The Dark Lord's Demise (13 page)

Lisa asked the light, "Who are you?"

"I have seen everything that has happened to you and to your
brothers," the voice replied. "You should not be imprisoned here
in this miserable dungeon. What has been done to you is tragically
unfair."

Lisa cautioned, "Shh! The jailer will hear you." It felt strange to
tell a disembodied light to keep its voice down.

"Do not fear," said the light. "The jailer can neither hear me nor
see me. Be assured, your cries for help have been heard. I am here
to gain your release."

Lisa almost cried out, "You're Gaal!" The words never made it
out of her mouth. Gaal had never appeared to them in quite this
form. Of course, Gaal was Lord of All Worlds and could do anything. He could appear in any form he chose.

The voice said, "The Lord of All Worlds sent me here to help
you."

"Who's the Lord of All Worlds?" asked Betty.

Instantly Lisa answered, "Gaal!" The light in the cell flared up and subsided. Lisa relaxed a little. No wonder the light person (or
whatever it was) didn't act like Gaal. She asked, "You mean you're
sort of his ambassador?"

The floor shook as the voice admonished her, "There is not
time to talk of names and identities. You must follow my instructions exactly if you are to escape this place."

Lisa remembered how the jailer drew his forefinger across his
throat. "The jailer warned us not to try to escape. He said if we did,
they'd have our heads."

The light laughed gently. "What should you expect him to say,
Lisa? Of course he does not want you to attempt to escape. Of
course he will try to put fear into your heads. Now listen carefully
to what you must do."

Kurt said to the light in the cell, "Escape? From here?"

"It is your only hope. Do not imagine that King Tiqvah will be
sympathetic to you. You must not allow yourselves to be brought
into his presence. It will be disaster for you. And it will be disaster
for your sister and your friend."

"Because he won't know us?" Kurt asked. He turned to Wes.
"See, I told you so! If he sees us, it'll be disaster."

Wes decided not to pursue this. Instead he asked the light, "How
can we possibly escape? Those iron bars are solid. We sure can't
dig through the walls. Even if we got out of this cell, there are
armed guards everywhere."

The light swelled and brightened. Kurt glanced toward the door.
Surely the jailer would come to investigate. The corridor remained
dark. This odd light, brilliant as it was, did not light up anything
around it. The deep voice said, "To you it seems impossible. But
nothing is impossible. Nothing!" The cell floor shook. The bars on
the door rattled. Wes thought, The bars are loose! We can force them
open and get out of here!

"Without me, you have no hope of freedom," the light said. "If
you are to escape, you must put your trust in me and do exactly as I
say. Now-will you obey me without question?"

In a flippant voice Betty Riggs asked, "So how do I know this is
real?" Lisa flinched. She waited for a bolt of lightning or something like lightning to flash out from the light person and hit Betty.

For a while the light flickered in silence. It seemed to think
things over. When the voice did reply, it did not scold. "Betty, you
will find that this is more real than anything you have ever known.
It is for you especially I have been sent to this place. It is you who
will have a special task to accomplish."

Fury boiled up inside Lisa. She bit her lip so she wouldn't snap
out a sarcastic reply. Why did Betty have a special job? She didn't
even know Gaal, and Lisa did! Lisa had proved herself through
dozens of adventures in Anthropos. It wasn't fair!

The voice inside the light spoke more sharply than before.
"This is not the time for anger. You must follow me and do as I say.
Will you obey me?"

Lisa was shaken that the light had detected her anger. She covered her embarrassment with a question. "What about my brothers?"

"You will meet Kurt and Wesley outside, for they are also being
released. Will you obey me?"

"Yes," said Lisa and Betty together.

The light person glowed intensely for a second. "You will see me
pass through the bars of the cell door. The bars will glow after I
have passed through them. While they are still glowing, you must
grasp them, pull the door open and slip out. Turn to the right and
run down the corridor as fast as you can. No one will see or hear
you. A door will be open for you to escape to the street. From there
your eyes will be opened to see the signs that will lead you out of
Nephesh and to safety in the countryside. But listen! The bars will
glow for only a short while. Once the glow fades, you will not be
able to open the door. You must act speedily. Do you understand?"

