Xander walked over to the woman’s cell, placed his weapons on the floor, and pulled out the keychain. It only took a moment to find the same key that had unlocked his cell. He put the key in the second lock and turned it counterclockwise. Fortuna was with him again as he heard the familiar click of the lock coming undone. He pulled the cell door open at the same time the woman leapt out into the hall. Xander offered the woman his dagger hilt first.
The woman eyed him suspiciously for a moment before accepting the dagger. “Why didn’t you kill the second guard?”
“Because I think we may need him alive in order to get out of here.” Xander handed the woman the keychain with the six keys on it.
The woman stared at him again and finally nodded. “My name is Fortica.”
Xander nodded his head and said, “Ah, when you became a priestess you changed your name to align yourself with Fortuna.”
“Exactly. Why didn’t you?”
Rather than answer, Xander said, “Let’s get out of here, Fortica.”
He did not even wait for a reply as he moved over and knelt next to the second guard.
Xander said, “Why don’t you see if there’s a way out at the end of that hallway while I search these bodies for anything else of interest.”
Xander could tell that she was not happy taking orders from him, but she clearly understood the gravity of the situation. Fortica walked quickly down the hallway and passed into the shadows. Xander searched the two guards and only succeeded in finding a few more weapons, which he removed, and a second set of six keys that he found on the guard who was still alive.
Fortica came walking back quickly and said, “There are two steel doors at that end, but they are both locked. None of the keys we have opened them.”
“I found another keychain on this guard, but I’ll bet they are the same set of keys.”
Fortica got a smug look on her face and said, “A bet. For how much?”
“Very funny. Let’s try the other end and see if we have better luck.”
Xander kept his sword out as he dragged the guard down the hallway.
Fortica reached the end of the hallway long before Xander did and said, “There are two steel doors down here as well. And …” Xander heard a clang, clang as she checked each door in turn. “… And they are both locked.”
Xander dragged the guard the rest of the way down the hallway and dumped him up against the wall. He looked at each door in turn and said, “The one straight ahead is the way out.”
Fortica looked at each of the doors again before saying, “What in the seven hells makes you say that? They both look the same to me.”
“The one straight ahead has a combination lock on the left wall. Look. There are five levers, and I bet each lever can be placed in several different positions.”
“You bet,” said Fortica. “What do you bet?”
Xander paused in thought. “I’ll bet a date with you …”
“Against a hundred gold piece donation to the church.”
Xander nodded. He moved forward and checked one of the five levers. He tested it and discovered each of the five levers had four settings. He looked back at Fortica and winked.
Fortica said, “It doesn’t matter. With five levers and four settings for each lever, there’s 1,024 different combinations.”
Xander was impressed with her math skills and smiled back confidently. “That’s why we left him alive,” pointing at the guard up against the wall.
Fortica went over and tied up the guard’s hands with her own belt. When his hands were good and bound, Xander leaned him against the wall so that he was sitting up. He then knelt down in front of the guard and happily slapped him across the face. The guard did not come to, so Xander slapped him again. Finally, the guard began to stir. Xander slapped him again to speed up the process and then stepped back. The guard came fully awake and shuddered in surprise against his restraint.
The first thing Xander said was, “If you scream, I will kill you.”
The guard looked at them with wide eyes and said, “What in the seven hells is going on here?”
Fortica said, “Hey, that’s my line.”
Xander said, “We’re escaping. Isn’t it obvious? Hasn’t this ever happened here before?”
The guard looked proud for a moment. “Never.”
Xander said, “What’s your name?”
“Patrick.”
“Well, Patrick, I don’t have time to torture you for the answers I need, so I’m just going to flip this coin instead.” The guard looked at him like he was insane. “You see, we are both priests of Fortuna.” Patrick’s eyebrows shot up. “Ah, I see you have at least heard of our goddess. Perhaps you have even prayed to her on occasion for good fortune. As priests, we believe Fortuna should make all of our major decisions. We let her will be known by flipping a coin and letting her hand guide it in the air.”
“It doesn’t matter what I tell you now; the Guild will kill me for this failure.”
“Not necessarily. If you answer my questions truthfully, then we will leave you outside the prison, with your hands bound, and you can run where you will.”
Patrick raised his voice. “Again, it doesn’t matter. The Guild will find me no matter where I go; you know that.”
“Maybe, maybe not. We managed to escape from this prison when no one ever has before. I eluded the Guild for half a year while carrying one of their most precious artifacts. Maybe you could avoid the Guild with the same success?”
“I’ll never help you. And besides, you haven’t escaped yet.”
“True, but you have to admit that the odds are looking better. If you don’t answer my questions, you will die right here. If you do help us, at least you have a chance.”
Fortica said, “Perhaps he needs a demonstration.”
“What a great idea.” Xander felt in his pockets for his coin. “Unfortunately, they took my coin. Do you have some sort of coin we can use?”
