Ancient Magic

by Blink, Bob

“A reasonable expectation, although I cannot say what kind of schedules they may be on.”

  Rigo nodded and quickly hurried across the hallway to the steel gate. Once again he wrapped his hands around the outside panels of the lock, then after a few seconds stepped away.

  “Even if you locked it, they will have the key,” Kaler explained, misunderstanding what Rigo had done.

  “It won’t do them any good,” Rigo replied, knowing he had fused the mechanism such that the lock would never work again. “Let’s go,” he said, and pointed upwards.

  Stealthily they made their way up the stone steps, taking care not to bang the weapons against the stone or to let their boots make too much sound. The ascent was made in darkness since there were no torches in the stairway and to have brought a torch with them would have been to alert anyone above that someone was coming. Holding their breath for the last ten steps and hoping there were no more than two guards as there had been below, they peeked above the top step. They were in luck!

  Two guards were present, and both were very much asleep. Rigo wondered what the penalty for such an act might be were the guards discovered, but he wasn’t complaining. Swiftly he and Kaler made their way across the floor and rendered the two men soundly unconscious. Then they moved them to the closest cell.

  “Do you think we should try on their armor,” Rigo asked. “It might confuse the guards above if they were to see us coming up the stairs.”

  “Have you gotten a good whiff of the way those two smell. Forget it. Besides, I don’t think it would make any difference. We don’t look anything like either of these brutes. Whoever is up above would know we were fakes the minute they saw us. We will have to rely on being quiet and unseen.”

  Rigo nodded then pulled the door closed and locked it as he’d done on the previous level.

  As they made their way down the long hallway to the back of the level where the spiral staircase led up and out of the dungeon into the basement level of the castle, they understood why the guards might have been sleeping. There appeared to be no prisoners on this level at all.

  The entrance to the dungeon was at the very back of the castle basement. The entrance was a large room with several small holding cells used for temporary prisoners and room for several guards to spend long hours in relative comfort. The room was blocked off from the rest of the basement by an extremely sturdy hardwood door built into the normal narrowing of the stone in this part of the basement. The workers in the other functioning specialties; the bakery, the leather and wood working shops, the weapons repair, and the special grain storage areas, were aware of the dungeon, but its presence was something each tried to forget.

  Silently Rigo and Kaler examined the steps they would have to climb. Each had come down them when they had been brought to the lower levels of the prison so they knew roughly what to expect. The stone steps had been cut out of the side of the shaft they needed to ascend. At one time the shaft must have been a naturally occurring cylinder in the stone, probably cut by the flow of water over eons before the castle was built. Now the steps followed the outside edge of the walls as they circled their way upwards. The shaft was nearly fifteen feet in diameter and the steps encircled three-quarters of the circumference as they wound upwards.

  The cutting of the stone steps was crude and uneven, some slightly higher than others and none exactly level. The way was more brightly lit than the rest of the dungeon because the steps were potentially treacherous. That was bad. If any one of the guards above were to look down the shaft, they would be immediately spotted.

  “There’s too much light,” Kaler complained in a whisper directly into Rigo’s ear as they considered the climb.

  There was little to be done about the lights near the top. If they were to go out, someone would immediately notice. But those down here, deep in the shaft they could afford to be without. Then they would have the faint light from the torch above to help guide them and anyone peering into the shaft would see nothing but inky darkness. Rigo reached with his mind, and one by one the torches lining the walls most of the way up the shaft blinked out. Then he turned and did the same for the three torches along the wall behind them. They were left in darkness.

  “How?” Kaler whispered, but Rigo waved him to silence.

  “Not now,” he hissed, and pointed upwards.

  Kaler led the way, with Rigo coming along a few steps behind, hugging the outside wall in his attempt to stay away from the inside drop off. Rigo didn’t particularly relish heights, and in the darkness the fall felt greater than it was in reality. He carried a sword in addition to the belt knife, but wasn’t sure why other than Kaler had insisted. In truth, it was mostly extra weight, as he had no idea how to use the heavy bastard.

