CHAPTER XII
RESCUE
The third evening of our stay at the tower, Diana and I
stepped through the Gateway to the Republic. There was no
feeling of teleportation or the usual discomfort that goes with
it, it was much like walking from one room to the next, but when
we looked, we were surrounded by forest. We turned to look
behind us, and saw no trace of the Doorway, only more forest.
Even though we'd never been to the area before, I felt as though
I had returned home. I said as much to Diana, who nodded
understandingly.
"I know what you mean." she said, "It feels good to have the
trees around me again. Just don't get too at home here. It
looks the same, but this is a very different part of the world,
one that is much more dangerous. Come on, let's go. The sooner
we get out of here the better." I reluctantly nodded my
agreement, and we began our journey. Thanks to Jolan, we were
well stocked for the trip. We'd traded our somewhat threadbare,
ill-fitting cloaks for enchanted ones, which according to Jolan
would hide us from curious eyes. The magus had also provided us
with backpacks filled with implements that might be useful in
freeing Mikhal.
Several hours of traveling later, we stopped for a late-
night meal, since we would be traveling by night. Opening our
packs, we found a sack which was supposed to provide limitless
food, tailored to the nutritional needs of the user. My
nutritional needs aside, however, it didn't produce what I would
consider appetizing fare. When I reached in, I found a well-
cooked leg of mutton, and for Diana there was a roasted rabbit.
The meal satisfied my hunger for food, but it was... a little too
dead. I wondered if Jolan realized that I preferred my food
uncooked.
After this repast we continued our journey, until day break.
When we noticed the sky growing lighter in the East, we started
looking for a place to hide, and we finally found a small cave,
into which we both barely fit. The quarters were a bit cramped,
but I couldn't complain about the company. We huddled together
and slept through most of the day, awaiting nightfall to cover
our movements. We awoke a short time before sunset, and I wanted
to use the remaining light to study the maps Jolan had given us.
Trying to give Diana a few extra minutes of sleep, I tried to
slowly untangle myself and crawl out of the cave. To my
surprise, however, I found that my mane was caught from behind.
By contorting myself, I was able to reach my paw up to find what
had my hair. Expecting to find it caught on a loose root, I
instead discovered that a small, furry hand had tangled itself on
my mane as I had tried to leave. A muffled giggle behind me
suggested that this was no accident. Diana had other plans for
the remaining daylight, which the closeness of the cave did
nothing to prevent. I decided that the map could wait until the
next day.
Things went uneventfully after that for about a week, with
us traveling at night and sleeping during the day. However, one
evening as we were just leaving our hiding-place among the
bushes, we were surprised to hear a set of loud steps approaching
us. I signaled to Diana, and we both made ready to run or defend
ourselves as the occasion should demand, but we remained where we
were, wary of giving ourselves needlessly away. Eventually, a
pair of voices came into range, one rough and throaty, the other
light and smooth.
"By Ils's Tears, Felin, can't you walk quietly? You make
more noise than a drunk minotaur in a glass-ware shop!"
"My people don't go sneaking around in the dark like some
others I might mention! If someone hears, they hear, and I'll
deal with them. Besides, I though you were the mighty elven
Magus?"
"Don't tempt me, dwarf-girl, or I'll make your whiskers fall
out."
"You wouldn't!" the one identified as Felin yelled.
"I would, in an instant, and keep your voice down! Do you
know what would happen if they caught us?" the dwarf-maid made
no response that I could hear, but the other continued. "You
they'll kill right away, but they'll take me to their burned-and-
blasted prison, and I'd rather die than suffer that. I... shhh!"
The voice stopped, and I could picture them listening for
something. During their discourse, they had drawn quite near
where we were hiding, though after learning who they were, we
felt in no great danger. To our dismay, however, the elf snapped
quickly to the dwarf "Quick, hide!" and we heard the bushes
rustling. The pair dove into our hiding place, which gave all
four of us quite a surprise.
Fortunately, they were more frightened of whatever was
behind them than they were shocked at seeing us, and they kept
their peace. We sat staring at each other in silence, they no
doubt wondering about our cloaked figures, until finally we heard
several men, some on horseback, passing nearby. When we felt
certain that they were gone, our attentions were turned back to
each other. Diana and I were rather uncertain of how to begin,
and the elf, a young woman by her race's standards, seemed
content to remain silent. The dwarf had other ideas, however.
Unbothered by the low branches of the bushes sheltering us, she
stood and bowed.
"Hullo and well met, strangers! I'm Felin, and this is
Palas. We're on our way to the... oomph!" The dwarf stumbled
forward a bit as the elf, presumably named Palas, kicked her
shin. "Now what did you do that for?" she demanded. The elf
started chattering away, talking in a language that seemed a
little bit like birds singing. After listening for a second,
looking like she was having a little difficulty following the
speed of her companions speech, Felin started in, looking up at
the elf and shaking her finger as she talked. "Does the straw in
your head match the straw you have for hair, Palas? These people
aren't with the Republican Guard! If they were, they wouldn't be
hiding, and they most certainly wouldn't have let us hide here
while the patrol missed us! Now, if you don't want to be civil,
that's fine. You deal with magic, so people expect it of you.
My people like to be a little more polite than that. I swear,
Tur should never have made beardless women!" Finished with her
tirade, she turned once again to us. "As I was saying before I
was so rudely interrupted," she looked pointedly at her
companion, "We are heading for the prison. You see, we escaped
from a prison wagon way back on the road, and then there was this
man, and he told us that we should go this way, and that we could
free our families, and that we should be looking to find help on
the way." I was amazed that she could say all that in one
breath. "But anyway, now that you know who we are, can you tell
us about yourselves? Not to speak badly of you, since I don't
know you, and maybe you have good reasons for hiding, but it's
not polite to talk to people and not let them see your face,
except you aren't talking, so maybe it isn't impolite, do you
think?" I decided to ignore that particular issue of etiquette
for the moment, but I broke the silence anyway.
"This man, what did he look like?" The elf smiled.
"It speaks!" She mocked, "I was beginning to think you were
a pair of scarecrows someone lost!"
"Funny that straw-head here should talk about scarecrows,
huh?" The dwarf thought to interject, earning a brief scowl from
Palas.
"Be that as it may (and don't forget, Felin, I can make good
on that threat... you'd look much better without the beard!) I
would also like to see your faces, before I tell you anything.
You will, I hope, forgive a touch of paranoia, but this is the
Republic, after all." Diana glanced in my direction and I
shrugged in response. What could it hurt? We pulled back the
hoods of our cloaks, and the pair before us drew their breath in
sharply.
"Well?" I asked, "Does my face inspire confidence?"
"Actually, it does." The elf replied. "The Cleric told us
that we'd know you when we saw you, that you had a certain, how
did he put it?... unique... look to you. I can't think of
anything more singular than you."
"I choose to take that as a compliment." Diana said,
smiling.
