The Scent of Death

by Shelby Skabelund

  This was Nicks que. It was time to go to sleep. He lay down on the hard floor and laid his head on his arm for a pillow. He now realized how tired he was. His shoulders still ached and his whole body seemed to complain. He knew it wasn’t comfortable, but he was so tired. Soon he was drifting off to sleep.

  The next morning it was depressing to wake up to the same thing. Trays full of gray slop and a handful of water to drink on the way back to the mine. They worked in the same tunnel as they had the day before. Nick had found out from Rhen that the name of the man who had been whipped the day before was Alex. Lucky for Alex the guards left him in the cell to recover from his beating. Two of the prisoners helped him eat his breakfast and made him as comfortable as they could before leaving the cell.

  The day was just as exhausting as the day before. At least no one was beaten or whipped. Nick found himself lost in thought all day. The excitement of being the new keeper, had his mind racing. After going over all that had happened and feeling what he had last night, he knew he was the keeper. There was no denying the new power he felt. He was overwhelmed with the responsibility that it brought, but excited to search this new power. He couldn’t wait for the shift to be done and to get back to his private spot in the cell. He just hoped that the guards would leave them again for a while before taking their watch. The work was wearing him out physically, but he was in good spirits.

  At the end of the shift Nick was almost running to help get everything cleaned up to leave for the night. “What has gotten in to you?” Rhen asked. “The guards are going to want to punish you just because you have too much energy.” He finished.

  “Oh yeah.” Nick replied as he realized he might be a little too excited for someone who just finished a grueling days’ work in the mines. Nick didn’t want to draw any unnecessary attention to himself. He immediately reeled himself in.

  When they got back into their cells, he quickly ate his moldy bread and cold potatoes as quick as he could and slipped back into his spot by the bars. This was his new routine day after day. Rhen had noticed the change in him and had mentioned it several times. Nick now had a purpose. He had hope of getting out of the mine. All it would take is some time and attention to this new power. He knew would find a spell that would help them escape. He just had to master this first lesson. He could feel the power, but he couldn’t control it.

  A week later his excitement was starting to fade. His frustration started to take over. He had tried to do the light spell over and over. He could feel a stirring from within, but he could never transfer it to the tip of the wand. That night he sat with the book turned toward the torch light and the wand in his hand. He quietly said the word “Illumino”. It didn’t work again. In his frustration his mind went to a painful place. He thought of how he missed his mother and family. He thought of how he would never see them again unless he figured this out. He wanted his life back. He couldn’t believe it, but he wanted to live in Evanston again. As these powerful emotions built up, he saw Alex lying on the floor. He hadn’t walked since his beating by the guard. Nick wanted to help him.

  Nick held the wand up again and staring at the tip confidently said “Illumino”. He felt all of the feelings intensify and mix with the power he had felt from the book on the first day in the mine. It rushed down his hand holding the wand and then a soft white light began to glow. He was so excited. The feeling of accomplishment was amazing. “This is just the start” he thought. He squeezed the wand tighter and the light grew around him. He quickly released the pressure and the light dimmed. Just to test it out, he dropped the wand. It continued to glow. He didn’t even need to hold it. “Finally.” came Rhen’s quiet voice. Nick looked up to see his face lit up by the pale white light. “Now turn that out before you draw attention to yourself.” Rhen was right. They couldn’t risk any of their cell mates knowing too much. They were good people but knowing the truth about Nick, could put him in danger.

  “I don’t know how.” Nick responded, as he hid the lit wand under his robe. “My uncle said…what was it…oh, apago”. Nick tried it. “Apago.” He said, and sure enough the light went out. Nick excitedly pulled the book back out and turned to the next page anxious to find what the next lesson would be. He read for a few more minutes until Rhen was tapping his shoulder and told him that the guards were returning. He quickly put the book and wand away, but he couldn’t stop smiling.

  Chapter 13

  Out and About

  Nick didn’t believe it when Rhen had told him they had been in the mine for forty-three days. Rhen had been making marks on the cave wall where he slept each night before he went to sleep. When Nick didn’t believe him, he showed him the marks. Sure, enough there were forty-three marks on the wall.

  Nick had noticed that all the hard work was affecting him differently than the rest of the prisoners. Instead of looking frail and weak, Nick noticed his arms were getting thicker and his legs were getting bigger. He was getting more muscular by the day. He could see his muscle tissue banded under his skin. All the hard work with the meager food was making him cut like one of the football players from school.

  He had continued his studies each night when he could, but the guards were still staying in the tunnels at night. They were still concerned about the prisoners. This told Nick and Rhen that Vi and the others hadn’t been caught. Rhen had been right. She knew exactly what to do to lose the Venti. Nick had worried that they would be caught and used to teach the others a lesson. Nick had no desire to see them beaten and whipped.

