Shifting Planes- The Complete Box Set

by Jeff Sabean

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  Being ushered directly to the throne room again, Di’eslo was forced to remove his hood as soon as he stepped into the building. The guards surrounding the companions did not attempt to hide the hateful stares as the shadow elf passed, his head held high.

  At the double doors to the throne room, the group was stopped abruptly.

  “You may not enter the presence of the queen while armed,” the guard said, giving an apologetic glance to Gabrielle then turning a hateful stare toward Di’eslo.

  “This is outrageous...” Gabrielle began, then stopped suddenly when the shadow elf placed a hand on her arm.

  “It was expected, lady,” Di’eslo stated as he handed his flail and shield to the guard.

  “The humans as well,” the guard stated, not turning his eyes from Di’eslo.

  “They were admitted yesterday with all their possessions,” Gabrielle began again, and was stopped once more, this time by Heishi.

  “We have no reason to be armed,” Heishi replied, handing over his sword, dagger, and the sheath with the three throwing daggers from his arm.

  “Your bags as well,” the guard stated flatly as Tiane handed his kamas to the guard closest to him.

  “Fair enough, good guard,” Heishi said with a smile, “Whatever it takes to make everyone more comfortable with our presence.”

  Once disarmed, the four were admitted to the throne room, feeling like they were making a final walk to an execution chamber as they approached the throne. Heishi noticed as they walked between the pillars that the room was much brighter than it was the previous evening, and that no shadows were anywhere in sight. While not unexpected, his instincts put him on edge as they closed the distance with the ruler of the city.

  Queen Linnie was seated calmly on her throne, wearing a scarlet dress with silver patterns embroidered in the fabric. She smiled at her sister, then turned a hard look toward the shadow elf.

  “I am to understand you saved the life of my only sister. For that I am grateful. Do you think that a single act of kindness will forgive a lifetime of evil?” the queen asked, her tone of voice leaving no room for debate.

  “Your highness, I...” Di’eslo began and was immediately silenced as a guard punched him in the mouth, dropping him to his knees in front of the throne.

  “SILENCE!” the queen all but screamed. “You have not earned the right to speak in my presence!”

  “Linnie, I...” Gabrielle began, but was stopped immediately by the guard on her side.

  “And YOU,” the queen continued, shifting her gaze to her sister. “You betray yourself, me, and our people by bringing this, this, abomination into our city. Has he bewitched you so that you forget who you are? Guard, I said to disarm them all: why does Gabrielle still carry her staff?”

  The guard reached to take her staff, but Gabrielle snapped out of the shock she was feeling long enough to spin it around and swat him across the side of his head, the crystal in the end of the staff glowing brightly as her anger grew.

  The guard behind her thumped her across the back of the head with the butt of his sword, crumpling her to the ground and causing Di’eslo to let out a primal scream of rage. He spun on the guard, grabbing him by the wrist and twisting it out, his grip on his sword breaking and the blade dropping to the ground as the shadow elf lifted his front leg and kicked him in the throat.

  Whirling the guard in front of him, Di’eslo shoved him into the next guard in line, deftly dropping to one knee to retrieve the sword from the floor. As he stood, he swung the blade across at waist level, backing up the other two guards on his side as they tried to rush him.

  “Di’eslo, NO!” shouted Heishi, his hands going up in a show of surrender. “If you do not peacefully surrender, you will prove everything they believe about you,” he continued in a level tone, staring at the back of his friend’s head. “Hand over the sword and let us try this again.”

  “Enough!” Linnie cried, standing up from her throne as Trodgen stepped forward between the group and his queen. “Guards take them to the interrogation rooms! I will not allow these three to disrupt the harmony of our city!”

  Shadows curling from his skin as his anger grew, Di’eslo slowly turned to look Heishi in the eye.

  “I was prepared for what they would do to me, but you see how they treat the queen’s own sister? What do you think they will do to us? Better to die on our feet,” he began, then looked around the room, and slowly let the tip of the blade rest on the floor in front of him. “Our situation is untenable, yes?”

