by Allan Joyal
“Bindings, Keeping Spirits under Control,” Shaylin said as she read the cover.
“And that is a beginner book?” I asked.
Shaylin shrugged as she set that book down and picked up the next one. “Black Brother’s Brewing,” she read.
“What is that?” Esme said.
Shaylin shrugged and held the book out to Esme. “I’m guessing it’s for alchemists. Perhaps it has recipes for potions.”
I shrugged and looked over at the being. Whatever I was preparing to ask died in my throat as he vanished. His staff stood standing alone for a moment and then fell over clattering on the stone floor.
The whole building seemed to shake. The already damaged hinges gave way and the door to the room fell to the floor with a resounding crash. It dropped to the side blocking the doorway.
“Shay, check the other books fast and choose what you think might be useful. I’d take the journals as well; blank books are always nice. It’s time we got back to the main room,” I said
“What about the staff?” Esme asked.
“Leave it,” I commanded as I reached down to drag the door out of the way. “We don’t know what happened, and I’d rather not tempt fate. If that staff has been storing power since the fall of the empire, it might be a big dangerous to handle.”
“Got it,” Esme said. “I think we have two usable alchemy texts, two spellbooks and one book on general magic. The other three are useless.”
“Shay?” I asked.
“I agree. I don’t want to get into binding spirits, and the other three are all about controlling summoned spirits or at least their titles suggest that,” Shaylin said.
I had managed to move the door enough that it was simple to step onto it and walk to the opening. It groaned alarmingly, but the wood held. I stayed just outside long enough to assist Shaylin and Esme in leaving the room. Each handed me a book as they entered the hallway.
Esme pointed down the hallway. “Let’s get back to the others,” she suggested as the hallway shook violently.
I nodded and then gave Shaylin a push. The girls ran ahead of me. Once they were running, I risked kneeling and looking at the staff. It was obvious that the purple crystal that had crowned the staff was shattered and pale shards littered the floor.
There was nothing I could think to do. A couple of stones fell from the ceiling. They broke on the floor sending fragments into the air. I jumped up and took off after the girls.
I emerged from the hallway back into the large chamber. Shaylin and Esme were heading to one of the carts with their books. I noticed that the rest of the group had set up bedrolls in some of the alcoves and were starting to prepare for sleep. Heather looked up as we entered. “What happened?”
“That being showed Esme and Shaylin a room for them to stay in while they were in school, but he vanished,” I replied.
“He ran off?” Heather asked. “And where did you get the books then.”
Esme came over and took the books from me. “No, the being just vanished. One minute he was staring into that crystal he carried, and then the next moment the staff is falling to the floor because no one is holding it. After that the hallway started to shake.”
“What do we do?” Heather asked.
I nodded towards where the herd animals were. Many were lying down or standing with their heads down. “We rest for a while and then find a way out,” I said. “I see you are already getting the bedrolls set out.”
Heather nodded. “Lydia, Victoria, and I agreed that it’s getting late, and there is no reason to try to exit if we’d just run into those Minotaurs.”
I nodded and looked at Esme. “Go and cuddle with Natalie. I’m sure she’s wondering what happened to you.”
“Nothing,” Esme said with a giggle. “But something is going to happen to her tonight.”
I shook my head, as it seemed to burn from the inside. Heather giggled. “Oh, he’s blushing. I’ll see if I can keep that going all night.”
Heather took my hand. “Come, we are set up in one of the alcoves. We found out that sound doesn’t leave the alcoves. Makes a nice place to sleep.”
“Sleep?” I asked.
Heather looked at me coyly. “Perhaps a bit of relaxing before we sleep,” she said as she led me through the archway.
Inside I found Cimbra kneeling on top of a pile of furs. The dark elven woman was wearing her old robe with the hood down. She smiled up at me as Heather pushed me forward.
“Now?” Cimbra asked as she stood up.
