The Mage's Path (The Age of Legend Book 1)

by Lionel Vicknair

  Chapter seven

  Rizzo woke up sometime later, in a cold, wet cell, his head pounding. He sat up and tried to look around. There were no windows, just a sliver of light from a torch down the hallway. There was only one entrance that was blocked by the bars of a steel prison cell door.

  He crawled across the floor, the cold stone sending chills up his arms. When he got to the door he tried pressing his head against the bars to look down the hallway, but he could see nothing.

  “Hey, let me out,” said Rizzo as he pulled on the door, frantically trying to get someone’s attention. He could hear shuffling from down the hall that sounded like metal on stone. A few seconds later Rizzo saw one of the guards from earlier appear in front of the bars.

  “So, you’re awake,” said the guard. “You ready to talk yet?”

  “I don’t know what you want,” pleaded Rizzo. He was scared, his worst nightmare playing out in front of him.

  “Don’t lie, boy. I was standing on that same street and noticed how you were watching those rooftops before that girl ever appeared,” said the guard. “Almost like you were waiting for something to happen.” A person’s shrilling screams could be heard from further down the hallway. “Sounds like he’s had enough. You’re up for questioning after he’s done, by the way.”

  The guard walked back down the hallway, disappearing again. He was left there waiting, terrified from thinking about what would happen. He paced back and forth in his cell, trying desperately to think of a way to get out. Minutes felt like hours, with no way of telling how much time had passed.

  Metal scraping on stone echoed from down the hallway again, and a few seconds later the guard reappeared. A second guard was behind him, wiping blood off his hands with a rag. The first guard unlocked the door, and when he opened it Rizzo tried darting past him. Strong hands wrapped around his arm, holding him in place.

  He was dragged out and down the hallway, into another cell. On the wall were chains with shackles at the end. Rizzo was taken over to the wall and stretched so he had an arm locked in each shackle. Then the blood-covered guard went over to a table full of various knives, while the other guard stood by the door. He picked up one, examining the blade slowly. He put it down and picked up another one.

  “Please, don’t,” said Rizzo with watery eyes. The guard walked over to him, murderous intent in his face.

  “Give up your guild members and we will let you go,” said the guard simply, tracing the blade of the knife from Rizzo’s wrist to his neck.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about,” said Rizzo, refusing to give up anything. He knew the only thing keeping him alive was the possibility that he had some information.

  “I think I have a better idea in mind,” said the guard, walking back over to the table and putting the knife down. He then picked up a cleaver, examining it in the air before walking back over. The guard grabbed his wrist and held it onto the wall. Rizzo screamed and tried to jerk his arm free, but it was no use. “Stop squirming, I don’t want to cut off more than one finger at a time.”

  “Ok, ok… WAIT!” screamed Rizzo as he lined up the cleaver.

  “Are you going to tell us?” said the guard, holding the cleaver at the ready above his hand.

  Rizzo was silent for a while. “No.” Rizzo closed his eyes waiting for the cleaver to come down, but it never came.

  “What?” said the guard holding the cleaver as he looked over at the other guard just shaking his head. “I’m not going to actually cut this kid’s fingers off if that’s what you’re waiting for.”

  “What do you think?” said the guard towards the empty doorway.

  “Ya, that’ll do,” said a third voice, one he recognized. He watched as Garen walked into the room with a sheepish grin. He was overcome with joy at the sight, and then pure rage as he realized what was going on.

  “This was all a test, wasn’t it?” said Rizzo, jerking against his chains, trying to get to Garen.

  “Maybe we should leave him restrained for a bit,” said Garen cautiously. “At least until he calms down.” The guard was shaking his head at Garen. Then he walked over and released him. Rizzo rubbed his wrist, sore from the shackles.

  “Sorry about that,” said the guard with the blood on him, feeling guilty. “Had to make it feel convincing.”

  “What was the point of this,” said Rizzo. He knew but had to ask anyway.