  He let the sword drop to the floor and took a step back, allowing the guards to retrieve the weapon and their unconscious companions.

  “Take them away!” Linnie commanded as she took one last disgusted look at her sister, still lying on the floor, then turned and stomped out of the room to her right.

  Grinning wickedly, Trodgen stared at the companions as the guards bound their hands behind their backs.

  “You are now MY guests, and I will make your stay as unpleasant as possible,” he stated, then waived to the guards to take them away.

  Chapter 7 – Planning the Escape

  Today...

  Evening settled on the city of Harmonui, and the companions stealthily removed themselves from the market street as the vendors closed shop for the night. Moving to an inn set just off the main street of the trading district, the five huddled in a corner table in the dimly lit dining area, formulating a plan.

  “Eeeehhhh, what can I get ya?” the bartender asked, walking up beside the group.

  Aki and Zatus stopped abruptly, not wanting to turn their heads at the familiar voice. After a pause, Aki looked over, and did well to hide his surprise as he saw an identical bartender to the one from Terminus standing in front of him.

  The little man looked identical to the one they had encountered and killed in the tunnels beneath the city! Standing just about five feet tall, he was a scrawny whelp with a clean-shaven face, and hair sticking out in every conceivable direction from his head. He wore leggings for pants, which accentuated his knobby knees, and a vest with no shirt so the companions could see every rib in his frail chest. As he spoke to the patrons, his eyes rolled in different directions, and the companions could not tell exactly who he was looking at.

  “Uh, pardon me for asking, but have we met?” Aki asked tentatively as Zatus just stared with his jaw hanging open slightly.

  “Eeehhh, nope, nope, nope, can’t say that we have, human! I would remember a character like you, yep, yep, so strange lookin’!” the bartender replied, his face angled toward Aki but one eye pointed to Fion and the other to Zatus.

  “Forgive me, good sir, but you remind me of someone I recently met in my travels to Terminus...” Aki retorted, fishing for an answer.

  “Eeeehhhh, nope, nope, nope, never been there, human! Might be you are thinkin’ of my brother. Yep, yep, yep, he lives in Terminus and runs The Portal for the Illustrious. Yep, he does,” the little bartender replied, a look of understanding crossing his face for a moment before his blank expression returned.

  Everyone at the table besides Fion nodded their heads collectively at the revelation, as they had all been present when Yutri killed this bartender’s brother in the tunnels beneath Terminus and had heard the story of Heishi killing another one of his brothers in The Portal.

  “And who, pray tell, is ‘The Illustrious’?” Fion asked, uncomfortable with the current conversation and desiring to be rid of the bartender so he could continue to plan the rescue of his brother.

  “Eeeehhhh, he’s the ruler of all Terminus, yep, yep, yep, he is!” the bartender replied, snapping his head toward Fion with a look of disgust.

  “Big Jim,” whispered Ja’ade, and Fion understood immediately.

  “Well, good sir, I need to have a conversation with you, but first will require your name,” Fion stated firmly, staring at one of the bartender’s eyes, which continued to roll uncontrollably.

  “Eeeehhhh, no one
ever asked me that, nope, nope, nope,” the bartender replied, stammering a bit. “Eeehhh, yep, yep, you can call me Ethanicus. And whaddaya want? I have ale, ale, or ale, but I recommend the ale. Yep, yep, yep, I do.”

  “We will each have ale,” Fion replied, then stopped Ethanicus as he turned to leave. “How is it that you are allowed to run this establishment in this city? You are not an elf.”

  “Eeehhh, yep, yep, yep, you noticed that? Your kind do not like to come to the market district, so us not-elf's run it,” the bartender replied as he bounced away to retrieve the ale.

  “Remarkable,” Fion stated, turning back to the table. “Who is this? You all appear to know him.”

  “We may have knowledge of the death of two of his brothers,” Aki replied dryly, eliciting a collective smile from the rest of the group.

