Hand of Fire (The Master of the Tane) (28 page)

  
              Dor laughed. “Yes, he does. He always complains about what a brat you are.”

  
              “If that’s true,” she said, trying to regain some of her composure, “then why would he spend so much time with me teaching me how to use a bow you dung pile?”

  
              Dor felt himself becoming angrier by her remark. Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind and his eyes twinkled. “You like him, don’t you?”

  
              Tam’s face went white. “No, I don’t.”

  
              “I knew it,” he burst out laughing. “Why, that little weasel. All this time he had me convinced.”

  
              “What?” Tam asked, suddenly very interested in what Dor was saying.

  
              “You’ve liked him all this time, haven’t you?”

  
              “What?” Tam stammered. “You’ve got to be kidding. The only reason I followed you around was because I knew you hated it.”

  
              “No way, there has to be more to it than that.” Dor was loving every moment of this. All this time Thane had him convinced that he was the reason she followed them around, but in all actuality it was Thane. “Wait a minute,” he said, trying to control his laughter. “If he really did teach you to shoot then that must mean...” he laughed even harder, unable to finish his sentence.

  
              Tam couldn’t stand it. She wanted to shake him until he told her what he was thinking but she didn’t want to let on that she had any interest. She should have been furious, especially for his laughing at her, but she wanted to know what he was going to say—she needed to know. Dor kept laughing until she finally couldn’t stand it anymore. “Must mean what?” she asked trying to sound disinterested.

  
              Dor wiped a tear from his eye and looked at her, fighting the giggles that kept emerging. “What?”

  
              “Must mean what?” Tam snapped, the anger and frustration slipping through her façade of disinterest. “Finish your dumb sentence. What were you going to say?” By this time her voice had elevated and she was up on her feet glaring down at him.

  
              Dor’s face puckered preparing for another outburst but he fought hard to keep it down. “Don’t you see? Why would Thane waste all that time training you if he didn’t like you too?” He couldn’t hold it back any longer and burst into hysterical, peels of laughter.

Tam was suddenly robbed of all her fury and she plopped back down on the floor, her eyes glazed-over.
Dor’s right
, she thought.
Maybe he does like me
. She warmed herself in the thought of Thane being interested in her. It had to be true, just like Dor had said. She tried to hold on to that idea but her mind viciously unlocked the memory of blackmailing him at his private retreat. Would he have taught her anyway? She suddenly doubted it. She was further tortured now by the thought of his probable death. They didn’t know what had happened to him or where he was. And what of their fate?

  
              Tam’s face gradually turned dark as she watched Dor, delirious in laughter, tears streaming down his face. Getting up, she went over and kicked him in the leg immediately ending his laughing fit. “Get up you worthless piece of troll dung and let’s go. I knew I couldn’t trust you with anything.”

  
              Dor shot her a surprised look as she began gathering her things in preparation to leave. In no time she had collected everything, including the lit torch, and proceeded to march down the corridor without him.

“Hey, wait a minute,” he called raising himself up gently. All his laughing had not done his arm any good and the intense pain had returned. Trying to ignore the hurt, he chased clumsily after her. But even with the throbbing pain, he couldn’t suppress the large grin.

Tam and Thane must like each other
.
It’s obvious
. He glanced at Tam, still in a huff as she marched along ahead of him and his smile gradually faded. There was something odd about her. And then it hit him.
But what if I’m wrong
? he thought, suddenly feeling quite sober.
Maybe Thane was right about her and me and that’s why she’s upset
.
She did follow me up the mountain
. Dor’s mind worked feverishly over everything that had occurred, especially how she had acted.
It couldn’t be
, he tried to convince himself. Suddenly, he found that he was not so sure anymore and though he tried to make himself disgusted by the idea, he discovered a strange sliver of hope beginning to grow down deep that it might be true after all.

  
              He picked up his pace as best he could trying to catch up but his shoulder was on fire, the pain coming in throbbing waves. “Tam, wait up,” he yelled, feeling a bit nauseated while his head started to spin.

  
              Tam paused briefly and he wasn’t sure that she would honor his request but then she just stopped and leaned up against the wall. When he finally caught up to her he saw the tears that were streaming down her face and he suddenly felt ashamed for how he had been treating her. Something stirred within him to see her this way; her hard exterior stripped away leaving a frightened young girl in its place. His heart suddenly ached.

“Come on Tam,” he said softly, looking down at his feet. “I’m sorry for making fun of you. I promise I won’t do it again. Just please stop crying.”

                 Tam turned away, her tears still coming as she squeaked out indignantly, “It’s not that.”

  
              “Then what is it?” he asked, looking up and awkwardly placing his hand on her shoulder.

             
Tam twitched at his touch but didn’t move away. She hesitated for a moment and then turned around to face him. Their eyes locked for a brief moment and then, without warning, she blurted out, “I’m scared, all right?”

Dor opened his mouth to respond but she ran right over him.

“Is that what you’ve wanted to hear? Well, there you have it. I’m scared to die and I’m afraid that Thane’s dead already and we’ll never see him again.” She paused as more tears began to pour off her cheeks. “And now I’m crying in front of you like some silly little girl and you’ll probably make some stupid joke to make me feel even worse.”

  
              Dor was stunned. Where did all of this suddenly come from? He stood there with his hand still on her shoulder not sure what to do next.
Why are girls so complicated
? he thought.
One minute she kicks me and is ready to take my head off and the next she’s bawling
.