"As it was intended, I assure you. But, to answer your
friend's question, he was a human. His hair was short and brown,
he had on a white robe, and he had a medallion, shaped like a
sunburst. That's all I can tell you. Truth be told, humans look
very similer to me. He was very vague and mysterious in the way
he spoke, if that helps." Diana and I exchanged glances.
"Actually it does. I thought we had a friend in common, but
that's not him. But never mind that now. For the moment, it
seems that we have a decision to make. I have a friend who is
imprisoned nearby. I'm almost certain that this is the same
prison your families are in. It has been our goal to liberate my
friend, and it would be wise if we were to coordinate with each
other. After all, if we got there first, and succeeded in
freeing Mikhal--that's my friend's name, by the way--your task
would be a thousandfold more difficult. Conversely, the same
would be true for us if you were to succeed first. The only way
I can see to work this is for us to work together." Felin perked
up at this suggestion, but Palas's face hardened. "However, it
would seem that you don't like that idea. I'm open to
suggestions, if you have them." I could see that Diana was going
to mention the map, but I signaled to her to not to. I wanted to
save that information for later, just in case.
Palas drew Felin aside and began chattering in that bird-
song language again, which I assumed to be elven, since the dwarf
didn't act like it was her primary language. She only got out a
few sentences before Felin stopped her, indignant.
"Tur's Beard, there you go again, being impolite. Do you
think either of them happen to speak elven? It was only an odd
coincidence you found me, a dwarf who could understand it, so
what do you think the odds are that they speak it?" Palas was
silent, yet hostile. "If you want to keep talking, say what you
have to say in Common, so we can all understand."
"Very well, and may your tunnels be forever damp you little
troll! I was just saying that we know nothing about you, and we
have no way of knowing that you're telling the truth. All we
have is the word of one human, and two... whatevers. Hardly what
I'd stake my life on."
"Understandable, I suppose," Diana said, "but as Firemane
said, what other suggestion do you have? We won't forsake our
task any more than you would forsake yours."
"I don't quite understand." I added, "What do you have to
fear from us?" Palas took my paw and held it up, pushing
slightly on my finger so that a claw extended. Her eyebrows
arched, and she just looked at me for a while. I pulled my hand
back. "All right, yes, I could just tear into you if I felt like
it, but as your friend said, if I wanted to, I'd have done it
already." I decided to try a more sympathetic approach. "Look,
I understand how you feel. You've been mistreated by people just
for who you are and how you look, and that makes it difficult to
trust people. We should know. We've both been betrayed, caged,
beaten, drugged, and generally treated like animals. We escaped
our tormentors, and we value our freedom just as highly as you
must. I'm not saying that you should trust us, but I am asking
that you give us the benefit of the doubt, so to speak." Palas
still looked hesitant.
"How do I know you're telling the truth, that you aren't
just some witch's pets? Truth, you look like..."
"Deamons?" Diana and I both finished for her simultaneously.
Palas seemed surprised that we guessed her thoughts.
"Well, yes. I've certainly never seen your like in nature,
so what else could you be?"
"We're not deamons, but don't feel too bad. It's a common
misconception. I don't know how I came to be like this, but
Diana was the result of an enchanter's revenge. It's a long
story."
"Still, how do I know you're telling the truth? Can you
prove anything you've said?" I looked at Diana, and she
reluctantly agreed. She turned around, and showed them the scars
across her back. Since our release, the scars had begun to heal
somewhat, but they were still quite vivid.
"I earned these for trying to escape, before I met Firemane.
A man named Shaloc locked us in a cage for his traveling
carnival." When Diana showed her the scars, I could see Felin
looking harshly at Palas.
"Satisfied now, straw-head? I don't know about you, but I'm
going with them. If you want to go on without them, you can go
on without me, and I'd like to see you work an escape plan by
yourself!" Palas's shoulders slumped in defeat.
"Fine then. But if I wake up dead, I'll make you wish the
Republic had found you." It was comforting to know that we
instilled so much faith in our new ally. As soon as Felin heard
Palas's assent, she was chattering away at Diana.
"Did an enchanter really turn you into a fox? Did it hurt?"
"Not really. I was asleep when it happened, so I don't
know."
"You don't know if he turned you into a fox, or if it hurt?"
"If it hurt. I'm pretty sure the enchanter did this."
"How come?"
"It's a long story."
"You have something else you need to do?" Diana sighed and
looked at me.
"Now where have I heard that before? Okay, I'll tell you
the brief version." However, with Felin asking questions every
other breath, the brief version became a full-length saga of our
mishaps, and soon the light of dawn colored the eastern sky. As
it grew lighter, we were able to see our new companions more
clearly.
Felin was fairly tall for a dwarf, coming to almost four
feet. Her beard was braided in the traditional dwarven style, as
was her hair, which was a reddish-brown. She had dark eyes,
either brown or black, I wasn't sure which. Palas on the other
hand was almost my height, with the almost-white hair and pale
skin that was characteristic of her race, which was, no doubt,
the source of many of Felin's taunts. The texture of her hair
resembled cornsilk more than straw, however. Her eyes were
purple, a strange feature, especially in an elf, who usually have
blue or green eyes. Palas was dressed for stealth, with pants,
blouse and vest in various shades of green, while Felin was
dressed in a red and yellow dress, with a bright orange cap.
About the only place she'd blend in would be a brush-fire. I
understood the source of Palas's frustration. Trying to move
quietly and not be seen with someone dressed like that, who
apparently had no concern about the noise she makes, was going to
be an interesting challenge. As things were at the moment,
however, we all decided it would be wise to sleep. It had been
an exhausting day, despite the fact that we hadn't moved from
hiding.
Thinking of that reminded me that we hadn't eaten. Diana
and I used the magical sacks, and offered them to Palas and
Felin, who eagerly accepted. They ate ravenously, although Palas
did her best to act aloof and proper during the meal, though in
truth she succeeded poorly. Judging from the way they ate, I'd
have wagered that was the first meal they'd eaten in a long
while. It was a while before they finished, and returned the
sacks to us. We put the sacks back in our packs, and Diana and I
curled up together to sleep. Our new friends were somewhat less
comfortable. One thing we didn't have with us was a blanket for
them, since neither Diana nor myself have a need for one.
Instead, we offered our cloaks, which were wide enough and thick
enough that we figured they should keep them warm. Felin thanked
Diana profusely for her cloak, which wrapped around her several
times. I could see that Palas was nearly as happy with my cloak,
but she did her best not to show it. I could see already that the
rest of our trip was going to be interesting.
That evening we set out together, although Diana and I had
to set a more moderate pace than what we were used to,
particularly in deference to Felin, who's legs simply couldn't
match our strides. After an hour of slow progress, I suggested
that, in order to make less noise, I could carry Felin on my
back, if she were willing. After some hesitance she agreed, and
we set off again at a much quicker pace.
