‘We’ve got to find him. He could still be alive,’ Rhidian insisted.
‘We have to help Red and Caleb now, Rhidian. They’re in danger too,’ Alba insisted. ‘We can’t do any more for Rebus.’ That last sentence felt so final to Rhidian that his stomach twisted and a heavy sadness consumed him. He wiped his eyes and mopped the snot from his nose. Alba patted him on the shoulder and picked up the lamp. ‘We have to go, Rhidian,’ Alba said solemnly. Rhidian nodded and didn’t say anything. He hadn’t known Rebus for long but felt as though they had hit it off from the start. He placed Rebus’ sleeve on the bank and walked away with his head bowed.
Chapter 25
Rescue
Rhidian pushed on for a short while and eventually felt he had to speak up.
‘Alba, how can you seem so hard?’ he asked.
‘Now is not the time, Rhidian. We have to help Red and Caleb. I’ll talk of this later.’ Rhidian appeared shocked, but didn’t ask anything more and Alba led the way as quickly as he could.
They climbed over loose rocks and shale, which obscured the landscape.
‘Alba, would you like me to take the lamp?’ he asked, when he saw the old wizard struggling to climb and hold on to the lantern.
‘If you wouldn’t mind, Rhidian,’ Alba replied. When he turned to the engineer, Rhidian could plainly see tears in his eyes and realised at that point Alba was indeed missing his friend dearly.
‘I’m sorry,’ Rhidian responded, and Alba gave a respective nod. They clambered over debris until the light from the lamp revealed a silhouette. It appeared to be hunched on the ground.
‘Hey there. Who are you?’ Alba called out.
‘Alba, is that you?’ The answer came back. ‘It’s me – Caleb,’ the wizard responded. Rhidian and Alba rushed over to him as quickly as they could, but it was difficult. The stones moved and dirt and rocks trickled down the slope.
They soon discovered that Caleb was kneeling over the body of Red. The boy was still and ridged as a board.
‘What happened?’ Rhidian’s voice echoed, his face filled with concern.
‘The stones tumbled down behind us,’ Caleb explained. ‘I think Red caught a rock to his head,’ he said, and pointed to the clotted blood that congealed around the boy’s temple.
‘It’s only a graze, Caleb. He’ll be fine. He’s just been knocked unconscious. I’m sure he’ll come round any minute,’ Alba assured him, and dipped in his pocket. He pulled out a small bottle with a cork in the neck. He removed the cork and wafted the bottle under Red’s nose. Red began to stir, so Alba replaced the cork and dropped the bottle back into his pocket. Red opened his eyes and tried to speak.
‘Don’t talk, just take it easy, and take a sip of this.’ Rhidian gave him a bottle of water. He immediately sat up, and that made him dizzy. He wobbled and almost slumped to one side.
‘Wow, take it easy, Red,’ Rhidian said, as he steadied the boy.
‘Aw, what happened?’ Red mumbled. ‘Oh, hold on, I remember… I tumbled down that slope following Caleb.’
‘That’s right, Red,’ Caleb agreed, kneeling over the boy.
‘Hey, where did you guys come from? And where’s Rebus?’ Red pressed.
‘Yeah, where’s Rebus?’ Caleb joined in. He was as surprised as the boy. The look on Rhidian and Alba’s face was enough to tell the story. But Alba took it upon himself to explain the whole thing.
‘No,’ Red said, and looked really upset; his eyes glazed and two streams of tears rolled down his cheeks. ‘I can’t believe it. I mean, we did knock heads now and again, but that didn’t mean that I didn’t like or respect him.’
‘We know,’ Rhidian added. ‘It was mostly banter.’
‘That’s awful.’ Caleb was as cut-up as the rest. ‘When we’ve finished all this, we’ll have to respect him by planning a wizard’s funeral,’ Caleb said, sadness in his eyes.
‘Yes, we’ve been beating ourselves up too about why we couldn’t save him.’ Rhidian still carried the guilt.
‘It wasn’t our fault. Hell, it wasn’t anyone’s fault, Rhidian. These things are out of our control,’ Alba cursed. ‘Now what we’ve got to do is fill in his wishes and find Obsidian. Then get him to go back to Valusha, where we can pay tribute to him in a proper ceremony.’
‘I agree,’ Red said, as he wiped away the wetness from his nose.
