Stonecutter's Shadow: A young mage's fight through a fantasy kingdom full of treachery

by James Haddock

  I stayed inside the vault with the guards while I thought, then decided the easiest way to do it would be to dart the guards, to put them to sleep. Once they were out, I went to work, loading the gold onto my Shadow tarp. Moving that much gold was like working in the quarry all day, but the pay was better.

  I went under the door and out into the hall where the other two guards were stationed, I darted them, and searched them for the keys to the vault. They didn't have the keys, so I moved to the group at the end of the hall. I darted them, but they didn't have the keys either. Then the captain of the guard men discovered the unconscious men and raised the alarm.

  The king came running, and, seeing the men lying on the floor shouted, “to the vault!” Finding all his men knocked out, the king went into a rage. Fire flamed all around him killing the unconscious men and burning the others with him. The spymaster tried to calm him.

  “Find my gold!” the king kept screaming.

  The loss of this gold had ruined the king, and he knew it. He was in deep debt for the next 10 years, was hated by his subjects and would get no help from the mages of the kingdom. The assassin's guild suspected him of betrayal, and his son was marching toward a neighboring kingdom with a 5,000-man army of doubtful loyalty.

  After he had stormed out, I went to the dungeon and knocked the jailor out. In Shadow, I melded with the stone wall. I felt my amulet heating as I made a tunnel going down from the dungeon. I sealed of the new opening so I would not be interrupted, then slowly walked along forming a tunnel of stone as I went. I continued the tunnel until it came out in an alley one street away from the palace. When it was complete, I went back to the dungeon.

  The jailor was still out. I sealed the main door to the dungeon so no one would interrupt me setting prisoners free. I covered my face and put on another guise I opened the entrance to the new tunnel, then opened the doors to the cells.

  “Follow this tunnel, it will lead you beyond the palace walls,” I said to the frightened children, pointing. “Tell your fathers that the king is planning a move against them using the army.” They moved quickly, leaving through the tunnel. I unsealed the dungeon's main door, then followed them, sealing the tunnel's entrance behind us. When everyone was out of the tunnel, I sealed the exit. I followed them to the mage quarter making sure they got away cleanly.

  I went back to the walls around the palace and melded my mind with them. I felt down to their foundations and asked the bedrock to move deeper and away from supporting the walls. Once that was done, I weakened the support pilings and support walls and suddenly 300 feet of the palace's outer walls fell, leaving the place defenseless.

  Alarms sounded from all over the palace. I found the king, who was already talking to his spymaster. “I doubt it was an earthquake,” he was saying as I arrived. That seems a bit too convenient.”

  “I agree, sire.”

  A guard came up, “What?”

  “The prisoners have escaped, M'lord.”

  “There's the answer to your question,” The king said. He turned to a nearby officer, “Take the army to the mages’ quarter, and clean out that nest of traitors.”

  “Yes, sire.” He saluted and left to carry out his orders. I jumped into his Shadow, and when we were away from everyone, I knocked him out and locked him in a side room. That would give the mages more time to prepare for the coming attack.

  I started back toward the king’s quarters and met the spymaster coming down the hall. I followed him to what was apparently his office. He sat down at the desk and began writing. Looking over his shoulder I saw he was writing orders for the army to attack the mage quarter. He needed to go, I decided, since he was helping keep the king stable, and not act in anger. I pulled him into Shadow and broke his neck.

  “That should make things more interesting.” Searching him, I found nothing but a small purse. Touching him I concentrated on my guise ring and took on his appearance, then stepped out of Shadow and closed the office door. Sitting down at the desk I wrote new orders for the army.

  The letter told army leaders to march with all haste to the Western Dale border to support the prince against an imminent invasion. I stamped it and wax sealed it with the spymaster’s seal and called for a courier.

  “Take this to the commanding general's headquarters immediately!”

  Once alone, I used the Shadows to find a hidden panel for a secret passageway. Then I began reading all the spymasters' messages and papers. It seemed Starwick was involved in other affairs in many places. Stirring up trouble must be his hobby.

