Neverwylde (The Rim of the World Book 4) by Linda Mooney Page A

hope. Sorry, but it’s the best I can do,” he replied testily.
                “That’s good enough for me,” Kelen admitted, hoping to dispel the rising agitation. “Listen, we’ve been in worse scrapes. We’ll get through this, but we can’t be sniping at each other. We have to stay unified.”
                Mellori also agreed. “Stay focused, everyone. There’s no telling when they’ll be back. In the meantime, keep your bundles next to you because when our chance comes, we’re going to have to hit ‘em and hit ‘em hard, then run like hell.” Turning to Fullgrath, he added, “Oh, by the way, Sid, you owe me a foot rub.”
                The resulting laughter helped to ease the tension somewhat. Kelen felt Kyber reach for her hand and give it a squeeze. That simple gesture was enough to renew her hope they would manage to escape.

Chapter 15
    Escape
     
     
                A tap on his shoulder alerted him. Kyber awoke to find Sandow gesturing for him to follow. Gaveer, Massapa, and Mellori were already gathered by the opposite side of the room. They were crowded around Gaveer, who held the translation box.
                He gently extracted himself from Kelen, lowering her to the floor. She’d finally succumbed to sleep, for which he was grateful. Her bleeding was playing havoc with her body, on top of everything else she’d endured. Although she was managing to keep herself together, in spite of the added stress of their current situation, he could sense she was close to breaking. And there was nothing he could say or do for her to make things more bearable, other than to keep reassuring her of his presence and support.
                The others in the room were asleep when he soundlessly padded over to where the three men were gathered. When he drew close enough, he caught the sounds coming from the translation box.
                “What—”
                Mellori quickly shushed him.
                Kneeling beside them, Kyber leaned in to listen. It was sometimes difficult to understand what was being said. The box translated in a flat tone, which meant it pronounced certain words with strange inflections. But it soon became clear something was up.
                He gave Mellori a quizzical look. The engineer nodded. “They’re getting ready to enter the room,” he whispered.
                “They?”
                “We cannot tell how many, but it will not be just Hoov,” Gaveer told him.
                “Do we know why they are coming back?”
                All three men shook their heads.
                Kyber glanced at the doorway. “When?”
                “Soon.”
                “We must be prepared.” Getting to his feet, he went over to wake Kelen as the others roused the rest of the group.
                “Kyber.” Kleesod got his attention, then looked around to make sure everyone also paid attention. “If we try to attack them when they enter, they could easily back out before we manage to overcome them.”
                “He’s right,” Fullgrath chimed in. “Somehow we need to lure them inside so we can take them all at once.”
                “Fake sleep.”
                Fullgrath laughed at Dox’s unexpected suggestion, but Kelen added her voice.
                “He’s right. If we pretend to be asleep, it may lure them in.”
                Sandow broke in. “Remember, they’re wanting us to eat their food and drink their water. After watching Hoov’s reaction when he saw those untouched bowls of food, I no longer doubt that it’s tainted. If we pretend to be asleep, they may think we’ve gone ahead and eaten it, and we’ve slipped into a comatose state as a result.”
                “Then that is what we will do.” Kyber got to