Mika wakened to find himself ringed by anxious faces: Hornsbuck, Lotus Blossom (who smoothed Mika's hair back from his forehead), all three wolves, Lufa, and Margraf. His glove was off his hand, and one brief glance showed him what he already knew: the demon had given him yet another green-scaled, taloned finger. The pain was gone, save for the pain in his heart. He sighed, drew the glove on, and accepting Hornsbuck's arm, climbing shakily to his feet.
Very litde time had elapsed since the onset of his collapse. Ascertaining that Mika was able to travel, the group set off, with Lufa leading the way. Mika, Hornsbuck, Lotus Blossom, and the wolves followed immediately behind. The remainder of the underground people brought up the rear.
They traveled through dark streets and empty squares, meeting no one, yet Mika could not shake the feeling that something was wrong. Their escape seemed too easy. Why? Where were the soldiers? Where was the king? What was the demon up to? And why, why did he feel as though he were being watched?
Mika tried to cast off the sense of unease, telling himself that they would soon be at the wall and would breach it with flames and make good their escape even if his entire hand and arm turned green. But he still felt the nagging sense that something was wrong.
They found a torch burning low in its bracket at the base of a tower. A low murmur of protest and fear rose from the more easily frightened by the audacity of taking something that belonged to the priests. Then, a giddy sense of boldness seemed to seize them and they fought each other for any torches they found thereafter.
An almost festive mood carried them to the foot of the great wall, where the shadow of the mountain fell on them like a bad omen.
Upon closer inspection, the wall appeared to be constructed of normal adobe. Mika began to wonder if Lufa were wrong, if it were all just some giant hoax perpetrated by the priests to keep the inhabitants of Exag in line. Well, he would soon find out. He gestured for all of those who held torches and those who had gathered pieces of wood along the way to join him at the wall. Following his instructions, they piled their bits of wood close to the base of the wall yet not actually touching it, hoping to avoid triggering the mechanism that would bring the wall to life. When the wood was stacked, Mika looked around him one last time at the circle of hopeful faces, all of them believing in him, trusting in him for the miracle of freedom.
Margraf left his father's side and slipped his small hand into Mika's, his bright eyes shining with admiration.
Mika smiled, a grimace really, and hoped that the boy had not misplaced his faith. Turning to the others, he gave a signal and tossed his torch on the small pile of wood. The other torches followed, arcing through the dark night like falling stars and landing on the wood with a shower of bright sparks.
The wood burned quickly. Mika eyed the row of shuttered buildings closest to the conflagration and hoped that the flames would not waken anyone who might raise an alarm.
The fire bit into the wood, crackling as it leaped higher and higher. As the last of it caught, the men used whatever lengths of wood and metal they had been able to arm themselves with to tip the whole fiery pyre over onto the wall itself.
For a moment nothing happened. Mika strained to see past the glow, to see whether or not the wall was burning. Then he smelled it, an awful stink, like that of burning feathers. The wall began to ripple, attempting to pull itself away from the fire. A hole appeared, small at first, but one that grew larger and larger before their eyes.
And then the wailing began, a thin, eerie, high- pitched lament that shivered on the nerves and made one's teeth ache. As the hole grew larger, the screaming became louder.
Mika looked around nervously. He knew that it would be bu: a short period of time before the guard was alerted and they would be discovered.
' Quick! Get through-leave!" he whispered, pushing Lufa toward the hole.
"We can't! The hole's too small!" cried Lufa. Mika turned back to the wall and examined it. As Lufa said, the hole was still too small for even the smallest adult.
Mika began to kick and push the burning wood against the wall, forcing it into the hole, hoping that it would eat its way through more quickly. But as the hole grew, so did the screaming. And then the wall began to move all over, not just the one small area that was being burned. It rippled for as far as the eye could see. It shook. It heaved. Cries of alarm came from distant locations. Mika could only assume that the wall was reacting similarly along its entire length.
The fire was burning with great intensity now. Huge sheets of flame concealed the opening, and the underground people pulled back from the heat reluctantly, realizing that there was no way that they could pass through the flames in safety. Fearing the flames, the wolves huddled together at the edge of the buildings.
It was an amazing sight. The wall undulated up and down as the flames bit into its great expanse and spread as far as the eye could see. The screaming grew louder and louder as the pain drove the nearly inanimate wall almost insane with previously unknown pain.
The wall began to disintegrate, bits and pieces of it, wrapped in flames, falling off, sizzling on the ground. The pieces fell like fiery meteors, sometimes exploding and landing far from the wall itself.
Mika gestured for his small group to fall back even further, and they watched in awe as the wall burned. A large chunk exploded out of the wall and landed on the awning of a mercantile located a few paces from where they stood. The awning burst into flames immediately and soon spread to the building itself.
Fortunately, no one lived in the building. But residents of the area soon flooded the streets wrapped in various forms of night garb and stood staring at the fire with awe-struck eyes.