  I sat there considering my options. Everyone's life would be easier if he were dead. If he lived, he would remain a threat to...everyone. I went back into Shadow, picked up the spymaster's body and headed back to see the king.

  I found him sitting by the fire staring into it. I dropped the spy master’s body and took out my blowgun, then darted the king in the back of the neck with a poison dart. He jumped up and flamed the whole room but set nothing on fire. Within seconds he had dropped dead. I waited to see if anyone heard the commotion. Satisfied I stepped out of Shadow and rolled the king on his stomach. I then laid the spymaster's body beside the king, pulled the dart from the king's neck and placed it in the spymaster's hand.

  Satisfied with my work I stepped back into Shadow.

  Chapter 16

  I went to a nice inn that served good food. As I ate, I considered my next move. I had removed Redmoore as a threat to Farshores, and to everyone else for that matter. That put Lamont at the top of my to-do list. The question was, should I go straight after him or go to Split Rock to see Aric?

  I sat enjoying my food war-gaming my choices. Aric needed to be seen as a capable leader, I thought, so he needed to be seen leading his army. He would need that for future dealing with enemies or disloyal nobles. He could not afford to look weak. To do all that he would need more than a few mercenary companies.

  I called a servant to my table, “Arrange a room for me here, I'll be staying the night. The best you have.” I handed him a silver.

  He bowed, “yes m'lord, I'll see to it,” and departed. I'd make my final decisions in the morning, but tonight I wanted to sleep in a real bed.

  * * *

  When I came down for breakfast, the dining room was buzzing with news of the king's death. Apparently, his spymaster had murdered him, but the king had killed the traitor before he died. The army was already gathering to move west but had stopped and declared martial law. I took a seat and ordered breakfast, listening to the news.

  I paid for my meal and room and left the inn. I had decided to pay Lermont a visit to see what he was up to before joining Aric. I headed to the monastery where the messenger birds where kept, stepped into Shadow and went up to the roof. I didn't have to wait long before a message was sent to Farshores. I jumped into the bird’s Shadow as it was released. I didn't know how long it would take to get to Farshores, but this would be faster than taking a ship. I watched the earth passing below me change to ocean, it was an amazing sight.

  * * *

  Once there, I sat in the Shadow of a tavern listening to the crowd, while I drank a hot cider. There was much unease and mistrust among the people. Lamont had raised taxes again, and the army was seizing food and whatever else it needed. In short, no one was happy. The port was open, but no ships were docking because their captains knew they would have their cargos seized.

  I left the tavern and headed for the palace. They had closed the main gate, fearing an attack. Lermont seemed too comfortable behind his walls, so I found a good place to sit in Shadow to touch the stone and rock of the palace. finding its weak places again, I asked the bedrock to move deeper away from the foundations of the walls, and the barracks. I further weakened the stone at strategic places and the weight did the rest.

  Large sections of the perimeter wall collapsed, as did sections of the barracks. The guards would now have a full-time job just keeping unhappy mobs from charging the palace.

  I went up a
Shadow of a building across from the palace and watched. It was like watching an ant hill that had been kicked over. Soldiers scrambling everywhere, bells were ringing, even Lermont put in an appearance surrounded by his bodyguards. I drew my magic bow, and an arrow appeared as I aimed, figuring I would test his nullification gift against magic arrows.

  I released and watched the arrow fly true, hitting Lermont square in his chest and knocking him down. I smiled, but not for long, seeing him stumble to his feet as his guards rushed to him and covered him with their shields as they retreated into the palace.

  His gift had nullified my arrow, so that it did not penetrate — but not before he felt the impact. “I bet he has to change his breeches,” I thought, chuckling.

  I sat down watching the activity around the palace, considering my next move. I needed to get back to Split Rock, but did I need to do anything before that?

  I decided I needed to go back to Aric and see who had gathered to his flag, then let him make any further decisions. As there were no ships in the harbor, I'd need to go by messenger bird.

