Once the doors were sealed Thad started thinking a way to use his silence spell in a way it couldn’t be countered by one of the white swords. The spell worked by using energy to block any sound that passed a certain area. As long as the white swords didn’t touch the surface of the spell then it wouldn’t matter if they were inside or outside of its boundary. They only way Thad could see using the spell safely was to bind it inside the very walls themselves.
Creating the barrier in the air was simple. Air wasn’t dense and produced very little resistance but wood and stone created quite a bit. When he was finished Thad’s shirt clung to him as the strain had caused him to sweat profusely. His head pounding Thad leaned back against the divan and took a few long breathes to regain his strength. As soon as a small portion of the pain subsided Thad peered around the corner of the divan.
“If we can get our hands on the mage or one of the elves we can learn where they have hidden themselves away from us and end their existence once and for good,” the younger man said adamantly.
“The elves have never been known to sell out their own kind,” one of the others, a balding man with a neatly trimmed white beard, replied. “The mage on the other hand might be a well of information. From some of the reports we have received we believe that he had not only had contact with elves but with the dwarves and nadirie as well.”
A tall skinny man who looked like nothing more than skin pulled over bones shook his head. “From all the reports the mage is very resourceful. He has eluded us for far longer than any in many centuries. Not only does he have his magic to aid him but he is also an enchanter, and one with promising skills if the reports are correct. His is the worst kind not only does he wield the power reserved for the true god he binds that power to metal and stone so others can use it at will. He must be dealt with quickly not captured.”
“In the end it depends on the effort involved,” a portly, elderly man said. “Notify all the troops that if possible to take him alive but if there is any chance that it looks like he could escape to kill him without quarter. Capturing him would be preferable but not at the risk of letting him continue to taint our world.”
The longer Thad listened, the more his rage began to grow. Here the men sat casually talking about killing his friends and capturing him so they could torture information from him. “Capturing the mage might be a bit harder than you might suspect.” Thad said, standing to his feet and walking around the divan to stand in front of the round table.
“Who are you and what are you doing within these chambers?” the young man asked, his face full of rage.
After the shock faded the thin man looked at the younger man and gave him a cold stare. “Are you daft Brandon? Can you not tell simply by looking at him?” the man said, giving Thad a disgusted look. “I think I should congratulate you on your skill in not only getting into our city undetected but even into the heart of this very building. You saved us the trouble of hunting you down after we finished off your elven friends.”
Thad laughed, “I don’t think you will be singing that tune when all four of you are burning on your funeral pyres.”
“GUARDS,” Brandon yelled at the top his lungs.
The portly gentlemen laughed at his young companion. “I think Sallias was right, you are daft Brandon. Do you really think he would have showed himself before taking precautions against intrusion?”
Thad could visibly see the color drain from Brandon’s face as the realization that they were trapped in the room with the deadly mage. “Don’t wet yourself boy, we’re not lost yet,” Sallias said as he pulled on a cord that Thad had not noticed. “Must be a spell that blocks out noise but I am sure that while we can’t hear it the bells strung throughout the building are still ringing loudly.”
Thad had never considered that there might be a warning system that reached outside the room. He didn’t know why he was surprised. The Brotherhood had over a thousand years to prepare for all kinds of events. Cursing his own forethought Thad tried his best not to let his worries show on his face.
“No matter, you four will be dead long before any of your cronies can arrive to save you.” Thad said, pulling his sword free of its scabbard.
“That is yet to be seen,” the portly man said, bringing his own white sword to bear. Unlike the other members of the Brotherhood’s swords he had met, the white swords were anything but plain. Their hilts were gold and held more than a few gems.
The other three members of the council each pulled their swords free. It was obvious that while the men had seen more than their share of seasons they still retained some skill with the blade.
Not as sure of himself as he had been Thad quickly slid his hand into one of the pouches belted on his waist and pulled out one of his magical slugs and launched it. The slug flew straight at the man called Sallias, who from Thad’s view was one of the most dangerous ones in the room despite his sickly appearance.
The older man was able to get his sword up to block the slug’s path. Thad didn’t know if Sallias expected the stone to stop when it encountered the sword or if blocking it had simply been instinctive.
The sound of metal hitting metal reverberated throughout the room as the stone hit the flat of the sword forcing it back with tremendous force. The sound was echoed by Sallias scream as his arm broke from the force of the blow.
Thad tried to grab another slug but Brandon was on him before he had the chance. Thad had thought the younger man the least troublesome given his reactions earlier on but in truth the young man was a competent swordsman.
Thad continued to move backwards trying to keep himself from being surrounded by the other two older gentlemen. While his attention was focused on his surroundings Brandon scored a deep cut to his left shoulder nearly causing Thad to drop his sword. Gritting through the pain Thad tried to block out any distraction and face the deadly man in front of him.
Brandon came in with a low slash aimed for Thad’s right leg. Thinking quickly Thad lifted his leg instead of dodging letting the blade slam into his metal foot. Brandon looked at Thad’s foot, shocked that his sword had done nothing more than cut a deep slash into Thad’s foot. The young man was only distracted for the briefest of moments but it was more than long enough for Thad to strike a deadly blow, his sword darting in and digging deep between Brandon’s ribs and into his heart.
