Erich's Plea: Book One of the Witchcraft Wars

by Tracey Alley

necromancer,” Tares muttered, “I haven’t come for you anyway, I came for…”

  “Yes, yes I know,” Nikolai interrupted Tares quickly, “later we’ll talk. Prince Einreich you would know,” he continued, indicating Slade, “though he prefers Slade now, the muscle man is Wulfstan, a royal guard of Saxenburg, the little wizard,” this said with a sneer, “is Roulibard and on the floor is Trunk. Now that we’re all here we can finish this up and take the rest of the prison.”

  “Nikolai, I think you’d better explain what’s going on,” Slade spoke with quiet authority.

  Double-Cross

  The half-orc guard approached warily, the governor of the prison was infamous for his bad temper, even when he was being given good news. How the mercurial governor would take this news the half-orc had no idea. Opening the door the guard found the governor seated at his desk, his head bowed, writing on some parchment. In the corner of the large office was another man, wearing a heavy cowl, standing with his back to the door, staring out the window.

  “They’re in there, sir,” the half-orc said nervously.

  “Who did they send?” the cowled man asked without turning from the window.

  “A minotaur, a halfling and the pirate.”

  “Excellent,” the governor’s voice was its usual dry rasp, “You may go.” With relief, the guard left, carefully closing the door behind him.

  “There,” the cowled man said, “I told you they would send someone for him,” there was a definite satisfaction in his voice.

  “I never doubted that,” the governor replied, still not looking up from his work, “it’s working in the dark that I don’t like. This seems like such a convoluted method of killing someone.”

  “The Dark One has his reasons,” the cowled man managed to make his answer seem almost like a threat.

  “I realize that, but surely as governor of this institution I should be entitled to know more of his plans than I currently do, I have, after all, sacrificed some of my best guards to this elaborate scheme.”

  “Surely you do not dispute The Dark One’s right to make such decisions,” the cowled man turned towards the desk as he spoke.

  The governor looked up at him but the man’s face was completely hidden by the heavy cowl. This lieutenant was almost as elusive as The Dark One himself.

  “You’re not threatening me, are you?” the governor asked, more annoyed than angry.

  “As long as you do as you’re told you have no reason to be threatened,” he paused briefly to give his words weight and then continued, “Luca, Luca; this is really a very simple plan, the reasons behind it are, however, none of your business. Now, I trust that I can leave the final stages in your very capable hands.”

  “Naturally,” Luca was careful to let none of his growing anger show in his voice.

  “Excellent. Don’t bother getting up, I'll see myself out.” With an overly dramatic swirl of his coat, the cowled man spoke the words of the spell and vanished, leaving only a vaguely moldy smell behind.

  Luca shook his head briefly and tried to concentrate on his work, an impossibility given his situation. The Dark One was not someone to be crossed lightly; yet Luca had no choice in the matter. Lord Nexus’ orders took priority over everything. Fortunately, the very nature of The Dark One’s scheme provided Luca the opportunity he would require to obey his other master.

  Despite his lack of choice in this matter of the prisoner known as Trunk, Luca found that it still galled him that after so many years of apparently faithful service to The Dark One he was not trusted enough to be told why this strange assassination had to take place and why it had to be done in such an odd manner. Worse was being forced to take second hand orders from one of The Dark One’s lieutenants, a wizard obviously, yet Luca did not know so much as his name.

  Luca felt a sudden thrill of fear. Was it possible that The Dark One knew of his impending betrayal? Did his overlord already know that he had for many years served two masters? Could that be the reason for this strange and elaborate plan, or the lieutenant’s threatening demeanor? He felt his heart pounding in his chest. If his overlord and employer knew of Luca's previous duplicity and his current plan then it was all over. There was nothing he could say to stop The Dark One from exacting a terrible and definitive punishment.

