by Aaron Thomas
Auburn rolled her eyes, “Don’t go getting sappy.”
Brent laughed as he ducked to get through the stone doorway.
Inside there was a small room with a spiral staircase leading down into a pitch black hole. Brent clacked a stone against flint and soon a torch was lightning the way. “I have been in these tunnels a time or two, but have never been in this exact one. My brother use to find ways in and out of the castle and this is one he often took to shorten the time it took to do his chores in the market. He told me about the passages and said there were some places only water wizards could go.”
At the bottom of the staircase was a narrow hallway with a thin layer of water covering the ground. All three of them had to duck to avoid hitting their head on the ceiling. The smoke clinging to the ceiling stung Bowie’s eyes as it crawled along trying to escape.
“Where will we come out?” He asked.
Brent continued down the hallway and stopped at a smooth stone inset into the wall. There was a small staircase leading up. “I am not exactly sure. These stones here have a code that tells you which direction to go. I am certain that I will be able to find a more familiar corridor once we get closer to the castle. This particular hallway seems to lead us along the castle’s wall or at least directly underneath it.”
Bowie coughed from the smoke, “So we could come up underneath the guard's gate?”
“Oh I am sure we will meet up with the guard's gate, but it is highly unlikely that this tunnel opens to where they have access. They probably don’t even know of these tunnels. The only reason my brother and I do is because of our father; these tunnels are a secret passed down by the Wizard Advisor to their successor.”
The three continued in silence working their way along the long corridor. Brent checked each smooth marking stone, trying to identify their location under the castle. Twice he stopped to hold up his finger so Auburn and Bowie would attempt to be quiet. In the silence Bowie could hear the voices of people above him. As they traveled the corridor the voices from above came more often. Brent only stopped to remind the Bowie and Auburn to be quiet, even though no one had said anything.
They passed several corridors after Brent had inspected the direction stones. Finally, the ground began to slope at a large incline. The ceiling, however, did not; the further they walked the lower the ceiling got. Another opening into a small chamber could be found towards the back, covered in spider webs. Bowie attempted to stretch after squeezing through an opening that stood only the height of a man's knee. The small room smelled thick with mold accompanied by the sound of dripping water echoing from the tunnel they had just come from. Bowie was left squatting inside the tunnel while Auburn and Brent stood with chests touching at an stone archway. Once again, Auburn melted the stone away and moved inside.
The room behind the archway was as small as the one they had left and contained a few brooms with a mop and bucket. This room was one that many in the castle would pass day in and day out without anyone taking notice of the tunnels that lay behind. Bowie smiled at the ingenuousness of the tunnel and wished he had some in Humbridge. Popping out of broom closets with connected tunnels would have made his childhood mischief much more memorable and possibly successful.
Movement in the hallway brought Brent’s finger to his mouth, once again to signal the others. Bowie held his breath as they waited for the footsteps to disappear down the hallway.
“If I am correct, we are close to the entrance to the castle from the training grounds. To get to the dungeons you will need to travel through this hallway to the black door in the third corridor on our left. The door has black cast iron hinges. It is painted with tar to seal the door shut from hearing the voices on the other side. You will know it when you see it.”
Bowie whispered, “How many guards are there inside the dungeon.”
“There’s no way of telling. They change the guard down there often and there are more during the captive wizard’s meal times.. I would say as little as two guards and as many as twenty wielders at a time.”
The words barely left Brent’s mouth when Bowie shouted, “TWENTY?!”
Auburn and Brent both shushed him in a panick. Everyone listened for a moment to see if anyone heard the shout.
“Twenty? You should be going with us if there is going to be twenty wielders in the dungeon,” Bowie said yelling at a whisper.
Brent raised an eyebrow, “We are not changing the plan now. Besides, I believe you were about to take on thousands of men during battle. Twenty wielders confined to a small hallway, unaware and surprised, should be no match for you. I have other matters to attend to, archer.”
“These other matters, are they so important that you are willing to risk this mission failing?” Bowie retorted.
Brent took a moment to listen at the door before answering, although Bowie thought it was just to buy him some time to find an excuse. “Master Crescent, like Ria, I have been imbuing beads with the element of water for years. I have them hidden in my room for emergencies worthy of revealing my true power. If we are to face this soul wizard, we will need every imbuement, wizard, and warrior we can call upon.” He turned to face Bowie in the small room, his face shadowed by the moving light of the torch. “You will do as you promised and save the girl. I will meet you later. Now, third corridor on your left, black door.” He thrust the torch into the bucket of water, plunging them into darkness and splashing them with water.
The light spilled into the closet as Brent stepped out into the hallway. He nodded to the others and crossed the hallway to a staircase leading him towards the wizards quarters.
**********
Brent found very few servants in the hallways. He knew it was probably because of the lack of nobles in the castle. Most of them had followed King Atmos to the battle, taking their soldiers to fight with them. In a month’s time, these hallways would be busy with servants fetching wine and food for nobles abusing their station to take whatever they could from the king.
Twice, Brent had to duck into a empty room to avoid the sight of a servant performing their tasks. He found it relatively easy to pass through the castle unnoticed. He hoped that Bowie and Auburn were having the same amount of ease on their task.
