XIII ‑At the earths core

The chap­ter “The Sly One” from “At the Earth­’s Core” unfolds with a dra­mat­ic escape through a nar­row canyon, led by the pro­tag­o­nist and his com­pan­ions from their Sagoth pur­suers. Amidst their des­per­ate flight to reach the cliffs of Sari and hope­ful­ly the aid of the Sar­i­an war­riors, they sud­den­ly real­ize the betray­al by Hoo­ja, who had promised aid but instead had left them to fend for them­selves, seek­ing revenge on the pro­tag­o­nist for past griev­ances.

As the Sagoths close in, a strate­gic deci­sion by the pro­tag­o­nist to lead the pur­suers away sac­ri­fices his safe­ty for that of his com­pan­ions, Ghak and Per­ry. This diver­sion takes him into a more dan­ger­ous path, requir­ing quick think­ing and skill with the bow and arrow, an ancient weapon unfa­mil­iar to the Sagoths but effec­tive in the protagonist’s hands. His escape becomes not just a fight against the Sagoths but a race against his own phys­i­cal lim­its.

The chase leads to a pre­car­i­ous moment on a ledge with nowhere to run, where the pro­tag­o­nist encoun­ters a mas­sive cave bear. The crea­ture’s unex­pect­ed appear­ance turns the tables, offer­ing an unfore­seen ally against the Sagoths. In a ter­ri­fy­ing encounter, the bear dec­i­mates the Sagoths in a fren­zied bat­tle, ulti­mate­ly sav­ing the pro­tag­o­nist from a grim fate.

The chap­ter clos­es on a high note, reveal­ing the protagonist’s sur­vival and res­cue, thanks to the return of Ghak and his par­ty. The sav­age vic­to­ry of the cave bear over the Sagoths is recount­ed by Ghak, high­light­ing the unpre­dictable and wild nature of the world with­in the Earth­’s core, where sur­vival hinges on fleet­ing alliances and the mer­ci­less law of the strongest.