"Stop complaining, Thino," Shilo scolded him. "We're helping out these folks and giving Piako his up-and-comings for taking our home."
"Ah'm not complaining, Ah'm just pointing out that we're a few dwarves and humans against Piako's guards. The best might be gone, but the ones left still have axes," he pointed out.
Shilo stopped and spun around to glare at her husband. "Ya want help? Is that what yer after?"
"Ah'd appreciate it."
"Fine, Ah'll git us some help." She tore a small slip of paper and a pencil from her pocket and scribbled down a few words. Then she grabbed the crow on her shoulder, and stuffed the note into a tube attached to its leg. "Take this to yer master and be quick about it," she commanded the thing. She flung it into the air and it flew off to the southwest. Shilo whipped her head back to Thino. "If'n we find ourselves captured then we've got a good plan for getting out."
"Yer brother?" Thino guessed.
"Aye, and he'll come, too, but what are we wasting time talking? We've got some people to save and Canto to show up."
The group wound their way through the streets and arrived at the edge of the muck-filled water. Percy realized they had a new problem when he pulled out the net and glanced across the moat. He turned to his dwarven companions with a sheepish smile. "I don't suppose either of you is good at tossing a net?" he wondered.
"Nope, but my crows can do the job," Shilo replied. She opened her borrowed coat and six crows flew out. They circled and landed atop a nearby bush. Shilo took the net from Percy and tossed it across the moat. The crows flew into the air and caught the far end of the net in their beaks. They landed on the ledge across and five yards above the group. Shilo raised her hands as though holding a bowl and slowly brought them down as though setting the bowl down. The crows followed her example, and their beaks set the final squares in the net over a few rocks.
Thino grabbed their end of the rope and gave a hard tug to tighten it. Then he tied that end to more rocks on the edge of the moat, and they had their path over the moat. Percy nodded his head. "Very well done," he complimented.
"Less talk and more walk," Shilo replied. She opened the coat again, and her crows swooped out and landed with their brethren across the way. Then she took the coat off and stuffed it into the bush where the net had lain. "It'll only get in the way," she told them. She clambered over the net with Thilo close behind and Percy behind him.
Thino took a rope from around his waist and handed it to Shilo, who tossed one end into the air. Her crows flew up and snatched the last few feet in their beaks. They pulled it up the wall and over the ledge at the top. She gave a few soft tugs, and in a few moments the rope was taught.
Percy frowned. "How did they tie it?" he asked her.
Shilo shrugged. "No idea, but we'll see." She jumped onto the rope and climbed quickly up the wall. The other two followed behind her, and when Percy reached the top he saw how the trick had been done. The crows, smart animals as they were, had wound the end of the rope through the remaining bars that made up the roof of the cell. The dozen crisscrossing ropes had made a secure tie for them to climb. Shilo smiled at her pets' work. "Smart animals, crows."
"Indeed," Percy agreed. He knelt down and looked into the cell. One of the clumsy guards had left the door open. They pulled the rope up behind them and tossed it into the cell. Percy slid down first and scurried over to the wall beside the entrance. He cautiously glanced around the edge of the doorway and down the hall. It was empty. He gestured to the others, and they joined him at the bottom of the cell. The crows swirled down and landed on the floor around Shilo.
"Do ya know in what cell they are?" Shilo asked him.
Percy shook his head. "No. We escaped before they were moved," he replied.
"Percy?" a small voice whispered.
Percy perked up his head and looked around the hall. "Ruth?" he whispered back. A slender hand stuck out of one of the cell holes. Percy hurried forward with the dwarves close behind. He looked through the square hole and saw Ruth and Canto staring back at him with relieved smiles. "Didn't think I'd come back this quick?" he teased them.
"What took ya?" Canto shot back.
Shilo pushed Percy aside and smirked at Canto. "He needed some help to get ya out," she told him.
Canto frowned. "What are ya doing here, woman? This is no place for someone who can't fight."
"Ah don't need to fight, Ah just need my crows," she argued.
