章 19: Desperate Endeavors
Elroth turned away from Kaleb and began to make his way through the battlefield, leaving his still scrambling opponents to chase after him. Kaleb wondered if the light was playing tricks on him, had Elroth really looked panicked?
Elroth swiftly made his way to Salarime, crashing into one of her adversaries blind sides, without slowing down. The Abyssal Fear was sent sprawling to the ground, making an opening in the net of enemies that had kept Salarime pinned down.
The two of them immediately went on the move forcing Salarime's opponents to join Elroths' in their pursuit. The duo began to make their way through the battlefield, away from where Ameri and Kaleb were bound. They began to gather their forces as they slowly retreated. Turning the isolated battles into a group battle. Slowly the forces were split in two with the Hunters on one side and the Abyssal Fears on the other, standing between the Hunters and the prisoners.
"Now Salarime!" Elroth shouted.
Salarime pointed her sword at the horde of Abyssal Fears standing before her and lightning spewed out casting itself over the enemies like a net. The lightning arcing between them didn't do much damage, but it stunned the enemies, locking them into place.
"Fall back!" Salarime shouted.
As the group of Hunters turned to flee, one of them broke free to the side, circling around the Abyssal Fears.
"Elroth!" Salarime screamed, lunging to grab her sprinting vice-captain, who was moving faster than she could catch.
"Leave him." She said, as several members of the Hunters had turned to go after him.
The group of Hunters began to flee down the tunnel, though Kaleb could only tell by watching the light of their torches fading into the distance. Elroth, on the other hand was moving swiftly toward the two prone figures.
Unfortunately, the stun from lightning net didn't last long, and Elroth had just cleared the back of the mob when they began to fall on him in mass. Kaleb was still confused about what the man was doing. He seemed almost desperate to get to them, even though he had placed them here as bait.
Elroth struggled through the crowd until he was only a few meters from where Kaleb and Ameri lay. He was brought down by the sheer mass of the crowd mobbing him. Kaleb watched as an Abyssal Fear stabbed its claws into the side of Elroth's abdomen, piercing into the stone beneath him. The man gave little more than a grunt at the pain this caused, all Kaleb could see was him struggling with something on his belt. With a jerk, the Abyssal Fear broke the claws free from its hand, leaving them as stakes holding Elroth to the ground.
Suddenly, an object was thrown out of the crowd surrounding Elroth. It bounced and slid, bumping into Kaleb's hand. It was Elroth's belt knife.
Shocked was the only thing Kaleb could feel as he grabbed hold of the blade, shocked that Elroth would go to such lengths and shocked at his accuracy. He began to work the knife around in his hand until he held the handle.
'Is he trying to rescue us?'
Kaleb couldn't make out what was happening anymore, as the Abyssal Fears blocked his view of Elroth's fate. Instead of worrying about things he couldn't change, he began the arduous task of trying to saw at his bonds. Kaleb found it to be rather difficult as he couldn't get a good angle or apply much force.
'Wait.' Rackshar said firmly.
'What are you talking about? I have to get Ameri and myself free and get out of here before they focus on us.' Kaleb explained, not stopping his cutting.
'I said wait you bastard!' Rackshar roared. 'The reason that they haven't nailed you to the ground is that you are already captured. Does a spider bind a fly that's already encased? Just wait, a better opportunity will appear when they chase after the Hunters. Escape right now and they will pin you to the wall like a rat!'
'And what if they don't go after the Hunters?'
Rackshar chuckled darkly. 'They will. Have you not noticed? This whole thing was a trap. The Abyssal Fears were waiting for them. They won't let them get away. Capturing prey is their specialty.' He said this with a certain glee that made even Kaleb shiver.
In the end, Kaleb did stop his attack on his bonds and instead held the knife against his wrist, so it was out of view. Less than a minute later a shriek echoed down through the cavern, coming from the direction the Hunters had run. The mob of Abyssal Fears around Elroth turned to the noise and began fading off into the darkness, till there were none left.
'Now.' Rackshar signaled.
Kaleb once again began to vigorously saw at the straps. It didn't take long after he freed one hand till he was completely free. Ameri's bonds took but a moment and they were both free. Though, Ameri didn't seem like his normal self. He had only stopped screaming when the Abyssal Fears had disappeared and, even now, his eye's were hollow and his movements were sluggish. He seemed to only respond to Kaleb telling him what to do, as if he were in a trance.
Kaleb led him over to where Elroth lay, in bad condition. He had been stabbed in five different places. The side of his abdomen, his shoulder below the collarbone, the hamstring of the left leg, the bicep of his left arm and the forearm of his right arm. Each had the five claws of the Abyssal Fear pinning him to the ground.
Kaleb noticed a few things immediately. The Abyssal Fears had chosen locations that avoided any vital areas, including major blood vessels. The locations they had picked would stop even someone with a strong will from ripping free. And, strangest of all, none of the wounds caused by the spikes were bleeding.
"I'm ... so sorr ...y." Elroth struggled to say, through gritted teeth. It seemed that even if they weren't bleeding, the spikes were as painful as they looked.
"This wasn't ... the plan."
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