“Oh, so you can pick the locks on theses chains and jump him while he’s distracted, right?” she asked, picking up his line of thought.
Chase shook his head. “No, it’s just something I want to see before they kill us. It’s on my bucket list.”
“You are such a pig!” Felicia tried to kick past Gabe to hit Chase.
“Ouch, hey, watch it! I didn’t do anything!” Gabe cried as he became the unintended target of her anger.
“You know what your problem is? You’re a prude, and you can’t take a joke!” Chase fired back.
“This is neither the time nor place for jokes! This is the time to try and get the hell out of here!”
“It’s never the time or place for a joke with you! I’m Felicia. I’m so uptight that when I fart only dogs can hear it,” he mocked her in a falsetto voice.
“Oh, you little creep! I have your bucket list right here!”
Felicia scooped a small wooden bucket up off the floor with her foot and flung it at Chase. The bucket made a hollow thunk as it struck him in the forehead.
“Ow! You bitch!” he cursed vilely and tried to kick her past Gabe.
Felicia cursed him back and kicked out at him as well. Poor Gabe was trapped in the middle of the fight and took most of the beating.
“Ow, you guys, stop it! Ow!” Gabe yelped as a flurry of blows hit him in his thighs, stomach, and chest.
Chase and Felicia seemed oblivious to Gabe and Ted’s pleas for peace and kept kicking at each other’s legs and cursing each other vehemently. Their tirade would likely have continued until they wore themselves out and Gabe was turned into a mass of bruises had their cell door had not suddenly crashed inward.
Lord Darkrell stood faintly illuminated by the flickering torchlight. The two combatants paused their kick fighting. Each of them had the other in some sort of leg lock and was suspended above the floor, hanging from the wall by their chains and shackles.
“Where is it? Where is the spell that brought you here!” the furious Lord Darkrell demanded as he stormed up to Ted, waving the book accusingly under his nose.
Ted actually smiled at the fearsome man. “I tore it out while we were in town and hid it.”
“Tell me where it is, or I swear none of you will ever leave here alive.”
“I’ll tell you where it is, but you have to give me your word that you will take us all back to our own world when Drew opens the portal for you,” the young wizard offered without flinching under the dark lord’s gaze.
“You are in no position to bargain. I could simply have Lucien flay the skin from your bodies until you told me what I want to know.”
“Which takes time, and you don’t know what may happen to me if you torture me. It would be a shame if I died suddenly under torture. You do not know my medical conditions or my health problems. I assure you, there are more than a few. Plus, I have no reason to make anything easy on you if all you are going to do is kill us in the end.”
“Perhaps it would be best to take you all with me. I could not kill you until your friend actually opens the portal for my men and me. In the meantime, you would have a chance to escape or be rescued if I left you here. The last thing I need is heroes running about my domain bent on my downfall. Very well, you have my word. I will not have you harmed and will dump you back in your world as long as I get my portal opened.”
“It’s a deal. The missing pages are in my boot.”
“You lied to me, you little scoundrel! You told me you hid it in Martin’s Vale,” Lord Darkrell accused.
“No, I said I tore it out in Martin’s Vale and hid it. I only alluded that I had hidden it in Martin’s Vale. You came to your own conclusions,” Ted said smugly.
Lord Darkrell actually grinned, although no one watching would take it for friendliness. “You are a very clever lad. You remind me of myself when I was young. Very well, I will have Lucien bring you and my missing spell upstairs where you can join your friend. I pray that not all the people of your world are as difficult to deal with as you all are.”
The sinister lord turned on his heel and glided back out the door. As soon as he disappeared, his faithful second strode into the room and opened their shackles. No one even considered trying to overpower the captain and was glad they had not tried as they stepped out into the corridor and saw several more guards waiting. Even without the additional guards, they knew it would likely be suicide to try something so foolish.
