In the Grip of Time

by Adam Jacob Burgess

  ‘You’re welcome. Send Convener my regards.’

  At this, the guild mates shuffled uncomfortably. Convener had offered to sacrifice himself, and had not taken ‘no’ for an answer. He’d told them that their mission was too important. The pub in Spearca had been destroyed, and Convener along with it, but the adventurers had agreed not to discuss the full impact of this on Actum Tempus. They would first ensure Dorienne did not get their hands on the Ancient Device.

  Sawwse thanked Rosalyn for the food, but only received half a reply. The others set about packing the breakfast leftovers as provisions for their onward journey. Taking food from this dazed woman didn’t sit quite right with the gnome, but she reluctantly packed bread and cheese into her backpack.

  The adventurers of Actum Tempus made their way back out of Spearca’s main gates and walked towards the city’s cultivated woodland park to the west. Ruby’s handcart had been safely stowed away in Rosalyn’s house, so she continued to pull the motionless Mirrah along with them. Once they had put enough distance between themselves and the city, they stopped and settled to have a meeting.

  Corinne wheezed in exhaustion as she sat down on a tree stump. After a curious look from Sawwse, Ruby explained that the rookie wizard had been up most of the night working healing magic on her three injured guild mates. Listening in, Corinne added,

  ‘Your injuries weren’t so bad, Sawwse. Fortunately, lots of it was superficial. Same with Larn. Osrik was another story though.’

  The gnome turned to look at the older dwarf, but he spun around to avoid her gaze.

  ‘It was touch and go for a while,’ she continued, ‘but he’s made from resilient stock.’

  They smiled at Osrik, but Sawwse felt him withdraw.

  ‘Thank you so much, Corinne,’ Sawwse said brightly. ‘But perhaps we should get you somewhere to rest properly-’

  ‘That won’t be possible.’

  Sawwse was interrupted by Larn, who spoke for the first time since returning to the guild. The tall man retrieved his bag from under his worn cloak and placed it on the ground in the centre of the group. He stooped low and slowly removed an object wrapped in cloth. It seemed fragile and Larn handled it delicately, setting it down gently on top of his bag. The others gathered around it and were immediately awestruck. It was, unmistakably, the third idol.

  ‘But how did-?’

  ‘Where did you-?’

  ‘Are you sure that this is-?’

  A hundred questions at once.

  ‘Yes, I am sure. I would have gone to find the Device myself, but I know not how to deal with the magic masking its location. I was on my way back to Convener, when he projected in front of me and told me to seek you in the North.’

  ‘Where did you find this?’ Rangrim asked.

  ‘In a cove within the Peeling Cliffs.’

  ‘And how?’

  ‘I noticed something strange in the tombs where we discovered the first idol. There were mostly two lots of writings on the wall. Firstly, the ancient language, and secondly, the bastardised Sylaxian. However, in amongst the protective wards and runes was a hastily etched script that was completely distinct. We encountered it on the statues. At first, I thought this must have been a trap that Alla’fyr had set, but after thinking on this further, I realised that it was unlikely. As we know, she only arrived a short while before we did, so there was no time for her to set such an intricate trap, and no need, as she was presumably unaware that we were also in the tomb until our confrontation. After we had returned to the guild, I scripted the runes that I had memorised and discussed them with Convener. He suggested I visit a small fishing village in the south and enquire with the people there. Sure enough, a fisherwoman directed me to a local cove, explaining that a similar script had appeared over its entrance one morning.’

  Larn paused for breath, and took in the bewildered looks of his fellow guild members.

  ‘I apologise,’ he said. ‘It’s been sometime since I have spoken out loud.’

  Sawwse looked at Larn, amused at his eloquence. ‘Perhaps Ruby sneaked something into his healing potion,’ she thought. The other guild members implored him to continue.

  ‘The geography of the cove suggested that I should dive below the surface. After swimming for a while, I found an opening to a cavern. Once I emerged above water, I saw similar protective wards marking the cavern walls. Fortunately, my excellent stealth and agility were enough to bypass these with ease.’

  ‘And there’s the familiar arrogance,’ Sawwse remarked, rolling her eyes.

  ‘I had foolishly assumed that these spells would be the idol’s only protection. As you can see,’ he gestured to the gash across his armour, ‘this was not the case.’

