by Rik Hunik
When they got off me my hands and feet were tied. Gasping for air, I struggled to a sitting position but before I could say anything a big, hairy chap hit me behind my ear with a sap and I took an involuntary nap.
I was jarred awake by a sharp slap to my face.
"Why do you persist in vexing us?" I thought it was my ears, but my eyes focussed on the man sitting in a chair four feet away and I saw that his face was covered by a mask of stiff leather and cloth that muffled his voice. It didn't look like anything, it wasn't much more than a hood with a couple of eyeholes.
I shrugged as well as I could while tied into a chair. "I'm just doing my job." I paused to catch my breath, and to take a better look at my surroundings. A pair of flickering torches lit a low, stone ceiling, some damp stone walls, and a section of stone floor. "I was paid to find some missing women and I'm looking for them. If you guys were on the up and up we wouldn't keep crossing paths."
The mask rustled as the man inside it shook his head. He was packing some extra pounds and he seemed to be having trouble catching his breath behind the mask. "You clearly do not understand the consequence of our work." His voice sounded vaguely familiar, despite the pretentious word usage, like I had heard it once before, but I couldn't remember where.
"Maybe if you explained everything to me I would see the light of reason and know that what you are doing is the right thing to do, the only thing to do. Then I would quit interfering and start working for you instead."
The masked man sighed and shook his head again. "If only I could trust your sincerity I would do exactly that, but all of us have let our actions prove our loyalty to the cause. Your actions have not."
"And what cause is that? To overthrow the government?"
He laughed. "Nothing so commonplace. Our work is far more important than that, too important to allow you to interfere anymore." His chair creaked as he leaned forward. "Suppose we paid you enough to stop looking for those missing women?"
It certainly made sense from an economic point of view, but it felt all wrong, it compromised the integrity of my business, and it pissed me off that they would even think about asking me. I briefly considered lying, but I was pretty sure I couldn't convince them I would stay out of the way, so I said, "Why don't you take a flying fuck at an oak tree?"
The silence lasted about a second and a half, then he gave a half-hearted laugh. "Very colorful, but not very tempting. I'll take that as a no."
The silence stretched for several seconds until the big goon beside me said, "What are you going to do with him now that you've talked to him?"
"He's not dangerous now. Lock him in a cell so he can't interfere anymore and leave him there to starve. The ship comes tomorrow night and I don't care what happens to him after that."
"Why not just kill him now?"
"Because I abhor violence. Now do as I say. He can't get away."
"I don't have to get away. The police know where I am and they'll come for me."
He snorted. "You don't even know where you are. The police haven't found us here yet and they'll never find you either."
Actually I did have a pretty good idea where I was, I just wasn't sure how I got here, but I was afraid he was right about the police not finding me.
The goon untied the rope from around my chest and pulled me to my feet. My hands and feet were still bound but the goon and his counterpart grabbed my arms, kicked my legs out from under me and made a point of dragging me to a cell at the end of a short corridor behind the guy with the hood. The guy with the hood didn't watch so I guess he was serious about not liking violence.
Dirty, frightened girls looked out at me through iron-barred doors, their wide eyes gleaming in the light of the single torch carried by the third goon. The worst of it though, was the smell, as bad as any facility I'd used in years.
They threw me into my cell like I was a sack of grain. I managed a clumsy roll to protect my face but I collected a few new bruises and a lot of my old ones hurt more than ever. I tried not to move until the pain subsided.
Chapter 40
I had counted half a dozen cells, all of them much larger than mine, and they all looked crowded, though I couldn't tell how many women were in each cell. I must have seen nearly thirty girls, and there could have been at least that many more, and who knew how many more cells they had in other parts of this underground complex.
Judging from the architecture this place hadn't always been a dungeon. The bars thick and solid, but they were old and corroded and looked like they had been salvaged from somewhere else and placed here, using local rocks and fresh mortar. And I was sure the padlocks were new, even if they did show spots of rust already.
My fingers were not yet completely numb so I untied my feet without much difficulty. I couldn't reach the rope around my wrists so I searched the cell for something to cut it with. These chambers weren't exposed to the weather,and when I touched the stone I got a strong impression of centuries of slow decay, so there were no sharp edges, but I did find a rough corner in the doorway, where the stone had been chipped when they installed the bars, and after enough rubbing I eventually wore through the rope.
By the time I released myself all the kidnappers were gone, leaving a single torch burning in the central room, but I didn't expect it to last long, and one of the cells had a dim lamp burning in it. The light that got to me wasn't much, but it was a whole lot better than none at all, so I didn't have to waste energy or concentration on a fingerlight.
I had nothing to pick the lock with but I had an idea. When they had searched me they took only what they recognized as weapons or tools, but I was a Certified Magician and they had left me several flash packets and smoke bombs. A lot of first year magic is just chemistry, but the magic angle draws extra energy from. . . Well, nobody knows for sure where it's from, we've just learned how to use it.
Sitting cross-legged on the cold stone, working mostly by touch in the dim light, I opened three of my flash packets and dumped all the contents into the palm of my hand, then I added the contents of a smoke packet, mumbled a simple mantra spell over and over until my mind slid into the right groove, spat into the powder, kneaded it into a ball of clay-like paste, and crammed the paste into the keyhole.
