When The Petal Fell

18-2

Sora's lantern flickered into and then out of sight as she ran, the bulk of Dylin's body a useful barrier. Then it stopped moving and Klaron caught up to the other two, both breathing heavy. Sora held out her lantern, showing a large room, below them, a thick, viscous liquid covering the floor. On the other side of the room, Klaron could just make out a ladder leading up to a set of pipes crossing the room in the other direction.

"This won't be nice." Sora jumped into the sludge in the room, sending a slow, thick wave spreading out from her. The liquid came up to the short, stocky woman's hips.

Dylin followed next, dropping into the sludge and sending it spraying up into the air, causing a miniature tidal wave to spread from him, catching and mixing with the wave Sora caused. Klaron could smell the foul liquid, but that didn't stop her. Her keen hearing could tell their attackers had not given up the chase. She jumped and tried to make as little splash as she could, the smell attacking her nostrils, making her retch.

Sora and Dylin already began wading through the liquid, heading for the ladder at the far end. Sora held her lantern high, no longer hidden by Dylin's large body, her other hand swinging to help keep her balance. But their attackers had found them again. Through the tunnel opening, they poured, falling into the foul smelling liquid and beginning to wade towards them.

As Klaron reached the ladder, Sora had already begun to climb, with Dylin only a few rungs beneath her. The ladder, old, wooden and rotting, didn't look like it could hold three people, let alone someone of Dylin's size. Bracing herself, Klaron knew she had to give them time to reach the top of the ladder. She tossed the lantern away and turned to face the attackers.

A female Dragon-Kin was the first to taste the wrong end of the half-staff, catching a blow beneath her chin, sending her head snapping backwards and her body to fall into the filthy mire around their legs. A Rat-Kin reared up, its claws reaching for her. She brought the half-staff down on its fingers, hearing the crack of several bones breaking, then thrust the half-staff into the Rat-Kin's throat, dropping it to its knees in the foul liquid, clutching at its throat and choking.

"Klaron! Get a bloody move on!" Above Klaron's head, she heard Sora call.

With one last sweep, she gained herself some space, throwing the staff into the faces of her attackers. She gripped the rungs of the ladder and began to clamber upwards, taking several rungs at a time. She heard the ladder creak, but she couldn't stop. She continued to climb, hand over hand, one foot after the other. She felt the ladder shaking and looked down to see several attackers trying to climb the ladder at the same time. The creaking became more pronounced.

At last, she neared the top, but she could feel the attackers nearing her feet and the ladder creaking even more. There came a shudder and the ladder pulled away from one support. She saw Dylin's hand reaching down and, with one last effort, she launched herself upwards, the big man's hand encircling her wrist and dragging her up into the air as if she weighed nothing. He dropped her onto the pipes and turned back to the ladder.

"Break it, Dylin." Sora's voice came out as a determined whisper and Dylin nodded.

He reached down, grabbing the sides of the ladder. Beneath the bloodied, filthy blue robes, and the bulk of his extra weight, Klaron saw his muscles tighten and expand as he strained, pulling at the ladder uprights. His teeth bared, his bald head covered with sweat, Dylin pulled with increasing strength, until he let out a roar that reverberated around the walls of the room. The ladder came away from the wall, the uprights separating from the spindles, and sent the attackers half-way up the ladder spinning and cartwheeling back down into the putrid liquid below.

"You cannot escape. The girl is mine and she will finish what I started." Many voices, from the attackers that had not started climbing the ladder, came up from the dark below.