Mindbender

by David A. Wells

  “Take them,” he commanded.

  Not a second later a knife drove through the lieutenant’s breastplate and into his heart. He stared in shock at the sudden pain as he slumped to his knees and fell dead on the ground in front of his platoon. Jataan calmly drew his second knife and stepped forward to meet the attack.

  Jack flickered out of view as Lucky tossed a jar filled with amber-colored liquid at the soldiers on the left side of the semicircle. It shattered against the shield of a soldier and splashed the liquid everywhere for ten feet. For a moment nothing happened, then the liquid transformed into a thick amber-colored fog that grew quickly and surrounded eight of the soldiers. A moment later, it solidified into hard, clear stone the color and translucency of amber, entombing all eight of the soldiers.

  Boaberous swept into the other side of the semicircle with his giant war hammer, hitting the fourth man in from the end of the half ring. The man’s shield buckled and he went flying into the other three men, sending them all to the ground.

  Anatoly sidestepped a spear thrust and hooked his axe blade over the top of the man’s shield, pulled him forward then quickly reversed the direction of his war axe to drive the top spike into the man’s eye socket.

  Conner parried a spear thrust and lunged into an enemy’s shield, sending him backward off balance, and then thrust into the ribs of the next man, killing him in one stroke. The soldier on the other side thrust hard and drove into Conner’s backplate with enough force to penetrate an inch or so. Conner cried out and went to a knee. The soldier stiffened as Jack knifed him in the back.

  Jataan waited until the man facing him attacked and then moved like a blur, slipping past his spear and behind him as he spun and drove his knife into the man’s neck, severing his spine and dropping him like a sack of beans. He let go of his knife and drew the soldier’s short sword as the man fell. The next man turned to bring his shield up but Jataan squatted low and sliced the inside of the man’s leg with clean precision, cutting to the bone and spilling bright red blood in spurts as the man fell screaming.

  Alexander lopped the tip off the spear of the man lunging at him, then brought the Thinblade up through his shield and arm, stepped in and cleaved the man from shoulder to hip. He took a step to his right and brought his sword across in an arc and took the next man’s head with a stroke. Another soldier thrust into him from behind. The spear hit hard in the middle of his back but didn’t penetrate his dragon-scale chain armor. The force of the blow sent Alexander stumbling forward into the attack of another soldier. Wildly, he flung the Thinblade up through the enemy’s shield and cleaved his arm off above the wrist. Still stumbling forward, he caught his balance as he thrust into the wounded enemy’s heart.

  The remaining soldiers fell back, attempting to regroup and present a front of interlocking shields, but Alexander pressed the attack, lopping spears in half and cleaving through shields with every stroke.

  Anatoly took measured strides into the enemy, attacking with efficiency and practiced technique. He faced each one with calm calculation, taking his shot when it presented itself and never missing once he committed to his attack.

  Boaberous fought with bursts of rage and fits of fury, smashing his opponents with the blunt force of his giant war hammer powered by his bulk and strength.

  Conner regained his feet and managed to dispatch another of the enemy soldiers in spite of his wound. The man tried to knock him off balance with his shield but when he stepped into Conner’s guard, Conner stabbed him in the foot, caught the bottom of the shield with the cross guard of his sword, lifted the man’s shield up, and drove the point of his blade into his midsection.

  Jataan moved through the enemy with bursts of inhuman speed. He wielded the sword he’d taken from his first opponent with the same exacting precision and speed that he wielded his knives. In the moment of the attack he would find a point of weakness and strike with ruinous effect, and then he would almost saunter through the carnage and the enemy surrounding him until he found his next opponent.

  The battle didn’t last long. Alexander took a cut on his left shoulder and was bruised from the spear thrust to his back, Anatoly was battered and bruised from a few close-quarters’ engagements, and Conner suffered a wound from the spear thrust that pierced his armor, but otherwise they came through the engagement without serious injury. The enemy fell so quickly that the two soldiers still standing suddenly realized they were all that was left and turned and ran. Boaberous dispatched them one after the other with two rapidly cast javelins.

  Alexander sat down on a rock. “Everyone all right?” he asked.

  Conner was the only one with any serious injury.

  The broken bodies of dozens of men lay scattered all around. None had escaped.

  Lucky treated Conner with healing salve and they took an hour to rest so the magical ointment could do its work.

  It was a little unsettling having the eight men encased in magical amber looking at them with fear and shock.

  “How long will they stay like that?” Jack asked as he studied the enemy soldiers frozen in time.

  “The amber will gradually dissipate over the next week or so,” Lucky said. “But they’re already dead from suffocation.”

  Jataan selected a sword from among the fallen soldiers and took a scabbard and belt as well. He retrieved his knives and strapped on his new weapon.

  “I thought you preferred your knives,” Anatoly said.

  “I do, but decapitating a revenant will be much easier with a sword.”

  “I suppose so,” Anatoly said, as he cleaned the blood off the blade of his war axe.

  ***

  It took longer than Alexander would have liked, but eventually they arrived at the bluff where the keep stood, late in the afternoon of their third day on the island. From their vantage point in the trees about a mile away, they could see that the road was busy with squad-sized patrols of soldiers and that the walls of the keep were well manned and well armed. Getting inside would take some effort.

