Dusk frowned. “She is my friend and companion; I would do no less for any other.”
“Or do you do more because it is her and not, say, another Grey Rider?”
Dusk opened his mouth, and then closed it. He looked with new eyes at Auraus as she lay in a feathered heap nearby, emotions chasing one another across his face.
CHAPTER 12
After another day’s slow travel, the wagons the next night were pulled into a campsite which boasted a large flat dirt surface, a pre-set fire pit, and a stream that flowed out of a nearby cave across the ground and down into a small hole on the other side of the area. Auraus, who had been mentally absent all day, did not come around when her dinner was placed in her hands on her lap. Dusk tried to get her to eat, but he finally took the plate and put it on the floor for later. She did not notice.
Dusk went over and joined the others. He half-joked to Ragar as he sat down in their company, “You know, I could almost wish you were a danger to us.”
Ragar raised his tufted eyebrows while the others looked questioningly at him. Dusk nodded his head in Auraus’ direction as explanation.
Changing the subject, Mereik asked, “Are we going to reach our destination soon, Dusk?”
“I do not know,” he replied.
He opened his mouth to say more, but Thoronis, who had been looking idly about, hissed, “Watch it! Bascom is coming this way.”
Everyone quieted as the Miscere Ogre mage swaggered up in his usual manner as his underlings set up camp.
“So, my pretties, how are you all doing this evening? I hope you are anticipating the morning, for tomorrow we reach Morsca’s keep, where you will be housed until the parley!”
He paused as if waiting to see what they would do. But if Bascom was disappointed at the lack of reaction he got from his prisoners, he showed no sign of it.
“Yes, my pretties,” he went on, “Tomorrow afternoon should see us arrive—but do not fret about your present appearance. Tomorrow morning before we get under way you will be cleaned up and made presentable. I will not spoil the surprise, but it will be enjoyable. At least, it will be for me.”
He grinned as he gave them all the habitual once-over, frowned slightly at Auraus’ indifference, and then left. As soon as he was gone, Ragar growled.
Dusk kept his voice low as he said, “If I were like you I would be growling right about now, too. I wonder what Bascom has on his mind?”
“Whatever it is, it cannot be good,” said Mereik.
Dusk spread his hands. “Unfortunately we will have to wait until daybreak to find out. No doubt it is part of his enjoyment to have us wondering all night about what is in store for the morning. Well, I for one am going to put it as far from my mind as I can, since there is nothing we could do about it anyway. I would advise everyone to do the same. Good night, all.”
He got up and walked back over to settle himself down next to Auraus, who had already wrapped herself in her wings and resembled nothing so much as a pile of feathers. The others eventually bedded down, too. As the moon rose and the night progressed, however, the amber-eyed Surface-elf found himself wishing he could follow his own advice.
Before sunrise, the prisoners were rousted out of sleep by several buckets of cold water being thrown on them, followed by a many-throated roar of laughter. All the prisoners except Auraus, whose wings had sheltered her from the worst of it, scrambled sputtering to their feet. The door to their cage was thrown open but no one came in to grab them. Instead, Bascom appeared in the cage’s opening and beckoned them to step out. Dusk and Thoronis exchanged quick looks, but then the Miscere Surface-elf shrugged and exited the cage, leaving the others to follow. Auraus was the only one who did not move.
Bascom frowned. “Come on, pretty birdy. It is time for your bird bath.”
The heap of damp feathers that was Auraus did not move.
“I will tell you just one more time, birdy. Move it!” the Miscere Ogre mage said with growing annoyance.
Dusk called, “Auraus! Please, come outside! You can see the sky better from out here!”
She managed to stir at his voice, but that was all it seemed she could do.
Bascom’s face turned angry, and he hissed, “All right, birdy, you asked for it! You are not going anywhere, slave!”
Her body gave a compulsive leap, and she shrieked and twisted around for about five seconds, hands at her collar. She slumped breathless and dazed as Bascom sub-vocalized the deactivation phrase too softly for even the Surface-elves to hear.
“What did he do? I did not see him pull out a spellbook or see anything flash on his robe!” whispered an astonished Ragar to Dusk.
“That is because he did not cast a spell, Ragar. He just said an activation phrase,” Dusk whispered back. A Goblin spear poked warningly into his side. “I will tell you more later,” he finished, wincing as he rubbed the offended area.
“Move it, birdy, or I will not be so nice a second time!” came Bascom’s irritated voice.
Auraus’ form shuddered, and she raised herself to crawl to the edge of the cage and limply slide to her feet in front of Bascom. Dusk reached for her to steady her, but Bascom beat him to her by grabbing her roughly at the shoulders.
“Just for that, birdy, I am going to give you to the Goblins to clean up instead of doing you myself.” He spun her around into the arms of the nearest Goblin, who slobbered happily as Bascom ordered, “You, Gorbsk, and the rest of your company may have the pleasure of making our little birdy here presentable for Lady Morsca. Just do not damage her. Because if you do, I will take it out of your hides.”
Another Goblin came over to the one holding Auraus, and between the two of them she was dragged towards the cave stream. Bascom then turned his attention to the rest of the prisoners and started lecturing them. Dusk tuned out what the Miscere mage was saying about his expectations of their good behavior for Morsca in favor of helplessly watching Auraus. He saw that despite the fact she put up no resistance, the Goblins took delight in making her stumble across the uneven ground. He was angry at her treatment, and at his impotence in stopping it from happening to her.
When the amber-eyed Surface-elf realized their destination was not the stream outside the cave, he urgently interrupted Bascom’s speech. “Bascom, no! Do not let them take her inside!”
