by Cadman, Dean
“Can't blame a girl for trying, “ she said smiling. “Skelly, do you mind if I ask you something?”
“You can ask,” he replied.
“I've heard of your fearsome reputation as Shiva's second in command, and I've fought you in Helveel, so I know how good you are. I can't believe Shiva is any better than you are with a blade, so why aren't you the leader of the Hawks' guild?” Neala said. Skelly smiled at her observations but didn't respond straight away, then after a few moments he simply said,
“He's smart enough to surround himself with brainless people,”
“I don't understand. How can it be smart to surround yourself with brainless people?” Neala asked confused.
“Because brainless people blindly follow orders without thinking, and his standing order is to kill anyone who threatens his life. I'd have to kill half of the guild to take control by direct measures, and as good as I am with a blade, I don't like those odds,” he said, turning his horse back towards Stelgad. “Skelly, I hope it's not you he chooses to torture and kill me, but if it is, I won't blame you for it... just so you know,” she said quietly. Skelly didn't turn his head or reply, he simply nodded he had heard what she had said, and continued riding.
An hour later they approached one of the two northern gates into Stelgad, and what Neala saw shocked and confused her in equal measures. Standing before the gate were two of the strange men in Black robes, and just beyond the gate another two. The town guards stationed at the gates seemed not to even notice them, allowing them to linger where nobody would normally be allowed to stand.
As they approached the gate she braced herself for the strange crawling sensation to start within her mind, but it never came. Both the men outside and inside the gate ignored them as they passed by unchallenged. Neala had been outside the city many times after dark, and every time she had tried to re-enter through a gate, she had been challenged by the guards as to what her business was. Tonight was different, either because she was with Skelly, or the guards simply hadn't seen them for some reason, she suspected the latter.
“That was strange,” she said to herself, but Skelly must have heard her because he grunted his agreement. Five minutes later they arrived at the front entrance to the Hawks' guild-house, and standing right outside were yet another two of the strange men in black robes. She had lived in Stelgad all of her life, and never once had she seen a single one of these strangely dressed men here, now she had seen six of them in five minutes; something was wrong.
Skelly dismounted his horse and untied Neala from her saddle, then walked her to the front entrance of the building. He knocked a series of knocks on the solid oak door and waited until a small hatch was opened. There was a shout from behind the door, swiftly followed by the door opening. A young boy of maybe nine or ten years old stumbled out of the door looking half asleep, and began tending their horses as they entered the building.
When they entered the guild house they were greeted by two large men in the hallway, both obviously subservient to Skelly.
“Good trip I see,” one of the men said gesturing towards Neala.
“Yes it was, but I doubt Carter would agree,” Skelly replied. As if on cue both men started laughing at Skelly's crude joke. “Is Shiva sleeping?”
“Yeah. Want me to wake him for you?” the other man asked. “No. Not unless you want him to cut that throat of yours for disturbing him,”
“Gottcha boss,”
“Take her to the cells until the morning,” Skelly said, handing her over to one of the big men, who grabbed her roughly by the arm. Skelly began walking away, but he stopped mid-stride and turned back to the man holding Neala.
“Shiva wants her unharmed, and so do I. If so much as a hair is out of place on her head tomorrow when I go to the cells, you'll answer to me. Do you understand?” Skelly said, giving the big man a look that left him in absolutely no doubt about his meaning.
“Yes, sir,” the big man replied, instantly relaxing his grip on her arm, just in case he left a mark that would cost him later.
Skelly vanished into one of the side rooms closing the door behind himself, and Neala was walked through the guild house and down some stairs into a dark basement. When her eyes adjusted to the darkened room she became aware of three cells lined up against the back wall. The man unhooked a bunch of keys from the wall and unlocked the middle cell, before pushing her inside and locking the cage door behind her, then he returned the keys to the hook on the far wall and left the room. The cell was completely bare apart from some dirty old straw on the floor, and by the smell she guessed it hadn't been cleaned in a long time. The only light in the room was from the moonlight that filtered in through a series of tiny openings up near the ceiling, casting long shadows across the room as it shone through the bars of her cell. The openings were far too small to be windows, and she guessed they were only there for ventilation, but any thoughts of the windows quickly vanished when she heard movement coming from inside one of the other cells.
“Hello... is someone in there?” she asked the darkness, hoping it wasn't just rats. Nobody answered, so she tried again. “My name's Neala, you don't have to be afraid, I won't hurt you.” There was a sudden movement towards the bars of Neala's cell and it startled her, making her step back away from the bars towards the centre of her cell.
“Neala, is that you?” came a familiar female voice from the darkness.
“Alexia?” Neala asked, stunned to be face to face with her old friend.
“Yes, it's me Alexia,” she said breaking down and crying. Neala knelt down next to her, and hugged her the best she could through the bars that separated them both. After several minutes Neala broke the embrace and spoke first. “I thought everyone had been killed in the initial attack. Did any of the others survive?” Neala asked hopefully.
“Yes, a few of us survived, but Shiva has been hunting us down ever since. You remember Toby and Scatch right?”
“Of course I do, what about them?” Neala asked.