“I don’t have a coin of Fortuna, but I did manage to find this copper coin of Kentar that I have been using instead.”
Xander looked at the coin and said, “Excellent. Patrick, as a demonstration, I’m going to flip this coin and if it lands on the castle of Jewlian, you live – but if it lands on the side with the Sorcerers Academy on it, then I will just kill you here and now. Sound good?”
Xander didn’t wait for an answer as he flipped the copper coin in the air. Patrick looked like he was about to wet himself as the coin tumbled through the air. Xander caught the coin in his palm, with the faded picture of Jewlian Castle showing.
He slapped Patrick on the back and said, “There, you see, you lived that time.”
Patrick visibly relaxed. Xander said, “We’re going to start with an easy one.” Patrick looked on with interest. “Where are my weapons and other worldly possessions?”
Patrick looked rattled as he said, “I … I … I don’t know. They took your weapons before I came on duty.”
Xander looked him in the eye and shook his head. “I just don’t think you’re telling the truth. Fortica, do you think he’s telling the truth?”
“No.”
“Then flip the coin again, woman.”
Xander tossed her the coin and she immediately flipped it in the air. Patrick whimpered loudly as the coin flipped through the air and came back down in Fortica’s hand.
Xander held the point of his sword against Patrick’s chest and said, “So what does it say?”
“It says he lives.”
Xander said, “Wow, I’m impressed. Fortuna must really want you alive. I’m surprised, because this isn’t one of her coins, so I don’t know how much control she can exact over your fate. But since the coin said you live, that just means we start over again.” He bent over so that he was eye to eye with Patrick. “Where are my weapons and other worldly goods?”
“I … I … I don’t know. I swear it.”
“Fortica, would you flip the coin again?”
Before Fortica could flip the coin, Patrick immediately spoke up. “No, don’t. Your weapons are in the closet over there.”
Xander walked over to the closet Patrick indicated, opened the door, and sure enough, there were his things. Xander quickly threw down the cheap sword he had been using and buckled his rapier around his waist. He grabbed everything else out of the closet, not wanting to waste time putting them on, and walked back over to Patrick.
He slapped the guard on the back and said, “That a boy, Patrick. Now here comes the hard question. And remember that if you help us we will take you out of the prison with us.” Patrick shook his head in despair, already knowing he was a dead man. Xander asked, “What is the lever combination to open the prison door?”
Patrick shook his head in defeat and said, “All of them down except the third one to the top and the fifth one, one notch up from the bottom.”
Xander did as he was instructed and heard a satisfying click inside the wall. The secret entrance to the Talon Guild’s most secret prison popped open less than a foot. Xander grabbed the door and opened it the rest of the way.
He turned to Patrick and said, “Normally, I would just kill you now even though you helped us, but I’m trying to be a little better these days.” He grabbed Patrick by the arm and yanked him to his feet. “So hurry up and try not to annoy me, or I’ll run you through anyway.”
Xander looked at Fortica, who was smiling from ear to ear. “Oh, shut up, would you?”
Fortica said, “Just think, we’re one step closer to having that date.”
Xander shook his head playfully and shoved Patrick out the door. Just then, Xander heard the heavy steel door at the far end of the hallway open, followed by multiple boots on the stone floor of the prison.
Xander looked at Fortica and said, “The guards are coming.” Fortica just nodded her head. Xander said, “You go first and watch out for Patrick. I’ll go next and lock the door behind me.”
Fortica nodded again, took a torch off the wall, and headed for the opening. Thankfully, the sound of the boots stopped halfway down the hallway. Xander guessed that they had made it to the open cells and the dead guard. Xander reset the combination levers for the door, grabbed a second torch, and hurried out the front gate.
He was stunned at the absurdity of what he saw as he left the prison. Ice. Everywhere he looked, he saw ice. He could see Fortica up ahead with Patrick. They were both down on all fours, crawling through a small crack in the ice sheet.
Xander paused in stunned silence for a moment until he remembered the guards would be coming for him soon. With any luck, the guards would get to the prison entrance and not realize what had happened right away. With the combination reset and the prison door shut, he hoped he would have enough time to make good his escape.
He quickly caught up with Fortica and Patrick as they made it through the crack in the ice and were finally able to stand. Oddly enough, they found themselves surrounded by even more ice. There was a corridor leading in both directions with ice towering six to ten feet over their heads.
Fortica said, “We seem to be in an icehouse.”
Xander held his sword up to Patrick’s chest and said, “Which way to get out of here?”
Patrick’s hands were still tied behind his back, so he nodded his head to the left and said, “That way.”
Xander kept the sword pointed at him and said, “Fine. You lead the way. Just remember that if you say anything or slow me down, you are a dead man.”
Patrick nodded and headed off to the left at a brisk pace. Xander followed the guard with Fortica pulling up the rear. Patrick reached the end of the ice corridor and took a right. He moved to a staircase on his left that was at least ten feet wide and began to quickly ascend. Xander and Fortica were right behind him.
