“Lead the way, Bitsy,” Garth said softly.
The fairy did not respond verbally, but a soft glow of light suddenly appeared near a corner of the room. The Knights of Alcea moved towards it and saw a stairwell leading down to the basement. As the fairy flew downstairs, the Knights followed. Once in the basement, Bitsy led the Alcean warriors across a crate strewn floor to a small alcove.
“There is a trap door under that piece of cloth,” stated the fairy. “Open it and I will check out the sewers.”
As Garth opened the trap door, Tedi looked around anxiously.
“Where is Button?”
“She is guiding the unicorns to the place where they are to wait,” answered Bitsy. “She will join us in the sewers.”
The tiny woman extinguished her fairy light and darted into the sewers. A few minutes later she returned. “The sewers are empty.”
“Why are they empty?” Natia asked nervously.
“Strangler is helping us,” answered Garth. “He will be the only person in Valdo to know of our visit. I asked him to remove his people from the sewers for tonight.”
“You had this all planned?” Tedi asked accusingly. “I thought you were merely dragging us into a hasty battle.”
“It is not all planned,” Garth replied, “but our access to the temple is, as well as our escape if we manage to get out of the temple alive. There is little planning that could be done within the temple.”
Garth climbed down into the sewers and waited for the others to follow. Once again, Bitsy led the way, using her fairy light to guide the Knights of Alcea through the maze of twisting passages. As they approached a major intersection of tunnels, the fairy light unexpectedly winked out. Bitsy flew to Garth’s shoulder.
Strangler is around the corner,” whispered the little blue woman. “I will return to my pocket now. Warn Tedi that Button will soon seek the safety of his pocket.”
Garth silently reached out to Tedi and tapped the pocket where Button usually slept. Tedi nodded with understanding. A moment later Button glided silently through the sewer and climbed into her pocket. For several moments the Knights of Alcea stood in the dark and listened to the sounds of the sewers. Other than the distant scurrying of a rat, nothing moved. Garth gently touched Tedi and Natia and then slowly stepped forward. The three Knights of Alcea rounded the corner of the intersection and halted.
“Strangler?” Garth said softly.
“Mercy!” exclaimed Strangler as he jumped away from the wall. “I didn’t hear you coming. Don’t scare me like that.”
“I am sorry,” Garth smiled broadly. “Are you ready?”
“As soon as my heart starts beating again,” sighed the thief. “When will the others arrive?”
“They are here,” answered Garth.
The sound of a striker split the silence and a torch flared to life. Strangler held the torch above his head and stared at the three Knights of Alcea.
“I thought you were joking,” Strangler said in awe as he nodded to Tedi and Natia. “I am glad that the Federation does not have silent stalkers like you three. My band would be eliminated in no time. Follow me.”
The head thief of Valdo led the Knights of Alcea through a long, winding journey under the streets of the city. Several times they had to climb ladders to access different levels of the sewers. As they progressed towards the temple area of the city, the tunnels grew narrower and older. Eventually, he halted next to a narrow break in the wall. While the stones under his feet were stained from use, the stains were old and the stones were dry. Strangler placed the torch on the ground and squeezed into the narrow passage. The others followed. The narrow passage ran about the length of a city block before ending in a small chamber. The chamber was too dark to see anything, but Garth felt a metal ladder on the wall as the four people crammed into the tight chamber.
“This is directly under the temple,” Strangler said softly. “The man we had inside last year mentioned two areas where the basement of the temple accessed the sewers. There is an access hatch that is still used. It empties in one of the large sewer tunnels. That entrance is not far from where we are right now, but it does not connect directly to this older sewer system. You would not be able to safely enter or exit through that hatch.”
“And this one?” asked Garth.
“This one has been unused for many years,” answered Strangler. “It leads to an area of the basement that is no longer in use. I think it used to be cells of some kind. If you can get through the trap door, you should be able to access the temple without anyone knowing about it. The problem is that this hatch hasn’t opened in years. It may be rusted shut.”
“We will deal with that,” stated Garth. “If they try to pursue us into the sewers using the other hatch, can they cut us off from where we met you this evening?”
“Not easily,” answered Strangler. “This old section of the sewers is no longer used. They would have to work their way to one of the ladders connecting the two levels and then double back. Unless you dally too long, they should not be able to catch you underground.”
“Underground?” echoed Natia. “What if they traveled the city streets?”
“Then they could catch you,” answered the thief, “but they would have to know which direction you were going. That is rather hard to do if they have no one following you. That is the beauty of using the sewers.”
“Excellent,” smiled Garth. “You have done well, Strangler. Thank you for your help.”
“You can thank me later,” replied the thief. “After we come out with our lives intact.”
“You are not coming with us,” Garth said sternly. “I thought I had made that clear.”
“You said that you didn’t want the help of any of my men,” retorted Strangler. “I alone will accompany you.”
“No,” Garth insisted. “This is not your fight. I want you out of the sewers as quickly as you can. If we are pursued, there will likely be magic in use. I do not want you or your people involved in any way. Your time to fight is fast approaching, but it is not this night.”
