“I thought you said you wouldn’t turn me over,” Jane said accusingly.
“Oh, I won’t. But I’m sure the master of this island will,” Averill said with a smug laugh.
The other dwarf gave her a shove, and she fell into the cell. The door was slammed shut, and the key turned with a loud clunk. Jane glared at the door as she came to her feet, but a sound from the far side of the cell drew her attention, and she turned to face the other person in the cell.
“JANE!”
Jane turned and was nearly bowled over as her sister, Jackie, wrapped her in a great hug. Tears streamed down both of their faces as they clung to each other. After almost a year of not knowing what had happened, Jane was overjoyed to see her sister again, and the joy of the reunion overshadowed their dire circumstances.
“I missed you so much,” Jane whispered as she stepped back with her hands on her sister’s shoulders. “When you vanished from the university, everyone said you were kidnapped or dead. I never believed it.” She examined her sister closely looking for any sign of mistreatment. Despite the long absence from their world, Jackie was still a raven-haired beautiful young woman. Their faces were nearly the same with high cheek bones and a look that many people said reminded them of a young Jackie Kennedy. Her raven hair was pulled back into a rough pony tail, and her clothing was thread bare and smudged, but she had managed to keep it clean despite all she had been through.
“How did you get here?” Jackie asked. She sat down on the rough bunk nearby and motioned for Jane to sit next to her. “I didn’t think anyone would be ever able to find me. Heck, I thought I had gone insane when I came to and saw that black-robed freak looking down at me.”
“You must have been terrified,” Jane said sympathetically. She looked around but discounted any attempt to escape through the Divide. Even if they had anchors, the cell was lined on all sides with cold iron and would rebuff any attempt at escape.
“For a while I was scared, confused, exhausted.” Jackie admitted. “Then I slowly started to understand this place. I began to realize what it was, and that helped me hold on to my sanity. Under better circumstances, it’d really be amazing to visit this place. The other prisoners I talked to describe the natural beauty of this island so vividly, it was hard to see how anyone would want to destroy it.”
“The same could be said for our side,” Jane muttered with a sad shake of her head. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy the comforts of life as much as anyone, but those people purposefully destroy things…” She shook her head. “It’s just wrong.”
“So what do we do now?” Jackie asked. “I keep hearing whispered rumors between some of the other prisoners of a rebellion. We have to keep our voices down though because the guards beat anyone who speaks about it.” Jackie pulled up the corner of her shirt and showed Jane a nasty black bruise that covered the middle of her back. “One of the short ones hit me with a thick club one day for saying something too loud. It still hurts.”
Jane’s eyes narrowed as she fumed angrily. “Somehow Tasker will figure out something. I hope anyway.”
“Who’s Tasker?” Jackie asked curiously. She kept her voice low so that no one outside of the cell stood any chance of hearing them.
“He’s the dwarf who came and found me,” Jane explained. “He was training me to be a Map Maker and showed me what I can do.”
“A dwarf?” Jackie muttered. “Huh, that’s weird.”
“What?” Jane asked.
“Well,” Jackie paused. “One of the other prisoners who’s been here for a while said he overheard Blumm Dragrog, the commander of Viscount Lerod’s soldiers, laughing about what he called the ‘supposed rebellion’ and the fact that one of their own short ones was guiding it.”
“It can’t be Tasker,” Jane scoffed. “He was on our side of the Divide for the last fifteen years searching for Jacob and me.”
“Yeah. You’re right,” Jackie admitted. “It doesn’t sound like he could be guiding a rebellion from our world.” Jackie was silent a few minutes, in awe that after a year of separation they were back together. “I must admit there’s only one reason they keep me here. The Viscount’s son likes me, he even whispered once that he was working on trying to find a way to help me escape.”
“How do you know he isn’t trying to set you up?” Jane whispered back. She looked around nervously.
“He isn’t,” Jackie replied with a nervous smile.