  Chapter 23

  “I hope Evelyn is still alive,” Conner said quietly. “By now, they surely know we’re coming for her.”

  “I’ll take a look in a few minutes, but I can’t see why Phane would kill her,” Alexander said. “She’s no threat to him and as long as she’s alive and under his control, he can use her for leverage against your father. Phane may be a monster, but he’s not stupid. He’ll keep her alive until he has what he wants or she’s of no further use to him.”

  “I concur with Lord Reishi,” Jataan said. “Prince Phane is very shrewd. Killing her would gain him nothing. Holding her gives him options.”

  “I hope you’re right,” Conner said. “My sister doesn’t deserve this. She can be difficult at times but she’s never hurt anyone.”

  “We’ll get her back, Conner,” Alexander said. He withdrew back into the forest and found a small open space to draw a magic circle.

  He found the firmament easily and brought his awareness into focus over his meditating body. With impossible speed he moved to the keep and into the tower where Evelyn was being held. She was pacing back and forth across the room, wearing an expression that was a mixture of boredom and indignation. He moved through the door and saw four guards standing in the hall just outside her chamber. Next he searched for the wizard. He found him busy studying an old book in a workroom on the other side of the keep. Alexander spent the next few minutes exploring the interior of the keep. He floated through rooms and hallways looking at the layout of the place and at the defenses.

  There were easily a thousand Reishi Army Regency soldiers stationed there with scores manning the walls and towers. They were barracked in the main building and had even set up cots in the banquet hall to accommodate the large number of troops. Alexander picked the place in the wall where he planned to enter and carefully traced his route to the base of the central tower. Once he was satisfied with his reconnaissance, he returned to his body.

  He stood
and stretched, then joined his friends who were sitting nearby talking quietly. He sat down and described the layout of the keep and the nature of the defenses. After he explained his plan, they laid out their bedrolls and got some rest in the late afternoon. At dark they rose, ate a quick meal, and struck camp.

  The keep was well lit with oil lamps lining the battlements. Men stood guard at close intervals along the top of the walls, and patrols moved frequently from one battlement to the next. Clearly, the occupants of the keep were expecting an attack. Alexander only hoped they wouldn’t be imaginative enough to guess at his tactics.

  He led Jataan and Jack through the darkness to the place where he intended to enter. The enemy soldiers had lowered the portcullis and closed the gates, securing the fortress from most conventional attacks. They seemed hesitant to venture from the keep at night, no doubt because of the encounter with the revenant the night before.

  When Alexander reached his destination, he went to work cutting chunks out of the wall with the Thinblade. After several minutes he’d opened a hole large enough for the three of them to crawl through. The corridor beyond was dark and little used. They slipped inside and made their way to a door leading to the courtyard.

  The keep was essentially a thick outer wall with battlements, interior corridors, and towers surrounding an inner yard where the main building and central tower were built. It was very old but well constructed and still solid.

  Alexander stopped at the door and sent his all around sight through to the other side. From his clairvoyant scouting he knew that the door opened to a narrow space in the yard not ten feet from the base of the tower, which formed the rear portion of the main building. Two guards stood at the door leading from the yard to the tower. Alexander knew the guards were no match for him and Jataan but he also knew it would only take a second for them to call out an alarm and bring far too many soldiers for the two of them to face with any hope of survival.

  He withdrew back into the dark corridor and whispered to Jataan and Jack, “There are two guards ten feet from the door. We have to silence them before they can raise the alarm. Jack, you pull the door open quickly and quietly, Jataan you go first and I’ll be right behind you. As soon as they’re down, we drag them into this corridor and out of sight.”

  The plan was sound. Jack smoothly drew the door open. Jataan shot through with frightening speed, a knife in each hand. He closed with the two men before they understood what was happening and drove the point of each knife into the windpipe of each man simultaneously. Alexander caught one before he fell and carried him into the dark corridor. Jataan was right behind him with the other, and Jack quietly closed the door again.

  Alexander reached out with his all around sight for any sign of other guards but saw none. They slipped across to the tower door. Alexander quietly slid the Thinblade through the edge of the door to cut the bolt, then sent his sight through into the room beyond. It was a round room easily forty feet across with three doors leading out, one to the main building of the keep and the other two out into the courtyard. A single staircase led up the outer edge of the room to the next level of the tower above. The thing that stopped Alexander cold was the twenty soldiers barracked in the room. They appeared to be sleeping and the room was dark, but it was impossible to tell if any of them might actually be awake.

  Alexander remembered his dad’s admonition about war: No plan ever survives contact with the enemy. It was proving to be maddeningly true. When Alexander had done his magical reconnaissance, the room at the base of the tower had been empty, but that was in the late afternoon when these soldiers had probably been searching Grafton Island for him.

  He knew that the longer they were inside the keep, the more likely it was that they would be discovered. He’d planned to have Anatoly create a distraction so they could escape the keep once they had the princess, but he quickly decided that the distraction was more useful now. Hopefully, if the alarm was raised, the soldiers within the tower room would go to meet the threat.