“Well, they took charge of most of us who were left after the attack. Toby said we should pledge our allegiance to the Hawks' guild and make a fresh start there with them. I told him it was a bad idea, but he wouldn't listen to me, and neither would most of the others. The four of us that remained watched from a distance as they were slaughtered by Shiva's men,” Alexia said, tears rolling down her cheeks.
“Are the other three that stayed with you alive?” Neala asked hopefully. But she could see Alexia shaking her head even in the darkness. “What happened to them?”
“Betrayed.” she said through sobs. “We hid for weeks, eating when and where we could, knowing all the exits from Stelgad were being watched by Shiva's men. We asked for help from the innkeeper at the Plucked Pheasant and he agreed to help us, but he turned us all in to Shiva the same night.”
“That snake, I'll kill him. He only has that inn because of us. He owes the Crows' guild everything, and he still sells us out,” Neala said vehemently, forgetting her own predicament momentarily. “So where are the others now?”
“I don't know. When they came to the inn I wasn't there. I was out checking the city gates for Shiva's men, like we had done every day since the attack. When I returned to the inn I saw them being carried away by Shiva's men. I survived alone on the run for months, but two days ago they caught me trying to steal some food from the market in the east district. And here I am,” she said with a mock laugh. “What about you, what's your story?” she asked.
“Well that's a long one, but I guess we have nothing better to do,” Neala said, and began to tell Alexia all what had happened to her since she had left Stelgad that fateful night, not so long ago.
Chapter Twenty Two
Lusam watched helplessly as Neala was led to the front entrance of the guild house, unable to intervene because of the two Empire agents standing only a few paces away from them. If he attempted to rescue her now in front of the two Empire agents he felt sure it would only be a matter of mom
ents before dozens of them converged on his position. Even if he and Neala survived the attack, the paladins back at the temple may not, and he would not be responsible for their deaths if it could be avoided.
He tried to formulate another plan quickly, but all of them led to him having to enter the guild house. He was confident in his ability to protect himself using his shield, but he wasn't sure if his magic would be detected or not by the Empire agents outside. It only took him a few moments to come to the conclusion that he had to take the chance, he simply couldn't leave Neala here to suffer her fate at the hands of this Shiva person, he had to rescue her.
He remembered seeing a guard on top of the roof from when he and Renn were high upon the city wall, and knew if the guard could reach the roof, there had to be an entrance into the building from up there. Earlier that day he had come up with a plan to neutralize anyone that got in his way without killing them, he just hoped it would work in practice. He knew time was important, but he guessed Neala wasn't in any immediate danger of being killed outright. He reasoned that if all Shiva wanted was her dead, he would have instructed his men to kill her back in Helveel, not bring her all the way back to Stelgad unharmed. He obviously wanted to drag out her suffering as long as possible for his own perverse pleasure, and that should give Lusam the time he needed.
Lusam returned to the back of the building and found the far rear corner was out of direct sight from the tavern, which by now was much quieter than it had been earlier that night. Taking one last look around to make sure nobody could see him, especially any Empire agents, he erected a shield around himself using only enough power to stop a blade or crossbow bolt. He guessed no-one inside the building would be capable of using magic against him, and keeping his magical power output low might mean he remained hidden from the Empire agents on the streets at the front of the building.
After one last look to check that no-one was watching him, he began to levitate himself up to the roof. He was fortunate that the man on the roof was actually looking in the opposite direction, and he also seemed to be watching the surrounding rooftops, not the streets below. Once he landed on the roof he closed the gap between them quickly, and as quietly as he could, but the man heard his approach anyway and quickly removed two nasty looking knives from his belt. Lusam didn't slow his pace at all, and if it were not for his shield he would have impaled himself on the man's knives as he crashed into him.
As soon as Lusam was close enough to the man he erected a second force-field around him and adjusted it to make it soundproof, just as he had in the forest with Renn on their way to Stelgad. He knew he could have done it easily from the edge of the roof, but it would have taken more power to project it that far, and he wanted to use as little as possible so close to Empire agents.
The man stood only inches from Lusam, wide eyed and stabbing at him furiously with his daggers, but to no effect, they simply bounced off his shield. Seeing that his weapons were useless against Lusam he tried to back away, but was stopped in his tracks by the invisible force-field that enclosed him. Next he tried calling for help, but that too was useless. Eventually he seemed to understand he was trapped, and completely at the mercy of Lusam. “What do you want with me?” he asked uneasily. Lusam tried to be as intimidating as he could, tilting his head slightly and grinning at him before he answered, but he couldn't help thinking he probably just looked a little dim-witted instead.
“I want to know where you would be holding my friend prisoner within your guild headquarters, she was brought in earlier tonight,” Lusam replied.
“And why should I tell you that?” the man said regaining some of his composure.
“Because if you don't, I'll increase the temperature inside that force-field you're standing in and cook you alive until you talk,” Lusam said calmly, hoping his threat would be believed. The man searched Lusam's eyes, as if the answer to whether he was bluffing or not could be found there, but remained silent. “Okay, your choice,” Lusam said, slowing increasing the temperature inside the force-field containing the man. He had no intention of killing the man, only scaring him into talking. Even if he had wanted to carry out his threat it would have used too much magic, and the Empire agents would certainly sense his presence. The man began to sweat profusely as the temperature rose inside the force-field, but still he remained silent.