He knew that if the nobles quarters were almost empty, the wizards quarters would be even more so. Brent saw a mouse scurry down the wall to a crack in which it disappeared. He would have normally exterminated the rodent but not now if he wanted to remain unnoticed. He found the key in the pocket amongst the folds of his robes and slid it into the lock of his door. Sand spilt out of the lock and made it hard to turn. When he tried to free the key it would not budge. He knew Brandon would know he was there; the sand was a trap, an alarm of sorts that alerted the wizard when it was tampered with. Brent had done the same with puddles or basins of water in the past.
He quickly entered his room and moved to the hearth on the far wall. Using the poker for the fire, he scraped the mortar holding the stones in place. Behind the stone buried in sand was a small pile of imbuements he was racing to retrieve. Any earth wizard looking for imbuements would only see the beads as rocks in the mortar. The scraping of the stones hurt his hands so he pulled the imbued knife his brother had given him and used the increased strength to dig faster.
Finally, he was able to pull the stone free of its place, but heard the door squeak behind him. Opening a small leather pouch from his robe, he brushed the sand and imbuements in without looking back. Using the water vision, he watched a figure enter the room. Soon the water vision details made out his brother’s features. He turned slowly to face him.
Brandon spoke, “I was wondering when you would come for those. You are wise for making those, following father’s advice on at least one thing.”
“I follow his advice in more than you know, Brandon. I’m glad I have a chance to speak with you. Do you know of the soul wizard?”
“I do know.” Brandon sat down in the cushioned chair next to the bed.
Brent
thought he looked very relaxed.
“Are you going to offer aid to the Elders, or is this simply a rescue mission?” Brandon asked.
Brent moved to the wardrobe where he placed several books of importance concerning soul wizards and the Dark Army. “For me, it is simply to gather resources to fight the soul wizard and the next dark army. For others, it is a rescue mission. Have you set a trap in the dungeons for those that try to rescue Kara?”
The archer should have found the dungeon by now. If his brother were to sound the alarm now, it would only alert Bowie that they had been discovered. The struggle would commence whether or not his brother sent men to protect the dungeon. Brent had time to try and convince his brother to join them.
His brother sat relaxed and made no move to stop or hinder Brent in any way. Brent moved to a seat at a small breakfast table opposite Brandon. Brent would sit and try and delay any alarm while he could.
“Why would I put a trap in the dungeons? Kara is in the room next door. She has been living with Twilix in the castle for weeks now,” Brandon said.
Brent was taken back by the statement. Brandon had always been a better strategist than him. Brandon’s plots and schemes far outweighed his own. Before Brent could answer he had to think over the possible schemes he was facing, now written on his brother's face. Was it possible that Brandon was lying, or even worse, telling the truth. For all Brent knew there could be an ambush of wielders ready to take him into custody in the room next door.
“Don’t be offended if I do not trust your word. Why are we sitting? Shouldn’t you be taking me into custody?” Brent asked.
“By the king’s word, I should be. Kara should also still be confined in the dungeons, but I have yet to fulfil my job on such matters as an advisor. I would need to speak with the king face to face for that to happen.”
There was a long silence with the two skinny brothers trying to peel back layers of deception from one another's faces.
“Enough games, Brent. You are my brother and I wish to come clean. I admit I was wrong about Kilen. I helped condemn him to a life of dodging assassins and hiding, but no longer. The king wishes him dead. When he returns I will advise against it. I will also advise that we seek to aid the Elders.”
“Why? You know as well as I that as soon as he returns, he will kill me and Kara to get to Kilen. You know that you’ll have no power to sway his mind because he would appoint another to be his advisor and name you a traitor like the rest of us.”
“That’s why you aren’t staying. Take Twilix, Kara and all the imbuements you can gather. Run and fight the battle. I will do my job, the job our father meant for me to do.”
“You are letting us go?” Brent was confused and still pessimistic of his brothers willingness to free him. He knew it was probably some sort of a trap or political game.
“Yes. Our father and my predecessor gave me specific instructions not to let Atmos destroy this realm. He will not stop to destroy Kilen and in doing so, destroy the kingdom. I will do my best prevent it from this point on. Atmos has contradicted the actions of a king and disregarded my council along with our father’s for years. Either his ignorance will end or my life will.”
“You could come with us,” Brent said, still trying to draw out any sign of a trap.
“I must stay, for the realm.” Brent gave Brandon a nod of his head.
Brandon smiled and clasped his hands together as he stood. “Let me fetch Twilix and Kara so you can be on your way. The longer you stay, the more likely your presence will be discovered.” He stopped short of the door and turned around, “I will ask you to do me a favor. Subdue the guards that will prevent Kara from leaving. If you do it, I will be able to feign my loyalty for a time. It may give me the time to change Atmos’ mind.”
He disappeared behind the door and Brent spoke too late to be heard, “Thank you.”