  “We should keep that to ourselves, then,” Fion replied, catching on. “He may be of use to us if he was in league with Jim.”

  They sat in silence waiting for the return of the bartender, not wanting to have their plans overheard. As he approached, each member of the group turned to stare at the little man.

  “Good sir, we could use additional information since you are associated with the Illustrious Jim,” Fion began, gauging the little man’s response for any recognition that Jim was dead.

  “Eeehh, whaddaya want? I’m busy here,” Ethanicus replied, turning to glance at the empty room.

  “What do you know of the plans Jim had for this city?” Fion asked, watching the little man carefully.

  “Eeehhh, nope, nope, nope, not supposed to talk about that!” shrieked Ethanicus, glancing around the empty room again and attempting to escape.

  “Stop,” Fion commanded, raising his hand toward the little guy and stopping the movement of air around his body, ceasing his movement in place. With a wave of his hand, he turned Ethanicus back to the table and looked directly into one of his eyes.

  “Now, good sir, we shall complete our conversation in this empty room before you continue whatever you deem necessary. You report to Big Jim, The Illustrious, and he reports to me. By your reaction, I assume you are aware of his plans for this city, and you will now share with me everything you know.”

  Silence hung over the table like a blanket, with the other-worlders attempting to hide their surprise at Fion’s ability to hold Ethanicus in place.

  “Eeehh, yep, yep, why didn’t you just ask?” the bartender snorted as Fion released his hold on the little man. “The Illustrious is gonna destroy this city because the elves are evil...” he paused, turning his head back and forth between Fion and Zatus, both disguised as high elves.

  “Everything is not as it may appear, good sir. Please, continue,” Fion interjected smoothly, smiling to show he took no offense.

  “Yep, yep, yep. The Illustrious is going to destroy this place. He will bring his assassins through the tunnel in the basement to kill the queen and open the gates so his army can attack.” He turned to glance over both shoulders as he paused, both eyes turning different directions as he searched for eavesdroppers, then turned back to the table. “Eeeehhh, that’s all I know, yep, yep it is. I just open the door for him and stay out of his way. Yep, yep, that’s what I do.”

  “And you can show us this tunnel entrance?” Fion asked politely.

  “Eeehhhh, yep, yep, yep, any friend of the Illustrious is a friend of mine. I can do that, yup I can,” he stuttered, then turned and scurried back to the bar where he began wiping down the clean surfaces.

  “It would appear we have an escape route. Excellent. For the distraction, are you certain you can maintain your illusions from such a distance?” Fion asked Zatus, a look of concern painted on his face. “It would not do for them to fade while we are in the center of town, as I am not fond of the idea of standing out of the crowd.”

  “Don’t worry,” Zatus replied with a snort, “I can maintain my illusions from the other side of the world. I only have to see my target to initially craft the image, once it is done it takes very little concentration for me to maintain it.”

  “Then it sounds like we have the distraction part of our plan covered,” Ja’ade interjected with a sly grin. “I only wish I could be closer to see the fun!”

  “I am not sure ‘fun’ will be the proper word once the ‘good’ people of Harmonui see a shadow elf running down the street,” Mialin replied, a wicked smile on her face. “It should cause the distraction we need to slip into the dungeon unannounced, however.”

  “Once we make it in how will we find our lost companions?” Aki asked.

  “Master Zatus and I were able to glean information from a few more guards this afternoon,” Fion replied, nodding to the disguised gnome. “My brother and your friends have been incarcerated for the past three days, so they have not been moved to the permanent cells yet. There is an interrogation chamber where new prisoners are kept, and they should still be in this chamber. My understanding is that we will find separate rooms adjacent to the interrogation chamber for my brother and this high elf woman that are designed to contain those who can use the Art to manipulate their surroundings. Once this Trodgen decides he has extracted all the information possible from them, he will move them to permanent cells to live out the remainder of their lives in torment.”

