Chapter 63 – Prison break

  “That’s the signal!” Savgar said. “It’s our time to shine. Make sure your defenses are up.”

  “Are we jumping over the wall or bursting through it?” Victor asked.

  “Through,” Savgar said. “The more damage we do the better.”

  “It’s only bamboo,” Teresa said. “Shouldn’t be difficult and it will make it easier to make our escape.”

  “We’ll break through it,” Savgar roared. “No plant wall is going to stop me!”

  Savgar started running. Victor and Teresa were right behind him letting the dwarf take the lead. Savgar started generating momentum, gaining speed with every step. A wall of wind started to appear like a barrier in front of the dwarf as he ran up to the wall. The moment he got within range, he swung Thurg into the wall, transferring all the momentum he had gained on his charge up into the blow, roaring as he did.

  He hit the barricade with the force of an explosion smashing a hole in the wall and sending shattered bamboo debris flying out into the camp, knocking over several Wenduags and spiders caught by surprise.

  “Good job!” Victor said to him as they joined him at the opening a second later.

  “In another life, I would have been a sapper,” Savgar grunted. “Let’s show these apes what happens when you mess with dwarves.”

  “And humans!” Teresa added.

  *~*

  Jack heard the sound of fighting begin, but it wasn’t until they heard Savgar familiar roar that they made their move. In the middle of the area Clayton was holding all the elves, Jack summoned one of his stone shields making it hover above the spiderwebs and parallel to the ground without touching either. Jack didn’t want to risk alerting any nearby spiders until they had no other choice.

  As one, they shifted through the barrier of webbing the spiders had set up and appeared on the other side standing on Jack’s shield. He was able to make one large enough to allow them to stand on it, but there wasn’t a lot of space left. The captive elves were already awake and wondering what was happening.

  “You got the Alturians to come?” Alzona asked him upon seeing Jack.

  “No,” Jack said in Elven. “But it’s okay. We are getting you out of here.”

  “Then how did…” Alzona started but stopped upon seeing Elaine.

  “You made a deal with the moon elves!” Alzona gasped.

  “No,” Jack said. “She’s human. Promise. We have a plan.”

  Most of the cells had several elves held together in closely packed groups. They worked systematically to break the cages open except for the ones holding goblins. When they managed to get one open, Zajowle would move onto the next as Elaine helped the elves out and onto the shield. There wasn’t enough space on the shield to hold more than one at a time, and he couldn’t summon a second one.

  Jack shifted the elves out of the camp as Elaine pulled them from their cells and hid them in the trees. Whenever he did, he handed over one of the goblin weapons he still had in his Storage, so they had something to defend themselves with. It wasn’t the best quality, but it was still better than having nothing.

  He had to repeat the process dozens of times in the space of a few minutes. The attack had accomplished the task of distracting the camp from what they were doing but he was still worried something would come to investigate. The spiders had to know something was happening now. Breaking through the cages alone should have alerted the spiders’ web network at least. He tried not to worry about that as he worked. If the spiders came, then they would just need to take care of them then. Soon the last of the elves had made it out of the camp.

  Alzona insisted on being the last one rescued. Her people came first, and she wouldn’t let anyone say differently. Even when they finished getting everyone out of the camp, she was still hesitant to come.

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  “Clayton still has three of my people,” Alzona said. “I don’t know what he has done with them, or where he is keeping them, but I can’t leave them.”

  “You can’t help them here,” Elaine said.

  “I will go look,” Zajowle said. “We don’t need all of us at this point. Our plan allowed for some changes.”

  “It won’t be easy for you to get them out of the camp,” Jack said. “Maybe I should.”

  “No,” Zajowle said. “I have more experience than the both of you in this area. My skills may not be the best, but I can do this much. You two get the others to safety first. If I cannot find the elves or get them out, then I will wait for you two to come back and help, but if something happens, it will be a fight. The two of you have a better chance of helping them there.”

  “I will leave you here as well,” Ciao said. “I’ll make my way over to the others and give the signal when it is time.”

  “If you are sure,” Jack said. “But promise you will be careful. It’s a warzone right now.”

  “Trust in me,” Zajowle said. “Hiding is one thing I was good at.”

