The Felinites

Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Abby's POV

Torren rounds the corner and I jump on his back. "Ah!" he screams when I make first contact. He reaches his arm around to his back and plucks me off him, standing me on the ground in front of him. "I don't mean to scare you, Abby."

"You did not scare me, but I do not want you here. Go away and leave me alone," I instruct as I move several steps away from him, sitting on the ground.

"Hey, I know what it feels like," Torren tells me, sitting beside me. "The Edacions have taken many, many of the Stepis soldiers hostage. We Stepis all lose someone to them at some point."

"Who did you lose?" I ask him with a sob.

"Sheena," he says, the single word his only answer.

"How long ago did the Edacions take her?" I ask.

"They have had her for two years," Torren answers. "I have been trying to get rescue parties rounded up to save our captives for two years but none of the others will help me."

"That is why you and your father and sister are helping us. Because we are the first ones that you have known to dare enter the Edacion kingdom in pursue of captors," I assume.

"Yes, I talked Tora and Brewer into helping you," Torren answers. "I need you to find out whether any of the Stepis soldiers from the battle that occurred two years ago are still being held."

"I do appreciate your help, but do not hold me and Princess Cleo here any longer. I need to find Dexter. I cannot stay here any longer," I try to persuade him, suddenly realizing that even though Tora seemed to be the one in charge, Torren is the real reason Princess Cleo and I have had this family's aide.

"If I managed to wait two years, you can wait two more days, Abby," Torren tells me as he stands and extends his hand to help me up as well. "Now, we should get back to the others. They will get worried if we stay gone too long."

"Yeah, you are probably right," I agree and finally decide to follow him back to Princess Cleo, Brewer, and Torren.

~*~*~*~*~

Over the course of the next two days, Torren and his sister and father continue training me and Princess Cleo. They welcome us into their home each night, telling us that rest is one of the most important steps in preparing for our rescue mission. Their home is set up similar to the hotel and craft station, full of spiraling light, cylindrical cubicles, and transparent ceilings.

Torren and Brewer finally manage to fix our spacecraft, but they did not understand the Felinites technology that ran through the once magnificent craft. Now it is hardwired with Stepis technology and runs like any Stepis craft would. Torren had to teach me to drive it, an immensely easier to operate machine.

Tora managed to teach me and Princess Cleo how to fight and how to use three different defense weapons fairly well. She also helped us revise our original plan as well as come up with several back-up plans in case something goes wrong. We thank the small family of three Stepis aliens that helped us so well and Princess Cleo and I board the craft, preparing to take off to Satera.

Dexter's POV

The heavy, metal door creaks open with a loud squeal and I realize I had fallen asleep on the cold, uncomfortable cement floor of my prison cell on Satera. I quickly try to recover myself, jumping to my feet and preparing to fight my way out past whoever opened the door. Suddenly the door slams closed once again, a resounding bang echoes throughout my cell and I am left staring at the door confused.

Why would they not enter or speak once they opened the door? Actually, a better question would be: Why did they open the door at all? Then I notice it. A plate full of foods sat on the ground right beside the door. A delectable aroma wafts toward me, invading my nose. I get closer to the plate to examine its contents. The plate was filled with large portions of several Felinite delicacies.

My stomach growls and I realize just how hungry I am. I begin to eat but immediately drop the plate, the dish shatters against the floor and the foods platters everywhere. A disturbing thought had occurred to me. I am a prisoner here. King Iago and King Sebastian have no obligations to feed me and even if they were to choose to, they would have an ulterior motive behind their generosity.

Knowing that Filinus specializes in potions and that our scientists are capable of creating thousands of different concoctions, I am aware that the food could contain anything from poison to a substance that could make me sleep, unaware of my surroundings and cause me to be vulnerable to the two kings and their antics. I pick up the shards of the plate and scoop the food up with my hands, carrying the evidence of my refusal to eat it to a dark corner in my cell.

I return to the middle of the cell and try to forget about the delicious smelling food that still let off a strong aroma. I try to listen through the thick wall of my cell, hoping to learn the specifics of my current predicament. The metal is just too thick though and my ears are useless. Rolling over on my back, I examine every inch of the ceiling, searching for any way out, something I have done what feels like a thousand times since I arrived. But just like each time before, the cell is too dark and the walls are too thick and too finely made to have any chinks in its armor.

After several more minutes have passed, the door opens again. This time, however, Priscilla enters, immediately grabbing my arms and yanking them behind me in such a position that if I jerk away from her, I will break both my arms. "Today is the day of your trial. Are you ready to tell King Sebastian and King Iago everything you know about their plans and where Abby and Princess Cleo are?" she asks mockingly.

"I will tell them nothing," I growl at her angrily, seeing her now reminds me of her betrayal to Abby, Princess Cleo, and the rest of Filinus.

"You did not eat the food!" Priscilla hisses softly, furiously, right beside my ear as she shoves me harshly against the cell wall.

"No, I suspected something was put in it that would harm me," I reply.

"There was a truth potion mixed into it so that you would not be capable of lying while on trial today," she explains, still furious. She shoves me down to the floor and paces the cell, her angry glare fixed on me the entire time.

"What are you so conflicted about?" I ask her, "Just report me. Tell the kings. They would fix a rebel like me."

"Hush, I am thinking," Priscilla grinds out through clinched teeth. I watch her, not sure what there is to think about. It should be simple. I did not eat the food, she should tell King Iago and King Sebastian. She abruptly stops pacing and kneels beside my side. With her so close, even with the lights so dim, I notice her right eye and her lip is swollen and her wrist is severely bruised. Someone had hit her, many times, since I had last seen her. Honestly, I am surprised anyone was capable of harming her after observing her excellent strength, which she had just demonstrated on me as she threw me around the dungeon cell.

She begins speaking in a rushed whisper, so fast I could barely keep up with her words. "I have no reason or want to be here anymore. I want out and I want to never again have anything to do with either of these kings or any other guards. If I helped you escape, would you help me escape?"

"Whatever it takes for me to get free of this place," I reply just as quietly as she had been speaking, jumping on any opportunity of rescue.

"Good," she says, relief flashing through her eyes. "The potion you were supposed to have taken would have made you weak, groggy, and incapable of lying. Once we exit this cell you need to act just like that. While in the trial, never say that you do not know the answer. Make up lies and remember them, because they will ask each question several times to make certain you are not lying. After the trial, I have been assigned to return you to your cell while the verdict is being decided, that is when we will make a break for it. Keep up with me from there."

"Got it," I answer. "So do not fight you at all when you drag me out of here in a few seconds?"

"Do not react at all, just look heavy," she answers, helping me to my feet and throwing one of my arms around her shoulders before leading me out of the cell.