Luke and Elliot eased from one column to the next. Luke was glad there were so many of the supports because they allowed the two of them to sneak around. Their absence in the dungeon would be discovered, and then they would be fighting again.

If they could get through the main gate, they had a chance of getting clear without problems.

They were still lost. Asking the King had been a failure. And it made him want to see the outside world. That couldn't be anything but trouble as far as Luke was concerned.

“There's some guys up ahead, Luke,” whispered Elliot. “I think we might have to fight them if we want to leave.”

"Look for another way out,” whispered Luke. “We don't want to have all of them coming down here.”

The boys looked around, but there were no side passages leading away. The hall they were in led to one door. Two of the turtle soldiers stood guard in front of that door. The staircase headed up if they could get past the guard.

“We can scale it,” said Luke. “We don't have to fight them at all.”

“What do you mean?,” asked Elliot.

“Watch me,” said Luke. “Then do what I do.”

Luke used the walls of the stairwell as springboards. He bounced from one side to the other until he could grab the staircase above the guards. He yanked himself to firmer footing in case they saw him and came after him.

Elliot grinned in the torchlight below. He looked at the walls. He nodded to himself. He could do the same thing.

The younger brother picked a spot and ran at the wall. He sprang and bounced back and forth. He was going to fall short from the looks of things. Luke reached out a hand to catch him. Elliot falling would be disastrous.

Elliot summoned some of his power in mid-fall. That pushed him into his brother. They both staggered against the wall. Luke pushed his brother on stable footing and pointed for him to go up and away from the guards.

The turtles didn't move. There was no telling if they had heard the small commotion, or not. Luke took it for a small victory they didn't come up to see what had happened above them.

“That was great,” whispered Elliot as they crept up the stairs.

Keep moving,” said Luke. “They might get smart and come after us at any second.”

“I don't think they're that bright,” said Elliot. “The Lava King might be the smartest one of them, and he just seemed like a big bully.”

“As long as we can get away from him without testing that, I'm good,” said Luke. “That shell of his might be able to stop our blasts.”

“That would be bad for us,” agreed Elliot.

“If he can get back home, he'll cause a lot of trouble for our folks and friends,” said Luke. “That would be worse.”

“So we run and think of someone else who might be able to help us,” said Elliot.

“I can't think of anything better we can do,” said Luke. “Maybe we can blend in with the mushroom people.”

“Maybe they know someone who can point us in how we can get back above ground,” said Elliot.

“I wouldn't hope for anything like that, but maybe they can show us how to use the pipes to get around,” said Lucas. “They should have some people experienced with that.”

“So we can use the pipes to get back up?,” asked Elliot. “What about the giant plant?”

“We'll have to burn any of those plants away,” said Luke. “We can't let them get in our way. Mom is already going to be steaming mad that we didn't come home on time.”

“All right,” said Elliot. “Too bad we don't have any plumbers we can call for this.”

“I know,” said Luke. “All right. Be quiet. The big hall should be up ahead. We'll have to sneak up to the gate to see if we can open it so we can escape.”

“I'm ready,” said Elliot.

The boys went to the door. They peered out into the great hall. Turtles stood guard everywhere. Two were on either side of the great door leading outside.

Luke motioned his brother back so they could whisper up a plan. The odds didn't look good for them to bust through the line and head for the gate.

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“We need to get to the reels on either side of the gate,” whispered Luke. “We'll have to sneak along the wall behind the columns. The patrols seem to stick to the center of the hall and away from any doors.”

“Then we release the door?,” asked Elliot.

Luke nodded.

“Follow me,” said Luke. “Stay quiet. If a fight starts, try to knock the door guards out of the way and then trigger the gate to open. I'll try to keep the hall guards off our backs while we operate.”

“I'm ready,” said Elliot.

Luke nodded. He eased out of the doorway. He crept down the hall, hugging the wall with his back. He hoped none of the turtles saw him until it was too late.

He reached the end of the hall. He stood directly behind a column. Elliot stood behind the column one down from his. He didn't think that any of the soldiers had seen them.

The problem with their plan presented itself as they watched for a chance to move. The reels and their guards were across a gap that had to be crossed. Once they started moving, then they would be spotted trying to escape. A rush should ensue to try to stop them.

They could run out of Peke Power in a major fight. If that happened, it was back to a dungeon or worse for them.

