around the door, growing brighter and
brighter, until Kara had to cover her eyes. The floor vibrated.
“Come,” said Telnar. “Hurry.”
She opened her eyes and followed
him through the door.
He ran through the corridors,
pausing only to bang on a golden door. Aralan and Suli came out.
“Aralan, Suli,” Telnar said. “Fetch
the palace slaves, and bring them to the dungeons. It will be open. Tell them
this is their chance at freedom.”
“I knew you’d do it!” Aralan
pounced on Kara and gave her a wild kiss.
But Telnar was the one to whom Suli
turned. “I should have reached out to you before. I was afraid. I am sorry.”
The slave girls ran down the
corridor.
Telnar hurried on, Kara at his
heels, until he came to an iron door.
Light flashed as Telnar raised both
hands. “It’s safe for you now.”
They followed him through, down a
flight of stone steps lit dimly by some unseen source. The air was cool and
smelled of blood and iron.
At the bottom of the stairs was a
ring of cells, containing a multitude of strange beasts and people, all caged
individually. There was a minotaur and a lizard man, a golden lion-man and a
girl who seemed made of flowing water, and— Kara shuddered— a naked woman whose
body was striped in gold and black, with heavy breasts, buzzing wings, and a
vicious stinger hanging below her black-furred cunt.
But Kara only had eyes for Rhodar.
He leaped to his feet at the sight
of her. “Kara!” Then he caught sight of Telnar. “And... a brother dragon-shifter?
I thought I was the only one.”
“So did I,” said Telnar. “I have
been a slave, but your mate convinced me that it was time to seek my freedom.
And yours.”
She started to rush toward Rhodar,
but Telnar caught her arm. “I must use magic to free him.”
“Free them all,” commanded Rhodar.
“We have been talking. I promised them all that if I was released from this
cell, I would free them from the palace.”
“All of them?” blurted out Kara.
“But... the wasp queen!”
The wasp queen spoke in a grating
voice that hurt Kara’s ears. “I do not enjoy killing helpless prisoners, girl.
The Master forces me. Free me from this enchanted cell, and we shall see how
the Master likes my sting!”
A chorus of assent rose up from the
prisoners. Then a soft patter of feet sounded on the stairs. A crowd of
scantily clad slave girls and boys hurried into the dungeons, led by Aralan and
Suli.
Telnar raised both hands. Light
blazed up, and Kara covered her eyes. There was a blast of heat, and the floor
shook. When she opened her eyes, the iron bars of the cells were gone, and
black pools of molten metal smoldered and hissed on the floor.
Rhodar walked through the molten
iron barefoot, with no sign of pain. Kara threw herself into his arms, and gave
a sigh of pure happiness as they kissed.
“My clever little one,” said
Rhodar. “I did not expect to see you here so quickly, or for you to arrive with
an army at your back! And yet somehow, I am not surprised.”
Telnar turned to Rhodar. “Can you
truly break the spells around the palace?”
Rhodar nodded. “I could not work
magic inside the cell, but I could still sense it. I have been studying those
spells ever since I came here. I cannot break them alone... but you and I can
break them together.”
Rhodar turned to the gathered
crowd. “Everyone who means to attack the Master, go do it now. Everyone else,
run up the stairs and wait in the corridor. Only a dragon-shifter can stay in
this room and survive.”
Kara hurried up the stairs with the
slaves and prisoners, leaving Rhodar and Telnar behind.
In the corridor, the wasp queen
gave a buzzing laugh. “Who will come with me to take revenge?”
The lion man, a cobra-headed man,
the water girl, and three scantily-clad slaves stepped forward.
The lion man indicated the slave
girls and boy. “How will they fight?”
“With my hands and feet, since I
have nothing better,” said a small slave girl whose