“I would say that we all agree on that point,” someone said from the back of the group.
Simon watched as Kate and Fergus moved aside to make some room. Several people stepped forward together and he recognized Virginia, Eric, Anna and Gerard.
“Hey guys!” he said with a broad smile. “Long time no see! How is everyone?”
Both of the young woman gave him a hug, the tiny Anna making him feel almost huge in comparison, and the two men shook his hand warmly.
“We're good, thanks,” Virginia assure him. She almost always spoke for the four of them.
“Well, good is a relative term,” Eric said, looking a little annoyed. “We're less than thrilled that we can't do more than get you folks inside of that tower.”
“Eric, we've discussed this,” Tamara told him sternly as she looked at each of the four friends. “We know that you want to fight but your reaction speed as a group might compromise all of us and we can't take that chance.”
“We're willing to risk it,” Anna said in her little voice and then blushed as everyone looked at her.
“But we are not,” Sebastian said suddenly from behind them.
Simon hadn't seen him in the back and watched as the mage moved around to stand next to his sister.
“Look, you all know that Tamara and I don't always see eye to eye.”
“Now there's an understatement,” Malcolm muttered.
Everyone chuckled and even Tamara smiled reluctantly.
“But in this case, we are in agreement. We aren't fatalistic about this venture, but if we fall, our people back in Kingstone will need your skills to carry on. And besides, the smaller the group, the safer we all will be.”
Eric still looked belligerent but Virginia reluctantly nodded.
“He's right,” she told her friends. “I don't want to miss out on the battle, but we have to be adults about this. Right?”
There was a mutter of agreement but none of the four looked very happy about their situation.
“Hey, cheer up, guys,” Malcolm said encouragingly. “It's your powers that are going to get us into that hellhole in the first place. Without you, we'd be screwed. So it's not like you're just along for the ride.”
“That's true, you know,” Gerard told the others. “We aren't just tagalongs.”
“And now that that is sorted out,” Tamara said impatiently, “Simon, do you remember Miriam and Barnaby?”
Miriam was a cleric, a cheerful, matronly woman who was always smiling. She gave him a strong hug and winked as she let him go.
“Ah, the famous wizard. Or should I say infamous? Good to see you.”
“And you,” Simon wheezed. He wondered if his ribs were bruised.
Miriam wasn't tall but she was broad and obviously strong. She wore a simple brown robe and some sort of religious symbol made of silver hung from her belt. Simon didn't recognize it in the uncertain light.
Barnaby wore a robe as well, but it was dyed a very dark blue that looked almost black in the darkness. The young mage had long thin hair the color of cinnamon and an open, attractive face. He and Simon had only met once, on the Defiant, but the wizard had liked him almost immediately.
“How are you?” Simon asked as they shook hands.
“Happy to be here and raring to go,” the mage replied with a wide grin. “It's good to see you again.”
“And you.”
The wizard looked around and frowned as he realized that someone was missing.
“Where's Veronique?” he asked Tamara.
She shook her head and looked slightly disgruntled.
“She had to back out at the last minute. Sylvie became ill earlier today. Very ill, actually, so I have no right to be irritated by her sister's absence. Veronique simply didn't feel that she could come and leave Sylvie alone in that condition.”
“Is it serious?” Simon asked anxiously.
He admired Sylvie very much and had hated the fact that they'd had to leave her behind.
“Opheilla is with her,” Miriam told him. She sounded reassuring. “She is an excellent cleric. I'm sure that Sylvie will be fine.”
“Yes, well, let's hope so. Anyway, now that we're all caught up, let's get down to business, shall we?”
Tamara opened a pouch that hung from her belt next to the wand that Simon had given her and pulled out a rolled-up piece of parchment. She unrolled it and handed it to him.
“The rest of us have seen this but I wanted you to take a look.”
It was a rough map of the area around Nottinghill Castle, including the bay where they were standing. The route to the castle was clearly marked and Simon was buoyed by the attention to detail that Tamara had put into her planning for the attack.
“You've been busy with your Magic Mirror spell,” he told her with a smile.
She nodded solemnly.
“If this whole thing goes south, I don't want it to be because we didn't prepare properly. Now, as I said, Hallic will be leading the way from here. Once we get close enough to the tower, he'll scout out the area and give us any information we'll need about the outside patrols. So, are you ready to go?”
Simon looked at the determined expressions all around him and then glanced at Kronk and Aeris. He raised an eyebrow and both of them nodded silently.
“We're ready. Lead on, Hallic.”
The wizard canceled his light with a gesture and the globe was snuffed out in an instant. The night was incredibly dark without its warm glow.
“Very well. Everyone knows the order of march?” the dwarf asked.
There was a murmur of assent from the group and Simon could just detect a motion from the rogue that he guessed was a nod. It was very hard to see.
“Sir wizard, you will please walk between Malcolm and Aiden. And now, we're off.”
The hike to the dark tower was one that Simon did not look back on fondly. The low bushes that lined the paths they followed were filled with little thorns and burrs and his robe was constantly getting hooked on the damnable things.
