Chapter 12

Qualified Reunion

'Whatever we are going to do,' said Sheila, 'we can't do it sitting around here!'

Diana nodded. Getting away from these rooms, maybe even away from the Castle completely and look for Presto and the others was the most sensible idea. And maybe that would help clear her head as well and help her to keep focused.

But she dismissed the thought. Eric and Hank were here; the Crystal was here. They had to stay, however much she didn't want to.

'We've got to get out of these rooms,' said Diana.

'What about the others?' asked Sheila. 'What about Bobby, and Presto and Ray? How are we gonna find them?'

'Maybe they'll try and find us,' said Joseph, standing up, and starting to pull his armour on. 'If we were in their position, that's what we would do.'

To Diana, there seemed to be some kind of faulty logic with that statement, but nevertheless she agreed; Presto and the others would come here looking for them.

When Joseph was dressed, he picked up the Sword of the Paladin, giving it a little swish as he did so. He seemed a lot more at ease with it than he had the day before. Diana watched him nervously, thinking how comfortable he seemed here, in a place none of them belonged.

'Bobby and Presto will think we've been captured,' said Sheila. 'They'll come to rescue us. They're probably working on a plan right now.'

Bobby, Ray and Presto working on a plan didn't sound that helpful to Diana, but she didn't say anything, as it would have seemed rude. After all, they themselves didn't have much of a plan either!

'Let's get out here and down to the courtyard,' said Diana. 'Then we might be able to see what's going on more clearly.'

'Um, Diana?' asked Sheila. 'What about the guard? You know, the Orc? We can't just hit him and walk off.'

Diana scowled, still slightly annoyed that the Orc had been sent to watch her and not any of the others.

'That Orc's not going to stop me!' she said, standing up and moving to the door.

'But…!'

Diana yanked open the door and, ignoring the Orc, walked off down the corridor, Joseph and Sheila following behind her.

'Hey!' the Captain shouted after her. 'Not safe! My orders!'

Diana stopped and whipped round, looking regally at the Orc, and lifting her head high.

'We are the guests of Lord Venger,' said Diana coldly. 'And I expect you to show us some courtesy.' She leaned forward, close to the Orc's piggy face. 'I do not wish to report your… disobedience to your Master!'

The Orc looked cowed by the threat, and Diana turned and marched on. They walked down the corridor, and the Orc didn't follow them. A few moments later they had reached a T junction of corridors, and the Acrobat stopped.

'Where now?' asked Joseph.

'You're the one that got the grand tour,' said Diana. 'You should know which was is out!'

Joseph gave her a slightly acerbic look, then pointed down the corridor that led left.

'I think it's that way.'

'I don't think Hank or Eric, or Venger, are going to be very pleased if they find us wandering about,' said Sheila.

It's too late to worry about that now, thought Diana.

'We'd better get moving and find somewhere that's safe,' said Sheila. 'Or safer than standing in the middle of a corridor!'

Together, they walked down the gloomy, empty corridors, until the reached a set of narrow stairs that seemed to disappear into darkness.

One by one, they descended into the gloom, the light growing fainter and fainter, a muffled noise of movement from the bottom growing as they did. Diana was in the lead, and she walked as quietly as she could, feeling her way down the twisting spiral of the stairwell with her hand on the rough, stone wall.

At last, Sheila reached out to touch Diana's arm, urging her to stop.

'What do you think's making all that noise?' she whispered.

'Don't know.'

'Well, let me past, and I'll take a quick look,' said Sheila. There was the rustle of noise as she lifted the hood of her Cloak, but there wasn't enough light to see that Sheila had vanished.

Diana pressed herself against the wall as the Thief squeezed past.

'Won't be long,' Sheila told her. 'Stay here.'

I was really going to go somewhere else, thought Diana. Then she frowned. That's exactly what Eric, other Realm Eric, would have said to Sheila in this sort of situation. Once again, Diana felt the cold chill of fear creep over her, and she shivered. This place was doing strange things to her. How come she could remember nuances in his speech, and know what he would have done, when she was struggling to remember whatshisname from Kadesh and the other one, the one with the pretty eyes…

'Diana!' She jumped as Joseph suddenly whispered in her ear. 'Diana, are you alright?'

'I think so,' she whispered back.

'I don't like this.'

'I don't like it much either.'

'How long is she going to be?'

Diana hesitated, licking her dry lips and trying to think.

'Don't know. But let's get closer to the bottom,' she said.

Treading much more slowly, Diana and Joseph started to descend the steps once again. There was some light again, and Diana was hopeful that they were getting close to the end of these infernal stairs.

The noise had become clearer as well, it sounded like the normal bustle and activity of a busy town. But that made Diana feel even less confident. Surely there weren't that many Orcs in the Castle.

They stopped once more, and she looked round at Joseph. In the gloom, he smiled at her, putting his hand on her shoulder, though not even that gesture of comfort could disguise the fact that they were both worrying about the same thing; what was going on below them.

They stood still for a minute, leaning against the cold wall of the stairwell.

She tried to concentrate on what was happening, but she found it increasingly difficult to concentrate on one thing. She closed her eyes, feeling cold and miserable and lonely, in spite of Joseph's comforting presence. She wanted to go home, back to their real home, with all her friends and all the people she missed; her Mom and Dad, David, Eric and Hank, Presto, Sheila and Bobby. She didn't want to be in this nightmare any longer.

'Hey!'

Diana jerked up at the sound, her hand reaching for the Javelin, but the voice belonged to Sheila.

'Hey, come down a bit further!'

Diana flicked a quick grin at Joseph, trying to show some confidence that she didn't feel and started down the last few steps. Sheila was waiting for them at the bottom, her Cloak round her shoulders.