‘Me too,’ Caleb also decided.
‘I’m in,’ Rhidian said.
‘That leaves me, and I’m with you,’ Alba concluded.
‘That’s great,’ Red added.
‘So, what’s been happening? Why are you down here?’ Rhidian enquired, changing the subject from the sadness.
‘There’s this rock pile,’ Caleb explained. Rhidian looked at the wall of boulders.
‘Yeah, and?’ he responded.
‘That’s not right,’ Alba interrupted. ‘It feels… I don’t know, weird. There is magic at play here.’
‘Just what I thought,’ Caleb agreed.
‘What’s not right? What’s weird?’ Rhidian pressed.
‘That pile of rocks isn’t really there,’ Alba clarified.
‘But I can see it,’ Rhidian insisted and appeared confused.
‘No, you’re seeing what you’re supposed to be seeing,’ Caleb said, his eyes narrow in thought. ‘That… is a clever disguise that only an experienced wizard would conjure. I’m not saying it is Obsidian, but whoever set this in place is pretty powerful.’ Deep down he suspected it to be Obsidian.
‘A smoke screen?’ Rhidian asked curiously.
‘Yes, a camouflaged entrance?’ Red piped up, filled with curiosity and excitement. He peered at the granite and licked his lips in anticipation.
‘Well done, young man… an entrance indeed,’ Alba praised.
‘How do we get in?’ Rhidian’s keenness was spiked also.
‘Now that’s the question.’ There was a pause from the wizard. ‘I think we have to… walk through and find out,’ Caleb said simply, and smiled as he said it.
‘Are you both sure?’ Rhidian asked, but didn’t look at all convinced. ‘Would it just be that simple? There could also be danger on the other side.’
‘We’re sure,’ the wizards said in unison.
‘Rhidian, if you didn’t know any better, and because you’re not a wizard, and we weren’t here to inform you, then it would probably appear as solid rock. It would actually feel solid, because your mind would tell you so,’ Alba explained.
‘I wouldn’t have had a second thought. Wow, the wizard thing is a lot more complicated than mechanical stuff,’ Rhidian admitted. ‘I’ll just stick with what I know, and go with the flow.’
‘Will you be all right to get up, Red?’ Caleb asked in concern.
‘Yeah, think I’m okay now,’ the boy responded and Caleb reached out his hand and he gripped it. The boy ached a little as he got to his feet, but was otherwise fine.
‘Come on then, let’s not waste any more time,’ Alba said, and took the lamp and held it aloft. He took a deep breath and cleared his mind.
Chapter 26
The Entrance
They stood at the base of the pile of boulders. To Rhidian, it still looked solid, but the others were convinced that it was an illusion.
‘Well, what do we do now? That looks pretty solid to me.’ Rhidian had second thoughts about the whole business.
‘It’ll be fine, Rhidian, trust me,’ Alba replied. Caleb and Alba looked at one another and Red flicked a gaze to Rhidian, who was shaking his head and raking his fingers through his sandy hair.
Tentatively, all four moved forward into the rock formation. Red and Rhidian closed their eyes. Even though he believed Caleb and Alba, Red still wasn’t fully convinced to walk right into the stones. They braced for impact… but when they opened them again, found themselves standing at the foot of a long, sweeping flight of steps. Alba blew out the lantern because they didn’t need it; the whole place was brightly lit. There were flaming stakes,
intermittently placed each side of the staircase, which made the scene appear as a medieval fortress. The steps were solid marble and reflected the flickering flames from the burning torches.
‘See? Told you,’ Caleb said; the smug look on his face was annoying.
‘What happens now?’ Red just about had time to finish his question when there was movement at the top. Suddenly two figures appeared – both were really tall and stacked like marble pillars. They were clad in body armour.
‘I guess that is that,’ Rhidian conceded. ‘We’re not going to get past them.’
‘What? Giving up already, Rhidian?’ Caleb said in a condescending tone.
‘How can we possibly overcome those two?’ Rhidian said; the reality of it seemed ominous.
‘Like the stones, Rhidian. It’s only an illusion,’ Alba interjected.
‘They sure look real enough to me,’ Red added.
‘That’s the whole point, isn’t it?’ Caleb rounded.
‘So, you’re saying they can’t harm us?’ Rhidian asked honestly.
