But that seemed as impossible as anything else. S’nash had the pieces, and Fen hadn’t seen him outside the castle a single time. How was he going to get in there, find him and steal the pieces from him?
Maybe there was some way he could get his hands on the final piece and destroy that. If only there was a way he could get across the sea. Maybe he could stow away on one of the ships when it sailed, and then somehow get to it before the Devourers did.
He got to the market and bought a hard roll stuffed with cabbage and spiced pork. While he was eating it, he saw a squad of soldiers approaching. He pulled his hood down, and they went by without noticing him. Two of them stopped at the next booth, where a woman was frying balls of pastry. Fen was starting to move away, when he heard something that made his ears prick up.
“You heard about them arresting Wolfpack squad, didn’t you?” one of the soldiers said.
“I did, but I don’t know anything about it. What did they get arrested for?” the other soldier said.
“I wasn’t there when it happened,” the first one replied. “Tobbs said officially it’s because they tried to burn the ships. He thinks the real reason is because they were Fen’s squad mates.”
“Tobbs is an idiot.”
“You’ll get no argument from me.”
“Where’d they take them? Are they in the stockade?”
“No, that’s the strange thing. They were taken down into the old dungeon.”
“The dungeon? Are you sure?” The first soldier nodded. “That means they’re torturing them.”
Fen felt sick. His friends were in the dungeon? He moved closer, needing to hear more.
“But why torture them?” the second soldier said.
Lowering his voice, the first soldier said, “To make them give up Fen.”
“But Fen’s dead. He got killed when he and the Fist were fighting the sorcerers.”
The first soldier leaned closer, his voice barely above a whisper. “Maybe he’s not dead.”
“You’re not going to start on that foolishness too, are you? The whole hillside collapsed. No one could survive that.”
“He survived the executioner’s axe. You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
The second soldier paid for his pastry, bit into it and winced at how hot it was. “Still…it’s hard to believe.”
“I’m not the only one who thinks he’s alive,” the first soldier said defensively. “As they were taking him away, Cowley was trying to tell everyone who would listen that Fen was still alive.”
“I guess he could be.”
“What would you do if, you know, you found out he was still alive?” the first soldier said.
The second soldier looked around, worried someone was listening. “What I wouldn’t do is stand out here on the street and talk about it. You hear what I’m saying? You want to join them in the dungeon?”
“No, of course not,” the first soldier said. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”
“Those poor buggers,” the second soldier said. “I wouldn’t want to be them right now.”
The soldiers moved off, and Fen stumbled away, his mind reeling. His friends had been taken to the dungeon and were being tortured.
All because of him.
He was going to rescue them. He didn’t know how, but he was going to get them out of there.
He took off at a run, heading for the castle. He made it to the edge of Castle Plaza and stood in an alley, looking up at the castle wall. As big and imposing as it was, he knew without a doubt that he could tear it down in heartbeats. He could unleash a wave of Stone power that would shake the wall to rubble. In his mind’s eye he could see it happening, the cracks forming, the sentries on the wall running for cover, and the satisfying crash as tons of stone collapsed. Before they could recover, he would be at the entrance to the dungeon. Its heavy iron door would pose no real obstacle. He’d have his friends out of there before the dust had even begun to settle.
But at the same time, he knew he couldn’t do it that way. Too many innocent people would get hurt, for one thing. Not just from the falling wall, but from the aftershocks of releasing that much power. Part of the palace would probably collapse. Other buildings too.
And there was every chance he would be walking into a trap. He could sense all three Ichthalids inside the castle. For all he knew they were lying in wait for him, using his friends as bait. He’d have to be a fool to go after them. He’d get killed or captured, and the world’s last hope for stopping the invaders would die with him. Fighting an enemy on his turf when a soldier knows it is a trap is the height of stupidity. The smart thing would be to turn and walk away.
He wasn’t going to do the smart thing.
He was going to rescue his friends or die trying. They’d never leave him in enemy hands, and he wouldn’t leave them. He was going to get them out, no matter what it took.
He turned and headed back toward the ruined temple, thinking furiously as he went. He needed another way to approach the dungeon, an unseen way. If he could get close enough undetected, and if he had a clear means of escape, he might just pull it off.
But how? He considered disguising himself and sneaking in. If he succeeded in making it past the guards, he could get close to the dungeon before he acted. But the odds of that working in the day time were slim, especially if this was a trap. It would be smarter to wait until after dark. But that meant leaving his friends to be tortured for the whole day. One or more of them could be dead by then.
He passed a vendor selling cured ham and sausages from a cart. “Cave aged!” the man yelled. “It’s the cold air of the caves that makes the difference!”
All at once Fen got an idea.
The hills the city of Samkara sat on were riddled with limestone caves. There were hundreds of them. Workers often dug into one while excavating to lay the foundations for new buildings. Houses sometimes collapsed into them. Sinkholes opened up on the streets every now and then. Many people dug into them deliberately, using the chill air in the caves to store food. It was rumored that the wealthy used them for secret ways to escape, connecting with other caves and passages leading clear out of the city.