Percy gently pulled Shilo away from the door and looked down the hall. "Anyone happen to know where they would keep our weapons?" he asked the group.
"If they haven't moved it since Ah was last here then the armory's down the hall," Canto replied. "But aren't ya forgetting something?"
Percy glanced at him with a raised eyebrow. "What?" Canto pointed at the door. "Oh! Right, the door. Um-" He looked down at the thick lock that bolted the door shut.
"Move aside and Ah'll get this," Thino offered. Percy stepped aside and Thino pulled a wrapped cloth from inside his jacket. He knelt down and unfolded the cloth to reveal thin, delicate thief tools, and a chisel and hammer. He chose the chisel and hammer, and pushed the chisel into the lock. With one swift knock of the head of the hammer, he rammed the chisel into the lock and it broke with a loud clang.
The clang was loud enough to alert a pair of nearby guards who popped out of a doorway twenty yards down the twisting hall. "Who's there?" one of the guards shouted.
Shilo put her fingers to her mouth and blew a whistle. The crows flew out of the cell door behind them and swooped down the hall in a hail of wings and talons. The guards screamed and ducked back into their room. Canto pushed open the door, led Ruth out into the hall, and glared at Thino. "Brilliant. Now ya got the whole lot of 'em on us."
"That's the point. We're the distraction," Thino shot back.
Canto frowned. "Distraction for who?"
CHAPTER 20
Pat, Hywel, and Fred stood behind a wall of a house near the drawbridge. Nearly an hour had passed since they separated from their friends, and they were still stuck on the wrong side of the moat. The bridge was down, but there were four guards under the archway leading to the courtyard. Hywel floated over the top of the house for a better view of the area, and came back down to them. "Those are the only ones I can see," he told his companions.
Pat pursed her lips and shook her head. "That's enough when there's not a sword between us."
"I have my staff," Fred reminded her.
"And that worries me."
Fred frowned. "Why?"
"Your abilities aren't exactly useful in this delicate situation," she pointed out.
"Meaning what?"
"That we don't need an earthquake right now."
"I can levitate objects," he told her.
She raised her eyebrows. "Really? That heavy?" She jerked her head toward the guards.
Fred cringed. "I haven't tried anything that heavy yet. Just forks and stuff."
"Now might be a good time because I don't see how else we'll be able to get-" At that moment a fifth guard rushed up and pointed at where he'd come. The other four hurried off in that direction with the fifth, leaving the front unguarded. "Or that could happen," she finished.
Fred turned to Fluffy and patted the dog-beast on the nose. "Stay," he ordered. Fluffy drooped and whimpered, but lay down on the ground. Then Fred and Hywel shot forward with Pat close behind. They hurried over the drawbridge, but had to hit the wall on their left when they came to the courtyard. Above the courtyard were several guards who patrolled the battlements, but their thorough pattern was destroyed with the disappearance of the four guards. Now they randomly glanced over both sides of the walls, unsure what the commotion was about or what they should do. That left plenty of blind spots open for the three intruders. Pat slid over Fred and inched her way around the shadowed perimeter toward the archway across the courtyard that led into the halls. The intruders went unnoticed, and slipped into the maze of passages. The boys stopped an
d whipped their heads to and fro. There were three different directions to take. "Which way is the throne room?" Fred whispered.
Commotion arose down one of the halls, and they heard the sound of crows and screams echo down the passage. Pat jerked her head down the opposite hall. "This way," she told them. They moved quickly through the passages, ducking into side-passages when someone passed to avoid being seen and stepping as quietly as possible to avoid being heard.
In a few minutes Fred began to worry about the ability of his guide. He swore he'd seen those same torches before. "Are you sure you know where we're going?" he asked Pat.
"I know where we're headed, now be quiet," she hissed. She took a turn and looked to her right. Fred noticed her face drooped as he came up behind her, and followed her gaze. Down the long hall was the arch leading to the courtyard.
"I don't think you know where you're going," Fred countered.
Pat swung around and glared at him. "Then you find the way in this maze," she challenged him.