  “And I am better,” Ciao added.

  Zajowle disappeared, shifting away into the camp. Jack turned to Alzona, offering her his hand. “We’ll find your people, but we need you to come now. I don’t think the others will leave if you choose to stay.”

  “That would be sentencing them to death right now,” Elaine added.

  “Alright,” Alzona said reluctantly, taking Jack’s hand. “I don’t have any other choice.”

  He shifted out of the camp with Alzona, rejoining the other elves. Jack handed her one of the bows and a couple dozen arrows he made. Rayne told him it was her preferred weapon. The elves were waiting patiently for them.

  “We don’t have much time,” Elaine said, shifting next to him. “They will realize what we did soon.”

  “I have an idea,” Jack said. “Something that might help distract them.”

  “You aren’t going to do something stupid are you?” Elaine asked.

  “I won’t be long,” Jack said instead of answering. “Start leading the elves away. I’ll catch up, but don’t wait for me.”

  Elaine nodded. “I’ll start taking them over them. Don’t take too long.”

  Jack shifted back down to the jail cells. Appearing back on his shield. He found the goblin’s cages nearby. There weren’t a lot of them like when Jack was here the first time. They stared hungrily at him but were unable to do anything from inside their cages.

  “It’s your lucky day,” Jack said breaking the cage open and releasing the goblins. The goblins stared at him unsure what to do. Several looked like they wanted to attack Jack, but also afraid to get near him.

  “I’m lighting this place on fire,” Jack said, summoning his Dark-fire Flame and showing it to them. “It’s your choice, but I suggest getting away from here.”

  That was enough for the goblins to act. They scattered into the camp, all running in different directions. Jack didn’t wait. He threw balls of Dark-fire at everything he could. The webbing proved excellent kindling helping the Dark-fire to spread quickly.

  Jack shifted out of the prison just before an inferno of black and purple flames engulfed the area. From his current viewpoint, Jack could see he was not the only one doing this, as bright red flames were quickly spreading through the camp as well.

  Jack made to leave but had to dodge away as several rocks came crashing into the place where he had just been standing. Two Wenduags were locked on his position, and they were already readying another volley. Jack shifted again, appearing on the backside of one of the Wenduags and stabbed into its unprotected side with his spear.

  His spear cut through its hide but the cut only served to anger the Wenduag. Instead, the poison was doing most of the work. The wound immediately reddened and blackened, making the Wenduag fall to his knees in pain as Jack continued to stab at the beast with a series of quick thrusts. It was back up a moment later, fighting through the pain. Jack focused on loading the first Wenduag with poison as he fought against the four-arm flurry of blows that came at him. After getting a couple dozen quick strikes in, he shifted away, trusting the poison to take care of the rest.

  He moved on to the next opponent. The Wenduag was already moving to attack Jack, bringing a large dagger down onto his head. Jack had to bring his spear up to block the strike. He soaked in the impact of the blow. He felt his feet dig into the ground. Jack countered back, cutting one of the Wenduag’s hands as he jumped back to avoid a series of punches. Nearby, the first Wenduag fell dead from poison.

  Jack focused on keeping his distance from the beast, positioning his spear between him and the Wenduag. It tried to get close, but Jack dodged, parried, and shifted around the Wenduag, opting for small cuts that filled the Wenduag with more poison. As they fought, he saw several black and white needles he recognized as Ciao’s spell pierced into the Wenduag. He couldn’t tell where the feline was attacking from, but needles continued to appear covering the beast’s body. With their combined efforts, it didn’t take long for them to finish off the second Wenduag.

  “Thanks, Ciao,” Jack called to the Familiar.

  “Stop wasting time,” Ciao hissed. “More will be coming.”

  Around him, Jack heard the clicking of spiders quickly approaching. He shifted back out of the camp, taking off toward the tunnel. He hoped that had been enough of a distraction to help the others escape, but their window going completely unnoticed was closed now. He moved through the trees, making sure to break several spiderwebs and branches as he did.

  He didn’t have a lot of time, but he needed to make Clayton think they were to escape through the tunnel. It was part of the plan, to draw his attention away from their settlement once they escaped, so he needed to make it seem real.