Gorgoroth (Haladras #2)

THIRTEEN

The voice made Skylar's heart stop.

Could it be?

The hand drew back from his mouth, and the voice whispered again.

"The guard's asleep. But he could wake at any moment. We've got to wake the others without rousing him."

Skylar heard the words without comprehending them. All he could think about was the person speaking them. Without responding, he propped himself on one elbow and turned to face the dark figure crouched beside him in the cell. A pair of familiar eyes gazed at him.

How could it be?

"Kendyl? Is that-"

Again, her hand stopped his mouth.

Kendyl brought her lips next to his ear again. The warm breath from her mouth caressed his cheek as she spoke.

"Yes, it's me," she whispered. "But you've got to keep quite. We can talk more later-if they don't catch us. Now help me wake up Endrick and Grüny. We need their help to take out the guard."

Skylar nodded his head. Realization of the danger she was in awoke him to the urgency of the situation. Though he marveled at her presence, and wondered if he was hallucinating, he could not risk taking the time to quiz her.

Slowly, Skylar moved himself onto all fours, taking care to make as little noise as possible. Even the rustle of his clothing made him fear he would wake the guard. He crawled his way over to Grüny, meticulously choosing where to place his hands and knees as he went. The last thing he needed was to wake up one of the other captives by tripping over them in the dark. He chose Grüny as his victim because he saw that Kendyl was already making her way to Endrick. A smart choice. Between the two companions, Grüny was the most likely to cause a stir at seeing Kendyl again.

Grüny slept with his mouth open wide, a faint snore emitting from it. So faint and irregular that it sounded like Grüny stopped breathing each time he exhaled.

Skylar pondered for a moment the best way to wake him.

Could he do it without startling Grüny? The sharp-tongued captain of the Luna might let out a few curses before Skylar could get him to calm down. Skylar could muffled those curses with his hand, but would it be enough to keep from waking the guard-or any of the other captives, for that matter? There was no danger in having the other captives awake. But getting them awake while keeping them quiet...that was the challenge. No, it was wiser to only wake Endrick and Grüny for now.

He decided to try the slow, calm approach; gradually draw Grüny out of sleep. He hovered his cupped hand just above Grüny's open mouth, ready to cap it down at the first sound from it. He hoped he didn't lose a finger in this bargain.

"Grüny, you have to wake up, but don't make a sound," whispered Skylar hurriedly in the man's ear.

Not a flinch.

"Grüny," he whispered louder. "Grüny."

No response.

He shook Grüny's shoulder.

The old ship captain snorted loudly, then turned onto his side.

Skylar froze, listening nervously to hear if the guard had woken.

Silence.

He took a deep breath and looked over at Kendyl. Endrick was already awake and on his feet. How did she do it so easily? He gestured toward Grüny, then held up his hands as if to say, "What do I do?"

Endrick shook his head, then motioned for Skylar to follow him. Willingly, Skylar abandoned the task up of waking Grüny. It meant, though, that Skylar and Endrick were left on their own to deal with the guard. The two picked their way carefully across the brig floor towards the open bars. Once clear of the sleeping captives, Endrick halted and began removing his tunic. It was made of a course beige fabric. The same fabric as Skylar's tunic. All the captives wore the same. Itchy and uncomfortable as the tunics were, Skylar didn't think Endrick simply felt like stripping off his clothes.