We lit a small fire and each took two burning torches from it. Then we crept, as silently and invisibly as possible, along the valley floor toward the prison. I noted the pattern of possible entrances in the cliff walls, though I probably wouldn't remember it when I needed to know it.

"This side, Bryt," Tuck whispered, tapping his hand against the cliff face.

I nodded, understanding. We'd double our chances for regrouping successfully if we were in the same cliff.

We moved on. I reflected back on all the highlights of my life, or as many as I could remember right then. I realized I might not live to go to sleep another night, let alone wake up to see tomorrow's sunrise. But I didn't feel like I was about to die. It was all the adrenaline coursing through my bloodstream, I'm sure. So, though I was terrified, I was excited as well. Maybe some of my companion's fight had rubbed off on me; maybe it was something I'd had all along. I was glad to be there. If this were to be how I died, at least it would mean I'd faced death bravely in attempt to save hundreds of my people. I wouldn't have traded being there on that morning with that agenda for anything.

Both my fear and excitement compounded as we got closer and closer to the prison. By now I could see the first guards, and knew with a sinking feeling that our crackling flames would not escape their notice much longer.

"Five more steps and run," Tuck whispered.

I was so excited I took the five steps way too quickly. My last five steps before the attack. They were over.

I pushed off and ran. Tuck was faster, and ran slightly ahead of me. I could hear the air rushing past my ears. I could hear the chirps of excited puffans following us. I hoped they would split among us evenly. I felt the heat of the flames, blown back into my face as I ran forward.

I could see not only the first line of guards but the second soon after, and the third as they alerted the whole area.

They rushed toward us. In a flash of fear I realized I might not even make it to the general prison. I pushed myself faster. Two guards came at me, knives glinting in the sunlight. For a second I panicked. I couldn't just run into them! Then my training came back to me � the training I'd repeated for three years and had well drilled into my brain.

The first guard reached me and slashed at me. I dodged. Later I would realize that he was just slashing wildly and that guards aren't usually skilled fighters, anyway, but right then I just felt an extreme boost in confidence for evading that first attack.

No time to think about that. Through sheer will power I managed to outrun the second guard. I guess he wasn't in very good shape. But by now, more were coming. I knew we didn't have much longer. As the second and third sets of guards alerted all the Barons in the complex, our chance for success would dissolve.

A fleeting glance at the officers' prison as I passed revealed that Tuck already had a puffan flaming and on the roof. I could see the building that was my destination up ahead. I looked down and gasped as I saw that one of my torches had gone out as a result of moving through the air so rapidly. It had been wise to take two. Now I had to keep this one alive; no time to relight the other.

Twenty more steps and I'd be there. And I could see that I'd gotten lucky. Guards were streaming toward Tuck at the officers' prison but the general one was so far being ignored. I was there! I stopped. I bent down and grabbed the closest puffan who'd rolled out ahead of me. It was a struggle to hold the excited animal and the fiery torch at once, but I did it. I didn't worry over where to set fire to the puffan � I just stuck its whole round body in the flame. It squealed in its little puffan voice. Then I dropped the torch and heaved the creature up to the roof with all my might.

This seemed to be taking way too long! I was afraid the other puffans would have run away in fear, but they still only watched with curiosity. The puffans and I all whirled around upon hearing a huge crash from the direction of the officers' prison, and my hopes soared at the sight of a man and woman in red prisoners' garments running free. I had two puffans up on the roof when I saw the first guards coming after me, over from the other building. In horror I realized that my escape route was cut off! The only way out was through that mass of Barons and unarmed, fighting Cols. No time to worry about that now. I'd worry about it in ten seconds.

I caught another puffan and launched it through the air, not even watching where it landed. Enough time for one more. I caught it and threw it. I don't know if that one even made it up to the roof, because even as I threw it I was dodging a blade. I couldn't see where my enemy was! There is no greater panic than this! I dropped to the ground to give myself an extra fraction of a second, and my eyes fell on the torch. I looked away from it. There he was! Coming at me for another attack. I grabbed the torch and, just as he dove in for the kill, I rolled forcefully into his legs, knocking him over. Then I set fire to his pants at the calf as he rolled aside to get up. I ran past him, not staying to see whether he were rolling around in attempt to put out the fire or chasing me still, knife waving. I did hear an ominous KER-RACCKKK, and grinned in twisted glory, knowing it was the prison roof falling in under the weight of monsters.

