Infinity Ring 05 - Cave of Wonders (11 page)

By the time they reached the Mongol army, the warriors had assumed their formations. The sights and smells presented a vivid reminder to Riq of the Viking army back in Paris, but the Mongols appeared much more disciplined and organized. The sound of their assault was deafening.

The bulk of the cavalry hung back at the rear, while before them the Mongol siege engines had begun to pound the city. Catapults hurled huge rocks at Baghdad’s walls, and giant crossbows fired burning bolts right over them. Riq could only imagine the fear and destruction that must be raging through the streets inside. It was obvious that the city couldn’t last long under such an attack.

In front of the siege engines, Mongol archers raced forward on horseback, galloped along the walls, firing arrow after arrow up at the city’s soldiers, and then retreated behind the line. The bravery and skill of their maneuvers were pretty amazing.

The three of them crept along behind all the action, unnoticed, or at least ignored.

“We’ll swing around to the other side of the city,” Riq said. “Then we’ll use a boat to make our way down the river to the Wharf of the Needle-Makers. Sound good?”

“Sounds good,” Sera said.

“Lead on,” Dak said.

So they swung around behind the army, under the desert sun, as all along Baghdad’s walls, the Mongols maintained a constant barrage. It took quite some time for them to even see the river away to the northwest, but when they did, Riq had sudden doubts about his plan.

Mongol forces lined the shore thickly enough that he worried they wouldn’t be able to reach the river.

“We’ll just have to sneak past them onto a boat,” Sera said.

Riq turned to Dak. Here was a rare moment when his knowing something about history might actually be useful. “How long did the siege last?” he asked.

“Seven days,” Dak said. “Then the Mongols took over that big tower we saw, called the Persian Tower.”

“Then we have a little time. I think we should hide out and try to cross the river at night,” Riq said. “We’ll be more likely to sneak past them that way.”

So they hunkered down in a shallow wash and waited for night to fall. The sun passed overhead, and the hours ticked by. It didn’t take long for Riq to feel the effects of not having any food or water. His lips and throat got dry. Hunger gnawed at his insides. The physical discomfort added to his fear and dread about what the future held for him.

He’d been close to telling Dak about it back in Guo Kan’s tent, but in the end he couldn’t bring himself to do it. It was like he was afraid to say it out loud. Like that would make it more real somehow. He was also unsure of
how
to say it. For all the languages he knew, sometimes it was still hard to find the right words for some things.

“Do you wonder what’s going on in the future?” Dak asked. “What the world looks like with the Breaks we’ve fixed?”

Riq froze at the question. He noticed Sera did, too.

“Like the first Break. I bet there’s a lot of stuff named after Columbus now.” Dak traced his finger in the sand, a zigzag, like he was connecting invisible dots. “I bet French history is pretty different since the SQ weren’t able to stop the Revolution. It’s, like, nothing is settled. Everything is up in the air. Everything we’re doing is making changes.”

“You seem a little bothered by that,” Sera said. “Isn’t that the point of what we’re doing here?”

“I guess,” Dak said.

“You guess?” Sera asked.

“I mean yes,” Dak said. “Of course that’s the point. It’s just . . .”

“Just what?” Riq asked.

Dak frowned. “History is supposed to be settled.”

“It will be,” Riq said. “When we’re finished with the mission, it will be settled once and for all.”

They waited until the sun had gone down completely, and the sky was a deep black all the way across. The sounds of battle had faded in the darkness, but fires all along the front lines showed the Mongols were still there, waiting to resume their full assault with the dawn. By moonlight, Riq, Sera, and Dak scurried toward the river.

They aimed for a dark, empty spot between two campfires, around which warriors sat and slept. Riq hoped that with the light in their eyes, the Mongols wouldn’t be able to see too far into the shadows. The time travelers slipped down to the river’s edge in single file, where the moon glistened over the inky water, and the sound of it lapping the shore hid some of the sounds they made.

A cluster of small boats rocked gently with the current, bumping into one another and against the small dock to which they were tied. The three of them waded into the river toward them, the water chilly against Riq’s skin. Dak went to the ropes securing the boats, while Sera climbed into one and kept herself low.

“I’m going to let them all loose,” Dak whispered. “That way, they won’t have a boat nearby to follow us, and they won’t know which one we’re in.”

“Good idea,” Riq whispered back. Apparently, the kid did have them on occasion.

Once the ships were floating free, Dak gave them each a push out into the river, where the current grabbed them and pulled them away. Riq held on to Sera’s boat, and once Dak had climbed into it, Riq heaved it out into the river and scrambled on board after them.

“Well,” Sera said, “that went we —”

A cry of alarm sounded on the bank.

Riq turned back to see shadows racing from the campfires down to the shoreline.

“Do you think they can see us?” Dak asked.

Something hissed and splashed in the water near the ship. An arrow.

“I’d say so,” Riq said. “Quick, grab the oars!”

They swung the paddles out over the water and plowed ahead as fast as they could. More arrows flew at them, striking the water, a couple of them even hitting the hull of the ship.

