Spellslinger (Spellslinger #1)(78)

Third-Eye landed face first on the hard, rocky floor. He wrapped a strong hand around my ankle and started pulling me down with him. I leaned over to try and knock him out with my rock, but Reichis beat me to it, leaping onto the man’s back and clawing through his linen shirt and into his skin. Apparently this was just as painful as it looked, because within seconds Third-Eye had released my ankle. He scrambled on hands and knees and fled the room, desperately trying to dislodge Reichis, who kept chittering, ‘Who’s the mutt now, bitch? Who’s the mutt now?’

‘Reichis, get back here!’ I shouted, even as I turned back to face the other attackers. Fortunately Tusks was on the ground, unconscious, while Ears was on his hands and knees, still stunned from my earlier efforts with the rock. He raised his knife and swiped, trying to slash at my legs. I saw Ferius, still hanging from the post, raise one booted heel and then kick Ears in the side of the head. He went down hard and stayed there.

‘Hey, kid,’ she said, eyes barely able to focus on me. Even in the dim light I could see the bruises on her face and angry red welts around her neck. ‘This your idea of a rescue?’

‘It’s not like I’ve had a lot of practice,’ I countered. I was shaking, barely able to keep hold of the rock, which now felt slick with blood. ‘How am I doing so far?’

She gave a hoarse chuckle. ‘Untie these ropes and help me get your sister out of this damned mine and into some fresh air so I can have a smoke – then I’ll let you know.’

I was in the process of doing just that when Reichis came racing back into the room. ‘We have a problem.’

‘What now?’ I asked, using Third-Eye’s abandoned knife to cut at the ropes holding Ferius’s wrists.

Reichis looked oddly embarrassed. ‘Turns out I was wrong when I said there was only three of them down here.’





35


The Tunnels


With Ferius free and Shalla now in my arms, we ran as fast as we could through the tunnels. That proved not to be very fast at all. It turned out I wasn’t as strong as I’d always assumed, and it was all I could do to keep from dropping Shalla or falling flat on my face.

‘Let me take her,’ Ferius said. ‘You’re barely holding on.’

‘And you’re barely conscious,’ I said.

She shook her head. ‘Damned drugs. They forced something down my throat when they caught me. It’s making me dizzy.’

I kept us moving, trying to listen for which tunnels might be clear. I could already hear the echoes of our pursuers’ boots striking the rocky ground of the mine as they came after us. ‘How many more men?’ I asked.

‘Five,’ Reichis chittered.

‘Six,’ Ferius said. She glanced down at the squirrel cat. ‘How many did he say?’

The next few seconds of running were punctuated by Ferius and Reichis arguing over who had the better hearing. It would have been less annoying if they didn’t need me to translate. For my part, I didn’t care who was right, but since I had no idea how well squirrel cats could count, I went with the higher number.

We hit another intersection, the narrowing tunnels splitting off in three separate directions, each equally dark, dank and menacing. Which way out?’ I asked.

Ferius peered each way, eyes narrowed as she tried to fight off the dizziness from the drugs. ‘About thirty yards straight ahead and then we turn right,’ she said.

Reichis ran ahead then turned back. ‘Can’t go this way,’ he said, and raced back past us.

Over the next few terrifying minutes we fell into a pattern, making turns or doubling back every time we heard the men in masks getting too close. Ferius would figure out the most likely path and Reichis would scout ahead, checking to see if it led out of the mine or into more danger.

The problem was, however good Ferius’s guesses were, she’d only been in these tunnels once, and the men in masks knew them a lot better than we did. Every time we thought we were getting close to the exit, they managed to cut us off and we were forced to turn again.

‘They’re herding us deeper into the mine,’ Reichis grumbled.

‘Yeah,’ Ferius agreed, once I translated. ‘Reckon that’s the point.’

With no other options, we just kept moving. I had to stop more frequently now, kneeling down to rest Shalla on my thighs to give my arms a moment’s rest. I tried to wake her up, hoping she could run on her own, but the veins of ore in the tunnel walls that were making me feel sick must have been infinitely worse for someone with Shalla’s magical ability.

We were slowing down, and our pursuers knew it. The echoes of their footsteps were accompanied by laughter. The hyenas had almost run down their prey.

‘You go, kid,’ Ferius said, leaning against the wall. ‘Me and the squirrel cat will slow them down while you—’

‘I’m not leaving you here!’

‘And when did I volunteer to die down here just so two lousy humans could live?’ chittered Reichis.

‘As it turns out,’ a voice called from the tunnel behind us, ‘no one is leaving here.’

Without a word, Ferius and I lifted Shalla from the floor, each taking one arm across our shoulders as we half ran, half stumbled down the passageway, driven by nothing more than panic and a last burst of strength.