by H. A. Harvey
“I’ve shown Ivana tha turns to take.” Jonas explained. “If none see us going into tha mine, we can wait for your brother inside tha shaft out.”
Malor frowned, “Won’t we be discovered if we wait?”
“Not if they don’t know we went in.” Jonas replied, “I spent a few years working tha mines in my youth, but most soldiers sign on to avoid ever going to tha mines in tha first place. Most folk that know about tha shaft punchin’ through are older’n me, and most of them probably don’t remember tha way.”
“Where to from there?” Karen asked.
“Spireward. Tha captain had horses picked out for tha lot of us, a big silver destrier for Raven,” The sergeant chuckled, “Twas supposed to be tha king’s wedding gift to tha duchess. Anyway, tha reports say Pennance Keep is under siege from Noorwood. Tha captain planned on trying to take up with them. We don’t have enough horses now, but I suppose that can still be tha plan.”
Malor shook his head, “We have to circle Gateward, our escape route was planned that direction, but even if we’re joining the fight instead of escaping, we have to start that way. We have three companions waiting for us, including Nian’s wife.”
“Nian’s WHAT?”
“Nevermind, we can finish dis inside.” Kaesa interrupted, “For now, let’s get out of si-“
A sudden, horrendous roar drowned out the rest of the Njord’s instructions, if she even finished the thought. All eyes were drawn back to the keep as the cliff face behind it cracked and tumbled down inside itself, sending tremors through the ground as several of the keep’s towers joined the collapse and the deafening racket reverberated through the valley. Karen let out a shout, its sound drowned by the crashing echoes of falling stone, and Rowan barely managed to tackle her to the ground as she sprang back towards the keep.
“Let go of me, Ro!” Karen screeched when the racket died off. “I’m going to get my brother!”
“That’s why I’m not letting you go.” The green-skinned woodsman grunted as he held her arms pinned behind her. “Nian probably made it out. If he did, then he’ll be right behind us. If he didn’t he wouldn’t want you to go back and throw away what he gave up everything to get back for you.”
“Nobody asked him to give up anything!” Karen bucked angrily against him. “He’s my baby brother. It’s not supposed to work like that! Let me go! Let me go no-“
Malor’s fist collided painfully with the side of Karen’s skull and she murmured a brief, incoherent syllable, then slumped limply in Rowan’s arms. The company all blinked at him in surprise. Malor sighed.
“In the past month, Nian has torn half this region apart to get his sister back,” He explained wearily, “Do you really expect to talk the sibling down out here?”
“Still,” Xain blinked at the unconscious girl, “I think wizard would use magic, no?”
“The trick to being a wizard is to do what nobody expects.” Malor grumbled irritably, “Besides, why use magic when mundane means will suffice?”
Malor’s answer came as David stalked up next to him and slammed a fist into his gut, then knocked him to the ground with a second to the face. David kicked some dust at Malor before turning to help Rowan to his feet. The pair carried the unconscious Karen into the mine shaft while Kaesa came over to help Malor to his feet.
“Because of dat.” Kaesa smirked at the wizard before she headed for the tunnel entrance herself.
. . .
“Defend!”
Deciding he’d second-guessed the sword enough, Nian mimicked the sword’s image. He hauled the sword in front of him and pressed one hand against the flat of the blade, holding it beneath him. The blade didn’t seem to have enough power to do whatever it was doing and light up to show him, so Nian had to simply trust the blade.
A slight ring of blue light flickered below Nian for a heartbeat, revealing a floor of jagged stone a score of feet below him. Nian felt himself slow, then the circle flashed feebly and was gone. Nian plunged through utter darkness again, though this time, knowing what was below, the plunge seemed to take an eternity. Nian was just starting to wonder if the shield had managed to deflect him over another ledge when his legs slammed into the ridge of a length of jagged stone. Nian’s head whipped downward as he felt the crunch of bones send jagged pain through his legs, but the sword managed enough of a burst to slow his upper body to an uncomfortable, but non-lethal smack against the stone floor.
