BREAKING RULES, Combining two worlds (Part 3)

CORRIDOR

That waiting could take a very long time Gh'ara knew all too well, and it had never suited him, until now..... Although he could not wait to take revenge on the man who had destroyed his life, waiting this time was not a punishment. On the contrary, it gave him a chance to reminisce about his beloved. Not that he was a sentimental man, absolutely not! But Kayla had been the only one who had been able to pierce through his thick skin, the only one with whom he had allowed the same. She had been his everything. Once he had told her that he was incapable of loving anyone, but that he would do anything for her. His words had been lies... He did love her, and had done so with every fibre of his soul....

A movement on the east side of the fort, caught his attention, and situated between two boulders that kept him out of sight, he aimed his weapon to see through the lens.

A wave of euphoria slipped through him at the sight of the oh-so-familiar and hated face. Latarji...

Though his old Tároc had obviously grown old, the man had not lost his charisma, Latarji still exuded a certain kind of dark authority. Gh'ara heard himself growl and grinned, just a little longer and then the blood of his archenemy would flow over his hands. Very slowly he would kill him, very, very slowly and with a lot of pain...

The thought of torturing Latarji made Gh'ara tremble with excitement.

After Latarji had gone back inside and peace had returned to the east side, Gh'ara slipped between the boulders and made his way towards Varsa and the others as inconspicuously as possible.

The men had spent four days in the freezing cold mapping out the routines of Latarji's warriors, and now that they were sure that old Tároc was there, it was time to put the plans into action.

Though Varsa did not like the idea of Gh'ara grazing Latarji alone, he had no choice. They were too small a group. He and the other warriors would create a distraction while Gh'ara slipped in to finish off Latarji. His revenge, and that of the other men, would mainly take the form of the extermination of this group of warriors, while Gh'ara would have the honour of killing their old Tároc.

Unbeknownst to the men, Reh'tec had reluctantly sent a small team in their direction.

Four days earlier.

"Shit!!! This one too!" Although she was cursing softly, her voice was clearly audible in the dark corridor and she slapped her hand in front of her mouth in shock.

"Sorry..." Apologising, Jada looked at the giant warrior beside her.

Carefully, Mohr'kad placed a claw on the small woman's shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze. "It's all right. I don't think anyone heard us." A low growl made Mohr'kad look back in surprise.

Startled by his own growl, Koba quickly slapped a claw in front of his mouth. "My apologies, Ikat..."

Although the two men spoke in their own snarling and growling language, the reason was not lost on Jada. Eyes squeezed together, she glanced from one warrior to the other, her gaze lingering on the man at the back, the warrior who had knelt before her just a few hours ago. The man had acted so strangely then too. Suddenly getting up and storming off without saying a word, but with an angry face... and now this, this... growl!

Annoyed, she shook her head, there was no time for this. Whatever was bothering the man wasn't her problem. She had a much bigger problem of her own. Two of the three tunnels she had expected not to collapse had. The only tunnel that might still be partially intact was the one that was already on the verge of collapsing, and she had little hope that they would be able to get through it.

"We need to keep moving..." Without waiting for the warriors, Jada moved on, the beam of light from the torch she had received from Mohr'kad shining ahead of her.

Carefully, the small group made their way deeper into the old corridor system until Jada suddenly stopped at a fork in the road.

She turned to the Ikat with an elated face. "We're in luck! The corridor I thought had collapsed is still intact! At least as far as I can see!" Although she was whispering, her voice sounded excited.

Smiling, Mohr'kad looked at her. "Well done Jada, thank you." And turned to his men.

"Lagraja. You, your men and Du'gan stay behind me. Koba and Gunnar, I want you two in the back to protect Jada." The two men would protect the little woman with their lives, of that he had no doubt. But most of all, he wanted to keep Gunnar from rushing headlong into a fight. The boy was too young to be killed by a broken heart.

Somewhat reassured, Jada allowed herself to be sent to the rear. She was just an ordinary woman. Not a warrior or a hunter like some of the tougher women of her clan. She was a mother and a cook. The fact that she was familiar with most of these corridors was mainly due to the fact that she had been so curious when the clan had settled here years ago, and she had been on a number of expeditions with some of her clanmates. Almost none of those girls were still alive, Jada thought sadly. Most of them had died in attacks by the Shri men. Shri men other than these, or those who had been captured by her clan a few years ago and one of whom had fathered a daughter with her.

Stealthily, she glanced aside at the tall warrior walking diagonally behind her. Although most warriors still frightened her, there was something about this man that made her feel safe.

Jada bumped hard into the warrior walking in front of her as the group suddenly stopped. Quickly, she stepped back and opened her mouth to apologise.

Suddenly a low growl was heard and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up at the sound. Had they been discovered?

The warrior the other man had called Koba moved closer to her, almost pushing her back against the warrior in front of her. Shocked, she looked at the man behind her. To her surprise, he had turned his back to her and was now staring into the darkness behind them, weapon at the ready.

Jada's heart began to beat faster and she broke into a cold sweat. Was the enemy closing in on them?

A series of quick growls made her look back at the leader who had led the way, and she watched as the other men lowered their weapons. She turned back to the man behind her and her breath caught in her throat at the sight of the yellow-green eyes that had settled on her.

Quickly and with her heart pounding, she turned around. What was it with this guy?

They had not gone more than five metres when Jada heard a soft rumbling and she immediately stopped her pace, but the sound stopped as quickly as it had started.

Jada shook her head. Thinking she must have imagined it, she started walking again.

Suddenly she heard the sound again, this time a little louder, and just as she was about to warn the men of her group, she felt something hit her head and looked up.

The low rumbling had not escaped Koba's attention, but like the small woman before him, he thought he had imagined it. These strange, dark corridors gave him the creeps anyway. But when he heard the rumble a second time and saw something fall in front of him, he didn't hesitate. With a quick grab, he wrapped his thick arm around the body of the woman in front of him and pulled her against him with a swift movement. Just in time, as a large chunk of the ceiling collapsed exactly where the woman had been standing just moments before.

A high-pitched scream of fear escaped her, and Jada, eyes wide with fear, looked up at the ceiling that seemed to be slowly falling to pieces.

Before she could utter a warning, a large arm was wrapped around her and she was pulled backwards with a hard jerk.

"MOHR'KAD!!! WATCH OUT!!! THE CEILING IS COLLAPSING!!!"

Quickly, holding the woman protectively in his arms, he pressed himself against the wall. Before the ceiling collapsed completely, he saw the vanguard, like himself, pressed against the walls.