  ‘A dragon,’ Vadania said, recognising the shape of the slash. Her eyes flushed with rage.

  ‘Yes,’ he replied after a pause.

  ‘Take me there,’ Vadania demanded, her breath quickening.

  ‘I cannot. The dragon fled from the cavern shortly after I appeared,’ he said, smugly. A flicker of a smile played upon Larn’s lips and Sawwse remembered how difficult it was to trust him.

  ‘Dragons destroy villages, they don’t flee from a single man,’ Rangrim butted in. He could see that Larn was purposefully trying to antagonise Vadania, and he felt defensive.

  ‘Very well. It is possible that it fled because it was bound to the idol in some way,’ Larn admitted. ‘Once I had taken the idol, it was no longer necessary for the dragon to stay there. Though it managed a parting shot, as you can see.’

  The elf paced back and forth.

  ‘What did it look like?’ the elf asked.

  ‘Its scales were shaped like arrowheads and bright orange all over. They shone like Elra’s rays.’

  Vadania stopped walking and sat on the ground. She inhaled deeply, satisfied that this was not the dragon she had been pursuing. In fact, it didn’t sound very much like a dragon at all.

  ‘You saw a vision of a dragon,’ Vadania said wryly. ‘A make-believe. A conjuration.’

  ‘I have the scar to prove it!’ Larn replied shrilly, pointing to the claw mark across his chest plate.

  ‘A mere pussycat could have delivered that,’ chuckled Rangrim.

  ‘Anyway,’ Sawwse boomed, cutting across the squabble. ‘I’m not sure it matters, if we have the idol now. Convener was probably the only one who knew how to read the idols’ maps,’ she said, glumly.

  A cough. The guild turned to Corinne, still perched on her tree stump.

  ‘That might not be completely true. Would someone mind bringing the idol here?’

  Rangrim walked the third idol over to the mage. Corinne had taken out the first idol’s map, which Convener had attained from his Dorienne spy, and laid it across Mirrah’s chest. She then placed Mirrah’s hand, still fused to the second idol, on top of the map. The group stood close to Corinne, intrigued as to what might happen next. Unfortunately, none of them noticed Mirrah’s closed eyelids begin to flutter.

  ‘This particular spell isn’t in the manual,’ she said, chuckling. ‘But Convener showed me how to do it after we brought the second idol back to the guild.’

  The guild members watched, wide-eyed, as Corinne took the third idol from Rangrim, placed it in Mirrah’s other hand and brought them together on her chest. She traced the patterns of the idol and mentally incanted the ancient words that Convener had taught her. A few moments later, there was a flash of bright white light and the idols sent patterns of brilliance rippling through the air and over the ground around them. Corinne pushed the idols together and down with some force, until they pulsed brightly and sank into the map on Mirrah’s chest. Another flash of bright light and they were gone, leaving only the map.

  The adventurers peered down at the map. It was still completely foreign to them. A mess of tangled intersecting lines and unrecognisable patterns. Not even Larn could decipher it.

  ‘At least, I think that’s what Conven
er told-,’ Corinne began.

  As the trainee mage spoke, Mirrah opened her eyes. She shot upright and swept her leg in a clockwise motion, knocking Corinne, Ruby and Rangrim to the ground. Mirrah thrust her palm into Larn’s chest, sending him flying away. She dodged a blow from Vadania, and used the momentum to grab the elf’s arm and throw her overhead. Osrik made a grab for his handaxe, but she was too quick for him. Mirrah swung a right hook at the dwarf, dazing him while she snatched the handaxe for herself. She spun around with the axe and stopped it an inch from Sawwse’s neck.

  ‘We really must stop meeting like this,’ Sawwse whimpered, gulping.

  ‘Who are you? Where am I?’ Mirrah barked her questions, a wild look in her eyes.

  ‘It’s me, Mirrah. Sawwse Bohge. You’re safe now,’ the gnome said, reassuringly.

  Sawwse’s guild mates picked themselves up and fell in behind the gnome. None of them trusted this mysterious woman like Sawwse did, and her latest display did nothing to set their minds at ease.

