‘– does he look like?’ finished both Simon and Emma.
‘I – I don’t know,’ murmured Sand, overwhelmed by all the questions. ‘He always wore a mask.’
‘Afraid to show his face, I bet!’ said Simon angrily. ‘Frightened that someone might remember it and tell the rest of the world.’
From somewhere down the hall, a prisoner gave a chilling laugh. The sound startled Emma, and Simon cast a wary glance over his shoulder.
‘Why are they so nutty, anyway?’ he muttered.
‘Think about it,’ said Sand, a sympathizing look crossing his face. ‘Left in the dark … day after day after day … wouldn’t you go mad?’
‘Probably,’ murmured Simon.
‘It takes a strong mind to survive down here,’ said Sand grimly,’ and I’ve been kindly blessed with one.’
‘But Sand, why did Vanyir want you alive?’ questioned Emma, straying back to the main point of the conversation.
‘That’s something I wondered the whole way to Vashgal,’ admitted Sand. ‘Vanyir thought I was a seer, and it turns out that I wasn’t the only one he threw down here.’
‘A seer …’ murmured Emma.
‘Yes, an oracle. He kept me locked up in his tower for two whole months before he believed that I wasn’t the right person.’
‘Simon,’ said Emma quickly, rounding on him. ‘Do you think that’s why Vanyir captured Sheena? Because he thought she was a seer?’
‘It does make sense,’ agreed Simon.
‘Ah,’ murmured Sand, ‘so you’re here to save Miss Sheena.’
Emma gave him a hopeful look. ‘You know where she is?’
‘Inside the Black Fortress, I’m afraid,’ replied Sand gloomily, ‘or that’s what the Dark Riders say. Even with both Flynn and those disguises you’ll never be able to get inside.’
Simon snorted. ‘We got this far, didn’t we?’
‘The Black Fortress is a little harder to navigate than Vashgal,’ said Sand. ‘You could spend your last days just wandering around and trying to figure out where the exit is. It’s a cursed place. You’ll never make it out alive.’
‘Well, we have to go there anyway,’ said Simon impatiently. ‘If you have nothing else –’
‘Oh, I didn’t say I was finished,’ interrupted Sand. ‘You’re the first visitors I’ve had since I came here. The first real visitors, anyhow. I don’t think I’ll have this chance again.’
‘What are you talking about?’ questioned Simon warily.
‘Let’s make a deal,’ said Sand. ‘You help me get out of here, and I’ll help you find Sheena.’
‘What!’ exploded Simon. ‘Are you out of your mind! I suppose you want us to take the keys from that deranged, old man, and then steal a Dark Rider’s uniform, too! And while we’re at it, we can release all the other crazy prisoners!’
Sand grabbed Simon by the shirt collar and pulled him so close to the cell bars that his face pressed up against the cool metal. ‘You’re the crazy one,’ growled the Dragon Marauder. ‘Stop shouting, unless you want someone to come down here looking. And release them?’ Sand darted a look at the cell next to his. ‘Why would you even joke about that? They may be completely mad, but they’re also very dangerous. Even Vanyir has common sense enough to lock away criminals.’
Simon pulled himself out of Sand’s grasp and backed away, while Emma said angrily, ‘How can that be, when Vanyir is a criminal, too?’
Sand smiled. ‘Careful now, princess. You don’t want to be saying that around here. His followers are faithful. One word of dishonesty from your mouth and you’ll be joining me down here.’ He gave a short laugh. ‘I wouldn’t mind the company, actually. I can’t remember the last time I had a chat like this.’
‘That’s all good,’ said Simon irritably, ‘but how are we supposed to get you out?’
‘Ah, so you’ve reconsidered,’ said Sand, humour filling his voice. ‘I thought you might. My offer’s too good to pass up, no?’
‘I don’t like dealing with thieves,’ said Simon grimly. ‘I already have one too many to put up with now, but if you know your way around the Black Fortress, you’re probably worth the trouble of freeing.’
‘Spoken like a desperate man with no other options,’ laughed Sand. He then lowered his voice. ‘All right, here’s how this is going to work. A key is the only solution to opening this door. You can’t break the lock – I’ve tried – so you need to find Reg and bring him back here. You’re going to have to convince him to let me out.’
