Mighty Hammer Down

by David J Guyton

The commotion in the nearby room was just the kind of disruption Alana was hoping for. She had already persuaded her guard into her room and killed him an hour earlier. Since his robes were hemmed in blue, she couldn't use the robe that she was given earlier, so she took his. She had put it on and stood outside of her door, pretending to be the man she had killed. She could not believe that the Mages would be so stupid as to give her one of their robes as well as her knife.

  Unsure of how to exit the labyrinth the Mages had built, she approached the door to the room with all the noise. She carefully pushed it open and peered inside. There were screams from men being sliced open by a large man wearing only black pants and boots. In his hand he held a golden sword. Her mind raced to decipher what was happening. She had seen a man with a gold sword before, but he was wearing a robe, and he certainly wasn't slaughtering his companions. Either she was wrong about the Mages and they were good people, or this shirtless Mage was fighting for the other side.

  Some of the men seemed to be able to escape, but the man with the sword did not look concerned. His back was to her, and she could see his ribcage expand as he breathed calmly while Mages ran from him in every direction. He cocked his head as if he heard something, and slowly turned around. Her eyes went wide when she looked into his face.

  "Rommus!" she cried. "It's not possible. I saw you die."

  He looked at her as if he was confused. Then he took a stride towards her. She realized that he had no idea who she was, and thought that she was a Mage, even though she obviously had a female voice. She pushed her hood back.

  "Rommus, it's me, Alana."

  He stopped in his tracks, but he still looked puzzled. He looked at her from under his dark eyebrows, a look that was half anger and half confusion.

  "Rommus I don't know what's going on, or how you are alive, but we should get out of here. Come this way, I have another robe you can wear to disguise yourself." He cocked his head again and blinked at her a few times as he thought. "Hurry! Before they know what's going on."

  Reluctantly he followed her through the door and into her room. She could see that he had a scar on his stomach where he was stabbed. There was little chance that this man was just someone who looked like Rommus; it had to be him. She grabbed the robe that was given to her earlier and threw it at him.

  "Hurry, put this on. They don't know I am wearing this robe and they won't expect you to be in one either. We can get out of here before they can figure out our plan."

  He put the sword down on the bed as he slipped the robe over his head. It was a little tight, but it would have to do. She looked down on the bed at the gold sword wet with blood.

  "I thought you said that a sword couldn't be made of gold like that."

  "What?"

  "Oh never mind. What is going on? How is it that you're alive? How did you manage to kill all of those men?"

  "I?I don't know. It's hard to remember anything," he said as he picked up his sword.

  "Do you remember me? Do you remember who you are?"

  "Well, no. I mean yes, sort of. I knew my name when you called it. I don't exactly remember you, but I know I have seen you before."

  "All right we can worry about that later." She reached up and flipped his hood up to cover his head. "For right now we have to focus on getting out of here."

  "What did those men do to me?" he asked.

  "I don't know Rommus. I saw them kill you a few nights ago, or at least I saw them stab you. I screamed to warn you, but you didn't hear me. They captured me and I tricked them into thinking I was on their side. I only just now found out you were here and that you were alive."

  He put his hand to his forehead as he tried to remember. "I don't remember that. I remember feelings, like a dream, but that's all."

  "We'll talk about it later," she said as she opened the door a crack and checked for people in the corridor. "We have to leave here now. They will be looking for us. I would hide that sword in your robes if I were you. It will most definitely draw their attention. Either that or leave it here."

  He hid the sword under the heavy folds of fabric and they made their way down one of the dark halls. There were torches at regular intervals, and at all the intersections, but the black marble walls did little to assist the light. In some sections the floors were just dirt, with no flooring at all, which seemed odd since most everything else was elegantly decorated. She assumed that some sections were newer, and that the Mages had not yet had the time or money to finish the floors. She was amazed at how far the tunnels went, figuring they must run under nearly all of Brinn. With so many passageways, there had to be many ways out.

  "How do I know you?" he asked softly as they walked.

  "I met you a few days ago. We had a fight with some Mages and we kind of saved each other's lives. You took me to your home and tended to a wound I got in the fight."

  "I don't know you well then?"

  "No, we have not really had time to get to know each other yet."

  "Then why should I trust you?"

  "I didn't ask you to trust me. It should be obvious to you that I don't mean to harm you, or else I would have done so already. I need to get out of here just as badly as you do. You don't have to trust me, but I am offering my help if you will take it."

  "Why would you help me?" he asked as they turned into another corridor that rose gently.

  "Believe me Rommus, we are both better off with each other than without."

  He walked a while in silence as he thought. "Where are we now? How do we get out of here?"

  "We are under the city of Brinn?"

  "Brinn! Yes I know that name."

  "Well good, maybe your memory will return in time. Anyway, I don't know how to get out of here, but I figure if we keep going up, it will lead us out into a street somewhere. Maybe once we get to the streets something will look familiar to you."

  "Who were those men in black?"

  "Those are Mages. Here in Medora they seem to like to wear black, but I am only familiar with Silver Mages. The Black ones seem a little more sinister than what I am used to." She caught his arm as she noticed a narrow set of stairs hidden between two closely placed columns. There was no torch anywhere in sight.

  "You want me to go up there? I don't think I'll fit."

  "Sure you will, you just have to duck a little and turn sideways."

  He pulled the golden sword from his robes, took a deep breath and started up the tiny stairway. She pulled the knife he made her from inside her own robes and followed him up the cold, black marble steps.