This immediately got Gondrial’s attention.
“What are ye fools talking about now?” The burly man asked.
“Tell him, Sven.”
Gondrial turned to face the blond mountain man named Sven.
“We were ridin’ to town, and I saw this dark-cloaked man hunched over something in the field next to a bunch of trees. At first, I didn’t think much about it but as I watched it turned to me, and the hair stood up on the back of me neck! The thing had red eyes and a gaping maw; blood was trickling down from its sharp teeth. I looked a little closer, and I saw the green cloak of a traveler.”
“Aye,” the second man said, “Sven thought it might be eatin’ someone from the road.”
“Well, we saw that and picked up the pace from there. I tried not to look back but my fear got the best of me, and I turned to look at the road, and the thing was few paces behind us on the road but was facing away from us. It stretched out its wings, let out a screech, and climbed into the air.” Sven said.
“Which way was it flying?” Gondrial asked.
“Excuse me?”
“Sorry, I think I might have seen it too,” Gondrial said.
“Oh, it was flying back toward the mountains.”
“I’ll be damned; the stupid thing turned back.” He clenched his fists in frustration, “It doubled back!”
“You saw it too?” The unnamed man asked.
“Yes, all too close. It’s heading back for Shey.” The men looked confused. Gondrial tossed a coin onto their table, “Here, have a round of drinks on me.” He said.
“Hey, I know ye were a good fella.” The burly man said, but Gondrial could only think about getting back to Shey. He smiled at the men and put down more coin for his meal and drink. He was heading for the door when the two Enforcers he had been running from, entered. He quickly ducked back toward the bar. “Damn it!” He muttered.
The arrival of the Enforcers quieted the room. They looked around for a moment and then went to sit at a nearby table. It wasn’t long before Gondrial felt the familiar swell of someone gathering essence. At first, he thought he might have been drawing it himself, but he quickly realized it wasn’t coming from him. He looked at the Enforcers. They both had stunned expressions and were looking right at him. He felt the essence from behind, and he turned to see the bar maiden frozen in fear. She was only a step or two away from him.
“Stop it!” He whispered urgently. You are drawing in magic. They can sense you do it!”
“I can’t help it. I do it when I get nervous.”
“Control it!”
“I can’t.”
Gondrial peered at the Enforcers. They were getting up and still looking in his direction. Gondrial sighed, “Stay behind me. They are coming over here for you.”
“Everyone stay where you are.” The first Enforcer said. “We are here on Enforcer business. Stay out of our way, and no one will get hurt.”
“No one try to be the hero here.” The second one said, “This will be over, and we will get out of your inn peacefully. “
“Well, that’s not going to work for me,” Gondrial said. “In fact, I have a real problem with it.”
“Sir, stay where you are.” The first Enforcer stated.
“You don’t recognize me?” Gondrial asked.
They examined his face, “No, should we?”
Gondrial grinned, “Thick as you can be, I see.”
“Sir!”
“I have been running from you for a while. You tried to catch me in Seabrey a time back. You guys are so easy to evade. It’s embarrassing.”
The pair looked at each other perplexed then they moved forward, “Step aside, fool. We need to take the girl.”
Gondrial scratched his head nonchalantly, “You see. I can’t let you do that.” He stood defiant.
“No, sit down, friend.” Sven pleaded. “You don’t want to get mixed up with their sort.”
“Aye, friend. Sit back down.” The Enforcer said.
Gondrial tossed the wooden chair he had been sitting on into the air, and it froze in place. Ribbons of purple and gold sparkles began to play around it, and the chair broke into several pieces, which hung ominously in the air pointed close to the Enforcer’s heads. He winked at Sven, “Wizard battle. I suggest you run.” Sven got up from the table knocking over his chair quickly followed by his friends. “Wait!” Gondrial motioned with his head, “Take the girl to safety, and keep in mind that if you fail, I will hunt you down.”
The burly man nodded and took the girl by the arm to lead her toward the back.
