by Sever Bronny
For a moment the girls just gaped at him, but then he could see the comprehension set in.
“And he runs outside and tells the Legion,” Leera said.
“Out of revenge,” Bridget finished in a whisper, biting her lip. “But … we’d be using him.”
Augum nodded. “We would. The alternative plans we concocted just aren’t good enough.” It was true, they had been planning on sending an actor, Laudine Cooper, to tell a story that she had run away and Augum and others were hiding out in Castle Arinthian, protected by a powerful illusion spell. But there was a very high probability Sparkstone would see through the ruse and Laudine would get killed, or worse, turned into an undead. They thought of alerting him directly via the captured Exot ring perpetually in Augum’s pocket, but that would only raise suspicions it was a trap.
“Best chance we have is staring us in the face,” Augum said. “It would raise the least suspicions. And in his haste and arrogance at finally having found us …”
“… he would attack without due investigation,” Bridget finished in a whisper.
Leera shrugged. “It’s not like Bowlander knows much about our plan. Fool still thinks we’re going attack the Black Castle.” It was a story they had kept up for anyone outside the core of the Resistance in case someone got captured.
Augum felt cool relief. “And the rest of the plan kicks in as soon as he arrives.” The Lord of the Legion would consider it a challenge to find a way in. He’d leave his troops to besiege the castle using classic arcane warfare while he searched for a weakness, a weakness the Resistance had taken great care to prepare just for him. The challenge was keeping the rest of the Legion out while only letting him in. From there, the Resistance would take potshots at him as he made his way through their carefully-planned gauntlet, at last meeting the trio at the end for a final fight. Although that was the essence of it, there were of course other things involved. But there was no time to worry about it all now.
“We’d have to make the getaway look natural,” Bridget said. “Why don’t I arrange that with Mrs. Hawthorne. You two go ahead and keep training, I’ll catch up and fill you in later.” She turned to leave only to raise a finger. “Oh, and Aug, I found something in the Arinthian Odyssey book we might want to look into. Remind me later.”
They separated. Augum and Leera continued the descent, until reaching the landing in the foyer. Congregated before them were the refugees from the war, Milham, Academy and Blackhaven alike. And they stared up at him with anxious faces. It seemed they sensed something was going to happen. There was a palpable tension in the air, accented by the scent of smoke.
But seeing them there and knowing that they sensed something was coming told him they had an opportunity to mitigate any losses now.
“Aug?” Leera was watching him.
He turned to her, whispering, “We need to start the evacuation.”
“Already?”
He nodded, then found Mr. Haroun in the crowd. “Mr. Haroun, a word, if you please.”
“Of course, Prince Augum, Princess Leera.” They moved aside.
The man had prominent rings under his eyes. Like many others, he had not been sleeping all that well of late, no doubt worried about the battle to come.
“Mr. Haroun, I think it wise that you begin the evacuation of all non-essential personnel immediately.”
“Do you not want to wait until the Legion squad moves on?”
“We shall need them for a plan, Mr. Haroun.”
Mr. Haroun searched his eyes. “I think I understand.” He swallowed. “How would we get by the Legion without being seen?”
“They’re on the western side in the forest.” The castle faced south. “If you sneak outside and loop east around the castle, you should be safe.”
“Very well then. I’ll be sure to have Mrs. Hawthorne and Ms. Terse aid us.” He fired off quiet instructions; runners were dispatched to all corners of the castle to track down everyone needed to make the plan work. Those that remained were to take up battle stations.
“I feel like, as much as we need to, I don’t think we should be training while this is going on,” Leera whispered.
“Agreed.” There were too many moving parts to the plan and Augum didn’t want to get caught in the bowels of the castle should something go wrong. “Should have evacuated earlier,” he muttered as they began helping with the organization efforts.
“It’s early enough,” Leera only replied in support.
Students who had been training down below in the Trainers had sensed something was up and joined them. Soon the entire castle was buzzing with anxious energy. In the foyer, there were hugs and tearful goodbyes and lots of good luck wishes. Those who had been strangers to each other were now friends.