When we stopped the next morning, I showed the map of the
prison to Felin and Palas, and we fell to discussing how to get
in. The place seemed nigh-invulnerable, until Felin pointed out
something the rest of us missed; a sewage outlet. Palas made a
few comments about that being appropriate for a dwarf, which
earned her glares from everyone. None the less, we continued
making our plans. Felin pointed out another feature; a large,
unmarked patch near the center of the second floor. Palas
snatched the map away, and began studying it intently. A short
while later, she handed the map back to me, and sat there for
several minutes in silence before she realized we were all
staring at her.
"Oh, yeah, sorry." was all she said. I growled, but let it
pass. Returning to our study of the map, we decided to enter
through the sewage outlet, which emptied into a stream a few
miles away. From there we would be in the torture facilities,
which would probably offer Felin and Palas the opportunity to
acquire weapons of some kind, which would be a great relief to
Palas, who was extremely unwilling to use her spells anywhere
near the prison.
We realized that we had a slightly larger problem to deal
with than we had first considered, since after giving the matter
a little though, we decided that none of us were willing to leave
anyone imprisoned. What had started as a small rescue was
turning into a prison revolt! Once this was unanimously accepted
(even Palas didn't have any objections, surprisingly), we decided
to systematically unlock the cells, giving us a small army of
freed prisoners. The flaw in the prison system was that they had
the front door heavily guarded, but they hadn't counted on
resistance from within, placing faith in their steel cages. It
seemed a little strange that they would have so few guards on the
basement level, which housed the first set of prisoners we
planned to free. Each hallway was only assigned two guards. If
we could work quickly enough, we could take care of anyone in the
main area, which was used primarily for executions and only had a
single guard. If we were fortunate, we could avoid meeting
anyone from the kitchen, which was, for disposal purposes, on the
opposite side of the sewage drain, and, unless we had a
spectacular string of bad luck, there shouldn't be an execution
occurring when we arrived. From the execution area, we could
take the northmost hallway, which housed male prisoners scheduled
for torture. Two guards and four of us made for quick work and
good odds.
After freeing the prisoners, we would take the southern
hall, and storm the first floor. From there, we could simply
overpower the guards by force of numbers, freeing the prisoners
as we worked our way upwards to the third floor, which housed
special prisoners of an unspecified nature. Palas looked like
she wanted to say something about our plan, but then thought
better of it. I decided that I'd had just about enough of that.
"Palas, if you have something to add, say it! I get the
feeling your holding back something. Wouldn't have anything to
do with the unmarked area on the second floor, would it?" I
could see that my guess had struck home. She had a face that was
easy to read.
"Well... it's just a guess, but I think that room is where
they work their sorceries. The prisons don't just take your
freedom. They take your soul." So Jolan was right,
unfortunately. Sorcerers added a new complication. However, we
still couldn't see any way to improve the plan, so we decided to
go ahead with it. By this time, the sun was well on it's way
through the morning sky, so we dined and lay down to sleep until
nightfall.
Our journey continued, with Felin riding and Palas being
almost constantly abrasive. Whoever called the elves the "gentle
race" obviously never traveled with Palas. I suspected there was
a reason for Palas's hard attitude, but I kept my suspicions to
myself for the moment. One morning, after a furious argument
with Felin, Palas stormed off into the woods. Diana looked over
at me, and I nodded. She slipped away to follow her, to see that
the elf didn't come to any harm. Meanwhile, I was finally left
alone with Felin. I had a few questions I wanted to ask.
"Felin, do you have any idea why Palas acts the way she
does?" Felin nodded.
"I didn't want to say anything while Palas was around--
regardless of what is said about my people, I do have some tact--
but yes. I think she's very angry, at the Republic, herself, and
pretty much the world in general come to think of it. I think
she feels responsible for her family getting arrested. Since
she's a mage she thinks that makes her twice as guilty as anyone
else. We were the only ones to escape, and I think she's still
grieving for the people who died getting her away from the prison
wagon, especially her brother. You see, the wagon tipped over,
and the latch popped open. We were chained, but they made
the mistake of hooking all of us to the same chain. Half of us
pulled one way, the other half the other, and the chain just
couldn't hold up." A smile touched the edges of her lips, "It was
inferior work, anyway. We knew the guard would come in a few
moments, and that we couldn't all escape. Of course, we would
rather have died fighting than go to one of their prisons.
Palas's brother told her to run, and he and the other elves held
the guards off while she and I escaped. I was chosen to run
because I was the youngest, and she was chosen because she had
the gift of magic, and they would have tortured her if they
caught her. I think she feels like she should have done
something to save them, like casting a spell. You already know
she couldn't do that. But she blames herself anyway, so she
hides it from herself by being mean." I had surmised that it was
something like that, but it was nice to know for sure. I decided
that the next chance I had, I'd have a small talk with Palas.
Unfortunately, the opportunity didn't come until days later.
We had been traveling all night, as usual, and we were
actually nearing our goal. Diana called Felin aside, and they
announced that they were going to see if they could find a small
cave, since we were getting close to the prison and we didn't
want to be seen. I had the distinct feeling that this was
arranged mainly to leave Palas alone with me. Whatever the
reason for the occasion, I made use of it.
"Palas?"
"What?" She snapped, defensive as ever. This wasn't going
to be easy.
"Why are you so snappy at everyone? We have done nothing
but try to help you." She turned away from me and tried to storm
off.
"Just leave me alone, Okay?" I put my paw on her shoulder
to restrain her from leaving. I wanted this over with, one way
or the other.
"Look, I know you don't want to listen, but you have to. I
can't have you running around with a chip on your shoulder and a
grudge against the world, or you're going to get us killed!" She
sneered.
"How could I get us killed?"
"Well, for starters you could keep secrets, like about the
sorcerers in the prison. That could easily get us killed. I
know that something is bothering you. Trust me, you'll feel
better if you talk about it. A secret hurt is like a cut that
heals badly; it festers in the dark, and poisons you from the
inside." I decided to take another stab in the dark. "You don't
have to feel guilty." She swung back around to face me.
"What the Hells do you know? Has your brother ever died to
save you, when you should be the one saving him?"
"No. I don't have any brothers, or sisters, or any kind of
family. Just Diana."
"Lucky you, then." She replied bitterly.
"I don't think you mean that. It's obvious you loved your
brother, and I'd say he probably loved you too. He died saving
you. That was his choice. It's not your fault that he died." I
pushed her a little too far, and she swung at me. I blocked her
punches with my arms, and she broke into a flailing frenzy. The
hits were ineffectual at best, and I stopped blocking them,
letting her get all the rage out of herself. Finally she
stopped, and stood there sobbing quietly.
"Why? Why did I have to be born a mage? For Il's sake
why?" I let her lean on me while she cried. "I am a coward!"
she cursed herself.