From the low curses he heard both in front of and behind him in line, everyone wearing robes was having the same struggle. The journey wasn't a pleasant one.
Aeris floated to Simon's left and made sure that he wasn't glowing in the night. Kronk gamely stayed on the wizard's right and hopped over and ran around brush and small trees. Fortunately he never got tired and seemed to have endless amounts of patience, so if he suffered, he did so in silence.
The trip took about an hour, even though it was only two miles from where the group had gathered. Between the pitch blackness of an almost moonless night and the rough terrain, they had moved at a snail's pace.
“Hold here!” came a rough whisper from up ahead. It was Hallic.
“Everyone, come forward slowly and stay low. I can see the tower in the distance.”
Simon followed the hunched outline of Malcolm in front of him, still amazed that such a large man wearing armor could move so quietly. Behind him, Aiden moved like a ghost as well. How they did that was a mystery.
The three of them, and the elementals, were the last in line and Simon had to creep around everyone else to see the tower. And when he caught his first glimpse of it, he was amazed.
The party was crouched at the border of the thin forest that turned into a rocky stretch of open land dotted with clumps of stubborn grasses. About a mile away, the dark tower rose up to blot out the stars behind it. Even in the darkness, the twisted building was immense and intimidating.
Simon looked up from the base of the tower to its peak, craning his head back to see the top. There were little spots of light glowing from many of the floors and he wondered if they were quarters for human servants, or slaves. Undead minions would have no need for lights at night.
At the very top, a hellish orange-red glow pulsed like a distant heart; throbbing with a slow and steady beat, the evil crown of the dark tower.
“My God, it's so much bigger in person, isn't it?” one of the men whisper
ed in awe. “How are a handful of us going to take on that?”
“With skill, determination and a whole lot of sneakiness,” Hallic replied, his amused tone lightening the atmosphere slightly.
“Poor old Nottinghill Castle,” Anna muttered sadly, her small voice breaking. “There's nothing left of it. And it was such a nice place too.”
Simon saw some movement among the shadowy group and guessed that Virginia had moved to comfort her friend.
“We'll find a new place to live, I promise,” he heard her say. “It won't be the same, but it will home.”
“Simon? Come up here to the front of the bus, would you?” Tamara asked.
The wizard smiled to himself at her choice of words and moved around the group as quietly as he could to join her.
“What's up?” he asked.
A tiny light appeared, almost blinding to him after an hour's travel in total darkness, and lit up Hallic's face. The dwarf was holding a small glowing stone in his hand that was no brighter than a lighted match. He grinned at Simon and nodded at the tower.
“I'm heading out and I was wondering if your air elemental friend there would like to join me as I scout out the perimeter.”
“Seriously? I thought that your people hated elementals?”
Aeris floated into the wizard's field of view to his right, hovering a few inches off of the ground. He stared at the rogue silently.
“We don't hate elementals, we simply hate what they did to us back in ancient times. What their leaders did, actually. Anyway, I'm not your typical dwarf. I choose my allies as I see fit and one thing I do know from my studies is that this guy's people,” he gestured at Aeris, “are damned fine scouts and infiltrators.”
He winked at Aeris and the elemental smiled tentatively in return, obviously unsure of the dwarf's intentions.
“I could use a second set of eyes watching my back in there, plus I've read that elementals are sensitive to magical traps and wards. Is that true?” he asked Aeris directly.
“Yes, it is. And I would gladly join you, if you,” he looked at Simon, “will allow it.”
“I'm not your master or your boss, Aeris,” the wizard said, a little exasperated. “If you want to go with Hallic, feel free. You're an excellent scout and he'd be a fool not to take advantage of your talents.”
“High praise indeed, sir wizard,” the rogue said jovially. “So what do you say, Aeris is it? Would you like to come along and have some fun?”
“I would love to, sir dwarf,” the air elemental replied eagerly.
“Good. And call me Hallic. I'm no fine lord like these upstanding spell-casters.”
The rogue closed his fist around the glowing stone and the light was snuffed out, leaving the group in darkness again.
“Give us ten minutes to reach the tower, lady, and then follow along slowly,” Hallic told Tamara. “No need to creep along the ground, but everyone should try to move as silently as possible. And now, we're off.”
“Good luck, Aeris,” Kronk rumbled quietly.
“Thanks. Don't worry; like Hallic said, this is going to be fun.”
Simon watched the odd couple disappear quickly into the night and sighed loudly.
“Is something wrong, Simon?” Malcolm asked from the shadows.
“No, but I never thought I'd run into someone else as eager to sneak into danger as Aeris is, but I have. And now both of them are going to poke around that tower. Heaven help us all.”
There was a chorus of stifled laughter and then everyone settled down to wait out the ten minutes before they had to move. Simon sat down stiffly and rested his staff across his knees, looking around constantly for any hint of danger.
“Master? Do you think Aeris will be all right?”
The little guy was sitting a few inches in front of the wizard but all Simon could see were his small, burning eyes.
“He'll be fine,” he replied quietly. “Actually, I'd say that with the skills both he and Hallic have, he's probably safer than we are at the moment.”