Strangler sighed and nodded in the darkness. “If I did not know the three of you better, I would call you crazy, but I respect you too much to interfere in your plans. I will bring in the torch before I leave.”
“Just leave,” replied Garth. “This is too small a chamber to have a torch. We would just gag on the smoke. Travel safely, my friend. May we meet another day.”
The Knights of Alcea listened to the thief’s footsteps as he retreated from the small chamber. When his footsteps had faded in the distance, Garth roused Bitsy and ordered her to create a fairy lantern. The Knights of Alcea studied the small chamber. It was barely large enough for three people to stand abreast in each direction. There was a single metal ladder climbing one of the walls, and an old rusty hatch at the top of it. Garth reached out and felt the ladder. Rust flaked off in his hand, and he sighed anxiously.
“We will have to be careful with the ladder,” he announced. “Make no sudden movements while on it. And try to keep your feet away from the center of the rungs. Tedi, use your staff to open the hatch, but try to be quiet about it.”
The gypsy prince nodded and carefully climbed the ladder. He reached up and felt the hatch, causing a rainfall of rust flakes. Natia and Garth moved as far away from the base of the ladder as the small chamber allowed. Tedi tested the worthiness of the hatch and then sighed again. He gripped his staff in one hand while holding the rusty ladder with the other. He lightly poked the latch area of the hatch. The soft sound was magnified by the smallness of the chamber. A downpour of rust fell, but the hatch did not open. Tedi hit it a little harder, and more rust fell. Gritting his teeth, the gypsy prince gave an even harder poke. The hatch popped open with a loud tearing noise that bellowed like thunder in the sewer. The Knights of Alcea froze, but Bitsy immediately doused her light and shot through the opening. A few moments later, she returned.
“Free Button,” chirped Bitsy. “We will scout
the way for you.”
Tedi nodded and climbed up into the temple. He released Button while the other two Knights climbed the ladder. The room they had emerged into was indeed an old area of the basement that held narrow cells. The hatch was in a large open room with manacles chained to the walls. Tedi shuddered as he remembered the time he and Arik had been imprisoned in a temple in Cleb. His arms and legs began to itch just thinking about it, and he sighed as he pushed those thoughts away.
“Plan on using myric quills for anyone other than K’san,” Garth said softly. “Tedi, you follow me closely. Natia, I want you to hang back a bit. If anyone notices us, it will be up to you to strike them from behind.”
Garth extracted a myric quill from the small quiver at his side. He also extracted a reed and slid the quill into it. With a glance at the others, he moved towards the door at the far side of the room. Button hovered over the Knights with a fairy lantern, while Bitsy scouted ahead. When Garth reached out for the door, he ordered Button to extinguish the lantern. He eased the door open, cringing as the old hinges creaked. The noise sounded loud in his ears, but he knew that it seemed louder to him than it really was. He peered through the doorway and saw the flickering of a distant torch around a corner in the corridor. Bitsy suddenly landed on his shoulder and whispered in his ear.
“Sentry around the corner. He is asleep.”
Garth nodded and brought the reed to his lips as he stealthily moved towards the corner. He peeked around the corner and saw the sentry sitting in a chair at the bottom of a flight of steps. He blew the myric quill into the sentry’s chest and then turned towards Natia.
“Check the rest of the corridor down here. We don’t want anyone between us and our escape hatch.”
The gypsy princess nodded and moved past the intersection. As she neared a bend in the corridor, she could see flickering light from another torch. She brought the reed to her lips and peered around the corner. The corridor was empty, but a torch flickered near an open door farther along the corridor. She crept forward until she reached the open door. Peering into the room, she saw another sentry sitting in a chair. The sentry was sleeping, but he held a wooden hammer in his hand. Next to the sentry stood a large metal gong and directly below it was a hatch in the floor. Natia blew the myric quill through the reed and watched as the sentry tumbled to the floor. She entered the room and checked it thoroughly before retreating. On her way back to the stairs, she checked every other room as she passed them. There were no other sentries. When Natia reached the stairs, she climbed them silently. Tedi was crouched at the top of the stairs, intently staring into the torch-lit corridor. Natia saw him nod to some unseen person and then he turned to her and held one hand up, his five fingers spread wide. He clenched his fingers into a fist and then extended them thrice more. Natia nodded her acknowledgement, and the gypsy prince rose and stealthily dashed into the corridor. Natia moved forward to take his place as she started counting numbers. She watched Tedi turn off into a cross corridor. She had almost reached twenty when she heard footsteps coming from the opposite direction.
Natia slid down a couple of steps where the shadows were deeper. She slid another myric quill into the reed and listened intently. The footsteps were not hurried, and indicated a single person moving along the corridor. The shadow of the black-cloak preceded the man, and Natia brought the reed to her lips. As the mage came into view, the gypsy princess blew her quill into the man’s leg. She dropped the reed and scrambled up the steps to catch the falling body, but she was too late. The mage fell to the floor with a loud thud. She quickly grabbed the body by its legs and dragged it to the top of the stairs. With a shove, she sent the body tumbling down the stairs and quickly retrieved her reed. She fed another quill into it and dashed towards the corridor where she had seen Tedi disappear.
