Kingdom of Magicians

by Timothy L. Cerepaka

  Chapter Five

  “Hey, Keo,” said Dlaine's voice somewhere above him, sounding like a whisper. “Keo, are you awake?”

  Keo slowly rose from the deep slumber that he had fallen into. Blinking, he looked up and saw Dlaine standing over him. The mysterious Wanderer still had shackles around his wrists and ankles, but he looked awake and alert now, like he had gotten a good night's sleep. The cell itself was dark, save for candlelight from somewhere outside the cell and the stars and moon visible through the open window above. The cell was chillier than normal, too, even though it was a summer's night.

  Yawning, Keo said, “Dlaine? What's going on? Is Jola—”

  “Shhh,” said Dlaine. He glanced over his shoulder. “Don't mention her name. We have to be very quiet if we're going to get out of here tonight.”

  Blinking again, Keo looked over at the source of the candlelight. One of the guards was sitting at a table near the cell, but he was lying there with his head on his arms, snoring softly and occasionally muttering things in his sleep that Keo could not understand. The guard seemed to be alone, but that did not surprise Keo, because the Enforcers usually only left one guard to watch over the prisoners at night anyway.

  Keo looked up at Dlaine with a questioning gaze and whispered., “Is Jola nearby?”

  “She should be,” said Dlaine, his own voice so low that Keo had to strain to hear it. “I woke you up so you could be ready to leave at a moment's notice.”

  Keo rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and took a deep breath before exhaling it silently, a technique that Master Tiram had taught him that would allow him to wake up quicker. In seconds, he felt quite awake, although he could not suppress a yawn that escaped from his lips.

  “Did Jola say how she'll get us out?” Keo whispered.

  “No,” said Dlaine, shaking his head. “But I know she'll be here soon. Just gotta trust that she knows what she's doing.”

  Keo was not sure that he trusted this Jola, but on the other hand he did not know her well enough to distrust her, either. Dlaine certainly seemed to trust her, but Keo barely knew the mysterious Wanderer as it was, so he did not know if he trusted him, either.

  But then Dlaine held up a finger and said, “Shhh,” again, even though Keo had not said anything, and then Keo saw one of the strangest sights of his life: The key ring around the guard's belt carefully removed itself and then floated over to the door of their cell.

  Keo was not exaggerating. It was exactly what it appeared to be. The key ring floated through the air, like a leaf on a river, over to their cell, its keys clinking together quietly as it did so, until it stopped right in front of the door. Then the keys started to sort through themselves, as if they were trying to decide which one of them was supposed to be the key that would open the door.

  “Is this a dream?” said Keo, looking up at Dlaine. “You also see the floating keys, right?”

  Dlaine nodded, but he was smiling. “This isn't a dream, kid. That's Jola. She can turn invisible.”

  “So she's a Magician?” said Keo.

  “Of a sort,” said Dlaine. “Anyway, looks like she's found the key. Get up. We're heading out as soon as she opens the door and frees us from our shackles.”

  Keo scrambled to his feet as best as he could with the shackles around his wrists, while at the same time Jola inserted the correct key into the door and then opened it. The door to their cell creaked open rather loudly, but the guard did not yet wake up, although he did snort and mutter something about needing to oil some squeaky hinges.

  Then the key ring floated in, although Keo of course now understood that to be Jola walking in. Dlaine held up his shackled wrists, which Jola then unlocked with another key on the ring, and then Jola made her way over to Keo, whose shackles she also unlocked with a key. But both Dlaine and Keo were careful to lower their shackles to the floor of their cell very quietly so that the guard would not be awoken by the sound of metal shackles falling to the floor. After they did that, Dlaine led the way out of the cell, with Jola in between them (although it was hard to tell due to her invisibility, with the only clue hinting to her position being the key ring floating between Keo and Dlaine).

  They walked silently past the guard, who still seemed to be in a deep sleep. Even so, Keo thought that any moment now the guard was going to wake up, notice their escape, and sound the alarm, at which point every Enforcer in town would be after them and their great escape plan would be ruined. That was probably a paranoid thing to think, especially since the guard was clearly sleeping too deeply to even notice the large, hairy spider crawling along his arm, but Keo could not help but think it anyway—especially when Jola replaced the key ring in the guard's belt loop, which she did so expertly that she did not disturb the guard even slightly.