"No, you're very brave. You chose to live when there was
no hope of winning. And a coward would be heading as far from
this prison as possible, but you are going toward it, trying to
save others. What is more courageous and noble than that?" She
didn't answer, but continued crying. After a while, she stopped
leaning on me so much as hanging on me, and I lowered her to the
ground, where she curled up in a ball to finish her mourning. I
moved a respectful distance away, and I was soon joined by Diana
and Felin, who I believe had been watching for some time.
"Find any good caves?" I whispered to Diana, who looked
confused until she remembered the pretext she'd used to get me
and Palas alone.
"Caves? No, I don't think so. How is she?"
"I think she'll feel better after this. She was trying to
pretend to herself that she didn't feel anything." I quietly
explained about her brother. Diana nodded. Palas's heaving sobs
gradually slowed, and when I went to see if she was all right, I
found her to be asleep. Fortunately, while I doubt if they
actually looked for caves, Felin and Diana did find some shelter,
and we spent the night beneath a massive tree, hidden from view
by it's low-hanging canopy of branches. Palas, emotionally
exhausted, slept like the dead, and didn't wake when we carried
her there, although she was somewhat surprised in the morning.
The rest of us were careful to act as if nothing had happened.
Her attitude improved markedly after that, although she was still
on the defensive side and her tongue was as sharp as ever. After
that night, however, we were all a little more forgiving of her.
Late the next night we finally found the stream we were
looking for. We followed it that night and the next before we
found the drainage pipe. It was large enough for Felin to enter
without scraping her hat, but everyone else had to stoop, and in
some places crawl. Still, it was larger than I had expected.
Diana had the same thought.
"Why is it so big? Even if it does serve as the kitchen
disposal, it needn't be this large. Not that I'd want it to be
any smaller, of course!" Palas and Felin looked at each other,
and Palas said one word in explanation.
"Bodies." Then I recalled that the execution room was also
adjacent to the sewage drain, and I almost gagged. Diana looked
a little nauseated too, although being in any sort of sewage is
apt to do that for you. After crawling through about a mile of
sludge in the dark, we came to a shaft of dim light. It was the
drainage grate. The grate was a lattice of iron rods, held
closed in such a way that we couldn't reach the latch, but
fortunately we were prepared. Reaching into my pack, I pulled
out a small rod, which had a large bulb on one end and tapered to
a point at the other end. Diana had a similar device. Jolan had
briefly described how these heat wands worked. The rod burned a
liquid which had been magically prepared, which heated the tip,
also magically treated, to an amazing temperature. The wands cut
through the iron quickly and easily. The only problem was that
when we were almost done the last few bars broke, which made some
noise. We were already supporting most of the weight of the
removed piece, so after a little trouble we lowered it slowly to
the ground. We paused for a few minutes, listening for
footsteps, and praying that the breaking metal hadn't alerted the
guards. We heard nothing, so we climbed up, careful of the
cooling iron around the edges of the hole. The room was coated
everywhere with a thin layer of slime, and odious things dripped
from the ceiling, which was several feet above us.
We clustered around the door, and I reviewed the plan one
more time. Diana could run faster than I could, so she would
cross the hall to where the sentry was waiting, and she would
deal with him, while the rest of us hurried to the northern
hallway and took out those guards. This had to be done without
too much noise, and quickly. Everyone signed that they were
ready, and I opened the door.
Diana was through the door and across the room like a
crimson bolt of lightning. I hated leaving her to fight alone,
but I didn't have much choice about it. When she took off, we
ran to the side door, and smashed through it. The first guard
was right inside the door, and I killed him before he knew what
happened, resisting the urge to roar as I did so. The other
guard was farther down the corridor, but there was only one way
out, and that was where we had just come in. I could see by the
look on his face that he was going to call out, so I ran the
distance between us and pounced on him, knocking the wind out of
him and putting him on the ground. From this position I knew
exactly what to do, and soon he was dead too. I thought about
what Jolan had said about the "educated" children, and I knew I
would feel remorse for having to kill them later. For the
moment, the exhilaration of the fight surged through me, and we
rummaged through the guards' pockets to find the key. They
didn't have any keys. Sighing, I pulled out the heat wand and
was about to cut through the bars of the door, when Diana rushed
in, carrying the keys from the guard she'd killed.
Smiling gratefully, I unlocked the cell doors. The people
inside were huddled together in clumps, and it seemed they didn't
notice when I opened the door. I was, needless to say, more than
slightly puzzled.
"Hey!" I called, trying to get their attention as quietly as
possible, "We're here to free you. Come on, let's go!" They
looked at each other, muttering, and then one of them came
limping forward.
"We can't leave. You think we haven't tried to escape
before? They have our children and our wives, and they'll kill
them if we leave!"
"But we will rescue them too! We're getting everyone out of
here. All you have to do is be able to fight." The old man
laughed.
"Fight? You expect us to fight? Look at us." He sighed,
as if exhausted. "I'm tired of playing these mind-games, Deamon.
Go back and tell your masters they've won, all right? We won't
try to escape again. We know better now."
"I'm not a deamon, and we have to hurry! We need all the
help we can get if we are to get out of here alive."
"I expected a better illusion from your masters. Next time
you could try sending someone who doesn't look like a deamon."
"If we get your children for you, bring them here, then
would you go?"
"Since you are determined to torment us weather we do or
not, then yes, if you do that we will go, and you can punish us,
and we can start this whole thing over again."
"Then where are the children?"
"A nice touch. As though you didn't know. Very well, the
children are on the third level, guarded by five men. But then,
for a deamon, I don't suppose that would be a problem, would it?"
I drew back, and shut the cell door. I turned to my companions
to whisper. Now I knew why there were so few guards on this
floor.
"Okay, time for a new plan. They want the children first.
They think this is some sort of elaborate game someone is playing
with them. Let's see the map." Felin produced the map, and we
looked over it. Counting quickly, I found that there were
thirty-eight guards on the first floor alone. While I believe in
my skill as a fighter, I didn't think the four of us could take
that many. Then I noticed something. "Come on!" I said, and we
ran back to the sewage drain.
Looking up , I noticed that there were several holes in the
ceiling, from which water, along with other substances, was
dripping. "That's how we get to the first floor unnoticed. We
climb up through the sewage holes."
"If we get out of this alive, I'm going to take a bath for a
week!" Palas thought to comment. However, humor aside, we still
needed a way to get to the second floor unnoticed.
"You two," I pointed to Felin and Palas, "find yourselves
something to fight with. Take the guards' swords, if you have
to. I think you might need them." They rushed off to arm
themselves. Waiting for them to return, I began pacing.
Suddenly I stopped, struck with an inspiration. "Where's the
map?" I asked Diana.
"Felin has it." I was almost in a nervous frenzy by the
time they came back.
"Quick, let me see that map again!" They unrolled the map,
and I saw that my memory had been correct. "I see a way we can
do this! Look," I said, pointing to a place on the map, "The
lavatories on the first floor have a wall adjacent to the
stairs."
"Yeah, so?" Felin asked.
"I'm wondering if we can cut through the stones with these
fire-rods." Felin looked thoughtful.
