Chapter 15
1701 Words
Chapter Fifteen
Taylor remained frozen against the wall. She hoped the guard didn’t turn and come down the small hallway where she had hidden the moment she heard him coming. She shivered, also hoping there were no creepy crawlies hiding in the narrow passage with her.
She was exhausted, but fear was giving her the strength to continue. It had taken her a good hour or more to get out of the lower tower. So far, none of her captors appeared to be aware that she had escaped. One look at the roof of the shorter tower and they probably assumed that she had fallen to her death!
More power to them if they try to go find my body, she thought nastily. If I had weighed an ounce more, the whole damn stairwell would have come down on me.
She had difficulties coming down the rickety stairs and had slightly sore ankles to prove it! Her feet had gone through at least three rotten steps. The others had just been missing. That wouldn’t have been a problem if she could have seen where in the heck she was putting her feet.
Sighing as the guard disappeared down the hallway, Taylor rose and slid along the wall to peek around the corner. She silently retraced her steps from this morning. After what happened to those poor men and women at the arena in the dome, she knew she couldn’t leave the other prisoners behind.
She paused and carefully removed an old torch from the wall. It had a foot-long piece of metal at the bottom. She felt along the wood and was relieved when she felt that it was nice and strong.
Turning it so that the metal end was facing away from her, she held it like a bat. Once again, she sent a word of thanks to the great unknown for giving her a chance to participate in a wide variety of sports. She leaned forward to peek around the corner once more before slipping out from her hiding spot.
Prymorus Achler, the Waxian, had been totally full of himself when he ordered the guards to escort her and the others to a small arena that they had built in the lower courtyard. It had been a huge, metal domed area. Six people, one Trivator warrior that she’d learned was called Ember, two women, and three other men had been pushed into the cage.
Nausea rose in Taylor’s throat as she remembered the slaughter. Two of the men had grabbed one of the women and held her between them. Ember and the other man had tried to help the woman while the other cried pitifully against the bars, holding out her arms and pleading for mercy.
That was when the gate had opened and two mammoth creatures her Waxians captors had called Gartaians, had been released into the cage. Taylor and the others watched in hopeless horror as the creatures ripped the woman held between the two men apart as they fought over her.
It had been a hopeless battle. None of the captives had been given a weapon. They had no way of defending themselves against the two creatures that stood almost four meters high and weighed in at over ten thousand kilograms.
The first two men attacked the other woman, ripping her away from the bars as she screamed and fought in an effort to shove her in front of them and keep the creature from attacking them. One of the beasts swung his massive head, piercing the screaming woman with one of the three tusks protruding from its mouth. The other Gartaian’s tongue swept out and dragged the impaled woman off the tusk and into its mouth. The sickening sound of bone being crushed had been too much for Taylor. She couldn’t watch any more.
Instead, she’d focused on how she was going to escape. She wouldn’t die in that cage, being eaten by some alien monster. She would rather take her chances of being killed while trying to escape, than end up being torn apart. Still, she couldn’t escape without trying to free the others. As far as she was concerned, the only one who deserved to die that way was Achler. She’d love to see how he liked being put in a cage with a Gartaian or two.
Rubbing her damp cheek on her shoulder, she winced when she swiped the bruise again. An angry scowl replaced her grief. She’d also like to hit the bastard upside the jaw with the end of a baseball bat. If she ever got a chance to kick him in the balls again, she was going to make sure they ended up in his throat! She hoped that the marble size jewels choked him, but not before the Gartaian ripped him apart.
She paused at the end of the corridor. Her eyes narrowed on the guard. He was taking a leak in the corner. The strong smell of urine filled the hallway. Gripping the torch, she silently stepped up behind him. She swung the end of the torch just as he was closing the front of his pants.
