Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12 - Chapter 13
Chapter 14 - Chapter 15 - Chapter 16 - Chapter 17 - Chapter 18 - Chapter 19
Chapter 20 - Chapter 21
Chapter 14 - Chapter 15 - Chapter 16 - Chapter 17 - Chapter 18 - Chapter 19
Chapter 20 - Chapter 21
Hyren flattened himself against the wall, using his arm to
sweep Blynn up against the stone. “Don’t. Move,” he breathed.
The two Neopets silently looked up to see a long, fanged
snout poke out above them, sniffing the air. Hyren held his breath, hoping the
wind and rain were enough to have already dispersed their scents—and that the
Werelupe wouldn’t think to glance down.
After a few agonizing seconds the muzzle withdrew. “Ain’t
nothin’,” came the retreating reply. “Cursed wind makin’ noise, is all.”
Hyren exhaled, placing a hand on his chest. “That way,” he said,
prompting Blynn to sidle off of the crates in the direction of the cliff edge,
which was hidden by a labyrinth of terraces and roofs. Craning his neck upward,
he could see the sole spot of green in this red-infested hole, high above them
to the northeast. A crimson dot was now descending—he probably didn’t want to
miss the festivities.
The Grundo and the Zafara picked their way around the
castle’s exterior, scaling broken-down walls and veering around patches of
rooftop that appeared particularly unstable. Nearly all of the Werelupes seemed
to be gathered in the great hall, but there was one stationary, unflagged
neutral-orange biosignal far below Hyren’s feet. Most likely another prisoner, Hyren
guessed. And all the while, the rain and wind were picking up.
“How did you know your ammo would explode like that?” the
commander asked once they were well out of earshot from the Werelupes.
“Intuition,” the Zafara replied with a shrug.
“There’s far more to you than you let on,” Hyren said.
“Exactly,” Blynn said.
The northeast tower turned out to be rather angular, and
studded with narrow windows that were unfortunately far too small for Hyren to get
inside. But he had another plan for them.
“Give me a second,” he muttered to Blynn, reaching into his
utility belt and pulling out a flat metal cylinder. On the rim was a plug,
while a tapering metal shape resembling a flower bud protruded out the other
side. “Hop on.” Hyren gestured to his shoulder, and Blynn scrambled up. She
perched on Terra’s pack and rearranged it to make sure no rain was getting in.
Once the Zafara was settled, Hyren inserted the plug into a
corresponding socket on his bracer. He fisted his hand, pointed his arm up at a
window halfway to the top, and fired. From the cylinder shot a thin, black
rope, a weave of artificial nanofibers developed by Sloth’s techs to withstand
far more in stress than a Mutant Grundo’s weight. The “bud” bloomed into three
prongs as it sailed into the air, and when it reached the first window it
caught on the rim and stuck.
“Proprietary Virtupets alloy,” Hyren said, fat raindrops spattering
on his visor and streaming down into his mouth. “It digs into stone like wood.”
He gave a couple of firm tugs on the cable to make sure it had caught, and then
he let out a grunt, kicked off, and began walking up the wall, the rope
collecting back into its container as he went. Thunder rumbled somewhere in the
distance.
The window was far too narrow for even Blynn to slip in while
wearing her pack. Hyren hoisted himself up onto it, lodging one foot in the
sill and gripping the edge with his free hand. “One more time,” he said,
leaning out and shooting the grappling hook at the substantially larger window
near the very top of the tower. He grinned when the prongs landed and the green
dot in his HUD moved. She was okay.
While they climbed, Hyren glanced below and his stomach
tightened. A few Werelupes appeared to be dispersing from the great hall. He
bit his lip and walked faster.
Before the commander could get a hand on the rim of the
window, Blynn leaped off of his shoulder, vaulting over the stone and letting
out a cry of relief.
“Blynn!” Terra’s voice held the same sentiment.
Hyren peeked his head over the edge to see the owner and
Neopet wrapped in a tight embrace. Terra knelt on the stone floor of a small,
barren room, clutching the Zafara to her chest like Blynn was water in a
desert. “The ghosts didn’t get you!” the girl said. Her cheeks were wet with
fresh tears.