  “To see if you would break,” said Garen plainly. “If you want me to let you out of the guild hall before I think you are ready, I need to be sure you won’t betray us, even if you are caught.”

  He could see the twisted logic and slowly, he calmed down. Once the adrenaline was gone, he could feel pain from the shackles, and one burning bruise over his left eye. He touched his cheek, puffy and swollen from the guard hitting him across the face and knocking him unconscious.

  “Ya, that looks like it might hurt,” said Garen as he watched Rizzo rub his cheek.

  “Again, sorry about that,” said the guard that had blood on his hands. “You wouldn’t stop screaming and I didn’t want the real guards to come over. But in a way, I guess we can say that one was payback.” Rizzo stared at the man, confused about what he did to deserve that.

  “I guess some introductions are in order,” said Garen. “Your torture master here is Edward, whose house you so cleverly broke into and stole his coin pouch a few months back. And he’s been pissed ever since. Eddy is our locksmith and is the best when it comes to making locks or picking them.” Rizzo’s eyes widened in surprise as he realized this must be the man whose shutters Rizzo set on fire.

  “I’m over it now,” said Eddy annoyed. “After I thought about it for a bit, I realized it really was a genius idea.”

  “Hey!” said the other man, drawing everyone’s attention. “Wasn’t there some kind of prize offered to anyone who managed to break into your house?” Eddy’s brow furrowed as he stared daggers at the man.

  “And that pain in the ass over there is Rob,” said Eddy. “That prize was for ‘full’ guild members only. This kid hasn’t earned his cloak yet.”

  “Really now?” said Garen. “I don’t seem to recall you saying that.”

  “It was an implied rule,” argued Eddy, clearly annoyed.

  “Oh, come on now,” said Garen. “You just said it yourself that Rizzo had a genius idea. Doesn’t that deserve a prize?” Eddy looked over to him and cringed a little at the sight of his bruised eye. Whether it was out of obligation or pity, he gave in.

  “Ok, fine, I’ll give him half of the reward and not a copper more,” said Eddy. Rizzo stood there, not having a clue as to what was going on. From how it sounded though, he just made some coin. “Why is everyone staring at me? It’s not like I have the coin on me now. I’ll give it to him once we get back to the guild.” Garen and Rob laughed at Eddy, and for the first time since joining, Rizzo felt like he was making progress.

  For the next few weeks, Rizzo continued shadowing the girl as she completed jobs. She still wouldn’t remove her mask around him, even though he had now seen Garen, Eddy, and Rob’s faces. Even though she never showed her face, Rizzo was feeling like he was getting to know her.

  After the first few jobs he watched, Garen started asking if there was anything he would have done differently than her. He agreed with some of Rizzo’s thoughts, but many others were rejected and explained why they wouldn’t work. It helped him to learn how different tactics worked for different occasions.

  One day when Rizzo was in the obstacle room, Eddy was sent to bring him to one of the rooms he had never been to before. There was a worried look on Eddy’s face as they walked up the staircase. They stopped at another short hallway, this one with a single door at the end.

  Eddy opened the door and walked Rizzo inside. A dozen chairs were centered around a massive table that took up almost the entire room. The opposite wall had a wooden board covering half of it, multiple folded pieces of paper nailed to it.

  The papers were
organized in groups of different colors ranging from green, yellow, and red. Two torches rested on each wall to his left and right, illuminating Garen as he sat on the other side of the table. What surprised him though was the revealed face of a new man, sitting right beside him.

  “Have a seat, Rizzo,” said the man, indicating a chair. It was the voice of the person who was with Garen on the night he was recruited into the guild. That means this had to be Vince, the other guild master. After all his time at the guild, the two had never run into each other since that first night, as if Vince had been avoiding him. Unsure of how to react, he calmly pulled out a chair and sat down. A few seconds of silence passed with them looking at him as if waiting for something.

