Chapter 38 - Annala's Rescue

It was Annala.

Even in the dim light of the flickering campfire, Andres recognized this woman--the one who had treated him so kindly when he first arrived at Dor-ko’s prison. Her perfume cast a pleasant fragrance around them--an odd contrast to the grim, violent scene that had just transpired. Andres had no idea how she got there, but he sure was happy to see another friendly face. And he was happy for his friend Gregorex, who had been away from his girl for four years. They were reunited at last.

Everything else seemed to be still as Gregorex and Annala embraced. They held each other for what seemed like hours. Annala cried, while Gregorex constantly cleared his throat and stroked her hair. Finally, they faced each other and prepared to kiss. At that point, the silence was broken.

“Ahem...excuse me there, Gregorex. But we’ve got some bad guys to take care of.” It was Samek.

Andres turned back toward Annala. He saw her say to Gregorex, “Kindness is seldom sufficient, you know.” She then turned around and ran to Samek. “Oh Daddy, I wondered if I’d ever see you again,” she said as she buried her head in his shoulder. The gruff chief of the village of Cliffton then shed a few tears of his own.

Gregorex motioned to Andres to follow him. Andres did so, and they proceeded to tie up Oba and Amma. They tied their hands together behind them, and they tied their feet together as well. As the two villains slowly regained consciousness, Gregorex spoke up and said, “Well, fellas, I’d sure hate for you to be uncomfortable, so I’ll tell you what. I’m going to lean you up against this nice oak tree.” Gregorex then dragged both of them over to opposite sides of a tree and propped their backs up, so that they sat upright. Continuing, Gregorex said, “And because I want you to be able to get some rest, I’m going to tie you to this tree. That way, you won’t tip over and hurt your back or anything.” As he spoke, Gregorex took more rope and tied it around both of them, lashing them to the tree.

Oba shook his head violently, as though trying to realize what had just happened. Andres observed him move his shoulder, only to realize that his arms were completely immobilized. Andres chuckled to himself as he stared at his pathetic enemy. Samek’s blow had apparently dislocated Oba’s jaw, so that the bottom part of his jaw was crooked and twisted. Andres walked over and said, “Man, that looks sore. Can I help ease your pain just a bit?” He then playfully (but not too gently) rubbed Oba’s jaw. Oba, distressed at his helplessness, attempted to spit at Andres. But Andres was too quick; he caught the man’s spit in his hand, and then rubbed it on his jaw.

“All right, that’s enough fun, Andres,” muttered Gregorex. He then turned back to Korbi, who still lay on the ground where Andres had tied him up. Gregorex grabbed him and held him high in the air. He then carried him and pinned his back against a tree trunk. Shaking him, he bellowed out, “You traitor! How could you do this, you miserable wretch! You sell your accursed shoes and take our money, only to try and sell us out to Dor-ko and Slumbutter. How much did they pay you to turn on us? How much?”

Korbi’s eyes were wide with fright. Gregorex continued, “Oh, you human vermin! It’s nice to see you get rattled a bit. You’ve walked through life as though nothing can touch you--like you’re above everything, like nothing bothers you. I knew you hated me. You thought you could hide your contempt, but I saw through it. So you and Philip worked out your plan to have me captured. Yes, I know you were in on the whole thing! Well guess what, pal? It didn’t work! And now I’m going to give your sorry hindquarters a one-way ticket to the moon!”

Gregorex prepared to throw Korbi against the tree, but a hand reached out and grabbed his right arm. “Gregorex...please,” said Samek. “Don’t do something you’ll regret.”

Gregorex saw Samek, and the fire in his eyes diminished just a bit. “Okay, fine,” he mumbled. He then dropped Korbi, letting him plummet to the ground in a heap. Gregorex turned and walked away for a moment, before turning back and asking, “Do you know what this guy did to me?”

“I’m sure you’ll tell me, Gregorex. We’ll need some time to catch up. But in the meantime...” Samek turned back toward Korbi. He picked him up, set him on his feet, and untied his hands. He then grabbed his by the shoulders and faced him into the woodline. “Look out there, Korbi,” Samek said. “Our enemies and your friends are out there. I’m going to give you five seconds to get running. Tell your friends that two of their comrades are lashed to a tree, waiting to be freed. Tell your friends that we’ll be waiting for them. Tell them that they could throw their whole doggone army at us, and we’ll not move. Not one inch. Tell them that we don’t fear them, and that we look forward to the fight. And tell them that you’re coming alone, because you’re the only coward that didn’t dare to stand up to evil. Did you get that? Now get out of here!” Samek then propelled his foot into Korbi’s rear end. Korbi didn’t wait around. He took the hint and dashed off as fast as the dense forest would permit.

Samek turned around, only to see Gregorex with his hands atop his head, his eyes wild with disbelief. “How could you just let him go?” he asked, incredulous.

