Fireclaws - Search for the Golden

by T. Michael Ford

  Naurakka sidled up alongside me and snarled, “A pooka? Oh, this is going to get interesting!”

  Chapter 5

  Kerrik

  Before I even opened my eyes, the stench of piss, vomit, and rancid sweat told me it was not going to be a good day. I could feel my wrists manacled with steel to the cold stone wall behind me as I sat on a similarly cold floor. The only difference being the floor was wet. I tried not to think about what was causing the wetness as I forced my eyelids to obey me and open. Everything felt puffy and swollen, and then I remembered the beating, or rather beatings. The first at the tavern had been mild compared to the one administered after the five-hour ride in the freight wagon.

  I assumed I was in the castle of the wizard Verledn; for such new construction, the stench of corruption was already ingrained in the stone. The only other time I had been here was in the middle of the night, and this holding cell hadn’t been on my places-to-visit list. Taking a deep breath, I ran my tongue along my teeth to ascertain whether or not they still existed. They did, but the movement stirred up the clotting blood pooled in my mouth and I nearly retched.

  Light was beginning to filter lazily through a small grate high up on the wall over my head, so at least we weren’t underground. More likely a stone prison somewhere inside the walls, but not too close to the main courtyard. As more light lifted the gloom, I could see I was in a twenty-by-twenty or so room with a planked wooden ceiling. At one end, a steel fence with a padlocked gate separated us from a grim-looking guard holding a heavy crossbow. Behind him was the real door to this cell, a heavy wooden affair with a sliding viewing portal which opened, I assumed, outside.

  Inside the cell with me were three other prisoners; two men and a woman. I recognized the couple as being the same one I had shared my wagon ride with, but both seemed asleep at the moment. As I was moving my pounding head around to see better, the other man roused himself from his thoughts and cleared his throat.

  “Kerrik? Is that you, boy?”

  “Flight Wizard Marson?” I answered shakily, recognizing the voice from my years in the army. Somehow, I still wasn’t getting my jaw to work quite right.

  “The same. How in the world did they catch you? I would have thought you were too smart for that.”

  “Well, there was this girl in a tavern…” I explained. As the light increased, I was able to make out the form of the grizzled old wind wizard chained across from me. Gray hair, unkempt beard, and filthy robe; he was a far cry from the stalwart superior officer I served under for two years. He frowned.

  “Well, that doesn’t sound like the Kerrik Beratin I knew.” He coughed dryly and tried to spit, but couldn’t. “You never were one for drinking to excess or chasing skirts as I recall.”

  “I was working in the tavern and trying to keep Verledn’s apes away from the girl.”

  “Aye, well, that makes perfect sense then.”

  “Sir, what are you doing here?”

  “Same as last time, lad. I’m ashamed to say I’ve been through this before,” he wheezed and shifted his weight somewhere more comfortable. “The first time they didn’t have the walls up yet, and they held us in tents. I was lucky to escape that time and I swore never again, but ever since the war, the call of the wine bottle has been louder than my good sense. They caught me sleeping it off in a stable next to an inn on the Parksburg road and I was too drunk to run. Same as last time, they’ll hold us for three or four days to weaken and break us. No food and barely enough water to work up a spit. After that, the ones who still show defiance will have their throats cut, and the compliant ones will be put to work finishing the castle or be made part of Verledn’s army.” He coughed again and swallowed as if in pain. “The last I heard, you were off to the Bermant village battle. That was a hard one to take and, to be honest; I didn’t think you made it out, boy.”

  “Another battle where they spent us like so much chaff,” I said woodenly. “They ordered spell after spell cast, and then we started to drop from exhaustion. The cavalry skirmishers that were supposed to be screening us scattered at the first ghoul attack. I woke up a few hours later with a zombie gnawing on the arm of the wizard next to me like some kind of bloody dog chewing a bone. By that time, the battle was long over and whatever troops we had left had moved off. I had just enough strength to wind myself into a tree. Lucky for me, there was plenty of food on the ground and the new and remaining undead ignored me until I recovered enough power to escape.”