“Move.”
The sword’s instruction gave no indication of direction, and seemed so depleted that its message was more of a faint impression than its normal, crisp decicive instructions. Still, Nian figured it wouldn’t warn him at this point except from mortal danger. He braced himself against the pain and shoved violently to the left, flopping onto his back and letting out a cry of pain that was lost in the rumbling of the collapsing cavern. Not bothering to pause for breath, Nian pushed up to a seated position and scuttled backward until the back of his head thunked against stone. He was sure it would have hurt, but his legs seemed to have filled up that capacity at the moment.
As the crashing and rumbling finally gave way to a heavy, close silence, Nian felt his consciousness slipping away. He told himself to stay awake. Falling asleep now would most likely mean not waking up again. That didn’t really sound so bad, except somewhere in the back of his mind, an annoying part of him pointed out that he had promises to keep. The sword agreed weakly, and Nian resisted the urge to toss it into the darkness . . . not that he could throw it very far. It was definitely heavy now, and he was pretty sure he was losing blood from his legs along with the pain of broken bones. Lacking the strength to throw the blade, he wrapped the grip in both hands, deciding that any company was welcome, even a cold, iron blade that happened to resist saying “I told you so.”
“Hand.”
The image of a white hand flickered in front of Nian’s vision briefly and the sword’s handle vibrated very specifically under his left hand. Nian rubbed the rune idly. It wasn’t exactly a healing effect he’d asked Malor for this time, but activating it before had a positive effect on his overall health, and seemed to have eased, if not completely healed his burn. Nian supposed it was worth a shot. He held out his hand and murmured Kadia’s name again.
White light flashed from Nian’s palm and illuminated the area around him. There wasn’t much to see, a boulder the size of a small house sat a bit more than arm’s reach in front of him. By the blood trail from his legs, it sat atop the spot where Nian had landed initially. The boulder leaned precariously against the stone wall he had backed against, forming a small, dagger-shaped corridor. Either end of Nian’s sanctuary seemed to be choked with smaller rubble.
Nian watched in fascination as the light from his hand arced to the rock before him and slowly burned away at the massive surface of stone. As the stone vanished, the white light again engulfed him and he watched the blood clot and seal on his legs. Then, the bone popped back into place, causing Nian to lose focus on the rune and almost slip into unconsciousness. Again doused in the dark, Nian tentatively flexed his legs. A sharp, but not quite as horrible, stab of pain told him that he wasn’t fully healed. He decided to wait on the last use of his rune. Nian felt a little better, and was at least out of danger from death number one, or four if he counted being flayed by Legion, falling to his doom, and being crushed to jelly. Of course, now he was trapped who knows how far beneath a granite mountain and running out of air.
“Told you so.”
Great, the blade had a badly-timed sense of humor, or at least knew how to gloat. Nian sat back and tried to think. The sword was probably still hard and strong enough he could try to use it as a spade to dig out . . . but even if it didn’t offend the sword, Nian probably didn’t have that much air. Besides, he guessed that, with the amount of loose rock on top of him, he would just manage to speed things up by resuming the squishing death option.
>
Nian closed his eyes and sat back against the stone in the dark. The only sound was his own breathing, echoing off the walls. The slow, steady draw of each breath counted down like a tinker’s clock, marking another moment before his air ran out. It may have been pointless to close his eyes, but somehow it felt less oppressive to be able to imagine that it was dark because he chose to keep his eyes shut, rather than being trapped in a pitch black tomb.
Nian sat trying to think of what hadn’t occurred to him yet, but as nothing came, he became more and more frustrated. The only thing that came to mind was that he hadn’t eaten anything since they left the mining camp. The drake strip should have still been good for a day or so, but maybe chewing on something would help rattle a solution loose from his brain.
