~ When they reached the top of the stairwell, Andrew paused momentarily to turn and face Jaden and Takyle.
"Do we have any kind of a game plan for this deal?" he whispered. "And am I the only one who finds it kind of strange that we haven't met anybody else on our way up here?"
"You think that they know we're out?" asked Jaden.
"I don't have any idea. Could be coincidence I suppose."
"Well whether or not they know we're out isn't really going to change what we have to do that much. At most it robs us of our element of surprise. An advantage but not integral," Takyle said. "Now let's talk about what it is that we have to do. I have two copies of a set of keys that I was told were for rooms up here. In case we get separated one of you should take a set."
"Damn," muttered Andrew. "If I'd thought about it I bet Thomas had keys on him as well."
"Yeah well, too late for that. The longer we stay here talking about it the more likely it is that someone will find us. Here." Takyle handed one of the small keyrings to Andrew. "First we have to find our packs and then we have to find a way out. We'll try to stay together and search methodically. If we run into anybody we'll hide if possible and if not, subdue. Ready?"
"Yes," said Andrew.
"Yes," Jaden echoed.
Takyle gave Andrew a nod and he edged the landing door open a crack to look out, and then pushed it just far enough to slip through with Jaden trailing him. The hinge made an almost inaudible creak as Takyle let it close behind her and the latch clicked. In the surrounding silence that one sound was like a gunshot.
Team 6 hurried down the wide hallway that they found themselves in. After having grown accustomed to moving with a full pack on, Jaden felt surprisingly light now without it.
"There's always a bright side."
Not far from the stairwell the hallway opened up to transform into a floating walkway extending out over a courtyard some twenty feet below. The walkway and white banister were supported by tall marble pillars, the stone polished to a high luster.
"Where are we?" murmured Jaden, looking out over the expansive tiled court.
"Well if I had to guess I'd say that we're still inside the mountain," answered Andrew.
On the other side of the walkway the walls closed back in and the hall continued with doors on both sides. Andrew approached the first one on the right and listened at it for a moment before trying the knob. The catch disengaged and he pushed it open, his knife raised in the other hand. He took a quick glance around the room and then shook his head.
"It's empty. On to the next." Andrew carefully pulled the door closed and on they went down to the second door on the right which turned out to be similarly devoid of anything at all. It wasn't until Andrew tried the third door on the left that they were given pause.
"This one is locked." ~
No comments:
Post a Comment