  “But I’m guessing you had to sit in that tree and helplessly watch your entire cadre be slaughtered in front of your eyes.” The old man supplied sympathetically.

  I kept my eyes firmly affixed to the stone floor but nodded in affirmation. “The worst were the ones who woke up as they were being eaten; their screams still haunt me every night when I dream.”

  “What did you do then?”

  I shrugged. “Did my duty, waited, and rejoined the army, or the scraps that were left of it, a few miles away. We fought a holding action for a couple days until the dead backed us up to a fast-moving river, and we didn’t have enough earth wizards to make a bridge. Then just when it looked like it was drown or be eaten, the undead turned around and left.”

  “They left?”

  “Yeah, pulled away for some bigger battle somewhere else…I don’t know, we were in no position to argue the point. Oddly, that was the last I saw of the armies of undead. Oh, a straggler here and there, but just singles. Whatever formed them into a cohesive army was broken.”

  “Did you ever hear where they went?” he croaked, trying to moisten his lips with his tongue. I noticed the other two prisoners were awake and now listening to our conversation.

  “No, just the same rumors that have been flying around ever since,” I said quietly. “But it must have gone badly for the necromancer, which is fine in my book.”

  “I heard the Lifebane lost a bet with the gods and they threw him into the sun. He so tainted it that the gods had to make us a new one,” the woman hissed vehemently joining the conversation.

  I raised a skeptical eyebrow, but I guess her explanation wasn’t any worse than the other farfetched ideas I had heard, which ranged from a army of paladins taking him down, to a dragon that lived on the moon swooping across space and swallowing the Duke whole. Apparently, the necromancer meal didn’t sit well and the dragon then vomited new stars into our sky.

  Worn out by injury, weakness and lack of food, we all drifted back to sleep. The next time I woke up, it appeared to be late afternoon or early evening and the guard was changing. While there were two of them, the newly arrived guard used his keys to open up the gate and went around and checked everyone’s bindings while the old guard watched, weapon ready. Satisfied, he retreated back behind the gate and locked it, and the previous guard was free to leave. I watched all this carefully as it would make sense that if there was to be any escape attempt, it would have to be when the gate was open.

  Unfortunately, it appeared the guards knew their business, and the way my head was pounding, it didn’t seem like some grand scheme was going to pop into it anytime soon. The new guardsman barely had time to sneer at us properly before a small gray finch landed on the window grate and chirped a few times before it winged into the room and back out. I guess it didn’t like the accommodations any better than we did. I settled back against the stone and watched the guard and my now silent companions.

  A light tapping sounded on the outside door, and the guard uttered some form of low curse, got up off his chair and slid open the viewing portal. Whoever was on the outside must have been acceptable, because he muttered something about being early and started unbolting the outer door.

  I looked across at Marson, and I saw him straighten up and lick his parched lips in anticipation. A wizened old woman, dressed in little more than rags, was let through the door carrying a sloshing bucket and a ladle.

  “That’s old Annie,” he whispered. “Smile nice and you might get an extra ounce or two.�
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  The old woman puttered aimlessly with her burden for a few seconds while the guard re-locked the door. When he turned around, a lightning fast roundhouse kick caught him in the throat, flung him back and his head snapped against the stone lintel over the low doorway. He crumpled soundlessly to the floor. That was an impressive kick for an old woman! I watched as she effortlessly dragged the body off to the side and relieved it of its keys. She quickly unlocked the gate and walked confidently over to me, shaking her head as she bent down to unlock my restraints.

  “I always suspected the quality of your music would land you in a place like this someday, Master Bard,” she said sadly. The voice was familiar, rich, and her jibe was well delivered, certainly no old crone spoke any of it.

  “Ryliss?” I whispered, making the connection immediately. “What are you doing here? Did you find my sister? Is she safe?”

  “Whoa, slow down, Kerrik. Yes, your sister is well and being taken care of.” Rising shakily to my feet, bone and muscle feeling like mush, I would have hugged her if I didn’t stink so badly. Instead, I leaned heavily against the wall to brace myself. “Thank you, Ryliss, you don’t know how much that means to me. I swear I will try and repay you.”

