Heartburn

No way I could sleep even though it felt like it should be night time by now. Pacing circles in my cell nervously with the super charged energy given to me most likely by the combination of the red curry soup and my nerves my mind raced to figure out what was going on. At least that’s what I though was making me so anxious.

My ears pricked. I was sure I could hear the sound of some distant rumble outside the wall of my stone prison. It had been going on for nearly an hour or so I guessed. It was so hard to judge time down here. Michael had been rushing back and forth from somewhere, glancing at me then hurrying away again.

“What’s going on?” I called after him.

He shuffled around nervously. “San d’Oria is being attacked by the Orcs from Fort Ghelsba. Sinless has gone up with everyone else to defend the gates. I’m sorry, I’m going to see what I can find out. I won’t be long. Don’t worry, they’ll never get all the way down here.” He scurried off again.

Very odd. Usually they preferred to wait until we came out from the security of the city walls to pick weaker adventures off one at a time. Attacking the fortified city seemed like craziness. These were very strange times indeed.

“Hey Alison. Are you alone?” I heard someone familiar hiss to me in a mithran whisper.

Rushing to the front of my cell I called back. “Yes, yes hurry please I want out.”

Kammy skittered out quickly followed by a much slower moving and watchful Tastywaffles and an easy striding Zerokb. She grabbed my outstretched hands and a deep rumbling purr erupted from her. “Arrrre you ok?” she purred shaking her head a little as she finished. “Garness said there were no locks so we brought in some muscle.”

Kammy bounced back into the arms of the beastmaster elvaan named Tastywaffles who was her nearly constant companion and he caught her pushing her hair back away from her face without even looking at her as if it was so habit he didn’t even think about it anymore. I couldn’t help but smile at them and miss that kind of familiarity and affection in my life.

So distracted by them I didn’t even notice what Zerokb had done until I heard the ground crack under the giant’s great effervescent feet. Smiling in such a way that it made the hair stand up on the back of my neck, Titan winked at me. The most perplexing sense of déjà vu swept over me but as much as I struggled to grasp at it I couldn’t figure out why, like some strange dream forgotten as soon as I woke.

I’m not sure how he fit into the hall but he did. Great hands bent the bars as his fingers pushed through them to get a grip causing the steel to scream as it gave way to him. Devouring the spicy curry soup earlier had given me terrible heartburn as well as the energy burst but now it seemed to reach around my ribs crushing me like I was in the talons of the dragon I consumed. It caught me off guard and I cried out like the steel as we both felt ripped apart. Knees to the stone I watched the bars bent apart as effortlessly as taffy candy in his hands.

“Thank you old friend.” Zerokb said as he smiled and nodded to Titan. The giant bowed lower if that were possible in his current cramped quarters and disappeared as quickly as he had arrived clearing room for my friends to leap in to help me.

“Ouch.” I whimpered pathetically as the pain went away.

“What in Altana’s name was that about?” Zerokb demanded. “Did that spell link you to the cage?”

“Maybe.” I replied still feeling a little shaken as Kammy pulled me to my feet. “Let’s get out of here already. Someone is going to want to know what all that noise was about.” Pulling me along I stumbled after the mithra in the dark between the occasional torch hanging from the damp stone walls.

It wasn’t long until we heard the snarl of one of the large dog-like creatures that stalks the tunnels at all hours. I nearly slid as I stopped abruptly and jumped back just in time to avoid it’s long fangs as it lunged at me. Tastywaffles the beastmaster stepped in front of me showing the angry beast his palm and yelling at it to stop. To my great astonishment it laid down shaking its head and snarling but not attacking as the tall elvaan stared it down as if he was willing it with his eyes alone.

Scratching of toe nails on stone echoed against the walls as another dog ran to catch up with his companion. With a flick of his wrist Tastywaffles sent the first creature racing to meet the second leaping at him and catching his neck in his jaws. Crashing to the floor the dogs tore and snapped at each other until the second dog ran in a panic followed closely by his turncoat pack mate.

“Time to move.” Tastywaffles commanded us but my knees had already hit the floor again from the gripping pain.

“The bars! The bars! The bars!” I shouted as I held my abdomen tightly.

“Shusssh!” Kammy hissed.

“What in the world is she talking about?” Zerokb said clearly a little exasperated as he frowned at me.

“We need to hurry if we don’t want to be trapped in here by soldiers on one side and beasts on the other. Can’t you carry her?” Tastywaffles asked sounding a little tense himself.

“Do I look like a monk? She’s huge!” Zerokb complained as he pointed at me. “Why can’t Kammy just teleport her?”

Kammy glared. “You can’t teleport a prego Stupid. She and the baby could be very unnicely separated in the process this late term.”

“I can walk all by myself, thank you.” I snapped as I struggled to my feet. “I’m ok now.” I turned and glared at Zerokb and he gave me a flirtatious nod and a wink in return. Problem was I wasn’t entirely sure how long I could keep going on like this but stopping was not an option. I told myself it would be ok if only I could get to the fresh night air outside of this awful stifling place but I didn’t really believe me.