I retreated to the back of my cell and called out the power word to detonate the paste. Nothing happened. I concentrated and tried again, still nothing. I must have nullified the ignition spell when I broke the pellets apart.
I used a piece of paper from a packet to rig a fuse but of course they had taken all my matches. Being a magician I did have ways around that, but right now I had a better way to cheat. I took one of my few remaining flash packets and moistened it with the water trickling down the wall, set it on the leftover papers on the floor, closed my eyes, turned my head away and said the power word.
I heard a pop and opened my eyes to see a ball of smoke rising from the paper, where the moistened packet had given me heat instead of light. I waved the acrid smoke away with my hand and blew gently on the glowing ember until little flames licked at the paper, then I picked it up and used it to ignite my fuse, which burned slowly, and a draft almost put it out, but as soon as the flame touched the paste, bam, the lock blew apart. I removed the hasp, released the latch and opened the door.
Women crowded against the bars, trying to see what had happened.
If the kidnappers had a spell to block the women from detection by magic, I must be inside the barrier now so I slipped my hand into my pocket and touched the personal items I'd taken along. Immediately I felt a connection and looked to the second door on my left, at a skinny girl, filthy, her dark hair hanging in greasy knots, but a spark still showing in her eyes.
"You're Laura, aren't you."
Her eyes widened. "Yes I am, but who are you?" The other women crowding around the barred door all looked the same question at me.
"My name is Berk. Your mother hired me to find you."
At the mention of her mother the girl burst in
to tears, but a less sentimental woman said, "You certainly took long enough."
"If it was easy the police would have been here weeks ago, but you're still alive and I'm here now." I called out the names of a few other women on my list and they came forward to identify themselves, but I didn't have time for reassurances. "I'll go for help. How do I get out of here?"
"Some rescue," the cynical woman muttered.
Laura said, "If you turn left at the end of this row of cells you'll find the way to the tunnel."
The cynical woman said, "But the tunnel entrance is locked and guarded. You can't get out that way."
"Is there any other way out?" I figured there had to be. Unfortunately nobody knew where it was. I said, "I guess I'll find out."
The women sagged and drifted away from the doors, appearing even less optimistic about my chances than I felt, but being imprisoned for so long might have dampened their spirits a little.
Miss Cynicism said, "I guess it's off to the volcano for the lot of us."
"Volcano?"
Nods from all the women still clustered at the bars. "They never told us why we're here, but some of the stupider thugs let a few things slip. They called us brides. I think they mean to ship us out and dump us in a volcano to appease some earth gods and prevent a big eruption."
"That sounds pretty crazy. Which volcano?"
"They didn't say, but I think there are enough of us for two or three volcanoes."
"I'll get the police."
"You do that. We'll wait right here."
I removed the torch from its bracket and entered the passage opposite the one that led to the tunnel, but it ended shortly at a large door of thick iron bars, which wasn't guarded, but it was bricked solidly into place and securely locked. At the edge of my torchlight I saw the bottom of a flight of stairs, presumably leading up to the back side of the large rock in the harbor.
I backtracked until I found a door, built of new wood, which opened into a small room with a peculiar metal apparatus set up in the middle. A hexagonal framework of iron bars, about chest high, supported a series of iron rings of decreasing size, forming a kind of funnel. Floating about five inches from the bottom was a rusted iron sphere about five inches in diameter. I heard a hum and realized the sphere was spinning rapidly. I moved closer and saw letters and symbols scratched into the rings. It was a spell frame.
In the control cycle of the five elements metal controls wood. The expansive, outward moving energy of wood, which is present in all living things, is countered by the contracting, inward moving energy of metal, making it very effective for a simple, but powerful, disruptive spell. Tufts of hair, of every shade and color, were glued to the top ring, presumably a sample from each prisoner. It was blocking my talent, and any similar magic, from finding any of the missing girls and women.
I thought about destroying it but it looked far too tough for any tools I had, and destroying it now wouldn't make any difference because I already knew how to find them.
I located a side passage that led into a maze of rooms and corridors, many of them partially collapsed. I hadn't gone very far when my torch died, leaving me in total darkness, and I realized I could no longer find my way back to the holding cells. "Some rescue," I muttered, echoing the cynical woman's opinion.
I admitted that I was lost. Maybe, I joked to myself, I could use my talent to find me. But that still wouldn't help me get where I needed to be, which was out of here.
I wasn't lost, I had only lost my way.
I focused my talent on finding my lost way but I felt nothing. In order to get out I had to go up, which meant I needed a staircase, a ladder, or an air shaft. I pictured each in turn. Nothing.
Wandering aimlessly would only get me more lost so I stood there thinking for a few minutes. I needed a direction but my talent wasn't helping and I couldn't think of any magic that would be of use to me here. The darkness pressed in on me.
I wet my forefinger in my mouth and held it straight up. It felt slightly cooler on the left side so I shuffled along in the dark in that direction. I encountered a wall, followed it for a few yards, found a wide crack and slipped through. Across the room I saw a doorway only slightly less dark than everything around me. In my eagerness to get to it I stumbled over a heap of rubble, adding to my collection of bruises.