“Wait, come back here.” One of the Enforcers commanded.
“Go! Like I said.” Gondrial let the essence ribbons flow around the pieces of the chair keeping the Enforcers at bay. “You will not take her.”
“You give yourself away to protect a novice?”
“Aye, why do you want her so badly? I am here obviously not a novice, but you are interested in her?”
“What is it to you? She is no one to you.” The first Enforcer said.
“I just think men like you should go after wizards your own size.” He felt the Enforcers drawing in essence. “Hey, I don’t suppose you both will just forget about all this and leave the way you came?”
The first Enforcer shook his head, “I am afraid not. You say you’re a wielder we have been following?”
“Did I say that?”
“I don’t remember chasing you in Seabrey.” The second said.
“I thought you saw...oh, I see. You didn’t get a good look at me. I haven’t used any essence up until now and no offense, but you both seemed pretty dumb?”
“Go ahead and keep insulting us. It just makes this easier. Surrender yourself. Let the chair fall and dissipate your essence ribbons.”
“Nope, can’t do that. I have somewhere I need to be.”
Gondrial didn’t see the Enforcer sympathizer behind him with the bottle until it was too late. The glass shattered in a streak of pain across the top of his head. There was some liquid flowing down his face, and some dizziness, a thought or two about it being a shame someone was wasting good corn mash, and then the chair crashed to the floor. He got a brief look at his assailant on his way down just before everything went dark. It was the burly man.
GONDRIAL AWOKE WITH a crushing headache. He tried to draw in essence even though it was even more painful on his already throbbing head, none came. He looked at his wrists and clicked the irons around them. They were Enforcer irons, essence suppressors. He couldn’t draw in enough to cast. I wish I had Shey’s dragon magic at times like these. He thought. Once his head cleared a little more, he thought of the girl and what that scoundrel might have done to her. Well, he warned the man. If anything happened to the girl, he would hunt them down, and he meant it! He forced himself up. He was in a wooden cell with stale straw strewn about the floor. There were bars on the window and flat iron bars on the cell door. He examined the iron squares to see how well the cross irons were affixed to the vertical bars. A few were weak.
“Well, it’s a good thing I have had a lot to drink.” He said before removing his tunic to take off his soft cloth undershirt. “Stupid Enforcers, this isn’t my first jail.” He put the shirt on the floor and began to urinate on it. Once it was soaked, he wrapped it around the bars and began twisting it. The flexible cloth pulled the bars together breaking the studs holding the crossbars to the vertical. “By the gods, I swear I will take that burly fellow’s head off for making me have to do this!” He said as liquid ran down his arms. He moved the shirt to the next square and then the next until he had broken most of the bars apart far enough to crawl through them. He sneaked to the front area of the cells. The village was small enough that there was no guard on duty. He did notice brazier and stove were lit; a pot of bittering tea was set on it to boil. “Ah, they just stepped out for a moment,” He said. He took the shirt and laid it across the top of the pot letting the edges of it fall on the hot surface.
; “There, a small token of my contempt for jail cells.” He said as the stench from the steam coming from the shirt had begun to fill the room. Gondrial slipped out the door and to the back of the building. He stopped briefly to put his tunic back on and then headed for the nearest blacksmith. As it happened, he knew the blacksmith’s apprentice, a big, young man with no love for the Enforcers or the warden. His friend would be able to remove the Enforcer’s shackles, and as soon as Gondrial was free, he would track the girl. He hoped the betraying scoundrel would still be around when he caught up to her.
Chapter 13: Lurker in the Shadows
Gondrial left the blacksmith’s shop with a new undershirt, sore wrists, and three gold pieces lighter in the purse. He was determined to take that gold out of the burly man’s hide if he was still with the girl. He didn’t wait around long enough for the Enforcers to look for him. He knew the blacksmith shop would probably be one of the first places they would look for him, so he hung the broken shackles on a hook near the front entrance. It served Henrick right for charging him three gold! He traipsed sufficiently into the nearby woods before he attempted to gingerly draw the essence need to see where the girl had gone. If he were subtle enough, the Enforcers would be unable to detect him from the natural vibrations of the essence of all things. It was when folks tried to draw in large amounts that the Enforcers were alerted. He concentrated in order not to draw in too much, and then he released the essence with the words find her. Essence magic could be a tricky thing but at low levels, but he was pleasantly surprised when he saw a slightly luminous trail snake out before him.