The hulking outline of Malcolm could just be seen against the stars a few feet away. He and Aiden had elected to stand watch over the group until it was time to move, in case a random patrol wandered by.
Kronk looked over at the warrior standing silently in the night and then back at Simon.
“I'd say that you are fairly safe, master, with warriors like him in the group.”
“Good point.”
While they were waiting, several people went back into the woods to answer the call of nature. Tamara sternly made sure that none of them went alone.
“Tammy, I can take a piss without any help,” her brother snapped at her when she insisted that Fergus go with him.
“He's there to watch your back, Bastian, not watch you. Now don't be a child; either let him go with you or hold it for the next six hours: your choice.”
The mage walked off into the forest muttering under his breath, the armored figure of Fergus at his back.
Simon grinned at the sight. His vision had adjusted enough for him to see vague details even with just the starlight above them.
He was pleased that he'd stopped on the hike to the tower to do his business. The water bottle hanging on his belt was still full and he wasn't thirsty. The last thing he wanted to think about at the moment was his bladder.
“Time, everyone,” Tamara said at last. “Okay, since Hallic isn't here, would you take point, Malcolm?”
“Of course,” the big man said confidently.
“Good. Single file, everyone take your time and Aiden bring up the rear, please.”
They set off again, their goal looming in front of them. Simon was following Eric and behind him was the cleric, Miriam. Everyone was being remarkably quiet and the wizard was grateful. They were all taking the venture quite seriously.
Malcolm led them toward the tower and then turned slightly to the right as they got to within a quarter of a mile of the building. Fortunately there were heaps of discarded rock and debris left over from the construction of the massive edifice and he made sure to lead the party to the shelter of one of them.
“Good God, what is that stench?” Virginia said in disgust as the group huddled behind a pile of broken stone. It was at least ten feet high and hid them all easily.
“Smells like...roadkill,” Barnaby piped up.
The mage had moved to stand next to Simon and the wizard stared at him, puzzled.
“How would you know that?” he asked.
Barnaby laughed shortly.
“I spent a lot of time on the road, back in the day. Long story, but I know the smell of rotting flesh.”
“Ew, is that what that is?” Anna exclaimed. “Gross!”
“Be quiet, everyone!” Tamara hissed. “This isn't a bloody Sunday stroll in the park. Now settle down and wait for our scouts to report in.”
The veteran of several battles, Simon had learned that the hardest part was the waiting. So to pass the time, he went through his list of quick spells, trying to decide which ones would work against different opponents. It was, at least, distracting.
“Well, doesn't this look cozy?”
Several people yelped as Hallic appeared as if by magic out of the night. He pulled out his little glowing stone and they could see him grinning at them.
“Jumpy, are we?” he asked in his rough, oddly British accent.
“Hallic, we're about to go into battle,” Tamara barked at him, trying to keep her voice down. “Of course we're jumpy.”
“Not all of us.”
Aiden loomed up behind Hallic and glared coldly at him.
“I almost took your head off, dwarf,” he growled.
It was hard to tell in the uncertain light, but Simon thought that the rogue's face went a little pale.
“Ah yes, sorry about that. Just a little joke,” he stammered.
Hallic moved closer to Simon and avoided looking back at Aiden.
“Right. Well now, it's time to coordinate our attack. Ev
eryone, gather around, please.”
Chapter 27
The dwarf knelt in the dirt and used a small stick to begin sketching a rough map. The base of the tower, which was almost perfectly square, was laid out, showing an entrance on each side.
Inside, there was a series of hallways laid out like a maze that led to a central hall.
“Here,” Hallic said, tapping on the middle of the map. “There is a staircase that leads upward. We have to reach it. There are two patrols constantly circling the tower.”
He pointed at the perimeter.
“They are made up of two groups of undead and they are moving very predictably. Typical mindless zombies. Each group is led by a goblin magic-user. The air elemental says that they were not members of the patrols the last time he was here, so that's new. I assume they are casters; both runty creatures are wearing robes anyway.”
“So the goblins are definitely allies of the necromancers. Great,” Simon muttered angrily.
Tamara stared at the map.
“Are the goblins necromancers?”
“I have no idea, lady,” the rogue told her. “Perhaps. They are wearing the obligatory black robes, so I suppose it's possible. But both creatures appear very young, so if they are necromancers, they are very new at their jobs.”
“Probably why they're leading those patrols of low-level undead,” Liliana mused.
“Possibly. What is your recommendation, Hallic? Can we avoid the patrols or should we attack?”
The rogue stood up with a grunt, holding his light over the sketch, and looked at her.
“If you want my opinion, lady mage, I would suggest avoiding them altogether. Unless the patrols are taken out quickly, it is quite possible that the casters will be able to signal those inside the tower. And that would be bad. If it was just the undead, we could dispose of them quickly and fairly quietly. Unfortunately, it isn't.”
“I agree,” Malcolm said as he stepped closer to the map and peered down at it. “There are probably hundreds of undead monsters inside that building and we are only a handful of people. We have to be cautious.”
There was a general murmur of agreement and Tamara nodded.
Tales from the New Earth: Volume Two Page 112