'What is it?' whispered Diana as they reached the bottom.

'It's an army!' said Sheila. 'Thousands and thousands and more!'

Diana turned to look back in despair at Joseph.

'But they are all concentrated on the far side of the wall,' Sheila said. 'There's not that many inside the Castle itself.'

The loud sigh from Joseph summed up exactly how Diana felt as well.

'Come on!' said Sheila.

The corridor they stepped out into was bright and wide, and still decorated in Venger's austere style.

Sheila shepherded them along to the right, past a narrow window, and Diana caught a brief glance out to the land beyond, seeing the thousands of Orcs gathered there. She shook her head in wonder, she had never seen so many Orcs in one place before. Or had she… she couldn't remember…

A short way ahead they turned a corner and were suddenly faced with the entrance to a large, open-air courtyard. There were thick arches that stood round its edge, and heavy stone blocks in various places around it. She couldn't see everything that was happening, but there were only a few Orcs, and all looked busy with whatever they were doing.

All of a sudden, a shout went up, and they all froze, Diana felt Sheila at her elbow.

'What's happening?' she asked.

The Acrobat looked out round the corner slightly. At the other entrance of the courtyard there was a gang of four Orcs tat seemed to have just arrived. And they had that little Bronze Dragon. What had Eric called it? Tang…?

'Orcs,' she whispered. 'I think they've captured that small dragon we found.'

'Oh no!' gasped Sheila. 'What about Bobby! Is he there? Can you see?'

'Shh!' hissed Joseph. 'They'll hear!'

Diana looked more carefully at the courtyard. There was something very odd about what was going on. The little dragon sat in the centre of the group, it looked afraid, but… something was wrong…

She looked again. The Dragon was sitting on the Orc Captain's arm, it was partly turned away from everything else, and it did look scared. But if she didn't know any better, she would have said the little creature was clinging to the Orc, for protection.

And now she looked, the Orcs that had captured it didn't look that happy either.

The other Orcs around the courtyard were milling around in an unsettled fashion, the arrival of these newcomers had clearly upset the normal routine.

Suddenly, Eric appeared, in a blur of black and silver, sweeping across the courtyard. Diana ducked back slightly, but couldn't take her eyes off the Cavalier.

'I do not recognise you,' he said to the Captain that had brought the Dragon. The Orc looked even more terrified than it had earlier.

Diana looked at that Orc, her forehead creased with a deep frown. Orcs were craven creatures, they respected nothing and were only brought into line by power. But that particular Orc was far more nervous than it should have been. Unless it was plotting something. Diana thought back to what Eric had told her about Kelek buying the loyalties of Venger's servants, and wondered if this was another trick.

But not even that explained the Orc's attitude.

It was fidgeting with something in its hand and the gesture suddenly reminded Diana of Presto and the Hat. But it wasn't just similar. It was exactly the same!

She gasped, far too loudly. That was Presto!

He was disguised as an Orc!

Eric was now glaring more fiercely at the Orc, a curved sneer on his face. He probably suspected it of treason, and Diana knew she had to do something.

Without stopping to explain herself to the others, or to worry about what was going to happen if she was wrong, the Acrobat darted forward.

'Cavalier!' she called.

He turned his ferocious gaze on her. She had forgotten how arresting that look could be and her heart suddenly leaped in fear. Yes, it was fear, she told herself. It wasn't anything else!

'Eric!' she said.

He didn't speak, just continued to stare at her. Diana felt slightly light-headed.

'I-I need to speak to you,' she told him, though she had no idea what she was going to say.

'Where is your escort!' he demanded.

Diana suddenly scowled, putting her hands on her hips.

'Oh, so it was you that left the Orc there!'

'Of course!' he snapped. 'You are our guests.'

His slightly hurt tone made Diana pause, but the "Orc Captain" with the Dragons that Eric had been talking to shifted in a nervous fashion, reminding her why she was here.

'There is a very important matter that I must discuss with you. Please.'

Eric mimicked her stance and flicked up an eyebrow. The gesture was so similar to the Old Realm Eric that Diana gawped in surprise.

'I have my duties here,' said the Cavalier. 'These Orcs…'

Not sure of what else to do, Diana smiled, and Eric stopped dead in the middle of the sentence. He stared at her, but the cold was gone from his face.

'I promise this will only take a moment,' she said.

'Very well,' he said suddenly. He turned to one of the other Orcs close by. 'Escort these to the guardroom. Await me there.'

He held out his hand to Diana in a formal fashion.

'If you will come with me, Acrobat,' he said.

They walked together out the other way, close to where Joseph and Sheila must be hiding. Eric led her to a small room, and motioned her inside.

She looked around in surprise. There were a few book, a table, a few old weapons hung on the wall for decoration. But it had a private, intimate feel to it.

'These are my chambers,' said Eric quietly. 'If there is something you wish to discuss privately, we may do so here.'

He stepped right up to her. He was still slightly taller than she was, and broader than she remembered, the black armour suited him better than the bright primary colours he'd had before.

He still looked like Eric, he still sounded like Eric, he still smelt like Eric and Diana felt her breathing grow more shallow.

They looked at each other and Diana found it impossible to look away. His brown eyes seemed almost black. They looked at each other in silence, then Diana leaned close to him, her grip tightening on her Javelin.

She was going to kiss him. She desperately wanted to kiss him… she desperately wanted to kiss… Eric. That name burned across her mind like a falling star, shattering the intimate mood in an instant.

Her breath caught suddenly and she jerked back. A moment later, while the Cavalier was still looking at her with an inquisitive expression on his face, she swung her Javelin up with as much strength as she could.

It cracked across the side of his face, and Eric collapsed to the ground.