  Nodding, I headed back to the monastery to catch my ride. I went straight up to the roof of the monastery where the birds where kept. There was no one there but the cages were marked as to where the birds would go when released. The closest I could get to Split Rock was Dame's Ford. I took one of the birds out of its cage and stepped into its Shadow. The bird felt its release and took to wing, heading for Dame's Ford...hopefully.

  * * *

  Dame's Ford was busy. The caravan yard was full of supply wagons and several mercenary companies. There were also some noble's banners, with a few thousand troops camped about, all seemingly headed for Split Rock. Because of the high demand for supplies, prices of everything had risen sharply. All livestock was in demand, especially horses.

  I walked the caravan yard eating a sweet roll, listening to conversations. The main topic was that King Aric was gathering an army at Split Rock. He had called for all of Farshores' noblemen, their forces, and mercenaries to rally to his flag. Everyone who had any money to invest was buying supplies and convoying to Split Rock, where they planned to make a killing on the prices.

  It occurred to me that it would be a waste of time for this army to travel to Split Rock just come back this way heading toward the capital. I looked at the different banners and saw the Duke of Penwall's. He seemed to be the ranking noble present, so I headed for his pavilion.

  I presented myself to his guards saying I had a message from Crown Prince Aric. After a few moments I was shown inside. There were several noblemen in the pavilion. Bowing, “m’lords,” I said.

  “You have a message from the Crown Princes? Give it to me!” A man who I assumed was Duke Penwall ordered.

  “It is not a written message m’lord. I am to tell you the Crown Prince wishes you to stay here at Dame's Ford. He will join you with his army on the way to the capital.”

  “How many men is he bringing?”

  “When I left, less than 1,000, but more were joining daily.”

  “What of Sir Gilbert?”

  “I have no message regarding Sir Gilbert, m'lord,” I answered, keeping my answers simple.

  “Where is the prince now?”

  “At Split Rock Keep, m'lord.”

  The duke looked around at the other nobles and nodded. I had been so focused on the duke that I missed the warning signs. A crossbow bolt hit me in the back and came out my left chest. As I turned to meet my attacker two fireballs struck, exploding on my back. The blast threw me through the tent wall and against a wagon outside. I reached for a Shadow as I lost consciousness.

  * * *

  Pain brought me back to the land of the living. I lay still trying to remember what happened. Through slitted eyelids I could see I was in Shadow as the world outside moved slowly past. My eyes closed as darkness reclaimed me.

  When I next awoke, I tried to sit up, with the wounds in my chest and back reminding me how I came to be here. I looked at the wound, and saw it was covered in whiteish green pus. The crossbolt, which I held in my hand … its tip must have been poisoned. I reeked and lay fouled in my own filth and vomit. I felt for my waterbag and took a long drink from it.

  I looked out of the Shadow; it was night outside. I could see a beach and some few lights from houses. I recognized the place; it was the cove and village at Split Rock. I took another long drink of water.

  I sat staring, thoughts coming slowly, my mind not clear. My own stink focused my mind. I took off my cloak, and saw that the fire balls had left it in sad shape. The back of my arms and head seemed to be the worst of my burns. Most of the hair on the back of my head had been burnt off, but most of the scalp seemed intact.

  The pain was bad but manageable. I striped out of my soiled clothes and equipment, tossing everything to the side. I stepped out of the Shadow and looked around. I held on to the ruined wagon in which Shadow I had been in, to steady myself.

  The cold air cleared my mind. I was on the beach between the keep and the town. I looked across a field strewn with the carnage of battle. I don't know how long I had been unconscious, but it was long enough for the fighting at Split Rock keep to be over. From what I could see it had taken place some days ago … no fires burned and there was no movement that I could see.

  I turned and walked toward the cove, and on into the water. The water was cold, but I didn't care, I needed to clean myself. I waded out waist deep and washed as best I could. The saltwater stung the wound in my chest as it had not sealed. It still wept poisons from my body. I was sure that if it had not been for my healing ring I would have died.

