by V M Jones
She turned and exited the room followed by the other guards. They heard the lock on the door click.
A grinding noise came from the corner of the room as the stone was shoved open from the other side of the wall.
“Well that’s not going according to plan,” said Dr. McNamara with disappointment on his face.
“Believe me, nothing ever does,” said Prince Nuallan as he poked his head through the opening in the wall.
“We only have about three hours left,” said Dr. Ryan as he estimated how long they had been there. “If there were guards at the potion room door, we could use tranquilizer darts to get into the room. Unfortunately they don’t work on stone creatures.”
“I’m not sure what you mean but we need a new strategy,” said the prince with a bewildered look on his face. “We’re going to need a diversion to draw away the stone creature. First we’re going to need to get the stash of weapons. I’ll take a couple of my men to retrieve them and bring them back here. I’ll contact you when we get back.”
Prince Nuallan replaced the stone in the wall in case any of the guards returned to the prison. Dr. Ryan, Dr. McNamara, and Patrick talked amongst themselves to further strategize.
“This was not the position I had hoped to find ourselves in,” said Dr. Ryan shaking his head.
“It certainly poses a big problem,” replied Dr. McNamara. “Tevan and Father Fahey are in the deepest part of the castle protected by a stone creature. We’re locked in this dungeon room without a key and we’re running out of time,” he added with frustration in his voice.
“Our only hope out of here is Prince Nuallan. If he can get us out of this room, we can deal with the stone man,” replied Dr. Ryan confidently.
He then turned to Dr. McNamara and said, “Whatever happens, Patrick and Tevan must get to the portal and back to the living world. The rest of us are expendable.”
“I don’t consider myself that expendable but I know what you mean,” said Dr. McNamara with a smile.
“I can’t thank you enough for all you have done for Tevan, my family, and me,” said Patrick with tears in his eyes. “Even if it doesn’t turn out as planned, the fact that you believed me and tried, I will be eternally grateful.”
“Our pleasure,” said Dr. McNamara with a gentle smile, “However, let’s not use the word eternally just yet. I still plan on getting out of here.”
Dr. Ryan was beginning to get nervous. Prince Nuallan had been gone for quite a while. He was concerned about Tevan and Father Fahey. He wasn’t sure how much time they had left before Faelan would start her incantations for the transformation. Patrick was obviously worried as well. He could only stare at the prison door where Tevan had been taken away.
“Don’t worry Patrick,” Dr. Ryan said calmly, “We’ll get them before anything happens.”
Dr. McNamara was deep in thought and not paying attention to the others.
“I hope Prince Nuallan gets back soon,” he thought out loud, “The lunar eclipse may be starting soon and Faelan may already be making her transformation.”
As soon as the words left his mouth he wished he hadn’t said anything. Patrick looked devastated. He started to shake.
“I’m sure he’ll be here soon,” said Dr. Ryan as he glared at Dr. McNamara.
He looked back sheepishly and mouthed, “Sorry.”
About thirty minutes had passed.
Suddenly, they heard the scraping of stones as they were pushed aside by Prince Nuallan. He crawled through the opening in the wall.
“We found the stash of weapons in the northeast supply room like you told us, however, we ran into a small problem,” said Prince Nuallan making a small size gesture with his fingers.
“Nothing we couldn’t handle though,” said his captain who had poked his head through the wall.
Prince Nuallan nodded and continued, “Three of us made our way through the passageway between the walls and peeked through the secret doorway in the supply room near the tower. The three guards you encountered had gotten loose and discovered the stash of weapons under the tapestry you left. We quickly ran into the supply room and overpowered them before they could notify anyone. After we tied them up, we carried the stash of weapons to the secret passageway. It was a tight fit but between the three of us we got the weapons through.”
“Good job,” said Dr. Ryan with a smile. “By the way, how many of you are there?”
“Besides myself and Caoimhe, there are five guards who were trapped here with us,” said Prince Nuallan holding up his fingers.
“We have heard so much about Caoimhe, yet we still haven’t met her,” said Dr. McNamara.
