Page 67 of Cage of Darkness
“The sewer.”
She gagged. “How do we get out ofhere?”
“Kerdan’s instructions saidto wait.”
For what? The soldiersabove to arrest them?Bloody hell.She was going to die in a rat-infested pool ofpoop. Panic started to take root as the water moved, pushingher.
“Don’t fight it,” he calledout. “The current should take us out of the castle.”
As she tried to keep her head abovethe water, the current shoved her along toward a dull light upahead. A roaring sound echoed around her.
“I have a bad feeling aboutthis,” Odar muttered, not far behind her.
That made two of them. “If we get outof this alive, remind me to thank Kerdan for such a lovelyexperience.” If she wasn’t so terrified, she would have vomited bynow.
The water picked up speed, pushing herbody forward. And then she was falling. Her heart squeezed, and herstomach dropped as she tumbled in the deafening waterfall. Sheslammed into another body of water, her torso feeling as if it hadbeen trampled on by a horse. Once clear of the pounding water, sheresurfaced, gasping for clean air. The moon shone bright overhead,illuminated by the lake.
“Odar!” She didn’t see himanywhere. “Odar!” He popped up out of the water and swam over toher side. Her body went numb from the frigid air andwater.
“We have to get out of herebefore the current takes us into the river.”
“Where are we?” she asked,swimming to the closest bank.
“We’re on the backside ofthe castle.”
She hoisted herself out of the water,thankful to be on land. “I can’t feel my hands or toes.” Or, forthat matter, her injuries. Her teeth started chattering.
Odar stood, helping her to her feet.“The stables aren’t far from here,” he said. “We don’t have muchtime before we freeze to death or someone spots us.”
Allyssa forced her legs to move. Herwet clothes stiffened as the fabric began to freeze. Thankfully,they reached the stables. No light shone from inside, and no onestood guard at the doors. “Do you think anyone is in there?” sheasked.
“Kerdan said only thestables inside the wall are guarded.”
It was hard to believe they’d not onlymade it out of the castle, but also past the surrounding wall. Odarpushed the door open, and she snuck inside the stables, making herway to the back. The familiar smell of hay and the nickering ofhorses reminded her of home. Of riding alongside her mother as theyraced to the forest, of running in the early morning hours with herfather, of chasing criminals through the city with Grevik. Wouldshe ever see her family again? Standing in the middle of the aisle,unable to move, tears filled her eyes.
“Allyssa,” Odar said,coming up behind her. “Get moving before you freeze todeath.”
She nodded, forcing thoughts of homeaway so she could focus on making it out of Russek.
At the last stall on the right, sheunlatched the door and entered. Two horses were inside, saddled andready to ride. One came over and nudged her shoulder. She pattedits nose while Odar examined the stall. In the one corner, the hayhad been piled a little higher. He moved the hay aside and found acouple of bags—just as Kerdan had promised. He pulled them out,examining their contents. “Looks like one contains food, the otherpants and tunics.” He handed a set to her and kept one set forhimself. With stiff, awkward fingers, she peeled off her frozenclothes and changed into the blessedly dry pants and tunic. Whenshe finished, Odar plucked a cape off a hook on the wall, wrappingit around her, covering her head with its hood. He took their wetclothes and hid them under the hay.
“Let’s mount in here. Whenwe exit, no talking. Head eastward.”
She nodded and lifted her leg to thestirrup, crying out in pain. Odar rushed to her side, helping heronto the saddle and handing her the reins. “Are you going to beable to ride on your own?”
She had no choice if she wanted tolive. “Yes.”
Odar mounted, and they rode out of thestables and into the frigid night. He kicked the side of the horse,sending the animal into a gallop. Needing to put distance betweenthemselves and the castle, she urged her horse to follow. Each stepthe horse took sent a jolt though her body as if she were beingrepeatedly punched in her ribs. Perhaps she was hallucinating, butshe could have sworn Grevik spoke to her saying that he didn’tsuffer so she could die, that she had to live.
“I know you need to stopand rest,” Odar yelled, riding alongside her. “But we can’t untilwe find a safe place. Somewhere the Russek soldiers won’t think tolook for us.”
How would that be possible sinceneither of them knew the land? She’d only left the castle twice,once with Kerdan to see the bridge and once when he’d taken her tothe garrison. A memory came back to her. At the garrison, Kerdanspecifically made a point of telling her about an abandoned housenot far from there that had been used by the commander of the armydecades ago. Nowadays, the commander resided in the castle, and noone remembered the house existed. At the time, she couldn’tunderstand why Kerdan bothered telling her. Now, she knew. Nudgingher horse, she headed in that direction. Odar didn’t question her;he simply allowed her to take the lead.
After traveling a few miles, thegarrison came into view. Keeping her distance, she skirted aroundit to the backside where a thick forest loomed. Weaving the horsebetween the dense trees, she wondered if she’d be able to find thehouse. She steered the horse to the right, not wanting to go toodeep into the woods and become lost. The horse snorted and went tothe left. It walked with sure footing as if it knew where it wasgoing. Maybe it did. She let the horse go where it wanted, prayingKerdan had chosen this horse for this reason. They came to aclearing with a small house and barn. An enormous sense of relieffilled her. For once, things were going their way.
“I’ll be damned,” Odarmuttered. “Did you know this was here?”
“Yes.” Her vision swam, andshe fell forward on the horse. Odar grabbed the reins of her horseand steered them to the barn. He dismounted and helped her off. Sheleaned against the barn while he secured the animals inside. Oncedone, he lifted her up, carrying her to the dark house. Inside,cobwebs hung on the walls, and a thick layer of dust coated thefurniture.