  After that, they made their way through the small town jail's dark hallway, Jola in the lead to scout ahead and make sure there was no other guards in the jail. Again, every moment Keo expected the guard they left behind to wake up and start chasing them as soon as he noticed their escape but, as before, all he heard behind him was the snores and grunts and mutterings of the sleeping guard. It made Keo question how these guards managed to keep any criminals in New Ora under control, but then he remembered that New Ora was a fairly peaceful town and that most of the criminals were not invisible Magicians (or whatever Jola was) who had broken out of the most secure prison in the country, and so stopped questioning their easy escape.

  Upon leaving the prison, Keo and Dlaine looked around. The town was dark, with only very few lights lit such as at the ramparts, which the gatekeepers were likely using to help them see any possible threats to the town. The light of the moon and stars in the sky above also illuminated New Ora, but they showed that the town's streets were totally deserted and the windows and doors on every house and building were closed shut. A scrawny-looking cat shot across the street, but it was the only living thing that seemed to be awake tonight besides Keo, Dlaine, and Jola.

  “Weird,” Dlaine muttered. “Why is everyone asleep?”

  Keo looked at Dlaine in confusion. “Why wouldn't everyone be asleep? It's night time. Normally even I would be asleep at this time.”

  “I grew up in a big city, so I'm used to the night being the time when everybody comes out to have fun,” said Dlaine. “But hey, this works out for us. The more people sleep, the less likely they will spot us and alert the guards to our escape.”

  “Right,” said Keo, nodding. He then suddenly patted his clothes. “Hold on. I need to get my sword.”

  Dlaine looked at Keo in annoyance. “Why? Can't you buy a new one in the next town?”

  “You don't understand,” said Keo. “My sword is a one-of-a-kind magical sword. I left it at the town gates because that's the law. But if I am going to escape, then I need to get my sword first.”

  Dlaine shook his head. “No way, kiddo. If we try to get your sword back from the gatekeepers, we risk being caught. Better to let Jola show us the way out. You can get another sword later.”

  “You still don't understand,” said Keo in annoyance. “My sword is a part of me. I don't know if you have ever owned a magical weapon before, but it is pretty clear to me that you have not. Otherwise, you would understand why I need to get my sword back.”

  Dlaine threw up his hands in exasperation. “Fine. Go and get your sword. Jola and I are going to leave and continue our journey to Capitika without you. Not even sure why I'm even wasting me time with you, considering how we aren't even friends.”

  “I guess this is where we go our separate ways, then,” said Keo.

  “I guess it is,” said Dlaine. He briefly saluted Keo, an odd good bye gesture that Keo had never seen before. “See ya later, kid. And try not to get caught again.”

  With that, Dlaine turned and ran into a nearby alley between two buildings. And, although Keo did not hear her, he figured that Jola had likely gone with Dlaine. That meant that he was now on his own again.

  Keo just shook his head
and then turned and went in the opposite direction. Of course, he had to walk silently and in the shadows of nearby buildings, but that was not difficult to do, because years of training in the Low Woods had taught him how to traverse along almost any surface silently. Even so, Keo felt a little bad about separating from Dlaine, because he would liked to have had a traveling companion for his journey to Capitika.

  But Dlaine had a point, Keo thought as he walked. We're not friends. Just a couple of guys who happened to work together to escape prison. I doubt I'll ever see him again.

  Thus, Keo made his way through the sleeping town of New Ora, his eyes on the light from the back gate where he had entered the town. Gildshine was still there—his connection with his sword allowed him to feel it—and he was going to do his best to get it back, no matter who was currently guarding it.

  -

  Upon reaching the guard tower, Keo approached it with caution. There was a fire burning inside the tower, which was visible through the hole in the door. He did not see whoever was guarding the gates tonight, but he doubted it was Kima, because Kima never took the night shift due to his old age. That was a fact that Keo had learned during one of his many trips to New Ora, because the older man had mentioned it to him for reasons that Keo could not recall.

