by Andrew Rowe
He waved at her, and she returned the gesture, and then stood up.
“Hey, Sal. I like the new look. You should try it more often.” Velas smirked, but with her headache slowly subsiding, she was beginning to process the situation and search for solutions.
“Anyone remember how we got here?” Landen asked. She thought she could hear him moving around on the opposite side of the wall.
“No. And don’t leave the circle until we figure out what it does,” she instructed, turning toward Landen.
“Circle? What circle?”
“Landen is not in a circle.” The voice was female, and it took Velas a moment to place it. She had rarely heard Asphodel speak, and when the Delaren woman had, it was rarely more than two or three words at a time. “I am, however.”
“Asphodel?” Taelien was whispering too loudly again. “Can you read the runes on the amulet or the circle?”
“No. Also, I am not wearing an amulet.”
Velas knelt back down, inspecting the runes. That’s Kor for strength, Lys for sacrifice…can’t read that one, or that one. Kar, maybe? Protection – yeah, that seems right. Probably a pretty typical barrier circle.
The former Queensguard frowned. Except with no visible power source. There should be dominion essence somewhere nearby, most likely within the ritual circle itself. She looked at a pair of loose rocks dubiously, but quickly concluded that no one in their right mind would bother disguising dominion essence as random stones.
It’s probably drawing from my new apparel – there could be dominion essence in a position I can’t see, like on the inside or around the back. Okay, barrier circle. I can deal with that. There may be a more pressing problem.
Velas picked up one of the stray rocks, thinking. “So, guys. How’d we get in here?”
“That’s what I was asking,” Landen complained. “I just went to sleep and woke up here.”
“This is clearly some kind of test.” Taelien was kneeling and inspecting his own runes now. “Or another one of my weird dreams.”
“You’ve been having weird dreams?” Landen asked.
Velas smirked, flicking the rock into the ring. Ping. A translucent blue-white field appeared, blocking the tiny rock from escaping the circle. The deflected rock rolled across the ground, landing near her feet. Definitely a barrier, at the least. Might have other functions. “As intrigued as I might be about Sal’s dreams, especially if they involve the four of us half-naked in a prison, I’m pretty sure I’m real. Maybe I’m dreaming, but this doesn’t seem like my kind of dream – for the most part –”
Asphodel sighed loudly enough to cut Velas off. “We are not dreaming. I would know.”
Not sure what her logic is for that, but sure, we’ll go with that. They do call her an oracle – maybe dream sorcery is on her list.
“Well, if we’re really here, that means either our room has been pretty seriously changed or we’ve been teleported. Leaning toward the latter.” Taelien tapped at the floor near one of the runes with a single finger.
I really, really hate being teleported. Possibly more than I hate runes.
Velas rubbed at her forehead. “Our cell arrangements seem to mirror our beds. Landen is next to me, and Taelien is next to Asphodel. Asphodel, have you seen your, um, guards?”
“Teshvol and Kolask are not my guards. And no, they are not here.”
Velas frowned. Those two were sleeping closer to my bed than Taelien and Asphodel – why are they missing? If Taelien is right and this is a test, it would be logical to include the whole platoon or segments of it that are adjacent to one another. Could they have failed out? Or perhaps they’re in another part of the dungeon?
It’s an inconsistency, much like Landen not having a circle or a collar. Maybe that’s not the real Landen. Maybe I’m dreaming – the only authority telling me that I’m not dreaming is someone that could just be another dream. But I guess that line of thought isn’t really going to be useful – I’m going to break this place and get the resh out either way.
Taelien put a hand on his collar. “I’m going to break this.”
I love it when he reminds me of me.
“Do not,” Asphodel said, just before Taelien screamed, falling to the floor and beginning to spasm uncontrollably.
Velas tensed, taking a step forward before she realized she had nearly stepped out of her circle. She barely stopped herself, gritting her teeth as she watched helplessly as Taelien twitched for several seconds before lying still.
“…Sal?” she asked, staring at his fallen body. He made no reply.
They couldn’t have killed him. It’s just a test. He’s going to be fine.
It’s not real. It can’t be real.
“These collars are triggered by the use of sorcery,” Asphodel said without a hint of emotion in her tone.
Velas clenched her fists. “Reshing useful information there, chatty. Thanks, saved us all a bunch of trouble.”
“I could not be certain until he activated it, but it seemed logical—”
Footsteps. Heavy ones, at that. Asphodel went silent as soon as the sounds began to approach. Velas focused on the sounds, identifying any individual characteristics she could. There was a slight scrape with each step, and a long pause between each, indicating that the person approaching was most likely walking slowly and wearing sabatons.
As the first creature came into view, she realized she was only mostly right.
The figure’s armor was black as void, with violent spikes protruding from the knees and elbows. The material was reflective, but with a glossy look, and Velas suspected it was some kind of stone similar to obsidian, rather than metal. Near the neck and on the gauntlets, she saw runes etched into the surface. They were glowing with red light.