Taylor watched as the man spun around as if in slow motion before collapsing to the cold stone floor. Squatting down, she quickly searched him for the keys. She wiggled her nose at the offensive smell coming off the man, but continued to pat him down until she felt a bulky, metal object just under his left side. She set the torch down next to her and shifted him just far enough to pull the ring of keys out from under him. Grabbing the torch, she glanced at the man once more before rolling her eyes.
Weapons! He’s bound to have at least one on him, she thought in disgust.
Setting the torch and keys down, she stood up and rolled him over. Holding her breath, she absently wondered when was the last time the man had taken a bath. Deciding it must have been a long time, she pulled the weapon tucked in the front of his pants out with two fingers and grimaced.
“This is just nasty,” she muttered, bending and picking up the keys and torch again.
She sighed when she realized that she couldn’t hold all three items if she wanted to stay quiet. A shudder went through her as she tucked the laser pistol into the back of her pants. She was just thankful she was wearing a long shirt and panties. The thought of it touching her skin was too repulsive for words. She tucked the keys into the front of her pants and gripped the torch firmly between her palms again.
Feeling more confident, she continued down the corridor. One more hallway and she would be in the lower catacombs where the other prisoners were being held. She just hoped there weren’t any more guards.
Swallowing, she couldn’t help but think of Saber. How he did something like this for years on end, she didn’t know. Sure, she and her sisters had been on the run, but they spent more of their time hiding. This warrior stuff was just too nerve-wracking for her. She pressed her lips together into a tight line to keep from making any noise. When all this was over, Saber had better be ready to hold her good and tight for a long, long time, because she didn’t plan on ever leaving his arms again.
Saber stood in the center of the tower, looking around. Dagger grunted as he dragged the body of the dead guard into the room. Saber turned, looking at the male they had killed.
“She was supposed to be here,” he growled out in anger, glaring at the male as if he could wring more information from him.
“The guard was positioned outside the door to the room and another one at the bottom of the tower,” Dagger replied, glancing around the barren area. “Why post guards here if she wasn’t?”
Saber shook his head, searching the chamber once more. His eyes narrowed on the boot imprints on the floor. Walking around in a tight circle, he studied the pattern. He squatted down and ran his fingers along the thin layer of dirt. The footprints belonged to Taylor. They were too small to belong to anyone else. There were a couple of places where the imprints were smeared, as if she had dragged the ball of her foot across the floor.
His eyes swept the uneven surface. The footprints were stretched apart. It looked like she was running. His gaze continued following the pattern. Rising, he walked toward the wall, his mind trying to understand what his eyes were seeing. He stopped at the wall. About half way up it, he could see the outline of the toe of her boot.
Saber frowned as his gaze rose upward, freezing on the window. A silent curse tore from his throat as the puzzle pieces that Taylor had left behind started to fit together. Turning, he motioned for Dagger to join him.
“What is it?” Dagger asked with a frown.
“Cup your hands and give me a boost,” Saber demanded, stepping back so Dagger could move up under the window.
“What for?” Dagger asked, cupping his hands and bracing his feet. “Damn, Trig is right, you’ve gained weight.”
“Taylor’s not in here because she escaped,” Saber whispered, reaching up and grabbing the window sill.
Holding his body still, he scanned the area. A hoarse curse escaped him when he saw the building down below them. He was about to tell Dagger to lower him back down when the faint scent of blood caught his attention. Leaning down, he sniffed the edge of the window. Explosive anger burst through him. With a grunt, he motioned for Dagger to lower him back to the floor.
“Well?” Dagger asked.
“She went out the window,” Saber said, turning on his heel and striding out the door.
“Out the…,” Dagger started to say before he turned and hurried after Saber.
Saber took the curving stairs at a reckless speed. Trig turned, looking startled, when he flashed by him. A frown creased Trig’s brow when Dagger came down a moment later.
“What happened?” Trig asked, following them.
Dagger glanced at his brother and shook his head. “She escaped,” he muttered with a slightly exasperated tone. “Goddess only knows where she is now!”
- Writer
