merdin’s key to Alek. Then he removed the key to Terah from his chain and handed it to Rigel. Before anyone could object, he held up his other key, the one to the gate. “Yes, I have a key. Gen. Crandal and I won’t be there without a quick escape.”

Alek grinned as Rigel nodded.

“When we get there, we’ll be in a small tunnel. There are guards in the room with all the light, but when I left, they were snoozing, not sound asleep, but dozing. If we’re quiet we may be able to get in and out without waking them up.” He glanced around as they all nodded. “The other room is pretty dark, and it’s a lot bigger. That’s where the captives are sleeping. Best case scenario? We go in, wake a few up, get them out, wake up the next group, get them out, and so on until we’re done.”

Alek frowned. “They may come up swinging. I probably would.”

“I know,” Kevin said. “I said it was best case. Anyway, keep it as quiet as you can, and don’t worry about the guards. They’re my problem. Your responsibility is to get those men out of there.”

“Then we’ll go get the women?” Alek asked.

Kevin nodded. “As soon as the men are out, so don’t waste time checking on me. I’ll be fine.”

“And I’ll be watching his back.” Gen. Crandal patted the sword on his belt.

Kevin nodded and held out his arms. Soon they were standing in the narrow tunnel, listening. But only Kevin had anything to listen to.

“The men at the back are talking about making a break for it,”
Dani said.

“What? Right now?”

“No, tomorrow, when the guards take them to the mines. They’re planning to break away from the group when they’re close to the main tunnel and make a run for it.”

“That’s suicide.”

“I know. So do they, but they think death’s better than this.”

“Are the guards still asleep?”

“Yes, and they’re going to stay that way. I decided it wouldn’t be good for them to wake up in the middle of things,”
Dani said.
“Don’t worry. They’ll never realize they had any help. They’ll wake up feeling refreshed and think they’ve had the best night’s sleep of their lives.”

Kevin almost laughed.
“Thanks.”
He used his seeing eye to check out the large chamber. The men who were talking were sitting against the wall near the back of the cave, in a little alcove, well hidden from the door.

Kevin whispered to the others, “The guards are still sleeping, and from the sound of it, a little more soundly than earlier. I just checked out the main chamber. There’s a group of men at the back sitting up talking. If all of us go through this door, they might sound the alarm. I’m going to try to get to them and let them know who we are and what we’re doing without stirring things up, but if things get noisy, don’t stay in this tunnel. Take cover in the chamber and leave the guards to me.”

Without waiting to hear their arguments, Kevin slipped down the tunnel and into the chamber. He stayed close to the cave wall as he walked around the sleeping men. When he reached the side of the alcove, he listened for a minute. They were whispering so low he couldn’t make out the words, but he did hear a pause in the conversation. That’s when he stepped around the corner.

Kevin held his finger in front of his lips in the universal sign for quiet and squatted down in front of them. “Would you gentlemen like to get out of here?”

The men looked at him like he was crazy, but no one spoke.

“My name is Myron, and I’ve come to take you back to Camden.”

“What about the others?” one of the men asked, nodding towards the sleeping men scattered around.

“Them to, and if you could help us wake them up and move them this way without making any noise, we might be able to do this without disturbing the guards.” Kevin tilted his head towards the narrow tunnel that led to the guards’ room.

“There are some women here, too,” one of the men said.

Kevin nodded. “I know. We’re going to get them out, too.”

All five men stood up and started working their way around the room, quietly rousing the others and directing them towards the alcove. Meanwhile, Kevin slipped back around the wall to the tunnel where Alek, Rigel, and Gen. Crandal were waiting. Kevin motioned for them to follow him.

“Still quiet out front?”
he asked Dani.

“Still sleeping,”
was the reply.

In less than an hour, Alek and Rigel had cleared the room. When they took what Kevin thought was the last group, he asked Dani,
“Is there anyone left? Did we overlook anyone?”

“No. Room’s clear. Everyone’s gone.”

When Alek and Rigel got back to the cave, Kevin took them to the passageway outside the women’s quarters. Light came through the door and there was the sound of women’s voices, but no sign of any guards.

“Any guards?”
Kevin asked Dani.

“Not that I can find,”
Dani answered.
“They must not consider the women worth watching.”

Kevin held up his hand to signal the other men to stay put and stepped out of the shadow into the doorway where the women could see him. One woman gasped, but the others just stood there, like seeing a stranger standing in their bedroom door was nothing new.

“Good morning. My name’s Myron, and I’m here to take you back to Camden if you’d like to go.”

The women turned to their make-shift beds, grabbed their few possessions, and gathered near the door. Kevin did a quick count. Eight women. He motioned to Alek and Rigel and then turned to the women. “They’ll take two at a time. I’ll stay here until all of you are gone to make sure nothing happens.”

Less than ten minutes later, all the women were gone. After the last group left, Kevin held out his arm to Gen. Crandal. Without saying a word, the general put his hand on Kevin’s arm as Dani put his paw on Kevin’s leg. Then Kevin turned the key and they left the caves in Landoryn.

~ ~ ~ ~

Kevin, Dani, and Gen. Crandal had only been back a couple of minutes when Alek and Rigel walked into the general’s office. After they gave Kevin his keys back, they headed back down to the kitchen to oversee things.

Once they were gone, Kevin told Gen. Crandal he was going upstairs to change into some older clothes but he’d be back in about twenty minutes. Gen. Crandal said he wanted to check on things in the dining room, but he’d be back by the time Kevin was.

Before Kevin left the office, he asked,
“Still with me, Dani?”

“Right beside you.”

When they reached Kevin’s room, King Merdin and Nikki were both on the couch, sound asleep. Dani jumped up on Kevin’s dresser before becoming visible.

King Merdin stretched his arms out and let them drop in his lap. “So, how did it go?”

“Smooth,”
Dani answered. “
The guards never woke up. They have no idea the captives are gone.”

King Merdin nodded. “Best possible outcome. They’ll spend today searching the tunnels. I doubt they’ll be in any hurry to notify Gwendolyn, especially as they can’t say what happened to them.”

Kevin nodded as he returned King Merdin’s key. “We couldn’t have pulled it off without you, Dani. Thanks.”

“No problem,”
the cat replied.
“Here’s hoping things go that well tomorrow.”