‘Oh, it’s that simple, is it?’ said Simon sourly.
‘You tell him Vanyir sent you down here to get me,’ explained Sand. ‘He won’t disagree. I’ve seen this a hundred times. You just make sure you play the part well,’ he added to Simon.
‘Me?’ Simon sighed angrily and lifted the lantern off the wall hook. ‘I’m not saying that I’d rather you go,’ he said quickly to Emma. ‘Just stay put, all right? I’ll be back in a few minutes … I hope.’
When Simon left, so did the only source of light, and Emma was left in the darkness with Sand … and all the other prisoners of Vashgal. It gave her an eerie feeling to stand there in the black hallway, the mad voices sounding every few seconds and footsteps pacing back and forth somewhere in the gloom. She now understood what Sand was talking about when he spoke of people going mad in the darkness. He must have had a very strong mind indeed to withstand the dungeon for nearly two years. No light and no company … no sane company. Emma wondered if she would even last a week.
‘Oh, hang on,’ said Sand.
Emma heard him move away from the bars and walk to the back of his cell. He returned almost a minute later – by her count – and a flame flickered to life in his hands. Emma saw that he held a lighter.
‘Didn’t the guards confiscate all of your things when you were sent down here?’ she questioned.
‘They can’t confiscate what isn’t mine,’ replied Sand. ‘I nicked this off a rider when he came down here one time. Almost lost my hand in the process, but it was well worth it. The fluid is almost all gone, though. I only use it when … well …’
Emma seemed to understand. He only used it when times became too unbearable to handle.
‘A thief doesn’t stop being a thief,’ said Sand quietly, ‘not even after defeat.’ He smiled at Emma. ‘But I’ll be free soon. I bet Flynn must think me dead. I can’t wait to see the look on his face when I walk out of here.’
‘About that …’ Emma glanced down the hall to see the glow of a lantern wavering back and forth. Sand quickly flicked off his lighter and pocketed it. Simon had returned and Reg walked just behind him.
‘Well, well,’ mumbled Reg, ‘if it isn’t prisoner eight … the sane one.’
‘I’m glad you remember me,’ said Sand brightly. ‘How have you been lately, Reg?’
‘Don’t taunt me, boy!’ snapped Reg, whacking his wooden cane across the cell bars. He smirked at Sand. ‘These two have come to take you away, and it’s about time, too. A year and ten months in this place and you still haven’t lost your mind. You’re the most dangerous of the bunch, I reckon.’
‘If you say so,’ said Sand with a grin.
Reg deepened his frown and growled under his breath. He unhooked one of the keys from its ring. ‘Arrogant … conceited … mindless –’
‘Mindful,’ corrected Sand, which caused Reg to hammer his cane across the bars once more.
‘Shuddup!’ he snarled, shoving the key into its lock.
The cell door swung open and Sand stepped out, but was immediately pushed back in by Reg, a sneer travelling across his face. ‘Now, you listen here, boy,’ he said warningly. ‘One single step out of line, one word out of place … and you’ll be back down here again, mark my words! But if it’s up to Vanyir you’re going, well …’ Reg laughed. ‘I won’t be seeing you again.’
‘Wonderful,’ said Simon edgily, pulling Sand out by the sleeve. ‘I’ll just get prisoner eight up to Vanyir now. We can
’t keep him waiting.’
‘No, no,’ said Reg rapidly, relocking the cell door. ‘The master doesn’t like waiting at all. Impatient, he is. Years did nothing for that racer.’
Simon came to an abrupt halt. He glanced back at the dungeon keeper, ignored Emma’s plea to keep moving, and whispered, ‘What … what did you just say?’
Reg waved his hand in the air. ‘I didn’t say nothing!’ he grunted, an anxious look quickly overtaking his frown. ‘And don’t you go repeating my words to anyone –’ he pointed his cane up ‘– on top, you hear? I’ve been down in the dark so long I’ve been accustomed to rambling. Lord Vanyir is very kind to me, and I mean no –’
‘All right, all right,’ cut in Simon, looking quite mystified. ‘I just thought you said … well, never mind.’
‘Come on, Simon,’ whispered Emma, tugging on his jacket.
‘Pay my regards to Lord Vanyir, will you?’ called Reg, but the other three were already halfway down the shadowy corridor, and the thick darkness drowned everything behind them.
