by James Somers
"Dung sent the little rats into the dungeons to make sure," Ethan said. "They assured him that only one prisoner was kept there and the description matched Gideon's. I don't think the little guys would lie to Dung. They treat him as though he was their king."
Levi rolled his eyes. "Oh boy, King Dung. I'm sure that won't go to his head."
"Let's get moving," Ethan said. "We need to find some barrels of lamp oil or something flammable to do this."
"By the way, have you seen any demons yet?"
"Nothing so far," Ethan reported. Levi started toward the lodges with Ethan following. They walked out onto the training fields. Vast areas of dying grass had been torn up in places due to all of the simulated combat.
Ethan noticed all of the weaponry Mordred was stockpiling behind the city walls and wondered who he intended to attack. Cleary, he had his men gearing up for something big. Mordred had the giant Anakims, massive engines of war, as well as his cavalry and his infantry. His target would have a tough time defending against all of this.
Fortunately the fields stood all but abandoned with no one guarding them. This gave Ethan and Levi an easy trip to their targets on the far side of the field. They passed a range where cannons, muskets and other shooting weapons had been assembled.
Levi paused. "Ethan, look!" He grinned fiendishly, patting a stack of wooden barrels standing next to the cannons and muskets. "Gunpowder, my boy!"
Ethan smiled, then looked at their route to the lodges standing about one hundred yards away. "It looks all clear, doesn't it?"
"As far as I can tell, but we'd better hurry," Levi said. "We don't want to be caught carrying barrels of gunpowder around."
Ethan thought about the likelihood of getting what they needed over to the lodges without being spotted. "I've got an idea. You go on over there and keep watch for any guard patrols while I take these up high away from the torchlight and bring them over."
Levi nodded, looked around again, then started for the Anakim lodges.
Ethan realm shifted onto the spiritual plane again. He drew his sword from its place hovering at his side, then thought about what he needed to do and how to do it. The sword obeyed his thoughts, transforming into a long length of chain.
Ethan whipped the chain toward the stack of gunpowder barrels, and it lashed itself over and around them. The chain snaked its way throughout, forming a net that surrounded all of the barrels. Ethan gripped the sword-chain and launched into the night air.
The chain intruded into the physical realm and picked up the stack of gunpowder barrels. To the naked eye, the barrels appeared to fly into the air as one unit and disappear high in the sky.
He carried them over the expanse toward the huge wooden lodges where Levi waited. Ethan searched for demons, but still found none anywhere within the city walls. Their absence became more disconcerting by the moment. Surely, all the demons hadn't abandoned the seat of Mordred's power. That would have been too much to hope for. In the back of his mind, Seth's warning echoed again. This is a trap, and Gideon is the bait.
Ethan carefully lowered the barrels of gunpowder to the ground next to Levi. The captain stood in shadow on the side of the first lodge, watching for guard patrols. He smiled in fascination as the stack of barrels descended and came to rest quietly on the ground. Ethan appeared a moment later. "I didn't see anyone," Levi said.
"Me neither, not even demons," Ethan said. "It's strange. They were so adamant about protecting these giants aboard the slaver ship before."
"Well, they're inside Mordred's city now," Levi mused. "They wouldn't have any reason to protect them now."
Ethan nodded though for some reason he felt unconvinced.
"Anyway, it's too late to worry about that now. We're trying to draw everyone's attention."
Ethan withdrew the cork stopping the top of two of the barrels. "I'll spread this one over the lodges while you plant the other barrels. He disappeared again. Levi watched as the two uncorked barrels floated upward in Ethan's invisible grip and flew out of sight over the roof.
Ethan tipped the first barrel horizontally so that the grains of black powder rained down over the roof of the first lodge. When he felt enough had been dropped there, he moved on to the next roof. Within ten minutes, he had distributed the contents of both black powder barrels over the lodges. Then, he came back to meet Levi.
The captain hustled back from behind the first lodge just as Ethan materialized again. "Are we all set?"
Levi nodded through his heavy breathing. "Boy, the smell just gets worse," he said with a big sigh. "Let's move."