  “In torment? Why? Simply for befriending a shadow elf?” Aki asked, stunned that his friends would be treated in such a manner.

  “My brother will be tortured to death for the amusement of the guards because he was born with black skin,” Fion replied, staring at the illusion covering his hands and making them white. “Your friends will not be tortured to death, however. They will simply be mistreated and left to rot in a cell because they are not elves and mistakenly disrupted the ‘harmony’ of this cursed city.”

  “We had better get them out today,” Zatus injected into the conversation. “Heishi and Tiane will have very little information to give this sadistic jailor, and if they have been moved to cells it could take all night to find them. We need to be in and out as quickly as possible.”

  “And then what?” Aki asked, looking at Fion. “When we have retrieved your brother and our friends, what happens then?”

  “Then my people will arrive, and we will burn this city to the ground,” Fion replied flatly and without hesitation.

  Chapter 8 – Breaking In

  As evening turned into night, the tavern began to fill with patrons, and the group in the corner decided it was the appropriate time to set their plan into motion. Slipping out the back door, the five stumbled down the street together, appearing to be intoxicated and searching for somewhere to sleep it off.

  As they approached the guards who kept the market district separate from the rest of the city, they paused on a street corner and Aki began a loud discussion with Fion about the beautiful ladies in their company and which was in love with him. As the guards listened to the obnoxious conversation and smirked at the human, Zatus picked his target and began to concentrate.

  While all eyes were on Aki, a flash of rainbow-colored lights swirled around the guard in the rear of the group, transforming him into the likeness of an ogre. He grew to a height of almost eight feet, and his slim elvish features thickened into solid-looking muscle. His fine armor and weapons were replaced with rags and a club with spikes sticking through the wood, and one eye socket appeared to be missing an eyeball. His hair disappeared and grew out in patches, and before anyone noticed a smell of unbathed brute washed over the other guards.

  The smell attracted their attention, and the two remaining guards spun on the ogre now standing behind them, a look of confusion on their faces. The first to turn let out a yelp, then screamed for more guards.

  The “ogre,” not understanding that he was the source of the confusion, also turned to assist his comrade, and stumbled as he turned, unable to control his new body.

  “You really are very good at that,” Fion praised as he watched. “That one is convinced those are actually his limbs and canno
t control them. Remarkable.”

  Zatus grinned at the praise, then turned his attention back to his creation, waiting for the appropriate moment.

  The guards, having recovered from their initial shock, turned on the “ogre” and began shouting as they moved in to subdue the beast. The “ogre,” not understanding what was happening, attempted to defend himself against his fellow guards who were turning against him. His mouth moved in protest, but no words were emitted as he swung his arms, and by proxy his wicked-looking club, in protest.

  “He is mute, then?” Fion asked, to which Zatus simply grinned and nodded. “Outstanding.”

  As a fight ensued between the three, more guards came running up to form a circle around the monster who somehow found its way into their city to disrupt the harmony. Nets were produced and thrown at the “ogre,” which he shrugged off and used to toss the guards around like playthings.

  “We should be going,” Zatus stated quietly, “the illusion is complete.”

  The group slipped past the guards, who were now focused on the monster in their midst. They moved quickly down the side streets, listening to the alarms sounding as more defenders of the city were summoned to contain the ogre.

  “And you are certain you can maintain the illusion?” Fion asked again, drawing a disdainful look from the disguised gnome.

  “I could maintain that illusion from back in Terminus,” spat Zatus, clearly annoyed at having to repeat himself. “I will release the illusion once we are all safely outside the city and leave the guards to wonder what happened to the ogre. But,” he paused for dramatic effect, “I am not finished yet.”

  Winding through the streets, staying to the shadows as much as possible, the companions soon found themselves closing in on the castle gates, which were closed for the evening.

  “Now for the second part of my plan,” Zatus stated, an impish smile on his face.

  Looking up above the gate, he could see a guard looking down at the group, a crossbow leveled at them as they stopped at the corner.