All in all, the image looked like a child’s nightmare of one of the Thornguard. She might have laughed if someone had tried to describe the figure to her, but when it turned to look straight at her – and she saw red glowing spots rather than eyes – something sank in her stomach.
“The prisoners will behave.” Its voice was a deep, grating sound that made her shiver. It was only after a moment that she processed the foreign sorcery invading her body, sapping at her will. Every instinct told her to push the poison out of her veins, but she resisted, knowing that activating her “sorcery resistance” could potentially leave her in the same state as Taelien – or worse.
Mercifully, it turned away from Velas after a staring at her for several painful moments.
She found herself sitting, shivering, but her mind still worked. He’s wearing a sword on his left hip. No other obvious weapons. Obvious keys hanging from belt on right side of hip.
Velas’ relief that the knight was looking away from her was short lived. His next target was Taelien, still unmoving on his cell’s floor.
They might kill him in there. I mean, at least in the simulation. It’s still just a test. He’s fine. But seriously, I need to save him right now.
Two problems; well, two main problems. Barrier and a door. Think.
She flicked another pebble, twisting her lip as she made an observation.
The lead knight removed the keys from his belt, unlocking Taelien’s cell door.
Velas grabbed a larger rock and began scratching something into the floor of her cell.
The runes on the black-clad knight’s gauntlet flickered, and the barrier circle around Taelien flashed into visibility for a moment – and then shattered apart. The knight reached down with his left hand, grabbed Taelien’s collar, and dragged him out of the cell.
“Hey, stop, we’ll cooperate,” Landen called out. “Just tell us what you need.” The knight paused for a moment, turning toward Landen’s cell.
“The prisoner will be silent while punishment is administered.”
The knight pulled Taelien upward from the floor with his left hand, putting his right hand on Taelien’s forehead.
“Awaken.” The runes on the knight’s gauntlet flashed and
Taelien shuddered again, though he did not scream this time. The swordsman slumped forward weakly, his eyes fluttering open.
“Good. You will now be punished.”
Velas stood up, gripping her collar with her left hand.
“Yeah, that might have to wait.”
The red-eyed knight turned his gaze toward Velas as she approached the cell door.
“For the future, you might want to construct your rituals with the runes on the outside of the barrier. If they’re on the inside, someone might, you know, change how they work.”
I’m going to regret this later.
Pulse.
It was just a flicker of sorcery – the merest hint of an application of the Dominion of Motion. Enhanced a thousandfold by the repurposed ritual circle, however, it was strong enough to rip the bar she pointed at straight out of the stone and catapult it into the knight, slamming into his right arm. The knight staggered a step toward Taelien’s cell as the bar deflected off his armor, clattering down the hall. The application of force should have shattered the arm of an ordinary man, armored or not. The attack was not, unfortunately, potent enough to make the knight drop his prisoner.
It was, however, enough to activate her collar.
Intense heat flared to life around her neck, searing into her flesh. She screamed out of instinct in spite of having been prepared for the pain. It was excruciating, but she had expected it to be.
Not what I expected, but it will do.
She sensed the Dominion of Light burning her flesh, visualized the places that the collar contacted her skin, and quickly sensed the power source on the back of her neck. Her fingers burned as the found the stone and she pointed her other hand at the knight.
Expel.
A blinding ray of incandescent heat blasted out of her outstretched fingers, slamming into the knight’s chest. The knight released his grip on Taelien, turning toward Velas as golden cracks began to appear in his breastplate.
Velas continued to channel the amulet’s light, gritting her teeth in agony. Her hand and neck were no longer being burned, but the muscles in her right arm began to twitch as she expended her own essence to redirect the necklace’s power.
The knight reached down with a gauntleted hand, briefly blocking the beam as he marched toward her cell. Velas shifted the light upward, hoping to blind him, but when the beam hit the runes near his neck she felt an instant of connection with a greater force – and then the beam faltered and died.
Velas fell to her knees, shivering, her right arm numb. Shit, shit. I should have realized that those runes on his neck are another amulet like mine. Triggered some kind of feedback when I hit it.
The knight unceremoniously tore the door off her cell.
Work, legs, work. If I can stand, I can fight.
Her legs just trembled with her effort. As the knight raised a gauntleted hand to strike, the best she could do was to move her left arm in the way in an effort to block.
The knight’s sword ripped out of its scabbard. Taelien had grabbed it from behind.
The knight turned just in time for the sword to slam into its weakened breastplate. He staggered backward, nearly falling into Velas, which put him in a convenient position.
Velas slapped her burned left hand on the front of the breastplate.
Pulse.
The breastplate exploded, shards of blackened material scattering throughout the cell. Taelien struck in the next instant, slamming the sword into a green crystal that had been housed within the armor. The knight shuddered for a few moments and collapsed. Velas fell to the floor beside him.
“Gods fucking goats, that really hurt.” She curled up on the floor, cradling her numb right arm, which somehow felt even worse than her burned hand.
Taelien knelt down, which looked like a sympathetic gesture at first, until she realized he was inspecting the fallen knight instead of her. She glanced at what he was looking at – there was no body inside the armor, just the gemstone that Taelien had damaged, which was lodged inside a metal frame.
