The Rise of Isaac, Books 1-3, page 56
Oliver sank to the floor with his back against the wall. He held his side, breathing heavily. Someone gripped his arm and he looked up. Anna was bent over, her face just inches from his.
Her dark eyes searched his desperately. "I was so worried," she breathed. "I'm so sorry for arguing with you."
Without thinking, he gripped the back of Anna's head and pulled her towards him, kissing her hard on the lips. He released her and her cheeks flushed pink. She touched her lips as a smile broke across her face. Oliver grinned at her, surprised by what he had done.
He glanced around but no one was looking. He wasn't sure he cared if they were. Despite the circumstances, his heart beat steadily in his chest as he looked back at Anna. She sat beside him and took his hand, electricity coursing through his veins.
A roar echoed through the caves from far away. The sound reverberated through the walls and no one spoke until it stopped.
"They know we're here," Hector whispered.
Oliver squeezed Anna's hand then released it and got to his feet. "I just wanna apologise for being the biggest idiot in the history of the world," he said. "Or worlds," he added.
"Hear, hear," Larkin chimed sarcastically, grimacing at Oliver.
"Shut up, Lark," Quinn said. "It's done, Oliver. Forget about it."
"They would've found us anyway," Marley growled. "The Queen's soldiers are, by nature, persistent."
"There's something else," Oliver said, his gut wrenching as he prepared to break the news. "Xen said they saw Hannah and Chip. He went after them..."
The words hung in the air. Marley got to his feet. "NO!" He punched his fist into a wall.
"Quiet," Hector hissed, his face grave.
Marley sunk to the floor, gripping at his long, red hair in silent anguish.
Anna reached up and took Oliver's wrist, pulling him back to the ground. They sat in silence for a long time and eventually Hector stood up.
"We need to move," he said.
Marley looked up, his eyes were dark. "Can't we have a moment?"
"We've had a moment," Hector replied evenly.
Marley stood up and glared down at Hector from his enormous height. "You don't even care," he spat.
"I'm sorry for what happened Marley but we can't stay here any longer."
"It's your fault! Xen's after you. You're the one who's angered the Queen!" Marley roared, his voice echoing around the caves.
"Shut up," Hector snarled.
Marley gripped Hector by the collar and pulled him closer so their faces were inches from each other. Marley's face was red and taut; Hector's jaw was set, a dangerous look entering his eyes.
"Don't you have anything to say?" Marley hissed, spit spraying Hector's face.
Hector didn't blink. "Let. Me. Go." His tone was deadly.
"IT'S YOUR FAULT!" Marley barked, saliva hanging in his beard.
Hector gripped Marley's hands and forced them away from him. Marley swung a fist at Hector's face but he ducked it, grabbed the man's arm and twisted it up behind him. Marley winced in pain.
"Calm down," Hector ordered then released him and addressed the others. "Get up. We're leaving."
The group eyed the men warily and got to their feet. Hector walked across the cavern and entered a tunnel. May patted Marley softly on the back and he nodded at her with a slight smile. His face became stoney as he dropped to the back of the group and they entered the tunnel.
Oliver took Anna's hand once more as she fell into step beside him.
"What's the plan?" Rogan asked Hector up ahead.
"We need to find the prince. The last time I saw the groll that took him was just up here." He stopped at the end of the tunnel and held up his hand.
They came to a halt behind him.
"Wait here," Hector whispered and tiptoed out into a large cavern. He returned a moment later with a hopeful look in his eyes. "Follow me."
Oliver followed the others into the open. A large crack ran through the centre of the room and up to the ceiling. Far above them, suspended in a metal cage was a boy. He was curled up on the bars and didn't appear to be conscious.
"How are we going to get up there?" May asked, gazing up at it.
"Is he even alive?" Larkin asked uncertainly.
"Can we throw something at him?" Oliver suggested.
Hector dropped his pack and retrieved the bag of nuts. He took one and aimed it at the cage. It pinged off of the bars but the boy didn't stir. "Pssst."
Oliver stooped and picked a rock out of the crack in the floor. He lifted his arm back, aimed carefully and threw it up at the cage. It flew through the bars and hit the boy on the back.