With one exception.
“You simply cannot take them all with you,” Mr. Haroun was saying to Ms. Panjita Singh, who was being unruly with several giant cases. “They are too many and too big.”
“Haughty Haroun shall not presume to tell Panjita what she may or may not bring along!” Ms. Singh barked, swinging her cane wildly to keep the pack of helpers at bay, all of whom were trying to separate her from her giant cases. “Panjita shall not have her possessions pilfered by Unsuitables. Nor shall her possessions burn in the coming forest fire that shall surely devour the castle like tinder!”
“I’ll get Priya,” Jengo said with a resigned voice. Haylee, Mr. Okeke, and a number of others were left to try to reason with her, but Ms. Singh would hear none of it.
“She always like that?” Jez asked, finally joining them.
“Yup,” Augum and Leera chorused.
Jez just shook her head. “Hawthorne informed me of the plan with Bowlander,” she whispered. “Well done, my little monkeys.”
A moody Cry Slimwealth slunk over. “So a bunch of us are supposed to just ‘sneak’ past the Legion, Your Royal Highness?”
“Watch your tone, young man,” Jez snapped, “else I’m going to start popping those pimples for you.”
Cry lay flat eyes upon Jez. As always, his hair looked like a fight between two rabid chipmunks had taken place in it. “You’re not my teacher, I don’t have to listen to you.”
“You should respect your elders.”
Cry shrugged. “Yeah, I guess you’re pretty old,” and slunk away.
“That little … I’m only thirty-five!” Jez had a revolted look on her face, mirrored by Leera’s.
“He’s right though,” Augum said. “It’s risky. I think we should make sure those Legion soldiers don’t spot the evacuees.”
Jez absently glanced around at the crowd.
“You got an idea?” Leera asked her.
“I do. Ever been chameleonic before?”
“Once in One Eye’s caravan, but doesn’t that spell require us to stay still for it to work?”
A mischievous smile spread across Jez’s lips. “The standard version does. I just so happen to know an off-the-book extension.”
“Maybe we could overhear something too,” Leera said.
“And if anything goes wrong, we test out the Arinthian artifacts,” Augum added, only to freeze, for suddenly the oddest thing occurred—he heard the distant echo of a voice. But he was only able to make out a single word, saying, “… soul-bound …”
“Soul-bound …?” he said aloud.
Leera scrunched her nose. “Huh?”
“That’s what I just heard. That word. Right now. Did you not—”
Leera was shaking her head. “Didn’t hear nothing.”
Augum frowned. “Strange.”
“Side effects of the spell,” Leera said with a dismissive gesture.
“Ah, right.” But then he thought about it some more and shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. Feels different. It sounded like a voice fighting to get through something. Can’t put my finger on it, but—” He stopped. Suddenly the voice came again. This time it was even weaker, and faded quickly. As before, he could only make out a single w
ord.
“Glow,” he said.
Leera absently waved a bowing and apologetic Milham villager by. “Glow?”
“It’s another word I just heard.”
Leera gave him a skeptical look. “Man or woman’s voice?”
“Couldn’t tell. Probably a man’s.” Augum glanced around at the castle, mind ablaze. Then he understood. “It’s Arinthian’s echo …!”
Leera glanced up at the high ceiling. “Really think so?”
“Has to be. And the more I tune to the castle with the scion, the better I’ll be able to hear him.”
“Then let’s hope he has some good advice.”
Bridget soon joined them and Leera filled her in on what they planned on doing outside with the Chameleon spell. To Augum’s surprise, she agreed.
“And as far as the plan to set Bowlander free,” she began in a whisper, “Mrs. Hawthorne and a bunch of the students have it organized now. All they need is the go-ahead.”
“Good,” Augum said.
“Oh and the Orb of Orion can be locked into place, but we should hide the books in the vault. No sense in them falling into enemy hands.”
