Annja huddled against the wall of the cavern, feeling the cool rock under her skin. Close by, Vic and Eduardo tried to tuck themselves into the various crannies the rock wall afforded them. They’d raced back to the spot Annja had remembered passing earlier. It was their only hope.

The sounds of the approaching party grew louder. Annja could make out two distinct voices but couldn’t understand the language. It sounded similar to Tagalog, but it was a dialect she couldn’t place.

She saw the faint glow of light coming closer and getting stronger. They do have torches, she thought.

Will they see us? she wondered.

Annja tried to work out a way out of this mess. As soon as the people walked by, they’d have to get out of there. Their disappearance would be known as soon as the group reached the prison cavern and saw they weren’t tied up any longer.

But where could they go?

The underground network seemed to be a maze of twists and turns. Heading one way or the other without a real sense of direction could just as easily get them killed as it could show them the way out.

The voices grew louder. Annja ducked her head lower.

She saw the sudden firelight of the torch.

She held her breath and waited.

As they approached, Annja steeled herself to leap into action if they were spotted. She could feel the adrenaline seeping into her bloodstream. Her muscles felt galvanized. She was ready. She visualized her sword.

The voices continued past her.

The glow from the torches faded.

Annja looked. The coast was clear.

“Now,” she said, “let’s get the hell out of here.”

Vic and Eduardo unfolded themselves from the rock wall. Eduardo limped away, nursing several bruises.

“You okay?” she whispered.

“I’ll be fine,” he replied.

Vic tugged on Annja’s sleeve. “We have to go. Now.”

“I know. But which way?”

Vic looked at her. “You figured out where to hide us. Why don’t you take point?”

Annja shook her head. “Stealth’s not my thing.”

Vic smiled. “Stealth isn’t going to mean squat in about three minutes. Once they see we’re not back there, they’re going to start screaming bloody hell. And then we’re going to have the rest of those goons coming down on top of us. I suggest we forget trying to go undetected and just go for it.”

Annja glanced at Eduardo. “And you?”

Eduardo frowned. “As much as it pains me to do so, I agree with him. We need to get out of here and now.”

“You trust me to lead?” she asked.

“It seems I have little choice.”

Annja smirked. “And with that vote of confidence…” She turned back to the corridor and closed her eyes. Which way, she wondered, right or left? It was time for a leap of faith. Her instincts told her right seemed to be the correct way to go.

She opened her eyes and glanced at Vic. “All right, let’s go.”

Without any light, it was still almost impossible to move fast. But at least they could go faster than they had been before. Annja found that by relaxing herself, she could feel ahead of her, almost as if she was projecting some invisible sensory awareness.

Twice she’d ducked and missed banging her head into a stalactite. Vic seemed as attuned as she was, but every once in a while, Eduardo would mutter a curse as he hit something else in the darkness.

They’d gone about a hundred yards when they heard the sudden commotion behind them. Shouts filled the caverns.

“That’s it,” Vic said. “I think that’s our cue to get the hell out of Dodge.”

“They’re coming,” Eduardo said.

Annja glanced behind them. The caves were lighting up with the dim glow of torches. “How many?”

“Probably the two guys from earlier,” Vic said. “They’ve got to come back this way to warn the others.”

Annja nodded. “You and Eduardo keep going. I’ll handle these guys.”

“Are you nuts? They’re armed. I saw they had awful-looking knives with them. They’ll kill you, Annja.”

Annja shook her head. “I’ll be fine.”

Eduardo cleared his throat and pushed past Vic. “I think she has a good suggestion. We should keep moving.”

Vic glared at him. “You’re only out to save yourself.”

Annja pushed Vic after Eduardo. “Keep going. I’ll find my own way out. And hopefully, this won’t take that long.”

Vic squeezed her arm. “Are you sure?”

“Go!”

“We could take them together,” he said.

She smiled, sure he couldn’t see it. “I can handle them. And it’s better this way, if you know what I mean.”

“I have no idea what you mean, but I suppose that’s really your point, isn’t it?” he asked.

“Something like that.”

“Be careful,” he said.

“I will.”

And then Vic and Eduardo were gone. Annja glanced after them in the dark. No time to get all wistful, she supposed. She turned back toward the cave. The light was growing brighter.

They’ll be here any minute, she thought. Time to get ready.

Annja closed her eyes and summoned her sword. When she opened her eyes, the sword was in her hands. She reached around with it to determine what she could about the area.

The cavern measured roughly ten feet by twelve feet, and the roof was about seven feet high. Not a lot of room, she figured, but enough to make short work of the people coming at her.