~ Chapter Twenty ~
Titus’s Guilt
Back in the Charting Room Emma, Simon, and Sand stopped to check the map on the wall. According to the thief, the right passageway labelled Path 2, Flight 1 led up to a storage room. Reg liked to collect items from those thrown into the prison, and sometimes – if he was lucky – a captive would be a Dark Rider. Vashgal riders carried more valuable loot, or so Reg believed. He stored everything up in that little room and no one ever questioned him about it. Sand paid more attention to the rumours of the Dark Riders than they gave him credit for.
‘They come down here a few times a month,’ he explained as they ran. ‘Whoever they take out doesn’t come back. I have no idea where they go, but I guess I’ll never find out now!’
There was something so cheerful about Sand’s voice that Emma found unsettling. It was perhaps the fact that they were running through the dungeons of Vashgal with an escaped prisoner. She knew Simon did not like the idea, but the thief knew his way around the Black Fortress, and bringing him back to the others would only make them happy. It was a step in the right direction, but if they were caught …
Well, Emma refused to think about that just yet.
‘Here it is,’ said Sand, hopping up two steps at a time. He pushed open a tall, wooden door with a metal, looped handle and stepped inside.
The room was not just a storage room – it was Reg’s bedroom. A cot with old, musty sheets stood in one corner and around it sat a various amount of strange objects. Two crates – one larger than the other – sat in the middle of the room, acting as a table and chair. A faded, white blanket served as a tablecloth. A lamp swung overhead, its light faint and flickering, but it revealed the entire contents of the room, right down to the last crack in the wall.
‘Ahh!’ Simon sidestepped a rat and quickly shut the door behind the vermin. ‘This place is disgusting, and he lives here!’
Emma picked up a strange, circular object, its centre glowing faintly red. For a second, she remembered seeing a similar sphere somewhere before, but she could not recall where.
‘Ugh,’ murmured Sand, staring into a hand mirror. He stroked his fingers against the stubble on his face. ‘I really need a shave – and a haircut, too.’
‘And a shower,’ added Simon silently, keeping his distance from the inmate.
A trunk sat at the foot of the old bed and Emma lifted its cover. Inside were several garments of clothing, all neatly folded in stacks. She lifted up the blackest suit – a Dark Rider’s uniform – and handed it to Sand.
‘Well, thank you, princess,’ he said, taking the clothes.
‘We’ll wait outside the door,’ said Emma quickly, noticing the thief already starting to undress.
She and Simon sat down on the short stairway while Sand changed, Simon holding his lantern an arm’s distance from his chest and surveying the area ahead. Emma guessed he was on the lookout for rats instead of Reg.
‘I don’t like him,’ muttered Simon under his breath. ‘I don’t think we should trust him.’
‘Simon,’ whispered Emma, ‘he knows the way around the Black Fortress. We have no choice but to trust him. I doubt any of the others would know what to do.’
‘I bet that cat would,’ said Simon quietly. ‘He knows everything. You heard him – stick with me and you’ll be safe. I’d like to know where he gets his information and how he knows what to expect next.’ He glanced at Emma. ‘You don’t think Mystic has … well … spies, do you?’
Emma laughed out loud. ‘A cat with spies?’ she questioned. ‘Simon, please. I trust Mystic. He is trying to save the dragons, you know.’
‘What if it’s all a plot?’ wondered Simon aloud. ‘I mean, doesn’t he always seem a bit … mysterious?’
Emma thought on it, and then sighed. ‘I think everyone here is a bit mysterious,’ she admitted. ‘This world … it’s different than mine. I never knew dragons … or magic … or –’ she touched the Sapphire Stone around her neck ‘– enchanted stones even existed until now.’
‘So what’s your world like?’ asked Simon curiously. ‘I hear lots of stories, but I’ve never been there before. Most people who leave Dragonis never come back. That’s why Matt has never let me pass through the portal.’
At that moment, the door behind them swung open and Sand flew past them on the stairway, now in the black clothes. He stopped in the hallway – at the edge of the lantern’s light – and motioned them to follow him.
‘Come on,’ he said, ‘before Reg finds out we tricked him.’
