Kingsroad I

Chapter 8: Escape Plan

Chapter 8: Escape plan

The words calmed down the other people, though Wizshark shot a glare at HadiesStar and was still furious that HadiesStar had given them away.

“How are we going to get out of here?” Shadow wondered. “It’s all guarded.”

“Wait.” Mosspath was thinking. “Let me think.”

The other people were also deep in thought and silence fell in the still room of the prison cells.

“Are there guards at night?” Mosspath asked, breaking the long still silence in the air, but still thinking.

“Yes,” Shadow answered, “they’re everywhere.”

“Okay.” The room fell back into a silence.

“Maybe someone could cause a distraction,” suggested Wizshark.

“Wait, our pets aren’t captured!” DarkSkies realized.

“Oh, yeah!” HadiesStar responded. “But NightStar’s here,” he pointed at NightStar, who was still perched loyally on Mosspath’s shoulder.

“Okay, then he could be the messenger, then,” Shadow suggested.

“How will he get out of here though?” Wizshark asked, looking at the bars that caged them in, with a rail on top of them.

“Easy!” Mosspath answered. “NightStar could just fly out of here,” she looked up at NightStar, who flew out of the cage and sat on one of the metal rails and preened his feathers.

“Sure okay,” HadiesStar agreed. “What’s the message?”

“How about that all of them come and let Hallowfire burn everyone alive?” Darkskies suggested sarcastically while NightStar cocked his head as if he was taking him seriously. “I’m just kidding,” he added hastily at NightStar, who resumed listening to the conversation.

“That actually could be a good idea,” Shadow remarked. “We could get Hallowfire, Flatulence, and Flame to burn them as a distraction and then the rest of us could ride our pets afterwards, if possible.”

“Sure,” Darkskies muttered under his breath. “I bet it’ll be really easy to ride a cat.”

Shadow glared at him. “I said if possible.”

“Sorry,” Darkskies apologized.

“Okay so that’s the message,” Mosspath quickly explained to NightStar in detail what the plan was. “Go!” Nightstar took off in a flurry of golden feathers.

* * *

Night was falling fast as NightStar flew silently out of the cave corridors. The air drafted beneath his wings and he swooped under the narrow entrance and cut out into the cold fresh air.

There was the ship, with their pets getting restless without the return of their masters. The tree that the ship was tied to was waving, it’s branches bended in the strong wind. Dark skies were coming on the approach of a storm darkening over the horizon.

NightStar slowed his steady drumming of his wings and circled the ship, swooping down in a landing after the third circle.

“Where are the others?” Claw the grizzly bear shifted from paw to paw uneasily while Furrocious whined and mewed piteously.

NightStar ignored Furrocious and instead turned to answer Claw’s question. “They’re trapped.” A breath of horror fell over them. “And in a cave that they rested in.” NightStar angled his head so that his eyes fell on the dark cave entrance that the group had rested in.

“How stupid of them,” HallowFire muttered, snorting flames as he paced restlessly around the bank. “Humans don’t have the sense anymore these days,” he gazed ruefully at the cave though, and NightStar knew that he was fond of his master, HadiesStar, no matter how much trouble be got into, beside his grumpy words.

“So,” Flame began, “what’s the plan?”

NightStar paused, recalling the urgency in Mosspath’s tone and what the strategy was. “You are going to battle it out. So you three,” he nodded at Flame, HallowFire, and Flatulence, “are going to burn as many people as possible. Then, Furrocious and Claw will attack on ground level as a distraction. After you have done as much damage as you can, then get to the cave and carry them if you can, while the rest distract them. Get to the ship as fast as you can when you’re done.”

“Okay, got it.” Claw nodded.

“You all got it?” NightStar confirmed.

“Yeah.” The rest of the heads nodded.

“Let’s go then. Wait for my signal.” NightStar took off back towards the cave. “I won’t be long!”

* * *

Mosspath and the group waited anxiously for NightStar’s return. She kept muttering to herself that NightStar would be back. Before long, an explosion of golden feathers shot from the entrance and landed on the rail, telling Mosspath what happened.

Mosspath raised to head. “Our pets got it.” she announced, loud enough to swallow the exhaled breath of relief from the others. “When they come, the signal will be when the flames flicker on the stone walls of the cave.”

“Okay.” The group was bright and determined to get out of this cave, and quickly too.

NightStar flew out out of the cave. Mosspath called after him, “Quickly NightStar! Quickly!”

* * *

NightStar’s wings soundlessly curled the warm air drafts as he swooped down and beat his wings noiselessly, propelling him up out of the warm draft and into the cold air up. What a relief it was to get out of that cave! he thought as he neared the L.O.L. Shamrock, as the group called it. What a mess they got themselves into! He did not dislike them but knew that they should be more careful next time if they wanted to stay out of trouble. What a mess!

The golden eagle neared the ship and caught the glimmer in their eyes and they glinted off the clouded moonlight that the dark storm clouds partly hid.

His golden feathers glowed in the pale light as NightStar puffed them up, signaling for them to follow him.

NightStar swooped down low so that his talons almost barely scraped the top of their heads. “Got it?”

“Yes,” Claw hissed and NightStar beat his wings, stirring up the wind so that it ruffled Claw’s fur. “Now get back up there!”

He ascended back towards the warm draft of air that floated low in the air, barely skimming the ground. The thermals were too warm so he ascended higher, but not losing track of the animals below him, their silhouettes dark against the cloudy mist along the ground.

The cold sharp wind made him gasp in surprise. A strong wind pushed him back, but NightStar determining flapped his wings, descending towards the warm draft again. They were almost towards the cave.

* * *

The bright flicker of bright flames woke the group from where they dozed off. Mosspath got up sharply and collected the small hidden bow that she always carried with her. There were also arrows that were still usable. She saw the others get out their hidden weapons that they carried with them.

Soon enough, faithful old HallowFire appeared at the entrance. He breathed out fire onto the metal bars and they began to bend, until they were nothing but molten metal that melted down to a scorched lump of molten bars. The rest of the pets appeared at the entrance.

“Everyone ready to ride their pets?” asked Shadow, mounting Flatulence.

“Excuse me?!” replied DarkSkies. “Remember I can’t ride a cat!” Furrocious mewed in agreement at the statement and the idea of getting squashed by DarkSkies was horrifying.

“Oh, yeah,” Mosspath remembered. “You can ride with HadiesStar.”

“Fine,” DarkSkies muttered, wanting to have his own mount.

“Let’s get going,” HadiesStar announced, holding Furrocious so DarkSkies could get on HallowFire.