Chapter 11 - Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven

As the sun is sinking in the west, Thundarr, Ariel, and Ookla guide the kids out of the farming village and towards Sabien's citadel. Unbeknownst to them a shadowy form glides through the darkness, following them as silent as death. Shadow Demon keeps his distance so as not to alert the young adventurers or their powerful allies. They sneak past Sabien's robot guards and creep along the outer wall. Ariel finds the spot they're looking for. She casts a spell, opening a concealed door. Thundarr ignites the blade of his Sunsword, using its light as a torch. Hank draws on his Energy Bow, summoning an arrow and adding to the illumination. The nine friends enter the secret tunnel, silently being watched by Shadow Demon. Quickly, he soars into the tower to deliver the news to Venger.

The group carefully sneak through the hallway. Thundarr and Hank take the lead. Ookla, Bobby and Diana follow close behind. Ariel, Sheila, Uni, and Presto follow them, and Eric brings up the rear. The group rounds a corner and come face to face with the wizard Sabien and at least a dozen of his knights, accompanied by a score of his robot guards.

"Demon Dogs!" Cries Thundarr.

"Welcome home barbarian," says Sabien.

"There is nowhere to run," says a deep booming voice from behind them, "Hand over your weapons and you shall not be harmed!"

Eric looks behind them and sees Venger there with a dozen knights and another dozen robot guards.

"It's Venger!" Shouts Eric, "We're trapped!"

"The boy's right Thundarr," says Sabien, "you have no escape. Surrender, and no one need be harmed."

"It'll take more than you and your tin soldiers to stop us, wizard!" Declares Thundarr.

"I'm sure," says Sabien in a droll tone.

A couple of Sabien's four armed robot guards start shooting at the friends. Thundarr deflects their laser blasts with his Sunsword. Hank returns fire with his his Energy Bow. The arrows that strike the robot guards with four arms destroy them. When the arrows strike the shields of the knights however, they bounce off harmlessly. The robot guards with Venger attack from the rear, but Eric uses his Griffon Shield to summon a magical force field which blocks off the entire tunnel.

"Give up Thundarr" says Sabien, "You are hopelessly outnumbered! You have no chance!"

"You think so wizard?" Thundarr asks, "ARIEL! OOKLA! INTO BATTLE!" Then he charges with his Sunsword held high and shouting his battle cry, "Yaaaaaa-hee!"

Ookla howls in rage and follows right behind. Before anyone can stop him, Bobby charges as well, his Thunder Club held poised to strike. The nega-knights step forth to intercept them. Thundarr gets there first. He strikes their shields, expecting to cut right through them. To his surprise, the Sunsword bounces right off. One of the nega-knights retaliates with a sword strike. Thundarr parries it, again expecting the Sunsword to cut right through the blade. The negasword bounces harmlessly off.

"Lords Of Light!" Cries Thundarr, "The Sunsword has no effect!"

The nega-knight swings its sword again, but this time Ookla grabs it by the wrist and lifts it off the ground. A second nega-knight strikes Ookla in his chest with a nega-mace, shocking him with negative lightning and knocking him to the ground. Bobby runs up and strikes the nega-knight with his Thunder Club. The club bounces harmlessly off the knights nega-shield. Ariel joins Hank in giving them cover fire, and Diana runs to help Bobby and Thundarr. One of the four armed robot guards shoots her with a stun blast, rendering her unconscious.

"Diana!" Cries Hank.

"We have to get out of here!" Shouts Ariel, "Thundarr! Bobby! Get back!"

"These tin soldiers won't stop Thundarr!" The barbarian bravely declares.

"Or Bobby The Barbarian!" Bobby adds.

Just then a nega-knight grabs Bobby from behind and picks him up. As he's struggling to free himself, a robot guard zaps him with a stun blast. Thundarr turns his attention to the nega-knight that grabbed Bobby. Leaving himself open to be stunned by a laser blast. With Thundarr, Ookla, Bobby, and Diana down, the nega-knights form a shield wall and start marching towards the rest of the companions. Hank and Ariel unleash volley after volley of magic missiles only to have them bounce harmlessly off the nega-shields.

"What are we gonna do?" Sheila asks in a terrified voice.

"Sheila," says Hank, "use your cloak to turn invisible, then you and Uni teleport out of here!"

But what about the rest of you?" Sheila asks.

"We'll be fine," Hank tells her, "You're the only one who might be able to sneak back in and free us. Please Sheila, just do as I say!"

"Okay," she says, "here goes."

She pulls the hood of her cloak up over her head and disappears from sight. She then wraps an arm around Uni.

"Come on Uni," she says, "take us out of here."

Uni makes a terrified bleating noise. It almost sounds like she's saying "Bobby".

"I know you want to help Bobby," Sheila tells her, "so do I. But Hank's right. This is our best chance to rescue them. If we get caught, we'll have no chance at all."

Uni settles down. She nods her head as if agreeing with Sheila, then closes her eyes and holds her breath in concentration. It would look kind of comical if it weren't for the desperate circumstances of their predicament. Seconds after Sheila and the unicorn have teleported away, Sabien's robot troops and nega-knights have over run the companions position. Sheila and Uni watch helplessly as Hank, Eric, Presto, and Princess Ariel are all taken captive. Venger walks up and looks over their prisoners. He notices that one of them is missing.

"Where is the rogue?" He demands of Hank, "And where is the little unicorn?"

"I don't know," says Hank, "last time I saw her she was right behind me."

"What's wrong?" Sabien asks Venger.

"One of the young ones is missing," Venger tells him, "which means I still don't have all of their magic weapons."

"How could she have escaped?" Asks Sabien

"She wears a Cloak Of Invisibility," Venger replies, "and she has a baby unicorn with her. Unicorns have the ability to teleport, though ones so young generally can't teleport very far."

"I will double the guards then," Sabien tells him, "both robot and mutant. Even invisible, no one shall get far in my citadel."

"Even if she does," agrees Venger, "she will have to face both of us. . . alone."

The guards take the eight companions, some of them unconscious, the rest with their hands shackled behind their backs, and march them off to the dungeons. Unobserved from the shadows, the still invisible Sheila watches them parade past. As soon as the last robot clanks past she slips in behind and follows them in, Uni tucked under her arm and concealed by her cloak.

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