Under the watchful eyes of the guards, Captain Lucien freed the others from their chains and marched upstairs. They reached the landing where they had initially descended to the dungeons. Just as Chase had said, the stairs now continued up in a wide spiral, previously hidden by the use of a clever illusion. They finally entered a door on the fourth landing and were escorted inside.
“Drew!” Felicia cried and ran across the room and wrapped him in a hug tight enough to make it hard to breathe.
“Drew, are you all right?” Josh asked.
“I’m fine I guess, all things considered,” he replied once Felicia let him go. “Josh, you came too? I can’t believe it!”
“Of course I came. You’re my little bro aren’t you?”
Drew gave him a look of disbelief. “Yeah but, you know, we’re not exactly what you would call close.”
“We’re just different is all. No matter what, you’re still my brother. I guess it took this little life threatening adventure trip for me to learn that.”
“Man, I bet mom and dad are freaking out right now,” Drew said.
“Yeah, I would imagine. They probably have the FBI and everyone all out looking for us. But Ted made us a deal to get us all back though, so we’ll be ok.”
“I actually sort of made the same sort of deal myself.” Drew looked over the heads of his gathered friends and finally noticed Chuck’s large form standing quietly in the back. “Chuck! What are you doing here?”
“I couldn’t let my best friend run off to some Twilight Zone place with no one to help him but a bunch of dweebs. Besides, I didn’t want to miss out on cracking a few heads.”
“Wow, thanks for coming. I’m glad they had your help, no matter what the reason.”
Lord Darkrell, who had thus far remained patient and silent in the corner, cleared his throat. “Now if the family reunion is complete, I will have my spell,” he insisted, reaching his hand out toward Ted.
Ted reached into the top of his boot and pulled out four pieces of paper neatly folded up in a plastic bag. He opened the bag, pulled out the papers, and smoothed the pages with his hands. The sinister lord snatched them like a snake after a mouse and eagerly read their contents.
“Yes! Yes, this is what I have been looking for,” he whispered in a dry hiss. “Here, you look at these and tell me you can do this again!”
Drew took the proffered pages and scanned through them. It was the same spell he had cast that started this whole thing. “I can do it. I just have to get back to the same spot where it opened, and I should be able to do it again.”
“Excellent,” Lord Darkrell cackled. “Get your rest. You will need it. We leave at first light,” he declared as he snatched back up the papers and turned to leave the room.
“Wait,” Felicia called to his back, “we have horses tied up a ways outside your town. Someone needs to get them.”
Lord Darkrell turned and faced her. “Your animals were brought in nearly an hour ago.” He then turned and swept out of the room.
The guards who had been previously waiting outside filed in with cots and blankets and set them up in the small room before departing and leaving them to themselves. The group was certain there were a sufficient number of them waiting just outside the door to ensure they did not try to leave. Everyone except Chuck was too excited at their reunion to take immediate advantage of the cots and stayed up for over an hour exchanging stories of their adventures while Chuck stretched out and almost immediately began snoring.
Exhaustion eventually won out over exci
tement, and they all took advantage of the remaining night to get some much-needed rest. The morning came far too early for the beleaguered group as guards noisily brought in trays of warm food. Apparently, Lord Darkrell wanted to ensure that his young guests had the strength and energy to make the long but swift journey ahead.
Regardless of whether the food was beneficence or self-serving, they ate it all gratefully. Soon after finishing, Captain Lucien and several of his guards came and escorted them down stairs to the courtyard where a caravan of riders awaited. Prominent among them was the fanciful carriage of Lord Darkrell himself. Their own horses were saddled and waiting, their packs securely strapped onto the horse’s rumps behind the saddles.
“You will ride unfettered as long as you do not attempt to escape. My Lord Darkrell wanted me to remind you that he holds the only means of returning to your world, so it is best for all of you to see this through to its planned conclusion. He will hold to his word so long as you hold to yours,” the Captain informed them.
“We’ll do what we agreed to. It’s time we all went home,” Drew assured him.