"It's possible, depending on how thick the stone is. It
would take a little time to make a big enough hole, though." She
examined the map again, "It doesn't look like the wall is a load-
bearing member, so it should be reasonably thin." It sounded
good to me. No one had any better suggestions, so we went with
it.
I hoisted Felin over my head, allowing her to climb up
through the sewage-encrusted hole in the ceiling. Once she was
through, I sent Diana and then Palas up. Finally, they lowered a
rope for me, and I soon found the first hitch in our plan, as I
got wedged in the hole. It seemed the more I struggled to work
my way up, the more tightly I became stuck. After watching me
try to wriggle my way up, the others finally managed to help pull
me through, though I found myself agreeing with Palas about
needing a bath when we got done. Once there, we set about
burning our way through the wall. Felin proved to be correct
about the thickness of the wall, it was designed to obstruct view
rather than to support weight. We burned away the stone in
layers, until only a thin plate of stone stood between us and the
adjacent hallway. I was about to begin again at the top, when I
found my fire-rod to be fused and useless.
"Um... I think that one's used up, Firemane." Felin
observed.
"How much stone do you think is between us and the hallway?"
I asked. Felin shrugged.
"I'd say probably say a fraction of an inch. We're almost
done." I checked the other fire-rod, and found it, too, to be
fused.
"Great."
"Hey, Firemane, try giving it a good kick right in the
center. You look like you might be strong enough to knock it
through." I shrugged. It was worth a shot. I backed away from
the wall and lept, trying to simulate the flying kick I'd seen
Diana use before. I thought I saw a flicker of blue as I
impacted, and the wall shattered. I continued sailing through,
and grunted as I hit the far side of the hall.
"I said give it a good kick, not jump through it!" Felin
exclaimed, "They probably heard that all the way in Ver!"
"Yeah, well, I guess I don't know my own strength," I said,
picking myself off the floor. "Diana?" I looked over to her and
she nodded, showing me that she had the flash-powder ready for
our trip upstairs.
We rushed up to the second floor, but found it completely
deserted. We were puzzled by this, but didn't feel like pushing
our luck, especially since this was where, if Palas was correct,
the sorcerers conducted their experiments. When we felt ready,
we climbed almost to the third floor, staying just out of sight
of the guards above. I looked one last time to be certain that
we were ready. Palas and Felin had their new weapons drawn, a
light, thin sword for Palas and a fair-sized hatchet for Felin.
Diana just nodded, and I knew we were ready. Diana flung her
pouch of flash-powder upward, and we shielded our eyes. When we
heard the pained cries of the blinded gaurds, we attacked.
Diana and I launched ourselves upward, so that we both
cleared the landing with momentum to spare. Palas and Felin
followed after us, but by the time they arrived we were already
in the midst of combat. Through pure viciousness I got through
the first one's guard, while Diana took another by surprise with
her favorite attack, a quick bite to the throat. A third managed
to give me a light slash across my chest before I twisted his
head to let him look at his heels. Palas took the fourth, who
was too busy fighting Diana to notice the new arrivals. After
that, the fifth was hardly worth mentioning. Searching through
the bodies, I found the keys for these cages, and I unlocked the
children. However, like their parents below, they didn't move.
"You are free, children. Come with us, and we will take you
to see your parents." The largest of the children, who couldn't
have been more than nine or ten years old, spoke in a quavering
voice.
"You mean you aren't going to eat us?" I actually laughed.
"No, I won't eat you, and neither will anyone else. We're
here to free you, and take you to your parents." Unfortunately,
I still had no idea as yet how to go about doing that. We only
had about an hour before the guards' shift ended, which would
mean the bodies would be discovered. The children, less afraid
of us than of staying where they were, rushed out of the cages.
One of them, a small elf child, cried out.
"Palas!" Palas saw him and pushed her was over to him.
"Gimthil? What have they done to you?"
"What do you mean?" I asked, "He looks well enough to me."
Palas looked over to me, with shock radiating from her eyes.
"Firemane, when I last saw Gimthil, he was older than I am.
If I hadn't recognized his voice, I wouldn't have known it was
him." Gimthil nodded.
"They are playing with dangerous magics here. On the second
floor you will find a central room, which is where they do most
of their experiments. Inside there is a glass sphere, on a
tripod. This sphere is one of the ten Scrys, and it is what they
use to project their spells across the area. If you move that,
it will nullify the spells detecting magic, so Palas and the
others can use their powers freely again."
"How many guard this thing?"
"No guards, but several sorcerers. They are the ones who
did this to me. They wanted to see if they could make a
rejuvenation spell work on an immortal creature. They have some
crazy idea about catching unicorns." I turned to Palas.
"Palas, what kind of magic do you know? Anything that would
help us?" She nodded enthusiastically.
"Yes! I studied many types of magic. My spells are mostly
illusions, but they are potent. I could cloak all of us in
shadow, or fog, or simply make us practically invisible."
"Invisible would do nicely. All right, the children hide in
the Officer's chambers, which are right next to the Warden's
offices, so you must be very quiet. Meanwhile, we'll try to deal
with the sorcerers. Okay?" Everyone nodded. "Good, let's go."
We managed to get the children quietly into the guest
chambers, which were fortuitously empty and unlocked. Next, we
tried to find an entrance to the central area, but there was no
door in sight. Felin found the entrance a few minutes later,
when she stopped to examine an odd deformation in the wall. As
she pushed on it, a door slid open. We dashed in.
Inside we found, just as Gimthil had indicated, a glowing
ball situated on a tripod. We also found several black-robed
men, whom I presumed to be sorcerers, surrounding the globe,
their attentions focused on a poor wretch chained to the wall.
They hadn't noticed our arrival, so intent were they on their
evil business. I motioned for Diana to swing around one side and
Palas the other, so as to flank them.
"Let's see what happens when we remove that part." The lead
one said, and a beam of purple light lanced out of the globe and
into the forehead of the chained man. The man gave a blood-
chilling shriek, and collapsed, his limbs jerking and his face
twitching. "Interesting." He leaned slightly towards the
sorcerer standing next to him. "Make a note of that. I don't
imagine that this one will be of any more use to us. Have
someone bring us another." I crept up behind him, and wrapped my
arms around his neck. With a quick jerk and a sick snapping
noise, he fell to the ground. The others turned towards me, no
doubt readying their spells, when two more died suddenly,
attacked from behind. Then Felin, whom they had failed to
notice, ran back out the door, carrying the glass ball in her
arms. The four remaining sorcerers pulled back into a corner,
three of them defending the fourth while he prepared his spells.
We fought viciously, but they were quick to throw minor magic at
us, which held us off briefly. However, since we didn't allow
them time to cast anything major, we were slowly gaining ground.
Felin returned, and drew her ax. Taking stock of the situation,
she threw the ax straight at the sorcerer in the corner, just as
he was finishing his spell.