As Natia turned the corner, she heard a shout and saw a magical projectile illuminate the room at the far end of the corridor. A loud crack split the air followed by the thud of a body falling to the floor. Natia halted, aware that her fellow Alceans were engaged in battle with K’san. As much as her instincts wanted her to run and join the battle, her purpose was to protect their escape. She turned around and peered into the main corridor in both directions. No one was coming, but shouts sounded in the distance, and they were not the shouts of her fellow Alceans. Things were about to get hectic. Unexpectedly, a fairy landed on her shoulder.
“Back to the stairs,” Button chirped softly, but urgently. “K’san is dead.”
Natia nodded and dashed into the corridor, the fairy tumbling from her shoulder. The gypsy princess slid into the stairwell and turned around, the reed pressed to her lips. Running footsteps pounded the stone floors from both directions. Tedi suddenly veered into the stairwell and raced down the stairs. Garth was only seconds behind him.
“Run,” Garth commanded as he ran down the stairs.
Natia turned and raced after Garth, the sounds of heavy footsteps right behind her. When she reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw Garth holding his two-handed sword. He nodded towards the sewers, and Natia immediately turned left and ran towards the old prison area. She heard the clash of metal behind her, followed by a cry of pain. As she passed through the doorway with the creaky hinges, she saw Tedi standing to one side holding his staff with both hands. He also nodded silently towards the trap door. Natia ran across the dark room and found the hatch. She quickly climbed down the rusty ladder and squeezed through the narrow passageway. When she reached the sewer, she waited in the dark. A distant rumble shook the sewer and dirt fell from the ceiling. Next she heard the crash of metal and a cry of surprise that she recognized as coming from Garth. She pictured the rusty ladder breaking under his weight and wondered if Tedi had made it into the small chamber. A shudder of fear coursed through her body.
“Jump!” Garth’s distant voice shouted.
Another thud drifted to her ear followed by a grunt. A few moments later, Tedi appeared at her side. Natia exhaled her held breath and smiled broadly. Garth pushed out of the narrow passageway right after Tedi.
“Use your staff,” Garth commanded as he put his arm around Natia and moved her away. “Bring the walls of that passageway down.”
Tedi swung his staff at the walls of the sewer and a tremendous deafening roar rolled through the underground tunnels. Dust and grit billowed into the sewer as the three Alceans ran away. When they came to the first intersection, Garth stopped and called for Bitsy. Both fairies landed on Garth’s shoulder.
“Light your fairy lanterns and blaze our path out of these sewers. We do not have much time.”
Distant shouting could be heard coming from the small chamber, but the path was blocked. Natia looked at Garth questioningly as the fairies illuminated the sewers.
“Why the hurry if the passage is blocked?”
“A black-cloak was hot on our heels,” answered Garth. “I heard him order one of his men to alert the army. They plan to seal the sewers by stationing men at every known exit. We need to make haste with our exit.”
The Knights of Alcea turned and ran after the guiding fairies. Once they passed out of the old sewers and into the new, they heard distant voices as soldiers began to enter the sewers in search of the assassins. By the time they reached the edge of the city where they had entered the sewers, they were exhausted. Garth led the way up into the basement, but he did not exit the building. They continued to climb up the stairs until they emerged onto the roof of the building. Attached to the edge of the roof was a grappling hook, and it was attached to a line passing over the city wall and into the trees beyond. Whistles sounded from every corner of the city, and the Knights of Alcea knew that they were out of time.
“Natia first,” stated Garth as he looked at the condition of the roof. “Be quick about it.”
Natia pulled off her belt and wrapped it around the line. She grabbed both ends of the belt tightly and threw her body off the roof. The gypsy princess soared over the wall and into the dark forest, her e
yes focused on a tiny dim light among the trees. As the light grew closer, she saw the tree limb that the other end of the rope was tied to. She quickly let go of the belt and tumbled to the ground. As she got to her feet, Tedi nearly tumbled into her. She picked up her belt and put it on as Garth came sliding into the forest.
“Retrieve the hook, Button,” commanded Garth. “If they don’t know that we have left the city, they will waste hours looking for us.”
Chapter 23
The Gods Speak
Governor Za-chan of Lanoir sighed heavily as he gazed down at the Chi River seven leagues south of the city of Chi. He shook his head as he looked across the river to the flat farmlands on the western shore.
“Even if we could complete such a task,” he said to the two Knights of Alcea standing beside him, “we would flood a great portion of the farmland across the river. That bank is much lower than this one.”
“Which is one of the reasons I chose this particular place,” stated Bin-lu. “The road on the eastern bank must not be affected. If the dam was placed any farther south, it would be the eastern bank that was flooded. That cannot be allowed. It must be built right here.”
The Governor shook his head again. “It is not possible. I have every spare hand harvesting crops by order of King Arik. Even if I wanted to, I could not take those people from their duties.”
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