Gorgoroth (Haladras #2)

FIFTEEN

Skylar woke to a throbbing head that felt three times its normal size. He groaned and reached for his temples, expecting to feel a planet-sized globe where his head used to be. Instead, he found his head intact, without the slightly sign of swelling. Maybe his fingers were playing tricks on him.

He tried to sit up, only to discover that the world around him was swimming. He felt as if his head would float away. With another pathetic groan, he fell back onto his pillow. Only there was no pillow, just a thin blanket over a steel floor. The sound of his head impacting the hard metal resounded in his ears, and the pain inflated his head even more.

Breathing deeply, he tried to calm himself and make sense of his state. What had happened? Gradually, he became aware of a sharp pain in his arm. Not as intense as the pain in his head, but nagging, nonetheless. He turned his head and saw the bars of the cell. Sudden recollection came flooding back into his aching head. The memories heightened his awareness, and his pain.

Where were the others? Had they escaped? The thought gave him a trace of hope. It quickly dissolved, however, as he turned his head towards the inside of the cell.

Next to him lay Kendyl, eyes closed, still as a stone.

She was alive. He could see the faint rhythm of her breathing. On her angel face, he saw hints of the same pain that afflicted him. It was his fault she was in pain, that she was locked up in the brig. Why had he not stayed at his post? The remorse gnawed at him ten times more than any pain he felt is head or limbs.

And the others? He could see that Kendyl was not the only one captured with him.

Lifting his head again, this time slowly, and only high enough to see over Kendyl, he saw Endrick, Grüny, Wessin, and two others. No sign of Karb. Everyone but himself was still unconscious. Wessin looked to be on the verge of waking.

Within a quarter of an hour, all the remaining captives had recovered from the tranquilizer darts. Karb, Skylar learned from the others, was dead-as was another of the smugglers. The whole story of what happened was short, and all too wrenching for Skylar to hear.

After Tanks took out Wessin and Skylar with tranquilizer darts, he made his way to the brig, where he easily took out Kendyl, liberated his men, and armed them with tranquilizer guns and blasters. With little effort, the smuggler managed to take out the remaining five companions, who were ambushed from behind. Each side lost one man in the struggle, but no more. That was it, the end of their sad tale. Skylar wished he could undo every decision he'd ever made. How could he let this happen?

For some reason, the captives found themselves without any guard.

"Like as not, it's because we were all unconscious until just a moment ago," said Grüny.

"They're probably planning how best to dispose of us," said Endrick. "I'm sure they have a real humane method of killing unwanted captives."

"They wouldn't have bothered using tranquilizers if they wanted us dead," said Skylar.

"Right, because these rats wouldn't kill just for the fun of it."

"What I want to know," continued Skylar, turning toward Kendyl, "is how you got here."

"You left your post, remember?" she said.

The comment stung. He deserved it, he well knew.

"You know what I mean. How did you end up on the ship?"

"I followed you," she said simply.

Then she preceeded to recount her tale.

"Once you left me at the port, I waited in the crowd for a few minutes to make sure you didn't look back. Then, I set off after you. It was rather easy, actually. The streets were not so crowded as the first day we arrived on Oon Vunda. When you reached the rug shop, I just waited outside. But nothing happened for a long time.