The Forgotten Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 6)

Chapter 8.3

She woke with a vision of blood in her mind and was halfway out of bed before Stecklan caught her. "Easy, Lady Sabrina. It was just a dream."

"No," Sabrina gasped. "Something's happened. Let me go!"

Stecklan pushed her firmly back onto the bed. "It was just a nightmare. With everything you've been through, it's not surprising—"

"Don't patronize me!" she snapped. "Where is Ford?"

"Asleep."

"Go make sure."

Stecklan shook his head. "It's more than my life's worth to leave you unguarded, my lady. You know that. Look, I'll call him on my comlink, all right?"

"All right." Sabrina folded her arms and leaned against the bed, trying to calm down. Despite the panicked urgency she felt, some rational part of her mind realized she could be overreacting to a dream as Stecklan believed.

But Stecklan was frowning at his silent comlink with an expression Sabrina recognized: dawning horror. He looked up at her.

"Let's go," Sabrina said, reaching for her robe.

"You can't—"

"You won't leave me here alone, and we can't not go help Ford. You know he would be answering if he weren't in trouble. Let's go!"

"Maybe he's just asleep," Stecklan said unconvincingly.

"He's a light sleeper," Sabrina replied. "Stop arguing with me, Stecklan. I'm going to go find him if I have to break every bone in your body to do it."

Stecklan believed her, she could tell. He took a step back from her glare, the same one she had used to convince Asnefer that she would fight to the death rather than have Praxatillus annexed by Homeworld. "All right. You stay behind me. If anything happens to you, the prince is going to flay me alive," he grumbled. He pulled the stunner out of his belt and handed it to her.

"You keep it—" she started to protest, then stopped as he pulled a blaster from an ankle holster. "You aren't supposed to have that."

Stecklan shot her an annoyed look, and she shrugged. "Sorry. Habit. Lead the way, Captain."

They hadn't gotten very far when the sounds of fighting reached them—mostly hand-to-hand, from what Sabrina could make out. She whispered, "Try not to kill anybody unless you have to. I'll try to stun them all and we can sort them out later."

"I think," Stecklan said, "that you are a little confused about who is in charge here, my lady."

Sabrina resisted the urge to stun him and be done with it. "Then what is your plan, Captain?"

"I'm going to stick my head around the corner and see if the prince is there. If he's not, there's no need for us to get involved," Stecklan pointed out. "If he is, I'll make him a pathway out. You stay out here and watch my back. You're in no condition for a fight, and you'll only make more work for us if you try to help."

Now she wanted to hit him. "Okay, Captain, message received. I've got your back."

It all happened very quickly. Sabrina turned to keep watch behind them as Stecklan ducked out into the intersection of two corridors. There was a burst of blaster fire, and the next thing Sabrina knew, she was nearly being trampled by Stecklan, Ford, and Ranfir, who was holding a little girl she assumed was his daughter.

Ford grabbed her elbow and pulled her along with them, but he didn't take the stunner she held out to him. He apparently had picked up a weapon somewhere along the way, and he kept her in front of him as he occasionally turned to fire on their pursuers. Stecklan provided most of their cover fire as Ranfir led the way through the maze of corridors. At last they reached a room with doors they could bar. While Ford and Stecklan did so, Ranfir put Elega down and kicked a rug out of the way, revealing a trap door.