by Dean Cadman
“Not really. It just doesn’t make sense,” she said out loud, mainly to herself.
“What doesn’t?” Renn asked curiously. Alexia’s attention seemed to snap back to the present momentarily as she glanced at Renn, but then she seemed to drift back off into whatever thoughts she had just been having earlier. Suddenly she gasped, turning in circles, as if looking for something on the floor, but there was nothing nearby.
“Renn, lend me your sword a moment, please,” she said, holding out her hand but still scanning the floor all around her feet. Renn looked at her strangely for a moment, but couldn’t see any reason not to give her his sword, so he removed it from his scabbard and handed it to her. She took it without a word, then started pacing the top of the wall, all the time seemingly looking at her own feet. Renn was about to ask her what she was doing, but she spoke first.
“Is the metal of your sword toughened by magic?” she asked, still looking at her own feet.
“It is, but what do you intend to do with it?” Renn asked, starting to become concerned for the welfare of his trusty weapon. Alexia didn’t answer him, instead she jabbed the tip of his sword into the centre of the flagstone she was standing on, then moved on to the next, and did it again. Clang… Clang… Clang… Thud!
“I knew it!” Alexia exclaimed, dropping to her knees. She removed one of her daggers and started to dig around the flagstone that she had hit last. From where Renn stood it looked the same as all the others, but he too heard the different sound it made when his sword struck it. Less than a minute later Alexia had prised up the flagstone to reveal a murder-hole beneath. It was relatively small, maybe only two hand-widths square, but it gave her a perfect view of the path below. Renn boomed out a laugh behind her, startling her so much that she was glad she had been kneeling down, and not standing near the edge of the wall.
“Well done, lass! I’d say that might have just tipped the balance in our favour. How did you know that would be there?” Renn said, offering her a hand up.
“I didn’t know for sure, but nothing else would have made sense if it hadn’t been there. I expect there are at least several more along this edge too,” she said, pointing along the line she had just been walking. “At first I thought I might be able to see the path below from the edge of that wall. It would have been a good spot to shoot from, but the wall next to the path has been built at a slight angle, so from above you can’t see the path at all. I noticed earlier, when we first arrived, that the stone arch used to have a substantial gate attached to it. Then I started thinking—if the stone arch and its gate was a defensive measure, why would you intentionally block any chance to attack a potential enemy below, especially if they were trying to storm your gate?
“The only thing that made sense were these murder-holes. They would have been far more effective than standing on the edge of the wall, out in the open. Imagine trying to storm that gate with arrows or burning oil raining down on you from above. In fact, I’m sure you remember just how steep that last section of path was? Imagine what would happen if it suddenly became slick with oil. I wouldn’t be surprised if their enemies simply slid off the edge of the mountainside to their deaths, without so much as a shot being fired.” Alexia said, chuckling at the imagined image of a line of Empire agents sliding down the steep path and vanishing over the edge of the mountain at the bottom.
“You might just be right there, lass,” Renn agreed, clasping her shoulder and smiling. Renn began to say something else, but was suddenly interrupted by the ground shaking beneath their feet. He pulled Alexia away from the edge of the wall, just in case it collapsed beneath them. Even on the flat surface of the immense courtyard they struggled to remain standing. Renn watched as giant chunks of masonry fell from the façade of Coldmont, crashing onto the huge steps below. Dust bellowed out through the damaged half-open dome on the roof, and sections of gigantic stone pillars rolled around the courtyard like a child’s toy. The tremors only lasted for a few seconds, but it felt like minutes passed before the ground grew still once more beneath their feet.
“Do you think they’re alright in there?” Alexia said nodding towards Coldmont.
“I hope so. I would have felt it if Lusam had died, but that doesn’t mean they might not be injured, or even worse in Neala’s case, I’m afraid. Unfortunately we have a job to do here. We’ll have to just hope and pray that they will be okay in there,” Renn replied, just as a second, much less powerful tremor was felt beneath their feet.
