Scales

Chapter 10: Knight in Shining Armor

The fluorescent light pierced through her head. Catalin groaned and shut her eyes. Her body felt drained and weak as though she had been running for a very long time. Suddenly, a warm hand touched her face. Opening her eyes quickly, Catalin jerked away from the person.

"Hey, it's all right. I'm not going to hurt you," the young man whispered.

Catalin stared at the boy. He had dark brown hair and hazel eyes. When he unfastened the restraints on her wrists, Catalin reached down and released her ankles.

"Who are you?" she asked in a hushed tone.

"My name is Blade. I've been a prisoner here for a while, but I managed to escape today. I was hoping that you maybe knew of an escape route."

"I'm so sorry," Catalin replied. "I don't know how to get out of here. The other prisoners told me that this place is in the middle of the woods."

"Yeah, I made it out to the highway once before I got recaptured."

"Then you could take us that way again!" Catalin said excitedly.

"I could except I don't know how to get out of this building. The front door is the only way that I have found, and it's now heavily guarded."

Biting her lip, Catalin considered any other escape routes. She could feel Blade's eyes studying her. Finally, she looked up and shook her head.

"The only exit that I have seen is the front door. There's probably another way out, but I haven't found it. I haven't even found any windows."

"Then, I guess we're stuck here until we can figure out an escape."

"Maybe I could help with that."

Catalin yelped with surprise when the voice came from seemingly nowhere. Swiftly, Blade placed a hand over Catalin's mouth and pointed. A grate on the floor just below her shifted to the side. Two hands came out of the opening, and then a head popped through unexpectedly.

"Did you miss me?"

"Syrenthia," Catalin gasped, "what in the world are you doing here?"

"I'm your knight in shining armor here to rescue you of course," Syrenthia replied, pulling herself the rest of the way up. "Who's your friend?"

"This is Blade," Catalin introduced the young man. "Now, let's get out of here. You won't believe what all has happened."

"I might." Syrenthia led the way back down the ladder. "I did see Eamon turn into some type of crazy monster thing."

"Oh yeah, that's not actually Eamon," Catalin explained. "He's being held captive here. That was just one of those reptilian creatures pretending."

"Eamon's here!" Syrenthia stopped moving. "We have to go back and save him."

"No," Blade disagreed. "It's too dangerous. If we go back, we'll get caught for sure."

"Blade is right," Catalin put in. "The only way to rescue him is to get out of here and contact the authorities."

Syrenthia hesitated for a moment and then nodded her head. Blade followed her into the cart and held out his hand for Catalin. While the small girl clambered inside, she glanced backwards. Two brilliant blue spots stood out in the darkness. Catalin squinted at them for a moment before realizing that they were eyes.

"Syrenthia, go!" she yelled. "Now!"

Instantly, the reptilian looking down the trapdoor leapt to the ground. Syrenthia slammed down on the right floor pedal at the back of the cart. Lurching forward, the cart began rumbling down the tracks. The black and silver reptilian spread out his wings and lifted into the air.

"He's following us! Hurry!" Catalin shouted.

Syrenthia pressed down on the pedal with all of her strength. As the cart began picking up speed, the reptilian fell farther and farther behind. Breathing in deeply, Catalin sank down to the floor of the cart. Relief flooded through her as she realized that they were on their way to safety.