“I will do what I have to,” was all Thad said in reply but Thuraman’s words struck him hard. It was one thing to kill a soldier during battle or even during the night. It was something completely different if he killed an innocent person because they had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Even with those thoughts in his mind he continued to make more of the orbs. It might not be the perfect plan but it was the only one he could think of that would allow him the damage and distraction he would need it things got too bad.
“Thad, the Brotherhood is here,” a familiar voice said, seemingly out from the darkness.
Thad quickly looked around startled then his mind calmed and he remember the ring he had given Tuck back on the ship. “How many are there?” Thad asked through the ring.
“There is a little over eight hundred at the last count. It’s really hard to tell for sure they keep moving around. Right now they are moving to circle the estate. Reeve plans to thin their numbers a bit once they all settle in for the night. Parson and his men are preparing for a siege by gathering all the arrows and glass orbs that are ready,” Tuck replied, speaking so fast Thad was sure he was out of breath. We tried one of your orbs last night to see how good they worked. Parson was a bit close and we had to yell for him to hear us the rest of the night,” Tuck added laughing.
Thad could almost picture the event with the glass orb. He had found out firsthand how strong a fully charged one could be. At Southpass he had used them with devastating effect on the unsuspecting Ablaian soldiers. “Let me know if anything else of importance happens,” Thad told Tuck, trying to keep his voice serious.
“Will do Thad. How is everything going on your end?” Tuck asked almost as an afterthought.
“About as well as can be expected Tuck. I found the guild hall and a way in, now all I have to do is make sure everything is ready. I am going to try and enter the hall tomorrow. If all goes well within three days I will be on my way back,” Thad replied, sounding enthusiastic.
“That’s good to know. Reeve won’t admit it but he has been a little on edge since you left. In fact many of the elves don’t seem as sure without you around. Seems that without a Lord to command them they have a little trouble on deciding on who’s in charge. Parson has taken up most of that burden but since he was a servant some of the other elves don’t take him as seriously.”
“I didn’t expect that,” Thad replied confused. “When I was there Reeve and Parson still gave everyone the orders.”
“Yes but when you were here they were getting their authority from you. It was you who the elven lords gave them over to not Reeve and Parson. I know it may not make sense but I don’t think half the world does sometimes,” Tuck added in humorously.
CHAPTER XX
Two days after his talk with Tuck, Thad was once again in front of the lone house. He had not spent his time simply watching the seemingly empty house but had made more than three dozen of the little orbs and placed them randomly around the town. With everything that could be done finished Thad had decided that tonight was the night he would enter the guild hall.
As he watched the house Thad noticed three long coaches pull up outside. Thad wasn’t sure if he should be elated that he might get the chance to question a member of the Brotherhood or if he should dismayed at the fact his easy way in and out had been compromised.
Thad watched as a young woman still in her late twenties to early thirties exited the first coach quickly followed by a horde of servants. Thad watched the other coaches intently but Thad spied nothing outside of servants.
Thad’s heart shrank back for a moment when he realized that his opponent was female. Something deep inside him pressed him to follow the other tunnels to a different home and another route into the guild hall. Thad knew that if he did that it would add delays where none could be afforded. After pushing down the feebleness lurking in his heart Thad continued to watch the house.
As night settled in Thad watched as the lights in the house were extinguished one by one. Thad had searched the house many times over with his magic and was sure the master suite was in the northern corner of the house right next to another small room that was above the entrance to the tunnel.
Thad pulled his cloak around him allowing himself to blend into the darkness. He had not had many opportunities to use the cloak that Sae-Thae had given him but no time was better than the present.
As he walked across the empty street Thad could almost felt the darkness envelop him like a warm embrace. It was completely different than the feeling he had when he used his shadow walking.
Unable to help himself Thad closed his eyes and let his senses examine himself and the cloak. Even to his magical sight his cloak was near invisible to him. Thad knew there was magic at work but it was a very subtle magic leaving almost no trace. Thad guessed that was the point. In the Underearth something with a strong magical presence would not do well to hide someone to a race attuned to the magical flows around them.
Thad quickly made his way to the large wall surrounding the courtyard. He hugged the wall staying to the shadows as he moved around to the northern side of the manor. Crouching low Thad skittered across the open courtyard where the shadows were thickest and slipped around the corner of the house.
When he reached the window belonging to the master bedroom Thad lifted up and peered carefully through the glass. The bed was situated in the eastern corner of the room and next to it was a large oaken desk where the young lady sat peering intently at a large stack of papers through flickering candlelight.
Thad tested the window and found that it was one solid piece. For most that would be a determent but to Thad it was only a small inconvenience. Placing the full weight of his palm against the glass Thad sent a wave of magical energy into the glass. Thad watched as the glass flowed away from him silently as if he had stuck his hand through a sheet of water.