As soon as Thad’s sword slipped into the man’s ribcage Brandon doubled over. Thad tried to yank his weapon free but his hands were still sweaty from the exertion of preparing the room and the hilt slipped from his hand.
Thad wanted to reach for his sword but the other two men were quickly on him and Thad was forced to abandon it for the time being. Thad dodged, danced, and blocked strikes he could with his staff as he tried to reposition himself to regain his sword. The men seemed to know what he was thinking and constantly moved to bar his path. The older men were skilled, Thad had no doubt about that, but their movements were slowed by age.
Rolling under another vicious strike Thad grabbed in his pouch for a slug and fired it without looking. He was rewarded with the sound of breaking bone and the screams of the portly councilman.
Thad wanted to give out a scream of triumph but his advantage was short lived as one of the doors burst apart and more than three dozen armed guards filed in the room.
Thad ran past the last standing councilman narrowly dodging the blade of his sword. Rolling forward Thad came to his knees only a short distance away from the corpse of Brandon.
Jumping to his feet Thad grabbed the hilt of his sword while he placed his foot on the man’s chest and pulled the blade free.
The soldiers who had entered the room had begun to spread out leaving Thad no path for an easy escape. Sallias and the other two remaining councilmen were moved to the back of the soldiers where their wounds could be tended.
What are you going to do now? I would suggest you run but I don’t even see where you would run to. Maybe you will be lucky and get a quick death. I am sure yo
u would prefer that to a great deal of torture before they finally allow you to die.
The idea of spending any more time in a dark cell didn’t sit well with Thad. During his long stay in the Farlan dungeon he had his likening of such treatment, and that was only compounded by his stay as an Ablaian prisoner.
Thad looked around for any way to escape but found none. Even given his formidable magic there was little he could do cornered and vastly outnumbered against so many soldiers many of which who had the detestable magic eating white swords.
With a quick prayer to the gods Thad rushed the soldiers his sword flashing in front of him. The first three moved quickly to surround him. The blades of their swords cutting so close to his body Thad could feel the wind as they moved past him. Thad fought harder than he had ever before in his life. His heart was racing and everything seemed to move at a fraction of the time it had only moments before. His sword and staff rang out catching soldier after soldier in any unguarded area.
For a brief moment Thad thought he might even win the day but his dreams were short lived as something hard smashed against the back of his head, knocking him to the floor. Thad tried to rise but his head was spinning as something warm and wet began to run down his face. His vision blurring Thad again tried to rise until another sharp blow forced him back to the ground.
“Don’t kill him,” Thad heard someone say in the distance.
Looks like you were not lucky enough to find your death. Thad heard his staff say almost sadly inside his head. Though our time tighter seems to be coming to an end for what it’s worth I did enjoy your company.
“Where are you going?” Thad asked nearly crying.
Do you really expect the Brotherhood to keep a magical item intact? No, as soon as they are given the chance I expect I will be broken and scattered to the four winds.
Thad could accept his own death. He had known that it had been a possibility since he had decided to come to Rane, but the loss of his staff seemed a much greater punishment. Thad stretched his hand out feebly the tips of his fingers brushing weakly against the cold wood of Thuraman, then he felt another rap on the back of his head, and then he saw nothing but darkness as he slipped into unconsciousness.
CHAPTER XXII
When Thad woke his head felt as if it was lodged between an anvil and a dwarven hammer. Opening his eyes Thad noticed that he could no longer see out of the left side and what he could out of the right was blurred and out of focus.
When his mind cleared Thad tried to pull in magical energy and while he could feel it enter his body it drained away just as fast. Tilting his head slightly Thad looked up at his hands and found that he was bound tightly to a large wooden table. His hands, arms, and legs shackled by large bands of the same white metal that the Brotherhood’s swords were made of.
“Can you hear me?” Thad asked his staff, praying for an answer.
Ye…ear…ou...a…it.
Even though Thad couldn’t understand what Thuraman was saying he was glad just to know that it was still in one piece. “Where are you?” Thad asked not expecting to understand the answer but wanting to have something to distract his mind from what he knew was sure to come as soon as the Brotherhood learned he was awake.
I…don…ow…som…ace…ose….he…est…of…yo…uff.is….her…as…ell.
The fact that Thad could still communicate with his staff meant that he still had access to some small reserve of magical energy.
Thad pulled on his bonds and found they had no give. As he lay twisting his body about the tip of his nose started to itch. “Great,” Thad thought to himself, “self-imposed torture.”
Migh…as…ell…be…edy…or….he…rea…ing…fore…it…mes.
Thad started to think he was losing his mind but he half understood what his staff had said that time. It was like trying to talk through a crowd in the middle of a busy market day. “Is anyone in the room with you?”
No...is…ere…ut…on…of…he…der…en…fro.. he…arlie.
Thad slowly worked through what his staff had said trying to piece it tighter like a puzzle. Once he was sure he understood the bulk of the message he breathed a sigh of relief. At least his staff wasn’t in any danger at the present. “Can you tell where they are?”
