The Last Citadel
Page 30
‘You don’t know that,’ said Petra, ‘and even if you are right, it could be a very small hole.’
‘No,’ said Amber, ‘some of those fish were as big as me. It must be big enough for us to squeeze through.’
‘Then we have to try,’ said Pelosus, ‘Amber, can you show us this shaft?’
‘Follow me,’ she said, ‘but, grab some plankton lamps from the tunnels as we go. It’s going to be very dark.’
‘Then what are we waiting for?’ asked Kenzo, ‘everybody collect as much food and water as you can and let’s get out of here.’
Within ten minutes, Amber was leading them down toward the shaft that would hopefully take them away from Bastion forever.
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Chapter 33
The sun was sinking toward the sea as Kenzo dragged himself out of a small natural hole in the rocks, closely followed by the rest of the group. Fingers and knees were bleeding and everyone was stinking of seaweed and covered with slime. The three women and the child sat together sharing tears of relief, as they sat outside the Citadel wall and stared over the endless sea.
‘I can’t believe it,’ said Pelosus as he joined Kenzo and Braille, ‘I thought those tunnels would never end.’
‘We are here now,’ said Kenzo, ‘and there’s no going back. I just hope you are right about that map.’
‘Me too,’ said Pelosus, ‘but, we’ll never know until we try. Now, all we need are the boats.’
Braille looked around at the women.
‘They can’t go on any further,’ he said, ‘I’ll go on and bring the boats back here.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ said Pelosus.
Braille stared at the Stargazer.
‘You’re pretty tough for an old man, aren’t you doc?’ he said.
‘I’m just as knackered,’ said Pelosus, ‘but there’s no other option, now come on, let’s go before Petit’s cronies realise what we are up to.’
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Two hours later, Pelosus, Kenzo and Braille were in one boat, rowing hard away from the city. Close behind them and tethered to the first by a length of rope, the second boat contained Leona, Petra, Amber and the sleeping boy along with the parcels of stores. Frightened of pursuit and the possibility of spears raining down on them, the men pulled as hard as they could until they were out of range. Finally, they stopped and looked back at the Citadel, still looming high above them in the gathering gloom.
‘Well we’ve done it,’ said Kenzo, staring back at the Citadel. ‘We’ve escaped the city. I just hope we’ve made the right decisions.’
Though it was getting dark, the whole of the inner city walls were lit up by countless fires as the Brotherhood cleansed the Citadel of any remains of the incumbent population. Walls glowed yellow in the flames and the central tower of the keep stood out above all the others.
‘Oh my God, what’s that?’ asked Amber, pointing at the illuminated keep walls.
They followed her pointing hand and as their eyes made out the detail, they could see the bodies of seven men hanging by the neck from the battlements.
‘Oh no,’ cried Petra, ‘not that, please, they didn’t deserve that.’
‘Let’s get out of here,’ said Kenzo and Braille joined him to row the boat hard in the opposite direction. In the boat behind, Leona comforted Petra the best she could, realising that nothing she could say or do could ease the pain the older woman felt, after seeing seven of her colleagues murdered.
Pelosus still stood in the lead boat, staring back at the Citadel a little longer than anyone else did, his heart aching as he saw the only place he had ever known in his life go up in flames.
But despite this, the overall emotion was one of horror. Horror at the destruction of the city, horror at the waste of human life, but most of all, horror at the sight of a sinister black figure crawling up the vertical walls toward the corpses of the murdered councillors.
Pelosus resumed his place in the boat and grabbed at the oars.
‘Are you all right?’ asked Kenzo.
‘Yes,’ snapped Pelosus, ‘let’s just get out of here.’
He looked up one last time and watched Arial, the six fingered Saint, the last of the Sark, symbolically regaining his rightful place as ruler of Bastion. As the spidery form reached the first of the hanging corpses, Pelosus, Stargazer of Bastion, shut his eyes tightly and rowed as if he was rowing for his life, the salty tears running down his face, matching the salt of the rapidly receding sea.
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The End
More Books by K. M. Ashman
The India Sommers Mysteries
The Dead Virgins
The Treasures of Suleiman
The Mummies of the Reich
The Tomb Builders
The Roman Chronicles
Roman I – The Fall of Britannia
Roman II – The Rise of Caratacus
Roman III – The Wrath of Boudicca
Roman IV – Boudicca’s Daughters
Novels
Savage Eden
The Last Citadel
Vampire
The Medieval Sagas
Medieval I – Blood of the Cross
Medieval II – In Shadows of Kings
Medieval III – Sword of Liberty
Medieval IV – Ring of Steel
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