Thick rainclouds blew in from the west as Gondrial moved stealthily through the twisting back streets of Cedar Falls. Not only would the Enforcers be looking for him soon for escaping their capture, but now he had to hurry to stay ahead of the deluge of rain that was sure to come when the clouds unleashed their heavy burden. The essence trail led him outside of town toward the east, the exact direction he wanted to go. Once he knew if the girl was safe, he would rush east to pursue the creature flying toward Lady Shey. But, of the two, he thought Shey and Sylvalora stood the better chance of fighting off the Drasmyd Duil than the girl did fighting off the Enforcers and the burly man. He wasn’t far out of town when he spotted the Enforcers returning to Cedar Falls. Gondrial let the essence trail drop as they neared. He found a spot in the brush where he would be difficult to spot, and he laid low as the two men passed.
“It has been a most productive day.” The first Enforcer was saying.
“Indeed, we got the girl and the idiot who thought he could protect her.”
“It was a capital idea to separate the two. The fool in the cells would have done something rash if he thought the girl was close by.”
You are not wrong, Gondrial mused to himself.
“Come, those skies are looking like rain, and we have a brisk walk still ahead.” The first Enforcer said as they picked up the pace.
Gondrial waited for them to get sufficiently down the road before he left his hiding place and headed up the road. He speculated from the Enforcer’s conversation that the girl must be in the custody of the burly man, and perhaps his friends, ahead somewhere. He let his essence trail return, and it snaked out in front of him again, this time a bit stronger than before. They were not far down the road. He doubled back and made his way back to town, careful not to run into the Enforcers or the town’s warden. At the Eagle and the Hare, he retrieved his horse and saddle and paid the stablemaster, who told him about some commotion going on over at the warden’s office. Gondrial smiled and acted surprised at the news.
The stablemaster gave him his change and stared at him for a moment as Gondrial mounted his horse, “Say, what are you in such a hurry for anyway?”
Gondrial reigned his horse, “I’m probably the trouble you’re talking about.” He smiled and tipped his finger to his forehead as he spurred the horse onward. If the stablemaster had anything to say Gondrial didn’t hear it. He rode the backstreets to get out of town and then increased his pace once he was clear of prying eyes. He galloped down the road east. He hoped that the men who had the girl would be in no big hurry. In the back of his mind, he wondered what the Enforcers were doing to pursue him, which he was sure they would do, but he let the thought die. He had been in much worse situations, and he had always been able to get on with his life. Having a friend in high places, like Lady Shey, did have its advantages.
When Gondrial spotted the horse and rider up ahead, he was surprised that the burly man was the only Enforcer with the girl. Then, his elven sight detected movement in the tree line. Two others were traveling along with them.
Gondrial rode off to the side and got off his horse. “Horse,” He said. “I’m not going to tie you up. Can you be ready for me if I whistle for you?”
The horse neighed as if it understood him.
“Good boy,” Gondrial said patting the horse’s nose. He left the horse and bounded along the trees on the opposite side of the road from where the other traveled. As he neared the horse and riders, he realized the guards on the side were crisscrossing the road ahead and behind, hiding in case someone like Gondrial were to try and sneak up on them. He wasn’t sure how to approach the situation. All three men looked pretty tough, and surely at least one of them could detect essence if he tried to use magic. If only he could find a way to get a message to the girl. He was psyching himself up to jump at one of the flanking men when the burly man on the horse suddenly stopped.
“What’s that up ahead gents?” The burly man pointed ahead.
Gondrial craned his neck trying to get a better look.
