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I hiked an eyebrow, confused, but I snickered. He was an apple hoarder. What a crazy fellow. But I loved the plan without even knowing what he would do with them.
“What do—”
Before I could finish, Otis hurled an apple, then another, hitting the two soldiers on top of the entrance and knocking them out cold.
Tank moved into action and did the same to the other two soldiers before they noticed the two guards that went down. Without hesitation, I released two of my feathers, slicing their targets across their necks. When they thumped against the small boulders, I flung the apples at the other two remaining soldiers on their faces with a crack.
Tank’s eyes grew round with admiration. “You’re like Zander.”
“But nicer.” Otis shrugged, his tone indifferent.
I had no idea who this Zander was, but we had no time to chat.
Gorgo sent all of his men to replace the soldiers on watch. No guards to stop us, the six of us crept inside. Torchlight flickered as our feet crunched on the pebbled ground.
The scent of metal and coal filled my nostrils, and the sound of whips cracking echoed in the distance. The place reeked of despair.
As we moved forward, we hid in the dark shadows. The ceiling opened up to a spacious cavern and plummeted below. In the center of the winding underground chasm, a large expanse of firepit boiled and bubbled, and hot steaming lava hissed along the fissure toward whatever end into the dark tunnels.
I rounded the corner and peeked further below. There must have been thousands of slaves, sectioned off into six levels. The soldiers were scattered, supervising the prisoners.
Young men pushed heavy wooden carts filled with stones of all shapes and sizes on the second, third, and fourth levels, while women and children worked to chip away the tall stony edifice. Their skinny arms shifted pickaxes back and forth in a rhythmic motion.
The sound of metal picks chipping through the walls, reinforced by the groans and moans of exhausted laborers pierced the air. Whips cracked against flesh, driving the workers to keep going despite their fatigue.
Sweat dampened their gaunt faces,their skin marred with dust and grease, and their clothes hung off of their bony frames like rags torn from a scarecrow. Anger seared through every fiber of my being. I curled my fingers into my palm, nails digging into skin.
Asmodeus was a monster.
A man with gray hair filed in line behind others pushing their small wagon to a large wooden crate, and then dumping the contents into it. He dropped to his knees, struggled to stand, and then stayed there, panting.
The demon guard cracked a whip on his back. “Get up, you worthless human!”
I winced at another whip the old man received and I thought of Peter. My anger grew tenfold. It took every ounce of my will not to jump down and kill the bastard and all the guards.
My mother and sister, if they were down here, had been through the same kind of abuse? My heart hurt at the thought.
A little boy with brown hair not more than twelve years old jumped in front of the old man to protect him from another blow. He scowled at the guard with the whip and helped the man up.
“Thank you, Kyle.” The old man patted the boy’s head. “Hurry, go back to your duty before you get in trouble.”
Gorgo grabbed my clenched fist. “Do you see your family?”
“I’m looking.” I didn’t mean to snap at him, but my patience waned as I watched.
In the far back of the mountain structure, children lugged heavy buckets of water from a stream and carried them to the women chiseling the rocks about the size of my fist on a table with hammers and other tools. One of the women dunked the fragmented piece inside the bucket and revealed a raw and uncut hexagonal shaped stone.
The guards watched the women, some with lustful eyes and others with hatred.
“This is madness,” Tank whispered.
“I second that,” Otis said, his feathers peeking out along with some apples.
Gorgo shook his head. “My brother is insane, but this takes him to another level.”
“How do we look for Michael’s family?” Asher’s gaze went from one end of the cavern to the other, where the structure opened up to many tunnels.
“Look.” Sam pointed below, but it was difficult to tell what he was referring to. “They’re putting the workers into the cages in the second level. I think they’re sending them for rest.”