“You like him?” Jane said in surprise. “That’s like dating the enemy.”
“No one chooses their parents,” Jackie said back to her. “And Carvin is nothing like his father. He’s kind and sweet and wants nothing to do with the Temple of Adherency. His father’s a vicious brute who had his own wife murdered. Carvin wants to leave this place behind and go somewhere far away where the Adherents can’t find him.”
“And you’d go with him?” Jane asked. Now that the initial shock had passed, she could see Jackie was seriously considering staying.
“Well, I had nothing more to look forward to until now,” Jackie replied with a shrug. “I was stuck here with no real prospects of ever going home. Now I’m not sure.”
There was a scuffle beyond the door to the cell. Moments later the thick iron portal opened, and a tall young man with wide shoulders slipped inside, followed by four Adherents carrying a second bunk and two trays of food.
“I brought your meal,” he said but then his voice trailed off. He stayed silent until the others left and then looked from Jackie to Jane. He began to understand the situation once he saw how much they looked alike. “Jane, I presume?”
“Carvin, this is my sister,” Jackie said. Before they could say anything more, a shout of anger outside the door drew their attention, and a mountain of man threw open the iron door.
“Carvin, get out of there!”
Jackie skittered back, pulling Jane with her. She intoned to Jane, “The man’s a brute. Several times I believed he was going to force me into his bed, but, thankfully I managed to avoid it each time.”
“The little brat has a sister, huh?” the Viscount roared with a vile grin that spoke volumes. He crossed to where Jane sat and grabbed her chin in his hand. An iron grip forced her head up until she was staring at him. “Maybe I’ll come for both of you later. You should be thankful Master Cain has ordered that anyone captured from the other side be kept intact until he decides what to do with them.” He roared a coarse laugh and stepped back to where Carvin was huddled in a corner, trying to avoid being seen.
“And you,” Viscount Lerod snarled. He cuffed his son hard on the back of the head. The blow sent him reeling into the wall. “What a pathetic excuse for an offspring. I’m glad I had the wench that birthed you killed. If I didn’t need an heir, I’d have you follow in her footsteps, but I keep hoping you’ll wake up to what we have here.”
“Yes, father,” Carvin muttered as he picked himself off the floor and brushed off the dirt.
“Our spies report there are rebels about,” Viscount Lerod said. “I want you to rouse two companies and make sure they’re ready to respond to any attack. Four hundred soldiers should be more than sufficient to respond to anything these supposed rebels can muster. Have them board their ships and be ready to set sail when we track down their location.”
“Yes, father,” Carvin replied. He cast a worried look at Jackie, then rushed from the cell to the barracks buildings on either side, where many of the fortress’s three thousand soldiers were housed.
Back inside the prison cell, Jane wiped her face as the Viscount stepped out of the cell and slammed the door behind him. The key turned in the lock again and once more she and her sister were alone.
“All right,” Jane muttered, feeling violated just from his stares. “Carvin seems nice, but his father needs to be put down like a rabid dog.” Still her heart leapt at the thought of Tasker and the others coming to her aid. How they would do it was beyond her, but she hoped it was true.
“Do you reall
y think someone’s coming for you?” Jackie asked.
“For us, Jackie,” Jane replied. “Yes. I think they’re coming for us. I’ll never leave you behind, no matter what happens.”
They sat on their crude bunks talking about what happened. Jane told her story in hushed tones that no one could overhear. The meal was plain but filling, and despite the fact it was cold it tasted fine. With no windows, they had no idea what time it was. When the dwarf guard returned for their trays, he refused to tell Jane about the time.
When they grew tired of talking, they pulled their bunks close to each other and lay down to sleep. Jane was still amazed she’d found her sister after a year of believing she was gone forever. Her mind whirled as she tried to sleep in the dark cell, but remained wide awake listening and hoping for help.