They never had a relationship that most brothers would have. Brandon was much older and trained from birth to be a king’s advisor. He spent most of his time practicing politics, reading history of the noble lines, and dining with nobles and wizards from across the realms. Brent, on the other hand, was trained by any wizard that would teach him, or by the books that he read. He was left to wander and given every resource to find his own path. His father told him he was trained to be a rogue wizard. A wizard that wandered from town to town only subject to his own whims. He was trained to be free, just as his brother was trained to be a servant to the throne. His father had always claimed that they would need each other one day. Brent was unsure if this was that day.
Brent saw an extra satchel under the bed and scooped it up to put the books inside. He was busy stuffing the bag when he saw two shadows walking down the hall. The figures were adult sized, not child sized as Twilix and Kara would be. Dropping the bag, he seized as much of the water magic and earth magic as he could muster. Quickly, he pulled free the leather bindings holding the imbued beads in the bag. He watched as two women rounded the corner into the room.
His brother had tricked him once again and didn’t have the stomach to face him in a fight. He poured the sand, mortar, and imbuements from the bag into his hand. The sand and mortar slipped through his fingers, leaving the imbuements behind. Each time one of the imbuements touched his flesh he felt his hold on the magic grow stronger. He gathered water from the window as the blonde-headed woman had a look of shock as her eyes met his.
Yes, be afraid I am a very powerful wizard, he thought to himself.
Instead of preparing to fight or even trying struggle over control of the magic, she turned to the dark haired woman behind her. “Shut the door.”
The dark haired woman checked the hallway before closing the door.
“Brent, it is so good to see you well. I am very happy you have not been taken captive. Do you know where Kilen is?” The woman asked.
“If I did know where Kilen was, I wouldn’t tell you.” Brent clutched his brothers imbued knife in one hand and the imbuements in the other, poising himself to fight.
The girls both seemed calm like they had done this before, the blond even giggled.
“I am so sorry, Brent. I forgot we look different now.” She took a step closer but Brent took a step back and felt his left foot come in contact with the stone wall behind him. “It’s me, Twilix.”
Brent took a moment in the woman’s silence to carefully take in her features. The face truly was that of a grown Twilix. A face he had spent many hours training with, he did not think she would so easily be disguised by age.
“I see you now, you have aged well. Who is this?” He pointed at the dark haired woman with his knife.
“She, I don’t think you would recognise. I’d like you to meet Wizard of Flame, Kara Everheart. She is Kilen’s sister, aged and in control. She put forth great effort to keep me alive while I aged. So much effort that it triggered her own aging.” Twilix held out a hand and the dark haired female stepped forward so Brent could take her in full view.
He glanced between the two wizards, still trying to discern if it was a trap. He knew that no matter the outcome of the situation, he would have to be leaving the castle soon. “I’m here to take you out of the castle and set you free so you can free your brother of his binds and guilt.” He looked Twilix in the eye, “Twilix, a new soul wizard has risen.”
She picked up the hem of her skirt, “Well, we have no time to lose then. C’mon Kara, let us go and gather our things. Brent, will you meet us next door?”
He still was a little unnerved from all that transpired in a short amount of time. Then he remembered: Bowie and Auburn were searching the dungeon for Kara where they would never find her. Alarm bells began to sound in the courtyard below. Apparently the archer’s presence had been discovered.
Quickly, he snatched the last two books and went to the closed door. Pushing his use of water magic through the keyhole, he could see four wielders now guarding Twilix’s door. These must have been the wielders meant to guard Twilix and Ka
ra. Brandon had requested he deal with them before departing. He’d hoped to get them by surprise but the opportunity had now passed.
Wanting to alert Twilix so they could form a plan, he ran to his window and pulled open the shutters. The humid summer day heat struck him in the face as he leaned out the window. Her window was shut and he was sure there was no way for her to hear him over the alarm bells ringing far below. He wished there was a secret passage or ledge for him to cross into her room. Wishing for a ledge formed a plan in his mind.
Gathering water as he crossed the room, a small ledge of ice started to form on the exterior wall providing the path he needed to cross to Twilix’s room. The ledge wouldn’t last long in the heat, but he would not stay for long either. After pounding on the window, Twilix threw it open in a surprise and waved him inside while looking to the court yard for the reason of the sounding bells.
“Are there more here?” Twilix said in a hurry.
“Bowie is here with another wielder searching the dungeons for Kara,” Brent whispered, moving quickly to the door. The wardrobe had been thrown open and Kara was furiously packing clothes into bags.
Kara pulled on Brent’s shoulder so he faced her. “Bowie came to rescue me?” Brent nodded and Kara’s cheeks turned red as she smiled. Her packing slowed only a moment as if she was lost in thought.
“We need to get out of here. Brandon asked me to deal with these wielders so he would not have to.” Brent pointed to the door. “Perhaps if we make our way to the dungeons we will be able to find Bowie and get out of here.”
Twilix pushed past Kara who seemed to be staring off into nothing at the floor. “No. We go to where the guards are going and hope we can get there before they are captured or killed.”
Throwing back the blue cloak she now wore over her shoulders, she kicked open the door while freezing a ball of ice in the air. The guards, not expecting an attack, were quickly dispatched by what seemed to be a ricocheting chunk of ice. Each man slumped as the ice smashed into their unprotected skulls. Brent followed her out, “I was supposed to dispatch them.”