He held up his hands and took a step back. "I don't even know what the room looks like," he pointed out.
"Are you two married?" Hywel spoke up. Their mouths dropped open and they jumped away from each other as though the other had contracted the plague.
"No!" was their unified answer.
Hywel used his body to shrug. "It was merely a simple question," he defended himself. He turned and flitted from one hallway entrance to the other. The Star stopped at one in particular and moved a few feet inside before he turned to his companions. "This way."
Pat raised an eyebrow. "How can you be so sure?" she wondered.
Fred stepped forward and narrowed his eyes as he looked at the ground. Something caught his attention. They seemed to be glowing footprints. "I don't know how, but I think Ned left us a trail," Fred told her.
"Those are specks of pay-dirt," Hywel explained to them. "Ned must have worried he wouldn't find his way back and left them."
"How did you know what to look for?" Pat asked him.
"We Stars are sensitive to magic, so I followed my senses and found the trail," he replied. Hywel flitted over to Fred, and floated up and down in front of the young man. "You're very perceptive to have seen the specks of magic yourself."
Fred leaned back and nervously smiled at the floating ball of curious light. "So I've been told," he replied.
"We have little time for compliments. Ned needs our help," Pat reminded them. She waved her hand at the hall floor and glared at the pair. "Lead on. I can't see anything."
Hywel took the lead, and the three hurried down the hall. After several twists and turns Hywel rounded a corner and scooted back. Fred skidded to a halt and Pat collided with his back. She rubbed her nose and glared at them. "What's wrong?" she hissed.
"Guards," Hywel whispered.
The two humans peeked around the corner and saw two guards on either side of the entrance to the dining hall. They couldn't see the throne or the tables. Pat ducked behind the wall and frowned. "How can we be sure Ned is in there?" she wondered.
"Tell me how to use the stone!" King Piako yelled.
"I would rather not," Ned's voice replied. His voice was so faint they could barely hear him.
Hywel snorted. "Does that answer your question?"
"Only one, but we don't know how to get close enough to see what's going on," Pat pointed out.
At that moment a cart filled with the garbage of the hall was wheeled out through the doorway. The pusher was an old hag of a dwarf who was wrapped in shawls and furs. Her wizened hands pushed the cart down the hall toward the hiders, and they pulled back and pressed themselves against the wall. The old hag shuffled down the passage, but paused beside them while she rearranged some of the dirty dishes and half-eaten food. She was so close they could have reached out and touched the rags on her feet.
A spoon fell off the cart, and the old woman cursed. "Ah see ya trying to get away from me, spoon, but ya won't do it," she muttered. She stooped down, picked up the utensil, and tossed it back on the cart. "There ya go. Won't go causing no trouble on me, no siree." She cackled and pushed the cart down the hall.
Fred watched the old woman retreat and frowned. There was something off about that old woman. "Don't I know her?" he whispered.
"Have you been to Dirth before?" Hywel asked him. Fred shook his head. "Then I doubt you've seen that creature before."
Pat refocused her attention on the problem at hand, but she couldn't forget that old woman. Her eyes fell on Fred, and they lit up when a memory surfaced. She grabbed his shoulders and he jumped. "You spoke about being able to levitate spoons, right?"
"Y-yeah," he replied.
"What about axes?"
Fred shrugged. "I-I don't know. I suppose I could."
"Stop supposing and start being a castor. Haven't you been studying that book Ned gave you?" she scolded.
"Not since the night he gave it to me," Fred told her.
Pat rolled her eyes, but gestured to the hall entrance. "Book or no book, we need you to use your magic to knock those guards out."
Fred sighed, but nodded his head. "I'll try."
"Wait a moment," Hywel spoke up. "If they fall where they now stand they may collapse in the archway and catch the attention of those inside the hall. What we need is for them to move forward.
"So we need something that would interest them. Something they have never seen before," Pat mused. She glanced at Fred. "Do you still have the pamphlet Ned gave to you?"
Fred pulled out the thin book from the pocket of his pants. "You mean this?"