If he could get into one of the caves, he should be able to make his way underneath the castle unnoticed. It was entirely possible that the ruined temple he was holed up in had access to them.
He took off running for the temple. He was in a hurry, so he didn’t enter through the ravine, but made his way up the narrow street. Inside, he hurried downstairs into the cellar. Debris covered the floor, and one corner was buried knee-deep in dirt and stones. If there was an entrance, it could be buried anywhere. Searching for it in all this mess could take a long time. But Fen had an idea to find it quickly.
He knelt, brushed away the loose dirt, and placed his hand on the flagstone floor of the cellar. He closed his eyes and reached out into the stone, seeking.
Nothing. The ground felt solid for some distance down. He shifted his position and tried again. Still nothing. On the fourth try he got something. It wasn’t much, only a sense of emptiness where everywhere else was solid stone and earth. Quickly, he tossed bits of old wood and cracked bricks aside, clearing off a sizable section of the floor. He still couldn’t see the trap door, but by feeling around he was able to find the boundaries of the hollow area. It was an area about an arm’s length wide and roughly square.
He could find no handle or other way to pull up the flagstone trap door, so he pushed with his fingers along one side, releasing a tiny amount of his power as he did so. The flagstone grew soft, allowing him to push his fingers into it. He yanked the stone up and tossed it aside.
An opening led down into darkness. He couldn’t see how far down it went. The remains of an old wooden ladder leaned against the side, but when he touched it, it collapsed. He thought about getting a rope. He thought about getting a candle.
He thought about his friends being tortured.
He took a moment to summon the i
nnate power that was inside him. A deep red glow began to emanate from his hands. He pressed one hand into the side of the shaft, creating a handhold, then the other hand. He lowered himself into the shaft and worked his way down, shaping holds where he needed them.
The shaft ended. In the glow from his hands he could see that he was in a limestone cave, water dripping from the ceiling, the floor covered with fallen chunks of stone. A faint path wound through the debris. He paused, verifying the direction he needed to go. The path was going in roughly the direction he needed to go, so he followed it. It led to a narrow, rough-hewn passage that was clearly man-made. He had to duck and turn sideways to enter it.
At first, he moved slowly. The light coming from his hands was poor, and he worried he would fall over a sudden cliff or bash his head open on a low-hanging rock. But as time passed, he became more comfortable in his surroundings. He discovered that he could sense the rock around him better than he could actually see it. He could sense the contours of the passage, where the stone was loose and where it was stable.
The passage made a hard right and led down. He paused, checking his internal compass. If he went that way, he would be heading directly away from the castle. Which made sense, since whoever built it would have been seeking to flee the city, not go deeper into it.
He needed a new path.
He placed his hands on the stone and closed his eyes, delving deeper into his connection with the stone, picturing the earth around him. He discovered that he could “see” the hollow spaces that were the caves and passages. Gradually a three-dimensional map began to form in his mind. He studied it, looking for those caves which would lead him quickest to his destination. After a bit he’d figured out what looked like the most direct route to his destination. There were a few places where he would have to make his own passages, but not too many.
Stone power answered his call readily. The stone under his hands softened, taking on the consistency of clay. He scooped out a double handful and flung it aside. He repeated it a few times, before realizing this way was too slow. He needed a faster method.
He channeled more power, softening a whole stretch between him and the next cavern he needed to get to. Then he flexed his will and pushed.
The softened stone blew out with a dull thump, leaving a roughly oval opening. The edges of the opening glowed softly.
Now he would be able to make better time. He ducked and ran through the passage he had created. He would be underneath the castle soon, and the Ichthalids would never see him coming.
╬ ╬ ╬
“Okay,” Cowley said. “Right around here is where Fen grew up. My guess is he found somewhere to hole up somewhere nearby. We’ll pair up, fan out and find it.”
“When you’re looking, remember what Flint taught us about choosing a camp,” Lukas said, “about the importance of being able to easily watch the approaches, and how there must always be an escape route. Fen will have—”
“Yeah, yeah, you don’t have to tell us,” Noah said. “Flint knocked it in our heads too. If Fen’s here, we’ll find him.”
“How’s your finger?” Cowley asked.
“Still broken,” Noah said. “Still hurts like hell. Thanks for asking.”
“That’s not what he’s asking,” Lukas said. “He wants to know if—”
“I know what he wants to know, and the answer is yes. Yes, I can still do my job.”
Lukas looked around at the rest of them. “How about the rest of you? Anybody have a wound that’s going to keep him from pulling his weight? I need to know now.”
Everyone shook their heads. Gage asked, “How is your back? It looks like you’re still bleeding.” Quite a bit of blood had soaked through the back of Lukas’ shirt.
“And I will be for a while,” Lukas said, “but I can tolerate it.”
“Should we bandage it?”
Lukas shook his head. “Maybe later, after we find Fen and make sure he’s not doing anything foolish.”
“Which we all know he is,” Strout said. “If we’re done holding hands, can we get started on this already?”
