She got to her feet, gingerly testing her hip's stability. When she was satisfied it had sufficiently knitted, she grabbed her canes and made for the main group, shoving Perdil out of her way in the process.
As Magnatha joined Tobar and Delphi at the library table, Crumly continued to scrutinize the Druid, who was yet meditating. He couldn't seem to place the Half-elf's face, but there was something about his voice that had struck a definite cord of recognition.
"I can't help feeling that we've met before," Crumly said while scratching his head.
Jester opened one eye, long enough to note the Dwarf's presence, and then closed it again. "I doubt it," he replied shortly.
"My vision has been known to fail me, upon intoxicated occasion," continued Crumly. "but I never forget a voice."
"Well, I suppose it's possible," replied Jester with only the hint of a smile forming. "You ever frequent any wine or ale contests?"
"Oh, surely," brightened Crumly.
"That's probably it then," Jester continued. "Of course, I felt compelled to give up such sport when last I attended the Dwarven vs. Elven ale contest in Upper Lavish'nix. You see, one of the Judges made a most grievously poor decision. The whole sordid affair affected me so adversely that I simply couldn't bring myself to ever face another contest. Obviously, they are all rigged."
"Yes…well, I had better go and see what the others are up to," Crumly said quickly, and then scurried off.
Jester's mirth seemed to increase his flow of mana, and he too was soon able to join the others.
"What's this?" Delphi asked, pointing at an inscription on the map's lower right corner. It didn't look to be written in any form of Homidris.
"That's High-elf, my dear," Tobar offered.
"Lots of older maps be scribed by High-elves," Magnatha added. "They were real big on travel, once upon a time. That was before they got so big on themselves."
"What does it say?" Delphi asked.
"It's the city's name, and quadrant location."
"I may not read their language, but shouldn't the city's name still be labeled Arbitos?" Delphi asked.
"This city's done had a whole bushel of monikers," Magnatha returned absently. Every time some upstart conquers the place, he puts his own label on it."
"Like a wolf marking his territory," Jester added appreciatively.
"All right, then," began Tobar while tracing a finger along the blueprint. "This is the main access to the sewer system. I doubt if the Dark-elves will find it before were gone, so it shouldn't pose any real concern. This, however," he continued tracing his finger to a spot further down the hallway, "is an old escape tunnel. It was built while the Garrison was still at this location."
"Great!" exclaimed Jester. "We're home free."
"Not really," said Magnatha.
"She's right," Tobar concurred. "When the guards found the tunnel, they never filled it in. The old Garrison had already been slated for demolition, so there really wasn't a need."
"Where does it lead?" Delphi asked.
"Nowhere," replied Tobar. "Apparently, whoever dug it either died or was released from prison before it could be finished. It simply runs northeast for about fifteen or twenty meters, and then stops."
"What good does a dead-end tunnel do us?" Crumly inquired.
"Even ten meters would take us out of ward range," Jester replied, grinning, and wondering to himself if just maybe whoever had dug the tunnel might neither have died nor been released. Perhaps whoever it was had just gated.
***
"What happened?" asked Marcus, who was just now sitting up.
"I don't know," Borin replied groggily while trying to figure out how his swords had gotten back into their scabbards.
"Where are we?" Selina asked with a baffled expression.
"We would appear to be several sectors north of the docks," replied Reginald.
"Well, that just doesn't make any sense at all!" Borin exclaimed.
"Yeah!" exclaimed Selina. "One moment, I'm picking out a good spot to start cutting down Wognix, and then all the sudden I'm here? What's up with that?"
"Exactly," Borin agreed, nodding his support of Selina's agitation.
"Whatever has occurred, I'm afraid we have somehow come to a position that places the entire Empire force between us and the ship."
"I hope all our people made it out," said Marcus.
"I doubt that they all made it," Reginald replied with an expression of regret.
"The Wognix were awfully close to the ship, and there were many who had yet to even board," added Borin.
"I imagine they would have required several minutes longer than they actually had," Reginald theorized, his brow furrowing deeper as the impact of their fates loomed in his mind's eye. "Hundreds of unarmed civilians, the majority of whom were but merchants, elderly, and children. Without our support…"
Sarah had to turn away to hide her grin. She wished she could have stuck around to witness the slapstick as all those Dark-elves piled up.
{Uh-oh!} [What uh-oh?] {Wait…never mind. Just a blip. It's gone.} [Well, stop that! Damn near gave me heart failure!]
