Streams - Book 1

Chapter 8

Escape

With the Leather-wing safely secured, the group made their way into the library. The twins scanned around every bookcase, looking for any place that an enemy might hide.

"Once we get out into the hallway follow my sister," Ava whispered, "she'll lead you to the secret entrance for the underground council chambers. I'll take Lilly and Aakil with me so that we can create a diversion if you're spotted." Jenni nodded in agreement and craned her neck around to help spy any leather-wings that might be hiding.

"Stop!" Mia whispered from over by the bookcase door. Jenni instantly froze as a shadow passed across the floor of the open bookcase.

"Hold your position." Mia mouthed to her sister, as she placed the tip of her sword on the floor at the bottom corner of the doorway. The image of two leather-wings was reflected in the polished surface.

"Leather-wings, fall back," she called. She quickly slammed the door, sending a cascade of books falling to the floor before the lock clicked shut.

"Now what?" Jenni asked.

"Is there any other way out of here?" Ava asked as her sister stood watching the bookcase door bounce and shake under the assault of the Leather-wings who pounded and scratched at it feverishly.

"It's not going to hold for long!" Mia shouted, "What's the plan?"

"We could try the windows in the classroom," Aakil said as he paced back and forth, tugging at his beard.

"The fall's too far," Ava denied. She drew her sword as a clawed hand broke through the bookcase.

"Time is running out, we fighting or we fleeing," Mia called.

"The play room Morathi had carved out for the children," Aakil shouted as he rushed to one of the bookcases. He pulled a thick book from its spot on the shelf, which caused a stack of books on the floor to flip to the side, revealing a hidden hatch.

"It was going to be a surprise," Aakil said to Lilly who was looking confused. "A group of miners veered off course and accidently dug through the area of the tree connected to the mountain. This caused several leaks and one big hole at the tree's base. Morathi and I had plans to turn the hole into a playroom for the children. It may be wet, but should be leather-wing free."

Ava raced past him and, without a second thought, dropped into the hole. She caught the ladder on the way down, wrapping her feet around its sides, and slid to a gentle stop in ankle-deep icy water. "It's wet, but it's not flooded, and there's some light coming in from one of the wider cracks in the trunk."

Mia gestured to the group, "Quickly, one after the other." First Lilly and then Aakil climbed down into the tunnel. Finally Jenni reached the ladder. As she stared down into the dimly lit hole, Ava rushed back and looked up the ladder. "Grab something to make into torches; the tunnel is pitch black further on," she called up to Jenni. Jenni nodded and moved away from the hatch. She called over to Mia, "Ava says we need torches."

Mia rolled her eyes, "Seriously?" But she started to look around the room for something that would hold a flame, without burning to quickly itself. Jenni walked toward the window, looking for rags or sticks to make a torch, as Mia picked up a couple of broken chair legs from across the room.

Jenni paused by the bookcase to the right of the window. Slowly she turned her head toward the curtains that were blowing back and forth in rhythmic waves. She heard something breathing behind the curtains; the material moving to stick to the window on the inhale and blowing back towards her on the exhale. Sliding her feet back, she tried to be extra quiet as she crept away from the window. Whatever was making the curtains move was not something she wanted to meet.

Crash! Jenni spun around to see the leather-wings break through the door. They let out a high-pitched screech that echoed around the room. Jenni clapped her hands over her ears and gritted her teeth against the horrible noise. The two leather-wings fought each other to get through the door and into the room. They paused to watch Jenni, who began to move for the trapdoor, and then fought even harder to get inside.

A loud crunch of splintering wood attracted the attention of Jenni and everyone else in the room. She focused on the window where black talons, much larger than the leather-wings', gripped the wood around the frame, causing it to buckle in places. For a moment, the room was silent as the leather-wings, the gnome warrior, and terrified human stared at the black head of the dragon Nero as he started forcing his way through the window. The frozen tableau was broken as the dragon let out a deafening roar.

The leather-wings finally scrambled into the room and Jenni was dismayed to see that Mia was caught between the dragon and the leather-wings. Her feet were glued to the floor as she watched the leather-wings stalk closer to Mia. Jenni must have made some sort of noise because one of the leather-wings swung its head in her direction.

"Run," Mia yelled. Both leather-wings immediately refocused on her and Nero took a deep breath. Mia spun away from the angry dragon as he exhaled a stream of fire that just barely missed the fast-moving gnome. Jenni scrambled backwards and, after a few steps, got her feet under her. She sprinted toward the trapdoor as flames from the dragon swept through the room. The bookcases around the room caught fire and Jenni saw the running gnome move even faster.

The gnome warrior leapt into the air, spinning her body and using the chair legs to bash the two leather-wings in their heads. Both creatures were knocked to the ground as Mia landed safely past them and continued to run in Jenni's direction.

"Go, go, go," Mia yelled as she motioned Jenni to climb down the ladder. The girl didn't have to be told twice as she scrambled down and backed away from the entrance. Mia came down right behind her, pulling the hatch closed behind her. "Did you miss me?" she laughed, as she dropped to the floor. She tossed the chair legs to her sister as Jenni and the others looked up and saw the flames from the dragon lick around the edges of the trapdoor.

"Doesn't anything ever scare you two?" asked Jenni, who was still shaken up by her mad dash from the dragon and leather-wings.

"Peace and Tranquility." the twins answered. They both pressed the upper part of their cuisse, near the top of their thighs, which revealed a hidden compartment where they both pulled out a wad of black vine.

"What's that black stuff," Jenni asked as the twins began to wrap the plant around the top of the chair legs.

"Fonger Vine," replied Lilly, "It burns bright and lasts a long time."

Ava pulled out a match struck it on her sister's armor to light it and then touched both of the torches. The dim room was suddenly filled with white light from the burning vine. Jenni was very impressed by how bright the light was and the fact that they had matches; she was expecting the gnomes to use flint and steel or something less modern to ignite a flame.

"Stay behind us a few feet, the ground is uneven and we don't need anyone breaking an ankle by finding a hole to step in," Ava said as the twins moved to the mouth of the tunnel.

Looking around the hollowed out room in the fading light of the torches, Jenni found a handful of candles lying on a half rotted table. Grabbing them up, she shoved them into her medical pack.

"Stay close," Aakil said as he stashed his book in one of his robe pockets. He then hiked the heavy garment up above his knees to try and keep it from getting wet.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to wander off," Jenni replied. She staggered carefully after Aakil, her shoes now heavy with water and mud. "Sorry Dad," she thought to herself as she remembered how expensive they were and that she had promised to take care of them. Well, no one could have predicted her falling into a different world or running for her life. She supposed that if she continued to need to run; it was good to have her high performance track shoes with her.