"Yes," they repeated.

The light appeared to gather itself like a person who pulls up
the hem of a long robe. Then it moved slowly across the cell. It
did not exactly walk and did not exactly roll. It glided to the door
and passed through the bars. The bars of the cell did not light
up. Instead they disappeared as though swallowed. The light
passed through the door, and the bars reappeared-glowing as
if they were red-hot! The light waited on the other side of the
door.

Betty started for the door. Lisa rushed after her. Why should
Betty be the first to escape? Something flashed at the corner of her
eye or perhaps in a corner of her brain. From her mouth came one
word: "Stop!"

Betty did stop and turned back. She squinted to try to locate Lisa
in the dark cell.

"What's wrong?" she asked. Lisa didn't know where the word
"Stop!" carne from. As she stared at the glowing iron bars, she was
terrified to even touch them.

"Only a short while!" repeated the light from out in the corridor. Its voice sounded far away. "Once it fades, you will not be able
to open the door. You must act speedily."

"Why did you say stop?" Betty demanded.

"I don't know! I don't know!"

"Only a short while," whispered the light.

Wesley grabbed the glowing iron bars and tugged hard. The
door refused to move. Kurt clutched the bars too-and instantly let
go. "Wes, they're hot!"

"Grab them and pull as hard as you can!"

Kurt tried again. He wondered how Wes stood the fiery heat on
his hands. Beyond the door the voice of the light person urged
them, "Pull! Pull! Only a short while! You must act speedily!"

"Wes, don't! There's something wrong!"

"No, there isn't! Pull!"

The door yielded a couple of inches. Then it got hung up. The
boys braced their feet and pulled hard. The door gave and swung
toward them a few more inches before it stuck again. They
clutched at the open edge and heaved all their weight backward.
Kurt let go with one hand, then the other, to try to get relief from
the heat. "Let go, Wes, let go! I tell you something's not right about
this!"

Wes ignored his brother's protests and ordered, "Both hands
now! Pull!"

Kurt clenched his teeth and pulled with both hands. The door
swung wide open and spilled the boys backward onto the straw.
They got up and ran outside into the corridor and into total darkness. The light person had vanished and so had the glow on the
cell bars.

Wes said, "Come on! It told us to turn left and run!"

Betty yanked on the glowing iron bars and gasped, "Lisa! Help
me!" Lisa didn't move. Why had she yelled "Stop!"? What was
wrong? She looked around the cell but saw nothing to explain her
certainty that they should not open the door. "Betty! We can't go!
It's a trick!"

The other girl's answer was accented by her jerks on the door.
"Didn't your Gaal send that light here to help us? Come on! We'll
run out of time!"

"No! Gaal didn't send that light!"

"It said the Lord of All Worlds, didn't it? Hurry! It's moving!"

The bars dimmed to a faint glow. Betty screamed, "Help me or
you'll never see your brothers or Winnipeg or your aunt and uncle
ever again!" Lisa's insides churned. How could she turn down
freedom? What if she never returned to her familiar world? Homesickness ripped at her-

A scream tore through Lisa's throat. Not homesickness but claws
ripped at her! Something unseen and powerful grabbed her
around the middle. She hit and kicked at it. Her fists and feet only
cut through air.

"Betty! Help me! It's got me!"

"Shut up! We don't have time for games!"

"It's not a game! Help!" Between her screams, Lisa heard low
growls and slobbers near her face. She saw nothing, but it was
there. It gripped her with teeth and paws or maybe arms. It dragged
her toward the cell door. She planted her feet, but they skidded
through the slick straw. She twisted in every direction. She kicked
and hit. Her attacker growled and shifted its grip but never lost
hold of her.

Where was the light in the corridor? Why didn't it help her? It
was gone!

Lisa screamed, "Gaal, help me!" Her invisible attacker stiffened.
It snorted, released its grip and uttered a roar that shook the iron
bars and bounced around the stone walls. Lisa pulled loose and
ran. But where could she run? She landed in a corner of the cell,
and the thing was at her again. It seized her and dragged her along
the rough wall. It wasn't going to kill her yet. It would play with her
as a predator plays with its prey before the kill.