“Sorry about that, it’s just that we are so protective of her,” apologized Prince Nuallan as he turned and looked into the wall. “Caoimhe, come through and meet our rescuers.”
Prince Nuallan held out his hand to help her. Through the wall emerged a stunning young woman with brunette hair. She looked at Prince Nuallan with loving eyes as guided her through the wall. She looked at the other men in the room and gave them a gentle smile.
“I want to thank all you for what you have done. Not only for me, Prince Nuallan, and his men, but especially for the lad. He must be very scared,” she said softly.
“He’s my son,” said Patrick with a faltering voice.
“Your son is so fortunate to have such a brave father as you,” she replied smiling at him.
“Well, enough introductions, we have a lad to save,” interrupted Prince Nuallan turning to the others. “I have a plan to get the priest and the lad out. First, you need to understand the power of the shield. We had them made special to fight the underworld demons summoned by Dubhshlaine and the witch Faelan.”
“We kind of figured that out,” said Dr. McNamara as he crossed his arms. “But we wouldn’t mind getting the instructions first hand.”
“The demons send out a magical lightning bolt. In our initial battles, they were able to repel our attacks by these bolts of lightning. With the help of the friar from the abbey, we were able to design a shield that could actually absorb and retain the power of the lightning bolts. You will notice that there is an emerald crystal in each handle of the swords. By touching the crystal in the handle of the sword against the shield, it will release the lightning bolt and return it back to the demons. This is how we were able to advance our army against Dubhshlaine’s forces,” instructed Prince Nuallan demonstrating with his hands.
The prince had his guards pass three shields and swords through the wall. He handed them to Dr. Ryan, Dr. McNamara, and Patrick.
“Remember, these shields have no power unless they have received power from demon lightning bolts,” added Prince Nuallan emphatically.
“I’m going to have Caoimhe stay within the safety of the walls with one of my men until it is time to leave. He’ll also help us get through the difficult parts of our escape. The rest of my men and I will create a diversion in the great hall next to the well room and the entrance to the dungeon. One of my men will race down to the dungeon and throw some stones at the stone creature until he gives chase. Once the stone creature leaves the door to the potion room, you’ll take this key and unlock the prison door. Since the stone creature is supposed to be guarding the potion room door, it should be open. Once in the room, there will be Dubhshlaine, the witch Faelan, and one or two guards. You will need to overpower all of them quickly to get to the lad and the priest,” instructed Prince Nuallan.
“We can handle that with our darts,” said Dr. McNamara as he patted the weapon under his shirt.
Prince Nuallan seemed confused but continued, “Once you have the lad and the priest, use the key to lock the potion room. That will slow down Dubhshlaine and Faelan to give you more time to escape. Move quickly through the dungeon and up the stairs to the well room. We’ll keep the stairway clear as long as we can for your escape. Once in the well room, we will have to fight our way back to the northeast tower. Unfortunately at this point, Faelan will probably
have conjured up her demons to fight us. We’ll need to get past all the rooms and back to the northeast tower as quickly as possible. Once we get to the supply room, we should be clear of any threats of being surrounded. We can get past to the kitchen on our own but then we’ll need some extra help.”
“What extra help is that?” asked Dr. Ryan as he tilted his head.
“You’ll see,” smiled the prince. “With any luck we’ll get everyone out of the castle, including Dubhshlaine and his followers.”
The prince handed the key to Dr. Ryan then he and Caoimhe stepped back through the wall. The grinding noise from the wall let them know that the two stones had been replaced. They were left to themselves.
“Alright, you heard the plan,” said Dr. Ryan as he turned to the other two men. “Let’s be ready once the stone man leaves.”
“I’m ready,” said Patrick standing up straight. “I want my son back.”
“You’ll get him,” said Dr. McNamara with resolve on his face.
Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara loaded darts into their dart guns. They held a spare dart each to reload as quickly as possible to incapacitate whoever was in the potion room. Dr. Ryan handed Dr. McNamara the key to the door. He stood by the door peering out into the hallway through the tiny slit in the door. He could see the torso of Three-Face. He was talking to himself as usual.