The two of them ran back toward the palace. Levi grabbed a torch from a stand along the way, through the training fields, then turned. He ran back toward the lodges a few paces and heaved the torch. The flame arced through the air and came down on the roof of the first. Sparks leaped away, and fire ran across the roof line, devouring the black powder Ethan had left behind.
They both stood watching for a moment. "I'm not sure that will do the job of igniting the other barrels, Ethan."
Ethan realm shifted again and drew his spiritual sword. It shone with a heavenly light. He prayed for help, then suddenly found the sword drawing his arm back. He understood its intention, then flung it back toward the barrels Levi had placed at the entrance to each Anakim lodge.
The heavenly blade gathered momentum as it flew through the ether, spinning like a buzz saw. The light it emitted intensified so that it burned white hot. When it sailed through the first barrel, it ignited and exploded. The front of the first lodge shattered and crumbled. The explosion scattered its fire which ignited the roof of the second lodge.
The sword kept spinning and flew through the next barrel and the next until it had hit all of them. Each explosion destroyed the front of the lodge next to it and scattered more fire, igniting the stray powder left by Ethan. Within seconds, the entire set of Anakim lodges stood partially dilapidated and burning. The sword reappeared at Ethan's side as it had been before.
As Ethan materialized beside the wide-eyed Captain Bonifast, giants burst through the fiery walls of the lodges. They ran screaming out into the training yard with their clothes on fire. Some crashed through the walls, fell over, and didn't move again.
The resulting fire threatened the palace itself and lit up the entire training grounds. Alarm bells resounded from the palace and the city proper. Soldiers came running to stop the raging inferno.
Ethan started toward the wall on the north side. "Let's go. Seth and Dung should have gotten to Gideon by now."
Levi bolted after him, smiling as he watched the training yards burn.
DIGGING
Seth crawled down the dark tunnel behind Dung the rat. The smell of moist earth surrounded him. Dung had relayed to Ethan earlier how he and the smaller rodents had dug out the tunnel all the way to the stone floor. All that remained, in order to enter the dungeon, would be to give a good upward push on the floor stones.
Dung squeaked up ahead. Seth had learned to recognize some of his basic calls. He took this one to mean they had reached the end of the tunnel where it terminated beneath the dungeon. "Let's go through, Dung."
Dung squeaked an acknowledgment. Seth came up next to the large rodent's warm body. He felt Dung stretch upward, his powerful muscles tensing with the weight of the stones. Something gave way above, and Dung pushed through. Seth heard the stones roll away, then Dung climbed up through the hole.
Dung squeaked again, a call for Seth to follow him up. Seth complied and began to echolocate as soon as he popped up into the dungeon. He quickly imaged the chamber walls, ceiling, and floor, then crawled out with his senses alert for the sound of guards and the feel of body heat.
Seth heard the crackle of firelight ahead where a lone cell stood at the end of the long corridor. He bounced light clicks off of four guards on duty there. Seth had no ability to see light, but he had learned to gauge his distance by the heat or lack thereof long ago.
Seth placed a hand on
Dung and pointed an open hand down the corridor at the guards. He released the rat and surged toward the guards with Dung on his heels. He used clicks to echolocate until he came within striking distance of the men. One turned on him just before he got there. "Hey!" the guard said just as Seth reached and silenced him.
The others tried to scream, especially when they caught sight of Dung, but he and Seth moved too quickly. All four had been struck down within three seconds. Seth stopped and listened. No other sounds except for a light stir from inside the cell.
The smell of feces and blood hit him hard. What had they done to him? "Gideon, are you conscious?" Seth whispered.
A low moan emanated from the dark recesses of the cell. "We're going to get you out." Dung began to chew on the steel bars with his razor sharp rat teeth. Within moments, Seth heard a pop as the first bar gave way.
Seth felt around on the guards until he found what he was hoping for. He lifted a set of keys and jingled them. "Let's try these instead."