Captain Lucien nodded once, satisfied with his answer and shouted for the convoy to begin moving. Once outside the gates, an army of ogres, orcs, and goblins formed ranks and marched behind the horsemen. The young humans were amazed at the creatures’ ability to maintain the pace that the cavalry set for such a distance. They only stopped once during the day for a thirty minute rest and lunch before moving once again until the sun set.
The army stuck to the roads as much as possible but avoided any towns and farms along the way. It took nearly a week to reach the pass Drew recognized as the same one the snow creatures had attacked him and Droog’s small party of goblins. Apparently, the size of the army he rode with now was sufficient to deter any sort of attack, because they passed through in two days without so much as a sign of the hairy white creatures.
As they drew nearer their destination, some of the young people started to have doubts as to what they were soon going to do. What had begun as a straightforward rescue mission was now a convoluted mess of conflicting morals and responsibility.
“Drew, are we doing the right thing?” Felicia asked. “If we let this Darkrell creep bring weapons and soldiers back from our world, he’ll enslave the people of this one.”
“What else can we do? This is not our war. Besides,” Drew said as he looked pointedly at his friend, “there is a big difference between him getting through the portal and getting back with what he wants.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t think he knows that much about our world and how things work. His mind cannot comprehend much beyond what he has experienced in this world. All his concepts and ways of thinking about sociology and the way the world works is based entirely on what he knows from this world. If he thinks the only difference between our worlds is our weapons, he is in for a big surprise.”
“What do you mean by that? He has gold and gems, all of great value in our world. There are bad people who will give him whatever he wants for the right price. What is going to keep him from succeeding and conquering everyone here?”
“We’ll just have to wait and see, I suppose. Regardless, we are not in much of a position to take any kind of direct action anyway, no matter what we would like to do.”
The others were forced to concede Drew’s point. They were unarmed in the midst of a hostile army. This was not a game where a mistake could be corrected with the roll of the dice; it was their lives on the line. The army marched for three more days before Lord Darkrell approached them.
“We will arrive at the location you entered tomorrow afternoon. You will be prepared to do your part,” Lord Darkrell informed them.
“I’ll do my part, don’t worry,” Drew replied crossly.
“You had better. Do not think of crossing me. I assure you, my imagination, when it comes to punishing those who cross me, is far greater than yours,” he warned sinisterly.
“Whatever, we’ll cooperate.”
There was a slight change to the routine the next morning. Once the party had eaten, guards came and bound the captive’s hands together. Fortunately, they tied their hands in front of them so they could still ride. It appeared that Lord Darkrell was taking no chances of his charges escaping or trying anything funny. Shortly after the sun broke above the tree line, they marched forward to what may be the conclusion of their destiny.
Human and goblin scouts ranged ahead on their horses and massive wolves. Their job was to scout the path ahead of the army’s line of march, ranging wide and as far as two miles ahead of the main force to ensure that no traps or ambushes lay in wait. The scout leader came to a halt and signaled the men with him to converge on his point.
“Looks all clear so far, Sergeant,” one of his human scouts reported.
“Yes, we seem to be fortunate. It looks like our harassing forces are keeping the king’s army divided and properly occupied. We’ll move together at a walk from here until the goblin wolf riders bring me a report of our flanks before reporting to Captain Lucien,” the sergeant told the four human scouts in his charge.
He almost always sent the wolf riding goblins out on the flanks, not just because their mounts were swifter than his horses and more maneuverable, but because he couldn’t stand to be around the foul little vermin. As the minutes dragged on into an hour, he began to curse his goblin scouts’ delay.
“What in the blasted hell’s are keeping those stupid gobs? They should have caught up with us at least half an hour ago!”