  In any case, Keo approached the back door to the guard tower as carefully as he could and then peered through the hole. He immediately spotted the guard—a man in his thirties wearing a hodgepodge of various bits and pieces of armor from wherever he could find them, probably because the town of New Ora was too poor to give their guards proper equipment. The guard was sitting with his back to the door, his eyes focused on the darkness just outside the town. Like a good guard, he obviously expected New Ora's main threats to be external, which was good for Keo, because it meant that he did not expect someone from inside the town's walls to pose a threat to him.

  The only question now was how to take him out. Keo considered throwing open the door and charging in and tackling the guard to the floor before he could react, but rejected that idea, partly because it was bound to be too noisy and thus awake the people in the nearest houses and buildings, but also because there was no guarantee that Keo could knock out the guard before he sounded the alarm and woke the whole town up. The guard was even armed with an ancient green blade tied to his waist, which appeared to be one of the old blades from the time of King Riuno, which meant that if Keo did not knock him out quickly, then the guard would have a significant advantage over Keo in combat.

  I need to lure him out, Keo thought. Then, when he comes out to check on the noise, I'll take him out before he even knows what happened.

  So Keo bent over, picking up the heaviest stone off the street that he could find, and then, after securing it in his grasp, knocking rapidly and loudly on the door while saying, “Guard! Guard! Help! Someone is trying to harm me! Please save me!”

  It worked. Keo saw the guard stand up and turn around, but that was all Keo saw, because he then stepped outside of the guard's view. A second later, the door opened and the guard stepped out, saying, “Don't worry, citizen, I—”

  Keo immediately brought his heavy stone down on the guard's head. A sharp crack emitted from where the stone struck the guard's head and the guard immediately collapsed, although thankfully he appeared to be unconscious rather than dead.

  Tossing the rock aside, Keo entered the guard tower, which was rather warm due to the fire burning in the center, and then dragged the guard inside as quickly as he could. The guard was heavy, but Keo was a strong man and soon had the guard inside. He then closed the door and turned to look at the guard tower's interior, which he had never been inside before in his life.

  It was a fairly small space, with enough room for one person to sit comfortably in a wooden chair facing the open window that displayed the darkness just outside of the town's borders. The ceiling was high above Keo's head, but even so, he felt cramped in here anyway, like he had been put inside a tiny glass jar. It reminded Keo of why he liked the outdoors better than the indoors.

  But then Keo spotted a rack along the left wall where all of the weapons that travelers to the town had to give over to the gatekeepers were kept. On the rack were four weapons: An ax, a long knife that looked more like a carving knife than a dagger, a spear, and a sling plus a bag of rocks that hung with it.

  Where's Gildshine? Keo thought as he walked up to the rack to look at it more closely, in case he had somehow overlooked his sword. It should be here. Where is it?

  Unfortunately, even up close, Keo could not find his sword. He pushed aside the ax and the spear, but did not find Gildshine behind the other weapons either. That was curious indeed, because Keo had been quite sure that he had left his sword at this specific guard tower. Granted, he knew that sometimes weapons left at the guard towers would be transported from guard tower to guard tower if the traveler left from a different gate, but as Keo had been arrested, there was no reason for them to move Gildshine anywhere.

  Then again, I am technically a criminal, Keo thought. They must have some rule that states that any traveler arrested within New Ora's walls loses all rights to their possessions, including any weapons they bring with them into the town. That means that my sword is either back in the prison or—

  “Right here, young man,” said a scraggly, ancient, yet sinister-sounding voice behind him, causing Keo to whirl around to see who it was.

  Standing before Keo was an elderly man in black robes, pointing the tip of Gildshine's sword against Keo's throat. The elderly man had gray hair and a gray beard, making him look similar to Master Tiram, but he was scrawnier than Tiram and had far more vindictive eyes.

  “How did you know what I was thinking?” said Keo. “And who are you, anyway, old man?”

  The old man scowled. “Old man? Old man? I am not merely an 'old' man. I am your elder and I shall be referred to as such. But as for who I am, I am surprised that you do not recognize me. I am Skran, the Magician of New Ora, and I am making sure that a criminal like you does not get ahold of a dangerous magical weapon like this.”

  Skran gestured at Gildshine, which had not wavered in his hands. “Much too dangerous to be in the hands of a common crook. I should take it as my own, as I am the only person in this dumb town who knows how to use this weapon without killing myself.”