“Maybe praying isn’t such a bad idea after all,” Alexia said, still looking at Coldmont in the distance.
“It rarely is, lass… it rarely is,” Renn replied stoically.
Chapter Eighteen
Renn estimated it had been the best part of two hours since they had watched Lusam and Alexia enter Coldmont—and still they waited—with no sign of them, or the Empire agents. Alexia had started to show signs of worry after the first hour, but Renn had reassured her that all would be well, and they were probably having to search the huge building room-by-room. It seemed to pacify her for a while, but he had to admit even he was beginning to get worried for Lusam and Neala’s well-being now.
Renn and Alexia had discussed at length their plans for the coming battle. They had decided that they would strike fast, then fall back to Coldmont. Alexia had managed to uncover several more murder-holes, giving her an almost unrestricted view of the entire path below. One of their biggest concerns was the sheer size of Coldmont’s courtyard. Even running at full speed it would take too long to cross if they were being shot at by the Empire agents. Without Lusam’s magical shield, they would be relying totally on Renn’s shield for protection against any incoming missiles. Against one or two agents it wouldn’t have been much of a problem for Renn, but against five—and a further five undead-agents—probably meant that neither of them would likely make it across the huge courtyard alive. So the plan was to try kill at least one of the Empire agents through the murder-holes. Then while the Empire agents were in disarray, Renn and Alexia would cross the courtyard as quickly as possible—hopefully without being seen—and re-establish a defensible position inside Coldmont itself.
Thirty minutes later Renn’s sword and Alexia’s bow began to glow with a soft blue light. Renn nodded to Alexia, then took his place behind the huge stone pillar of the ruined arch. Alexia stood above the furthest murder-hole, making sure she didn’t move and attract any unwanted attention from below. Then they waited. Time seemed to slow to almost a standstill. No movement could be seen below, or sound heard in the still air. Alexia realised she had no idea just how far away her blessed bow would detect the undead, and knew it was too late to ask Renn about it now. So there she stood, arrow nocked and bow half-drawn, waiting for whichever Empire agent was unlucky enough to walk through her sights.
Moments later she had her first glimpse of an Empire agent below and almost loosed her arrow at him. It was only through sheer luck that she noticed the blood stain in the centre of its chest, signifying it to be one of the undead-agents. Panic flooded through her, as she realised for the first time that she would be unable to tell the difference between the undead-agents and the living ones she needed to kill. She looked towards Renn and saw that he was watching her. She signalled to Renn the approach of an undead-agent, and he nodded his understanding. Thinking fast on her feet, she realised it would be unlikely that any other Empire agent—undead or living—would approach the arch until they knew the fate of this one first. She quickly stepped back away from the murder-hole and ran towards Renn.
Renn noticed her sudden rapid approach and immediately suspected she was coming to warn him of some unforeseen danger they had overlooked. He half-expected the entire Empire force to emerge from behind the ruined stone arch at any moment. But halfway to his position, he noticed Alexia holding up a hand, signalling all was still well. Confused, he waited for her to arrive and explain what was going on.
“Renn, we have a problem. I can’t tell which agents are ali
ve and which are undead. I almost shot the one coming up the path, but luckily I saw the bloodstain on its chest just in time. What are we going to do?” Alexia said in a whisper, sounding very concerned.
“Go back to your murder-hole and watch for any more coming up the path. After I kill this one, I’ll come and join you there. If I tap your shoulder, you’ll know to shoot the agent,” Renn replied calmly. Alexia nodded her understanding, then ran back to her murder-hole, glancing through all the others as she passed them, just in case any more agents were on their way up the path—she saw nothing.
Back at her murder-hole she watched intently for any movement below. Even when she saw the flash of Renn’s sword kill the undead-agent, she remained vigilant. She intentionally listened for Renn’s approach, but knew that if she hadn’t been expecting him, it would have been the third time that day he had managed to sneak up on her. She smiled to herself as she realised she knew highly trained thieves with less stealth ability than the big man at her side. She made a mental note to ask him about it later, providing they both survived the next few minutes, of course.