Suddenly I lost the urge to fight. Who was I kidding,
anyway? These were sorcerers, masters of dark magic! I was no
match for them, none of us were. We were all going to die, and
it would be my fault for leading us there. The three remaining
figures began taking on larger and larger proportions in my mind.
I saw them now as twelve-foot tall patches of midnight, their
eyes burning red, their faces nightmarish landscapes. I fell to
my knees before them.
"Firemane? Firemane, are you all right?" I looked over at
Diana, who was speaking. Suddenly I saw that it wasn't Diana.
It was a giant crimson ghoul, with large, dagger-like teeth, who
was waiting to destroy me. I looked to Palas for help, to find
her also changed. She was still an elf, but she burned from
within with a terrible light. She turned to me, and I could feel
the hatred pounding upon me from her eyes. Felin had degenerated
into a troll, and was laughing sadistically at my misery. I
began to see that I was going to die, that I had been betrayed,
and that there was no hope. Deep within me, the chill of terror
became a flame of rage. I vowed that if I was to die, at least
one would die with me. I chose my target, and I attacked, my
jaws split in a vast and mighty roar!
The sorcerer I landed on died seconds later, bleeding from a
hundred cuts. Realizing that I was still alive, for the moment,
I turned to the next one, my fear momentarily eclipsed by the
fury. After he fell moments later, I began to laugh. They were
dying too easily. I wanted more. I turned my attention to the
third, and I leapt full force at him, caving his chest in against
the wall, killing him before I could even begin to hurt him.
Finally, having no more sorcerers to kill, I turned to my other
opponents.
To my surprise, Diana was her normal beautiful self, Felin
was a dwarf again, and Palas no longer glowed. Utterly exhausted
and confused, I collapsed, darkness washing away my sight and
consciousness.
When Diana revived me I found myself lying in a bed, the
fighting over and victory achieved. I asked her what had
happened.
"After you killed the sorcerers, which I'll talk to you
about later, Palas was able to use her magic. We hid you under
the bed in the guest chambers, which was fortunately long enough
to cover all of you. We took the children downstairs, under the
cover of an invisibility spell, which quite nearly exhausted
Palas. However, her magic held until we reached the torture
chambers, where we had to kill the other two guards, who had
discovered the bodies of the others. We didn't make too much
noise doing that, so without any more trouble we freed the
prisoners, first male and then female. They were a touch more
grateful this time, although they still suspected it was a trick.
Palas asked them if they'd rather die fighting, or from torture
and sorcerery, and they were more enthusiastic after that. We
stormed up to the first floor, this time without the benefit of
invisibility, and the prisoners, who had armed themselves with
anything they could get their hands on, began tearing into the
guards, who immediately called for help.
"With them keeping the guards busy, Palas was able to use
her magic to unlock the doors to some of the holding cells, which
gave us some reinforcements. The prisoners in the holding cells
were much healthier than those from below, and the fight soon
turned in our favor. Several of the stronger men piled the dead
in front of the entrance gate, and held it shut against those
outside. After the dozen or so guards inside had been taken care
of, we unlocked the rest of the cells, freeing elves, dwarves,
and even an ogre. The ogre was surprisingly nice, considering.
After that, we divided into two groups. One group went upstairs
to secure the second floor, and the other, larger group worked on
getting us out, since we would have a hard time leaving through
the sewers. You should have seen Palas, Firemane! She was at
the head of the attack, shouting war-cries and rallying people
around her, when she wasn't throwing spells, that is. She used
what little power she had left to create an illusion doubling our
numbers, which terrified the guards. Most of them just turned
and ran, or tried to surrender. I'm afraid the prisoners refused
to hear any talk of surrender, and those who tried were killed on
their knees.
"Meanwhile, Felin led the other group upstairs, where they
took the guard's quarters, catching many of the guards literally
with their pants down. After that, they raided the armory, and
took the Warden prisoner. The battle went well, for both groups,
but we still lost many of the prisoners. However, we control the
prison now, so I count us lucky."
"Did Palas and Felin find their families?" Just talking
seemed an effort.
"Yes. It was quite a reunion. You should have been there."
"Yes, I should have. Why.." She silenced me by putting her
paw over my mouth.
"Not yet, I haven't finished. We figure that the guards who
fled will report this, and that there will be an army on it's way
in a few weeks. The prisoners have a choice. They can come with
us, and head for Cosan, or they can stay here and try to defend
the prison. Now that they're free, some of them are reluctant to
leave. Palas is among those who want to stay."
"What? Why?"
"Probably the chance to strike back at the Republic. But
there is something else I need to tell you Firemane. Mikhal
isn't here."
"Jolan lied again?"
"No, Mikhal was here, several of the prisoners knew him.
They executed him a few weeks ago, just after we set out." I
closed my eyes and let my head fall back. "There is more bad
news, I'm afraid." I opened my eyes again.
"What?"
"Well, what happened with the sorcerers was this. Right as
Felin killed him, one of the sorcerers hit you with a Terror
spell. You started moaning that we were going to die, and then
you fell to your knees. I asked if you were all right, and you
jerked back from me. You looked at Palas and winced, like the
sight of her was hurting you, and you just sort of slumped, like
you were giving up. I wanted to come to you, but the sorcerers
were keeping me a bit busy, and you didn't seem to want me near
you. After you sat there for a little while, you stood up, and
started growling. You got that wild look in your eyes, and you
started roaring, louder than I've ever heard you roar before.
You jumped onto one of the sorcerers, who tried throwing magic at
you. All his spells stopped just short of you, and you were
surrounded with blue energy, like you were before you blasted
Jolan. Both of the other sorcerers were concentrating their
magic on you, but it just rolled off of you like water. You
killed them both, smashing the last one to death against the
wall. The blue glow around you faded, and you looked at me and
fainted. That was when we brought you in here. After we had the
prison secured, I came up here, and put you on the bed instead of
under it."
"And the bad news is?"
"Firemane, move your arms." I tried, but they felt too
heavy. "Now try your legs." With effort, I could move my toes,
barely, but that was it. "I've been talking to Palas, who thinks
she knows what happened. You first overcame the Terror spell,
then you generated a magical shield around yourself, using energy
you hadn't built up fully yet from the last time you used it.
You're in a state of magical exhaustion. Your body is forcing
you to rest while it recovers."
"So I can't move anything? For how long?"
"Not for a week, perhaps two. It depends on how fast your
body collects energy. If it makes you feel better, Palas is
going through something similar. She cast a few too many
spells."
"Is she all right?"
"She'll be fine, but she's asleep, and I don't expect her to
wake up until sometime late tomorrow."
"But... what will I do? I can't move, and we need to
leave." Diana smiled sweetly.
"Firemane, remember right after we escaped?"
"Yes, of course."
"Remember how you took care of me while I was sick?"
"Yes.." I said, not liking much where this was headed.
"Well, now it's my turn to repay the favor."
"But that was different!"