  Luck wasn’t on their side this night. They had made the agonizing slow ascent in darkness and were on the final steps when someone peered into the shaft, perhaps drawn by the lack of a reflective glimmer that was normally there. Rigo could see it was the mean bastard that ran the dungeon, the ugly gash across his eyes from an old sword strike white in the light of the torch he was holding. Rigo had seen the brute beat a man to death in the dungeon a couple of days earlier. And now it was obvious he had seen them. He was preparing to shout a warning.

  With no time to think about consequences, Rigo acted. A patch of the foot thick stone on the lip of the shaft where the man was standing suddenly cracked and broke free, causing him to drop forward and over the edge without warning. His brief cry would alert the others, but they wouldn’t be certain of the cause. With a meaty “thowk” the headman struck the bottom solidly.

  “Do you think he’s dead?” Kaler couldn’t help asking.

  “Don’t know. Hit solid though. He won’t be a problem in any event.”

  They could hear movement up above as the unknown remaining guards burst into motion and headed their way. Quickly Kaler vaulted up the remaining steps, his sword ready. As Rigo came up behind him he watched as Kaler fought with two armed guards, holding them back. A third guard was approaching Kaler’s back with his sword raised, but the younger fighter was too busy dealing with the pair he had engaged to notice.

  Rigo dropped the heavy sword he was carrying and retrieved the belt knife from his pants. Without thinking he threw it with all his might toward the guard who was preparing to strike Kaler from behind. The blade flew quickly, but oddly across the room. It didn’t rotate end for end as one would expect, but flew point forward level and true, and faster than reasonable. It struck the guard as he started his swing in the forearm, penetrating the arm and nailing the arm to a wooden beam. The guard screamed in agony and dropped the sword from the immobilized appendage.

  Kaler disarmed one of his opponents and turned his full fury on the remaining adversary. Rigo had picked up his sword and smacked the guard who had lost his sword on the back on the head dropping him to the floor out of the fight, then repeated the process on the guard who was impaled by the thrown knife. By the time Rigo looked up, Kaler had finished with the remaining guard who was either unconscious or dead on the floor as well.

  “Where’s the key?” Kaler asked, looking around.

  “Probably on the one at the bottom of the shaft. He looked to be in charge,” Rigo answered.

  “Shit. You are probably right. I’ll go,” Kaler offered.

  Rigo shook his head and headed for the door, retrieving another belt knife from one of the downed guards on the way. Without thought he slid it into his belt. He couldn’t get his hands on either side of the lock this time because of the solid wooden door, but wood was easy. He had a lot of experience shaping wood. He laid his hands alongside the lock and the wood turned to sawdust almost immediately. In less than a minute the lock fell out into his hands and he pushed the door open slowly with a grin.

  “After you,” he said to Kaler who gave him another wondering glance.

  It was still early and the number of people in the basement was far reduced from what would have been expected during the dayligh
t hours. That worked for and against them. While there were fewer to note their presence, those who were here were likely to know one another better than the crowd that passed through here on random tasks during the day.

  Staying as much in the shadows as possible, the two escapees moved steadily toward one of the sets of stairs that led upward into the castle itself. There was little to gain by heading to the entrance. That would be heavily guarded as always, and there would be no sneaking out of the castle that way. Soon they found one of the passageways used by the saddle maker and were able to make their way up, exiting the stone bowels of the castle near the stables.

  “You’re sure you know the way out of the castle?” Rigo whispered as Kaler seemed to be trying to get his bearings.

  “I was up there with Eessa several times,” Kaler replied, then touched Rigo’s shoulder and pointed.

  Rigo knew from their discussions that Eessa was the willful young daughter of the Duke who Kaler had been fooling around with and which had landed him in the dungeon in the first place.