  "Rizzo!" yelled Vosh as he walked into the room. He was taken by surprise but quickly recovered, getting up and running over to hug his friend, overjoyed to see him. Garen sat on the other side of the table, smiling at the reunion.

  "Calm down now, there will be plenty of time for you two to catch up later,” said Garen, cutting the reunion short. "Right now, we need to focus on your new job.”

  “Only if you want to accept it, of course,” added Vince.

  “Are you saying that we are going to be working together?” asked Vosh hopefully.

  "Yes, if you want it, you will be working together,” said Vince impatiently. “But it is time sensitive, so we need to hurry. A guild member of ours named Matt got caught by the guards inside the Noble’s District. They have him scheduled to be executed tomorrow afternoon.” He hated knowing that a member of the guild was being held captive.

  “Normally, we would not risk another member for a rescue attempt, but he has information we need,” said Garen.

  "Wait, you want us to break someone out of the Sartram prison?" said Vosh, as if to make sure he was understanding what they were asking. "That’s not possible. I’ve heard the stories."

  "I know,” said Vince. "It's something that has never been done. You don’t have to accept this job, but you two are our last option. No other guild member will go.”

  "If this job is so difficult that no other member will attempt it, then why should we?" asked Rizzo, genuinely concerned.

  "Because, Rizzo, the reason I recruited you was for situations exactly like this,” said Garen. "Your mind works differently than any other thief and I'm hoping you will see something that no one else can."

  "Then why am I here?" asked Vosh.

  "You are the talent,” said Vince, looking down at Rizzo and clearly making his displeasure known. "Honestly this job won’t be easy, and I would much rather have someone with experience, but right now you two are all we have. A guild member’s life is at stake here." Rizzo understood the situation he was in and saw it as an opportunity.

  "And if we agree to the job, I'm sure there will be a reward equal to the risk?" asked Rizzo.

  “Rizzo, nothing is worth dying for,” said Vosh with all seriousness.

  "I can’t force you to go,” said Garen, knowing the one thing that would make Vosh want to go. “But if you accept and are successful, then there won’t be any way for us to say you are not ready to be done with your training.”

  He looked to Vosh, knowing that Vosh would risk his life in a heartbeat if it meant he would get to join the guild. Rizzo had no idea how well guarded Sartram prison was, but he knew how much his training had improved him, making him want to test himself. And if Vosh was with him, he felt they could do almost anything.

  "Ok,” said Rizzo. "I’m in."

  “Me too,” said Vosh.

  "Great!" said Garen as if he wasn't expecting them to accept. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a rolled-up piece of paper, unfolding it on the table. "This is a map of the prison. We’ve already taken care of getting the routines and patrol routes of the guards." They were interrupted as the door opened and another guild member walked in, face covered by the mask.

  "So, it's true." He recognized the voice of the girl helping to train him. She was looking at the map on the table. "You really plan on getting two recruits to go on a suicide mission?"

  "Seeing as everyone else turned the job down, we have little choice,” said Garen. He didn't sound happy with the decision, or with the fact that she was calling it a suicide mission.

  "If Rizzo is going, then I'm going too," she said. "I would hate to see all that training we've done go to waste because you get yourself killed."

  "That's great,” said Vince, seeming surprised that she was willing to come now. "And the timing couldn't be better. We were just starting to go over the details of the prison." Garen signaled for her to have a seat as he went back to pointing at the map.

  "Ok, as I was saying, we already have the guard’s patrol routes around the prison. If we walk along the same patrol route that the guards use, we can stay just ahead of them and avoid them, so we can get to the prison cells below,” said Garen. “Getting inside is going to be the problem though. There is only one entrance that is heavily guarded and there are watchtowers encircling the entire building, each with a crossbowman inside. Plus, above the prison cells is the city guards’ quarters, where hundreds will be sleeping.”