  “Hold on,” said Keo. “You are the Skran? Why are you here? I thought that your job was to rule New Ora, not to catch common criminals like myself.”

  “I have taken up the habit of prowling the streets at night, using the shadows to conceal myself, in order to make sure that the guards are doing their job,” said Skran. “I don't trust most of them, as the people of this town are simply incompetent, but the guards generally do an adequate job. That's how I noticed you escaped, because I saw you making your way here and so I followed you without you ever being the wiser.”

  “Then why didn't you call the other guards?” said Keo. “Why not have your Enforcers apprehend me?”

  “Do you think me a fool?” said Skran. “Of course I have summoned my Enforcers, but they are slow to rise at night even in an emergency like this. Still, they will be here and once they are, they will put you back where you belong, like the criminal you are.”

  Keo bit his lower lip. He had heard many stories about the power of Magicians like Skran. Some said that Magicians could make thunder clouds appear in the sky and lightning strike whatever target they pleased, while others said that Magicians understood the secrets of the universe. In any case, Keo did not know what kind of powers that Skran had exactly, as he had never met the Magician before and had never bothered to ask anyone else, but he knew that Skran could easily take him out no matter what Keo chose to do.

  But Keo could not simply go quietly back to jail with Skran. He had to get to Capitika. He had already wasted far too much time in New Ora as it was. If he could not get to Capitika and find Nesma before the demons rose again … well, he did not know exactly what would happen
, but he knew that it would not be any good. He would have to convince Skran to let him go, even though the Magician was probably not going to listen to him.

  “Magician, you must return my sword to me and let me go,” said Keo. “It is urgent that I leave for Capitika right away.”

  “Capitika?” said Skran. “Why do you want to go there? Hoping that maybe my superiors won't just ship you back here, to prison, where scum like you belong?”

  “That's not what I expect to happen at all,” said Keo, shaking his head. “You see, I have recently learned that the demons of old are rising again and will return to destroy Lamaira in six months. I have to go to Capitika to convince the Magical Council to ally with the other two factions in order to form a united kingdom against the demon menace.”

  Skran looked at Keo like he had completely lost his mind. “The demons? You mean the ones that the Good King was said to have banished ages ago, before the founding of Lamaira? Do you honestly think I am dumb enough to believe such a tall tale?”

  “But it is the truth,” said Keo. He pointed behind himself, in the general direction of the Low Woods. “Just last week, when I was traveling through the Low Woods, I killed a demon that attacked me. It told me all about how its brothers were going to rise again, which is why it is urgent for me to get to Capitika as quickly as I can.”

  “You truly are a foolish boy,” said Skran. “I can tell a lie when I hear it. The demons of old, if they even existed at all, are forever banished from Lamaira. It is impossible for them to return. The Good King made sure of it.”

  “I am not saying that the Good King did not do his best to banish them, but the fact is that the demons are rising again, whether you want them to or not,” said Keo. “I don't know why the Good King's seal is starting to weaken, but I do know that all of Lamaira needs to be united to stand against the demons.”

  “This is the most silly and inane story I have ever heard from a criminal attempting to convince me to let him go,” said Skran. “And that is saying something, as I was once told by a criminal that he needed to leave because he was in fact a guardian spirit taking physical form and that he needed to be let free so he could bring gifts to all the good little boys and girls around the country. How stupid.”

  “But this is the truth,” said Keo. “Ask the townspeople if I've ever lied to them. They know I'm honest.”

  “The townspeople have told me that they don't know you very well at all,” Skran pointed out. “You come in, buy things, and leave, often without speaking to anyone. I doubt anyone in New Ora could confirm your wild story to me.”

  “Then ask my mentor, Master Tiram,” said Keo, pointing toward the open window of the guard tower. “He knows that I speak the truth. He can back up my every word.”

  “You mean the crazy old hermit who lives by himself in the Low Woods?” said Skran. “Who raised you from infancy, if I am not mistaken? Yes, he will most certainly be an objective witness to your story. Of that, I have no doubt.”