He started, breathing erratically. "No. No. No. Leave me alone!" he said in a panic, holding his head in his hands.
"We're here to help you!" May called up to him.
The boy looked down at them and gasped. "You are?"
"Yeah, if we can get you down from there," Hector said.
"I can't. That thing put me up here. The cage doesn't come down!" Prince Kile called. "But I can open the door." He reached an arm through the bars, released a catch and pushed open the small door.
"You'll have to jump," Hector stated.
"No way," Kile said, gripping the bars tightly.
"Kile, I'm Rogan. I'm a mage I can catch you with magic. Look," Rogan said, holding out a palm. A strong whirlwind materialised at the centre of the room, swirling and rising upwards, gathering dust from the floor. Rogan's brow furrowed as the whirlwind started to ascend toward the boy.
Kile shook his head but let his legs swing out over the edge of the cage. "I can't."
"Would you rather stay here with the groll?" Larkin said impatiently.
Kile shook his head wildly.
"Then jump," Larkin insisted.
"Trust me. You won't fall," Rogan said.
The prince shuffled up so he was leaning out of the cage. Oliver saw his expression change and then the boy leapt forwards. He cried out as he fell and the wind caught him. The noise echoed around the room as Rogan lowered him to the floor. A groll roared somewhere nearby, sounding its approach.
"Hurry up," Quinn urged.
Rogan dropped Kile quicker and he landed lightly on the floor. Rogan pulled him to his feet. The boy was only about ten years old, his once fine outfit was torn and dirty from his time in captivity.
"No time for introductions, let's get out of here," Hector snapped.
They turned to leave but their way was blocked by an enormous, hulking figure, bent over in the tunnel on all fours. One arm was curled up under it, ending in a grisly, handless stump.
35
Cornered
The groll stood up, reaching an alarming height but it didn't attack them. Fire came to life in Quinn's hands as she readied to fight.
"Wait. Give it the stone," Oliver hissed.
Hector dropped his bag and retrieved the scrivenstone wrapped up in the cloth. The groll made a low, grumbling noise in its throat. Hector kept his eyes on it as he unpeeled the cloth.
The groll growled as he spotted the stone, baring its sharp teeth. It stepped forward and reached for it with its remaining hand.
Marley nudged Hector in the back so he stumbled forwards. He frowned, looking back at him then turned to face the beast. "Here. Take it." He placed the arm on the floor, clutching the vast gemstone.
"Sorry," Hector mumbled awkwardly then backed away.
"It's beautiful," May whispered.
"I don't care how pretty it is I want out of here," Larkin replied, not taking his eyes off of the groll.
The groll moved towards it and reached down, unclasping the severed hand from it and clutched the stone to its body.
A sword burst through the animal's chest and it cried out in pain. Its roar was responded to with the fury of a hundred other grolls from all around the cave system.
"What the-" Oliver started but he stopped dead as the groll collapsed to the floor, revealing Dead Xen, Nex and his remaining men behind it. Xen retrieved his sword with a jolt of his arm. He slashed off the dead beast's other arm and his men stowed it and the scrivenstone it was clutching in a bag.
"I'll take that," Xen said, wiping the blood off of his sword on the groll's side.
"You monster," Anna breathed, her face contorting in disgust.
"The Queen doesn't negotiate with grolls," Xen said with a shrug then turned to his men. "Now Your Majesty, Prince Kile. Please join me and my men and we will return you to the palace."
Oliver turned to see Kile holding on to Larkin's side, peering out from behind him. Kile shook his head at the man. "I don't like you."
Xen attempted a friendly smile but it didn't look convincing on his face. "Come on. You know me."
Kile shook his head again and Xen sighed in exasperation. "Bring the prince to me," he ordered his men.
The four remaining soldiers, including Sergeant Knole, took aim at them with their guns.
Rogan and Quinn were faster. Their hands flew up and sent carefully aimed fireballs at the guns, forcing them from the solider's hands. The guns shattered as they collided with the stone floor from the force of the impact.