Reaching into his hip pouch, Nian felt about until is fingers brushed a stick of meat. They were easy enough to tell from anything else in the satchel, and apparently his fall had shaken the contents enough that one stuck up from the jumble below. Nian tore off a bite with his teeth and chewed slowly as he tried once again to divine a solution to his problem. The collapse must have covered everything in stone dust, because the drake flank, which normally had a slightly spicy, sagey taste without any seasoning, had a sort of tinny note and a grainy texture on his tongue. Well, he supposed there weren’t many options at the moment, and it didn’t taste bad, just different.
It occurred to Nian that he still had Malor’s pendant inside his coat. Perhaps, if he hung it so that it faced him, the wizard might peek through to check up on him. He wasn’t sure the wizard would see anything but black void if he did look. Perhaps the relic blade would recover enough to shine a bit of light in the hope of being spotted and rescued. It was a long-shot, but worth trying. Nian tore off another bite of meat and fumbled at opening up his collar to retrieve the medallion.
Ill fortune bit Nian twice in the same moment. As his fingers found no chain around his neck, Nian bit into something that was definitely not soft meat. A stabbing pain shot through Nian’s lower gums and his eyes shot open as he let out a small cry of mixed pain and surprise. His surprise doubled to find he could see.
A dim, purple light shone off the walls around him, illuminating a little more than a foot to each side. Nian’s eyes fell to the meat in his hand. The strip of steak glimmered with specks of silver and purple light. Nian reached gingerly into his mouth, using his index finger to worm the tiny crystal shard out of his gums and draw it out, changing the flavor of his mouth to the coppery taste of blood. Nian scrambled to open his pouch and saw to his charign that what he feared had happened. His fall had shattered the crystal vials in Ourei’s purse, and the contents and interior of the pouch sparkled with their priceless contents.
Delicately lifting the silk purse, Nian tried to keep any more dust from spilling out of the slice in the side of the pouch. He wasn’t sure why he bothered. Even if the dust didn’t spill, it had been exposed to the air, so would be gone in a few minutes. Nian carefully sifted through the dust and found the golden vial still intact, but the purple fairy dust and worse, the star dust were broken and scattered. Nian stared at the one remaining vial in frustration, but a small glimmer of silver just beyond caught his eye.
Shuffling over to the boulder and peering closer, Nian saw a small, silver chain glinting from beneath a pile of broken stones and dust. He dejectedly brushed aside the dust and uncovered Malor’s amulet. The silver mirror was scratched and bent badly and about a third of the chain was caught under the boulder. Nian snapped the chain off as close to the stone as he could manage and examined it uncertainly. Nian wasn’t certain if the amulet would still work as it was, or if Malor would even be looking for him, but it was still his best shot.
Nian silently lamented the loss of the star dust as he rummaged carefully around the shards of broken vial in his pouch and dug out his folding knife. He had no idea how to use the stuff, but couldn’t help thinking that it might have helped his current situation. The air must have been growing thin already, because he was having trouble focusing his vision. Nian shook his head vigorously and squinted to focus. He found a small crevice in the boulder and used the knife’s blade to wedge the pendant’s chain into the crack.
As Nian wondered if the blade could manage to keep a light going after the dust faded, his eyes fell on the golden vial, still quietly shining away. He smiled, at least one thing was going right and that was something to hold onto. He took the little light and carefully set it in the crack above his knife blade, then scooted back against the far wall. He sank against the wall and tugged the hilt of his sword close to his chest.
Drawing the hood of his coat up over his head, Nian let his head sag and watched the slow, hypnotic motion of the golden light on the scales of his coat as his chest rose and fell. Funny, he was so short on air that it was almost impossible to stay awake, but it wasn’t hard to breathe.
Nian fidgeted with the worn old handle of the relic blade and admired the glittering silver and purple lights left by his dust-covered fingers. Purple. That’s why he was so tired! The air wasn’t running out yet, the fairy dust was putting him to sleep.
