Lavender & Fire

30. Your Own Flesh and Blood

Kahal immediately charged at the first male, assaulting him before his eyes could open and adjust after barging through the splintering wood. Using the element of surprise, he slammed the heavy ornament into a male's head, knocking him down before doing the same to another.

He went for a third but this one grabbed his forearms, stopping his attack.

"Where are the others?!" One of the females yelled.

"What others?" Kahal bantered as he fought the male for control. He noticed the male was leaning pretty heavily forward to hold him at bay so he quickly stepped back, causing the male to lunge forward with his own momentum. As he did so, Kahal turned and slammed his elbow into the back of the male's head, rendering him unconscious.

"They're hiding somewhere!" The other female yelled as she got in a defensive stance, watching Kahal. He turned to see Thuq wrestling with the final male. Thuq was never exactly a physically gifted Qarthan male, he preferred to focus solely on studies and intellect. But Kahal was happy to see him holding his own. Noticing the females weren't charging at him, he kept an eye on them while turning to deal with the male instead. He knocked him out with a powerful, carefully placed punch to the side of the head, then helped Thuq to stand.

"Thanks." Thuq spoke between breaths.

While Kahal was helping Thuq, the two women looked at each other and then down at the four males that Kahal had taken down all while not getting a scratch or bruise on himself. They turned and fled back from the door they'd come in from.

Kahal cursed as he pursued them, just after yelling a command to Thuq. "Find something to tie up the males." They would need them for questioning and also couldn't risk them waking up and continuing their pursuit of the others.

He followed the two women down the hall but as he rounded a corner he stopped and cursed. They were nowhere to be seen. He listened but didn't hear any footsteps. He groaned and rubbed the top of his bald head, wishing he knew the area better. There were so many hiding spots in these vast halls and storage closets, crates, rows of costumes hanging, large props strewn about. How would he ever find them?

After a few minutes with no clues, Thuq joined him and they decided instead to head to where the others in their group would exit.

On the way they passed by a handful of Qarthan males that were putting away supplies and props. Each of which said they'd seen or heard nothing unusual. Deciding he couldn't waste time to question them further, he risked believing them and moved on. They exited the backstage area and went down the hallway where the toilet facilities were. With no one in sight, they entered the theater where the other group should exit, finding no one.

"Do you think they've had time to go through? I think it's full of obstacles down there." Thuq commented.

"I honestly don't know." Kahal said as a knot formed in his stomach. They rushed to where the closest corner of the stage was and quickly found the hatch. Kahal lifted it and stuck his head down. "I don't see or hear anyone."

With Thuq keeping an eye out around them, Kahal jumped down into the lower area below the stage. After a few minutes of listening to pure silence he called out. "Kietnan?!"

No answer. "Joreth! Othen!" Still nothing.

He went back up to join Thuq. "I don't think anyone's down there. Let's go find some guards and we'll see if they've made it to safety. If not, we'll send a whole team down to find them. Plus we need to gather our guests from Halan's office."

Thuq nodded and they rushed out of the theater. The halls were full of people merrily talking about the production as they made their way to wherever they were going. Each was surprised at Kahal's urgency and claimed they hadn't seen or heard anything, including his brothers. So he stopped asking and rushed to the king and queen's entertaining room.