“You know, I once did this to thief in Helveel that attempted to steal my coin pouch, “ Lusam lied, “it wasn't pretty when he exploded inside the force-field. I remember thinking what remained didn't really resemble a man at all, but who knows maybe you won't explode the same way as he did.”
“Okay! Okay! Stop! I'll tell you what you want to know,” he pleaded with Lusam.
“I'm listening,” Lusam replied, feeling rather pleased that his ruse had worked.
“There are three cells in the basement, your friend should be in one of those. That's where they keep any prisoners that they bring here, but I don't know anything about your friend, I swear.”
“Then, let's discuss how I would reach this basement of yours, and don't even consider lying to me, I can tell with my magic if you do,” Lusam lied again. The man was more than happy to give Lusam a detailed explanation of the house layout, even suggesting the number of guards that may still be on duty at this late hour. Once Lusam was happy he had all the information he needed, he placed a finger on the man's shoulder and extended his awareness into the man's body, instantly finding his meagre reserves of magic. It took only a moment to drain all but a very small amount of his magic reserves, leaving him with the bare minimum to survive. The man dropped like a sack of coal to the ground unconscious at Lusam's feet. Lusam was surprised at how well his plan worked, it seemed a very affective way to incapacitate someone without really harming them physically. But he didn't envy the man when he eventually awoke to what would be a stinker of a headache, one he remembered all too well.
He hoped his magic hadn't been detected by the Empire agents, but he needed to know for sure before he continued. He crept to the edge of the roof and carefully peered over to the street below. Three stories below him stood the same two Empire agents he had seen from the alleyway not ten minutes earlier, neither of whom seemed the least bit interested in the building he was now standing on top of. As if to confirm his assumption, they both started to move away down the street in the same direction he had seen all the others travel, obviously to wherever their next patrol point was in the city.
Breathing a sigh of relief he moved back away from the edge of the building and began looking for a way into the guild house. It didn't take him long to discover a hatch, but found it to be firmly locked from the inside. He placed his ear to the hatch and listened for movement or voices, but all was silent from the other side. He gripped the iron ring that formed the handle of the hatch and pulled gently. The hatch seemed to be held in place at a single point, most probably by a simple throw bolt or something similar. He had never tried to manipulate his force-field through a solid object before, so he had no idea if it would work or not. His other choices were: to blast through the door, which would make far too much noise, and could alert the Empire agents either with the sound or the sudden release of magic, so that was out of the question; he could burn his way through the hatch, or even the lock for that matter, but the smell of burning would likely alert everyone inside the building sending them all in search of a potential fire. So he was left with his first choice of using his force-field to manipulate the lock, if he could.
He knelt next to the hatch and formed a small sphere shaped force-field in his hand. He concentrated on pushing the force-field through the wooden hatch, but it was like trying to push any other solid object through it: impossible. He tried again, but this time he concentrated on forming the sphere on the other side of the hatch, and it seemed to work. He wasn't sure how this would help him though as he couldn't see what he was trying to manipulate at the other side of the hatch.
Several minutes passed while he tried vario
us solutions, none of which seemed to have the desired effect, so then he came up with another idea. This time he created a sphere that allowed things to move freely from the outside in, but not allow anything that was already inside to pass back out again. Manipulating the sphere backwards and forwards it was only a matter of time before it snagged on the throw bolt, opening it with a resounding click.
Chapter Twenty Three
He froze and listened for any movement or sound coming from the other side of the hatch, but heard nothing, so he carefully opened the hatch revealing a pitch black hole below. He created a small dimly lit orb within the hatch entrance and revealed a sturdy looking ladder that lead down to the floor below. He carefully climbed down the ladder closing the hatch behind him, and found himself at the end of a long narrow corridor. The floor was a series of black and white squares the entire length of the corridor, reminding him of a board game his grandmother had often tried to teach him to play when he was much younger.
Keeping his light dimmed he moved forward towards the end of the corridor, but he didn’t get far before he triggered a trap on the floor, which sent several darts shooting out of the side wall at his legs. Fortunately his shield stopped them mid-flight and they fell harmlessly to the ground at his side. Looking down at them he recognised them as the same type of darts that had rendered Neala unconscious in Helveel, no doubt these too were poisoned in a similar manner. By the time he reached the end of the corridor he had triggered another three similar traps. All no doubt meant as a first line of defence against any unwelcome intruders, or potential assassins who managed to enter via the roof hatch as he had done. At the end of the corridor he came to a flight of stairs leading down to the first floor of the building. In stark contrast with the upper floor, the first floor was well lit with evenly spaced oil lanterns on the walls, and a thick red carpet on the floor running the full length of the corridor. Numerous wooden doors lined the corridor, but only two rooms showed any signs of light coming from under their doors, indicating most of the rooms were either empty or their occupants were asleep, which suited Lusam just fine either way.