But his attempted intervention was too late. Auraus saw at that same time that the Goblins were going to make her enter the cave, and pulled back in obvious fright.
“No! No! Not underground! You cannot make me go in there!” she shrieked, giving an adrenaline-fueled flex of her wings, sending the two holding her tumbling away.
The other Goblins were on her in an instant, but she fought back savagely out of sheer terror. She broke away from them, ran a few steps and took flight. In almost an instant she was ten feet up.
Dusk heard Bascom ground out an angry, “You are not going anywhere, slave!”
The Wind-rider spasmed mid-air and crashed to the ground, writhing and screaming in agony. With a stony face, the Miscere Ogre mage watched her body contort from where he stood.
After fifteen seconds had passed and Bascom did not say anything else, Dusk grabbed his sleeve. “You are going to kill her, Bascom! Do not do it! She is not worth anything to your parley dead!”
Bascom backhanded him across the face, but obviously sub-vocalized the deactivation phrase because Auraus stopped writhing and collapsed into unconsciousness.
“Take her into the cave and get on with it, boys.” The grim tone of the mage’s voice made the prisoners look at each other warily as she was dragged into the cave.
Bascom turned his attention to the four of them, stared for a few seconds, and then turned to the nearest Goblin.
“Have the rest of guards split up evenly between those who are left and prepare them for Lady Morsca. I do not want one unguarded for even the blink of an eye. Is that clear?” The guards nodded as Bascom looked back at the prisoners with menace written on his face. �
�I will be close by in my wagon, so do not even think of trying anything funny. Or better yet,” he said in an even grimmer tone than he had been using, “I dare you to go ahead and try something.”
He turned and stomped away.
After a time Auraus was carried back out of the cave. Dusk saw that she was clean from head to foot, her wet hair was detangled, and her wing feathers had been fluffed. Even her clothes had been mended and were clean, if soaking wet. She was tossed, semi-conscious at this point, back into the cage wagon, which was locked behind her. One by one the other prisoners were taken into the cave, and came back prepared much like Auraus. Dusk, the last to go, discovered that the stream outside ran from a small pond inside the cave. He was thrown into the water unceremoniously, and had his body and clothes washed and brushed simultaneously. Based on what was happening to him, Dusk was sure that the Goblins had teased, pinched and prodded each captive before him during their procedures, but he also saw that the guards took care to leave no lasting marks. After he was done and had been thrown back in the cage wagon, the caravan got underway again.
As they bounced along, Ragar crawled over to Dusk. “You promised to tell me, Dusk, about what happened to Auraus back before we got cleaned up.”
Dusk took a quick look at the unmoving heap of feathers that was Auraus. “It is the collar she wears. I assumed you noticed that it is metal while ours are just leather?” he whispered.
Ragar nodded.
“Well, it is a magical item that serves two functions: one, it prevents her from using magics granted by Caelestis. Two, it causes pain to her whole body whenever Bascom says the activation words.”
Ragar first looked shocked, then mad. “She is a Priestess of Caelestis? And he has cut her off from her Source? How can he do that?”
“You know the answer as well as I. Because of what he is, and because of what he can do. He probably spent a long time researching to be able to make collars that can do it. Be aware that he could use those collars on us if pushed too hard, too, though I do not imagine he has too many of them around.”
Mereik and Thoronis crawled over to join them.
The Gnome asked with fear in her voice, “I guess it will not be long until we get to this Morsca’s keep then, Dusk?”
“No, I would guess not,” Dusk replied.
Just then Bascom rode by the wagon, a surly look on his face as he looked in at all his prisoners, but especially at Auraus. That worried Dusk.
That is, Mereik, if we are all allowed to get to this Morsca’s keep in one piece, he thought. And from that look on his face, I wonder if Bascom has something else in mind to do to us before we get there ….
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Susan Bianculli, a happily married mother of two living in Georgia, has loved to read all her life. Fairy tales from collections like The Yellow Fairy took her to magical places when she was young; and Fantasy and Sci-fi stories took her to places such as Middle Earth and Dune in her teens. She still loves to read as an adult, and it is not unusual for her to carve out reading time during her busy days and encourage her family to do the same.
A graduate of Emerson College with a Minor in Writing, she is finally making a foray to the other side of the book cover. She hopes through her stories to share and inspire in young readers the same love of reading that she had at their age, and still has now.
For more information about Susan, visit her website at:
http://susanbianculli.wix.com/home#!
COMING MAY 2015
Bascom’s Revenge
The Mist Gate Crossings Book 2
By Susan Bianculli
Published by CBAY Books
ISBN: 978-1-933767-45-1
After stumbling through an odd patch of mist and into a whole other, more magical dimension, Lise had begun to adjust to her new life. With new friends and a new commitment to the Goddess Caelestis, Lise thinks she’s ready for the next adventure. At least, she thinks that until the only other human is injured and then kidnapped just as another mist gate opens. Forced to choose between Jason and her life back in New York, Lise’s new faith is put to the test.
COMING JULY 2015
The Urban Survivalist
A Mist Gate Crossings Novella
By Susan Bianculli
Published by CBAY Books
ISBN: 978-1-933767-49-9
Jason’s life has never been easy. As a member of the Urban Survivalists, a group of homeless kids just trying to survive the streets of New York City, Jason’s day is spent trying to steal and scavenge enough to buy food for himself and his friends. Then one day he chases the wrong girl into the trees in Central Park and out of the everyday world.
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