‘I didn’t say that,’ Caleb retorted.
‘What? They can harm us?’ Red and Rhidian piped up.
‘If you believe that they are real, then yes,’ Caleb said.
‘You have to believe that they are an illusion, and no harm will come to you,’ Alba said. He looked at the two of them, and they appeared confused and fearful. ‘Look, if Caleb and I show you how to handle this situation, you can follow our lead.’ His eyes were wide when he explained. The engineer and Red nodded reluctantly.
‘Right, follow me.’ Caleb began to climb the marble steps, closely followed by Alba. Rhidian and Red walked a couple of steps behind the sorcerers. Rhidian looked up and he could clearly see the two guards.
Up close, the two figures were a formidable sight, much more so than farther away and that was bad enough.
‘They’ve got to be at least seven-foot-tall, Caleb,’ Rhidian gasped.
‘Hold your nerve,’ Alba said without taking his eyes from the beasts. The giants didn’t have any recognisable features. If they had faces then the visors they wore obscured them. The guards’ bodies were completely clad in smooth armour – from top-to-toe. They weren’t like the medieval knights from those old stories. Those were dressed in clumsy metal plates with gaps and joints. No, these two were in white, glistening, body-hugging combat gear with a smooth outer layer. Each stood firm and appeared human in shape, but GIGANTIC.
The guards were parallel to each other and held a large spear-like weapon, but with a blade instead of a spike. The blade started from the middle of the shaft (slightly above the guard’s grip) and ended at the top. It looked terrifying, like a huge scythe. They could obviously see the wizards as they approached – why hadn’t they moved down the steps to intercept the enemy?
Caleb stepped up first, quickly followed by Alba. Rhidian and Red had a better view of the entrance from up here. Beyond the guards was a huge pair of marble doors, which looked as though they weighed a ton.
‘Well, this is the scary part,’ Caleb’s voice echoed, as he took a couple of steps towards the entrance. He stopped when the sentinels automatically moved into a battle stance. The ground shook when they stamped their right foot down. Also, a cloud of dust flittered through the air. The soldiers had been dormant for a very long time.
‘Caleb,’ Red’s soft voice echoed. ‘Forgive me for saying, but if they’re illusions, why did the ground vibrate when they stamped on it?’
‘Yeah, surely there wouldn’t have been any sound from a projection?’ Rhidian cut in.
‘They have a point,’ Alba confessed.
‘Maybe we’ll need to rethink this whole situation,’ Caleb agreed.
‘Rethink? What are you talking about? I thought you’d had this all sown up,’ Rhidian said, and the panic was evident. Without anyone realising it, Red, built up some courage and walked to Caleb’s side. He peered at the two statues. The dust had mostly settled, but the guardians hadn’t moved another inch.
‘What are you doing, Red?’ Caleb asked, without looking down.
‘Honestly, I don’t know,’ he said, but walked past the wizard and when Caleb went to grab his arm, the youngster pulled away.
‘Red, what are you doing? Get back here,’ Rhidian insisted. ‘They’ll kill you, you idiot,’ he rasped.
‘Hold on,’ Alba interrupted.
‘Why?’ Rhidian bit back. ‘He’s going to die at any second.’
‘Because the guards aren’t attacking him, see?’ Caleb added, and he was right. Red was walking slowly towards the giants but they hadn’t moved to stop him.
‘What’s happening?’ Rhidian called out, concerned.
‘I don’t know,’ Caleb reacted, as he watched the boy get closer to them. But Red was the only one who wasn’t panicking. In fact, it was the calmest he’d felt in quite a long time. He eventually stopped in between the two solid beings. He looked up and swept a glance from side-to-side. Rhidian was almost bursting.
‘R-Red, c-come back,’ he stammered.
‘No, let him do what he’s doing,’ Caleb insisted. Alba turned to Rhidian and nodded in compliance with his fellow wizard. Red continued walking between the two figures and closer to the doors. Everyone looked on in anticipation. The guards still didn’t move as Red approached the colossal entrance. Then a strange thing happened – the doors cracked open!
‘Oh my God,’ Rhidian said, his mouth wide. Then, Red turned to face his companions. The granite slabs slowly scraped across the ground and created a fan effect pattern in the grey dust. Eventually, the doors came to a stop – the sound boomed throughout the cavern.