Nian looked up and eyed the makeshift lamp of gold dust. Taking some of that might wake him up, they were supposed to have opposite effects . . . but that would mean his light wouldn’t last until the wizard could rescue him. Besides, it was all the way across the way, and he really didn’t feel like shuffling back that far. It was probably for the best anyway, the air would last longer if he was relaxed. He felt pretty relaxed right now. Nian really hoped Malor would think of using the medallion. More than anything though, he wished he could just make it back to Autumn. Nian closed his eyes again and smiled to himself as he imagined her short, soft hair and the subtle smell of her skin as he drifted into sleep.
. . .
“What do you mean it isn’t working?” Karen demanded.
“I thought the statement largely explained itself.” Malor replied angrily as he passed Kaesa’s shield back to its owner. “The amulet could have been damaged in all the fighting, it only works if both ends are reflective. So, too many scratches and I won’t get a clear image or even be able to connect at all. Besides, I’ve never tried to connect to something from memory before, especially not being certain of its location or even continued existence.”
Malor wasn’t upset with Karen, but with the situation as a whole. He was quietly furious with himself that he hadn’t remembered the pendant before the collapse when he might have done something. What bothered him more was the part he wasn’t sharing with the others. The voice of his mentor echoed in his ears.
“The real trouble with being a wizard is that everyone starts to expect you to deliver miracles. You even start to expect them of yourself. Then, when you run into those situations that remind you that you’re mortal after all and you can’t deliver a miracle, it becomes your fault. In the end, it’s for the best though, such times are needed to remind us that we are not gods or Incarnates but men and women with limits.”
The small group of companions stood around staring at Malor. The escaped slaves had chosen to press north, eager to join up with the Noorwood forces and continue fighting. Jonas and Ivana had remained with the group, wanting to ensure their captain’s last orders were executed properly and Karen was escorted to safety.
When Nian didn’t show after an hour, Malor had suggested finding a mirrored surface he could use to search for him. The initial attempts were made using a polished spot on Kaesa’s shield; useless for opening a portal, but they could at least find out where he was. Alas, there was no sign of him.
The drakes had scattered, probably at the first tremors before the collapse. Soldiers milled about the grounds of the keep, but showed no indication that they had taken a prisoner. The rear half of the keep was utterly gone, swallowed by ton upon ton of broken stone. Malor had swept the city streets and, though he found the corpse of Axios, surrounded by scores
of fallen soldiers in the destroyed square, he found no sign of the Emissary. When Rowan noted that Nian was a rock-climber of no small skill, the wizard even scoured the cliffs around the valley.
At length, Kaesa had suggested they climb down from the mountain before they lost the light for the horses and Human eyes. Karen had, of course, adamantly refused to give up the search, but the Kadis soldier Jonas recalled a watering hole at the foot of the mountain where they could make camp and resume the search. Malor pointed out that a pond would allow him to try to summon Nian once he was found, and Karen relented.
Most of the trip down, Malor tried to come up with somewhere else to search. Shifting through the stones for a corpse would be nearly impossible, though Malor was starting to be convinced that Nian had not made it out of the keep before the collapse. Then, quite suddenly and without prompting, the idea of the pendant had occurred to him. He no longer had the stone linked to it, that was back at the silver mine, but he’d been confident enough that he could at least track one of his own runes within a hundred miles that Malor had opened his big mouth and said he knew how to find Nian. Now, as the dark of night settled about their small camp, they were all waiting, staring at him and a blank pool of water, and he couldn’t produce a miracle.
“Try again.” Karen ordered flatly.
“There is nothing to try.” Ourei stepped to Karen’s side and rubbed her shoulder reassuringly. “Malor is callous at times, but he is also resourceful and determined. What he is thinking but not saying is that he took precautions to be able to find the amulet. He bent a mythril needle into a rune that he should be able to sense if it were within a hundred miles and cast the silver around it. That rune is gone, and any strike that could break that rune does not bode well for the wearer. Nian insisted upon going alone, and I could sense there was something he was holding back. Perhaps he knew that it was a one way journey.”