It was another five minutes before they sent the next undead-agent up the path. Renn whispered in Alexia’s ear to hold her fire and let the undead-agent come to them. They waited for another ten minutes, but there was no sign of the undead-agent. Renn had half-expected this tactic after the first undead-agent had been killed.
“I think they have instructed that undead-agent to stand still, out in the open, so they can see it die. Or more precisely how it dies. I was hoping they wouldn’t do that,” Renn whispered.
“Why? What difference does it make how it dies?” Alexia whispered back slightly confused.
“Well, they know you probably won’t waste an arrow on it, and I can’t go out there and kill it because they would all fire at me…”
“Oh Gods! They’re testing to see if Lusam is here with us,” Alexia whispered desperately, as she realised exactly what Renn was trying to tell her. Renn was about to reply when they both noticed three agents walk past the murder-hole. Renn could clearly see they were all undead-agents. They walked three-abreast up the path, creating a walking shield, behind which one living agent followed closely. Renn indicated silently to Alexia which one to shoot, but by the time she understood, it was too late and they had missed their opportunity. Quickly, they raced to another murder-hole further along the path and prepared to shoot. The Empire agent didn’t stand a chance. The arrow thudded into his collar bone, shattering it, and driving deep into his heart. Renn felt the death-pulse a moment later, but was already running with Alexia towards Coldmont when he did.
***
Zedd’s undead-agents had almost finished digging their way through the huge pile of rocks at the cave site when the tremor struck. Not only did it collapse the remaining rocks and debris around it—refilling the almost complete tunnel they had just dug out—it also buried two of his undead-agents under the rubble. Zedd cursed loudly, knowing that with each passing minute the boy-mage and his party could be getting further and further away from him. In frustration he almost ordered one of his men to levitate over the rock pile, just to see if he would be shot by the waiting girl or not, but decided against it. He realised he would probably have to kill the first man that he commanded to do it as punishment for refusing his orders, and he knew he could ill afford to lose another two of his men right now.
At least two hours had passed by the time the undead-agents had dug through the rocks for the second time. Zedd’s mood improved slightly when they managed to dig out the two buried undead-agents and found that they were at least still viable—all he had lost was more time. They travelled as swiftly as they could along the path, whilst checking for any signs of possible ambush. On several occasions nerves were frayed, when birds and small animals rustled nearby bushes and undergrowth as they passed by.
After following the path for a further two hours they reached a section very different from anything they had seen so far. It was far steeper, and enclosed on both sides, making it feel almost tunnel-like. There was an overhang that covered the entire width of the path, but daylight still entered between the right-hand wall and the overhang above, creating a type of long uninterrupted window to the outside world beyond. Zedd knew it wasn’t a natural rock formation, and seeing the moss-covered cobblestones underfoot only strengthened that assumption. Warily they followed the steep mossy path until it crested a small hill. Zedd called a halt, and they all stood staring at the remains of a huge stone archway at the end of the path. It wasn’t the stone arch that made Zedd pause, but the uncertainty of what lay beyond it. He could clearly see that the wall to their right—the one he guessed had been built to stop wagons slipping off the edge of the mountainside—disappeared at the other side of the stone arch. ‘It would make a perfect ambush site,’ he thought. Even a moderately powerful mage could easily push his enemies off the edge of the mountainside, and either watch them die on the rocks below, or send a missile at them whilst they concentrated on levitating.
Zedd wondered if this had been the boy-mage’s plan all along, to lure them to this place—whatever this place was—and send them all to their deaths far below. For all he knew, this could be Afaraon’s secret training facility that was rumoured to exist by many within the Empire. ‘If it was, he need not even bother killing the boy-mage. The information alone would see him almost guaranteed a promotion, and then returned back home to the Empire,’ Zedd thought to himself excitedly. Then, just as quickly, his excitement faded again. He realised that if this was Afaraon’s secret training facility, they would likely never make it back off this mountain alive. Afaraon would try to protect their secrets at all costs, and likely send every man they had after Zedd and his men.
