“I swear, I did nothing.”
“You did nothing you know of,” Devon corrected. “But I think you triggered it somehow. It wouldn’t have just started flaming on its own.”
“But if I didn’t know what I did, how could I do it?”
“Magic doesn’t require conscious thought,” Liliana said. “If there is a trigger, you can trip it without thinking as easily as with.”
Calibot stared at her as though she were telling him to fly. He wasn’t following the idea. Devon was, though.
“Calibot, you have some sort of emotional connection to the sword,” he said. “Or maybe it has an emotional connection to you. I don’t know. Regardless, Wyrmblade started burning when you attempted to attack the messenger. Your anger or your passion or your frustration activated one of the sword’s abilities.”
“Yes!” Liliana said. “That must be it! Gothemus enchanted the sword to respond to commands you give it from your heart. Oh, that’s really very clever!”
Calibot alternated gaping at the two of them. His head shifted back and forth from one to the other. Finally, he spoke.
“But what has that got to do with finding his body?” he said.
“If the sword can be made to burn when your emotions are hot, then it probably has other powers you can trigger with your emotions,” Devon began.
“And if that’s true, it stands to reason Gothemus enchanted it to be able to find him if you focus your emotions on it!” Liliana finished.
“Precisely,” Devon said. “I think you can lead us to him.”
“Wow,” Liliana said, beaming.
“But how?” Calibot said.
“Try thinking about him,” Liliana answered. “If you picture him in your mind, you might get a feeling for where he is.”
“Hold the sword while you do it,” Devon said. “I think that will strengthen the connection.”
Calibot looked at him as though he were mad. Then he sighed and relented.
“Very well,” he said. “I think this is crazy, but I’ll try it.”
He closed his eyes and put his hand on the pommel. It took only a second before his eyes snapped open again.
“By the gods, I felt something,” he said. “I really felt it.”
“Can you track it?” Devon said.
Calibot closed his eyes again. After a moment, he took a step forward. Then another. He turned towards the door and took two more.
“Yes,” he said. “Yes, if I move in the right direction, it gets stronger.”
“Perfect,” Devon said.
“Yes,” Liliana agreed. “Let’s go! We can get the body and get out of here tonight.”
“Well, there are several problems with that,” Calibot said, opening his eyes again.
“What are they,” Devon asked.
“How are we going to get the body out?” Calibot said. “There are only three of us, and we don’t have any way to disguise it. Assuming the body’s under guard, how do we get to it, and how do we get away with it? It’s not like we can travel quickly with it, nor will we be able to get very far without someone noticing.”
Devon nodded. He hadn’t thought of any of that. It was imperative to get the body away from the Council, but how exactly were they going to do that? He scratched his head, trying to come up with an idea.
Suddenly, Liliana looked excited. She rushed over to her pack, dug through it, and produced a scroll. She opened it and began reading. Calibot and Devon exchanged a look. Neither knew what she was doing. She turned around a moment later and grinned at the both of them.
“I have an idea,” she said.
Chapter 11: An Impossible Position
Calibot pressed himself up against the stone wall of the corridor and held his breath as the footfalls of the patrol approached. He prayed silently that they would pass by the junction where he, Devon, and Liliana hid instead of turning their way.
He gripped Wyrmblade and tried to imagine how to use it if they had to fight. Devon crouched, prepared to spring at the guards the second they turned in their direction.
The patrol reached the junction and stopped. Calibot could see their green uniforms in the torchlight. Like the other patrols they’d encountered, this one consisted of two soldiers carrying swords. They looked ahead for a moment. Then they turned their heads towards the corridor where Calibot and the others were hiding. Desperately, he pressed his back harder into the stone, praying the shadow was enough to conceal them.
After a moment, the guards turned away from them and started marching in the exact opposite direction. Before Calibot could exhale in relief, Devon tapped him on the shoulder, urging him to move. He did, darting around the corner into the hall from which the patrol had just come and out of their immediate sight. Seconds later, Devon and Liliana joined him.
“That was close,” she whispered.
“Yes,” Devon agreed.
Calibot nodded. Finding his father’s body had turned out to be harder than they thought. The magical sword guided him. He only had to concentrate a little to get the feeling that told him which way to go.
But Wyrmblade didn’t say anything about the regularity of patrols or where they would be encountered. They’d had to hide from Eldenbergian soldiers several times now, and, not only did it slow their progress, it was nerve-wracking. If they had to fight, the cause was likely lost. There would be too much noise for them not to be discovered.
“How close are we?” Devon said.
Calibot closed his eyes and focused. He could sense his father down the hall and around the corner to the right. He was near.
“Not far,” he answered. “This way.”
He stole down the corridor to the next junction. This one T’ed to the left and right. He chanced a glance around the bend and saw the next hall was empty. Without looking to see if his friends were behind him, he signaled them to come along. Then he moved again, following the growing sensation in his stomach.
After twenty feet, there was a door on the right. When he moved past it, the feeling of his father’s presence weakened. He stopped cold. Devon nearly ran into him.