“We got lucky,” Dak said. “I don’t think they can see us very well.”

“They can see well enough,” Riq said.

They paddled ferociously until their boat was out of range of the archers, but Riq didn’t feel like they could let up. They had to reach the Wharf of the Needle-Makers quickly in case the Mongols decided to round up some other boats and come after them.

They moved down the river, and before long, the buildings of Baghdad stood to either side. The city lights reflected toward them in wavering strips along the river. The caliph’s palace soon came into view, and Riq steered the craft toward the shoreline near it.

They came up to the Wharf of the Needle-Makers, and above it Riq saw the House of Wisdom. He relaxed a bit and breathed a sigh of relief, a little amazed they had made it back into the city from the Mongol war camp. They pulled up alongside the pier, and Dak jumped out. He tied the boat off, and then helped Sera up. Riq followed after him, but before he’d quite gained his footing, someone shouted.

“Halt!”

Riq turned as half a dozen of the city guards approached them, swords drawn.

“Spies!” one of the guards shouted.

Riq held up his hands. “We’re not spies. We’re visiting scholars at the House of Wisdom. We’re your allies.”

The guards surrounded them, still brandishing their weapons.

“What proof do you have?” one of the guards asked.

“Seriously?” Dak said. “Just go get Abi and he’ll tell you.”

“You’re friends of the traitor Abi?” the guard asked. “Then I have a better idea. We’ll take you to the grand vizier, and let him decide what to do with you.”

“Traitor?” Dak asked.

“Great!” Sera said. “Take us to the vizier.”

Riq opened his eyes wide and stared at her. “No, not great!”

“Why?” Sera asked. “The vizier knows who we are. He can vouch for us.”

“No,” Dak said. “You don’t get it. Hulagu’s general Guo Kan is a Time Warden, and he told us about his spies in the city. The vizier is SQ!”

T
HE GUARDS
marched Sera, Dak, and Riq up from the river toward the palace. Knowing the SQ had agents both outside
and
inside the city made the situation seem that much more hopeless. But Sera refused to give up. She couldn’t. They had to fix the Break no matter what.

“At least we know why the vizier gave the caliph such bad advice,” Dak said. “He was working from the inside to make sure Baghdad gets destroyed.”

“Yes,” Riq said. “And that makes me feel so much better about being his prisoner.”

They entered a smaller building near the palace. It had thick walls and very narrow windows. The guards pushed the three of them ahead, down a hallway, into one of several cells. Metal squealed as the guards swung the iron bars shut on them and locked the door, then left without another word.

“So this isn’t good,” Sera said.

“Hystorians?” The voice came from across the hallway in the cell opposite theirs. Abi stepped forward from the shadows. “Is that you?”

“Yes!” Sera felt relieved to see him again, even here. “Are you all right, Abi?”

“I am unharmed,” he said. “They arrested me shortly after I helped you get out of the city. Were you able to convince Hulagu to spare the libraries?”

“We never even saw him,” Dak said. “Riq and I got caught by General Guo Kan, who’s a Time Warden, by the way. Sera tried one more time to convince Tusi, but he wouldn’t listen to her.”

Abi hung his head, and the broad smile he normally wore fell from his face. “Then it seems we have lost hope.”

“Please don’t say that.” Sera had to fight pretty desperately within herself to keep from feeling the same way. There had to be another option. Something they hadn’t thought of. If she still had her long hair, she’d be pulling it clean out right now as she studied the bars and their cell for a way to escape.

“It’s okay,” Riq said. “We’ll think of something.”

“Right,” Dak said. “This isn’t the first cell we’ve been locked in.”

Sera took a deep breath. Then she grabbed hold of the bars and tested them one by one to see if any of them were loose. They weren’t. She went to the narrow window and peered outside. Their cell wasn’t up high, so there wasn’t a fall to worry about on the other side. The window was just too small. But the mud bricks were soft enough that they might be able to chip away at them if they had some kind of tool.

“Do any of you have anything on you?” she asked.

All the three of them had with them were the Infinity Ring and the SQuare. But from deep within his robes, Abi pulled out a small knife.

“They missed this when they arrested me,” he said. “I keep it on me for sharpening quills. It’s useless for anything more than that.”

“Maybe not,” Sera said. “Can you toss it over?”

Abi approached his bars and stuck his arm through them. “Watch out. Here it comes.”

He lobbed the knife gently into the air, and it sailed toward them. But it clanged against their cell door and bounced back into the middle of the hallway.

Sera rushed up to the door with Dak and Riq. Abi’s arm still hung through his own cell’s bars. They all stared at the knife on the ground between them.

“I’m a scholar, not an athlete,” Abi said. “I never could throw well.”

Riq dropped to the ground. “My arms are the longest.” He reached through the bars, along the ground, straining to reach the knife. The tip of his middle finger almost touched it, but not quite. He grunted and pushed but couldn’t get close enough. Finally, he stood, dusting himself off. “I can’t.”