Rigelt gently flashed his glowing glass to lead them through the dark undercroft, until finally they reached him.
Soldiers were pouring toward them through the space, using their magical orbs to light the way.
“There is another tunnel to the caves,” Rigelt whispered as soon as they were near. “I saw it on the map. It should be in this direction.” He pointed to the wall behind him.
“Lead the way,” Robin said.
Placing a hand against the wall, Rigelt led them along in the darkness. “Here!” he whispered.
Robin felt the moment stone turned into wood under her hand. She frantically reached across the wood, searching for a handle.
The door creaked when she pulled it open, but they could not worry about that now. They were still safe in the darkness, but their attackers were nearly upon them.
They dashed through the door and then closed it behind them.
Rigelt pulled out the glowing glass to light their way down another set of sandstone stairs.
They ran through a tunnel, dank must and salt filling Robin’s nostrils. The smell was not pleasant, but it meant they were near the cave.
Footsteps and shouts sounded behind them, pushing her faster though she had no more speed to give.
Finally, the cave came into view.
Fletcher, Liam, and Sarah were getting into one of the three rowboats they had left on the shore of the cave.
“Go!” Robin yelled.
Aden ran forward, pushing the boat into the water and giving it a boost of speed to get started.
Nele and Sol stumbled into the cave from the tapestry staircase.
“They are right behind us,” Sol yelled, seeing Robin. “They used chaos magic to explode through the front door.”
“Go!” Robin said. “I’ll wait for the others.”
Sol hesitated.
“Meena needs you,” she said. “GO.”
Sol ran for the boat that Nele had already boarded.
Robin physically pushed Rigelt toward them.
The three of them filled the boat, and Aden once again pushed it into the water, giving it a generous boost of speed.
The final two Lockwood villagers ran into the cave from the tapestry staircase as the soldiers that had followed Robin poured in from the second staircase.
Robin’s heart raced in panic. She had never been truly afraid of a Chendas soldier before. But at the moment, she was terrified.
She had her bow out and arrow drawn to cover her final two band members’ dashing across the wet sandstone to the last rowboat.
The Chendas soldiers had their hands raised, orbs of chaos magic building in front of them.
Robin released her arrow, causing the frontmost soldiers to react just as they released their magic.
Purple orbs erupted through the small cave, but their trajectories had been affected so the orbs went toward the walls and ceiling.
Robin had another arrow nocked when she felt hands grab her around the waist.