  “Little One, I need you to go to Anatoly and tell him that the plan has changed,” Alexander said to Chloe without speaking.

  “Are you sure, My Love?” Chloe asked silently. “The enemy are many. You are at risk if they discover you.”

  “I know, but we’ve come too far now,” Alexander said silently. “If we withdraw, they’ll discover the hole in the wall and our chance will be lost. Tell Anatoly to attack now, then move to the rendezvous point and try to draw as many soldiers after him as possible.”

  “As you wish, My Love, but I don’t like you putting yourself in such danger,” Chloe said in his mind.

  Alexander motioned for Jataan and Jack to follow him back into the corridor and quietly closed the door. “There’s a platoon of soldiers in the room at the base of the tower. I’ve sent Chloe to tell Anatoly to make his attack now and draw the enemy away. Hopefully, the soldiers in the tower room will respond to the diversion and leave us a clear path to the princess.”

  They waited quietly for the commotion to begin. Not a minute later, Chloe was back but still not visible.

  “Anatoly will begin his attack in a moment,” she said silently in Alexander’s mind.

  “Thank you, Little One,” Alexander replied without speaking.

  A minute or two later the alarm bell began to toll. The shouting of soldiers could be heard from all around the keep. Alexander sent his sight through the door and watched as most of the soldiers in the tower room strapped on armor and boots before pouring out into the courtyard and racing for the gates.

  “There are four men left in the tower,” Alexander whispered. “We’ll kill them quickly and move up the stairs. Don’t leave any soldiers behind us and keep moving.”

  Jataan and Jack nodded.

  They entered the room and the guards shouted for help but the keep was already in such a state of commotion that their alarm went unnoticed. Alexander and Jataan made short work of the startled soldiers as Jack headed up the stairs. When Alexander and Jataan reached the second level, they found two guards dead from Jack’s knife.

  They made their way up through the seven circular rooms of the tower. Most of the rooms looked like they’d been converted into workrooms for the wizard that led this contingent of soldiers for Phane. All were empty of soldiers except for the next to the last room from the top, which was manned by six men in armor who were alert and waiting for an attack. When Alexander peeked up the staircase, two men fired crossbows at him. The first bolt struck dead center in his chest. The impact was painful but it didn’t penetrate his armor shirt. The second bolt caught him in the outside of his left shoulder and drove clean through the muscle. He cried out involuntarily in pain as he stepped back from the staircase and out of harm’s way.

  Jataan moved to the base of the stairs and stood defiantly. Two more guards loosed their crossbows, but he moved in a blur and avoided the deadly projectiles.

  Jack went to Alexander. “This is going to hurt,” he said, looking him in the eye before pulling the bolt through his arm. Alexander withdrew into the place in his mind where the witness lived to avoid passing out from the intense pain. Jack quickly bound the wound and made a makeshift sling to immobilize his arm.

  Jataan dodged the remaining two crossbow bolts, then darted up the stairs.

  By the time Jack and Alexander made it to the level above, the six guards were scattered about in moaning heaps of human carnage with their lifeblood draining away in pools of red. Jataan stood calmly waiting for Alexander and Jack.

  There was a single door leading to the main room where Evelyn was imprisoned. Alexander sent his sight through and saw Princess Evelyn standing in the middle of the room, looking at the door and straining to hear any indication of what was happening beyond it.

  When he opened the door, she was still standing in the middle of the room with her fists planted on her hips. She was petite with black hair and her father’s slate-grey eyes. She gave Alexander a look of pure contempt that morphed int
o a combination of caution and curiosity when she saw the dead soldiers behind him. He scrutinized her colors for a moment. She had an intense aura that was full of life and energy. There was no magic present but her colors were clear and bright. Alexander sensed the self-centeredness of youth. She looked about eighteen years old.

  “Who are you?” she demanded.

  “My name is Alexander. I’m here to rescue you,” he said.

  She huffed with exasperation. “Well, it’s about time,” she said as she retrieved her riding boots from beneath the bed and sat down to strap them on. She wore a simple dress and didn’t take the time to change into anything more appropriate. With her boots on, she stripped the blanket off the bed, rolled it up quickly and tied a sash from another dress hanging in the armoire around it so she could sling it across her back.

  “All right, I’m ready,” she said impatiently as if she’d been waiting on Alexander. “How many men do you have with you?”

  “Two with me and four more outside the keep,” Alexander said.

  “That’s it?” she said indignantly. “All I’m worth is seven men?”

  Jataan started to say something, but Alexander silenced him with a shake of his head. Jack chuckled at her brashness.

  “Do you want to go home or not?” Alexander said with a hard look.

  She frowned and huffed again as she motioned for him to lead the way.

  They made it to the base of the tower without encountering any resistance, but as they descended the final flight of stairs a squad of ten soldiers came into the room with weapons drawn. The sergeant ordered his men to attack.

  Jataan lunged into the advancing enemy.

  Jack flickered out of sight.

  Alexander waited for the first soldier to reach him before he attacked. His shoulder hurt terribly and it was distracting him from moving more fluidly, so he chose simple attacks that relied on the power of the Thinblade.