  She smiled dangerously. “Be careful what you promise, Kerrik. You don’t know who, or what you are pledging yourself to.”

  “I hope to change that… Now what is your plan for getting us out of this hole?”

  “You’re a wind wizard; can’t you just fly out of here once you’re freed?” she smirked with her hands placed jauntily on her hips. It was very disconcerting to see a ragged old woman mimicking a young girl’s coltish moves.

  Picturing her as the young local girl I met yesterday, I cleared my mind of the distractions and leaned closer to her to whisper, “At full strength, yes, but not in the shape we’re all in right now. Besides, only two of us are wind wizards; the other two are water and have nothing to work with here.” I made a motioning gesture to the other chained prisoners. Ryliss glanced at the others and winced, and I could tell she hadn’t counted on taking a full group out of here. Stifling a brief sigh, she walked over and unlocked their restraints, helped them to their feet, and even retrieved the water bucket. She passed each of them a full ladle of cool, clean water.

  As my fellow captives massaged feeling back into arms and legs and helped themselves to more water, Ryliss slid back over to me and whispered, “Ok, so what can you do? Invisibility? If so, can you use it on others? How about summon a wind elemental? Can you cast chain lightning?” She stopped the questions abruptly, noting that I was standing there dumbfounded with my mouth hanging open. “What? Those are first year spells at Xarparion.”

  “Ryliss, you either have no experience with wizards or the wizards you do know are way more powerful than I can imagine. I can’t do any of those spells, I was only taught fly, observation, and some communication cantrips…I picked up a few minor spells on my own, but nothing like you’re talking about. Besides, Xarparion is just a myth; I’ve never talked to anyone who’s even been there.”

  She grinned toothlessly and tilted her head. “I can assure you, Kerrik, I know a wizard or two. Explain to me what your observation spell does.”

  “It’s like a lesser fly spell, but it takes a lot less magic and concentration. Basically, you can take yourself and one other person, usually an officer, straight up into the air so you can survey the battlefield. The downside is that you can only go straight up and straight down. There is no ability to move around once you’re airborne, although a stiff wind will cause you to drift some.”

  “Can both of you cast this spell?”

  “Of course, it’s a basic wind corps spell.”

  “So you could each take one of the water wizards and ascend high up into the air?” she questioned, her brow crinkling even more than wrinkles could account for.

  “Yes, but in our condition, we’ll only be able to manage fifteen minutes or so of hang time; after that, we’ll drop back to earth. Also, the maximum height is only about two hundred feet so we would be sitting ducks for crossbows and fireballs. I don’t see how that helps us escape. There are five of us and the spell only allows one ‘passenger’ at a time.”

  She put a hand on my chest and looked me squarely in the eye. They were deep green eyes, shining with the brightness of youth. “You don’t worry about how I get away,” Ryliss asserted. “I have my own methods, and your observation spell will do nicely for an escape plan. When you cast it, make sure the four of you link arms so that you rise and hover as a single unit. No matter what happens or what you see, do not break apart…I will handle the rest.”

  “But…”

  “Shhusshh, I do not want to have to explain to Andi that you died because you were stupid!”

  “You’re kind of bossy for an old crone, you know,” I retorted.

  “Oh, you have no idea…” She smiled and turned to the others, who had been listening attentively, raising her voice slightly. “Out the door and around the corner to the left is a dead-end alleyway. That’s probably the best place for you to form up and cast your spells. It’s almost dark. Hopefully, you won’t be noticed right away. I will defend the alley entrance until I am sure you are up and away…any questions?”

  “I don’t see how any of this can work,” the female water mage complained. She looked about forty, but being a wizard, was probably older. Stringy dark hair, wearing farmer’s wife clothes, she had hands that attested to a life of hard labor. “And I’m sure I don’t want to be taken two hundred feet into the air and made a pincushion out of…”

  “I agree with Marjoree,” the other water caster chimed in. Balding and stoop-shouldered, he too looked more like a lifelong farmer than a wizard. “It’s insane.”

