Stowaway Slaves (2 page)

“This is crazy,” said Olu, trying to cover his nose and mouth to avoid breathing in the tunnel's horrific stench. “We're going to get caught and thrown into the dungeon like all the others. We'll never be heard from again!”

“Nah,” said Decimus, turning to Olu with a wide smile on his face. “The aqueduct is the LAST place they'll look. It would be different if we'd gone missing INSIDE the arena, but we didn't. They KNOW we scaled the wall, so they'll be looking outside—they've probably raided half of Avellino by now. When that fails, they'll assume we're miles away! Besides, even if they do follow us down here, they'll never find us—this place is a maze!”

The two slaves hurried along the low tunnel, trying to keep to one side to avoid splashing through the sludgy mix of filth and foul-smelling water that rushed beneath them.

After a few seconds, Decimus stopped and threw back a hand to block Olu from overtaking him.

“What is it?” said the boy, his eyes scanning the tunnel ahead of them.

“A grate,” Decimus whispered as voices became audible in the distance. “It's the one we always passed in the tunnel when they led us out.”

“And that tunnel is always crawling with guards.”

Decimus nodded, and craned his neck to see around the bend in the tunnel. A shaft of light flowed from the grate and penetrated the gloom.

“It's going to be difficult to get around, so we need to choose our moment carefully.”

Decimus waited a few more seconds, then crawled around the bend. Olu took a deep breath and followed. By the time he had negotiated the curve in the tunnel, Decimus was already fast approaching the grate and its revealing spear of light. Olu bunched his hands into fists in order to stop them from shaking; when Decimus moved through the light, he was almost afraid to watch. Then, in an instant, it was over . . . and Decimus was on the far side of the grate, beckoning Olu forward with one hand and raising a finger to his lips with the other.

There were voices directly above them, coming from two guards who had evidently avoided being recruited for the hunt but were busy talking about it.

Olu tried to block out their conversation as he crept along beneath them.

“What will Doom do if he finds 'em?” said one. “Do you think he'll just continue the trials as normal?”

“He'll beat 'em both within an inch o' their lives,” said the other. “He might even kill 'em, if he's . . . hey . . . what was that?”

Olu froze on the edge of the light stream. As far as he could tell, he hadn't made a sound. Nevertheless, the guards had evidently heard something. He hunkered down in the shadows on the edge of the grate and waited, still shaking with fear. On the far side of the light, Decimus had a troubled, questioning look on his face.

“Look lively,” said the first guard, above them. “Someone's coming.”

The two guards fell silent as several shadows crossed the grate, blocking out the light as they went. Olu took the opportunity to make a dash for it, using the marching troops as cover. He reached Decimus just as the guards continued their conversation.

“That was Hain's lot, wasn't it? I wonder what they're doing here?”

“I think they've got attack dogs in the sewers. If you ask me, that's risk—”

Decimus and Olu didn't hear the end of the guard's sentence as a sudden splash in the tunnel ahead caused them both to scramble back against the wall.

There, in the distant gloom, was a heavy-set guard. He'd dropped into the sewer through a grate farther along the tunnel and was proceeding toward them.

“Back!” Olu whispered frantically. “We need to go back!”

“No,” Decimus shouted, grabbing his friend by the arm and driving him against the sewer wall. “There's at least two guards above that grate!”

As his voice echoed loudly in the tunnel, two things happened at once.

First, the guard in the tunnel ahead spotted them in the shadows and charged forward with a loud cry. Then, the grate above them was wrenched aside, and the two guards dropped into the sewer beside them.

Decimus scrambled backward and slipped into the river of murky water, one hand clamped over his mouth. Olu simply froze where he was standing. Neither of them noticed that the sound of distant howling had grown steadily louder with every passing second.

“You boys stay right where you are,” warned the solitary guard, drawing his sword and holding it in front of him.

“I'd listen to him if I were you,” echoed one of the two guards behind the boys. “We've got you now; don't make it worse by trying anything . . . foolish.”

Decimus gritted his teeth, and in that second Olu knew that his friend was about to do something very, very foolish indeed.

Without a single word of warning, Decimus charged the two guards behind him. In the last split second, however, as they were raising their fists and preparing to tackle him, he suddenly changed direction and barreled headfirst into the guard on the other side of the tunnel. The boy moved with such speed that his enemy was taken completely by surprise, and the pair crashed to the floor in a complicated web of punches and kicks.

The howling in the tunnels reached fever pitch, and even Olu was distracted from his fear. He kicked himself away from the sewer wall and took up a defensive stance, seemingly inviting the two guards to attack.

Then the situation in the tunnel exploded into chaos.

At first, Olu thought the guards had both made a desperate lunge for him. It was only when they crashed into the water that he saw the dogs. They leaped upon the back of each guard, their drooling jaws working madly as they bit into every exposed piece of flesh they could find.

Olu leaped back and, turning on his heels, splashed through the tunnel toward Decimus and the remaining guard. Locking his hands together, he swung around with his elbow and glanced a well aimed blow at the side of the guard's head. The big man, who had managed to overpower Decimus and was attempting to choke the young slave into unconsciousness, yelped as the blow sent a sharp pain through his neck . . . and released his grip. Decimus used the momentary advantage to draw his legs back. Then, with every ounce of strength he could muster, he drove both feet squarely into the chest of the guard. The heavy brute flew backward, just as a third rabid dog rounded the bend in the tunnel. Olu flung himself flat, plunging into the water as the monstrous animal leaped over him and landed, in a hail of spittle and filth, on the guard's shoulders.

“Go!” Decimus screamed at the top of his voice, snatching up the big man's sword. “Go! Go! Now!”

He and Olu thundered along the tunnel, taking every new passage they could find and trying to put as much distance between them and the hunting party as they could. Every few seconds they would splash to an abrupt halt as one of the savage dogs tore across a passage in front of them. Neither Olu nor Decimus had any doubt that the dogs would tear them limb from limb if their paths crossed.

They ran on, left, right, ahead, right again. “Rats!” Olu cried, pointing to an army of giant vermin that spilled out from a junction up ahead. “Look at the size of them!” He collapsed against the wall and, fighting to catch his breath, he whispered, “Which way should we go?”