  
              He took his hand from her shoulder and rubbed his forehead as if that would make him think more easily. He was about to say something that would have probably just made things worse when a high-pitched noise drew away his attention. Brushing the hair from his ear he cocked his head and listened. There was silence and then the noise came again. Tam watched incredulously as Dor suddenly grabbed the unlit torches from her arm and started laying them on the ground behind them.

  
              “What are you doing?” she asked wiping her eyes, trying unsuccessfully to stop the tears.

  
              Dor didn’t answer but instead ripped the torch from hand and lit the pile of torches at his feet. They caught fire almost instantly creating a large ball of flame that filled the corridor and sent choking smoke billowing into their faces.

  
              Tam screamed. “Are you crazy?”

  
              Dor ignored her comment and just grabbed her hand pulling her after him. “Come on!” he yelled. “Run!” He turned and started down the corridor running as fast as he could, Tam in tow stumbling along behind him. She wasn’t sure what had gotten into him but his actions were enough to send a chill up her spine. As she tried to recover and match his stride, a strange sound touched her sensitive ears. It was like a long, continuous scream and it was coming up behind them.

             
Dor suddenly stopped causing her to bump into his side. A low grunt escaped his lips and she knew that she’d hurt him. She muttered an apology but Dor ignored her. They were standing at an intersection of hallways and he was trying to decide which way to go.

“What was that noise?” she asked her face flushed by the sudden exertions.

                 “Which way?” was all he said. She stared for a moment and then pointed to where she could feel the hot air. Without another word, Dor was off and she found herself once again playing catch up. She assumed that the noise she had heard moments before was the cause of Dor’s concern but it seemed to have ceased. Tam slowed momentarily and listened, trying to pick up any sign of the high-pitched sound. Nothing. Whatever it was must have turned off or been stopped by the fire. She was about to call out to Dor when, as if spurred on by her sudden relief, the scream picked up again—this time much closer. She didn’t wait to find out what it was. It had spooked Dor enough to send him running and she wasn’t about to argue. Putting her head down, she raced forward quickly catching up.

Almost instantly, they were faced with another intersection. This time Tam didn’t stop to ask questions but instead pointed out the way and followed Dor as he ran like a crazy man down the hall. The noise kept getting louder and louder and Tam knew that it wouldn’t be long before they were overtaken by…what could it be? She knew trolls didn’t make that sound. It was too high pitched. It almost sounded like a chorus of things rather than just one voice. It was nothing she had ever heard before. But it was after them. She could almost feel the eyes on her now. They were being hunted. 

                 All at once the hall dropped away into a long stairway that plummeted down well beyond the dim light offered by their torch. Dor stumbled but quickly regained control by jumping down past the first five or six steps. Tam followed suit and the two raced down as fast as their legs would carry them. The screeching noise continued to increase and was now at a level that was almost deafening.

  
             
Death’s breathing at my back again
, Dor thought, feverishly searching for a way to escape.
Could this finally be the one
? As he finished his last thought the torch suddenly snuffed out taking with it their hopes for survival. Tam let out a faint yelp. “That’s it,” Dor mumbled, suddenly resigned to his fate.

“What’s this?” Tam exclaimed. “I have night vision.”

Dor’s eyes adjusted just as she finished her sentence. “There must be a light source.” Just then he spotted it. Ahead of them on the right side of the wall he caught sight of a faint glow.

  
              They both raced towards it stumbling over each other in hopes that they had found their escape. Within moments they came upon the source of their renewed hope. A roughly cut hole had been dug right into the side of the wall as if it had been an afterthought. A very faint amount of light emanated out of it, as did a large amount of hot air.

  
              Dor wasted no time. “Climb up inside and then pull me up!”

  
              “I don’t think I can,” Tam whimpered, her face drained of color.

  
              “Do it!” Dor yelled, “or we both die!”

  
              Tam threw her belongings into the hole and then reached up just barely able to catch the lower ledge. Dor got behind her and pushed with his good arm as she pulled hard, struggling to get in. Dor chanced a quick glance up the stairs and almost dropped her. His breath caught in his throat. Hundreds of small, glowing eyes sped towards them in a frenzy of hunger and death.

“Hurry up!”

                 With one great heave, Tam was finally able to pull herself through the hole and then quickly turned and caught hold of Dor’s outstretched hand. She jerked hard trying to pull him up but he kept slipping through her fingers. Sweat was trailing down her arm now making her hand too slick to hold on. She tried again, this time digging her nails into his flesh as he slipped back down. Dor looked back at the mass of bodies pouring down the stairs like a horrible wave of destruction, their screeching just barely louder than his pounding heart.

  
              “Use a blanket,” he shouted, their predators now almost on top of him. Tam reached behind her and grabbed a blanket and tossed an end down. He caught hold and scrambled up the wall, his feet trying to catch a toe hold. Tam pulled frantically pressing her heels into the stone floor as if trying to bury her legs in the bedrock. Dor slipped again and was just starting to drop when his toe caught a tiny bump in the near flawless wall. It was enough. He lifted just as the first body of hunger driven rats boiled up below him. They massed in a gyrating ball of fur and teeth lurching upward as they climbed furiously over each other in an attempt to reach their escaping prey.

  
              Tam screamed at the sight realizing how close they had come to being eaten alive and very nearly released her hold on Dor.