The Twisted Way (Champions of the Crystal Book 3)

Chapter 13.2

"What's happening?" Sabrina demanded. Tassan shut the door behind them, and the sudden, absolute silence startled her.

"We're under attack from some massive firepower. They concentrated their fire and punched through our shield," Darice said. "Quickly. The parts of the tunnels aboveground aren't as safe."

Sabrina tried to figure out where they were, but failed. Palace Royal was a warren of corridors and rooms both above and below ground, the dozens of seemingly separate buildings all connected at some level. By herself, she could easily be lost for years; she only hoped Darice knew where she was going.

"All right, we're underground now," Darice said, after they had descended countless steps and reached a nearly level tunnel. "Wait here for a moment while I double-check our location."

She moved ahead, taking the handlamp with her, until the circle of light half-vanished around a corner. Sabrina shivered, suddenly realizing that the tunnel was cold.

"Are you all right?" Tassan asked softly.

"Just cold," Sabrina replied, moving a little closer to him.

His hand vanished from her arm, and she heard him moving around for a moment. Then a warm, soft jacket was draped over her shoulders. "But you'll be cold," she protested.

"We won't be down here long. I suspect I've lived a harsher life than you; I'll survive," he replied.

She pulled the jacket close around her as Darice returned. "This way," the bodyguard said. "We're not far from Control. Commander Rayland has ordered me to escort you there as quickly as possible. Oh, and he said to tell you, my lady, that your brother is safe and has scrambled with the rest of the fighter pilots."

"Interesting definition of safe," Sabrina muttered. "Thank you, Darice."

They hurried along the tunnels, occasionally pausing as they heard the distant rumble of an explosion on the surface. Sabrina's alarm grew as she realized that the explosions were not lessening in number or force of impact, and she didn't object when Darice picked up the pace.

"Nearly there," Darice said, leading them up a flight of steps that appeared around a corner. They hadn't gone very far before the ground shook; this time, the vibration increased instead of fading.

"It sounds like they're drilling!" Sabrina shouted over the noise.

"The ceiling! Look out!" Tassan yelled, pulling Sabrina back toward him.

"No, this way!" Darice protested, but just as she was reaching out to Sabrina, a huge, jagged chunk of rock from the tunnel ceiling broke loose and crashed on the steps between them. Darice jumped back, lunging up the stairs, as Tassan and Sabrina stumbled downward.

Sabrina let out a shriek of terror as more pieces of rock showered down on them; one grazed the side of her face, and she fell against Tassan, momentarily stunned. He grabbed her up in his arms and half-carried, half-dragged her down the rest of the steps, fighting to keep his balance as debris bounced down the stairs underfoot. Almost at the bottom, he slipped, and they tumbled down to land in a bruised heap on the tunnel floor. Tassan threw himself over her to shield her from the rocks still rumbling down the steps as the shaking finally stopped.

They lay there, breathlessly waiting for the next attack. After a long silence, Tassan called out, "Darice?"

There was no reply. He slowly disentangled himself from Sabrina and a small mound of fine debris that had collected on his back and looked around, but the darkness was unrelenting.

"Sabrina, are you all right?" he asked.

"I think so," she breathed, putting a hand to her wet temple. "Something hit me pretty good, but I don't think I've broken any bones."