Into the battle I ran. I removed my own knife without slowing down. I was better with a bow and arrow, but in close combat the knife would be more useful.

So much was happening at once that I could barely see! I rely very heavily on my eyes, and I could feel panic surfacing. Keep cool, I told myself, you've been trained for all of this. It should have been instinct with all the training I'd been through. But it wasn't. I found myself improvising far more than I should. Sometime I wouldn't be lucky...

Blades slashed at me. I slashed back. I twisted just in time to keep one knife out of my neck. I felt a wave of burning pain as it cut into my shoulder. It's just pain! I yelled at myself. I could handle pain. I could still use my arm, and still fought. I pushed my knife through human flesh several times. I don't know if I killed anyone. In a way I hoped I hadn't.

Then, I was through the battle. I'd forced my way out the other side, the way I'd come in. So much dirt and sand had been turned up that the area full of fighting seemed lost in a cloud. I almost felt guilty for leaving the battle then, when I was armed and hundreds of Cols still fighting were not. But I'd done my job. The amount of damage that one Col could do, even one with weapons, was insignificant. The plan was for me to hide in the cliffs, and I was going to follow that plan.

Screaming, free Cols streamed from the cloud of the battle. Some Barons followed, but these were few � most stayed to form a barrier of steel blades and keep as many prisoners from escaping as possible.

Were the cliffs such a good idea, then? If the Barons weren't following us out of the valley? Don't think! I ordered myself. Just do! Changing the plan without time to think it through would only confuse things more. There would be problems I wasn't seeing now. I ran farther along the valley floor.

Miraculously, I remembered which wall of the valley we were supposed to meet up in. Maybe the adrenaline had heightened my memory as well as my senses. I couldn't believe that less than ten minutes ago I'd told myself to remember to come to this side to hide.

I didn't go into the first cave I saw; I took one farther down, all the way around a slow curve. I made sure no Baron saw me enter, for once they found me, there would be no escaping. I could see other Cols entering both cliff faces through various openings. Yes, I decided, there must be some obscure reason not to follow the valley out.

No time to try to understand it. Inside the cliff I encountered a new problem: total darkness. Once I was past the range of light shining in through the entrance, I could see nothing at all. There could be a thousand-foot drop right in front of me and I wouldn't see it. I wished I'd studied cave systems in more depth during school. Or that I'd paid closer attention so I'd remember. Now I saw why we were taught all these lessons I'd always considered irrelevant � you never know when a boring, trivial knowledge is going to be crucial.

So I tried a different tactic. I hid in the shadows on one side of the small mouth of the cave. I removed my bow and an arrow. If anyone entered, I was ready. I'd just have to get a glimpse of the uniform to see if it was Baron gray or prison red.

Or Colossan blue. There was one other Col uniform still out there, I reminded myself. I fervently hoped he was still alive. Much as I disliked him at times, Tuck was the only person here that I even knew. The only one I could really trust. Besides, fear compounds itself when you're alone. And in the dark. And when your ears can't filter out the screams of agony, terror, pain, and death outside.

They were just through the cliff from me, I realized. If I could have walked all the way through the gigantic rock in which I was standing and come out the other side, I would be right back at the battle scene. Which, unfortunately, meant that the Barons could also come right through to where I was. I slunk deeper into the shadows.

I felt like a coward, hiding in the dark while the battle raged on. But I'm following orders, I reminded myself. We're supposed to meet in the cliff, and that's what I'm doing. I have weapons, though. I can fight. How can I hear the screams of my fellow Cols and not help them? But if I do, am I being a hypocrite? Wouldn't I be doing exactly what I'd made Tuck promise not to do? I don't even know if Tuck is alive, I argued further, and I don't know who the other members of my team are. They don't know me. What good does staying here do? You've already been hurt, I told myself; you won't be a hundred percent anyway. It's only a scratch, I argued back, just superficial. I can still fight. DON'T change the plan! was my mind's response. My head was spinning.

Sometimes adrenaline is a bad thing. I waited and waited in the dark, arguing with myself the whole time and jumping at every sound and every real or imagined flicker in light. I was shaking with fear, so badly I could barely stand up. I just wanted someone to find me � anyone else who could take control.