I…not…ence…ho..os..wh…ut…ost…he…ank… ots…are…in…he…rge…oom…we…ought…in…ast …night.
So he had only been asleep for a short time that was good to know. Maybe the Brotherhood would ignore his presence for a short while.
Thad looked around him and found that the room was bare except him, the table, and a wall full of nasty looking instruments. After seeing what was most likely the tools that would be used against him Thad wasn’t sure if he wanted to put if off as long as possible or get it over with. No matter how he looked at it soon he was going to be in a great deal of pain.
“You don’t happen to know of a way to make it where I won’t feel the pain of what is coming?” Thad asked, knowing the answer but hoping he was wrong.
O...I… don…ust…mem…er…ou…ot…yo…elf… int…his…ould…ave…tak…my…vice…nd…ent…to…lan ...tead…of… omin…on…his…ool…miso.
In spite of himself Thad laughed. He could tell that his staff was trying to be sarcastic but it really didn’t carry well when he could only pick up bits of the words.
Thad continued to talk back and forth with Thuraman, occupying his mind trying to decipher what the staff was saying. He knew it was useless but if he simply had to stare at the walls and instruments of torture he was sure he would have lost his mind long before the Brotherhood could get around to him.
Thad grew quickly bored with his game with Thuraman and started to doze off and on. Soon he lost the battle to stay awake and drifted off into the darkness of sleep where unpleasant dreams awaited him.
Thad was jolted away by a hard slap to the face. “Time to wake up,” a voice said far too enthusiastically for Thad’s liking.
As his eye focused he could make out two people in the room. The first was the one called Sallias who supported a splinted arm and a grim look. The other was a younger man in his mid-thirties who had an evil looking grin on his face.
“I will ask you some questions and you will answer them,” Sallias said, bending down so his face was only inches away. “If you refuse to answer or do not answer the question completely Hern will help loosen your tongue.”
“You are the mage, Thaddeus, who had dealings with Monique Torin of the Rose Trading Company. The same mage who was reported to have been in Farlan a little over five years ago and vanished after the battle at Southpass where reports indicated you had been captured and imprisoned by the Ablaians.
At first Thad had thought to be defiant to the last and refuse to answer any questions but his good sense won the day. He didn’t mind answering questions as long as they wouldn’t put his friends in danger. “Yes I am Thaddeus.”
Sallias gave him a warm smile while Hern gave him a look of sheer disappointment. “How refreshing, most people tend to play dumb until after we remove a few yards of their insides. It makes it so much harder to get a coherent answer when the person speaking is in pain.”
“What I need to know is what happened and where you went after you escaped the Ablaians.”
Thad considered the question for a moment. In truth he didn’t know how he had made it to the dwarven village nor how to return so he figured that nothing he could really tell them would put the dwarves in danger.
“I ran into one of their abandoned mines and collapsed the roof down on their heads. After that I wandered the Underearth for what seemed like years before finally stumbling across a dwarven village. They let me rest and heal until I was well then they blindfolded me and delivered me back to the surface.”
As he spoke, Sallias watched him carefully. Thad did not know what the man was looking for but the piercing gaze made him feel more than a little uncomfortable. During his tale Thad had left off him meeting with Crusher or the
rock dog Avalanche. He had also left off his interactions with the vathari. If the Brotherhood didn’t know about any of those then he was not going to be the one to alert them.
“How would you get to the dwarven village if you wished to return?” Sallias asked, his face one of rapt attention.
“I don’t know,” Thad answered honestly.
Sallias make a clicking noise with his tongue. “I would like to believe that is the truth but it’s my job to be skeptical,” he said, shaking his head.
Thad could hear a slight chuckle escape Hern’s lips before he felt his arms and legs being pulled apart as immense waves of pain rolled over his body. After only a short time the pressure was released and Thad arched his back in an effort to reduce the pain that still pulled at his joints.
“How would one get to the dwarven village?” Sallias asked again, this time his voice more demanding.
“I don’t know,” Thad gasped.
The series of the same question, then the same answer was repeated many times with only a short break for Hern to perform his work. This went on until Thad finally passed out.
When Thad awoke he was once again alone. Shifting slightly to alleviate the pain in his back, Thad nearly screamed out in pain as his swollen joints burned as if on fire. “Are you still there?” Thad asked his staff hoping for a ray a light in an otherwise dismal day.
Ye…ough…i…on’t…kno…ow…or..ow…lon.
“Why is there someone there?” Thad asked afraid to hear the answer.
No…ut…ere…ave…een…vis…nce…we…ad…ast…tal…oug…the…int…ove…any…ng.
At least his staff was still there. Thad didn't know why he should take comfort in that simple knowledge but he did. A dim hope still burned in his mind that the Brotherhood would make a mistake and allow him a chance to escape. When Thad shifted again sharp pains ran though his body reminding him of his previous meeting with Sallias. Even if he had control over his magic what could he do? He was in so much pain it would be almost impossible for him to correctly draw in and mold magic strong enough to create enough light to guide his way let alone clear the hundreds of guards who seemed to be housed within the building.
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