The Caverns of Kronos

The Moon Trogs - Part 2

     A sound came from somewhere in the surrounding greenery, and several of the cons turned towards it in alarm, picking up long human thighbones to use as clubs. Lirenna’s heart leapt in hope. More renegades! she thought in excitement. Come to rescue Richard and Henry. Or maybe moon trogs. Then a cloud of doubt dulled her excitement. Or maybe Konnens, she thought. Maybe we’re going to be rescued from the cons only to be killed by the Konnens. She strained with her infravision, trying to make out the body heat of the newcomers amongst the concealing cold vegetation.

     The sound came again, and most of the cons moved stealthily towards it, spreading out to cut it off on either side while three remained by the cage to guard the prisoners. I could kill two of them with firebolts, she thought, and then it might take five minutes or so to fight our way out of this cage. More of the cons would have to come back to guard us, and that would give our rescuers, whoever they are, a better chance. She’d made up her mind to do this, and was actually pointing her finger at the first con, when two of the advancing cons gave shrieks of pain and convulsed, floating limply in the undergrowth.

     The remaining cons shrieked in alarm, and a second later a third fell, and a fourth. And then a pair of brilliant, shining darts flew out of the darkness, swerving to avoid thick branches and clumps of greenery. They aimed themselves unerringly at a fifth con and struck it squarely in the chest, making it howl in agony as it died in a shower of sparks.

     “By the Gods!” exclaimed Richard. “What in the name of all that’s holy was that?”

     Lirenna just stared in slack jawed amazement as another pair of firebolts shot out of the darkness, hitting another con, while the rest milled around in horror and shock, hooting and howling their dismay and not knowing which way to run.

     “Lenny!” called out a familiar voice. “Are you all right?”

     The demi shae was frozen in bewilderment, not daring to let herself believe what was happening in case it was just a cruel mistake. I’m asleep and dreaming, she told herself. In a minute I’ll wake up and they’ll still be dead and the grief will be a thousand times worse than it was before and I won’t be able to take it. I’ll go crazy!

     “Go away,” she muttered, beginning to cry again. “Go away and leave me alone.”

     “Lenny!” called out Thomas again, more anxiously this time. “Lenny!”

     “Tom?” said Lirenna, beginning to believe it at last. “Tom, is that you?”

     “Lenny!” replied Thomas from somewhere in the darkness. “Thank the Gods you’re safe!”

     “Tom!” screamed Lirenna in astonished jubilation. “Tom! Tom! Tom! Tom! Tom! Tom!”

     “Your friends?” asked Henry, grinning with relief as the last of the cons scattered and ran in panic.

     “Yes!” cried Lirenna, tears of joy breaking away from her face to fly off into the darkness. “Yes! Oh yes!”

     Her friends arrived a moment later, keeping a wary eye out in case any of the cons were still around, and Shaun slashed the cage open with a few swipes of his sword. Lirenna flew into Thomas’s arms, almost bowling him over, and hugged him so hard that he almost couldn’t breathe. “Oh! Oh Tom!”

     The others discreetly averted their eyes as they made their reunion, and the two renegades stared in wonder at their rescuers. They were familiar with moon trogs and their poisoned blowdarts, but the others were just weird. Two humans, a man and a woman, dressed in what had recently been fine clothes as if they were members of a noble family. Two human men dressed only in silken bathrobes, one of which was tied around its owner's waist, leaving his chest bare, and… And someone else. They stared at Jerry, totally at a loss as to what to make of him. Was it a child? But he had a generally adult looking face complete with a bushy, silvery beard. A midget, perhaps? Some kind of birth defect? The renegades averted their eyes in case he was self conscious at being stared at.