Dr. Ryan turned and said, “Slowly put the key in the door and turn it quietly. Then put the key in your pocket so we can use it later. Patrick, be ready to follow Dr. McNamara once the door is opened.”
“Alright,” answered Patrick nodding his head.
Dr. McNamara put the key in the prison door and slowly turned the key. The lock clicked. He pulled out the key and put it in his pocket. Dr. Ryan watched to be sure that the stone man hadn’t heard the click of the lock.
A few minutes later, they could hear a disturbance coming from the other end of the hallway. They heard shouts from the guard as stones hit the stone man.
“Hey, why you doing that,” they could hear Three-Face say, “Do what?” asked another face. Move around so I can see,” said the third face.
They heard his thunderous footsteps as he started running down the hallway.
“You better not leave. Remember what Faelan said,” advised one of the faces to the other two. “Come, we can get them and come back,” said another face. “Alright, but let’s be quick,” said another.
They heard Three-Face thundering past the door. They waited until they heard him jumping up the stairs. Dr. Ryan held his breath and held up his dart gun. He nodded at Dr. McNamara and Patrick. Dr. McNamara pulled the door open with a creak. There was no one in the hallway. The three men quietly moved until they were in front of the door to the potion room. Dr. McNamara held his dart gun pointed up. Dr. Ryan held up his hand and quickly made a fist as a signal to move. They pushed on the door and barged into the room.
Tevan and Father Fahey had been sitting in the potion room for quite some time as the witch made preparations for the transformation of Faelan’s and King Dubhshlaine’s souls into their bodies. She gazed into her crystal then searched her book of spells.
“I want you to do your transformation first,” ordered the king to Faelan in a nervous tone. “I want to see how it’s done and make sure nothing goes wrong.”
“Fine,” said Faelan rather irritated. “I can make your transformation as a priest. Guards, put the friar on the table.”
The guards took each arm of Father Fahey and dragged him over to the table beside the well.
“Take off his shirt and strap down his arms and legs,” she commanded gesturing with her head.
The guards proceeded to lay him on the table and place the straps around his wrists and ankles.
Father Fahey kept telling himself, “Don’t give in. Don’t give in,” as he stared up at the ceiling.
He watched as water dripped from a hole in the ceiling to the well in the middle of the room. He felt the leather strips tighten on his wrists and ankles. He struggled but couldn’t move.
Tevan sat in the corner of the room wide-eyed and trembling in fear. He hugged his legs and pushed his face into his knees as he rocked back and forth.
Faelan walked over to the fire pit and picked up one of the cooler coals at the top of the fire. She walked over to the priest and placed the coal on his left wrist. The coal burned into his wrist but wasn’t hot enough to do too much damage. He wanted to scream out in pain but refused to give the witch any satisfaction.
“Go ahead, let it out,” she taunted as she smiled. She was enjoying torturing him.
Father Fahey started sweating profusely. He concentrated at the water drops from the ceiling.
“I won’t give in,” he told himself anxiously.
Faelan walked back over to the fire pit and picked up another coal. She placed it on his right wrist. He winced in pain. She continued to place a coal on each ankle and on his forehead. Tears welled up in Father Fahey’s eyes but he refused to make a sound. Faelan walked around the table with an evil smile as she watched the priest shaking and sweating.
Tevan began to sob.
“Enough Faelan!” the King bellowed as his anger showed. “Get on with it!”
“As you wish Sire,” she responded softly then turned away from him and made a mocking face.
She pulled her book of spells from off the table and turned towards the back of the book as she held it in her hands.
“Ah, here we are,” she said as she pointed to the incantation.
She put the book down on the table and selected one of the several jars of odd objects. She took a bowl and picked up each of the pieces of coal from the priest’s wrists and ankles. She took the coal off of his forehead last. Then she poured part of the jar into the bowl. She walked over to the well and caught some of the drops of water dripping from the ceiling. She then crushed the pieces of coal and mixed all the ingredients together. As she poured the contents of the bowl into the well, she recited a spell in some strange language.