Indeed, it was an amazing sight. Mika congratulated himself on a job well done. He had done a fine job. For a moment he almost forgot about the king and the demon.
The entire wall was blazing now, shooting sparks and flaming pieces of itself onto the nearby buildings and into the crowds that filled the streets. It lit up the entire sky, illuminating the area almost as brighdy as daylight. Mika looked around and saw that the prison escapees were virtually indistinguishable from the rest of the crowd, most of whom had dressed hastily and presendy wore a coat of the soot and ashes that rained down from the sky.
But Mika also noticed something else: the look of joy on most people's faces as they watched the burning wall. A few people rushed about, throwing water on their buildings and stamping the flames, but most just watched as the fire consumed the hated wall.
The wolves were extremely disturbed, pacing in the darkest of shadows, whining high-pitched, nervous sounds, and panting loudly. They were clearly fearful, and that more than anything brought Mika back to reality, reawakening his sense of danger.
The underdwellers might now be safe, able to blend in with the rest of the crowd and make their way to the safety of friends, or even out of the city itself, but he and Hornsbuck and Lotus Blossom were far from safe. Their appearance and their wolves drew attention like lightning rods. Already a number of people were staring at them with as much interest as the fire. It would only be a matter of time before guards arrived on the scene. Mika placed a hand on Hornsbuck's arm and pointed toward the wall. Speech was virtually impossible over the roar of the conflagration.
And then it happened. As if from nowhere, he suddenly appeared before Mika. The king.
His eyes were alight with rage and madness. His hair was wild and stood out around his head in a spiky aura. He swung a massive, two-handed broadsword in front of him, cleaving a space through the crowds as he approached Mika.
"You!" he screamed. "You are the cause of my ruin! You foiled the demon and aborted the bargain! You caused me to be imprisoned! You dared get in my way, you nobody, you filth! I shall kill you!"
He advanced on Mika, driving him back steadily until he could go no further, his back against the wall of a building.
The crowd gasped and hovered, drawn, in the manner of crowds everywhere, toward the drama that threatened to spill someone else's worthless blood while sparing their own precious supply.
Mika started to draw his own sword, then remembered that the rusties had eaten it. A quick glance at Hornsbuck told him that he, too, was still disarmed. Hornsbuck and Lotus Blossom, grasping the situation instantly, began pushing through the crowd, searching for a sword. But by the time they found one, it might well be too late.
When help came, it was from an unexpected source. Tam had slipped in and crouched at Mika's feet, looking for an opening, when suddenly, there was a dark streak and a short scream. The princess! While the king's attention was focused on Mika and Tam, the princess had flung herself at her father, driving him back with the force of her attack. As he fell, she clamped her jaws around his throat. There was a short, burbled scream, and then it was done. The king's limbs thrashed and then he lay still, blood pouring from the gaping hole in his neck.
Mika stared at the princess, stunned. And then he lifted his gaundeted hand and saluted her. The man had been her father, but he had treated her as though she were a slave or an inhuman pawn. He had deserved to die. The princess acknowledged his gesture and then stepped back from the body, lifting her feet delicately as though stepping over a bit of overripe carrion.
A complement of guard hurried into the street leading several frightened horses hitched to wagons carrying huge barrels of water and sand.
Mika pressed himself into the shadows of a building and was quickly joined by Hornsbuck and Lotus Biossom.
"Thought you was a goner, that time, boy. You got шоге lives than a displacer beast," chuckled Lotus Blossom, eyeing him with respect.
"We've got to get away," said Mika. "Or we'll all be needing extra lives. Those guards will spot us GREYHAWK ADVENTURES soon."
"I don't think so, lad. They've got their hands full with the fire. Listen to that wall scream, will you? I've never heard anything like it," said Hornsbuck.
But Mika wasn't interested in the wall anymore; it could longer provide them with the means of escape. Its shrill screaming only aggravated him now and made him nervous.
"I don't like it; I wish it would stop," said Mika.
"Then our troubles would really start," said Hornsbuck. "Don't you see, lad? Those fellows have more than they can handle as it is without looking for us. We're safe as long as the fire keeps burning. That screaming is music to my ears. Look there, some of these folks feel like I do."
Mika followed Hornsbuck's finger and saw several guards attempting to force a group of citizens to help put out the fire. But it was obvious from their slow, reluctant movements and their sullen expressions that the citizens were not eager to help.
Just as Mika was beginning to think that Hornsbuck was right and that they were safe, he looked up and saw the high priest standing not two paces away, his bright blue eyes searching the crowd.
"Oh, Mika, isn't it exciting?" Margraf piped, his shrill little voice carrying as clear as bell. The priest turned and looked straight into Mika's eyes. He smiled, and Mika's heart sank.
"Hornsbuck," said Mika, never taking his eyes off the priest.
"Hmmm?" said the huge nomad. Mika felt him turn before grunting, "oh," as though Hornsbuck had tasted something unpleasant.