"How?" I couldn't think of an answer, so I just lay back,
resigned to my fate.
"That doesn't answer my question, though. How do we get out
of here, if I can't move?"
"That's easy. Like the prisoners, we have a choice. We can
stay here, or I can carry you out of here."
"I'm afraid I weigh a bit too much for you to carry me
anywhere, dear."
"I thought of that. That's why I've enlisted some help.
There are several people who have already decided to leave. We
can go with them. Wait, there's someone who wanted to speak with
you." She left, and invited someone in. The person she invited
in was an elf. His face was somewhat angular and drawn, but he
seemed familiar.
"Hello, Firemane. I am Palas's father, Silphas. I wish to
thank you, for saving my daughter. She has told me many good
things about you. Secondly, I wish to thank you for saving the
rest of us. You have brought us hope, where there was none
before." He bowed. "My daughter has expressed a desire to stay.
I was hoping that you could convince her to go with you. I have
suggested already that you will have need of an experienced mage,
to help you through the trials ahead of you. Those who stay here
are going to die. They know that. That is one of the reasons
they choose to stay, because the lives they had were stolen from
them by the Republic. Their need for revenge surpasses their
will to survive. That is their choice. I do not want that to be
the fate of my daughter, though. Please, I beg of you, do this
for me. You have her respect in a way that I do not." I nodded,
as well as I was able, and said I would do what I could. Bowing
once again, he left. Smiling, Diana told me that she had asked
that we be given these quarters for the rest of our stay, and she
lay down beside me, which was quite frustrating.
"Blastit, I want to touch you!" I complained to Diana, who
nodded sympathetically. She pulled my head into her lap, as I
was accustomed to do for her early in the morning, just after
waking.
"I'm so sorry, Firemane. I wish I could help you, but I
can't. Besides, you look like you need to sleep." She was
right, of course, I was having trouble keeping my eyes open, but
that didn't change things. I started to mention this, but she
shushed me and began slowly stroking my mane. Under this tender
treatment, I was soon asleep, despite my best intentions
otherwise.
I woke up late the next day, and was surprised to find that
I couldn't get out of bed. Then I recalled why, and looked
around for Diana. She was sitting beside me, waiting for me to
wake up. Diana took my paw in hers, and we sat there like that
for some time. Finally, I broke the silence.
"Well, what now? I can't move, but I still need something
to do, or I'm going to go out of my mind with boredom."
"Well, you could always talk to me."
"All right, and after that, then what? What can you do when
you can't move?"
"You could always read something, or I could tell you more
about history, or you could tell stories to the children, or... I
could tickle you!" She began digging her paws into my ribs.
When that didn't elicit a response, she tried my toes. She sat
back, pouting.
"Sorry, dearest, I don't think I'm ticklish. And, well, I
can't read something."
"Why not?"
"I can't read. Mikhal couldn't, and I didn't exactly have
anywhere else to learn from."
"Well then, that solves the problem right there." I gave her
a puzzled glance.
"How so?"
"I know how to read, and I'll teach you. It's not that
hard, and it'll pass the time."
"All right." I paused, "But not right now."
"Don't be silly. I have at least a week to teach you."
"Thanks for reminding me, I..." I stopped as we heard a
knock at the door. Diana got up to answer it, and ushered Palas
in.
"My father says you want to talk to me?"
"Yes. Come here, where I can see you more easily." She
moved to stand next to the bed. "Palas, please come with us.
You know more about what's wrong with me than anyone, and I need
all the help I can get right now." Asking for help like that
stuck in my throat a bit, but it was for a good cause. "Besides,
why should you stay here?"
"I want to stay and help them fight." A bloodthirst lit her
face that would have done a vampire proud. "The Republic must be
made to pay for what it's done to us."
"You mean you want to stay and die. Ask anyone who's
staying, they know they're going to die. As your father said,
that's why they're staying. I told you once before that you're
brave. We all know you have the courage to die. Do you also
have the courage to live?" I could see that my question struck
home.
"You're right, Firemane. I don't want to keep living. I'm
an elf. Unless something kills me, I will live forever, and I'll
always have the pain of his death with me. And my friends like
you, the non-elves, I get to watch them grow old and die, too.
Why not die now, and spare myself that agony?"
"So you are sorry you have friends? Sorry that you knew
your brother, and that he loved you?" She looked shocked.
"No, of course not!"
"Then why mourn now? Missing people when they're gone is
the price you pay for having friends, the price you pay for
loving. You must ask yourself if it is worth the price. Grieve
for his death, but not to the point that it makes you afraid to
live! Think of all the other things there are in life. Yes,
there is pain. There will always be pain. Great Gaia, look at
me! I can't even get out of this bed! But I know that life is
worth living, because the joys of life outnumber the sorrows, and
if they don't, you can do something about it. You think that by
sacrificing yourself, you're going to make a difference to the
Republic? You won't. If you want to strike back at the
Republic, there are better ways, more effective ways. You don't
have to be a martyr! You can live. Come with us, please!" She
sighed, but finally agreed.
"All right, but only because you need me, and I promise I'm
going to make a nuisance of myself every step of the way." This
inspired me to laugh.
"So what else is new? Thank you, Palas." She broke into a
smile for a few moments, before her melancholy caught up with
her, and Diana showed her out again.
"Now where were we?" she asked.
"I believe you were going to teach me to read." Her face
brightened.
"Okay, look." She snatched up a nearby sheet of parchment,
and rummaged around looking for a pen. She located a writing
desk, and pulled it over near the bed. She hastily began
writing, and when she was done she brought the parchment over,
and showed it to me. She pointed to the first mark. "This is
Aye. It's the first letter..."
A few days later, I had grasped the basics of the alphabet.
It's surprisingly easy to learn when you have absolutely nothing
else to do. However, preparations for our departure where
finished by then, and we left the prison, with me being carried
on a stretcher. Both Palas and Felin volunteered to help carry
me, and the three of us kept up a fair conversation the entire
time. We had with us a few elves related to Palas, including her
father, and some of Felin's relatives as well. Before setting
out, it was decided that those leaving would do so in small
groups, in different directions, at different times, to confuse
any pursuit that might be mounted later. All the groups had the
same goal; the Cosan border. Once our group reached it, Diana
and I could simply teleport away, but we had decided instead to
stay with Palas and Felin as far as possible. We didn't have
many good friends in the world, and we wanted to keep near these
as long as possible. Meanwhile, during our stops, Diana showed
me more about how to read, how the letters of the alphabet were
combined to form words, and then simple sentences.
On our third night out, I managed to sit up on the
stretcher. By the end of the day I was able to weakly move all
of my limbs, but Palas made me stop and rest.
"You'll wear yourself out doing that now. Trust me, you
don't want to prolong this, do you?" I shook my head. "You're
lucky, though. Your reaction to exhaustion is better than most."
"How do you mean?"
"I was almost afraid to come up to see you at first.