  “No, it’s insane to stay here and either get our throats cut, or worse,” Marson growled firmly. “We have no choice; we won’t get a second chance.” With a sigh and a helpless shrug, the other two wizards acquiesced and Marson added, “If this woman was resourceful enough to break in here, I have to believe she is resourceful enough to break us out.”

  While all this discussion was going on, I noticed Ryliss had moved back to the dead guard and stripped him of his leather belt, sliding a boot knife out of its sheath. She deftly split the strap lengthwise and joined the ends to make a large leather ring. Stalking quickly back to me, she looped it under my arms and tied it off firmly, leaving a pigtail of leather in the back.

  “Do I even want to ask?” I said, looking at her handiwork askance.

  “No.” The creature that appeared to be an old woman chuckled in a young woman’s playful voice. “Just remember what I told you and don’t panic no matter what you hear or see.” Motioning us all to the door, she whispered, “I’ll go out first with my water bucket. If it’s all clear, l will open the door. When I do, move decisively. Good luck!”

  She paused and then slid out the door noiselessly. A moment later, it reopened and a hand frantically waved us out. The other wizards exited left along the building and I followed. Ryliss just stood there pretending to dither around with her water bucket and ladle, but I could see she was scanning everywhere for trouble. As luck would have it of course, trouble was exactly what she found.

  Two laughing male guards in light leather armor rounded the corner of another low building, not thirty feet away. I’m not sure who was surprised more, them or me, but to their credit they shook it off quickly. Shouting out a hue and cry that I’m sure could be heard throughout the compound, they drew their long swords and raced to the attack. Cautiously, I backed away down the alley, and the two of them charged right past Ryliss who seemed to be crouched fearfully next to her water bucket. They were almost in my face, so close I could see their yellow teeth and lips peeled back in savage grins as they raised their swords to strike me down. I didn’t even have a decent spell handy that I could get off in time.

  Suddenly something large and wooden collided sharply with the skull of the one on the left. T
hen it swung past, looped elegantly and accelerated into a vicious uppercut that snapped back the chin of the other. It broke apart in the process, sending shards of oak bucket and water droplets spraying high into the air. Both guards dropped to the ground as if pole-axed, revealing a grinning old woman standing behind them with just a scrap of rope in her hand.

  Before I could say anything, more shouting bravos arrived at the mouth of the alley. Ryliss tossed the remains of her bucket aside and lithely snatched up the swords of the fallen guardsmen, tossing one to me grip first.

  “You know how to use one of these?” she growled an almost catlike sound. I nodded as we retreated a little farther down the alley and turned to face three more guards who were cautiously stepping over the bodies of their comrades and entering the fray. Our swords clashed with a scream of metal.

  The first thing I noticed was that Ryliss knew her way around a sword. While I’m not an expert, I did force myself to train with the regulars in the army for several years, reasoning that one couldn’t depend on magic to pull you out of every scrape. I count myself a decent swordsman, but of the three opponents that crowded down the alleyway trying to skewer us, she easily left two of them clutching their guts in the dirt at our feet, while I was still struggling to fend off and dispatch one. Seeing his two companions taken down so quickly, my guy panicked at the thought of having to face us both and overreached. His eyes glazing over as my blade slid past his breastplate’s opening for his armpit, dividing his heart. Backing down the alley further, we faced more brigands joining the attack, this time with shields and axes.

  “Time for you and your friends to leave, Master Bard!” Ryliss’ voice rang out above the din of battle.

  “I can’t leave you...you’ll be overwhelmed!” I shouted back.

  “Follow the plan! Put aside your silly wind wizard arrogance and follow orders, soldier, I mean it!” she barked and shoved me behind her with her free hand. Ok, that last remark stung a bit! Throwing my sword angrily at the oncoming horde, I turned and ran down the alley to where the other three wizards stood bunched up nervously. Marson and I cast our spells with the other two hanging on for dear life. A small puff of air and our feet left the ground. One foot high, two, then ten and finally, we were rising straight up above the single story rooftops that made up most of the buildings in the outer courtyard.