by Luka Petrov
“I had no idea Alexia packed such a punch with her abilities,” I mused, seeing that there were three sewer rats left.
“Guys! Let’s get out of here now!” Alexia shouted, apparently not wanting to stay any longer with the sewer rats. Alexia did five back handsprings and sprang onto the side of the sewer moving stealthily at a rapid pace. The rest of us followed her and were able to outrun the sewer rats.
Chapter Nine
"Where are we?" Yves asked.
"I believe we are at the magical cloister," I replied as we moved stealthily down the hallway not making any sound, blindly following Alexia.
Walter patted my shoulder and said, "Hey look, there are the guards."
“Ssshhh!” Alexia hushed, putting her index finger to her lips. “You must be extremely quiet. We are going to go past the guardsmen of the cloister, and they take their job very seriously.”
I turned him and whispered to Walter, Yves, and Cecily, “Then we'll have to be even more quiet."
We walked as quietly as we could, careful not to make even the slightest sound, all five of us in a line, hidden by the shadow of the poorly lit hallway. I paid careful attention to making sure that there were no clicks or clacks as set my foot on the floor each time. We were able to stay in the shadows as we passed by the guardsmen and I was amazed that my stealth ability had increased. Each time we passed by a guardsmen, I made sure to hold my breath so they would not hear the air moving in and out of my mouth or nose.
As we were nearing the end of the hallway and had one more passageway to cross, I could see the door that went into the magical cloister, where I was certain Hamon was, a moment of anxiety fueled my body.
The bronze door with the red ruins etched on it was within my grasp, and all that I had worked for was on the other side of that door, but the sound of ringing bells filled the air.
"What is that?" Cecily asked as she put her hands around her ears.
I cupped my ears as well, and replied," I think they may spot us!"
“Men! We have intruders a foot. We must find them!” a man shouted as the guardsmen who lined the hallway mobilized, looking for the intruders.
Yves, Cecily, Walter, and Alexia were within earshot, so I whispered to them, “Guys, I don’t want to hurt these guardsmen. They have given their lives to dutifully protect the deities enclosed by this cloister. Rather than fight them, let’s see if we can evade them.”
Alexia nodded, “Right. Move more into the shadows, let the shroud of darkness be your protection.”
I nodded, and muttered, “Umbra operimentum.”
Edward cast Dark Shadow Protection on himself, Alexia, Walter, Cecily, and Yves.
Spell: Dark Shadow Protection
School: Transmutation
Skill Level: Level 3
Effect: The caster affects the surrounding shadows by darkening and deepening them. The caster can also broaden the shadowy area. This spell can confer total concealment to anyone by the caster.
“What in the world is this sorcery?” shouted Alexia.
“Ssshhh!” I reminded. “They could still find us if we are not careful,” I warned.
“But what happened?” Alexia asked, still looking puzzled as the shadows on the hallway wall enlarged, darkened, and deepened, engulfing us in their blackness.
“Alexia, I don’t have an explanation for it. It’s magic,” I mused. “Now, let’s get back to where we were.”
We clung to the shadows as if our life depended on it, because it did. The light that flickered from the torches that lined the hallway danced along the wall, and we dodged their dancing luminance to hide further into the deep, dark, and cold shadow.
Yves nudged Alexia and explained, “Don’t be scared. This is a spell to increase the darkness around us.”
We were close to where the hallway ended, but first we had to cross another passageway, without being noticed. Guardsmen scurried about, searching for the intruders, and we did an exceptional job in evading them.
“Wait here,” I said to Alexia who in turn held the others’. I looked down the passageway on one side. No one there. Then I looked down the passageway on the other side. It looked safe to cross. “Coast is clear,” I whispered to the group. “Let’s keep going, we are almost there.”
We crossed the passageway and made it to the bronze door with red etched glyphs. All five of us examined it. I grabbed the latch of the door to get into the magical cloister but was unable to even touch the door.
I frantically grasped at it as I watched all of this hard work slip away. Walter patted me on the shoulder, “Uh, Ed…” Walter calms said.
“Stop it Walter. I’m busy trying to get into the cloister. Can it wait?” I asked.
“Uh, Ed...” Walter tried once more.
“Not now, Walt. I think I can get into this door if I just try harder,” I answered trying to push my hand through the shield that eased the door.
“Ed, there is a protective barrier around the door,” explained Walter.
“Oh, that’s what is stopping me?” I asked, coming to the novel realization that me not being able to grasp the latch to the door was not in my imagination.
Walter went along the passageway that we had just crossed. He held his hands against the wall while he side-stepped along it. Alexia, Yves, Cecily, and I all watched the master in motion as he worked his way along the wall, eyes closed, palms out.
A few moments later, Walter shouted, “Found it!” His voice echoed throughout the passageway. The voice echoed, that it sounded like he was at least halfway down from where we had crossed.
Walter came bustling around the corner of the bisecting passageway. “All fixed,” he reported.
“What’s all fixed?” I asked, perplexed at the exercise he had just performed.
“I found the magic circle that was powering this protective barrier. I was able to disable it with some ritualistic magic. We should be ready to go,” explained Walter.