Different people react differently to the recovery process. For
you, your body forces you to rest. At least you keep you sanity.
I wasn't so lucky."
"You? This happened to you?"
"Once, yes. I was fighting a trio of sorcerers who wanted
to take me into custody. I beat them, which is one of the
reasons my family was arrested. But I cast a few spells too
many, and some of them were beyond the level I could safely cast
at the time. And then, too, one of them got me with a draining
spell. I managed to kill the last two with a spell called
Polaris Strike, which moves the heat of one person to the body of
another person, leaving one of the sorcerers frozen and the other
in flames. However, doing so took up too much energy, and I
collapsed just as you did. My reaction to the depletion was a
bit more humiliating."
"How so?"
"Well, I woke up a month later, with my brother holding me.
He told me that I'd been acting like a child of ten for the past
four weeks."
"Well, I could see where that would be embarrassing, but
surely it wasn't that bad?" She just looked at me for a few
moments, then shook her head in exasperation.
"You don't understand, and I don't feel like telling you.
Ask Diana, if you like."
"All right. Thank you, Palas. I know it sounds strange,
but I feel better now."
"No, it's not that strange. I was a bit shocked after I
woke up, too, but fortunately the mage who taught me lived not
far from the village, although nobody would tell you that if you
asked, not in the Republic," A bitter note crept into her voice
as she mentioned the Republic, "And he told me a story about a
friend who had a similar reaction. Except his friend thought he
was a dog for three weeks. After that, I felt better too. I
guess you just feel better hearing that someone else is more
miserable than you are." She bent closer, to whisper in my ear.
"And if you ever tell that story to anyone else--not counting
Diana--especially an elf, I'll never forgive you. Just because I
accepted the fact that it happened and I couldn't help it doesn't
mean I have to like it, understand?" I nodded, and she turned to
walk away. She stopped after a couple of steps, and looked back
at me. "Thank you, Firemane."
"Thank me? For what?"
"For being nice to me, even when I was acting like a fool.
For not letting me kill myself. For saving my family. You don't
know how much that means to me. Goodnight." And she walked
away.
A short while later, Diana came to see me again. I told her
about the conversation I had with Palas. She listened, and
stifled back her laughter towards the end.
"What's so funny? Is there something I've missed?"
"Firemane, elves are immortal. They age differently."
"Yeah, so?"
"So a child of ten for an elf is a lot less mature than a
child of ten for a human. Elven infancy lasts for about seven
years, so ten is fairly young." Now I could see why Palas didn't
want me to tell anyone. "It could be worse. You should hear
about fairy life-cycles!" Then she kissed me and lay down next
to me to sleep through the day.
The next morning, I rose for the first time in a week. I
promptly managed to fall, but fortunately Palas had warned Diana
to expect this, so I was caught before I hit the ground. I
returned to the stretcher, pleased with my recovery. Palas was
predicting that I would be more or less recovered in a couple of
days, although I should refrain from any sort of activity
requiring large amounts of energy. She looked pointedly at
Diana, and cleared her throat. I got the idea.
The next day I was well enough to walk around camp, although
I was tired afterward. Everyone commented how pleased they were
that I was getting better. Felin agreed.
"You're too blasted heavy!" she laughed. It was good to
know that everyone cared so much. Things were going well in
other quarters as well. There was no sign of pursuit, and even
burdened with carrying me, we were making good time.
Even though I was no longer immobile, the reading lessons
continued, and not just for me. Several of our group wanted to
learn to read Eol Common, since they only know how to read their
own languages. I had soon more or less mastered the basics of
reading, and since I could move again, Diana decided that I
should also learn to write. She soon had me tracing letters in
the ground with a stick. Diana and Palas both commented on how
quickly I learned to read, and how fast I was learning to write.
I thought that was strange myself. It was like I already knew,
but needed help remembering.
After that, I walked with everyone else, although we would
occasionally have to halt while I rested. It was frustrating to
be that weak, especially for me. However, day by day my strength
was returning to me, and within another week I was back to my old
self again, which was quite a relief to me. I had begun to fear
that my strength would never return fully.
After that, things went a bit faster, since I was no longer
slowing things down. In fact, I started making it a point to
carry someone on my back every day, which the dwarves,
particularly Felin, found to be wondrous fun. Silphas spoke for
most of the elves in declining, saying that they had a certain
dignity to maintain. Palas shot me a warning look at that, but I
said nothing. A few days later we arrived in Cosan, and there
was much rejoicing. Even I was glad to be out of the Republic,
and I had only been visiting. After another day of traveling, we
came to a small village. Palas's father led the group to ask for
some sort of shelter for the rest of the night. We had decided
to switch to traveling during the day, now that we were no longer
in hostile territory.
Silphas knocked on the door of the local constable, and
asked for shelter, explaining who he was and where he had come
from, as briefly as possible. The constable was more than happy
to offer them shelter. He gave them the use of a barn a short
distance outside of town. Palas thanked him, and turned to talk
to me. He was rather surprised to find that I wasn't with him.
Diana and I were watching from a distance, just outside of town,
where the constable couldn't see us. Silphas looked around
worriedly to find us. When he looked in our direction, I waved
to him, and he walked over to us, seeing that we would not come
to him.
"Firemane, what is wrong?"
"Nothing, Silphas, but we thought it would be wise if we
weren't present when you spoke to the constable. People in Cosan
don't have much trouble liking elves and dwarves, but Diana and I
are usually accused of being deamons. Even Palas made that
mistake. We didn't want to make things harder for you."
"Nonsense, my friend! Come, they are letting us stay in a
barn. Just think, we get to sleep on warm straw tonight! After
sleeping on a prison cot, this is quite a welcome improvement."
He led the others through town to the barn, but Diana and I went
around and met him on the other side. He didn't seem to
understand why we were so secretive, but he didn't argue about
it. The barn was rather nice, and sleeping with Diana on the
warm straw was very pleasant.
The next day we decided to part company. Diana and I were
returning to the tower, and the rest wanted to head north, to one
of the larger cities. Palas and Felin surprised us by asking to
come with us.
"You want to come with us? Why?"
"Well, I'm a mage, and adventure is in my nature. Staying
around you won't get boring any time soon, and it's not like I
have something better to do. Besides," she said, getting more
serious, "You've been the best friends I've ever had. I don't
want to leave you just yet."
"Felin?"
"Hey, someone has to remind straw-head here to lace her
shoes. And, well, you're my friends too." Neither of us could
think of any objections, nor did we wish to, so we agreed.
Silphas kept his farewells short, telling Palas to keep her
shoulders straight and her head up.
"My dear, I leave you in good company." He smiled. "Just
see that you stay there, all right?" She nodded, and he left to
organize the others. The four of us gathered that afternoon to
set off together.
"Well, Firemane, looks like it's back to the tower again."
"Looks like it. I just hope Jolan doesn't mind us bringing
friends with us."
As it happened, however, Jolan didn't mind. In fact, he was
counting on it.
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