They broke up into pairs and set off in different directions, with an agreement to meet back there in half a bell to report what they’d found.
It was Lukas and Gage who found him. “It’s a ruined temple,” Lukas said, “and it backs onto a narrow ravine with cover. When we poked our heads in we could see that someone has been there recently. There was no one there, but I’m sure it’s where he’s hiding out.”
They hurried over to the temple and split up to search it. Soon Strout was calling from the cellar. The others hurried down there. Strout was standing beside a hole in the floor. Fresh dirt was strewn around it.
“He found his own way to storm the castle,” Strout said.
“We can still catch him if we hurry,” Lukas said.
“There’s no need for that,” a new voice said. They looked up to see Lowellin coming down the stairs into the cellar. “I’ll take it from here.”
“Where did you come from?” Noah asked suspiciously.
“Out of thin air,” Lowellin said. “I’m sneaky like that.” He walked over to the hole and looked down.
“We’re going with you,” Lukas said.
“Do what you want,” Lowellin replied. “It makes no difference to me. But I won’t nursemaid you. If you get lost and collapse a tunnel on your head, that’s your problem. I won’t help you.”
“We don’t care,” Cowley said. “We care about being there in case Fen needs our help.” The others all nodded.
Lowellin looked them over. “I see. You think I will go back on our agreement and attack Fen.”
“That’s exactly what I think,” Noah said.
“And if I was to do so, what, exactly, would you do?” Lowellin said.
Noah reached for a sword that wasn’t there, and his look turned sour. None of them had weapons. Lowellin had given them clothes but nothing more. “I’ll find a way to stop you. I’ll use my teeth if I have to.”
“While the idea of being gnawed on by you does have a certain appeal,” Lowellin said, “it won’t be necessary. I was being truthful when I said I want to strike a bargain with Fen, one that benefits both of us.” He searched their eyes, then shook his head. “Still so untrusting. You people are no better than the Ichthalids. It’s so hard to find good allies.”
“So the Ichthalids don’t trust you either,” Cowley said. “I wonder why.”
“It’s something I’ve never understood.” Lowellin seemed to glide, rather than climb, down the shaft and was soon gone from sight.
“We’re going to need a light,” Strout said. “Stumbling around down there in the darkness isn’t going to get us anywhere.”
Noah swore. “It’s going to take forever to go to the market and buy candles, and I don’t have any money anyway. I bet none of us do.”
Gage spoke up. “I saw a couple of candles upstairs. I’ll go get them.” He took off at a limping run and came back a few moments later with two candles and a flint and steel.
Cowley looked around at the others while Gage lit the candles. “You realize this is probably incredibly stupid, right?”
“Not probably,” Strout said. “It is.”
“So what?” Noah said. “You want to live forever?” He flashed them a cocky grin.
“Not if it means putting up with you,” Strout said.
As the others began to drop down into the hole, Cowley noticed that Lukas was hanging back. His face was pale, and he was biting his lip. “What is it?” he asked him.
Lukas took a deep breath. “It’s small places. They’ve always terrified me.”
“Then wait here. Guard our exit.”
Lukas shook his head. “I can’t do that.”
“Yes, you can. No one will think less of you.”
“I will.” Lukas gave him a sickly smile. “Besides, I’m your corporal, right? Who’s going to tell you what to do if I don’t go?” He went over to the hole
and started climbing down. “How bad can it be, anyway?”
╬ ╬ ╬
Fen stood with his hands pressed to the stone. He sensed a large cavern up ahead, bigger by far than any he’d yet been through. If he was reading his interior map correctly, it would take him most of the rest of the way to the castle. It was also a good hundred paces from where he now stood. It would be the longest tunnel he’d carved out yet. But it wasn’t the distance that made him hesitate. He could feel that the rock overhead was badly fractured. There was a good chance he would cause a cave-in if he wasn’t careful. Maybe even if he was careful. He wasn’t really worried about himself. He figured his power would allow him to survive almost any cave-in. His fear was that he would cause the huge cavern to collapse. If it did, a couple of blocks of the city would suddenly disappear into a sinkhole. A lot of people could die.
The smart thing to do would be to go around. There were other possible routes he could take. But they would cost him time, time his friends might not have. He’d have to risk it.
Again, it occurred to him that he was being foolish. He was heading straight into a trap. If he failed, if he was killed in the attempt, the world’s last hope to defeat the Devourers would probably die with him. Against such a cost, the lives of his squad mates were nothing. They were acceptable losses. No good soldier would take such a risk.
He didn’t care. He simply could not stand by and let his friends be tortured. He couldn’t live with himself if he did. Some prices were too high.
He pushed the thoughts out of his mind. The time for thinking was past. It was time to act.
Most of the tunnels he’d made so far, he’d simply softened the stone and blasted it out the other side. But he couldn’t do that here. The length of the tunnel was such that if he expended the kind of power necessary to blast it out, he would almost certainly trigger the collapse of the large cavern. Which meant he was going to have to do this the slow way. He hated the thought, but he had no other real choice. It was still faster than going around.
Shadow Hunted Page 21
