Chapter 13 (The Betrayal)

Chapter 13

Tristan led the way through the twisted back-alleys of Mahal--the quickest shortcut for reaching the gardens. Behind him stumbled Josh, Ben, and Kaela, not yet acquainted well enough with the city, especially with it being almost completely dark.

They stopped when they could see the garden wall. Kaela scanned the scene, noting how peaceful it looked. The moon shone off the wall, and she could see some of the lush fruit trees inside. It's almost too peaceful for a betrayal. Maybe we were wrong.

Then she heard the unmistakable voice of Yeshua from inside the garden. "I know the reason why you brought me here, Garian. Do what you were going to do."

He knows? Why doesn't he do something?! Kaela screamed mentally. Daran's going to kill him!

Evidentially, Tristan was thinking the same thing. "Charge!" he yelled, and the four dashed into the garden through the gate.

It was too late. Garian gave a piercing whistle, and the next instant, Ogres and Vakir, winged bat-like creatures that had human faces, jumped or flew over the wall and landed inside the garden. Two immediately grabbed Yeshua by the arms. To Ben's surprise, his master didn't even struggle. I guess I'll just have to take care of those pesky Ogres for him.

He aimed his sword at one of the Ogres and waited for the beam of light to shoot from its tip and fry the disgusting thing's brains. But nothing happened.

Ben waved his sword in the air, and then re-aimed it. There was no familiar pure white light. What's going on? Ben thought frantically. Why won't it shoot?

Another Ogre snuck up behind him, and then pounced. Ben barely managed to hold on to his sword as he was knocked to the ground. "Yaaagh! Get off!"

The Ogre merely grunted and pinned Ben's arms to his side, forcing him to drop his sword. Even though Ben was tall and strong from his age, he was no match for an Ogre. It pulled him to his feet, and Ben saw that Kaela and Josh were in similar positions. There was no sign of Tristan, and he wondered if the follower had gotten killed.

The Ogres were talking ot each other in a language that sounded as close to "Goog gaa oogenbog" as Ben had ever heard. They seemed to be talking about their prisoners, because a few seconds later, the one who seemed to be the leader gave a command to the Ogre holding Ben. It grunted, and then everything went black.
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Ben woke up and found that everything was almost as dark as when he had been unconscious. HE was lying on his back in what appeared to be a dungeion--dark, cob-webby, cold, and dirty, with stone walls, just like in books--with the only illumination a single torch on the wall.

"Hi, Ben."

Ben sat up very quickly, and then regretted it. His head felt like it would burst any second. Groggily, he glanced around the dim room. "Who called me?"

"I did. Me, as in Lindsey."

Astonished, he turned around to behold his cousin sitting with her back to the wall. "What are you doing here?" he asked.

So Lindsey told how she had wound up in the same prison. Then she said, looking rather gloomy, "Kaela told me what's going on. You know, Yeshua being captured by Daran's Ogres and all that."

Ben unenergetically drooped his head to one side. Then he realized what Lindsey had said. "Wait. You care?"

"Ben!" scolded Kaela, sitting beside Lindsey. Josh was next to her, with his head in his hands. He too had a splitting headache.

"Er...that's not what I meant. I meant...are you a follower now?"

Lindsey's face lit up. "Yep. I thought you guys were crazy until I became a follower, too. I guess seeing how bad Daran really is made me see how awesome Yeshua is."

"And speaking of Daran," added Josh, finally looking up. "Gues where we are?"

"Where?"

"In the dungeons of Daran's temple in Mahal."

"What?
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