“What is it?” he whispered.
“Down there,” Calibot said, looking at the door. “There’s a stairway leading down. That’s where they’re keeping him.”
“How do you know there’s a stairway,” Devon asked.
“I just do,” he said.
Devon nodded. Calibot marveled at his simple acceptance. If it had been him, Calibot would have wanted to know more details, especially about how he could be sure. But Devon was a soldier. If someone told him something was so, he just believed, even if what he was being told could only be explained by magic.
Magic. Calibot supposed that’s what it was. His father, who had never bothered to try to understand Calibot when he was alive, was reaching out to him with magic now. He couldn’t decide if he was pleased or disgusted.
“Can you tell if the door is locked,” Devon asked.
Calibot hadn’t thought about that. Once again, Devon just accepted the magic and asked a strategic question. Why was it so easy for him? Why was it so simple for everyone else to believe in Gothemus, to not see him for the empty man he actually was?
With a frustrated sigh, Calibot closed his eyes and focused on the feeling in his stomach. He knew he had to go down a stair to find his father’s body. That was all he could sense.
“No,” he said, after a moment. “It’s not telling me that. Only what’s on the other side of the door.”
“That’s inconvenient,” Devon said with a nod.
“Magic only does what you command it to,” Liliana said. “If you ask it to help you find someone, it does so. It doesn’t tell you what you will find on the way. That’s a different question.”
Devon gave her a perturbed look, but Calibot found himself agreeing with her. The experience of having to dodge patrols was enough of an indicator she was correct, but he also had the intimacy of the spell working on him. He understood how it
operated in a way neither Devon nor Liliana could.
For a moment, he was disturbed. He didn’t like that he was learning to think like a sorcerer. The last thing he wanted to be like was his father. He put the thought out of his head and concentrated on what he needed to do next.
“I think I’d better go first,” Devon said.
“Why?” Liliana said.
“If we’re sure Gothemus is down there,” he answered, “but we don’t know what obstacles are between us and his body, it would be better if we had a warrior in front to deal with any surprises.”
“Suppose the ‘surprises’ are magical,” Liliana said. “Would you know how to counter them?”
“No,” he admitted after thinking for a moment. “But if it was a surprise, you might not see it coming either. If you are killed, we can’t work a counter-spell. But if there are guards, having someone who can fight up front will increase the chances we survive.”
“That makes sense to me,” she said.
Calibot shuddered at the thought of Liliana attempting one of her errant spells in the middle of a fight. Was Devon insane?
“All right,” Devon decided, “I’ll go first; Calibot you come second; Liliana you bring up the rear.”
“And suppose my father’s body isn’t immediately there when we get to the bottom?” Calibot said. “Then what?”
“Then you can move back to the front and lead us again,” he answered.
Calibot resigned himself to the logic and nodded. There was no arguing with Devon. It may have been Calibot’s father they were seeking, and it may have been Calibot with the magical sword, but Devon was in charge. He was the strategist. Calibot supposed that was best.
“All right, everyone follow me quietly,” Devon said. “Let’s hope the door isn’t locked or alarmed.”
He moved past Calibot and gingerly lifted the latch. It gave with no resistance. Calibot exhaled in relief. At least that part of this insane mission went smoothly.
Devon pulled the door aside. Calibot could see light coming from below. The stairwell went straight down and was poorly lit by a single torch. With the barest pause, Devon slipped inside and began his descent. Calibot followed quickly after him, not sure what to expect. He paid no attention to Liliana. She could have been behind him or still waiting at the top of the stairs for all he knew.
As they neared the bottom, a tiny voice called out. It was high-pitched, as though it belonged to a child.
“Vicia,” it said, “I have no time for your interruptions. I need to concentrate.”
The sight that greeted them at the bottom of the stairs astounded them. The body of Gothemus Draco lay on a stone slab in the middle of the room. Standing on it – standing actually on his father’s chest – was a miniature man. He couldn’t have been more than ten inches tall. He wore a light blue tunic and red pants with brown shoes. He had long, white hair that rested on his shoulders.
He had his back to them when they got to the bottom of the stairs. He knelt on Gothemus’s chest and appeared to be working some kind of magic. There was a soft glow coming from his hands. After a moment, his shoulders sagged in irritation.
“What is it, Vicia,” he asked. “I said I was busy.”
He turned around and looked just as surprised to see Calibot, Devon, and Liliana as they were to see him. For a second, everyone stood frozen.
“Who are you?” the tiny man said.
Before anyone could answer, Calibot’s sword caught fire. He gaped at it in even greater surprise. A look of astonished fear came over the little man’s face.
Before he realized what he was doing, Calibot charged. He ran at the strange creature, intending to cut him in half.
“Calibot!” Devon shouted.
The thing on his father’s chest stood up and hurled a ball of green energy at Calibot. Without thinking, Calibot swatted it aside with his sword. It careened into the wall and exploded. Calibot grinned savagely.
He closed the distance and swung with all his might. The little man snapped his fingers and vanished. Calibot cut air.
“To your left!” Devon shouted.