Dung stopped his chewing and gave an annoyed squeal, as if to complain that Seth hadn't produced the keys prior to him going to the trouble. Seth tried three of the four keys on the ring before the lock disengaged. He swung the heavy rusted door open and rushed inside.
"Gideon?" He followed the trail of heat emanating from the priest's body. Seth fought the overwhelming smell of urine and blood to grab hold of his fellow priest and lift him to his feet. Gideon moaned and seemed to be only half conscious. "Dung, you'll need to carry him."
The rat appeared to understand and came inside the cell. He scooped the weary priest's body into his powerful forearms and followed Seth out of the cell. "Stay close," Seth said. "We'll get him inside the tunnel and seal it as we backtrack out of here."
Seth felt the heat from the torches on the wall next to Gideon's cell. He grabbed them and beat them out upon the ground casting the corridor between them and the tunnel in complete darkness-his world. "Let's go," he commanded.
Seth led the way through the corridor. Light appeared on the stairs. Seth heard the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. He rushed toward the sound, felt the heat of a torch, and heard the breathing of the guard. He flashed through the guard's vision as a blur-slashing as he passed. The guard barely caught a glimpse of the humongous rat before he fell over, bleeding out on the floor.
Seth continued until he smelled the dirt from below the floor. He echo-located the overturned floor stones and the hole, then climbed inside. Dung lowered the priest's body down into the hole where Seth helped to get him inside their tunnel. "It will be a bit slow, but I think I can drag him, Dung."
The rat dropped into the hole when they were clear. Seth began to backtrack in the tunnel and drag Gideon behind him. "Be sure to close the tunnel after us, Dung." The rat followed him a few yards, then pawed at the walls and roof of the tunnel until it collapsed after them.
Ethan and Levi reached the northern side of the wall encompassing the palace and the city of Emmanuel. With the training yards and Anakim barracks ablaze no one even paid any attention to them as they ran in the opposite direction of the trouble. "Time to fly, Captain!"
Before Levi could protest, Ethan disappeared and seized the man by the shoulders, carrying him high over the soiled limestone wall. Several of Mordred's guards, who had been watching the fire in astonishment, pointed up at the man flying high above them. Since the mystery man wore their same uniform, one even waved when Levi shouted a "hello" and "goodbye," as he passed over the wall.
Ethan descended, and they both landed a great distance from the wall in darkness. Ethan reappeared next to Levi, smiling. "Don't you love doing that?"
"If the good Lord had wanted me to fly, he might have put wings on my back," Levi said.
"Or at least an invisible boy, eh?"
Levi rolled his eyes. "Enough of that…let's go and see if Seth and the big, smelly rat have rescued Gideon."
Ethan laughed. "You know you love the rat."
Levi started jogging ahead toward their rendezvous. "Don't get me started, lad!"
SCAR
Their group had been instructed to meet in the Willow Meadow several miles from the city of Emmanuel. One could only access the Willow Meadow by paths, as it lay some distance from the Emmanuel Road. They hoped to remain well hidden from any soldiers who might be sent looking for Gideon once his escape became known.
Willow trees surrounded a green meadow of short grasses. A small fire burned inside a ring of small stones constructed by Seth. Dung had carried Gideon from the time they had emerged from the tunnel outside Emmanuel's wall. The rat had placed Gideon near the fire in hopes of warming him.
Seth had spoken to Gideon several times, but so far his only reply had been coughing and moaning. They waited for Ethan and Levi to arrive according to their plan. Upon leaving the tunnel, Seth had heard a great deal of chaos going on behind the city wall. "Whatever diversion Ethan cooked up with the Captain-it must have been good."
Dung only continued to devour several rabbits he had caught in the meadow. Hearing the gnashing of his rat teeth and the gurgling of saliva, Seth found comfort in not having to actually witness the gruesome scene. "Well, Dung, you've quelled my hunger…thank you."
The rat paused for a moment, perhaps curious about what Seth had said. Then, as if with a shrug, the rat dove back into his rabbits. Within moments, Dung had devoured all that he had. His ears perked up and he sniffed the air-Seth heard them too.