‘Let them through,’ Red said in a calm voice. He looked much older for a moment.
‘You heard the boy. Let’s go,’ Caleb said and moved off. Alba and Rhidian watched as the wizard walked between the guards and beyond. The two sentinels didn’t flinch. Now it was Alba and Rhidian’s turn.
‘Come on, you’ll be fine,’ Red assured them. Shocked, they listened to the boy and nervously edged through the gap. Red smiled and turned to look at what awaited them beyond the doorway. The scene was lit in exactly the same way as the steps they’d just climbed. They were lost for words when they saw the huge mountain of marble steps. They each stood mesmerised for a moment, until a noise of grinding stone brought them back to reality. The guards were returning to their original position. The doors began to close.
‘We have to go,’ Caleb said. And all four of them walked through and stood at the base of the vast stairway. The grinding of stone against stone silenced when the doors finally closed.
‘Well, there’s no going back now,’ Red chirped up.
‘Never mind that. What on earth did you do, young man?’ Rhidian questioned.
‘We don’t need to bother the boy right now, Rhidian,’ Alba said. ‘We’ve a lot of steps to climb.’
‘But…’ Rhidian was about to say.
‘Come on, or we’ll leave you behind,’ Red joked, and Caleb chuckled too.
Chapter 27
The Horizon
The sheer scope of the steps seemed endless. Rhidian was burning up with questions to ask Red. Caleb and Alba looked so calm as they plodded on with every lift and drop. The engineer continued climbing, but eventually had to stop. His legs were burning and his back ached.
‘Hold on,’ Rhidian finally spoke up. ‘I need to rest for a short while.’ He sounded out of breath too.
‘Okay, if we must,’ Caleb muttered.
‘Come on, Caleb, I’m tired too,’ Alba said in agreement with Rhidian.
‘I could go on forever,’ Red added with a grin.
‘Bloody youngsters,’ Rhidian joked, and sat down on a step. They took in water and whatever food they had left. ‘No!’ Rhidian broke the silence while eating.
‘No? No what?’ Caleb retorted.
‘No, I can’t go any further until someone explains what happened with Red earlier,’ he demanded.
‘Quite simply, I don’t know,’ Alba said, and he looked as if he were telling the truth.
‘I don’t know how I did it, either,’ Red said.
‘It’s as if those stone thingies knew you.’ Rhidian furrowed his brow, his beady eyes locked on to Red’s. ‘Caleb, do you have any answers?’
‘Same as you – I’ve no idea,’ Caleb responded.
‘But you must have some clue?’ Rhidian probed.
‘I don’t speculate unless I have all the facts,’ he replied, not giving away any more. Rhidian sat in silence. He realised that he wasn’t going to get any information out of these guys.
‘Are we all rested?’ Red said and lazily looked across to the others. There were nods from everyone. ‘Let’s go,’ he said, with a shrug of the shoulders.
Rhidian eventually got to his feet. Everything ached, but when he looked at Alba, realised that he must be feeling a lot worse. So, Rhidian shook it off and the first few steps were always the hardest. The tops of his legs were stiff and his calves also still burned. He gazed upwards and rolled his shoulders. He took a deep breath and winced. The others were already a few steps ahead and the incline looked more like a cliff-face than a flight of stairs… it was daunting.
He pushed it to the back of his mind and focussed. He moved a little faster in order to catch up with the others. Red was leading, with Caleb behind and Alba shadowed them. Rhidian had already calculated that they’d been climbing for half an hour or so. They all continued and must have looked like ants on the vast staircase to the stars.
‘I see the top!’ Red shouted, his voice rich with excitement.
‘Great,’ Caleb mumbled. Alba couldn’t even speak, but with Rhidian beside him, gave him the strength to continue walking. They finally reached the plateau. By the time Alba and Rhidian arrived, they saw Red and Caleb standing like the statues they’d passed earlier. And the reason for that was the huge sight that greeted them.
‘Wow, it’s a ship – The Horizon,’ Rhidian gasped, whilst reading the nameplate. Floating before them was a large vessel, docked on a cliff edge. The sight of the magnificent ship took the engineer’s breath away. ‘How on earth did it get here?’ He looked around and couldn’t see a way into the cave.
Wizards' Exile Page 16