“Let’s get him sitting first,” Heather said firmly. “Otherwise he’ll try to escape.”
I sat down on the furs. Cimbra moved to stand next to Heather. Heather had a fur wrapped around her body. I was wondering how I had missed this, when the two women nodded and then pushed the cloth covering their bodies to the floor.
“Heather?” I groaned.
The two women knelt down. Cimbra placed a kiss on my lips as Heather whispered in my ear. “I told you no one can hear us in here. And we want to reward you for saving us again today.”
“Piemal was the one who killed the Minotaur,” I gasped out between Cimbra’s kisses. She was not a skilled or confident kisser, but her passion had me panting for more.
“He’ll receive his own reward,” Cimbra purred. “But now, we are here to reward you.”
Hands ran up and down my torso as the two women kissed my neck. I stopped fighting them and began returning their caresses. By the time my ladies moved to strip my pants off, I no longer cared if anyone heard us.
Chapter 28: Finding Egress
Hours later, I woke with Heather and Cimbra’s bodies draped over mine. The two women had worked hard to exhaust me. I gently kissed their foreheads, one after the other, and then stood up. My clothing was buried under the bedrolls, so I grabbed a fur that had fallen off the pile and wrapped it around my waste before exiting the alcove.
I stepped outside to find Al and Hencktor sitting at the nearest stone table. Both men had furs wrapped around their bodies.
“Your ladies still asleep?” Hencktor asked.
“Not sure why I rate two,” I replied. “I just talk a lot.”
“And kill Minotaurs, intimidate kobolds, plan our survival, and just plain care about everyone. Ron, other than maybe Krysbain who wishes he was brave enough to love Cimbra, no one has a problem,” Al said with a slight shake of his head.
“What about Jeff?” I asked.
“He’s been spending time with Konstanzia,” Al said calmly. “And Lenoir appears to be growing close to Krysbain. Right now every man in the group has someone.”
“And poor Joelia has no one,” I said.
Hencktor and Al looked at each other and then Hencktor looked me right in the eye. “She slept with Kariy last night, and I’m pretty sure they didn’t just sleep.”
I smiled. “Good for both of them.”
“You aren’t upset?” I heard Joelia ask. “I mean I corrupted Kariy. It was completely my idea.”
“Did you force her?” I asked.
“No,” Joelia said. “But I seduced her.”
“Considering she was nearly forced into prostitution, I’m not surprised that she is not interested in a guy at the moment. She needs to learn how to be free first,” I said.
Al smiled. “You know, that actually makes sense. I guess the more important thing is that we need to figure out how to get out of here.”
“Yesterday our host mentioned that there is another exit. It sounds like there might be several exits,” I said.
“Where?” Hencktor asked. “If this is the entry hall you’d think we’d see an exit here.”
I pointed to the large doorway. “We’ll have to go that way. But let’s all get dressed first. And hopefully we can have a small breakfast.”
I stood up and started walking back to the alcove I had slept in. Joelia ran over and put a hand on my shoulder. “Do you really not mind?” she asked me.
I sighed. “Joelia, I want eve
ryone in our group to be happy. Kariy appears to be very happy. Don’t make promises you won’t keep and don’t force her to do anything she doesn’t want to do. I’d ask if this is forever.”
“It probably won’t be,” Joelia asked. “I want a man, but…”
“There is no hurry,” I said. “If we are successful, we might be able to get in touch with a sailing ship in the future. We’ll have to see where we end up.”
Joelia smiled and then gazed at the alcove I was heading for. Heather stood in the entrance. She’d put on her skirt but was standing there sorting out my clothing as I approached. The former coed smiled merrily at us.
“I had a great night,” Heather chirped.
“Heather, there is no reason to be catty. Joelia has tried to help,” I said.
Heather frowned at me. “Sorry.” She turned to look Joelia in the eye. “And I owe you a true apology.”
“It’s nothing,” Joelia said waving a hand between them.
