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“Do you have a light?” Phil asked him.
Ben grasped the bars in both hands and grinned. “I have something a little hotter.”
He focused his gaze on the wood and fire erupted from his hands. The scent of smoke filled the air as the dry kindling caught fire.
Hearth gawked at Ben. “How are you able to do that?”
“A little ‘gift’ of mine,” Ben told him as he stepped back. The flames had shot up and engulfed the whole of the front wall, and in a matter of seconds the entire thing collapsed into a pile of ash and debris. “But we don’t have time for that discussion. We need to stop your father from reviving anyone else.”
We rushed out of our cage and into the tunnel. Ben and Hearth led the way down the dank winding tunnels, and in a few minutes we found ourselves nearing the intersection. Unfortunately, we weren’t alone.
A few dozen of the undead slogged out of the southern and eastern tunnels toward us, their rotten mouths agape with hunger. Ben drew out his dagger and Impara his vial while Elias held up his hands and drew little balls of light out of the darkness.
Phil and I scuttled back as the men lunged forward with their weapons. The ghouls growled and threw their gnashing selves at our friends. Ben’s knife sliced the air and Impara was liberal with the drink. Elias used his little balls of light to shoot holes through the unnatural hearts, burning them to pieces and freeing the corpses.
Then I felt it. That strange pull again, but this time it was more like a yank. The sensation was so hard that I fell against Phil.
“Hey, what’s the matter with you?” he scolded me before he took one look at me and cut himself short. “You don’t look too good.”
“Follow me.” I grabbed his hand and pulled him around the fight and into the western tunnel.
“H-hey!” he shouted as he stumbled along. “Where are we going?”
“To stop something bad from happening!”
More living skeletons climbed out of their niche beds and tried to grab us. I scooted past them, but Phil swatted at the fiends. We reached the end and I half expected to find the brick wall, but we instead found a different sort of wall.
Dozens of corpses leaned against the stone that protected the court. They pawed at the bricks, and little by little the stone was pulled away to reveal the outer chamber with the magistrates. Josiah stood just behind the crowd with several vials clasped in his hands.
The wall collapsed and the corpses scrambled into the void with Josiah close behind. I dragged Phil to the opening and watched the bodies of the magistrates shudder. A soft red light filled their sockets before they drew themselves from their beds.
Josiah tossed his vile concoction at each of them, and the stuff splattered on their elegant robes. The viscous fluid slithered into their chests and the lights in their eyes were extinguished, replaced by the soft glow in their chests. The magistrates joined the others in tearing away at the far wall where the last door was hidden.
At the rate they were working, they’d break through it in less than a minute.
CHAPTERFORTY-ONE
My frantic mindtried to think of something to do, so I cupped my hands over my mouth. “Hey! You uglies!”
Everyone stopped and turned to me, including Josiah. A look of fury swept across his face and he curled his lips into a snarl. “You.”
I waved my hands over my head as Phil let out a moan. “Come on! Catch us!”
A dozen of the corpses took up the challenge and shambled toward us. Phil yelped and spun around, and another cry came from him. I whipped my head about and saw another dozen corpses climb out of the broken wall.
My heart couldn’t have pounded harder in my chest as I rushed over to the nearest wall and snatched two of the empty torch holders. I spun around wielding both them and greater courage than I actually felt. “Alright, come on! Bring it!”
They brought it. The corpses hissed at me and shambled over. I swung the heavy fixtures and managed to remove a couple of needy hands and fingers, but that hardly slowed them down.
Phil leapt into the fray with his own pair of ‘swords,’ and he swung them like an ax murderer in a slaughterhouse. Half of the corpse bodies dropped separately from their heads, but the lights didn’t go out in their chests. Instead, the headless bodies staggered to their feet and came after us again.
Phil backed up until we stood side by side with the wall at our backs. “Any other bright ideas?”
My bright idea came from the container on my arm. A soft glow emanated out of the top, and at its touch the corpses hissed and backed away. I dropped my torch holders and fumbled with the clasp. Phil fended off the bolder corpses before I finally drew the flute from its sheath. The instrument filled the room with light and caused even the corpses at the wall to shrink away.
“Millie!”
The shout came from the hall, and a moment later Ben with Impara and Elias on his heels rushed into the wide corridor. He caught sight of me and sprinted over while the others more cautiously approached us with both eyes on the crowd of corpses at the opposite end of the room, along with the furious Josiah. The older man’s dark eyes were focused completely on me.
