Temple of Orcs (Island of Fog Book 15) by Keith Robinson

Author:Keith Robinson [Robinson, Keith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Unearthly Tales
Published: 2022-04-14T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

Rescue Plans

When Hal flew in over Carter, it was easy to spot the invisible dome’s outline because of the way people crowded around the perimeter, both inside and out, with a notable gap between. They looked like teeming armies of ants staring at each other through a wall of glass. He wondered if anyone had tried to dig underneath. If so, they’d have realized pretty quickly that the dome was merely the exposed part of a half-buried sphere. There was no easy escape.

Hal thumped down on a grassy patch, near a stream where a few dozen people had congregated.

“Hey!” a man called as soon as Hal reverted to human form. “Any news? What’s going on in there?”

Several other voices filled the air, and Hal had to wait before answering. He always found it unnerving addressing large crowds like this. Emily was better at it. So was Abigail.

“It’s all under control.” A half-truth, but complete honesty would only rile them up. “We, uh, have a way to make a hole in the dome and get people out—but we have to do it quietly so the orcs don’t know it’s happening.”

“Fine,” a large woman said. “But do it now. My son is inside, along with his friends.”

That prompted another chorus of voices, all saying much the same thing—that their children had gone off adventuring that morning and were now trapped inside, or the dome had cut straight through the middle of their house and divided their family. One man shouted about his poor, bedridden wife needing her supper. Surprisingly, a few even complained that their route into the dome was blocked; they had no way to visit the market and stock up on provisions!

But it wasn’t just the crowds on the outside who were vocal about their predicament.

“Do you realize half the population of the town is trapped in here?” a snippety lady called to Hal from within the dome. “Help us!”

Like he didn’t know the situation already.

She and a lot of other people lurked behind a hazy ripple in the air, as if they were looking out of a goldfish bowl. Their conversation was strangely dulled and distant.

“Well?” the same lady demanded. She had her hands pressed to the shimmering glasslike surface. “When are you knocking a hole in the wall?”

Hal wished her voice was dull and distant. “Um, first thing in the morning,” he promised.

His reply caused an uproar from both sides of the barrier.

“Why not now?”

“Why do we have to wait until morning?

“I’m shut out of my own house! Where am I supposed to sleep?”

“Is it true the orcs did this?”

“Are they planning to hurt us?”

Hal, Robbie, and Thomas raised their hands for peace, but it was a while before everyone settled down enough to listen.

“Um,” Hal said as the ever-growing crowds glared at him from all angles, “we can’t make the hole until the morning, because we need faerie magic, and we can only get enough of that at dawn—”

“Your faerie girlfriend can’t do magic until dawn?” the lady inside the wall griped.

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