The Unwitting Thief

Chapter 11a - A Bit of Luck

Avelyn limped in after Thomas, as she struggled under Monty's weight. "Where are we?"

Thomas rolled over and followed her gaze up to the ceiling above them where light filtered through the wooden beams. After the suffocating darkness of the tunnels, he cringed away.

Thomas got up and dusted himself down before he moved to help Avelyn with Monty. "I don't know, but at least we're out of those tunnels."

They moved over to a table by the wall and struggled to lift Monty onto it. He heard Avelyn hiss as she tried to use her bad arm, and glanced over to see her clench her eyes tightly shut as she tried to push the pain back down.

He wanted to help her, but he was afraid to touch her, and not just because he may hurt her again. "Maybe you should take a seat, and just take a break?"

She shook her head as she bit her bottom lip, but when she looked up at him tears filled her eyes. "I can't. We need to get Dennis. Monty needs help more than I do right now."

Thomas looked down at his new friend, and felt his stomach clench with fear.

Monty was as white as a ghost, and the sweat that coated his skin gave him a sickly pallor. If it weren't for the tremors that sporadically shook his large frame, you'd think he wasn't there anymore. He looked like death.

"You're right, but you'll do him no favours if you push yourself too hard. Stay here with him, I'll go find Dennis." He held his hand up to her as she made a move to protest. "We're too slow carrying him, and if he wakes up, he can't be alone."

Reluctantly, she nodded, and moved to perch on the table with Monty.

Before his courage left him, Thomas turned and headed for the spiral staircase across the room.

"Thomas."

He could hear her tears now, and he knew that if he turned round she would see his own fear, and he couldn't let that happen.

"Hurry, but, be careful, please."

Thomas nodded his head, still with his back to her, and climbed the stairs, and, as soon as he was out of view, he grabbed a knife in each hand. With two separate encounters with Daekhu under his belt already, and Monty as evidence of what could come from them, he wasn't going to be complacent now.

Each step was a struggle. His whole body was exhausted from both the mental and physical exertion it had endured in such a short space of time.

When he reached the top of the staircase, he found himself out in the open, as most of the walls had caved in. He climbed over the rubble, and through two walls, until he found himself in a courtyard with the whole city of Roimar stretched out in front of him.

They'd somehow managed to surface at the castle, and with the sun low in the sky, the others should be here soon. Finally, they had struck some form of luck.

He could see two figures in the distance, so he dug deep and found a new burst of energy. He launched into a run and, as he got closer, he could make out that it was Dennis, Lou and Nolan.

He didn't dare slow down, so he waved his arms as he ran, shouting through his ragged breath. "Dennis!"

Though past the prime of their youth, they still ran to meet him, and Dennis caught Thomas as he nearly collapsed. "Thomas! Where's Avelyn and Monty?"

Pain radiated through his lungs as his breath came and went with such urgency he thought they would explode. He tried to compose himself enough to tell them what had happened. "They're in... we were..." Black spots blocked his vision, and consciousness threatened to abandon him.