‘But something was wrong,’ Zedd thought. ‘The boy-mage and his party had had at least a two-hour head start over him and his men. If this was Afaraon’s secret training facility, surely they would have mounted an attack already.’
He knew his options were limited, but first he needed to know if the boy-mage had indeed set an ambush for them beyond the stone arch.
“Send one of your minions through the arch and tell it to attack anyone it sees,” Zedd commanded the man who had reanimated the dead agents. The man obeyed, and they all watched as the undead-agent walked up the steep path and through the remains of the stone arch. A moment after the undead-agent disappeared from view, the man who had sent it spoke up,
“Sir—the minion just died.”
Zedd nodded to himself. Pleased with himself that he had outsmarted the boy-mage’s attempt to ambush his party, but also unsure of what to do next. He knew the girl wouldn’t have many arrows left, but even one was one too many if it had his name on it. Zedd knew he didn’t have enough men to take them by force either. The girl would simply shoot his few remaining men first, leaving the undead-agents to the paladin or boy-mage. That, of course, was if the boy-mage didn’t simply just blast them all over the edge of the mountainside to begin with. His only option was to try and tempt the girl into wasting her arrows, something he doubted she would do willingly, but he had to at least try.
“Send another minion. This time have it stop just the other side of the stone arch, and command it not to attack anyone,” Zedd said. The man once again obeyed, and the undead-agent took its place at the far side of the stone arch. Zedd expected the boy-mage to simply incinerate it, or at least blast it over the edge of the mountainside, but nothing happened. The undead-agent stood motionless in plain sight for almost ten minutes, and nothing happened to it.
“Maybe they’ve gone, sir,” Cole said quietly at Zedd’s side.
“Or maybe that’s what they want us to think,” Zedd replied, deep in thought.
“Command your three remaining minions to form a walking shield. And you,” Zedd said, pointing to another man, “you will walk behind the minions and go see if the boy-mage’s party is still there or not. Communicate what you see through your ring.” The man paled at Ze
dd’s command, but to his credit, obeyed nonetheless.
The three undead-agents walked side by side up the cobbled path, closely followed by one of Zedd’s remaining men. He only walked about thirty paces before Zedd and the others felt his death-pulse. At first Zedd was completely confused as to how his man had just died, but from where he stood he could just about see the shaft of an arrow protruding from the man’s shoulder. Looking up, he noticed for the first time, a series of evenly spaced shafts along the entire length of the path. They had been cleverly created at slight angles to make them almost invisible to anyone walking on the path below. In fact, the only evidence of their existence at all was a slightly lightened area within each of the long shafts, and even those could easily have been dismissed as reflected light.
“Recall those three minions,” Zedd said to the man controlling them.
“What about the one at the far end, sir?” the man asked. Zedd thought for a moment.
“No. Leave that one where it is, for now.” Zedd replied, still confused as to why the boy-mage hadn’t disposed of that minion yet. There were no advantages to the boy-mage—or his party—allowing the undead-agent to remain alive, and yet, there it remained, but why? Zedd tried to think of a reason why, but could only come to one possible conclusion: the boy-mage was no longer there, or maybe never was.
Chapter Nineteen
Zedd began to formulate a plan. One that would end this stalemate, once and for all. He knew he had to get to the other side of the ruined stone arch, or they may as well all turn back to Stelgad right now. Secretly, he communicated with Cole using his ring—something only higher ranking Empire agents could do—and told him to stay close to him, in case they had to jump over the edge of the mountainside when they emerged through the arch. Zedd had no feelings of loyalty towards Cole, but knew having his magical shield active while they levitated down the mountainside might mean the difference between making it down alive or not.