They headed back down the corridor to the fork in the path and then up the stone stairway into the entrance room. Simon placed the lantern back on its hook, but the other holder remained empty, as Emma’s lantern had broken down in the dungeon.
‘You cut your hair,’ mumbled Simon, eyeing Sand out of the corner of his eye.
‘Well noticed,’ said Sand, his shoulder-length hair now reduced to his ears. ‘You’ll make some girl very happy one day with your observing eyes.’ Simon flushed, but the thief only laughed. ‘I found a pair of scissors down in that room. That’s what took me so long. I couldn’t wander around Vashgal looking like I just walked out of jail, now could I?’
‘Next time I attempt to free a prisoner, stop me,’ Simon whispered bitterly to Emma.
Outside the prison, the guards had disappeared, and Emma was thankful for that, as Sand had let out a howl of laughter and joy. Simon was quick to flash him a menacing gaze, which clearly shouted a hundred warnings to be quiet or you’ll get us killed. Sand was silent after that, but he was unable to wipe the smirk off his face as they walked up the trail towards the old, dead tree to meet the others.
Matt was staring at the new addition as they approached, his eyes anxious, but Flynn seemed to understand. He took a step forward and smiled, though he looked completely bewildered.
‘Sand!’ he exclaimed, clasping a hand on the other thief’s shoulder. ‘Where – I mean – how – I thought you were dead!’
‘Death might have been better comfort, considering what I had to go through, but it was well worth the wait,’ said Sand, and he glanced over Flynn’s shoulder. ‘Lanai! How’ve you been?’
Lanai folded her arms across her chest. ‘I am well,’ she replied coolly.
Sand grimaced. ‘Still not very friendly, I see,’ he murmured, and turned back to Flynn. A more serious look came over him. ‘I heard about Sheena while in the dungeons, and I’ve just told my two rescuers here my plans to help you.’
‘Another one,’ muttered Matt. ‘We already have –’
‘I wasn’t talking to you,’ cut in Sand loudly, ‘and maybe you should appreciate my help. I am – after all – probably the only one with a map of the Black Fortress in their head.’
‘Is that so?’ Mystic peeked out of the bottom of the dead tree and looked up at Sand, inspecting the Outlander. ‘Been living in the dirt, have you?’
‘Ah, I’ve
heard about you, too,’ said Sand, crouching down beside the cat. ‘A talking creature … yes, you must be the one everyone whispers about.’
‘What are you talking about?’ snapped Matt. ‘No one’s been whispering about a cat who can speak.’
Sand rose up to his full height once again and grinned. ‘You must be this one’s –’ he jerked a thumb over his shoulder at Simon ‘– brother. You both share the trait of coming to the wrong conclusion too quickly.’
Both brothers glared at the thief.
‘Yes, the cat’s been talked about, all right,’ continued Sand, ignoring their furious looks. ‘It seems Vanyir stuck a price on its head.’
‘I’m not an it, you idiot!’ snarled Mystic. He nodded in Titus’s direction. ‘You’re just like the soothsayer there, and your leader, too. You’re ignorant of the world’s knowledge and your place in it.’
‘Really …’ breathed Sand. ‘Then what’s your place?’
‘None of your business,’ snapped the cat. ‘As to my place in this group … I am the guide here. If you want to get out of this city at all, you’d best be heading off now. Otherwise I can’t promise you’ll make it out alive when we leave – if we ever leave.’ Mystic narrowed his eyes. ‘Do you understand, thief? We aren’t here to fool around.’
‘And who said I would slow you down?’ retorted Sand. ‘I am a Dragon Marauder, and I’ve been one for all my life. If Flynn, Titus and Lanai are here to save Sheena, then I’m going to stick around and help them. Besides,’ he added, ‘your tiny cat brain might not remember all the twists and turns in the mighty Black Fortress.’
Mystic growled. ‘Don’t be surprised if I end up being the one who kills you,’ he snarled.
Sand laughed. ‘I’m not about to go down in legend as the thief who got killed by a cat!’
Mystic seemed amused by this. ‘Looks can be deceiving, marauder,’ he said. ‘I find it funny how everyone assumes that I’m a cat. If I’m ever free from this form, you’d better be far away from me. If not, you’ll be wishing that I was still a cat.’ He looked up to Matt. ‘Are we ready to leave yet?’
The Secret World of Dragons Page 23