  Mirrah’s eyes darted between the adventurers before settling her gaze on Sawwse. Her expression softened and she lowered Osrik’s handaxe.

  ‘I don’t know you,’ she said.

  Sawwse felt as though she’d been punched in the gut. She’d thought about the spark she’d felt for Mirrah ever since they met, but now she doubted herself. Had the affection only ever been one way? What stupid dreams she’d had.

  ‘We mean you no harm,’ the gnome said, forcing herself to smile. ‘You have been asleep for a long time, and we’ve been looking after you.’

  ‘I see. Then I am in your debt, thank you,’ Mirrah replied. She placed a hand flat on the ground in front of Sawwse and bowed her head. ‘I am lost.’

  ‘We’re in the Greater Spearcian Woodland Park,’ said Corinne, sitting herself back down on the tree stump.

  The mysterious woman nodded before addressing Sawwse once again.

  ‘You called me Mirrah. Is that my name?’ she asked, clutching her head.

  ‘You have something that belongs to us,’ Vadania said, keen to keep the conversation from becoming further protracted.

  Mirrah glanced down at the map clutched in her left hand. She seemed surprised to find she was holding anything and examined it closely as she began to pass it over to the elf. ‘I’m sorry, I didn’t realise I-’ she began, stopping abruptly as she fully comprehended the design on the map. Mirrah felt a pain deep in her head that sent shockwaves throughout her body. She howled in agony and fell to her knees.

  Sawwse tried to approach her, but Vadania yanked her backwards and yelled at the others to keep their distance. But Mirrah didn’t explode or fly into a fit of rage, instead she slowly rose to her feet and lifted her head to face the adventurers.

  ‘I know where this leads,’ she said.

  ‘Impossible,’ sneered Larn.

  ‘I’m not sure that’s entirely likely,’ concurred Corinne.

  ‘Do you take us for fools?’ growled Osrik.

  The amnesiac mage held the map up in front of the adventurers and lightly placed her fingertips against the back of the parchment. The strange patterns of intersecting lines began rotating, shifting and merging until they reformed into a picture of a cave mouth.

  ‘It’s the heart of the mountain,’ said Mirrah.

  ‘Which one?’ Rangrim asked.

  Mirrah pointed far into the distance, at the Blue Mountain range that divided Pāx from Dorienne.

  ‘The tallest of those.’

  ‘That’s Slǣpan Wiga,’ Sawwse said, turning to look at Ruby. It felt like an eternity ago that they passed by the very same mountains on their way to Rhyddinas. ‘The sleeping knight.’

  ‘How do you know how to use the map?’ Vadania asked, sternly.

  ‘I’m not sure,’ Mirrah replied.

  ‘And we’re supposed to trust you,’ Larn snorted.

  Sawwse watched as a deep, magnetic light returned to Mirrah’s eyes.

  ‘I don’t know what you’re supposed to do,’ Mirrah began. ‘What I do know is that if I’m able to read this map, it must be leading me to answers. Follow me or attack me, it matters not.’

  The adventurers stood frozen to the ground as Mirrah turned away from them and began walking towards Slǣpan Wiga. Sawwse was the first to move. She looked around at the others, shrugged and began to follow behind Mirrah at a distance.

  ‘We can’t trust her, Sawwse,’ said Vadania.

  ‘The sleeping knight is full of bandits,’ Osrik yelled after the gnome.

  The gnome spun around, walking backwards to face the others while keeping up with Mirrah’s pace.

  ‘What choice do we have?’ she shouted back.

  The other guild mates agreed resignedly. Vadania, Rangrim, Osrik and Larn quickly caught up to Sawwse, and left Ruby behind with a still-exhausted Corinne.

  Once there was some distance between them and the others, Ruby put her hand on top of Corinne’s and patted it. Her head transformed first, drawing out long. Then her neck and body thickened, and she dropped to all fours. Ruby’s arms and legs thinned and thickened, stick-like at the hoof, pure muscle near the body. She flicked her tail in Corinne’s face and neighed, ‘Climb on.’

  Pony and passenger caught up with the others, and together, marched onward towards the sleeping knight.