She dropped to her knees and took several deep breaths, feeling the rush of oxygen flood her system. Just holding the sword made her feel empowered again.

The shouts grew louder.

Annja looked up.

Three torches broke through into her stretch of tunnel. She saw three muscular dark-skinned men covered in elaborate symbols painted on their bodies. Their eyes burned as they saw her.

But they didn’t look surprised. Or scared.

Annja braced herself.

One of the warriors took the other torches and stepped back as the first two men unsheathed long thin blades from their loincloths. Annja watched as their lean sinewy arms gripped the blades.

Both men moved in a carefully choreographed fashion. They obviously knew how to fight.

Annja racked her brain, trying to remember everything she could about the indigenous warriors of the Philippines. She knew the Moros were mighty warriors who had very nearly beaten the Spanish conquerors a few hundred years back. Were these possibly descendants of that tribe?

If they were, it meant Annja was going to face some tough opponents.

She assumed a defensive posture. The sword seemed cumbersome in the confined space of the cavern. Both of the warriors seemed to sense this, and their blades, while longer than an average chef’s knife, were nonetheless well suited to fighting in tighter quarters.

Annja kept her feet close together and her knees bent.

The two warriors split apart and took opposite sides of the cavern. Annja knew they were feeling her out, trying to fathom what her strategy might be for this encounter.

One of them threw a half-hearted feint that Annja ignored. No sense lunging for something that wasn’t there. And she had no doubt that if she did, the other warrior would gut her in no time.

No, the better option was to wait for the committed strike. She would respond to that attack.

The torches being held by the third warrior flickered as they all circled one another, breathing in and out. Annja could feel the tension growing.

They’ll have to move sooner than later, she thought. There’s no way they can let this go on much longer.

And even as she thought that, the warrior on her right side suddenly launched himself, cutting at her throat as he brought his blade diagonally down from his opposite shoulder.

Annja pivoted and struck out at him as his blade sliced through the air. But he sensed her counterattack and spun himself out of range, retreating just beyond the effective arc of her sword.

She could see the eyes of the second warrior flare. But there was something else in them, as well. Perhaps they were curious about her. Maybe they didn’t expect to face someone like Annja.

The second warrior dropped low and stabbed straight in at Annja’s midsection, trying to gut her.

Annja dropped her blade down, trying to cut the arm, but again, the second warrior yanked it out of the way just in time to miss having it cut off.

Annja took a breath and felt the perspiration dripping down her face.

Two moves and she was already getting winded.

The first warrior cut in at her again, but as Annja went to parry the stab, he jerked it back, pushed past the inside of her parry and cut down on top of her forearm. Annja whirled, feeling the bite of the blade through her skin.

She caught the scent of blood in the air. The cut wasn’t very deep, but it hurt like hell, and worse, Annja knew they now understood how to neutralize the effectiveness of her sword. A feint would draw her out and they’d use her movement to bridge the gap.

Once they were inside, they could destroy her.

I wish this thing was shorter, she thought. With a knife the same size as what the warriors wielded, she’d have a better chance of handling them.

The second warrior cried out and threw himself at Annja. His stab came from high overhead and was the last thing Annja expected him to try since it seemed so utterly suicidal. All she had to do was drop down and bring her blade up and he would impale himself.

She started to do just that, but then stopped, whirled and stuck her sword out to the side.

The first warrior screamed as Annja’s blade slid into his midsection.

They’d tried to bait her and she’d almost fallen for it.

Annja yanked her sword out and spun, cutting down. Her blade hit the first warrior. Blood spouted from his neck and his body slumped to one side, unmoving against the side of the cavern.

Annja spun to face the second warrior.

He eyed her carefully now. The plan hadn’t worked.

But there were still two very potent men facing her. Annja couldn’t let herself get sloppy. Not now. And not with Vic’s safety resting on her shoulders. She had to buy them more time.

The second warrior circled her. The third warrior was searching for a place to rest the torches.

Annja could see that he’d found a torch holder in the rock. She heard a thunk as the torch slid home.

Great.

Now instead of just one, she had two to face again.

And this time, she knew they would change their tactics.

Both men suddenly came at her simultaneously. Annja parried the first horizontal slash, keeping her sword up as she stepped between them. It was a foolish move and one she paid for.

She felt the bite of another cut in her lower back. Only the fact that she had been moving forward meant the difference between a shallow cut and a mortal stab to her kidney.

I’ve got to finish this, she thought. I’m running out of time.

One more misstep and she’d be dead.