"Looks like we'll be doing this the old fashioned way then," Xen said, raising his sword up and igniting it with purple fire.
The men unsheathed theirs and charged at them. Quinn took out one with a burst of lightning. It crackled around the man's body, momentarily suspending him in the air before he smashed to the ground unmoving. Rogan took out another with a force of air that sent a soldier flying into the wall behind him.
Four grolls burst into the room, roaring wildly as they spotted their companion dead on the floor.
Everyone tore apart, dodging the swinging, clawed hands of the beasts. Oliver ran to one side with Rogan as a groll separated them from the others. Rogan sent a torrent of silver fire at the creature as it dived towards Anna.
"WATCH OUT!" Oliver shouted to her, ducking under a groll's arm as it swung at him.
The groll near Anna turned and ran at Rogan, angered by the flames though they barely left a mark on its skin.
"Try something else!" Oliver shouted, taking the dagger from his hip.
The beast collided with Rogan, sending him soaring backwards into Oliver and knocking them both to the ground. Rogan cast red lightning at the groll as it leered over them. It cried out and stumbled away, grabbing its head where the lightning had struck.
Oliver pushed Rogan off of him and they both got to their feet. He saw a solider fall to his left and stepped aside, glancing away from the man's unseeing eyes.
Their attention turned to the other side of the room as Anna screamed.
Oliver ran towards the sound. She was hidden by a groll that was battling with Hector and Marley. Marley's size seemed somehow diminished by the figure that towered over him.
Oliver dodged around them and spotted Anna on the ground with a soldier pressing a knife to her throat. May was desperately pulling the man's arm so the knife couldn't pierce her skin. Oliver kicked the soldier in the side and he rolled sideways, trapping May's leg beneath him.
"Get off her!" Oliver demanded, pointing the dagger at him threateningly.
The man raised his hands in surrender and got to his feet. Oliver pulled May up and pushed her behind him, keeping the dagger raised at the man.
A groll loomed behind the soldier and lifted a fist above him. It smashed down on the soldier's head and he crumpled to the ground in a heap. Quinn distracted it with a torrent of blue and white lightning, crackling and sparking as it impacted with the beast's thick skull.
Oliver turned to find Anna standing behind him. He touched the nick at her throat and wiped away a small trickle of blood. "Are you okay?"
"Fine," she said then grabbed his and May's arms and pulled them out of the way as a groll charged by.
Oliver spotted Xen with Nex bringing one of the beasts to the ground but three more were still standing. He turned to find the others and spotted Rogan and Larkin standing in front of Quinn who was sprawled on the ground. Oliver's heart skipped a beat as he watched. Rogan was keeping a groll at bay with the lightning but their tough skin seemed to still have some resistance to it.
Xen surveyed the room as he removed his sword from a groll. His black eyes fell on Oliver and his mouth curved up into a smile as he started toward them with Nex close behind. Oliver held his dagger aloft, his heart thundering in his ears.
"We can't fight Xen!" Anna said in a panic.
Oliver stepped forward as Xen closed in on them.
Xen jumped into the air and slashed the sword down at him. Oliver dodged it at the last second and the metal clanged as it hit the ground. Anna and May ran to one side but Xen wasn't paying attention to them. His glassy, obsidian eyes followed Oliver.
Oliver gripped his dagger, glaring at the man. Xen swung his arm and his sword hit Oliver's blade, making a metallic twang. The force vibrated up his arms into the bone but he kept hold of it.
Xen stabbed at him. Oliver stumbled backwards, the fiery tip just inches from his stomach.
May ran and jumped, launching herself onto Xen's back. She clawed at his head and face, leaving bloody scratches behind.
"NEX!" Xen shouted.
The young boy grabbed May's leg and pulled at it feebly. Anna ran over and kicked the back of Xen's legs and he crashed forwards. Oliver side-stepped as he hit the floor and May jumped off of him. His face impacted with the ground with a sickening crunch and he passed out.
Oliver shared a momentary, wide eyed look with Anna and May then they ran towards Rogan and the others, leaving Nex looking down at Xen in shock.
"Is she alright?" Anna asked as she dropped next to Quinn on the floor.