“No,” Heather said as she thrust my clothing out at me. “Ron didn’t come down on me as hard as he could. Joelia, you have been doing a lot. I see you helping get the mules into the harnesses, and you are probably the best at working with the mules when they are pulling a wagon.”
“I’d think Gerit was much better,” Joelia said with a blush.
“Gerit is a carpenter who worked for a cart-maker,” Heather replied. “He’s steady, but watch him, and you’ll see he’s uncomfortable with the mules. You aren’t. And I get a feeling you can ride a horse. Krysbain can I believe, but no one else in our group knows how. Someday, that could be vital.”
“If we can make saddles,” I said. “But that is something I don’t know how to do.”
“What?” Heather asked me as she let go of my clothing. I caught the pants, but the shirt and vest fluttered to the ground. “You were asleep the day they covered that in class?”
Lydia burst out laughing. I turned to discover she had stepped out of the alcove next to the one I had slept in. “That’s a good one,” she said. My friend turned to look at Joelia. “Heather is being silly. I doubt Ron has ever actually seen a saddle close enough to examine one. It wasn’t something we would have used.”
I ignored the interchange while I put my pants on. Once they were pulled up, I knelt down to pick up my shirt and vest. “Right now we need to think about breakfast and then what we are going to do,” I said.
“What are we going to do?” Lydia asked.
I pointed at the double doors. “That doorway. Hopefully it will lead us to an exit. Everyone needs to eat, and then we’ll be traveling through the doorway.”
“With the herds? Indoors?” Lydia asked.
“We can’t go back out the way we came in,” I pointed towards the blank wall where everyone said we had appeared. “The passage that Esme, Shaylin, and I went down led to a bunch of dorm rooms, and after our guide vanished, the ceiling started to come down.”
“Could that happen here?” Lydia asked looking up at the ceiling.
“I hope not,” I said. “This place was built with magic. Some of the spells are holding, but others have failed.”
“Like the road?” Heather said in a muffled voice. I looked up to see that she was pulling her blouse down over her head. “I remember how the road and bridges were in better repair that we expected until we crossed that last bridge. Then we noticed massive holes in the road, and the area the herds had been grazing was gone.”
Joelia looked shocked. “They wasted magic on their roads?”
“Probably not a waste,” I said as I pulled my own shirt over my head. “If they were using the roads to move goods and people, they needed the roads to be solid. The magic appears to be designed to keep the roads clear while maintaining them.”
“But to make it last so long? Could they really do that?” Joelia asked.
“They might have,” Cimbra said as she emerged from the alcove. The dark elven woman was wearing a blouse and skirt. She fluffed her hair. “There are a number of ways to make a spell last a long time.” She frowned and then looked away.
“Do most require that someone be sacrificed?” Lydia asked.
“I don’t know if most do, but there are at least two that use blood magic. There is another that is based on binding spirits. When those fail the spirits are often rather vengeful,” Cimbra said.
Everyone was quiet. I finished dressing and stepped into the alcove to check on the furs. Cimbra had carefully folded them before emerging, so I was able to pick them up. I was walking to the carts with our bedrolls when the lights in the room went out.
“What happened?” I heard Verval shout.
“The magic in here is fading, and the lights went out,” I said. “Shay, I think we need your light stone.”
“It won’t light up everything all that well,” she said. “It’s not that powerful.”
“It will give us enough to get moving. Hopefully the lights in the other sections are still working. Or we might be wandering in this place forever,” I said.
“Corwar!” I heard Gertrilla shout. “Did you make those torches I wanted?”’
“They are in the rickety cart,” Corwar shouted back. “Why?”
“Dafalia, Piemal, get the torches,” Gertrilla said. “You’ll have to hold torches while we explore. Don’t start a fire.”
“Then how do we light the torches,” Dafalia sang back.
“Kids,” I muttered fondly. “Let’s get organized to start moving. Hencktor, can you check the door?”