Ethan and Levi came jogging into the firelight, both of them a little winded, but Bonifast the more so. Ethan searched around the fire until he found the priest lying opposite Seth and Dung, covered by one of Seth's outer robes. "So you found him? Is he all right?"
"He's been hurt pretty badly," Seth said. "They kept him in horrible conditions."
Levi started around to where Gideon lay. He knelt down and uncovered Gideon's face. "Mmm…they've really worked him over. You can hardly recognize him under all that swelling and bruising. And the smell…they've not let him wash or anything?"
The priest's hand smashed up under Levi's jaw, knocking him backward off the balls of his feet. With his other hand, the priest drew Levi's cutlass as he fell back. He stood, throwing off Seth's robe as he drew back his sword hand, preparing to strike.
No one had any idea what had happened. There had been only a blur of motion. Now Levi had fallen backward in a daze and Gideon stood with firelight glinting off of something in his hand. Only it wasn't Gideon at all. Ethan seemed to realize it only after the imposter's hand whipped forward. But the realization startled him so much that he did not even begin to react as the cutlass sliced the air between them.
Furry arms encircled Ethan. The rat tackled him just before the blade hit home. Dung shrieked in Ethan's ear as they fell to the ground together. Ethan remained pinned under the rat, unmoving. Seth stood up, but did not realize what had happened either.
He drew his sword and echo-located the priestly imposter. "Gideon what are you doing? Are you delirious?"
Levi recovered. "It's not him-we've been tricked!"
Seth lunged toward the man, about to leap over the fire to kill him. Scar pulled a leather pouch from his soiled robe and whipped the open end toward Seth. Gunpowder streaked through the flames, landing on Seth. His robes caught fire as the flames leaped upon the scattered gunpowder.
Seth screamed as the heat engulfed his clothing and burned his skin. He dropped the sword and flew to the ground, rolling through the grass in a desperate attempt to extinguish himself. Levi dodged to the side of the fire and found Seth's sword upon the ground. He noticed Ethan unconscious and Dung lying on top of him with his own cutlass standing out of the rodent's side. "You villainous dog!"
Levi launched himself at the imposter, slicing through the air as Scar danced away from him. Scar dodged past Dung and drew the cutlass from the rat's wound. Levi came for him full of malice.
Levi had strength to his advantage, but Scar was faster. Levi only managed to keep the y
ounger man at bay. But when he took the offense, Levi battered the imposter's sword away left and right.
The two men danced away from the fire, thrusting and slashing furiously at one another. Levi raged at the man and drove forward. Scar parried and knocked Levi's blade out of his hand, but too late. The Captain ignored his weapon and lunged inside Scar's line of attack.
Scar drove his palm under Levi's jaw, trying to fend him off. But Bonifast returned the favor with two sharp knee strikes to the ribs. Levi whipped a hand between them and lunged at Scar with all his weight. They fell backwards and became still. When Levi sat up on top of the imposter, he left a dagger protruding from beneath the man's sternum.
He stood up, looking at the imposter with disgust. Levi turned back to his friends, finding Seth smoldering in the grass, but extinguished. "Are you all right, Seth?"
Seth stood patting hot spots and breathing heavily. "A little singed, but I believe so, Captain."
Levi walked over to Dung and Ethan. "I need some help." Seth found his way to him and together they rolled Dung away from Ethan. Levi knelt down and made sure the boy was still breathing.
Seth waited. "Is he all right?"
"Unconscious, but he will be."
Seth turned to Dung's body. "Is he?"
Levi patted Dung's large head. "He gave his life to save Ethan."
Ethan woke soon afterwards with more questions than pain. When he realized what had happened to poor Dung, he spent several minutes stroking his fur, weeping. Levi watched, trying not to tear up himself.
When they had gotten their gear together and started off, wondering what in the world they should do for Gideon, Levi stood still. Ethan turned back. "It's time to go, Levi."
Bonifast did not reply. He stood staring over smoldering embers at Dung's body. "I should have been kinder to him, don't you think?"