“I’m sorry, Gregorex, but what else could we do? If we brought him back to the village, then we wouldn’t be able to shut him up. He’d get everybody scared. I don’t want the people to know that there has been a traitor in our midst--not yet, anyway. A battle is coming, and I need everyone to be of one mind. We need to focus on the enemy, not on ourselves.

“Besides, we don’t have any place to hold prisoners. But hey...we’d better go check up on the others.”

Andres, Gregorex and Samek turned and walked back toward the campfire. Andres saw Pilch writing frantically with one hand while wiping his forehead with his other hand. “Oh my! Oh my!” Pilch kept uttering. “Too much activity! Too much activity! How can poor Pilch keep up with it all?” He then quickly looked up, glanced all around him, and started writing again, all the while mumbling, “Too much! Too much!”

“Relax, Pilch!” bellowed Samek. Andres wondered how anyone could relax in response to Samek’s stentorian voice. “Just write something like, ‘There was much fighting, and the good guys won.’ That’s enough detail. I don’t need my scribe dying of a heart attack just because there was too much stuff to write down.”

Pilch didn’t even look up. He continued to scribble as he replied, “Oh Samek, you just don’t understand the grave responsibilities of a proper scribe! And now look what you’ve done! I’ve started talking, and now I’ve got to write that, too! Oh my...”

As Pilch talked, Andres thought he noticed something missing. “Hey...wasn’t there someone sitting next to Pilch when we first got here?” he said.

Samek stopped and scratched his head. He then said, “Why yes...Old Ferd! Where in heaven’s name did he go? Did he die of a heart attack? Poor guy--this really is too much for that old man’s heart to handle!”

“He went to fetch some water,” came a woman’s voice from behind them. Andres turned around and saw Annala, helping to lead a man over toward the fire. The man was nearly doubled over; he was obviously in great pain. “While you were fighting the bad guys, my poor rescuer fainted and fell off our horse. He needs treatment right away.”

“Oh Babes, I’m sorry!” said Gregorex. “Let me help you!” Gregorex ran over and wrapped the man’s right arm around his shoulder. Together, Annala and Gregorex led him over to the fire. They gently laid him down near the log on which Korbi had been sitting. They stretched his feet toward the fire, and they propped his head and shoulders up on the log. Gregorex peeled off his cloak to serve as a pillow for the man.

Annala then began to pull away at the man’s shirt. On his left side was a wound, from which he had lost a lot of blood. The blood was caked on to this skin and to the shirt itself. She gently pulled the shirt away, causing the man to groan as she did so. Annala then turned to see a bucket of water being placed down next to her. Old Ferd had just returned, having filled the bucket from a nearby stream.

Gregorex asked, “Who is this guy?” As Annala tended to the man, she told her story.

“It didn’t take too long for the news of your escape to get to Slumbutter. That weasel came to my door and kicked it open. He burst into my room, waking me up as he yelled over and over again, ‘Tell me where he is! Tell me where he is!’

“‘I don’t know what you’re talking about!’ I told him. Well, he didn’t like that answer. He slapped me in the face, grabbed my hair, and yanked me out into the hallway. ‘You don’t know what I’m talking about, eh?’ he sneered. ‘Well, I think you know perfectly well what I’m talking about. Gregorex is gone, and you’re going to tell me where he is. And to help persuade you to talk, you’re going to spend some time in Chamber Tango.’

“I gasped when I heard him say that. Chamber Tango is the torture chamber. Guards will sometimes beat prisoners for hours at a time. They will beat them until the prisoners talk. I’ve heard that they do terrible things there...and I was about to find out first-hand.”

“The BEAST!” declared Gregorex. “If I ever get my hands on that man...”

“Calm down, Gregorex,” interrupted Annala. “We’re together now, and that’s all that matters.” She then reached out and squeezed Gregorex’ hand. Andres was amazed at how one touch from her hand could tame Gregorex. Andres didn’t think that anything in all of creation could have that kind of impact on the man.

Annala then continued. “When we got near a torch in the hallway, Slumbutter stopped. He saw a man standing on the opposite wall, reading something. Still holding me by the hair, he walked across the hallway and slapped the man with the back of his hand. The man dropped what he was reading and looked up, wide-eyed, at Slumbutter. ‘Hey Lackey!’ Slumbutter yelled. ‘I don’t pay you to read. I don’t pay you to think. I pay you to obey! Now take this woman down to Chamber Tango immediately! Lock her up, and tell her to wait. I will tend to her personally when I return!’ Slumbutter then thrust me into the man’s chest and walked away.

“As soon as Slumbutter’s footsteps faded away, the man quickly retrieved what he’d dropped, putting the paper into his pocket. He then grabbed my arm and said, ‘Follow me, ma’am.’ And we began walking down the hallway. We came to a stairwell and began to descend. It seemed like we descended forever, but probably that’s just because I was so scared. We finally came to a landing and walked down another hallway. This one was very dimly lit. I thought to myself, ‘This may be the last light that I ever see.’ The only sound that could be heard as we walked was the jingling sound of the man’s keys.

