Chapter 38: Break Out

I sent D'ar'Beth a mental query, "[What now?]".

"[There is something wrong with this whole situation. You cannot surrender, ]" she answered.

S'Alor chimed in with a short "[Agreed]".

For the first time since the battle started, I realised that I had given S'Alor no thought at all, and I felt vaguely ashamed.

"{Amusement}{Pleasure in the Hunt/Kill} [Watch for me. I will make a path for you, ]" S'Alor added.

I shivered mentally at the sheer atavistic pleasure that came through the link to the large cat, and let the Finger know that they should be prepared to break out if the opportunity came.

We fought on for a few minutes, although it started to feel as if it was longer than that as our bodies started to tire. I felt a sudden lessening of the pressure from the one side and noted on my Mental Map that S'alor was approaching from that side.

A huge roar suddenly attracted the attention of the warriors facing us, and I smiled as I realised that S'Alor was making his presence felt. I pulled the Finger in tighter to me and we started moving in S'Alor's direction.

It took some time and a lot of effort, but with S'Alor joining us, we eventually broke free of thick of the fight and started to run. There were a few individual pursuers, but we cut them down and broke completely free. Shortly afterwards, we were joined by D'ar'Beth, who emerged from behind a small ridge and fell in with the rest of the Finger.

"[Far enough, ]" D'ar'Beth finally let me know. For the first time since the ambush had been sprung, I let the Sword Dance drop, and the fatigue came rushing in like the water breaking free from a collapsing dam. I managing to get the Finger to move into positions of all-round defence and then allowed my body to drop down onto the sand. I could feel that all my reserves had been burnt up and I wouldn't be able to do anything active for some time.

D'ar'Beth examined me critically for a few seconds, then commented, "[Yes. You need the time to recover. S'Alor and I will keep watch. You rest and I will wake you in time or if anything happens.]"