He frowned, turning to her next. “Nice move, there. That light thing was pretty incredible. Saved my skin.”
Okay, your momentary lapse is almost forgiven. Almost.
“Mmmhm,” she managed to reply.
“You look about as bad as I feel. Any critical injuries that need immediate attention?”
All of them. All of my injuries require your complete and immediate attention, resh it.
“No, get the others out of the cells.”
Taelien nodded. “I’ll be back for you in a moment.” He stumbled away, dragging the sword across the floor with him.
Velas got a better look at the weapon this time – it was black-bladed, resembling the armor, with blue runes on the surface. The sound of the stone grinding against stone was one more source of pain, but there were so many she could barely keep track.
She heard the sound of keys turning in a lock, and Landen was at her side a moment later.
“Hey, hang in there.” He sat down next to her, setting her head on his lap. “It’s going to be okay.”
Normally, she would have complained about Landen’s coddling, but she was hurting enough that a little human contact was more of a comfort than the minor injury to her pride.
Besides, that light thing had been pretty reshing amazing.
“We need to move.” Asphodel’s voice, coming from her cell. Always killing her brief moments of happiness. “There are more coming.”
Taelien came back, but instead of moving to her, he knelt by the knight again.
Fine, I see how it is. He can be your new sparring partner.
Landen patted her head and she closed her eyes appreciatively. The sounds of clanking a few moments later jarred her eyes back open.
Taelien was hitting the knight’s wrist with the sword for some unfathomable reason.
“That guy was a jerk, but I really don’t think this is the time for venting your frustrations,” Velas muttered.
“Asphodel is still in a ritual circle. I think the gauntlets can shut them down.” Taelien continued tapping away, but he didn’t seem to make much progress.
Oh. That makes a kind of sense, I guess.
Landen sighed. “Let me.”
Velas felt her head moving and realized that Landen had set her head back down on the ground. Bah, I was comfortable.
Landen was warding Taelien away, and the swordsman moved to take up a guarding position in the hall. Meanwhile, her former Queensguard companion began twisting the knight’s wrist – which, after a few moments, she realized was turning in a complete circle.
After nearly a minute of hideous scraping noises, the gauntlet came free.
“The gauntlet was screwed on? Seriously?” Velas let out a sigh. She was starting to regain some of the feeling in her legs, at least, but her right arm still felt like lead.
I really shouldn’t let that, of all the things that have been happening, be the one that surprises me.
“Catch, Sal.” Landen tossed Taelien the gauntlet, and Taelien nodded and moved to Asphodel’s cell. A flash of light and a few moments later, Asphodel and Taelien were standing nearby.
“We must go quickly. I will carry her.” The Delaren girl knelt down and slipped her arms under Velas before she could object, lifting her with no apparent difficulty. Still barely capable of movement, Velas just slipped her left arm around Asphodel’s neck and tried to hold herself in place as best she could.
The group stepped into the hallway between the cells, Taelien still carrying the sword in his right hand and the gauntlet in his left.
Unable to take physical action, Velas let her mind contribute to the problem. “Sal, try the gauntlet on your amulet.”
Taelien turned to her. “If this activates it again, you’re the one who has to carry me.”
“Deal.” She managed a smile.
Taelien tapped the gauntlet against his amulet. Nothing visibly happened. He frowned.
Velas remembere
d the power source. “Try it on the back.”
Taelien reached around behind his neck with the gauntlet, which looked pretty ridiculous, and scratched the fingers against the back of the amulet. Velas heard a “click” and the amulet fell right off him, landing on the floor. The blue runes on the surface continued to glow.
“Huh,” Taelien muttered, kicking the fallen amulet.
Landen leaned down and picked it up. “This might actually be useful later, if we can figure out how it works. Also, that gem in the armor was pretty interesting. Asphodel, can you carry this?”
Asphodel tensed, but accepted the amulet. “We have no time. This is the way to go.” Asphodel turned to the right, taking a step forward.
Asphodel wasn’t wearing an amulet of her own, which was interesting – Velas had simply assumed she’d be shackled with one as well, given that she was clearly a sorcerer with some kind of divination ability. Either that or she just liked bossing people around and letting on that she knew everything, but in this case the former seemed more likely, as amusing as the latter would be.
Why the discrepancy? Well, it’s not important at the moment.
“Landen, get the gem and catch up to us. We’re going to start moving. You hear any noise, you run right after us.” Velas instructed.
“Got it.” Landen went back to the cell and began tinkering with the breastplate. Taelien took the front, raising the stone blade in a high stance, and Asphodel carried Velas right behind him.
The hallway led on for an implausibly long time, mostly stone walls on each side with occasional empty cells every few hundred yards. Taelien paused in his step, resting the sword on the ground. “We’ve gone far enough. We need to wait for Landen to catch up.”
“That would be unwise.” Asphodel closed her eyes. “Very unwise.”
Velas fidgeted in Asphodel’s arms. Her legs were feeling more or less functional at this point, but her right arm was in similar shape to before. Catching the cue, Asphodel set her down.