Augum agreed and they quickly went upstairs to retrieve the two Arinthian books they had borrowed—An Arinthian Odyssey, which Bridget had in her room, and Keeper of thy Keys: A Compendium, which Augum had in his. While the girls did their task, he grabbed the compendium as well as the golden book on Cron, hiding the latter deep in his trunk.
“Right, need that too,” he muttered, snatching the divining rod, but doing so gave him an idea. Putting the rod at the foot of his bed, he grabbed the pumpkin-sized Orb of Orion and its control pearl. Then he strode outside to the terrace, placing the orb in the center of the creneled wall. He squeezed the pearl in his fist and closed his eyes, commanding the orb to lock. He gave the orb a test nudge, but it wouldn’t move. It had worked.
A sudden knock came from the girls’ window. Augum turned to see Leera flipping her hand, mouthing, “What are you doing?”
He waved her over and the girls exited their room using their own terrace doors.
“We’ll be able to monitor the front of the castle with it,” he explained, holding up the pearl, compendium under the crook of his other arm.
“Brilliant plan,” Bridget said. “I completely forgot we could watch through the orb.” She indicated the An Arinthian Odyssey tome. “Oh and I should tell you about that curious thing I found in here.”
Leera gestured to the central hall doors. “Do that later. Let’s grab Jez and hit the vault. Time to arm up.”
Visions
The vault was lit with dim torches and smelled of old stone, leather and steel. One by one, the trio and Jez slipped on pre-selected pieces of armor that made up the battle trinity—vambrace, armor, and war ring, each respectively amplifying shield, armor, and weapon spells. The equipment was milk white, polished, and intricately etched with golden embellishments, along with the letter A. Most of the stands were already empty, for those who had been chosen to wear the various pieces had already borrowed them.
For a time there was only the sound of buckles being fastened and the squeak of leather as they helped each other firmly tighten the vambrace and armor straps, which they slipped on over their robes. Augum then took the carved ironwood box holding the remainder of the Arinthian war rings, opened it, and held it out to them. They picked out the rings, allowing him to take the last one, which he slipped on, completing the battle trinity. He could feel the tension of a coming fight in his muscles, and had to shake out his limbs.
“Next,” he said, walking over to an ancient shelf brimming with scrolls, withdrawing three particular ones. “Slow Time,” he said, handing the girls one each and tucking the last in his belt. They were going to need this crucial piece of the puzzle to combat the Lord of the Legion on somewhat equal terms, for it was one of his most powerful spells. Luckily, they had trained under two very competent warlocks in the form of Mrs. Hawthorne and Jez, who taught them exactly how to cast the scroll successfully. It helped too that Augum had used a Slow Time scroll once before, and so knew what to expect.
“That everything we need?” Leera asked.
Augum glanced around the vault, emptied of its armor and weapons, with the exception of the king and queen sets. “Think so.”
They stepped out of the vault and Augum locked it back up with the runeword “Leko”. The heavy steel door shut with a crackling arcane click.
Leera tapped her war ring against her milky vambrace and then her armor. “We should have trained with these more.”
“You forgot we did not want you relying on them for strength, did we?” Jez threw in, pinching Leera’s cheek. “Monkey cheater.”
Leera took it with a mildly sour expression.
The group returned to the foyer, where everybody was waiting on them in tense silence. Mr. Goss was among those assembled, expression grave. His son, however, was not, evidently at his post at the top watchtower where he no doubt stood with his undead commander.
As Augum gently pushed through the crowd on his way to the vestibule, he realized this could potentially be the last time he laid eyes on these people, for after the tuning would come a great battle that he may not survive.
He stopped in their midst, sensing the significance of the moment. Almost everyone wore ancient Arinthian armor, borrowed from the armory. Spears jutted toward the ceiling and swords swayed in nervous hands. They were evacuating to the bathing rooms. Those of the Resistance that remained were already at their battle stations.