***
"It won't budge," grunted Crumly.
"Blast!" exclaimed Jester, releasing the pry bar and falling to his knees. "What in Wildern's name is it made of?"
"I've always been told that the seal was constructed of Iron-oak, but this looks more like stone," Tobar replied.
"The present Garrison was built six hundred summers ago, give er take a decade," Magnatha said. "If this seal was placed here before that, it could have become partially petrified by now."
"Then it's still at least partially organic, right?" asked Jester.
"I reckon. Some types of wood age faster under long term area…affect spells. It's hard ta tell, Grub. Why?"
"Excuse me!" crooned Perdil excitedly. "They're banging on the painting again!"
"Stand back!" Jester exclaimed, ignoring the Cleric's ravings. When everyone was clear, he began casting. He fizzled twice. On the third try, the seal radiated a slight greenish-yellow, and then faded back to normal.
"Please tell me you didn't just try to levitate a two-ton slab of stone." said Magnatha.
"I'm not sure," he replied. "It depends on whether or not you're right about the partial petrifaction. My spells won't work on anything non-organic, but if some of the wood remains, then there might be a chance."
He and Crumly took hold of the pry bar again. On the count of three, they both pulled back as hard as they could. The seal broke free easier than they had expected and they both fell backward as the heavy seal lifted up, and then continued to lift, turning over and over as it floated toward the ceiling.
***
"Shouldn't we at least go back and check on them?" Borin asked.
"Nope," Selina replied almost before he could finish the question.
"What could we hope to do for them now?" asked Marcus.
"Not, a blessed thing," Selina answered while picking up her pace.
"Well, I think we at least owe it to them to try," Borin concluded dispiritedly.
"We're almost to the Lowlands, and you pick now to suggest suicide?" Selina asked incredulously.
"Good, or ill, whatever has become of them is completely out of our hands now, Son," Reginald interjected sadly."
"Yeah, what he said."
"Well, we've been running for some time now, Selina," Marcus speculated.
"Yeah, so?"
"Oh, nothing really. I suppose you're just becoming more accustomed to your corset."
"Umm…"
{Uh-oh!} [What!] {Never mind. It must be a glitch.}
***
After Goren, Magnatha descended, with Tobar carefully leading her. This had only been accomplished after Jester had convinced her to go, given that she had at first announced her intent to remain behind until everyone was safely through.
"I know what you've got in mind," he had said. "You think you're going to hang back here un
til the Dark-elves come to swarm over you. Then we're all supposed to go tell everyone how Captain Magnatha Thistle went out in a big blaze of glory."
"Why, you scurvy little…"
"But that's not the way it's going to happen, Nanna, because no matter what anyone else says, I'm gonna tell the truth. I'm gonna tell everyone how Magi Thistle died of a childish whim, prompted by her own wounded pride. Then I'll tell them how your teeth fell out during a Berserker rage."
Magnatha offered him one last nasty scowl before disappearing into the tunnel.
"All right, where's Perdil?"
Delphi pointed to a darkened corner where there were a number of crates.
"Figures," intoned Jester wearily. "All right, Perdil, you can come on out now. You might hide from the rest of us, but Mistress Bane isn't fooled by dark corners."
"I'm afraid of small places," Perdil replied in a small voice.
"Oh, look!" Crumly exclaimed. "Isn't that a Black widow spider on that crate?"
Perdil fairly flew into the tunnel.
"Good thinking there, Crumbly," Jester offered appreciatively.
"That's Crumly, ya flea bag!" he corrected, then followed after Perdil.
Delphi's grin at this performance shifted to a brief but warm smile as she glanced back at Jester, only to encounter his own beam of anticipation as he searched for any sign of her earlier affection. She quickly shifted her gaze, and then turned to enter the tunnel, when she was gently grabbed about the waist and pushed against the wall, opposite the tunnel.
Abruptly, he leaned against her, kissing her warmly while caressing the nape of her neck. After a moment, he paused, but continued to hold her against the wall. "Were we not in such a rush," he began while nuzzling her neck, "and were I not in such a weakened state," he continued while moving to the lobe of her ear.
"But we are in a rush, milord," she crooned in a soft, acquiescent tone.
"Yeah," he agreed without enthusiasm, and pulled away slowly, reluctantly. Then, as he turned to descend into the tunnel, he suddenly found his right arm twisted behind his back as Delphi grabbed the back of his neck, thus shoving him against the same wall from which they had just come.
