A Game of Chi Book III: A Sword of Dust

Chapter 21: Skinnet III

SKINNET

Instead of feeling pain, Skinnet heard a crash. Opening his eyes, he saw that the undead Worriz was no longer in front of him. Instead, it was lying off to the side, with a black and red Speedor next to it, its wheel still turning. To Skinnet's surprise, it was Lavertus, no longer dressed in his ShadoWind garb, who had saved him, swinging his black Valious sword at the Ice Hunters to drive them back. "Come on, now!" Lavertus yelled, expertly disarming the nearest Ice Hunter and impaling it with his sword. "You really want to die in this wretched place?" Skinnet blinked several times, ending his daze of confusion. "How'd you find us?" Skinnet asked. "There's rope in my bag," Lavertus said. "Use it to tie up Worriz. Once you've done that, toss me your firestarter!" Understanding that Lavertus wouldn't answer his question right now, Skinnet nodded and scampered over to Lavertus' Speedor, where there was an open sack with rope inside. The Ice Hunter Worriz was stirring, so Skinnet quickly grabbed the rope from the sack, his hand brushing against something warm. No time to think about what that is, he thought. He wrapped the rope around Worriz, tying a makeshift knot to bind him. "It's done!" he hollered. "Want my firestarter?"

"Toss it!" Lavertus shouted in reply. Skinnet could see Buchuma and Bungey helping Balkar, followed by the rest of the bears, quickly heading towards them. The Ice Tower is so close, he thought. We can make it.

"Here!" Skinnet hurled the firestarter, and Lavertus caught it. In one motion, he sprung back and threw it forward, incinerating the already-doused Ice Hunters and burning them to ash. With their shrieks still echoing through the air, Lavertus caught up to Skinnet, lifted the bound Worriz and put it over his shoulders before revving his Speedor and driving forward, surpassing the bears. "Let's follow him," Bulkar commanded. "Hurry!" With the sound of the burning Ice Hunters getting further away, Skinnet caught up to the bears as the Ice Tower loomed overhead. "Your plan almost worked," Bulkar said, still breathing heavily. "If Lavertus didn't show up, we'd have died," Skinnet admitted. "But seeing Worriz..."

"I get it," Bulkar assured him. "I've seen people I know like that too. They weren't my close friends or anything, but it's a terrible sight. Considering this is your first time seeing them, I'm impressed." Smiling, Skinnet picked up the pace and the group soon reached the Ice Tower's entrance. With time to breathe, Skinnet looked at Lavertus. The brown lion was wearing a blue tunic wracked with chains and holes. He had the standard lion kilt on his legs, except the golden buttons and one of the lion knee-guards had been torn off. Silver armour was around his shoulders, with a ragged dark blue scarf around his neck. Upon seeing Bulkar, Lavertus offered his hand in greeting, and Bulkar took it. "Good to see you're alive," Bulkar chuckled. "Same to you," Lavertus replied. "But Balkar?" When Bulkar shook his head, Lavertus sighed and turned to the door of the Ice Tower. "It's locked, right?" he asked, looking at Skinnet. "Yeah," he replied. "Only the Alpha Wolf has the key." Frowning, Lavertus drew his black Valious and smashed through the lock, activating its mechanism and opening the door before lifting the now awake and struggling undead Worriz and bringing him through the doorway. "Good thing we've got the Alpha Wolf with us here," he mused. Looking at Bulkar in confusion, Skinnet followed him inside, as did the rest of the Bear Tribe.

Once they were inside, Lavertus plopped Worriz down and had a seat. "So, Lavertus," Bungey began, "how'd you escape?"

"Yeah, and when?" Skinnet added. "You were already gone when I went to free the prisoners."

"I escaped soon after Worriz and the Pack left the Barrier," Lavertus explained. "I couldn't risk the new wolves seeing me before I left, so I broke out and escaped in secret." Bumpy, one of the former captives, frowned. "Why didn't you free the rest of us?" he demanded. "It would have been too easy to be spotted if we were in a group," Lavertus answered. "I needed to escape alone." He turned to Skinnet. "Got any more firestarters?" Skinnet rummaged through his pouch before producing another one. "Maybe don't lose this one," he said, smiling. "It's the last one I have." Nodding, Lavertus handed it to Bungey. "Go light some torches," he said. "And close the windows. We can't let the cold in. Also, someone needs to patch up Bulkar."