The scout sergeant’s curses were cut off as the shrubs and vegetation abruptly burst into motion all around him, and a flight of arrows feathered the small scout contingent. A second volley unseated the last of the scouts before they had time to even wheel their horses about and attempt to flee the ambush. The shrubbery, sporting longbows and arms, grabbed hold of the horses’ bridles before they could bolt. Soft words of reassurance calmed the spooked animals as additional, cleverly camouflaged men and women separated themselves from the surrounding foliage.
“Quickly, change uniforms with one of the scouts. Try to find one without too much blood or holes in it,” advised one of the rangers.
“Should I take the leader’s uniform?”
“No, he is more likely to be known by someone in command. Better to take one of the underlings’ uniforms. Here, this one took a single arrow to the throat. We can wash the blood off the leather, and you should be able to go unnoticed,” the first ranger declared.
The second ranger stripped down, donned the dead scout’s leathers, and mounted his former steed. With a quick word of luck, the ranger turned the horse and rode hard back to the forward troops of Lord Darkrell’s army. Within minutes, he spotted the front ranks of riders and slowed to a trot, waving his arm and calling out a greeting to identify himself as friendly.
The ranger rode past the front rank of riders until he found a human with a lieutenant’s rank. The ranger spy reined in his mount and rendered a salute to his superior before giving his report. He glanced sharply at the young group of people riding just behind the junior officer.
“Sir, our scouting foray has shown the route ahead clear of serious antagonists, with the exception of a small group of rangers that we easily dispatched. I would have reported directly to Captain Lucien, but the goblin riders were late reporting back, and the sergeant is waiting for me to return so we can ride ahead and regain our proper lead on the vanguard,” the ranger spy lied.
“Very well, scout. Return to your duties. I will relay this good news to Lord Darkrell personally.”
With a parting glance at Josh and his crew, the ranger wheeled about and swiftly rode back the way he came. The lieutenant cantered back down the line to where Captain Lucien was currently apprising their lord on their progress and the proximity of their destination.
Felicia looked at her bother and exclaimed in a low tone, “Wasn’t that Lucas?”
“Yeah, I’m su
re it was!” he replied in an excited whisper.
“What was he doing in that getup and reporting to these jerks?” Felicia asked.
“I’m not sure, but I think we should all be ready to duck at a second’s notice,” Phil suggested.
Captain Lucien rode forward a few minutes later and ordered the foot soldiers to precede the cavalry. The young adventurers had to wait as the infantry stomped by in mass procession before they once again started forward, riding alongside Lord Darkrell’s carriage. A score of cavalry and about a hundred orcs and a dozen ogres of the reserve force flanked them.
They rode for another two hours before spotting the first signs of something amiss. All along the infantry’s front and flanks, arrows flew from the woods and brush. The ambush inflicted only light casualties, but the harassing attacks were ceaseless and slowly took their toll.
“Captain, what is happening out there?” Lord Darkrell demanded to know.
Captain Lucien, who was currently being briefed by one of his junior officers, broke off with a nod to the man. “My Lord, our forces are being harassed by ranger archers. My men chase after them, but they swiftly disappear back into the woods as soon as we attempt to engage them. I have ordered two platoons of cavalry to ride them down the next time they dare show themselves.”
“Tell your men that nothing is to keep us from getting to our destination. They are to walk through the fires of hell if necessary and die to a man if that is what it takes to succeed! My success is vastly more important than the lives of this force!” Lord Darkrell snapped.
“It is as you command, My Lord. Worry not, milord. My troops will hunt down and destroy these pitiful rangers. Their pathetic resistance is an annoyance at best.”
Lucien rode back hard to his soldiers and started barking orders at all those around him. Men, orcs, ogres, and goblins jumped to obey or just to get out of his enraged sight.
“Looks like the rangers are giving them hell right now,” Chase remarked, smiling mischievously. “I hope Samone is all right.”
“I hope they are all all right. Even if Elderin was able to call in more rangers and druids, they can’t hope to defeat an army this size. There must be three or four thousand of these goons,” Gabe said.
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