“Of course not,” Hyren said, swinging one leg over the side
of the window. “Do you really think I’d let that happen? Oh, and I believe
these are yours.” He had to unfasten her pack in order to squeeze himself
through the window. He handed it to her along with her sword before climbing
the rest of the way through and dropping to his knees in front of the owner.
“Thank you,” she said, and before Hyren could do anything
else, she wrapped him up in a hug as well, her arm barely reaching around his middle.
The commander blinked in surprise, but smiled and hugged her back.
“We need to get moving,” Hyren said, standing the girl up and
returning her glasses. “The Werelupes are finishing with their feast and we
have to get out of here before—“
A jagged spear of lightning turned the room white for one
brief second, and a moment later thunder crashed deafeningly. Terra yelled and Hyren
squeezed her shoulders before striding to the door and effortlessly kicking it
down. “Let’s just avoid the Werelupes and get out of here,” he said. “You’ve
put me through enough trouble for one day.” He drew his sword and held it
before him. Terra did the same, and he led them down the stairs.
Thunder raged around them, and rain sprayed into the tower
windows, pelting Hyren’s skin and armour, but no red dots approached as they
spiraled downward. Finally the three reached a doorway that let out into a
hall. To the left, the radar showed Werelupes—to the right, nothing. Hyren
ushered Terra and Blynn that way, and they emerged in an empty antechamber.
“Keep going,” Hyren said. He pointed to the door on the
opposite wall, but saw red approaching and pulled them away. “Just kidding,
let’s go back—“ His HUD alerted him to enemy units encroaching behind them and
he froze again. He spun around and crouched into a defensive stance. Terra followed
suit, while Blynn readied another piece of ammo in her slingshot.
“Aye, the meat was passable,” one Werelupe said to another
as they sauntered into the room, “but what I’m really cravin’ is—“
With a mighty yell, Hyren launched himself at her, knocking
her aside with the flat of his blade. Her companion snarled and moved to attack
him, but Terra ran in and tripped the Werelupe up with a well-aimed swipe of
her own sword.
“Run!” Hyren said, sprinting at full tilt down the hall. His
radar showed more red converging around them.
Werelupes burst from each door and around every corner,
trying to cut them off in a flurry of claws, teeth, and blades. The creatures
were strong, but clumsy, and Hyren’s finesse with the sword was more than a
match for them as he flung them aside.
Meanwhile, Terra’s ferocity made up for her lack of
strength. Many a Werelupe tried to move in on Hyren from behind, only to find
themselves stung by her blade. Blynn and her slingshot set off terrific bursts
of light in the halls, sending disoriented Werelupes reeling and stumbling over
each other. The explosions maintained a wide berth between the trio and their
pursuers.
“Just how big is this place, anyway?” the Zafara asked. Her
sprint was now reduced to a jog.
Terra wasn’t looking much better, Hyren noticed from over
his shoulder. But what really filled him with a sense of unease was the fact
that the orange spot below was moving. It was moving fast. And the closer it
got, the larger it seemed to become.
They turned a corner and ended up in the great hall, now
deserted. The three approached the tall closed doors as lightning stabbed
through the night and thunder echoed on the mouldering stone. A commotion rose ahead,
with shouts of “Stand back!” and “Don’t let go of his chains!” On the other
side of the doors, Hyren’s HUD showed a mass of reds surrounding the orange,
which was at least head-and-shoulders taller than any of them.
The doors were thrown open by a crimson-furred Werelupe with four arms, its face twisted into an expression of unthinking hunger. Teams of
Werelupes clung to chains that shackled the beast at the wrists, and its tail
whipped behind it as it fought the restraints. Its beady red eyes caught
Hyren’s gaze. The Grundo shuddered, but held his ground, steadying his sword in
front of him.
“Oh, crumbs,” Blynn said.
Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12 - Chapter 13
Chapter 14 - Chapter 15 - Chapter 16 - Chapter 17 - Chapter 18 - Chapter 19
Chapter 20 - Chapter 21
Chapter 14 - Chapter 15 - Chapter 16 - Chapter 17 - Chapter 18 - Chapter 19
Chapter 20 - Chapter 21
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