  Perhaps, Luca thought to himself, it would be better to go ahead with The Dark One’s plan. Although if he did Lord Nexus would surely find out and the mage was the only person in The Kingdoms that even The Dark One feared. The governor felt utterly trapped, it did not matter which of his masters he obeyed he faced almost certain death from the other and it would not be a pleasant death. Luca eventually decided, he would go ahead with Nexus’ plan. The Dark One would certainly torture him before killing him but Nexus would make his death last for weeks. He would not betray the mage; the prisoners would be helped to escape.

  Having made his decision Luca looked down at the paperwork in front of him, but the words swam on the page and he was not surprised to see that his hand shook slightly. He was trapped like a rat in a cage, forced to serve two masters with the threat of death from one or the other of them hanging over his head constantly. Why, he wondered, had he ever allowed himself to be in this position?

  Luca leaned down and pulled from his desk draw a dusty bottle of mead; despite the early morning hour he felt the need of the strong, soothing alcohol. He poured a generous measure of mead into a plain cup and walked to the window. It had been his greed and fear that had gotten him into this mess. Greed and fear had ruled his life and now would likely cause his death.

  He had been a very young man, no more than seventeen summers, when The Dark One and his brutal armies had first swept across Ixlan. He had seen what the army did to anyone who opposed them and he was afraid of suffering the torture and death that rebellion earned. Fortunately he had been a very clever young man; he had seen quickly that obedience and being useful would be his only hope for survival. Luca had set about being very obedient, looking always for an opportunity to be useful to his new overlord. Eventually, as Luca had known it would, the chance to serve The Dark One was presented to him and he had taken it eagerly.

  He had been in The Dark One’s employ for almost two years when he had first been approached by Lord Nexus. Even then the mage had a fearsome reputation but Nexus had not threatened the young Luca, he had offered him gold, huge amounts of gold and all the mage wanted in return for the gold was information. To his greedy heart it had seemed like a dream come true and it had appealed to his vanity; he would be the eyes and ears of The Kingdoms most powerful mage. Luca had not even stopped to think, he had immediately accepted the offer.

  Now, nearly thirty years later Luca knew better, he was not the mage’s only spy nor was the gold really compensation for the numerous times he had put his life in danger in order to serve both The Dark One and Lord Nexus. It had taken many years but Luca had come to learn that he was neither special nor was he indispensible. He was nothing more than a tool used by far more powerful men.

  Soon he would have to leave the office and address his guards. No doubt they were wondering why they had been held back from stopping the escape attempt, why even now they were not hunting down those few prisoners who had escaped their blades. He would have to tell them something but he had no idea what he would say. Even though they knew nothing of The Dark One’s plan they would question any orders that allowed prisoners to escape.

  The original plan given to Luca by The Dark One was simple. His overlord had been certain that the Grand Knight, Lord Michael, would send someone to try and rescue the prisoner. Luca’s orders had been to allow the rescuing Knights entrance to the complex and then have them all killed, prisoners and rescuers alike.

  Nexus’s plan was even simpler; he merely had to follow The Dark One’s plan until the end. Then when the time came to eliminate the prisoners Luca was to let them escape instead. He had already, at great risk to himself, pe
rsonally smuggled in Nikolai, the mage’s protégé to assist in the prison break. He had also reduced the number of guards by giving them leave to attend the Festival. The problem now was what to do with those guards still on duty.

  Luca swallowed the remaining mead in one gulp. It really didn’t matter what he told the guards, they would report his every word to The Dark One. The moment had come when his treachery could no longer be concealed. His only chance was to try and disappear. He needed an excuse that would keep the guards occupied long enough for the prisoners to escape and for him to find a way out of Ixlan. Perhaps if he could escape to the Badlands he might live long enough to enjoy the gold he’d been paid over the years.

  Nervously licking his lips he poured another generous serving of mead into his cup. The men he employed as guards were not overly endowed with intelligence, Luca knew, but neither were they stupid. If he gave an order for them to leave the prison without having recaptured the escapees they would, undoubtedly, wonder why. The men already knew about the strangers, knew The Dark One had made some plan concerning the prisoners.

  He would simply have to order the men to lay an ambush for the prisoners near the main doors and hope that the escapees were smart enough to avoid being captured and killed. It