"Yeah she's just unconscious," Larkin said, cradling her head.
Rogan was battling with the groll a few feet away. "I'll heal her when I get a chance," he said through gritted teeth, looking exhausted.
The groll raised its hands, letting them block the lightning from its face, and backed away growling. It turned and went after Sergeant Knole who screamed as it approached. It swung a tremendous arm at him which he ducked. He emerged on the other side of the creature, stabbing and slashing. The blade sunk into the groll's flesh and it cried out a piercing scream.
The groll whipped its arm back and Sergeant Knole gripped tightly to the hilt of the sword so he flew upwards. Oliver watched in horror as the man lost his grip and fell to the ground with a brief shout of surprise which was cut short as he hit the stone floor with a crack.
Rogan turned and joined the others on the floor by Quinn. He rested a palm on her forehead and green light glistened there for a moment before she awoke with a groan.
"Roll over," Rogan instructed and Quinn slowly did so. He rested his palm on the back of her head where blood was clotting in her hair.
She winced in pain as Rogan cured her then got to her feet, rubbing the back of her head. "Is everyone okay?"
"Yep," Oliver said, smiling at her.
"Let's make a run for it," Larkin said.
They glanced at Marley and Hector who were still battling a groll.
"Where's Kile?" Oliver asked in alarm.
They scanned the room, searching for the boy amongst the mayhem.
"There." May pointed.
A solider had the boy by the wrist, dragging him along.
"You get Marley and Hector. I'll get Kile and meet you by the exit," Larkin said, running off.
"I'll help," Quinn said, hurrying to catch up with him.
Oliver ran with the others and pulled Hector and Marley away from their battle. Rogan cast an enormous beam of hot, white light at the groll which exploded on impact. He stumbled a little from exertion but kept his footing as they ran onwards.
They reached the tunnel and found Quinn with Larkin who had Kile on his back. They fled down it, their footsteps pounding in Oliver's ears as they reverberated off of the close walls. They turned left and right, flying wildly through tunnel after tunnel.
The passage they were in suddenly opened out and Hector led the way towards another one on the other side of the cavern.
As Hector reached the tunnel a groll burst through it and he staggered backwards. Six more entered behind it, bellowing at them angrily.
"We can't take them all on," Rogan said, panting.
"This way!" Hector commanded and they charged after him, following him into a tiny passage that they had to bend over to enter.
Oliver went in last. He shouted out in shock as a groll grabbed his leg and he flipped forwards onto his front. His cheekbone impacted with the ground and he cried out in pain as claws tore into his leg. He dropped the dagger, digging his fingernails into the ground and sliding backwards several inches as the groll pulled him.
The tunnel was too narrow for the others to turn back. Marley was the only one who could help. He dropped to the floor and gripped Oliver's wrists, tugging with all his might.
"OLLY!" May screamed from up ahead. "Rogan. Quinn. Do something!"
"I can't see him!" Rogan's anxious voice was distant. "Quinn you're closer."
"I'll try," she answered in a panic.
The tunnel lit up with gold flashes as magic flew over his head. Oliver shouted out in panic as he was dragged backwards another foot. Marley's face strained with the effort of holding him. "I won't let go," he said through gritted teeth.
Oliver was certain his leg was going to pop out of its socket. "The dagger. Get the dagger," he groaned at Marley.
One hand released him and Oliver gasped as he slipped backwards several inches. The enormous claws sank into his leg, making him want to vomit from the pain that tore through him.
"Got it!" Marley panted. "I have to let go to get a slash at it."
"You said you wouldn't let go." Oliver gritted his teeth as he spoke. He scrunched his eyes closed as Marley released him. He flew backwards, out into the cavern.
Marley roared a battle cry as he leapt over his head and slashed at the beast with all his might. The claws released Oliver and someone gripped his arms, pulling him to safety.
Marley started shouting with ferocity beyond the tunnel. "RUN!" His voice echoed around the cavern.
Soft hands found Oliver, stroking his head. He wasn't sure whether his eyes were open or closed but all he could see was darkness. The agony was unbearable.