As she stepped back from the well, a mist began to flow up from the well. It moved along the floor towards the table where Father Fahey lay. It moved up the table leg from the floor and began to wrap around the table and Father Fahey. The mist slowly moved past the Priest’s head and up to Faelan. She breathed in the mist through her nostrils and exhaled it through her mouth. The mist flowed out from her mouth and down to the priest’s nostrils. He tried to resist by keeping his lips tightly shut but he could not stop the mist from entering his nostrils.
He began to feel light headed. He watched as a drip from the ceiling fell then seemed to stop in mid-air. He closed his eyes. He began to feel as if he was getting lighter. He felt like he was floating. He tried to fight the feeling but was unable keep conscious. Suddenly, from a distance he heard the door bang open. The flow of air from the opening of the door disrupted the flow of the mist. He quickly opened his eyes.
As Dr. Ryan, Dr. McNamara, and Patrick burst through the door, they could see Father Fahey strapped to a table near the well in the middle of the room. Tevan was cowering in the corner of the room. King Dubhshlaine was watching Faelan as she was reciting a spell. There was one guard over by Tevan to keep him from moving.
Dr. Ryan’s dart hit the king in the neck. He quickly fell to the ground. Dr. McNamara’s dart hit Faelan on her arm. She too fell quickly to the ground. Dr. Ryan had reloaded his dart gun just in time to shoot the guard as he came within a meter of Patrick.
Tevan was startled by the chain of events. As soon as he saw his father, he jumped up. Patrick ran to his son and gave his a big hug.
“I thought there might be two guards here,” said Dr. Ryan a little confused.
“There were,” answered Dr. McNamara as he looked behind the door. “See for yourself.”
Sure enough, there had been a guard behind the door when it was opened, who now sat crumpled on the ground.
“I’ll give him a dart anyway just to be sure,” said Dr. McNamara with
a smile.
He shot him in the neck.
They next turned their attention to Father Fahey. He had coal burns on his forehead, wrists and ankles. He seemed rather dazed.
“I thought you weren’t going to make it, said Father Fahey as his head still seemed to be spinning. “You sure were cutting it close.”
“There’s no time to talk,” said Dr. Ryan anxiously. “We have to leave now.”
Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara removed the leather straps from Father Fahey and helped him down from the table. Patrick helped Tevan towards the door of the potion room.
“Let Dr. McNamara go ahead of you in case someone comes back,” said Dr. Ryan pointing to him.
The group quickly stepped out of the potion room and into the hallway. Father Fahey hesitated at the doorway and looked back into the potion room. He then turned and walked into the hallway.
Dr. McNamara took the key out of his pocket and locked the door.
“That ought to slow them down a little,” he said with a grin.
Dr. Ryan and Dr. McNamara stepped back into the cell that had held them and grabbed the three shields and swords. Now armed with some protection, the group moved towards the stairs at the other end of the hallway. They could hear the commotion coming from the room above. They cautiously moved to the bottom of the stairs. Dr. Ryan leaned forward and looked up the stairway. Prince Nuallan and his guards were at the top fighting off King Dubhshlaine’s guards to maintain the escape route for the rescuers.
Dr. Ryan turned to the others and said, “I’ll take the lead up the stairs, Patrick, you follow with Tevan, Father Fahey, you follow behind them and Dr. McNamara, you watch our backs. When we get to the top, Patrick, you protect yourself and Tevan with the shield. Prince Nuallan will show us where to go from there.”
The group moved cautiously up the stairs. Prince Nuallan glanced down and saw the group making their way up. He called for his guards to form a “V” at the stairway. As the rescue group reached the top of the stairs, Prince Nuallan motioned to them to stay close to his men.
The clanging of the swords and shouts from the fighting soldiers frightened Tevan. He began to hesitate at the stairs. As Father Fahey had free hands, he picked up the lad and moved forward with the group. As soon as Dr. McNamara cleared the stairs, the prince’s guards closed in behind them protecting them on all sides.
