Astra Runs!

Before long she heard a woman's voice from somewhere ahead saying: "Amongst my talents is that of using magic to create illusions. What Astra thought was the dragon was actually me."

Astra had no idea who the woman was, but she didn't care. Grabbing a convenient rock from the flor of the passage, she crept forward until she could see her, standing gloatingly in front of a tied-up Fred, with a score of ruffians around them.

Amongst the martial arts that Astra had studied was throwing the javelin. Shouting: "You...WHORE!" she flung the rock with all her strength, and struck her target full on the temple. She saw the woman collapse to the ground before she turned and ran. She didn't like leaving Lord Frederigo, but there were too many of the men for a rescue attempt to be feasible.

Glancing over her shoulder, she saw that a number of the men were pursuing her. Ordinarily she would have expected to be able to outrun then, but having spent some time chained up she was not in peak condition. She had a lead of about twenty yards, but those behind her were gaining on her. She wished that the passages weren't so well lit. There were frequent blazing torches, presumably arranged by the fake "dragon", which meant it was impossible to evade her pursuers.

1. Then all the torches went out. (They had been powered by Exotica's magic, and she had just died.)
2. Then she turned into a new tunnel and, suddenly, the men gave up the chase. Why? It was as though they were scared of something.
3. Before long they caught her.

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