  Alex had finally recovered after the others decided they should all sacrifice a little of their meals for him to get his strength back. It had worked. The extra food seemed to help him recover. The guards didn’t wait for him to get fully healthy of course. They put him back to work as soon as he could stand. The others pitched in and let him rest in the tunnel until the guards would come. Alex then had the strength to keep up since he hadn’t been working. Nick had taken as many turns as possible doing Alex’s work. By doing this Alex began to admire Nick and they became close friends.

  Nicks enthusiasm was becoming contagious among the group. He noticed more smiles among the prisoners. They seemed more eager to help one another. It made Nick feel good that he might be part of a little joy in such a miserable place.

  Nick had mastered the light spell and had also been able to lift small objects with a levitation spell. He was surprised how it seemed to drain him of so much physical energy. When he lifted a small stone just four feet, he felt exhausted immediately and the stone wavered and fell to the ground. So far this was his favorite. He had always wanted to be able to will objects to fly. He just never thought it was a possibility. He was now working on an invisibility spell. He couldn’t wait to master this one.

  This spell didn’t require him to say anything out loud. It was just a series of wand movements and thoughts. It started by touching the ground in front of his feet and then swirling the wand upward and turning in a circle with the wand above his head and then arching it back to the ground in front of him. When he would try, he could feel the stir of power inside of him, but he wasn’t sure when to think the words in his head.

  Finally, after three nights his feet disappeared. The drain on his energy was noticeable and immediate. He quickly undid the spell by waving the wand back and forth as to erase the spell. Sure enough, his feet reappeared. He was so excited. He had always wanted to be able to move around invisible.

  Luckily Nick and Rhen had moved to the other corner of the cell where there were some shadows. He had memorized the instructions from the book, so he didn’t need to stay hidden to rehearse it. He was sure if anyone looked his way and could even see some of him, they would think they were crazy. Rhen tried to draw away any unwanted attention by standing in front of Nick in the light and leaning against the wall. It must have been enough because no one seemed to look their way. He was so motivated to get this right he stayed up in the dark corner quietly working on it after the guards came back an
d everyone was fast asleep. It was easy because there were no words to say. The best he could do was the bottom half of his body.

  A few nights later, he was able to get it to work. Rhen let out a low whistle. “Now we are getting somewhere. Nick was only able to stay invisible for about twenty seconds and then he would start to flicker back into view. His head would start hurting and he would collapse to the floor weak and tired. He could only practice the spell a few times a night but after a few more weeks he could stay invisible for quite some time.

  Nick was ready for some action. He asked Rhen to give him the key to the cell. He was sure he could stay hidden from the guards now. He was able to cast the spell without thinking too much about it now. “You can’t stay invisible the whole time you are out there.” Rhen protested. “I don’t plan on it.” Nick said back “I can use it when guards are coming and then slip by them. When I can get a good hiding spot I can release the spell, so I don’t get too tired. I will be fine.”

  Before the guards came back for the night Nick and Rhen decided it was time. They pulled all the prisoners in the cell together and explained who Nick was and what he was about to do. “So, he will start looking for a way for us to get out. Until then, he might find some things to make our lives a little more bearable.” Rhen finished. “What if he is caught?” said Ellen a woman with red matted hair and freckles. “Then he will be punished. We will say that he disappeared during the shift and no one had noticed him missing. I think it is worth the beating we could receive. As a matter of fact, I am willing to take that beating myself.” Rhen replied.

  This answer seemed to calm everyone’s concerns. “Show them.” Rhen said looking to Nick. Nick pulled the wand from behind his back and touched the ground in front of him while swirling it up his body and turning and arching the wand back to the ground. When he did, he vanished. There was a sharp intake of breath by all. They were looking to where Nick had been, but there was no sign of him. Large smiles broke onto all their faces and Nick saw the hope return in their eyes. “Like I said, I will take the beating, but I won’t have to. He just won’t get caught.” Said Rhen with a large smile.

  Nick had fun with his cell mates for a moment as he wandered between them and taped on their shoulders and whispered in ears. They giggled and laughed as he did. The look of wonder on their faces was priceless. When he reappeared, the admiration on their faces was noticeable. Nick had gone from helpful cell mate to a source of true hope in those few moments.

  It had been decided. The next night he would leave the cell. The plan was to do it when the guards had left after they got back from their work in the mines. Nick was nervous and excited at the same time. He tried to save his energy during the day so that he would have plenty of it that evening. The others were happy to shoulder some of his work load with hopes that he might find some way for them to escape.

  Soon the day was over, and they were locked back into the cell. Rhen waited for the guards to leave and then used a small stone to break the hardened dry slop that he had covered the key with. He used his pinky to break the key free from the little crevice and they hurried to the door. They listened for signs of guards but could hear nothing. Rhen carefully reached through the bars of the cell, inserted the key and turned it. With a crisp click, the padlock clanked free. Rhen did his best to quiet the noise. He swung the creaky door open just enough to let Nick out. Nick slipped out and took the key from Rhen and slipped it in his pocket. He locked the cell from the outside and said, “See you all later”. “Be careful.” Rhen reminded him. Nick disappeared up the tunnel.