Luke held up his hand to attract his brother's attention. He pointed at the reels. Elliot nodded. Luke held up three fingers and started bending them closed into a fist. When he was done, they moved on with their plan.

Elliot called on his power and sent electrical balls at the reels and the chains they held. He laughed as the concentrated power ripped one of the reels from where it was anchored. The giant door tried to fall on one side as the chain came unanchored.

Luke concentrated on his own targets. The moment Elliot attacked the chains, the soldiers turned to see what was going on. He threw fireballs at them to send them running for cover. He didn't want them charging while his brother went about his business.

Elliot charged the reels. His blasts had thrown the guards out of the way. He just needed a second to finish the job.

Luke moved to join his brother at the gate. He concentrated on making any fireball he threw as quickly as he could. He wasn't trying to hurt the turtles. He just wanted room to move.

Elliot grabbed the surviving reel with both hands. He sent energy into the stone and wooden wheel. It exploded under the pressure. The chain ran free. The gate fell down.

“The door is open,” said Elliot. He sent a surge through the closest turtle. The soldier slammed into a wall and fell on his back. He kicked his legs as he tried to right himself.

“Go,” said Luke. “I'll be right behind you.”

The eldest brother sent another volley of fireballs bouncing down the hall as he retreated to the open gate. He smiled in satisfaction as the soldiers scattered from the anticipated onslaught.

He ran through the open door. He saw Elliot had already charged down the road. He hurried to catch up with his younger brother. They had used up a bit of power. They would need to rest to recoup what they had spent.

He definitely didn't want to recharge in the woods with the turtles looking for them. They needed a place to stay without any complications. Maybe they could go back to the empty cabins they had found to rest.

Would the turtles chase them that far? How big an enemy had they made with the Lava King? How bad could things get before they got home?

Luke feared the answers to those questions would keep them wandering around underground for the rest of their lives. They had to find a way home, and they had to do it quick. The more time they spent wandering around, the worse things would be for them when they did get home.

His mom would ground them for a long time. Forget doing anything but school and cleaning up the house. He wouldn't be able to play on his computer, practice with his fireballs, or do anything interesting the whole time he was grounded.

He doubted his explanation would not be mocked by his mother.

And throwing Elliot under the bus would not get him out of trouble. If anything, it would just make things worse for the both of them.

And anything he said would not keep Elliot from making a bigger problem for them with his mouth.

“It looks like we can slow down,” said Elliot. He paused to catch his breath after the run he had done.

“All right,” said Luke, “We can take a second before we have to run for our lives again.”

The boys paused in a stand of trees off the road. Luke kept an eye on their backtrail. He didn't know how far from the castle they had ran. Turtle soldiers might be on the way after them as they tried to rest.

“Should go back to the cabins, or back to that other town?,” asked Elliot. “They might want to put us in a dungeon too.”

“We don't have a lot of options,” said Luke. “We certainly can't go back to the Lava King. So we need to talk to someone else. Who do we have next on our short list of people we can talk to about this?”

“So we should talk to the mushrooms?,” asked Elliot.

“Unless you want to pick a random direction and start walking until we see a sign that says aboveground,” said Luke.

“That sounds bad,” said Elliot.

“It might be what we have to do if we want to get out of this,” said Luke. “Let's face it. There's no way we're getting back before Mom starts worrying about us. We're in trouble when we get home. We can't avoid that. So how do we minimize the trouble we're in?”

“I don't see how we can,” said Elliot. “Without being able to get back up to that pipe, we have to find another exit and then walk home. That might be a long walk depending on where we come up.”

“If we had Jeff, he might know some way to get up there,” said Luke. “I can't think how he would do it.”

“Maybe the mushrooms know someone who can fly,” said Elliot.

“Really?,” said Luke.

“We don't have a lot of choices,” said Elliot. “If they don't know someone, maybe they know someone who does.”

“So that's our plan right now?,” said Luke.

“Unless we find a big tree we can use to climb up to that pipe and climb out of here,” said Elliot. “We would have to fight that big plant thing.”

“I think we can burn it up if we want to bad enough,” said Luke. “Let's go talk to the mushrooms. Maybe they know something we can use.”

“If we weren't going to be grounded, this would be a great adventure,” said Elliot.

“Doubt it,” said Luke.