* * * * *
Tasker and Eriunia walked slowly down the twisted streets of the Isle of Lakes. Much of the southern half of the island was covered with the industrial complex that fed the massive shipyard. They had left the ore ship as it pulled into a small dock south of the main shipyard. A forest of smoke stacks and rough cranes blocked their view of whatever was being built. Despite being curious about what the ore ship captain had hinted, Eriunia knew their main goal was the freeing of Jane and Jackie, and they needed to stay focused on that. Braun and three others trailed them at a discreet distance, not wanting to draw attention to a large group. They all wore Adherent robes, but Eriunia was beginning to notice subtle differences between the robes they wore and those worn by those few Adherents around them.
“It’s going to give us away,” she said to Tasker when she pointed out that their robes were older and lacked the symbols of the others. “I think some of us would blend in better without the robes.” She motioned back out to the street. They stood in a dark alley, while Braun kept watch at the entrance.
Tasker agreed. “Have those following us remove their robes.”
The nearby fortress wall had a thirty-foot empty space between it and the surrounding city. Far to the west, the sun was disappearing beyond wooded hills as they made their way quickly to the last house separating them from the fortress.
“Up you go,” Braun hoisted the first man up the side of the stone building and then boosted the second one up. When they were all standing on the wood and tar roof, they walked quickly to the side facing the fortress. “Now we wait.”
“How long will it take?” Eriunia asked. Suddenly, from the western half of the city a loud flapping of wings and the flash of a dark form knifed through the air. Then a line of liquid fire rained down on the city, setting fire to the wooden roofs and drawing screams from the horrified people. “What was that?”
“I don’t know, but it’s working in our favor,” Tasker said, pointing to where the watchful soldiers were racing to the far walls to see the fires. Five minutes later the southern wall was empty, and Braun stood openly on the rooftop as he launched a thin but strong rope across the space. It fell perfectly across a section of the wall that stuck up above the others and held tightly when he pulled against it.
“Here we go,” Braun said as he checked his weapons and tied off the near end of the rope. “Remember to untie the rope when we are inside.” The rebel soldiers nodded and crouched down next to the rope. “Tasker, good luck with your part.” He waved to them then went hand over hand across the space and slipped over the wall.
“Be safe,” Tasker said to Eriunia as she started across the rope.
She looked back at him and nodded, “You also.” He had been tight lipped about his part of the plan, but Eriunia thought it included finding out what was being built inside the shipyard and trying to cause some havoc on the docks before their planned retreat. Moments later, she slipped off the edge of the wall to crouch next to Braun. The third and fourth members of their rescue party followed, and they pulled the rope across. Tasker and the last rebel then headed west—the escape now in their hands.
“The ship captain said he’d been inside the fortress once to pick up a crew member who had been taken into custody,” Braun explained as they overlooked the brooding fortress. In a flurry of activity soldiers opened the main gate further west and a broad column of soldiers marched out. Below them they saw the three buildings that marked the dungeon’s entrance and watched for signs of movement. Suddenly their eyes were drawn to furtive shadows next to the wall below them.
“Is that who I think it is?” Eriunia hissed suddenly. She pointed to the figures crouched below them against the barracks’ wall. Along the back of the structure, out of sight from the last of the soldiers, Jacob and Flying Cloud, with Bella perched atop Jacob’s shoulder, dashed across the open space and disappeared into the dungeon entrance.
“What do we do?” Braun asked, looking to Eriunia. All of them carried bows instead of magic muskets because it was hard to be stealthy when a glowing trail of energy followed every shot you fired.
“We wait and help them escape,” Eriunia said without hesitation. “We can cover them from here well enough and have our ropes ready to climb down the moment they emerge. Braun, go guide them to us.”
The elf soldier nodded and shimmied down a rope held by the other two soldiers. Eriunia watched until he disappeared into the dungeon, then motioned for the other two soldiers to ready themselves. “Make sure the ropes are tied off. Then spread out and be ready.”
They nodded and turned to fix three lengths of rope to the wall, letting them dangle down the far side. All three crouched in the shadow cast by the wall, bows ready and arrows clenched in their fists.