  "We know this already,” said the girl, sounding like she was already having second thoughts about her decision to join. "That's why no one would take the job, it’s impossible."

  "There's always a way,” said Rizzo, staring at the map. He pointed to the entrance. "Let’s try to take this one step at a time. First, we need to find how to get in the prison. And to do that, our only option is through here." He pointed at the front door.

  “There are four guards there at all times though,” countered Vince, already discrediting him. “You will never make it in through there.”

  “Why can’t we just use something to distract the guards and bring them away from the door,” said Rizzo, but Vince was already shaking his head again.

  “No, they won’t leave their post for anything short of an attack,” said Vince, objecting to his every idea.

  "I think I can take care of that,” said the girl, coming to his rescue and making everyone look at her. “Let me worry about the guards in the front, you will be on your own after that though.”

  "How are you planning to do that?" asked Rizzo curiously.

  She was silent for a second, then pulled down her mask and hood, revealing her face. His jaw dropped in surprise as he realized who she was. Selena, the girl from the inn, was staring at him with her piercing green eyes. He now knew why her voice sounded so familiar.

  His body froze, just like the first time he saw her. She was as beautiful as he remembered, but the real thing that paralyzed him was that she was the one he had been training with all this time.

  "I have my ways,” said Selena. He had forgotten that he had even asked her a question, staring blindly and not knowing what to say. “See what I mean? Men are easily manipulated.” She motioned toward his dumbfounded expression.

  "Point made,” said Vince after seeing Rizzo’s complete loss of thought.

  "Well then, I guess this is Selena by the way,” said Garen as if to introduce them, but having no idea they had met before he joined the guild. “And since she will be handling the guards, you just need to figure out what to do once you’re inside. You will have to be extra cautious to not be seen. If an alarm is raised, you will have an entire army chasing you.” He traced his finger and explained the shortest route to the cells that avoided the patrols, and then pointed at a spot on the map. “This is where Matt is being held. I’m not too sure what the security is like around the cells, but it can’t be as heavy as what’s above."

  "And don’t forget, you still have to escape,” said Selena. "I can’t distract the guards forever. And by the time you two are leaving, they will be back at their post. So, you will have to find another way."

  "What if we knocked the guards out when you lure them away?” asked Vosh, thinking that was a simple solution.

  “No, that won’t work,” said Rizzo. “Vince said
there will be four guards at this entrance. Knocking out that many people without one raising an alarm would be nearly impossible. Plus, there are patrols around the building who would notice they were missing. But, you may have given me an idea. Garen, you said there was a guard tower attached to the building here, correct?” He pointed out a spot on the map. “And you said only one guard sits in these towers. Do you think the person we are freeing would be able to knock him out quietly?” He and Vosh had no skill with fighting, so he thought it best to leave that part to someone more experienced.

  “Yes, given the right tools,” said Garen. “We have some poison that will put someone to sleep for a while. All you would have to do is coat a needle or blade with it and pierce his skin, he’ll be out in seconds.”

  “Good. If we can manage to knock him out, all we would need is some rope to climb down the tower and make our escape,” said Rizzo.

  “That’s risky, but it might work,” said Garen, smiling proudly.

  They spent the next few hours studying the map of the prison and going over every detail of the plan. Failure was not an option as someone’s life was on the line. It was past midnight before they stopped. Rizzo stretched and yawned, which spread throughout the room.

  "I know everyone is tired, but unfortunately we can’t go to sleep just yet,” said Vince. “Matt will be executed tomorrow, so this has to happen tonight. Selena, why don't you take them to the equipment room and get them prepared."

  "Ok,” said Selena as she stood and headed for the door. “Follow me.”

  They were led further up the staircase to a small room, with shelves covering the entirety of every wall. Numerous items were organized neatly but tightly packed together, ranging from small blades to vials of mysterious liquids. A table was in the center of the room, made of stone that rose from the floor. She walked around the room, grabbing stuff off the shelves and making a pile on the table.