“Finally, we stopped in front of a door with a big ‘T’ written in red. The man reached for his keys, and I closed my eyes. I couldn’t bear to see the insight of this terrible room. I heard him insert the keys into the door.

“But instead of hearing the keys turn, all I could hear was a sobbing sound. ‘No more! No more! I can do this no more!’ said a voice. I opened my eyes, and saw the man crying. The man took the keys out of the door and threw them to the floor. ‘I’m done!’ he declared. ‘Listen--there is no time to lose. If you have any hope of surviving, you need to follow me right now!’

“I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know this man; I’d never seen him in my life. But I just nodded and said, ‘I’ll be right behind you.’

“The man led me back up two flights of stairs, until we came to ground level. Once there, we could see many of the black knights mustering--they were obviously getting ready for battle. The man grabbed my hand and led me through the door. ‘Do you know where we’re going?’ I asked. ‘Yes,’ he replied as he kept moving. ‘How are we going to get there?’ I asked. ‘I don’t know,’ replied the man. ‘I just know that right now, I’m a free man. I’ve been given a way of escape. If someone finds us and kills us on the way, well that’s the way it goes. I’d rather be killed as a free man than keep living as a slave. I wouldn’t even think of putting you in danger, except that Slumbutter would probably have killed you anyway in Chamber Tango. So let’s take our chances and hope for the best.’

“The man led me through crowds of black knights and other servants. Amazingly, no one asked us anything. That’s kind of the way it is in Dor-ko’s castle--everyone sees to themselves. They don’t take too much notice of anyone else. But just as we broke out from the crowds and seemed free to continue our escape toward the woods, a voice from behind us cried out, ‘Hey! Where are you going!’

“At that, my rescuer panicked. He just grabbed my arm and muttered, ‘Let’s run!’ And that’s exactly what we did.

“I knew we didn’t have much of a chance. As you can see, he’s quite heavy-set and he couldn’t run very fast. Though we had a bit of a headstart, the man that was pursuing us soon caught up with us. He grabbed my rescuer by the shoulder and spun him around. ‘You coward!’ he yelled. ‘I ought to take my sword and run you through this very instant.’

“I thought the rescue was over right there. My rescuer is a kind man, but I don’t think he’s a fighter. He just stood and stared. The other man drew his sword and--it looked to me, anyway--prepared to drive it through my rescuer’s heart. But before he could do so, some heavy hoofbeats shook the ground beneath us. A beautiful horse suddenly appeared, coming between us and the man with the sword.”

“That was Ranger!” Andres piped up. “That was Cable’s horse! We saw him when we were escaping ourselves! He must have gone back to rescue you!”

“Well,” continued Annala, “I was thankful for the distraction. I immediately yelled to my rescuer, ‘Let’s get on him and get out of here!’ The horse knelt a bit, as though knowing we’d need some help getting on. We mounted quickly--I was in front, and my rescuer was in the back. The horse quickly stood up and took off. I could hear his rear hoof smack our attacker in the jaw as we headed off. But after we’d gone a few steps, my rescuer said, ‘Stay down! I think we’ll get some arrows pretty quick!’ He then leaned over me. A few seconds later, I heard him groan. Sure enough, the man had let an arrow fly. It had struck my rescuer in the side. I urged him to hang on as we escaped into the woods.

“When we got out of range, we stopped briefly. I helped pull the arrow out, but we had time for little else. My rescuer said that he’d ride in front. ‘I’d hate for a beautiful face like yours to be hurt by all the branches that will come flying at us in these woods,’ he said. And then we were off. We stopped once at a stream to get a drink, but other than that we’ve been moving constantly. This horse--he’s amazing. It’s like he’s been guided this whole way.”

By the time Annala was done with her story, she had completed dressing her rescuer’s wound. Andres thought the man looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite place him. As he pondered over where he could have seen this man before, the sounds of approaching footsteps were heard in the woods. Gregorex immediately reached for his nearby bow. As he notched an arrow and drew back the string, he cried out, “Who is it! Declare yourself or die!”

“Hold your fire! It’s us!” came a familiar voice. It was Legs. He came crashing into the clearing, with Remmaline and Kaelanna behind him. Pipes followed close behind. With a quiet urgency in his voice, he declared, “Look, folks, we need to get inside the city gates right away. We just scouted out one of Dor-ko’s advance parties. They’ve got a platoon of cavalry that is not far away. If we don’t move quickly, we’re going to be cut off.”

While he spoke, Kaelanna quietly ran over to the man that had saved Annala. She burst into tears as she wrapped her arms around him and gave him as big an embrace as she could possibly give. She buried her head into his shoulder and said, “Oh, Daddy...I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.” For Annala’s rescuer, of course, was Fred the jailer.