  --

  It took them most of the day to reach the base of Slǣpan Wiga. The mountain range was huge, stretching across a large portion of the continent, from north to south. This meant that evening appeared to fall sooner than it might have otherwise, as Elra dropped behind the peaks. Mirrah kept herself aloof, walking ahead of the others and stopping every now and then to stare fixedly at the map. The adventurers of Actum Tempus stayed together in close formation. Vadania spent most of the long trek with her eyes trained on Mirrah.

  ‘My feet are killing me,’ jested Sawwse, from her perch on Rangrim’s shoulders.

  ‘I could use a rest too,’ Ruby agreed, oblivious to the irony.

  The sleeping knight towered above them in the distance.

  ‘If we camp here, our supplies will be raided by bandits,’ said Osrik matter-of-factly.

  ‘They will not make it past me,’ declared Larn, unsheathing his rapier and thrusting it into the air to an audience of eyerolls.

  ‘I know a safer place,’ Vadania said, assuredly. ‘But, we need to make sure that Mirrah agrees to stop.’

  Sawwse felt her guild mates staring at her.

  ‘Okay,’ Sawwse sighed, jumping down from Rangrim’s back. She called out to Mirrah and approached her cautiously. ‘If we take a break, will you join us?’

  Mirrah faced the gnome, but stared into the space between them. At first she looked dazed, as though she had just woken from a particularly vivid dream, but then she shook her head wildly and looked to the sky, as if she’d just realised it was no longer daytime. She glanced down at the gnome and nodded.

  Vadania gestured to the pine forest at the base of the mountain and the others followed, trusting the elf’s keen senses and experience.

  They moved through the pines without stopping: the path was clear and well trodden. Osrik and Larn were particularly tired, but both too proud to say anything. Corinne had fallen asleep on Ruby’s back, and was now somewhat recovered.

  The ground beneath their feet became softer. Sawwse was shocked when the pine forest abruptly ended. A large lake opened out before them, ringed by a sandy beach. She ran onto the sand, kicking it, rolling in it and letting it run through her fingers.

  ‘I’ve never seen this before.’

  It was true. Though the Blue Forest wasn’t too far from the coast, it had always been as unlikely for her to grow wings as to venture even slightly beyond its bounds.

  Vadania gestured across the lake to a small hut, lit by braziers. As they walked, Sawwse frolicked in the sand. Although the guild mates were all tired, this cheerful display did much to raise the spirits of the gro
up and lift them to the other side of the lake. All except Mirrah, who kept her distance by walking around the lake in the opposite direction. They could just about make her out, settling down on a large rock and staring out at the deep waters.

  The timber-framed hut stood about thirty feet back from the water. It was modest in size, but clearly well looked after.

  ‘We’ll be safe here, but we need to ask permission first.’

  Vadania knocked on the door, and, after a pause, opened it. Inside, the room was bright with candlelight. The light bounced off the shiny metal objects that covered the walls from floor to ceiling. It took Sawwse a few moments to realise that they were swords.

  A thin, blindfolded elf sat cross-legged by the back wall of the hut.

  ‘Hello, Vadania.’

  ‘Hello, Prysta.’

  There wasn’t quite enough room for all the group to enter, so Osrik, Larn, Ruby and Corinne began preparations for the camp outside.

  Vadania stepped forward and sat down opposite Prysta.

  ‘We’ve come to ask permission to stay a night on your beach.’

  ‘It is not my beach.’ Prysta smiled and removed her blindfold. ‘Though it is under my protection.’

  ‘There are some humans who now refer to this as Lake Prustijana. I wonder where this name comes from?’

  ‘The lifespan-impaired are keen to make these foolish gestures of ownership. It takes their mind off their inevitable demise.’

  The two elves shared a laugh. It was the most at ease Sawwse had ever seen Vadania. She coughed, eager to make this woman’s acquaintance.

  Vadania gestured, first to Sawwse, who bowed and introduced herself, and then to Rangrim, who nodded, smiling awkwardly. Prysta’s eyes lingered on Rangrim as she spoke, making him feel even more uncomfortable.

  ‘It seems your other friends have already begun to make themselves at home.’

  They peered outside and saw the others settling into the camp they had hastily constructed.

  ‘Apologies. I will tear down the camp until you confirm your permission.’

  Prysta held up her hand.

  ‘It is quite alright. You will have my protection tonight.’