  “She’s a comely lass,” Kaler had told him, “and as eager for a little sport as I was. And mind you, I wasn’t the first by any means. That girl knew what she was doing and what she liked. She was no innocent maiden, believe me.”

  Maybe something good would come from the time Kaler had spent seducing the girl, or as he told it, was being seduced. If he had learned of a way to get out of here, then it had been time well spent.

  Kaler seemed to have found something he recognized, and signaled Rigo to follow. Kaler grabbed a coil of rope from a post nearby and they moved quickly across the open area next to the stables, the nickering of several horses marking their passage. Fortunately, no one appeared to notice. Across the courtyard Kaler lead them inside a door-less tower and up more stairs, coming out on a large balcony with slotted walls facing out from the castle from which defenders could fire arrows at attacking forces. The balcony was three stories above the external ground level, but was unmanned tonight. There was no war or siege, so the area was unnecessary for the moment.

  Quickly they tied the rope around one of the stone pillars and dropped the loose end over the side. It was short by more than a dozen feet, but would have to do. Signaling Rigo to go first, Kaler watched their backs as Rigo started down. Moments later Kaler followed, and after a jarring drop to the ground they were outside and free.

  “You said you knew where we could hide,” Rigo said. “It won’t be too long before they learn we are missing. The Duke will be furious and they will come looking.”

  “This way,” Kaler urged, now fully certain of himself. They headed across the grounds toward the stand of trees a hundred paces away on the far side of the wide stream that cut across the field. They waded through the chilly water, thankful for the moonless night, and were about to enter the forest when Rigo suddenly stopped.

  “Wait,” he said.

  Kaler stopped and looked at him. “What’s the matter?”

  “Over here,” Rigo said, and turned and walked parallel to the forest for a dozen paces. Then he reached out and picked up something leaning against one of the trees.

  “Okay, we can go now,” he said when he returned to where Kaler was standing.

  “What’s that?” the young fighter asked.

  “My walking staff,” Rigo replied, immense satisfaction apparent in his voice.

  “You left it out here?” Kaler asked.

  “No. Not at all. They took it from me when they arrested me. Probably tossed it away. It has a way of finding me.”

  “It sure doesn’t look like much,” Kaler said eyeing the old grainy shaft of wood.

  “No, it doesn’t, does it,” Rigo replied. For the first time in days he felt things were looking up.

  Chapter 2

  They traveled well together. Kaler knew where they wanted to go and was far more familiar with the area, but despite growing up on a farm he wasn’t a woodsman. Rigo had been raised in a small village yet was far more at home in the wilds. So while Kaler could point out the desired direction, it was Rigo who led them smoothly through the underbrush and the thick stands of trees despite the lack of a moon. Unfailingly they made their way eastward and were soon able to tell the land was rising.

  The castle was situated near the base of Branid’s central mountains. The smallest, yet richest of the three independent kingdoms on the continent, Branid had several ranges of medium sized mountains within its borders. The truly large mountains, the Great Whites to the north that had always filled the skyline from Rigo’s village were huge and all but impassible. Perpetually covered with snow hundreds of feet deep, he had never heard of anyone who had ever found a way over them. Further to the east, the smaller but still impressive Purple Titans of the Great Dividing Range marked the shared border with the neighboring kingdom of Lopal. There were several passes that wound their way through the dividing range, but even those passageways were not for the faint hearted. Neither mountain range was relevant for the two men tonight. They were leagues away and not destinations they were considering. Their plan was to make their way into the local mountains where they could hope to hide from the searchers the Duke could be expected to send after them.

  There was little doubt the Duke would react by sending his soldiers after them. While Rigo was simply a minor thief in the Duke’s mind, Kaler had been caught defiling his daughter. That was something that could not be tolerated, although the Duke was aware that it was more than likely his daughter’s doing as much of that of the handsome young Kaler. He would have to see to her later. More important than anything else was the fact that the Duke had made public announcements about the impending executions to be held at the spring feast. He’d intended to place a seed of fear in any others who might consider his daughter fair game. The story that had been spread was that Kaler had been caught attempting to break into the young woman’s private quarters. It wouldn’t do for it to become public knowledge that he’d been found in her bed the morning after the two had spent a passionate night together.