Skeptical yet optimistic, I reached for the latch of the door once again. This time, I was able to hold the cold metal in my hand. Pure joy filled my body as I disengaged the latch and opened the door.
“What in the world!” I shouted as I realized where we had ended up. My eyes did not believe what they were seeing. Beds of unkept mosses, intertwined with hedges and flowering bushes, and shrubs swayed in the wind. A single, giant oak tree stood in the middle of the garden, its branches providing covering of the outdoor, enclosed garden that we found ourselves in.
Rows of flowers, hedges, and shrubs filled the garden, coming out from the oak tree. Steppingstones marked where each member of the cloister should step, not to disrupt the symbiotic nature of the garden. A waterfall came down one side of the building and poured itself into a pond.
As I took in the beauty of the garden, within the shadows I could barely make out an altercation. “Look, over there!” I whispered, pointing to dark cloaked figures that were surrounded by guards.
Alexia concluded, “That must be the reason why the bells went off. They weren’t for us at all.”
I nodded in agreement. The mysterious, cloaked figures that were now surrounded by guardsmen set off the alarm bells. I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that no one knew we were inside the cloister.
“I’m getting a weird feeling about all of this,” I admitted. “Something is telling me that we just need to head back the way we came and get out of here.”
“But Ed, we’ve come all this way,” challenged Yves. “We are so close to getting Hamon.”
“I can’t shake it. It’s a feeling. We’ll get Hamon back, but we need to get out of here right now!” I rebutted.
The group nodded and we were heading back to the bronze door when I heard a cackle from behind me. “It’s too late for a hasty retreat,” the voice mused.
I turned to find that six dark, cloaked figures surrounded us.
“Guys, we are going to have to fight these guys,” I shouted, looking at the group. They nodded, appea
ring to realize that we were caught with nowhere to go.
“Don’t worry, I got this!” I affirmed to my friends. I felt trapped, pinned between the cloaked figures and the wall of the garden, I’m sure my friends felt the same way. I shouted, “Gravitas liqueur diaboli!” I concentrated on the seven cloaked figure’s position and modified the glyphs of the runes that appeared before me.
Edward cast Gravity Snare on the seven cloaked figures.
Spell: Gravity Snare
School: Evocation
Skill Level: 6th-Level
Effect: The weight of the spell pins down and crushes the opponent, anchoring them to the ground. Target takes bludgeoning damage, which can be halved on a successful check.
Within an instant, each of the seven figures fell to the ground, pinned by a force that I summoned and unable to move. The hoods of the cloaks came off of the heads of the figures and we were able to see what was behind this invasion.
The absence of the hood revealed mutated human heads, with dark, vacant eyes. Lumps and disfigurations nearly made their heads discernible from the rest of their bodies. While the six figures laid on the ground, unable to get up, Cecily shouted, “Gravitas liqueur diaboli!”
Cecily cast Gravity Snare onto the cloaked six figures.
Immediately after Cecily cast the Gravity Snare spell on top of mine, the figures wailed in pain. “Aaaahhh!” they took turns moaning, crying in pain and agony.
I stood over one of them and asked, “Who are you? Where did you come from?”
The figure twisted and turned, unable to move from the ground. “We are brothers from the Dark Hand Guild,” the disfigured human muttered. As I stood over him, I noticed the emblem of the Demon Lord inscribed on his uniform under his cloak.
The cloaked figure continued to moan and scream in pain, I was certain the cobblestones beneath him only added to his discomfort. Instantly, the bones of his shins began to shatter.
“What is happening to me? What is this?” the cloaked figure asked.
“It’s called Gravity Snare. I’ve never let the spell go on for this long, I’m curious as to what happens next,” I replied, assuming this dark guild member didn’t enjoy my answer.
“Did the Demon Lord hire your guild to kill Hamon?” I asked, hoping that this figure had enough strength to answer me. I cringed as more bones cracked in this poor figure’s body. This time, it sounded like his rib cage was collapsing on itself. It would only be a matter of time before all of his vital organs were crushed and he would suffocate from lack of oxygen. Hopefully, it had enough strength to answer me.
The figure gasped in an attempt to answer my question, but I watched the life drain out of his mutated body. I looked around at the remaining five figures, only to see their souls leave their bodies as well.
“Come on Ed! Now’s our chance, we have to get out of here,” Walter shouted, grabbing my wrist to lead me to the door. However, before we could get there, we were met with the guardsmen who marched in formation.
Two lines of twelve me marched right by us. They were led by a commander who kept their steps aligned. “Left, left, left, right, left,” the commander belted.
“Halt!” shouted the infantry commander. He looked at us and commented, “Young ones, great job on defeating the invaders.”
I replied, “Thank you.”
“You all seem a little young to be guardsmen,” the commander continued. “Nevertheless, I am glad our reinforcements are here. Finally Gilmore sent us reinforcements.”
Walter spoke up, “Right, Gilmore has sent us. Not to mention, we were disturbed to hear that the cloister was under siege. How despicable can people be?”
“Very well. Obviously, you guys have demonstrated a great feat of heroism, the general will be pleased. He’ll also be relieved that our reinforcements have finally arrived. Fall in!” shouted the commander.