Through the doorway I moved more cautiously toward the light that came through a crack in the far wall. From there I could see light shining down through an air shaft but I had to tear some rubble loose to fit through the narrow crack. Even to my sensitized eyes it wasn't very bright but when I looked up I knew it was a way out because I could see moonlit clouds scudding by, making me feel like I was moving. I was pretty sure the people who captured me had no idea this escape route was here.
The air shaft was only about two feet square, which was a bit of a squeeze for my bulk, but by pressing against opposite sides I easily climbed toward the square of star-speckled sky at the top, though I did lose a few patches of skin when I slipped.
I poked my head out and looked down past a slope of tumbled, broken rock at a wide expanse of black water that stretched to the horizon. The shock of disorientation almost made me lose my grip but survival instincts took over and I didn't slip. I pulled myself out of the hole and looked all around. The rock behind me was dark against a glowing sky. I turned around and scrambled up the fifteen feet of slope to the peak. Across a brief expanse of glittering water the shining city of Agrippina spread along the shore and up the hills.
I was standing on the big rock that thrusts up into the bay about seventy yards from the docks. People argued about whether an ancient temple had once stood here or if these were natural rock formations. After tonight my vote was definitely for ancient temple.
From my present perspective the rock looked more like an island, but as far as I could see I was the only life on it. I shouted a few times but nobody on the shore or any of the ships responded. I might have better luck after the sun rose but I didn't have time for that, even if I had the patience.
I was still sweating from my exertions but the night breeze rapidly cooled me. I wasn't looking forward to swimming ashore, but I had no alternative. I clambered down to the water's edge and was fortunate enough to find a large piece of driftwood. It wasn't that far to swim but I didn't want to be dragged down by my clothing so I took off my boots and jacket, and used my shirt and pants to tie them to the driftwood.
When I stepped into the water the cold shock almost made me change my mind about waiting till morning, but I really couldn't stay on this inhospitable rock so I plunged in and started swimming, pushing my bundle of clothing ahead of me. I wasn't fond of swimming and there were sharks in the area so I wanted to get out of the water as quickly as possible.
When I reached shore I pulled on my wet clothes and headed for home, carrying my dripping boots. I was ready to crawl into bed but I had to report this to the police right away. It was not an especially cool night but, being soaked to the skin, I could fully appreciate the way every breath of wind sucked the heat out of me.
I felt drained by the time I got to my office. As I fumbled with my key a breeze from Old Harbor brought me a stench like a bad fart. I snorted the smell out of my nose, and when I inhaled the air was clear, but I knew that smell, I had learned it in school. Some sensitive people, myself included, perceive dark magic a foul smell. More alert now, I scanned the street and buildings upwind but all were dark and silent.
Zena was asleep on the small couch she had installed a couple of days ago, but she woke up when I came in and closed the door. "What happened to you?" She asked when I lit a lamp and she saw my wet clothes and the boots in my hand.
"I found the missing women."
"Where? On the bottom of the ocean?"
I let out a short laugh. "Good guess, you're very close, but no. They are, however, below sea level." Her blank look told me she didn't know what I was talking about but I wasn't in the mood to string her along. "They're in an
improvised dungeon on a small island. I had to swim back to shore."
"An island? Where did you find an island."
"More like just a big rock. Here, I'll show you." I went to my desk, placed the ruler on the line I had drawn before I left, and extended it a few inches. It passed through the rock in the bay. It was so obvious I don't know how I had missed it before. I watched the light dawn in her eyes.
She said, "That is so obvious. Now."
"Yeah. Well, I've got to report everything I know to Quintus. Once the police are on the case I'm going to bed. You can have tomorrow morning off because I have no intention of getting up early."
She stood and cocked a hand on her hip. "You're just going to kick me out in the middle of the night when there are women disappearing all over Old City? When the people causing the disappearing have it in for you already?"
Put that way it sounded pretty stupid and insensitive. "No, of course not. You're welcome to stay, if you think it's safer here. You might even want to wait upstairs until I get back." I was too tired to care how she chose to interpret that. "I have to get into some dry clothes. If you need anything, let me know." I headed for the stairs myself.
"A blanket would be nice. And maybe a pillow."
Dry clothes made me feel human again and Zena used the blanket and pillow to get comfortable on the couch, but it took a major effort to get myself to the police station, even though it wasn't all that far away.
My old friend Thaddeus was at the front desk. I asked for Quintus.
"He's busy. I'll give him a message."
Yeah, right. When he was ready. "I have some information that could earn him a big bonus or get him a promotion and I don't want you standing in his way or horning in on any of the glory."
He sneered. "A likely story. He's in his office, go ahead and knock."
Quintus was busy but he put the work aside to listen, taking an occasional note. When I finished relating all I knew he said, "The masked man didn't say when the ship was coming but I guess it would be some time before moonrise, so they could work under cover of darkness. The night shift doesn't have the resources to put together a raid that size tonight, but I'll make sure it gets set up to happen first thing in the morning. Did you want to go along?"