  The sarcasm in Skran's voice was so palpable that Keo could practically see it. Still, Keo knew better than to let his anger get the best of him, because Magicians like Skran were known for their skillful manipulation of the emotions of others. Even so, when Keo spoke, his voice was tight, because he had a great difficulty in keeping his temper cool in the face of this willful obstinacy.

  “Listen, Magician, I am not lying,” said Keo. He nodded at Gildshine, which Skran still held up to his neck. “Can't you feel all of the enemies that Gildshine has vanquished? I know that Magicians have a different relationship with magical weapons than we non-Magicians do. So can't you feel that Gildshine has vanquished a demon?”

  Skran shook his head. “Naive boy, that sort of magic requires specialized skill on the part of the Magician in question. I have never bothered to learn the art of speaking to weapons, as it has always seemed more like a neat parlor trick than a useful application of my immense power. Besides, I bet you tricked it somehow, as you seem like the kind of person to do that.”

  “How could I, a non-Magician, trick a magical sword into believing that it had slain a demon?” said Keo.

  “I don't know,” said Skran. “But I do know that I have seen far stranger things in my long life. Anyway, I am done talking with you. Lower your hands and allow me to shackle you so I can return you to where you belong without trouble.”

  Keo was tempted not to, because he knew that he needed to leave more than anything. Yet as far as he could tell, there was no way that he could fight Skran and get control of his sword back from the Magician. Skran may have been a frail, old man in appearance, but Magicians often controlled powers that dwarfed mere physical strength, so Keo doubted he could beat Skran even if Skran hadn't had him immobilized with his own sword.

  So Keo lowered his hands and said, “All right, Magician Skran, you win.”

  Skran smirked. “I guess there is a brain in that thick skull of yours after all. Now, why don't we—”

  Without warning, the flames from the burning torch reached out and slashed at Skran's hand. The Magician cried out in pain and surprise, dropping Gildshine to the floor as he staggered backwards, clutching his now-burnt hand. This sudden turn of events almost caught Keo off guard, but he knew an opportunity for success when he saw it, so Keo charged forward at Skran.

  Skran looked up just in time to get punched in the face by Keo. Skran's face felt soft and fragile under Keo's fist as the Magician collapsed onto the floor on top of the guard who was still unconscious, but Keo did not let his guard down just yet. He picked up Gildshine and pointed it at Skran, but when the Magician did not get back up, Keo knew that he was out for the count.

  Keo suddenly realized that he had no idea why the fire had attacked Skran. He looked at the burning flame, which had returned to its original size, but saw no hints to indicate what had caused it to increase in size the way it did. He almost wondered if he had imagined it before he heard a voice outside of the guard tower window say, “Hey, kid, over here.”

  Keo looked toward the guard tower window and saw Dlaine's familiar aged face in the light of the flame. He was leaning on the window's sill, an urgent look on his face as he gestured for Keo to come over.

  “Dlaine?” said Keo, turning to face the Wanderer, although he wasn't sure if he was happy or annoyed to see him. “What are you doing here? I thought you had left town already.”

  “Jola convinced me that we should help you,” said Dlaine. “She also made that fire burn Skran. But it doesn't matter why I'm here. Just come on and go. The Enforcers are on their way and Jola has done all she can to delay their arrival. We need to leave now.”

  Keo frowned and glanced over his shoulder at the door to the guard tower. “But what about buying supplies for the trip?”

  “We'll survive,” said Dlaine. “Now come on. Don't you have to be at Capitika or is that demon invasion you mentioned to Skran not actually going to happen in six months?”

  Keo's eyes widened. “You heard me mention that?”

  “Yeah, and I have a lot of questions about it, but for now we need to get gone,” said Dlaine, nodding his head away from the town. “You got your sword, and Jola stole the rest of our supplies from the prison, so we have no time to lose.”

  Although he was thankful that Dlaine had saved him, Keo still was not sure he trusted the Wanderer and his strange, invisible friend entirely.

  But when Keo realized that it was either escape with Dlaine and Jola or wait until the Enforcers arrived and dragged him back to jail, Keo dashed over to the window and crawled out as quickly as he could. Once his feet touched the ground, he and Dlaine ran into the darkness away from New Ora as fast as they could, with Keo hoping that the Enforcers would be too frightened by the darkness of the night to chase Dlaine and him.

  ***