Castle Perilous

Lower Levels

“Beware the girl. She is a witch.”

There were only five soldiers left and four prisoners to dispose of. But they were an efficient unit. One stayed behind to guard Melydia and the servants.

They marched double file, a soldier and a prisoner, the sergeant-major, who now commanded, in the lead with Linda. Leaving the Hall of the Brain, they walked the passageway that circumscribed it, then took one of the corridors that radiated outward.

Gene was thinking furiously. He knew Linda was too. He hoped she could come up with something. He had no doubt that time was rapidly running out. These guys weren’t going to buy them lunch, that was for sure. These guys didn’t buy anyone lunch, or drink Perrier with a twist of lime, or put on their Asics Tigers in the morning and run five miles, or talk about their Porsches or their BMWs, any of that stuff. They didn’t ordinarily do much but eat, sleep, and kill, with a little rape thrown in for savor.

They turned left at a cross tunnel, proceeding down it until they came to a small alcove.

“This is far enough,” the sergeant-major barked. He drew his sword. “Let’s be about it.”

My God, Gene thought as the soldier guarding him pushed him toward the alcove, they are actually going to kill us.

A deep-throated growl came from farther down the tunnel.

The sergeant-major whirled. Out of the shadows bounded a tawny, full-maned lion in royal rage, its bared teeth white and gleaming, though not as brightly nor as fearsomely as the dentition belonging to the saber-tooth tiger that stalked angrily behind him.

However, it was the leopard that ran past both of them and tore out the sergeant-major’s throat. Then the scene in the tunnel became two-dozen episodes of Wild Kingdom running at once.

“Gene! In here! Everybody!”

It was Linda, huddling in the alcove. Gene leaped, tripped over a charging cougar, and fell against Jacoby, knocking him into the alcove and on top of Linda. Kwip jumped in, and suddenly all was dark.

There came a muffled protest. “Mr. Jac —”

“What happened?” Jacoby warbled.

“Get … off me!”

“Terribly sorry.”

A light came on. Gene looked up at the Coleman lantern hanging by a chain from the ceiling, then saw that the alcove was now sealed off by a wall.

“Linda? Are you okay?”

She sat up and blew air upwards to brush the wisp of hair off her eyes. “Yeah. Now the ropes. Any suggestions?”

“A simple knife, maybe,” Gene said.

“Okay, catch.”

Gene felt the handle in his hands. “You’re getting great at this.”

“Life and death situations make for good practice. You try that, I’ll try my Cuisinart.”

“Huh?”

“Without the plastic cover. See? Those are the chopping blades. I cut myself on them once or twice trying to wash them. Now if I can just do it without —”

Linda got free first and cut Gene’s bonds, then Jacoby’s and Kwip’s.

“Those big cats?” he asked. “Why didn’t they bother us?”

“I created them with a real craving for fresh soldier meat.”

“Nasty.”

“Those bastards were going to kill us.” She held her head and shook it woefully. “Look what this place has done to me. Those men are dead.”

“As cat food, they had their finest hour. Don’t fret about it, Linda. You did what you had to do. By the way, I loved the saber-tooth. Nice touch.”

“Oh, if I had thought, I might have come up with something that wasn’t lethal.”

“And you would have gone to heaven for being a nice person.”

She sighed. “I guess you’re right.” She looked around. “Now what? I guess we go out through the other side.”

“Unless you can conjure Marlin Perkins.”

Linda materialized a small opening. Kwip cautiously peered out. It was a tunnel paralleling the one they’d been in.

“We have to go back and get Snowy,” Gene said. “You can dematerialize the cage, and then —”

“Wait,” Linda said. “I don’t think I can do that. My talent is creating things out of thin air, not making things disappear. Hold on.” She looked at the Cuisinart and wriggled her nose. “No soap. I can’t make it go away.”

“How come you can create doors and openings? After all, they’re sort of negative quantities.”

“I don’t know. A door is something to me. You can see it.”

“Well, anyway, there’s only one more soldier. And there’re four of us.”

“You’re forgetting Super-Bitch.”

“Yeah. Do you think you can handle her?”

Linda looked inward for a moment, then said, “I don’t know. She’s up to something. And she’s powerful.”

“So are you, and you’re getting stronger by the hour.”