As she climbed the stairs she could hear people shouting and yelling. Something major was going on outside.
Kat ran up the stairs as fast as she could. At the top of the stairs was a door. She leaned against it opening it. As Kat stepped out of the dark into the light she saw that she had come out next to the drawbridge. All the shouting and yelling was coming from across the moat.
She's only a child!> Humans were the ones yelling.
Kat had a sinking feeling that it had something to do with the human girl Shuna. Kat knew she had to do something.
As Kat was thinking all this, Tittersweet had fetched Cutter, Zhantee and Petalwing. They were making their way toward the front gate. Cutter raised a hand to Zhantee; tell him to stop, as he looked around a corner of a building. Something moving in the shadows caught his attention. He hid a small smile as he motioned for Zhantee to follow him.
Cutter led his tiny group over to the shadows next to the wall. Zhantee about gasped with surprise when he saw what had caught his chief's attention. Cutter covered Zhantee's mouth with a hand. He raised an eyebrow and silently moved toward the person gazing around a corner.
"Kat." Cutter whispered placing a hand on Kat shoulder.
Kat about jumped out of her skin.
"Cutter…I'm…" Kat mumbled.
"Later. Right now you can help us save Shuna." Cutter crawled around Kat and started across the logs that had been pulled there as a makeshift bridge.
Kat and Zhantee crawled as fast as they could after Cutter. By the time they made it across the bridge he was half way up the ladder. Zhantee was straining to keep his shield-covering Cutter.
"Hurry Zhantee!" Kat grabbed the third rung of the ladder when she jumped up.
The two elves on the ladder climbed as fast as they could. They heard the crowd that had gathered gasp in what seemed like one voice. Kat poked her head over the edge of the platform to see Shuna lying close to her, near the edge. As Kat crawled onto the platform she looked past the human. Cutter had the huge human at knifepoint. She could see Cutter's mouth moving but couldn't hear what he was telling Grohmul Djun. She spared one last glance at Cutter before she turned her attention back to the human girl.
Come Shuna.> Kat said to the girl, helping her to her feet.
You can…speak?> Shuna gasped through her pain as she got to her knees.
Not now.> Kat said out loud while cursing herself in her mind.
Quick Shuna! Jump!> Cutter had finished his business with the hug human and was on Shuna's other side helping her get down off the platform.
Kat climbed down the ladder before Shuna. As they crossed back over the logs Shuna looked over her shoulder.
Father was there. And he was happy.> She was mumbling to herself.
Kat tugged on Shuna's hand. Come.>
They moved as fast as they could with Shuna being so sore and stiff.
Shuna make them fight.> Cutter said as sounds of people fighting reached their ears.
They soon reached the building where Cutter and Zhantee had left the others. As they walked down the stairs Clearbrook rushed forward, throwing her arms around Kat.
"Kat! Where have you been?" Clearbrook gave her a hug.
"I've been with Two-Edge." Kat started but was cut off by Cutter.
"We need to go. People are setting the upper levels on fire. Hurry!" Cutter pushed his band of elves toward the next set of stairs.
Everyone rushed down two more flights of stairs till they finally came to the bottom level. Kat looked at the ceiling as the two trolls chipped away at a wall.
"Hurry! Everyone inside the tunnel!" Treestump called from over by the newel-uncovered tunnel.
Kat tried to rush across the room toward the tunnel when a sound from above caused her to stop. She glanced back up at the ceiling only to see the floor above her glowing. Flames licked through the creaks in the wood.
" Zhantee!" Cutter yelled as Zhantee strained to hold up huge shield he had made.
Kat tried to make it across the room to the tunnel as everyone else was crawling through the hole in the wall. She had made it even with Zhantee and Cutter, who was trying to get the sun villager to follow him into the tunnel, when she glanced at him. She didn't like the color that Zhantee's face.
Shuna!> Kat yelled as she pushed the human toward the wall located under the stairs. Kat dove after Shuna just as Zhantee's eyes rolled back up into his head, causing him to fall backwards into Cutter's arms.
The floors above them crushed down on top of them. Kat huddled against the wall under the stairs, her eyes tightly closed against stuff flying through the air. When the sounds around her finally died she slowly opened her eyes. Dust still coated the air making it hard for her to catch her breath. Kat heard someone coughing in her ear. She turned her head to see Shuna coughing into her hand.
Are you okay?> Kat asked the human.
I think so. Thank You.> Shuna whipped dirt from her eyes.
Kat nodded her head in reply as she pushed debris out of the hallow they had taken refuge in. Kat gazed at the room when some planks of wood fell away. Wood covered the floor. Kat looked up to see a huge hole allowing her to see up through the floors.
Something banging caught her attention back to floor she was on. Shuna was moving planks of wood off a small mound. Kat moved over to help when Shuna uncovered Cutter.
Shuna…> Cutter managed to gasp.
Kat breathed a small sigh of relief till she remembered about Zhantee. She looked around as Shuna helped Cutter to his feet.
"Oh no." Kat's soft cry caught the other twos attention.