"Yes." She snatched it from his hands and tossed it down the hall. It fell ten yards in front of the guards. The dwarves clutched their ax handles, but the danger sat on the ground. They slowly stalked towards the book, and one of them poked at the cover with the point of their ax.
"Now!" Pat hissed.
Fred pulled out his staff and glanced around the corner. The guards were oblivious to him as they knelt over the strange object known as a pamphlet with the strange designs known as words. Fred transformed his staff, knelt down low to the ground to avoid being seen, and focused his eyes and the point of the long stick on their axes. Behind him Pat and Hywel waited with bated breath. He was elated when his staff let off its glow of magic, and the ax heads were likewise illuminated. The light fell on the guards, and they looked up astonished at their new torches. Fred aimed a blow before they could call out in alarm, and he overpowered and poorly aimed his thwacking attempt. Rather than whacking them on the heads, the axes dove through the air and dragged the guards along with them. They flew over half the hallway before they hit the ground where sparks flew from their armor. Pat winced at the loud clanking, but the stormy conversation in the dining hall didn't bring anyone for the noise.
The guards yelped and clutched onto their ax handles. They skidded by the surprised three and down the passage out of sight. Pat rolled her eyes and sighed. "Canto did say they never let go of their axes," she muttered. She glanced down at Fred. "How far did you plan on dragging them?"
He shrugged. "I didn't even mean to drag them. I was trying to knock the axes on their heads, remember?" he told her.
"Well, whatever you meant to do what you did helped us. They won't be coming back for a while, and when they do their armor will be so dented they'll need a metal opener to free themselves," she quipped.
"Let's hurry to Ned," Hywel reminded them.
They moved over to the archway, though Pat paused to pick up the pamphlet. "About time this was useful," she muttered before she stuffed it into Fred's hands.
The group hunkered down close to the floor and peeked inside the feasting hall. The place was as Pat remembered it but for Ned standing in the center of the tables facing King Piako. Danto stood five yards from the castor with Ned's staff in his hand. Piako was on his feet and his face was as red as the wine in his beard. "I will not allow you to destroy the precious stone with your Helper artifact!" the king refused.
Ned stood calmly before the mad monarch. "And I tell you again, Your Majesty, that the stone is a vessel that contains only trouble," Ned insisted.
Piako slammed his fist against the table and knocked food onto the floor. The cantankus around the king jumped forward and gobbled up the meat, but avoided the vegetables. "None of our tools have even scratched its surface. It's harder than the most precious diamond in my treasury. That makes it worth more than all the mines in the mountains," the king argued. "Ah will not allow anyone to destroy something that valuable because they believe it contains evil." A twitter ran through the other dwarves in the room.
Ned glanced at each of them and they quieted. "Canavar's intentions can't be defined by evil. They are far worse, and the consequences of your refusal to listen to me will be as great."
King Piako scoffed. "What good are dire warnings from an old castor? They're worth less than the air ya used to speak 'em."
Ned closed his eyes and smiled. "I admit I'm not as young as I used to be, but my predictions are still worth the air I've used on them. I still stand by my warnings, dire or not, and I will tell you again: that stone will bring trouble to you and your people, and you must destroy it."
The king raised his goblet and poured the wine onto the floor. "That is what Ah care for ya and yer warnings. Danto, take this prisoner to his friends. Ah'm sure they're wanting some company."
"Fred, now would be a good time to do something," Pat whispered.
"Why me?" he squeaked.
"I don't have my sword and you have your staff, so save him," she hissed.
Fred cringed, but pointed his staff at the tables and focused on the plates. They rattled and floated above the table, startling the company and the king. Piako stumbled back and tripped over one of his fat cantankus, who yipped and knocked him over in its efforts to get scamper under the table. The table proved to be too short for the tall beast-steed, and it flipped over, spilling the remaining food and causing a stampede as the other cantankus dove for the goods. The guests were covered in food and mauled by the hungry animals, with many of the brave warriors climbing up the nearest tapestry to avoid being drowned in slobber.
The Unwilling Ambassador (Book 3) Page 13