The priest motioned, and a full complement of the guard moved into sight, positioning themselves behind the priest.
"Make no struggle," said the priest. "Or it will go hard with your friends."
"What friends? I've got no friends here! Get away from me, kid, you've been nothing but trouble since we met!" Mika shoved Margraf away from him as hard as he could.
Margraf looked up at him with wide, disbelieving eves, and tears began to make streaks down his soot- stained cheeks. Mika did his best to frown, but Margraf stood frozen in place and looked as though Mika had struck him. His stricken face twisted a knife in Mika's heart. Lowering his head, Mika winked broadly at the boy and jerked his head to one side, telling him to go.
Margraf smiled, his eyes lighting up with understanding. He put his head down and bulled through the guard, taking them by surprise and making good his escape.
Mika, hoping to give the boy a better chance, yelled out defiantly, "Well, what are you waiting for, a bigger crowd? Come on, priest, let's see whose magic is stronger, your god's or mine!"
Hornsbuck looked at Mika as though he were mad and tightened his grip on the length of wood he had used to prod the fire. Lotus Blossom clenched her mighty fists, and the wolves bared their teeth and crouched low, ready to spring.
The guards moved to either side of the priest, outflanking them neatly. In an open area the situation might not have been so serious, but Mika's group had been caught in the narrow space between two buildings that ended in a solid adobe wall, a cul-de- sac with no exit other than the one blocked by the priest and the guards.
"Tarn! On the ready," murmured Mika. The wolf bent low, ready to hurl himself at whomever Mika directed. RedTail and the princess took up their positions on either side of him.
"Come," the priest said pleasantly. "Put down your weapons and do not think to fight; you have done more than enough damage tonight."
"Hah! We haven't even started!" roared Hornsbuck as he leaped at the priest, striking hard with the length of wood. But as he came thundering out of the cul-de-sac, two men, both hidden from sight on opposite sides of the buildings, struck out. One clubbed him on the head with a massive cudgel and the other pounded his own club down on Horns- buck's length of wood, forcing its point into the ground. It happened so quickly that Hornsbuck had no time to react; he sank senseless to the ground like a heavy sack of grain.
All the heart went out of Mika at that point and he signaled Lotus Blossom and the wolves to surrender, not wishing any of them to be killed. The guards seized them roughly and dragged them through the crowd. People moved away and eyes turned aside as he passed, even those whom he recognized as having rescued.
The city was deserted. But it seemed different in some other way… offkilter. Even the guards noticed it, staring around with wide eyes, nudging each other. Over to the left, a building seemed to sag to one side, and the door was lying on the ground. To the right, the window to the wheelwright's shop was wide open, the shutters lying on the ground, apparently ripped from the wall hinges and all.
The guards took out their sense of unease by handling their prisoners roughly. Mika tried to endure it stoically.
He could see that the sky was beginning to lighten, and his spirits dipped. Was this the morning of his borning? Was this really the way his life would end? It seemed quite possible unless he could think of something to forestall the inevitable. He searched his mind for something, anything that would work. A spell of any sort that would free him from the priest. But no matter what he thought of, he either did not know it well enough to recite from memory or it would not free his companions, too. And like it or not, he could not convince himself to leave them behind.
A building shuddered on the right and then slowly collapsed in a rumble of bricks and creaking timbers. Underlying the noise was a soft chittering as familiar forms scurried by him and rushed off down the street to disappear into the next building.
There were more people in the streets now, none of whom gave them a second glance. More than a few were inebriated, women as well as men, and some w ere in various stages of undress, screaming and yelling with joy and drunken abandon. At any other time Mika would have cheered with them, but now that his life was at stake, he cursed them blackly.
He caught sight of a towering form outlined against the dawn sky. A rust monster as tall as a two-storeу building ponderously pushed its way into a building, grinding the girders under its immense feet and grazing contentedly on spikes and nails.
Joyous shrieks and boisterous laughs mingled with the crash and rumble of falling buildings and the distant crackle of the burning wall. A naked, giggling woman ran past them, pursued by an amorous admirer. The city was going to pieces.
No one realized the situation more acutely than the priest. He kicked at one of the rusties and cursed as he banged his toe on its hard exoskeleton. Mika grinned in spite of himself. He could have told him as much.
The rusties became more and more numerous as they approached the section of town that held the pyramid. They were everywhere, large and small, fat and thin; they rushed in and out of buildings, cluttering and squealing, squeaking and waving their antennae. They munched on hinges, chewed on doorknobs, licked torch posts, and nibbled on name- plates.
As they came within sight of the pyramid, Mika saw more than a few of them lying belly up in the middle of the road, legs stiff, and he wondered if they were dead, victims of their own gluttony, or merely drunk on overindulgence. He smiled, proud of the havoc he had created almost single-handed. Maybe the priests of Exag would kill him, but, he reflected as yet another building collapsed, they wouldn't have much of a city left to show for it.