When the last of the glass lay at his feet Thad slipped into the room and quietly moved up behind the woman at the desk. He looked to the door knowing the tunnel lay not far beyond and suppressed a sigh. Sending a silent message to his staff a thin ripple of energy enveloped the room so that none outside would hear anything that transpired within.
Secure that none could hear him Thad quietly took a seat on the edge of the bed only a few paces from the woman still hard at work. “If you waited till morning you wouldn’t have to strain your eyes,” Thad said causally, as if he were talking to a longtime friend.
The startled woman jumped out of her seat knocking over the set of candles that had sat precariously on her desk. “Guards!” She yelled loudly, her face clearly showing her fear.
Thad stuck out his hand and called to the small flames that were starting to make their home on the plush carpet that was laid throughout room. The flames answered his calls and leapt from the ground into his open palm. “You should be more careful with an open flame. One small move and you could burn down the entire house,” Thad said, blowing on the flames in his hand and extinguishing them.
The woman ran for the door and tried to open it as she continued to yell for her guards. When it was clear that the door wouldn’t open and that no one was coming she pressed her back to the door and slid to the ground the look of absolute terror plain on her face.
“No amount of screaming and crying are going to help you right now,” Thad said, trying to keep his voice calm and deadly even though he wanted to run from the room. “Right now I only need a few things from you, and then I will be on my way.” Thad said, getting to his feet.
As soon as Thad got to his feet the woman clutched the thin nightgown that barely covered her chest. “Please go away… please.” She whined, large tears flowing freely down her face.
At no time in his life had Thad felt worse than that single moment. The woman could not have done more damage to him had she stabbed him through the heart with an inch of cold steel. “That is not what I am after,” Thad replied sympathetically. “What I am after are answers to some v
ery important questions.”
After a few moments when it was clear that Thad wasn’t going to move in on her she quieted down and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Are you a member of the Merchant Guild?” Thad asked once she was more composed. When she shook her head Thad tightened his grip in his staff. “Are you a member of the Brotherhood of the Fox?”
The look she gave Thad clearly showed she had no idea what he was taking about. Thad thought about asking about who owned the house before her but decided it didn’t really matter. “That’s all I really needed to know. Thad looked to the door on the far wall and pointed. “What’s through that door?”
“My study,” the woman replied meekly.
“Mind showing me?”
The woman slowly got to her feet and stumbled toward the door. Inside it was dark and Thad started to understand why she had chosen her room for her late night work. Thad watched as she slumped down in a large leather chair situated in the corner.
Closing his eyes Thad focused his senses and searched the room. On the western corner of the room Thad sensed a hollowness behind and knew that it was the entrance to the tunnel.
The bookshelf seemed like any other and Thad could find no latch or hint to how it opened. With each moment that passed Thad’s ire increased until it was bubbling over. Steeping back Thad turned to the woman and smiled. “Try not to scream too loud,” Thad said as he raised his staff and let loose a small stream of energy blasting a large hole through the bookcase. Once the dust settled Thad peered through the hole to see a set of spiraling stairs beyond. “Look what I found,” Thad said, turning back toward the woman.
“Now my only real problem is what to do about you,” Thad mused out loud. “If I killed you it would only be a matter of time before the guards had this place surrounded and that wouldn’t be good. If I let you live and you ran to the guards it would be the same. Do you see my dilemma?”
“I won’t tell anyone,” the woman implored, sobbing lightly.
Thad pulled a small piece of metal from his pocket and walked over and held it about the woman’s hand. Concentrating Thad forced it to form into a ring that fit tightly around the woman’s finger. “If you haven’t notice I am not a normal man. To put it bluntly I am a mage,” Thad said his voice cold and hard. “If you should tell anyone that I was here or that this tunnel is here then it will do to you, what I did to your bookshelf.”
The woman looked at the ring, her eyes filled with terror. Certain that the woman at least had an incentive not to run to the Guard, Thad released the spell holding the outer door shut, though he left the silence spell in place.
Thad squeezed through the broken bookcase and into the narrow passage beyond. A small globe of light radiated from the end of his staff as he descended the spiral stairway into the tunnel below.
As soon as he was at the bottom of the stairway Thad emptied the contents of his stomach onto the ground. Once his stomach had settled and his mind had cleared Thad continued down the dark corridor.
It was obvious that the passage had not been used for a long time. A thick layer of cobwebs hung from the walls clinging to his face and hands. Breathing became a chore as each step more of the dust drifted into the air obscuring his vision and clogging his throat.
It wasn’t long before Thad saw speckles of light in the hall streaming through the end of the tunnel. As he drew nearer the sound of voices reached his ears.
Slowing his footsteps Thad moved silently up to the end of the tunnel and tried to peer through one of the small cracks in the wood, but he was unable to see anything beyond a hazy yellow blur.
Unable to see, Thad pressed his ear against the old wood making the voices much clearer but still slightly muffled.
“We had to call the rest back,” the voice of an older man said. “We have stretched ourselves too thin over the years. Would you rather we let the god forsaken abominations march into the capital.”
