Gorgoroth (Haladras #2)

TWENTY-FIVE

Rolander woke with a start. He blinked, trying to wipe away the inky blackness which surrounded him. Somewhere beyond the door to his chamber, repeated shouts reverberated through the castle walls. He sat up and listened. Who was shouting and why? The voices were too garbled for him to make sense of what they were saying.

The tramp of heavy footfall rose then quickly fell away just outside his door.

Throwing back his sheet and coverlet, he scrambled out of bed. Taking no time to turn on his lamp, he stumbled through the shadows to his wardrobe. Grabbing his robe, he hurriedly wrapped it about his body, then headed for the door. Before he had taken even two steps, the door burst open, spilling green light into his chamber. Within the doorway, silhouetted against the light, his tangled hair and beard like brambles growing from his head, stood Jonobar. A look of supreme urgency wrinkled the tutor's face.

"Good, you are dressed," he said. "Come with me."

Without a word of explanation, Jonobar left the doorway. Rolander trotted after his tutor, and caught up to him in the hallway.

"What is happening, Professor?" asked Rolander.

"The castle is under attack," replied Jonobar, while keeping his rapid pace.

"Attack! By whom? What's happened to the others...to Krom and Skylar's mother?"

"Both taken care of."

A detachment of armed soldiers clattered past them and disappeared down a side corridor. Shouts of commands rang out, followed by the sharp report of blaster fire. Rolander's heart beat with ferocity inside his chest. Was this really happening? A strange buzzing suddenly filled the air. Then a swarm of black specks emerged from the same corridor the soldiers had just entered. Bees? Rolander wondered.

Careening around the corner, the buzzing specks headed straight for Rolander and Jonobar.

"This way," said Jonobar, thrusting open a side portal and passed through it.

Rolander quickly followed, slamming the door shut behind. The boom resounded off the narrow walls around them. Rolander let out an exhale of relief and checked his surroundings. They were in one of the many service passages running throughout the castle. Rolander had taken great delight in exploring all of them when he first came to live at Castle Ahlderon. Of late, he seldom used them, preferring instead to stay in his quarters and study or work on his...hand!

"Professor," said Rolander desperately, "I've forgotten my hand. I must return for it."

The mechanical hand was nearing its final stages of completion. Now his obsession, he felt losing it would be more devastating that the loss of his original hand. He scolded himself for being so absentminded about it.

"Leave it," said Jonobar. "I promise you it will come to no harm."

"But Professor-"

"Leave it!"

Jonobar' eyes flashed with a fire, which vaporized Rolander's words before the left his mouth. For several seconds, Jonobar held his withering gaze, daring Rolander to speak again. Rolander shrank with fear. He had never seen his even-tempered tutor look so severe before. Seeing Rolander intended to obey, Jonobar flicked the skirt of his robe, turned, then swiftly glided down the narrow passage. Rolander followed silently behind.

Jonobar led Rolander down a spiral stairwell. Down two levels, they exited the service passage and came out into one of the main castle corridors.

Rolander gasped in horror. Bodies lay scattered about the floor. Soldiers mostly, but some servants too. Though he saw no sign of injury, their bodies where so unnaturally twisted and their faces frozen with pain, that he knew they must be dead. Still he had to ask, to know, despite Jonobar's warning to keep quiet.

"Are they dead?" he asked, barely above a whisper.

"Yes," replied Jonobar without a backwards glance. "The Trackers got them."

"Trackers? In the castle? They don't kill people, though."

"These do."

Jonobar sailed down the corridor with not so much as a downward glance at the bodies. Rolander tried to keep up. His legs felt wobbly, though. His whole body felt slow, like he was trying to walk knee-deep in mud. For all his desire not to see the bodies, to make them disappear, he couldn't help but look at the faces as he went. Some of them he recognized. Guards he'd seen posted outside the royal throne room when Krom held court, a maid who often changed his bed clothes and brought him tea during his study hours; one of the cooks, Maud. She'd always been kind to him, trying to sneak him treats when he first arrived at the castle.

Who did this and why? He suddenly remembered Skylar's mother again. Was she really safe? Perhaps Jonobar was taking him to where she was.

Without registering where they were heading, Rolander followed Jonobar around more corners, through portals, and down more passages. At last they came to a place in the castle Rolander knew only vaguely.

The doorway to the castle's control room stood ajar. A solitary guard lay sprawled on the floor in front of it. Stepping over the body, Jonobar entered the control room. To Rolander, the idea of stepping over a dead body seemed irreverent. Instead he cautiously reached down with a trembling hand to check the man's pulse. Dead. Rolander wanted to hurl.

Carefully, he stepped around the body and slipped through the open portal into the control room. He straightened out and took a deep breath. Quickly he realized, that he'd made it past the dead guard, only to be greeted by two more. Their lifeless bodies slumped over the control panel at the opposite end of the room. A high-pitched ringing sound pulsated, filling the room with its eerie cry. Numerous red dots flashed on a dark screen above the controls.

Jonobar approached the control board, pushed aside one of the bodies, and sat down. Like one who had spent years in the control room, Jonobar commenced turning dials, flipping switches, and coding in commands on the keypad.

Rolander drew closer to his tutor, watching silently. The red lights continuted to flash on the screen. Were those ships?

Jonobar grabbed the transmitter. After punching in a few numbers, he spoke into the receiver. " , do you copy?"

Jonobar waited, listening.

The receiver hissed and cracked with static. No response.

"This is Night Shade calling Alpha Leader, do you copy?"

More static

Night Shade? Alpha Leader? Rolander wondered who Jonobar could possibly be trying to contact. Someone to help?

Suddenly a voice blared through the static.

"This is Alpha Leader. Go ahead."

Jonobar brought the receiver back to his mouth.

"All systems disabled. I repeat, all systems disabled."

"Copy. Over and out."

Jonobar clicked off the transmitter. The hissing died. Then he stood up and turned around.

"Come Rolander, we shall have company soon."