“Uh oh,” Eriunia muttered. “Trouble.”
Three men crossed the courtyard coming from the fortress. One was young, maybe eighteen or twenty years at most and dressed unlike any other Adherent she had seen. He carried a leather pack and was armed with a pistol, a rifle and a sword. He seemed nervous as he walked slightly behind the other two Adherents.
“Stay here and cover us,” Eriunia whispered to the other two rebels. She flipped her bow over her shoulder and shimmied down the rope into the courtyard.
Chapter 17
Passing of a Friend
A scuffle of boots and a stifled shout outside the door brought Jane and Jackie to their feet. They clung to each other in the darkness as they waited. A rattle of keys continued for some time as the person outside the door searched for the right one. When the portal finally swung open, Jane squealed in delight as Flying Cloud and Bella stepped into the cell and looked around. Despite her earlier feelings about the other girl, she had never been happier to see someone in her life.
“Flying Cloud! Bella!” Jane quietly exclaimed, but she caught herself, not wanting to alert anyone . “What are you doing here?”
“Jane, what are you doing here?” Flying Cloud asked, almost as surprised.
“Jane?” Jacob asked from the door. He looked nervously up and down the passage outside the cells and then back in at her in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“Is there an echo in here?” Bella asked suddenly as she flapped her one good wing.
“But …” Jacob started.
“I think we should save the explanations for later,” Flying Cloud piped as she motioned towards the door. “We don’t know how long we have before someone comes to check on the dungeons.”
“You’re right,” Jane said grudgingly. She grabbed Jackie’s hand and pulled her towards the open door. “Come on. We’re getting out of here.”
“I wish I could say goodbye to Carvin,” Jackie said. She followed Jane into the hallway and crouched next to her as Jacob hurriedly explained.
“Yerdarva is creating a disturbance for us,” Jacob explained. “We need to get back out the gate before anything happens to her.” He turned and led them back to the dungeon entrance. They all hurried through the door but skidded to a halt. Spread out in the big room were ten black-robed Adherents. Averill stood in the center of the group with his pistol drawn, a grin on his face.
“So, the traito
r was right,” Averill said with a laugh. “And you walked right into our hands with your eyes wide open.” He looked around suddenly as he counted those crouched next to Jacob. “Where’s the other one? Our sources told us four were coming into the dungeon, which should have totaled six not five.”
“Who betrayed us?” Jacob muttered angrily.
“Oh, wouldn’t you like to know, boy,” Averill laughed. “I think I’ll keep that bit of information for Cain to explain to you when you stand before him.”
Jacob raised his shield and readied himself for what he knew was coming. It was impossible for him to stop all the magic muskets shots, but he might be able to buy the others time to escape into the passage behind him and bar the door.
“Don’t even try, boy,” Averill said in a low voice. “Your shield may stop some of our shots, but it can’t stop all of them. There’s no other escape from the dungeons. One way out and one way in.”
A whisper of sound came from the shadows, and one of the Adherents cried out and fell to the floor, an arrow sticking from his neck.
“What in the seven hells,” Averill started as his men looked about. Five of the Adherents clustered together with their backs to each other searching the shadows for the invisible attacker.
Another flash of movement, and then Jacob saw the familiar form of Braun erupt from the shadows with a stolen musket held low and trained on the five. He triggered the weapon, and the ball of energy crackled wildly as it flashed across the room and sent all five tumbling to the floor with their muscles twitching and surprised looks painted across their faces.
“Elf!” Averill cried out. Rage filled his face. “Don’t shoot him. This one is mine!” He leapt forward and knocked the musket from one of the Adherent’s hands.
“Assassin,” Braun said with a grim smile. He spat on the floor and pulled a sword from his belt, its blade etched with black lines and flared with barely contained power. Averill’s own blade was steel, but the edge appeared black as if it might be partially obsidian.
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