  Shivering I went back into the wagon's Shadow and made a mage fire to warm myself. I put water on for tea and a hot meal. I cleaned my chest wound and bandaged it. The burns on my head and arm felt like a bad sun burn. While I wait for the water to boil, I got clean clothes from my bag and dressed. The fireballs had ruined my cloak, my armor was a little singed but was still serviceable. Well, except for one crossbolt hole.

  I needed better armor to cover my back. My backpack had survived unscathed, thank goodness. If I had lost that I would have lost most of my supplies, as well as my gold. I'd need to rearrange things to keep that from ever happening. As soon as the rations were hot, I ate and drank plenty of water. I drank my tea sitting by the fire, my mind drifting.

  I woke with a start still sitting by the fire. I had fallen asleep drinking my tea. It was light outside, so I got up. I was stiff and hurt all over. I moved slowly as I packed to leave. I left my fouled and ruined clothes where they lay and stepped away from the wagon looking around.

  Seeing no one I walked across the battlefield, but stayed in Shadow, I was in no condition to fight. I could see that the dead had been picked over, probably by the villagers. As I headed for the keep I saw dead from both sides but more of theirs were outside the keep. The keep's gate was burned and ruined by mage fire.

  Inside the keep was where our dead lay. I found the place where they had executed 50 or 60 of our men after the battle was over. I could not find the body of Aric among the dead, so hopefully he had been taken prisoner.

  I went to the vault and under the door. The treasury was still there. I didn't know if that was a good sign or bad. I needed to rest since I was still weak from my wounds. In Shadow I made a small meal, ate, then went to sleep.

  * * *

  I woke early, drank plenty of water, ate breakfast and drank hot tea. I was still not 100 percent, but I needed to find out as much as I could about the battle. Especially about the prince. Hopefully, he had been taken prisoner. But I'd like to know for sure before I began chasing the duke's army. Either way the duke and I would meet again, I just needed to know how fast I needed to make that happen.

  I packed my gear, leaving the treasury alone, and headed down to the town. I moved from Shadow to Shadow, since I needed to see who was here. I went into the tavern and found not many were there this early. There were no soldiers among the town's people. I c
hecked a few other places around town and found the same.

  I went back to the tavern, stepped out of Shadow, and went inside. They all turned to see who had come in. “Do you remember me?” I asked.

  Most nodded, “I do,” one man said.

  “I need to know what happened at the keep, and what happened to the prince.”

  “It was Duke Penwall and his army that attacked. They come in all peaceful like, next thing we knew fighting had broken out. The fighting was bad, no quarter asked or given.”

  “The prince?”

  “Taken by the duke. He was wounded and unconscious when they took him. They also took all the supplies the town had when they left and threatened to burn the town to the ground if we gave them any trouble.”

  “How long ago did they leave?”

  “Five days ago.”

  “Our ship?”

  “Sailed for more supplies before the duke showed up, doubt they even know about it.”

  I nodded, “find the headman, bring him to me.”

  One of the men left to find the headman, “do you have a healer in town.” They nodded. “Get him, too, please.” While I waited, they brought hot tea and porridge to me.

  The headman and the local healer arrived at the same time. We talked while the healer tended to my chest and back wound. I set a purse of gold on the table. “When the ship returns, send it for more supplies for the town. I'm going for the prince, but I'm not sure if we will come back here right away or not. Either way you won't starve for lack of supplies. Tell the captain to continue to trade, we'll find him when we can.”

  “Thank you m'lord, the town thanks you. I hope the prince is alive, he seemed a good man. We wish you luck gaining his freedom.”

  I nodded, “clean up the battlefield and the keep, either way I'll be back.”

  “Yes, m'lord.”

  “I've done the best I can with your wound,” said the healer. “It will probably seep until all the poison is gone, then, hopefully it will heal. I'll give you some salve and bandages.”