The five of us looked at each other, not knowing what to do. Alexia looked the most confused out of all of us. The commander repeated, “You five, fall in line.”
The commander yelled, “Forward march!” The double line of men continued their marching as the commander belted, “Left, left, left, right, left.” The five of us looked at each other once more, only this time even more puzzled. Cecily shrugged and got in the back of the double line that marched across the sacred garden. The rest of us followed her lead, pacing our march in step with the guardsmen.
We marched across the grounds of the garden over to the other side of the encampment, continuing deeper into the complex. “Halt!” shouted the commander. All of us came to a definite stop and waited for further orders. Good thing I had never gone into the military or became a soldier. I would have the most difficult time dealing with authority. We couldn’t do anything until we were ordered to do so. At least back at Draererth, I was given some leeway with what I studied and how I studied it. We reached a door, and the commander of our infantry knocked on the wooden, red door.
The door gave way, and an elderly woman stuck out her head. “Commander Sugarbird, we have been waiting for you. We were on lockdown ever since we heard the alarm bells, is everything clear?” the woman asked.
“Indeed, but we must cut through this ward. We are doubling up our guardsmen on each of the posts,” Commander Sugarbird explained.
The elderly woman nodded and opened the door. “Forward march!” Shouted Commander Sugarbird. The two lines filed through the doorway.
We entered the sacred room of healing in this cloister. “Quiet your steps, there are people trying to heal in here,” commanded Sugarbird, with a lower volume than he had when we were outside. The marching men did not stop their gait, but every step they placed on the floor made no noise. The five of us followed suit.
The tiny refuge allowed those who sought it safety from the flow of ordinary life. This was where life stood still. Monks in deep mediation sat along the four walls of the large, open room. Deep in their thoughts, they sought personal perfection through contemplation and rigorous training.
“Guards, halt!” shouted Commander Sugarbird. All of us came to an instant stop. The commander continued, “Some of you will be placed outside. We are doing a double post to heighten our security.”
Yves whispered while we stood listening to our orders from Commander Sugarbird, “Look, these monks have been here since they were children.” I looked at the enlightened beings that radiated peace and tranquility in their faces.
The commander started again, “Arne is under attack, and for some reason, the cloister seems to be a particular target. I would like to personally thank our reinforcements for joining us and being quick to spring into action.”
The commander pointed to our group in the back of the line, and I nodded to acknowledge that we were intact the reinforcements.
Commander Sugarbird continued, “So now, we have enough men so each of our patients can be assigned a guardsmen. Now that we have our reinforcements have arrived that is.”
A bellowing voice came from the back of the cloister. It was a deep and familiar voice asked, “Why are your guardsmen being reinforced by my students?”
“Students?” Commander Sugarland said, nearly flummoxed by the notion. The commander came over to where we stood in the back of the line. “So, where did you guys come from?” Commander Sugarbird asked.
I was caught off guard by all of this, that I was a loss for words. I had thought we were blending in just fine. Alexia spoke up, and said, “To be honest, sir. We snuck through the sewer storeroom.”
Commander Sugarbird appeared to be infuriated. He shouted, “You did what?”
“We snuck in,” reiterated Alexia. “It’s really a big problem if you want to stop further attacks. I’ll be happy to show you how we got in here.”
“Yes, please,” replied the commander.
I gathered my wits and explained, “We will help you. The whole point of us being here in Arne is to protect my mentor. We arrived yesterday to protect him. We will do whatever you wish as we
must ensure the safety of my mentor and to make certain he does not cross paths with the Demon Lord.”
“Very well, I realize that even though you are not our reinforcements, we are still fighting on the same team. You can go find your mentor,” Sugarbird said.
Commander Sugarbird then said to his squadron, “Forward march!” He then turned to Alexia and said, “Oh, you. Show me where I need to plug up the hole.” Alexia nodded and followed the marching line, this time not keeping in step but resuming her thief-like prance.
The group of men marched on and to the outer wall of the cloister to double their posts. Meanwhile, I was left feeling dejected and sad that I had not found Hamon yet.
While I wallowed in my self-pity, Walter got my attention. “Hey, Ed!” whispered Walter.
“What is it?” I whispered back.
“It’s Hamon,” answered Walter.
“What?” I gasped, picking up my gaze to the wounded patients that laid on the cots, scattered close to a meditating monk. I saw people with missing arms or legs, bandages across their backs, but there in the back, I saw Hamon.
“Hamon!” I shouted. He sat with his side to me, and as he heard me call his name, he weakly lifted his face over to me.
“Come on guys, let’s go,” I whispered while I motioned for us to tend to Hamon.
I rushed over to Hamon, who was so weak, he barely recognized me. “Edward? Is that really you?” Hamon’s faint voice said with a grin.
“Hamon, yes, it is. You’re alive!” I answered, noticing Hamon’s stature. He was thin and frail since the last time I saw him. He wore white cotton pants, as he had bandages across his back and chest. His left arm in a sling.
“Barely,” replied Hamon.
The group was right behind me as they joined in on our reunion.
Walter interrupted, “You gave up our cover,” he said in a teasing way.