“It looks like an overturned wagon.” One of the flanking men said.
“Be cautious; it’s most likely a trap.” The second flanking man said.
Gondrial stayed back and followed the men as they approached the accident. From what Gondrial could see, it was an overturned wagon. Personal effects were scattered out all around it, and the visible front wheel was broken in half.
“The front wheel is shattered.” One of the men called back. “I think it made the thing overturn.”
“Where are the horses?” The burly man said looking around. Gondrial ducked when he looked his way.
“No horses,” the first man said. “They must have run off.”
“Any people?”
The first man rummaged through the debris, “By the gods, aye, a boy here!”
Gondrial saw his opportunity. He could pretend he was the wagon driver. He prepared himself and then stepped out of the shadows just inside to hear the girl screaming. His eyes fell on the first Enforcer to see the man’s face as it contorted under pain of his arm being ripped from its socket. The second man reacted swiftly and rushed to the first man’s aid. A swooshing sound over Gondrial’s head made him drive for cover in the brush. He spun and recovered in time to see several winged creatures, much smaller than the Drasmyd Duil, fly over toward the men.
“Dramyds!” The burly man shouted, “Look out!” But it was too late; the creatures attacked the man with vicious ferocity. The man with the girl spurred his horse and tried to ride off, but that just attracted the monsters. The horse lost its footing and fell. The burly man came back up with a sword in hand, and the girl rolled to the side, still handcuffed. Gondrial stepped out of his hiding place and let the essence flow through him. The man immediately turned to him when he felt the essence and his face melted from terror into relief, which Gondrial found ironic. The man began to swing at the nearby Dramyds with his sword slicing through some of them.
Lightning streaked across the sky, illuminating there were more of the creatures flying above than Gondrial had believed. He released the essence, and the lightning above responded to him by striking down on the Dramyds closer to the ground, electrocuting many of them with one well-placed strike. Small streaks of lightning danced over Gondrial’s fingers. He raised his hands into the air and pointed at the Dramyds circling above as they entered into a dive toward h
im. He released his magic and lightning came from both his fingers and the skies above. Several monstrous bodies thudded as they fell to the ground in little black heaps. He rushed to the man, who was standing protectively with the girl at his back, “Attack them! You are in Enforcer; you have magic too.”
“I...I can’t. I have never used my magic like that.”
“Stupid Enforcers, all you know is suppression, hypocrisy, and hate!” he sent another bolt of lightning to a charging Dramyd as the rain began to fall in sheets. “At least use that sword!” I can’t believe I was afraid to attack these cowards, Gondrial thought.
The man nodded and moved forward. He lifted the blade as his head came off and rolled to Gondrial’s feet. The original Drasmyd Duil stood where the man’s body fell. It lurched at Gondrial next, but he evaded it and rolled next to the girl. He reached out quickly and picked up the burly man’s big sword. Hold out your hands. The girl held out her chained hands out. He stood upright, The Drasmyd Duil charged again, and Gondrial sent another bolt of lightning at it, knocking it back. Stay very still. He released his magic through the sword, and he swung it over his head and then down, slicing through the chain in the middle of the shackles. Once the cuffs were separated, they both opened and fell away from her hands. She rubbed her wrists.
“Can you wield?”
“What?”
“Can you use magic.”
“Some.” She said.
“Good, get ready then!” He pointed up to the sky as a bolt of lightning exposed more of the creatures coming for them.
“Um, sir?”
“What is it?” Gondrial said moving toward the girl. There were now two of her.
“I think this one is trying to trick you.” One girl said.
“No, she is.” Said the other.
“We don’t have time for this!” Gondrial said.
“I can give you the sight.” One girl said. Gondrial felt something that felt like a worm crawling through his forehead. He almost dropped the sword. He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, one girl looked like herself, and the other was hideous, like a mixture of a Drasmyd Duil and the girl. He swung his sword and caught the creature by surprise. His blade severed its head. He nodded at the girl, “There’s more coming.”
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