  It felt so good to be out of his prison and walking around freely, but he was very anxious. He wasn’t sure where the guards went after the shifts. He knew he needed to find out where they were going each night so they could figure an escape route. Nick worked his way up the tunnel the same way they went to the mine each day. That was the direction the guards would head each night after locking up. As Nick reached the end of the tunnel where it opened into the mine he could hear voices. He quickly did the spell and crept to the entrance of the tunnel. There by the opening were the two guards that took them out to the mine each day and put them back into their cells.

  Nick could hear them arguing about something. They were both upset and raising their voices. “You told me that you would watch them tonight and then I would watch them tomorrow.” One seethed. “No, I said I would do it tomorrow, not tonight.” You should listen better. He pushed on the others shoulder. That was all it took. The next thing Nick saw was the two angry men punching and wrestling each other to the floor. He wasn’t in the mood to watch this, so he crept by the two brawling on the floor. Nick barely dodged one of their legs as the man swung it around to get in a better position.

  He hurried away and as he did, the sound of the scuffle slowly diminished. He decided he would head to the tunnel where they worked each day to break the spell and get a little rest. No one was anywhere near there at night. He was sure of it.

  After he broke the spell he sat near the entrance and looked across the mine. He could see five of the guards walking together toward a tunnel on the opposite side of the cavern. They disappeared inside. A few moments later one of their two guards, hobbled across the mine alone brushing something from his lip. He headed toward the same tunnel. “This is worth it already.” Nick thought to himself. He now knew where they headed each night.

  Nick rested long enough so he felt comfortable using his spell again to get across the cavern. He wanted to find out what it was the guards did each night not just where they went. Soon he was hurrying across the mine. It was an eerie feeling to be in such a large cavern all alone. The ceiling was almost black with darkness it was so high. The torches burned bright enough to give shapes to the out cropping’s of rocks and boulders. There was enough light to see across the mine but not enough to make out full details.

  He hurried to the same tunnel the guards had gone into. He headed in and hurried as fast as he could to find another resting place. There was nowhere to hide that he could find. The tunnel just seemed to go up forever. He waved his wand back and forth and he saw his legs and arms reappear. He knew he couldn’t afford to waste his strength. This tunnel was well lit. Torches seemed to be placed much closer together than the other tunnels. The rock was an orange-tan color. The floor was almost perfectly flat like a concrete walkway. He also noticed that there were some strange intricate carvings every so often along the walls.

  As he worked his way up the tunnel his attention was drawn to the torches. They weren’t the same oil dipped wooden torches that were throughout the mine. They were ornate metal torches. The tops were shaped like licking flames with an opening where the fire was burning. Looking at one close, Nick realized that they were filled with an oil that was burning. The handles were decorated in bands of steel that formed lines and a thick triangle. It looked like something you would see in a castle. They seemed to be crafted by hand and each one was unique.

  Nicks attention came quickly away from the torches as he heard voices coming from up ahead. As he drew nearer he could hear it was mostly yelling and laughter. It was cruel laughter. It reminded Nick of the laughter by the bon fire. It made his skin crawl. He quickly preformed the spell again and hurried forward.

  The tunnel leveled off and opened into a huge room. The room was amazing. It had high arches carved into the ceiling cut straight from the stone. Nick recognized the detail of crown work and base work to look much like the stone work in Rhen and Vi’s home. This room was impressive. Nothing was small scale about it. There were pillars carved into the walls and pillars every twenty feet throughout the room. They were carved from the same stone as the floor and the ceiling. It was as though some one had dug out the room leaving only the stone for the pillars meticulously in the perfect spacing as though it had been carved and placed after the fact but there were no seems.

  What was odd was how majestic this room was and yet it was filled with a group of ruckus pigs. They were stre
wn between the pillars on old wooden tables and chairs that clashed with the beautiful room before him. It was full of Dead Ones with their shaven heads and black tattoos as well as the regular guards that drove the slaves in the mines. Even the regular guards as terrible as they were seemed uneasy around the dead ones, almost cautious.

  They were eating and drinking. A large fat pig was roasting over the fire in the massive carved fireplace. The smell made Nicks stomach hurt. He hadn’t realized how good pork could smell. He hadn’t eaten real food now for over a month and the smell of the meat made his mouth water. He wondered if he could sneak some of the meat without being noticed. He slipped to the fireplace avoiding the men. Finally, he stepped up to the pig and grabbed a hold of the steaming shank. It burned his hand but didn’t care. He looked back and no one was near him or looking. Pulling hard and quick, the small shank popped off the pig and floated in midair for a moment and then disappeared. Nick had slipped it under his shirt, rolled it once and made for the tunnel.

  As Nick crossed the room a fight broke out over by the roasting pig. “I called the shank. Who has taken it?” Bellowed a terrible voice. Nick couldn’t hear the rest as all he could hear were the sound of tables being turned and men yelling.