"As for your weakened state," she growled gently while lightly raking her sharp canine teeth across his bared neck, "I think you should get plenty of rest, Druid. For when the time comes, you're going to be in truly desperate need of all the strength you can muster." With that, she slapped the seat of his leggings, and then casually strolled into the tunnel without looking back.
For a time, he could but stand there, leaning where she had left him, half longing to howl with joy, while the other half simply concentrated on bladder control.
***
Perdil and Crumly sat leaning against one of the outer stones of the Druid Hub, both simply enjoying the fact that neither was the current target of anger. In fact, Crumly was struggling to keep a straight face. Crumbly indeed!
"I'm sorry!" Jester exclaimed, trying to place a Treant between himself and his assailant.
"How could you just leave them there?" Delphi screeched.
"I didn't! The tunnel was narrow! They must have been out of range!"
"They are going to die, and it's all your fault!"
"I bound!" he exclaimed, ducking her fist, and then scooting around to the other side of the wooden creature as it glanced about in wild panic, wondering if perhaps it should run away, or just pretend to be a tree.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she crooned soothingly while sneaking about the other side. She rounded the corner on silent tiptoes, and was just about to pounce when Magnatha stepped between her and her distracted target.
"It means he can return. Ya just have ta allow him time ta regenerate mana fer the trip there, and back."
{All right. I have some bad news, but it's not as bad as it might sound.} [I'm listening.] {It would appear that the Hacks have acquired a signal trace.} [What!] {Now, just listen for a second, okay?} [Okay.] {I'm fairly certain that it happened when I maxed out the filter's gain, but I believe I can lose them. It's just that to do so will require a rather drastic maneuver on our part.}
***
As the portal faded, Jester ducked as the Dark-elf's short sword slashed through the air where his head would have been. What's the damned attraction to my head?
"Port us out!" Tobar shouted, leaping over Jester's crouched body to land a front snap kick to the Dark-elf's face, thereby sending him to sprawl backward, and fall on the slope of the tunnel's entrance just as several of his raiding party dropped down to assist him.
Abruptly, the levitation spell failed the semi-fossilized seal, which accordingly realigned itself with the laws of gravity, thus dropping to shatter on impact with the same surface where it had rested peacefully for centuries. Of the Dark-elves at the tunnel's entrance, only the recipient of Tobar's kick, who then yet lay flat on his back, had been privileged to know his fate in that split second as he had witnessed the seal's sudden rush toward him.
As the portal formed about them, the tremendous crash sent a shockwave throughout the tunnel, accompanied by a deafening avalanche as the tunnel itself collapsed.
***
[We'll lose the link!] {No, not if all we do is release your connection with this particular template.} [But I'll lose my connection with Selina!] {Yes, but as long as the link holds, then we can reestablish the filter, and your connection to Selina.} [Then why drop it at all, if all you're gonna do is hook it back up anyway?] {Because dropping the template will sever their trace!} [Oh, I get it. Cool.] {Yes, quite.} [Well, you don't have to sound so sarcastic!]
***
[Okay, I'm ready. I guess.]
As Kwibee released the filter, Sarah found herself descending into the same darkness from which she had first emerged.
***
As the portal faded, Goren fairly leapt at Delphi, who grabbed him in mid-air, hugging him so tightly that he soon gasped for breath.
"That was quite the brave thing you just did," Tobar told Jester, then simply sat down where he was, before collapsing.
"Yes, it truly was," Delphi added in a meek and apologetic tone.
Jester's response was unreadable, as he had yet to face her.
She sat Goren down, and then walked toward him. Obviously, he was upset at her unforgivable behavior. She would make it up to him. She would do anything.
"I am most regretful, milord," she spoke in a small voice.
Still he ignored her.
"I was only worried for my…friends," she offered haltingly, almost referring to Goren and Tobar as her family. "I know it wasn't your fault."
He offered no reaction.
Oh, Thief! Please don't let him hate me. She stepped closer until she was within arms' length, and then whispered, "Please, Jester? You… I mean, you and I," she struggled, and then gently placed a hand on his shoulder.
In response to her touch, he lurched forward, falling face down in a yet steaming Roc pie.
"Umm…Jester?
The adventure continues, in the third book of the four comprising the series. That work, entitled Rendering Nirayel: Thief's Prophecy , by Nathan P. Cardwell, will soon be available at DDP.
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Rendering Nirayel-Stepping on Arbitos Page 16