There was an ordinary wooden door at the top of the stairs that Patrick stopped in front of and said, “The owner of the icehouse may be beyond this door depending on the time of day.”
“Fine. Then you go first and try to come up with a convincing lie, otherwise someone is going to die.”
Patrick stood by the door for a moment and gathered his thoughts. He said, “It will look more convincing if you untie my hands.”
“No. You’re just going to have to make do.”
Patrick looked defeated again. “Then can you at least open the door for me?”
Xander moved up to the front and said, “That, I can do.” He opened the door enough for Patrick to pass through and motioned with his arm as if to say, After you.
Patrick walked through the opening with Xander right behind. Xander scanned the room quickly and was relieved to find it empty. Looking out the storehouse window, he could see that it was dusk outside. The icehouse was closed for the evening. Fortica closed the door behind them and Xander moved past Patrick to unlock the front door to the store. The door opened easily enough, and the three of them emerged onto the streets of Locus as the last light of day faded away. Fortica again shut the door behind them, while Xander moved Patrick to the other side of the street and down the nearest alley. There were a few people on the street this time of the day, but not many, and there was no one in the alleyway.
Fortica ran across the street and into the alley with a huge smile on her face. Even with the hurry they were in, Xander stopped for a moment to look at her beauty. It wasn’t that Fortica was so physically attractive that Xander couldn’t look away. No, there was something more, something intangible. They belonged to the same faith, and she had a quality about her that was easily seen but difficult to explain.
As she ran up, Xander said, “Well done.”
“You too.”
Xander turned to Patrick and said, “This is where we part ways. You head off to the east and I hope we never see each other again.”
Patrick turned partially around so that Xander could see his bound hands and said, “Now can you untie me?”
“No that wasn’t part of the arrangement. You should be praying to Fortuna that I still don’t kill you.”
Patrick looked ready to say something else when the door to the icehouse flung open and no less than twenty men with swords came out into the street. Xander grabbed Fortica’s hand and ran down the alleyway deeper into the shadows. To his astonishment, Patrick did not yell out for his comrades across the street. The ex-guard moved behind a rain barrel and kept his tongue. Xander had underestimated him all along. Apparently, he was smart enough to realize that if he rejoined the Guild he would be executed shortly thereafter for his failure. As Xander ran from alley to alley with Fortica’s hand in his own and the distance between them and the Guild prison increased, Xander began to relax ever so slightly and think about what had just happened. He had escaped from the Talon Guild’s maximum-security prison in less than a day. Xander knew he had a rather large ego, but this feat seemed impressive even to him.
Unfortunately, the Guild had retaken the gem with the wizard in it, but that was a small price to pay for his freedom and the life of his High Priest.
______________________________________
Mestel sat in one of the Basilica of Fortuna conference rooms with the rest of his companions and several priests of Fortuna, including High Priest Fortiac himself. It felt wrong staying in another god’s temple for so long, but they would be leaving soon enough. All of the companions and a few of the monks had searched long and hard for Xander, without success. Mestel and Ellen must have covered at least half the city all by themselves, to say nothing of the efforts put forth by Evisar, Valihorn, and the monks of Fortuna. Even though the Basilica had been decimated by the vampire attack, the monks had more than gone out of their way to aid in the search for one of their own. After all, Xander had saved the High Priest’s life.
The searching had come to nothing. All of them had scoured the city of Locus without any effect. No one in the city had seen or heard a thing. They all knew Xander had been taken by vampires, so Mestel had tried to focus on where he thought a vampire might keep his lair
. He was an experienced tracker, to be sure, but he didn’t find a single mark or a clue. It seemed that in addition to the vampires’ other undead talents, they also did not leave any tracks. Mestel investigated all around the room Xander had fought in, and all around the window the vampires had taken him out of, but there was not a single track to be found. None. And as good a tracker as Mestel was, his quarry needed to leave some sort of indentation for him to follow.
Nor had Mestel’s god offered any help in his quest to find Xander. Martel had remained silent the last several days, making Mestel wonder if he was still on the right path. It seemed to him that freeing Xander from his wrongful imprisonment was in keeping with his god’s mission, but perhaps he was wrong. He was doing his best as the chosen of Martel, but it was a difficult path to follow.
Mestel looked across the table at his brother and said, “We should have done more. We shouldn’t be sitting here now.”
Evisar said, “We searched for the entire day. We had to come in when it got pitch dark outside.”
Mestel knew that wasn’t true. Especially since Martel had given him the gift of night vision during his first battle with a Krone. He had been able to see during the night ever since that fateful day, just as easily as ordinary mortals can see during the day. Suddenly Mestel couldn’t take it anymore. He jumped to his feet and started walking toward the door.
Do the Gods Give Us Hope? Page 23
