ANGEL OF JUSTICE (2014 revised)

Chapter Thirty Nine - Rescue

Rescue

Tamin raced along the Kendarian palace hallway with the four guards hot on his tail. As he raced up to a corner, a loud roar brought him to a skidding halt. Peeking around the corner Tamin caught a glimpse of two massive black scaled beasts padding up a circular staircase out of sight. From the open doorway at the end of the corridor ahead, a clash of steel was followed by screams of death. Somewhere distant echoed with a woman's blood curdling death cries. Tamin looked to the ceiling and cursed under his breath, someone had just died a terrifying death. The sounds of the pursuing guards were getting closer and he knew they would soon be upon him. He looked down at the small knife in his hand and almost laughed for it offered little protection against their swords.

Well this just keeps getting better! Perhaps I shouldn't have been in such a hurry to ditch my crossbow.

With the only avenue available, Tamin darted towards the staircase and down into the unknown. He prayed to the god of Good Fortune that the guards chasing him would believe he was involved in the conflict ahead and pay no heed to the stairs. Everything else had gone wrong since he entered the palace and the last thing he wanted was the beasts adding to his troubles.

Not that you've looked good on me so far this day, Lu'Kadia!

The racing footsteps of pursuit came and went and a renewed clash sounded from somewhere above. Tamin sighed with relief, for the moment he was safe. Descending another level of stairs, he paused and listened carefully before going any further. The only movement was the flickering light of the near gutted wall scones that revealed yet another level below.

Remember curiosity killed the cat! Already I'm late for the rendezvous with my Cardinian ship to get safely away from Kendera. I should have stayed scouting the palace grounds like I was supposed to! High Priest Thomas will have my head for this!

With a shrug and against his better judgement, Tamin walked along the corridor away from the stairs. He shook his head knowing there would be little chance of an exit down here. And either way he still had to return outside to retrieve the crossbow hidden in the bushes near the side door. Pausing at the end, Tamin glanced around the corner before continuing along another long stretch of corridor. At the end was a blind corner that turned sharply into a short flight of stairs and yet another corridor. As he continued, the marble passageways had given way to rough blocks of stone and Tamin knew he was underground. There won't be anything good down here.

Able to sense the presence of people through their feelings, Tamin suddenly knew more than one person was close by. They were unlikely to be soldiers as he could feel the despair, anger and hopelessness normally associated with prisoners. But he was not going to take that for granted as he swapped the small knife to his right hand and descended another flight of steps. Halfway down the next corridor a sudden clinking of metal confirmed his suspicions.

He approached the first of five arched doorways with caution. Within he saw rows of cell doors and an empty guard station lit by the flaming torch brands on the wall. Hearing a sob of despair, Tamin padded across the dungeon's stone floor to the far wall. Looking into the small barred window of the first cell he saw two dark skinned slaves. In the next a man was laying on the floor, his face bloodied and bruised. He knew the man was only asleep by the wave of anger radiating from his dreams. In the third cell a woman was sitting in the far corner, her back to the door. He felt a wave of sadness and despair emanating from her.

Tamin coughed softly. The woman turned and looked up at the thin face and beady eyes that regarded her through the steel bars. Her sadness turned to anger then switched to curiosity. "Are you another servant of my dung eating brother?"

Tamin shook his head. "No lady. I just happen to be lost and looking for a way out of this chaos."

The woman stared at Tamin with a tinge of hope and disbelief in her eyes as she calmly stood up straightening white robes streaked with dirt. "Well you won't find it down here in the palace dungeons." She replied pushing long black hair out of her tear stained face.