A Game of Chi Book III: A Sword of Dust

Chapter 29: Cragger IV

CRAGGER

After reaching the armoury, Cragger had hastily grabbed a sword to slice the webs on Rogon's arms, fully freeing the rhinoceros from his bonds. "Alright, Rogon," Cragger said, taking the chance to catch his breath before they would leave the armoury, "what's the plan now?"

"What do you mean?" Rogon asked back. "You're the one who suggested we break out."

"Yeah, but where's the Queen of Fire? And who the hell is she? You heard what that yellow cat said to Foltrax; Flinx is dead. So who is it?" Rogon shrugged. "I don't know. But don't you remember? They said they were camped outside the city, so we'll start looking there. Since the Web borders the Diamond Sea, they can only be east of us."

"That's still a lot of ground to cover," Cragger observed, but Rogon was already heading for the outside. "Are you coming?" Cragger hesitated before answering. I don't really want to go to this Queen of Fire, he thought. I've had about enough of being ordered around by women who think they know best. "Cragger?" Rogon asked again. But to get out of Spinlyn's estate, I'll need Rogon's strength. "Yeah, I'm coming," he finally replied. He followed the rhinoceros through the doorway and peered out, looking for any guards. "They must not know we escaped yet," Cragger murmured. Rogon grunted his approval. "Then let's get out of here before they do. The exit is that way." He pointed out to the left, where Cragger couldn't see any fences. "Are you sure?"

"I've been here long enough to know," Rogon replied. "Unless you want to run around in the dark by yourself..." Cragger shook his head and sighed. "Lead the way."

In the darkness, Cragger and Rogon had to work together to make any progress. While Rogon knew his way around Spinlyn's various domes better than the crocodile, the eyesight of rhinoceroses was middling at best, and now, the sky was dark but for the stars. Cragger's eyes were adjusted to the darkness thanks to years of swimming through the murky waters of the Swamplands, but he had to rely on the shortsighted rhinoceros for directions. "I can make out the slave dome," Cragger hissed, seeing the familiar sight of where he had been sleeping as a prisoner just the night before. He suddenly felt a pang of guilt for the other captives and tugged on Rogon's shoulder. "We should free them too," he urged. The rhinoceros shook his head firmly. "Then we'll be seen and we won't escape. Trust me, when we come back with the Queen of Fire, we'll free everyone."

"When we come back?" Cragger repeated. "Well, yeah. The Queen of Fire is in conflict with Foltrax, so they're bound to come back, right?" Rogon's smarter than I thought, Cragger admitted. But do I want that? To join this Queen of Fire? It might mean waging war against Crooler... "Alright, that makes sense," Cragger conceded. "How much further to the gate?"

"Shouldn't be far now," Rogon replied. "Now keep quiet or the guards will hear us." The two of them stealthily made their way through the paths connecting the domes until they were just behind the fence. There were two spiders on the outside, talking about the phoenix and tiger they were receiving. "No one on this side," Cragger told Rogon. "Do we just attack them? Or sneak past them?" Cragger could see Rogon thinking for a moment. "We can't climb the fences," he said finally. "So attack it is."

Cragger and Rogon made their way behind the two guards, who were still talking and facing the outside. "What do you make of Foltrax, anyway?" one asked. "He's male, so he can't be the Queen of Fire."

"Whatever. At least he's a real phoenix." There's that line again, Cragger thought. Just what's going on with this Queen of Fire? Cragger quietly slid his arm through the gaps in the fence, seeing that there was enough room for him to do so. There's so much room in between, even Rogon could slip his arm through. He motioned for the rhinoceros to get close and they stuck their arms through the bars, just behind the spiders. "Now!" Cragger hissed. The two of them wrapped their arms around the spiders' throats and pulled them against the bars. They slid their other arms through as well, covering their mouths to stop them from crying out. After a few moments of struggling, the two spiders went limp. "Okay, that's done," Rogon said, extricating his arms from the fence. "Just give me a minute while I fish for the key," Cragger said, rummaging through the grassy garments of the unconscious spiders until he felt a thin, metallic object. "Got it!" Twisting his arm around, Cragger unlocked the gate and opened it, allowing himself and Rogon to get through. "We're not safe just yet," Rogon reminded him, glancing at the domes behind them. "We've got to get into the actual city to at least hide."