James watches as Lord Pytherian begins moving toward the entrance of the building. He calls out to guards in the area who fall into line behind him. The men he’d come from the castle with begin to follow him as well, but he pauses a moment to talk with them. When he again moves toward the building, they remain in the courtyard. Once he’s moved out of view, James goes over to a chair near Councilman Rillian and sags into it.
Jiron moves over to Fifer and attempts to bring him back to consciousness with little success. The throbbing from the bolt in his shoulder flares up periodically as he moves around.
From where he sits in his chair, James glances over to the councilman and is amazed at how calm he appears. “Aren’t you worried?” he asks him.
“Not especially,” he says. “You are the trespassers. You’re the ones who’ve spilled blood this night, not I.”
“But you lured us here and drugged us,” James accuses.
“It’s your word against mine,” he tells him. “And who are the people here going to believe?”
Just then, the beating upon the invisible wall blocking the doorway stops. James turns his attention to the doorway and watches as the men there put the bench down and begin backing away.
Lord Pytherian appears in front of the doorway and James removes the invisible barrier. “It’s clear now, milord,” James tells him.
Nodding, Lord Pytherian glances to his right and says, “Let no one in.”
A muffled reply could be heard. As he steps into the room, two guards take position in front of the shattered doorway. James can see Councilman Rillian’s guards standing in the hallway looking anxiously within the room.
“I want these men arrested!” demands the councilman. He indicates his dead underling lying in a pool of blood as he continues, “They killed my servant and tied me here. They were just about to begin torturing me when my men arrived.”
Lord Pytherian looks from the dead body, to Councilman Rillian and then to James. He moves over and begins to untie the councilman.
“What’re you doing milord?” exclaims James as he comes to his feet. “He’s a traitor to Madoc. He lured us here, drugged us, and was about to begin questioning us about who knows what before Jiron here showed up and foiled the whole thing.”
“Surely you’re not going to take the word of this thief and murderer, are you?” Councilman Rillian asks once Lord Pytherian has untied him. Coming to his feet, he adds, “I want them executed right now for what they’ve done here!”
“You know the law as well as anyone, Councilman,” Lord Pytherian says. “No one is to be executed until duly tried.”
“This is outrageous!” cries the councilman. “Then I demand them to stand before the council first thing tomorrow.” He stares at Lord Pytherian and says, “I want them locked in the dungeon where they can’t get away.”
“As you wish, Councilman,” Lord Pytherian says. Turning to the guards at the door, he says, “Come in here and take these men to the palace dungeons.”
Eight guards enter the room with their swords drawn and take James, Jiron and Fifer into custody. One of the guards slings Fifer over his shoulder.
James glares at Lord Pytherian and says, “But we rescued you! How can you do this?”
“I have no authority in civil matters,” he explains. “Councilman Rillian here is one of the ruling body of Madoc, he has the right in this matter.” Nodding to a guard, he says, “Take them away.”
“But we have proof! Miller is holding a man who works for him,” he says, indicating the councilman. “He’ll explain everything!”
“We’ll see,” Lord Pytherian replies. To the guard, he says, “Go ahead.”
“Yes, milord,” the guard says. Then to his prisoners, he says, “You heard his lordship, move.”
The guards follow as James and Jiron leave the room. Just as they begin to move down the hallway, they hear Councilman Rillian begin yelling at Lord Pytherian.
Down the hallway and then to the bottom of the stairs they’re led. When they exit the building, the crowd of people in the courtyard parts, allowing them to pass through to the castle.
James is trying to understand what just happened. He was sure Lord Pytherian would’ve believed them and been on their side. Strange things indeed must be afoot.
“James, can you get us out of this?” Jiron whispers as he leans closer to him.
“Too tired,” he replies quietly. “By morning, who knows?”
“Quiet you two!” orders the nearest guard.
They can hear Fifer groan from where he’s being carried by one of the guards, the drug must be beginning to wear off.
The front gates of the castle are twenty foot high and twice that wide. The classic moat runs around the outside with a drawbridge allowing access over it. As they cross the drawbridge, James notices a strong, iron portcullis hanging above them that would be dropped in emergencies, effectively blocking the entrance to the castle.
A forty foot tunnel leads from the gates to the inner courtyard. No doors lead from it, but there are arrow slits in the walls where defenders could fire upon any attackers caught in the tunnel. Above the tunnel, the ceiling contains holes, murder holes, where defenders could rein down rocks or burning oil to cost the attacker’s dearly.
At the end of the tunnel hangs another portcullis, similar to the one at the other end. Exiting the tunnel, they enter the inner courtyard of the castle, itself designed as a killing ground. Only two sets of doors lead out of it and they’re lead to the one on the right.
Once through the double doors, they proceed down a long corridor past several other closed doors before coming to a flight of steps leading down. The lead guard takes a torch that is burning in a wall sconce and begins descending the steps. James and Jiron follow close behind with the rest of the guards, the one carrying Fifer bringing up the rear.
The stair winds its way down until finally opening on a large room with cells on both sides. “This way,” the guard leading them says as he continues on toward the end where he opens one of the cell doors and directs them to enter.