A new light started shining in the room. It clearly illuminated the back three wagons in our caravan, but the front two were in shadow. “Sorry,” Shaylin shouted. “I can move to try to light up all the wagons, but I thought people were still gathering their bedrolls.”
I realized I was still carrying a handful of bedrolls. I took a moment to walk over to the nearest wagon and set them in the bed before I looked over at everyone.
A new light flickered. At first it was just a few bright sparks, but then a flame started burning. I could see someone raise their hand. The flame rose in the air offering additional light. A moment later another torch was lit adding to the light.
“Piemal, help everyone get the mules and horses to pull the wagons,” I commanded.
“Ron,” Hencktor called out. “I can push these doors open easily, but do we want to do that?”
“As soon as we are ready to move we will,” I said. “Help get the mules harnessed.”
I walked over to help with the carts. Piemal and Corwar were bringing over pairs of mules. They led them to the two wagons. I could see that others in our group had already selected the horses for the carts.
Everyone seemed to be focused. The mules were hitched to the wagons quickly. Heather handed me my spear and pointed to the doorway. “Krysbain and Shaylin will be joining you,” she said. “We need to be ready for anything.”
I said nothing as we moved near the door. Hencktor met us there with Al and Verval. All three men held axes. Verval and Al moved to stand to the side as Hencktor reached out with his right hand and placed it at the point where the two doors met.
He nodded to me and then pushed against the doors. They swung open easily. The right one flew away from his hand only stopping when it hit the wall with a loud crack. It dropped to the floor as the hinges shattered.
“Oops,” Hencktor said as he walked forward and pressed the left door back.
“More signs that the magic keeping this place together is failing,” I said as I tried to look past the now open doors. The area on the other side appeared to be a passage. It was wide enough that we would be able to take the carts and wagons through, but Shaylin’s stone did not show the far end.
There was a rumble of crumbling stone. Several of the herd animals bugled an alarm. “Ron!” Gertrilla screamed. “The fountain is collapsing.”
“Damn,” I said. “We don’t have time. Forward, Shaylin, try to stay close. I’ll keep the pace down, but we have to keep movi
ng for now.”
I stepped forward into the passage. Shaylin kept just a few feet behind me as Krysbain, Al, Verval, and Hencktor spread out to fill the passage. Behind me I could hear the rattle of the carts as they began moving forward, following us into the new area.
We walked at least two hundred yards before the walls of the passage turned away from us. We were spilled out into a circular chamber that was fifty feet or so in diameter. I could see four other passages branching out of the chamber.
“What’s?” Hencktor started to say before a gust of wind from above silenced the thought. Everyone who had reached the chamber looked up. There was a strange man hovering in the air. From the ground, it looked like his body below the waist was a whirlwind.
We froze. The djin flew down from the ceiling and came to a hover a few feet in front of us. The air in the room was still as he looked at us.
“Who are you to come into this room?” it roared. “I cannot believe the wizards of the false empire truly have taken to using human slaves. They always claimed they had more power than a river had water. They certainly spent it freely.”
“The empire has fallen,” I said simply. “We ended up in their magic school by accident and are only seeking to leave this chamber.”
The djin scowled. “Like that matters to me. Their magic bound me here. They sacrificed three of my brethren to tie me to this chamber and its magic. I hate the empire and all its works.”
“I’ve come to believe that the empire was definitely not honorable. However, none of us were alive when the empire existed and none wish to bring it back into being,” I said.
“Why tell me?” the djin roared. “It won’t save you!”
“Why would it not save us?” Hencktor asked innocently.
“Because with the empire fallen, there are no wizards to punish me. I have been bound here for all time. If I cannot help the empire fall, I can hold you here for that same eternity. Or until you die. And I would be happy to make your deaths come sooner,” the djin howled.
“Accompanied by the requisite screaming I’m sure,” I murmured. “But we were not involved in your enslavement. Is it just for you to punish us for what happened to you?”