“We had near two thousand troops already on their trail. There was no need to recall the forces in Farlan let alone the ones scattered in the other Kingdoms,” a second voice countered. “It will take us years to reestablish our power in some of those nations if we pull out now.”
“Yes Brandon we have troops on their trail and currently they are being held up at Lord Elmine’s estate but it had not gone as we planned,” a third voice said back, a hint of anger in his voice. “We have lost over half our troops and every time we try and take back the estate we suffer greater losses. They are using magic that has not been seen since the Fae War. I hate to admit it but we have grown lax in our duties in the passing years.”
“Another push and Farlan would have been under our grasp,” the second man said sulkily.
“Yes it is a shame that we have lost Farlan for now but right now we need to focus on the problems at hand,” the first man replied. “The past few years have not been kind to us, and it is clearly showing we have lost much of our hold, even in our own lands. First we fail to notice a mage in a country so near us. Then the only link to the mage we let escape and she still hasn’t been found. The mage disappears for years then suddenly reappears along with an army of elves marching toward us. Things are not well my friend and I fear how our god would take such news.”
“Delamar is correct my brothers, we have grown lax in our task and Humanius would be most disappointed. We must cleanse the world of the abominations that wield the power of the gods from this world so that the true god can once again walk among us.”
The news about Humanius was a little of a shock to Thad. He had read in one of the elven books that some believed him to be involved but Thad had never given it much thought.
Thad continued to listen but nothing of much importance seemed to be said. It was the same argument over and over. In the end it mattered little to Thad. It was clear that members of the Brotherhood council were in the adjoining room, and that’s all he needed to know.
In the darkness Thad moved his hands up and down the old wood looking for anything that might open the passage into the room beyond. Much like with the bookcase Thad knew there was a way out but simply couldn’t find it. He could use his magic but without being able to clearly see into the next room then he might not cover everything properly with his spells.
His magical sight would allow him to see but it was not the same as using his actual eyes and Thad was not confident that he wouldn’t miss something. Cursing, Thad continued to listen to the men through the wall as he searched.
“I still want to know how the lady Torin was able to shake our trackers. There have been rumors among some of our foot soldiers that there is a contingent of abominations living within our own borders.”
“It is not impossible for such a thing to occur. We have focused more on the other lands than our own.” Thad heard one of the men reply, his tone serious and demanding.
“After the business with the renegade mage and the elves has been dealt with we should make a sweep within our own borders.”
The news that Monique had escaped them completely rang joyfully in his ears. He had suspected as much given parts of the conversation earlier but he had not been sure if they were talking about Monique, Maria, or Eloen. As he breathed a silent sigh of relief for his friend Thad’s hand brushed against an oddly shaped knot at the bottom of the wall.
Thad let his fingers glide around the knot and felt it move slightly. griping it as tightly as he could Thad gave it a twist and the knot gave way along with a rust sounding click the panel moved slightly.
Thad held his breath and listened quietly hoping no one had been alerted by the noise. After a span of heartbeats when the men’s conversation continued without so much a hint of hearing the noise, Thad relaxed and slowly pushed on the wall panel.
CHAPTER XXI
The wall panel swung forward with a slight creak that sounded like a booming trumpet to Thad ears. As his heart threatened to beat itself out of his chest Thad continued to slowly move the wall.
Once the wall had
moved enough for him to slip through Thad took a few deep breaths and once again listened for any sign that anyone had taken notice of the sounds. When he was sure no one was the wiser Thad slipped out of the passage and into the room beyond.
Thad soon realized why no one had taken notice of him or the sight of the wall panel swinging out from the wall. While he could still hear the voices clearly he was not in the same room with the men. From the looks of his surroundings he was in an office of some kind.
The office had two doors, one led down a long hallway, and the other opened up into a large open room with a circular table in the middle with five chairs four of which were currently occupied.
Most of the men were late into their years with salt and pepper hair or no hair at all. One of the men though was still young only a few years into his twenties. Each of the men wore long elaborate robes as well as many pieces of expensive jewelry.
Thad could not see everything through the keyhole of the door but he spotted two other doors across from the one he hid behind. Knowing his magic could be easily countered Thad had to choose his spells wisely.
Focusing Thad sent a stream of energy across the room and into the doors forcing the wood to expand until the backlash from the pressure made his head throb lightly.
Once the two doors were secure, Thad slowly opened the one in front of him and slipped into the room beyond. Closing the door silently behind him Thad pressed his hand against the door sealing it with the same spell as the other two.
Luckily the men were so enthralled in their discussion they didn’t notice his presence. Thad crept along moving silently until he crouched behind a long divan and out of eyesight.
Looking around Thad noticed another six doors leading into the large circular room. Why there was so many doors to one room Thad didn’t know. Closing his eyes Thad sent out waves of energy forcing the wood of the doors to expand so only an extreme feat of strength had any hopes of dislodging them.
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