Augum, turning in place, slowly met each and every one of their gazes, from proud Kwabe Okeke to humble Charles Poorman. All stood motionless watching the trio with great hope in their eyes, hope … and fear. Despite their differences in personality and culture and class, in that moment, they stood as one. They knew what was at stake.
“Good luck, Princess Bridget!” someone suddenly shouted from within the crowd, a call quickly taken up by others and accented by the gentle slap of swords on shields or the smack of spear butts on the floor, filling the foyer with a raucous but subdued racket, for they did not want the sound to travel beyond the castle and alert the Legion.
“Yes, and good luck Princess Leera—!”
“And good luck Prince Augum—!”
“For the kingdom—!”
“For Solia—!”
“For the Resistance—!”
The trio slowly turned and acknowledged them with bittersweet smiles and nods.
“And good luck to you too,” Augum whispered as they made their way through the crowd, slipping into the vestibule and closing the doors behind them.
They were greeted by the anxious faces of Mrs. Hawthorne, Mr. Fungal, Brandon, and Elizabeth, all who, once given the all-clear signal, would be escorting a group of people to the safety of the hidden bathing rooms.
Brandon winked at Bridget, flashing a nervous smile. She returned a tense one, choosing to stand near him.
“You up for this, Summers?” Mrs. Hawthorne asked.
“Definitely, Mrs. Hawthorne.”
She brought her hands together. “Then let us go over the plan one last time …”
Once everyone understood the details, Jez cast the off-the-book extension to the Chameleon spell on herself and the trio. Augum then used the pearl to look through the Orb of Orion. The visual was like looking through a fishbowl, but he saw nothing suspicious.
“All clear,” he reported.
They had to be careful with the main castle doors, opening them slowly and only just enough to squeeze through. The wind was fierce, raking the Ravenwood. The sky was pink and hazy, the air thick with the smell of burning wood.
“Good luck, everyone,” Jez whispered before slipping outside. She crept westward along the side of the castle, the trio following closely. She was a shimmer that turned completely invisible as soon as she went still.
Augum took a brief moment to examine his hands. It was a little bit of an out-of
-body experience to see them so ethereal-like.
They soon made their way around the southwest battlement, expecting the Legion squad somewhere in the woods ahead.
Suddenly Augum saw an uncontrolled vision of the exact spot where the Legion squad was taking shelter. It was along the old overgrown path that led to the ruined outer perimeter wall, the same path the trio and Mrs. Stone tread upon first coming to the castle last year. The vision, surely a product of the tuning, had been clearer than when he saw Leland outside on the terrace.
“Wait—” Augum whispered above the wind.
“What is it?” Bridget’s voice came back from a vaguely shimmering spot.
“I can see them.”
“How?”
“The tuning. But give me a moment to verify.” There was more to it, he sensed. Sure enough, after a bit of serious concentration based on the tuning training principles set out in the compendium, he saw clearer flashes … except these were of three heavily-armed Dreadnought-armored soldiers exploring the perimeter. They had not been visible from the terrace or the watchtower because of their closeness to the base of the castle—and they were about to turn the corner behind them!
“Hide and freeze!” Augum hissed, flattening against a nearby bush just as the three soldiers came into view. Luckily, the high winds combined with Chameleon obscured their rustling movements, for the soldiers did not notice. Each carried a burning blade and a Legion shield. The last of the soldiers was playfully slashing at bushes, lighting them on fire. Augum couldn’t help but wonder if that was how the fires began … troops being careless with burning blades.
The soldiers passed without incident. As they disappeared down the path, Augum saw a shimmering visage move to one of the fires, which was subsequently snuffed out with a brief splash of water, before the water itself dissipated.
“I’m going to snuff out the others,” Jez whispered. “Can you three monkeys handle watching them on your own?”
“Of course,” Leera replied.
“Run back and send the all-clear when able, I’ll meet you anywhere in between.” She departed, snuffing out the numerous small fires along the way. There had been little rain in the past month and thus much of the undergrowth was dry, prime fuel for a forest fire.