Calibot turned just in time to see another ball of green energy coming at him. He had just enough time to get the sword up. The spell hit the flat of the blade and exploded. Calibot felt heat wash over him, and his hands shook with the force of the blast. He couldn’t hold onto Wyrmblade any longer. It fell to the floor, clattered twice, and went out.
Now it was the little man’s turn to grin fiendishly. He leered evilly at Calibot behind a thick, white beard. His eyes flashed.
“You must be his son,” he growled. “I didn’t recognize you at first. Time to die like your father.”
He raised his hands. Calibot saw them glow green. He winced and prepared for death.
“Contera!” Liliana shouted.
A purple beam shot out of her staff and smashed into the strange creature’s chest. There was a bright, purple flash, and then he was gone.
Calibot stood shaking. He’d been convinced he was going to die. The fact that he was still alive stunned him.
“Are you okay?” Devon said, rushing to him.
Calibot nodded dumbly as Devon embraced him. He held him tightly, and Calibot clung to him, trying to get his bearings back.
“I thought I’d lost you,” Devon said as he released him.
Calibot kissed him. The sense of relief at still being alive was overwhelming.
“How did you do that?” Devon said after they parted.
“Do which?” Calibot replied.
“Any of it.”
“I don’t know,” Calibot answered. “It was almost like I wasn’t there, like the sword was doing everything. Like it was wielding me.”
He fell silent and thought about what he said. It was true. He’d felt like he was watching himself from a distance, like someone else was in control of his actions. He wasn’t sure he liked that.
“This is extraordinary,” Liliana said.
Devon and he turned their attention to the young magician. As usual, she was drawn to something completely outside what had just happened. Calibot wasn’t entirely sure she was connected to the world the same way normal people were. She stood over Gothemus’s body, enthralled.
“He’s completely preserved,” she said.
“What do you mean,” Devon asked.
“He’s been dead for over two weeks,” Liliana replied. “His body should be putrefying. Instead, it’s as if he died only a few hours ago.”
Devon walked over and observed the body. After only a few moments, he turned back.
“She’s right,” he said. “His body should be in much worse shape than it is.” He turned to Liliana. “More magic?”
“Probably,” she said. “Although I’ve never heard of anything like this.”
“Forgive me if I sound rude,” he said, “but would you have?”
She thought for a moment. Calibot could see her sifting through possibilities.
“I don’t know,” she confessed.
Devon nodded. He returned his attention to the body. Calibot had no idea what he was looking for, but the sight of his father lying on that stone slab cut through him. He was wearing a grey robe, and his enormous white beard was piled up on his chest. Long tresses of white hair flowed over the stone. He looked almost exactly the same as the last time Calibot saw him.
But one thing was very different. There was no light to him. Living things had a glow about them that seemed to come from their eyes and their expressions. Even when they slept, you could tell someone was alive. His father had no light at all. He was just flesh and muscle taking up space in the middle of a cool room below ground.
“What was that thing working on him?” Devon said. “A fairy?”
“It looked like a gnome to me,” Liliana replied. Then she added, “Although I’ve never seen one. I’ve only read descriptions.”
“Could he have been preserving Gothemus somehow?”
“I’m not sur
e,” she said. “He was obviously performing some sort of magic, but I couldn’t tell what.”
“As interesting as this debate is,” Calibot said, “don’t you think we should get on with getting him out of here? Someone could have heard us.”
He was feeling miserable. The reality of his father lying dead before him made him angry.
“Good point,” Devon said. “We can continue this discussion after we get out of Eldenberg. Liliana, why don’t you get out your burn powder?”
Liliana dutifully reached into her pack for the pouch of the dust she used to start their campfires. Calibot looked on skeptically.
“Can I ask a question?” he said.
“I believe you just did,” Devon said with a grin. Calibot ignored him.
“There’s no ventilation down here,” Calibot said. “Where’s the smoke going to go?”
Devon and Liliana both looked horrified. Calibot sighed.
“I didn’t think of that,” Liliana admitted.
“Neither did I,” Devon said.
“Also,” Calibot said, “won’t it take awhile for the body to burn? How long would we have to wait? Won’t someone discover us before we could collect the ashes?”
Everyone stood around hopelessly. Calibot wanted to scream. How were they supposed to do this? His father had summoned him here. He’d sent his apprentice with a magical sword to come to get him and tell him to take his remains home for cremation and final rest. But it seemed his father had been murdered by the Council of Elders, which was keeping the body, and they had no way to get it away from them. Why would his father torture him with an impossible task like this? Had he really been that bad a son?
“There has to be a way,” Liliana said.
“What do you mean?” Devon said.
“Gothemus has planned every other step of this,” she said. “If he knew he was going to be murdered and thus made sure to get a message and instructions to me so that I could get Wyrmblade to Calibot, he must have had some sort of contingency for getting his body out. It’s his way. He doesn’t leave anything to chance.”
No one said anything for a moment. Calibot was even angrier at this idea than that they had come all this way for nothing.
The Sword and the Sorcerer Page 8
