A Game of Chi Book III: A Sword of Dust

Chapter 36: Li'ella V

LI'ELLA

At top speed, the city of the Web faded away quickly and the ground began to flatten out. "We're not far," Cragger said, gripping his sword tightly. "I remember this place." Li'ella frowned, thinking about how far behind they were lagging. Cragger and I left maybe ten minutes after Tormak did? And our search for the flowers set us back half an hour or so? We might be too late. The fence bordering Spinlyn's territory soon came into view, but to Li'ella's surprise, there were no guards posted there. "The lock has been cut in two," Li'ella observed. Cragger laughed, which earned him a look of amusement from Li'ella. "That was probably my doing," he explained. When Rogon and I escaped, we threw the key Cavora knows where."

"Still," Li'ella began, looking around uneasily. "Why aren't there any guards?" Cragger shrugged. "If you want to press the advantage, I'd say we go in anyway." Li'ella nodded and they drove through, heading straight for Spinlyn's dome. As they drove, Li'ella saw a hole in the fence, the bars bright orange and smoldering. Nearby, there were overturned Speedorz, and she recognized them as the four that Tormak, Lundor, Rogon and Scolder had taken. "Look! They fought here," she said to Cragger. "Yeah," he began, "I think they still are." He pointed to the dome nearest to the hole, where Li'ella could just make out a group of spiders aiming bows at its opening. "I'm betting the others are in there," Cragger said, "in a stalemate. They can't come out, but the spiders don't dare go in." Li'ella nodded. "They must have been ambushed here. I think we could take those spiders by surprise and free our allies," she said. "But it's a job for one. Someone needs to find Eris and administer her with clarity blooms." Cragger sighed. "I'll help your friends," he declared. "I didn't buy this Vengious for nothing," he added, twirling his new sword. "Actually, I will," Li'ella decided. "What? You trust me to free Eris?"

"I trust you more with clarity blooms and persuader plants, and you've spent more time in here than me." Li'ella answered, and I need Eris to see you. "Can you do that for me, Cragger?" He nodded. "I can. Good luck, Li'ella. And thanks for believing in me. It's been a little while since anyone's done that."

Cragger drove off in the direction of Spinlyn's main dome as Li'ella headed towards the spiders who had her allies pinned down. One of them saw her, but it was too late, as Li'ella leapt off her Speedor just before it crashed into him. "Shoot that lioness!" Another one shouted, but he was instantly blasted by a fiery bolt, no doubt from Tormak's bow. "Let's help Li'ella!" she heard him roar. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Tormak, Lundor and Scolder charge out of the dome, their weapons in hand. "Fire on them!" a spider screamed, but as the guard turned to shoot their original targets, Li'ella ran up to them and began hacking at them with her axe. With the assault on two fronts, the remaining spiders were quickly killed, leaving Li'ella and the others breathing heavily. "You came," Tormak said. "I thought I told you —"

"There's no time for that now," Li'ella interrupted him. "Where's Rogon?" Lundor pointed at the Spinlyn's main dome. "He insisted on going after Eris himself, and before we could stop him, the spiders attacked us." Li'ella sighed. "Alright, that makes things a bit more complicated. We need to follow Cragger and get Eris and Rogon, now."

"Cragger?" Tormak asked incredulously. "You brought him here?"

"I said there's no time!" Li'ella exclaimed. "We should make haste before —"

"Before what, cub?" Li'ella spun around to greet the source of the voice. Trakkar had arrived behind them, as silent as nightfall. "Before what?" He had his metal claws in hand, emitting a warm, orange light. Lundor scoffed. "You can't take all four of us on at once," he said. "You know me better than that, Lundor," Trakkar retorted. "You're not getting past me, I can promise you that. Foltrax will rule Chima, and there is nothing you can do about it."