  Rigo and Kaler had considered their escape route carefully. The lands to the east of the castle were forested and led into the foothills and eventually the mountains themselves. There would not be many people to be found here, especially since these were the Royal lands, held as the nobles’ private hunting preserve. That’s what had landed Rigo in trouble in the first place. Because they were alone, they would stand out. Out here, movement was the revealer, and they had to move quickly while it was still dark and find a place to settle down for the daylight hours. Kaler knew of caves and that’s where they were headed. Rigo had assumed the Duke’s men would know of any caves as well, but Kaler promised there was a hidden chamber inside one of the smaller caves that he had found and he was certain was unknown to anyone else. They were placing their hopes on his being right.

  The remaining three points of the compass would have had them making their way through the village outside the castle. Even though it was night, people would have been up and about, and they would have been far less conspicuous. There was, after all, nothing that made them stand out. They were still dressed in their own clothing, and they appeared no different than any other young men who might have been out wenching or drinking this night. Unfortunately, neither knew anyone who could provide them with shelter and a place to hide, and once they left the village the lands for several days travel were flat, given over mostly to vineyards. The grapes grown locally were among the finest of those in all of Branid, and in fact were responsible for the well-deserved reputation of Branid Red. The rich, heady wine was sought throughout the many kingdoms and yielded the Crown a substantial number of golds each and every year. There was no place in those directions they could reasonably expect to remain hidden.

  “I think they have discovered our escape,” Rigo observed as they crested one of the smaller hills that afforded a view looking down on the castle in the distance behind them.

  Kaler looked back where Rigo was pointing
. It was still an hour before dawn and an unusual number of torches could be seen moving atop the walls and in the inner courtyard. It was obvious the guard had been roused and was conducting a search of the castle itself. Kaler knew the village would be searched as well, and out of sight inside the courtyard groups of men were preparing to ride out in search of them. Those men would be mounted and would move much faster than they were able. They needed to keep up their own pace so they could be inside the caves by the time it was fully light.

  Up here on the side of the hills the first rays of the sun could be seen breaking over the tops of the hills and illuminating the leaves in the trees. Far out on the flats the dark was already being pushed back. Only the fact the castle sat in the shadow of the mountains was it still in complete darkness. He glanced at his companion. Rigo was taller than himself. The six-foot three-inch lanky frame of the dark haired stranger with whom he’d made friends moved with ease as they made their way upward. Kaler had thought himself in excellent shape, but he found himself pressed to keep up the pace of the other.

  “How did you do it?” he asked as they started up the next hill. He had pointed out their target destination from the previous peak and now Rigo was winding his way unerringly through the backside as they crossed over toward the hill Kaler had pointed out.

  “How did I do what?” Rigo replied without breaking stride.

  “Several things actually. I’ve known of people who could defeat locks, so I wasn’t entirely surprised that you might know how to do that, but some of the other things I can’t understand.”

  “What other things?”

  “The way you cut through the wooden door to the dungeon, and whatever you did to snuff the torches. Also, I’ve never seen a knife thrown the way you did. I’d have said that was impossible, especially since you don’t seem particularly at home with weapons.”

  “I used magic,” Rigo replied simply without breaking pace. He’d shown Kaler more of what he could do than anyone ever before. In this case there had been no choice if they were to escape. They weren’t out of this as yet, and he would probably need the other to trust him. He’d reluctantly decided to reveal what he could do. It would be interesting to see what kind of response he received. He’d long wondered how someone would react if he told them his secret. After all, once this was over he could go his own way. Who would believe Kaler if he told them?