The light from the torch illuminates a sizeable cell with several benches situated about the floor. He finds it empty, much to his relief.
Jiron follows him in and then the guard carrying Fifer comes and lays him on one of the benches. Then they proceed to remove all their weapons, Jiron looks like he’s ready to protest when they remove his knives but stands passively as they take them.
Once all their weapons have been removed, the guards leave the cell, closing the door behind them. They then proceed from the room in silence, taking the weapons with them. As they move up the stairs, the light from the torch gets dimmer and dimmer until they’re finally in total black again.
Light suddenly flares up as James’ orb springs to life in the palm of his hand. “I thought you were too tired?” asks Jiron.
“I am, but this is fairly easy to do,” replies James. “How’s the shoulder?”
“Hurts,” he replies. “I think the blood has finally stopped oozing out.”
James gets up and moves over to Fifer who’s beginning to groan once again. “Fifer!” he says as he sits next to him. Holding the orb close, he can see his eyes are open. “Can you hear me?” he asks him.
Fifer nods his head and says weakly, “Yeah.”
James helps him to sit up and has to hold him steady as he’s still not completely over the effects of the drug and it’s messing up his equilibrium.
“Where are we?” he asks.
“In the dungeon under the castle,” replies Jiron.
“What?” he exclaims. “How?”
James proceeds to relate the events since he woke up back on the couch. Fifer’s eyes widen when he hears the accusations being brought against them. “That’s absurd!” he cries out, the glow from the orb accentuating the anger on his face.
“We know that, and you can bet Councilman Rillian knows it too,” James explains. “But he’s just covering up his own hand in all this, at our expense.”
“What about that one eyed guy?” Jiron asks. “That one Miko mentioned?”
“We’ve got to get word somehow to Lord Pytherian about him,” says James. “Before it’s too late.”
James moves over to Jiron and takes a closer look at the bolt sticking out of his shoulder. “Can’t leave that in there to fester,” he says.
“I know,” he replies. “You better pull it out.”
“But we have nothing to close it with,” counters James.
“What choice do we have,” says Jiron. “It’s got to come out.”
“Alright,” agrees James as he gets in position to pull it out. Just before he takes hold of the bolt, the stairwell begins to lighten up again and the sound of approaching footsteps can be heard. He takes his hand away as they all turn to see who is coming.
Lord Pytherian, along with another man bearing a bag and a torch, move into the room. They come and stand before their cell.
James glares at him from where he’s sitting next to Jiron.
“I believe you,” Lord Pytherian tells him. “Go ahead,” he says to the man with him who produces a key and opens the cell door.
“He’s a healer,” he tells them. “He’s here to remove the bolt from your shoulder, Jiron.”
James gets up to make room for the healer. He then goes over to Lord Pytherian and asks, “If you believe us, why are we here?”
“You must understand,” he explains, “I have no authority in civil matters. Councilman Rillian is a very powerful member of the council with many friends. I could not side against him, it would’ve created severe problems we can ill afford with that army sitting on our doorstep.”
A muffled cry escapes Jiron as the healer pulls out the bolt. They glance over to him as he begins sewing the wound closed. Fifer is there giving the healer a hand.
“But we have proof,” insists James. “One of his agents is being held by Miller at an inn.”
“One man’s word still wouldn’t be enough,” he says. “If the enemy should launch an assault now, it’s all we could do to simply withstand it. I cannot afford to have a rift in the council, as that would surely happen if this is brought to light.”
“But he could be your biggest danger!” James exclaims.
“I know,” he says. “But as long as the illusion is held, his men will fight in the city’s defense should it become necessary. I don’t think he’d turn on us outright unless he thought it would be to his benefit or if he had no choice. As surely would happen if we pressed this matter.” Pausing for a moment, he then adds, “If he turns too soon, then everyone on the council will turn against him. He can’t afford that right now so I believe he will attempt to sustain the illusion of his patriotism as long as possible.”
“I see,” replies James. “What do you plan to do?”
“Keep an eye on him,” he explains. “Because of your outburst back there, he now knows I know. That will make it harder to discover his plans, but not impossible.”
“Don’t you have the alliance for support?” asks Jiron, joining the conversation. He’s a little pale but the wound is stitched closed.
“Some remain,” he replies. “I’ve sent riders after the others that have left, but how soon they’ll return is anyone’s guess.”
“There’s an agent from the Empire here in the city,” James tells him. “A one eyed man named Korgan. He was instrumental in opening the gates of the City of Light the night it fell.”
Nodding, he says, “My agents have reported seeing the man in the company of Councilman Rillian on several occasions. But they didn’t know who he was. If we can find him, then we could possible lay charges before the council.”
“How are you going to do that?” Jiron asks.
“Not me, you,” he replies.
“Us?” asks James incredulously. “How are we to do that from in here?”
“You’re not,” he states. “You’re leaving here right now.”
“But you told Councilman Rillian that you were going to lock us up,” Jiron says. “You’re not going to go back on your word are you?”
“I said I’d lock you up,” he replies with a smile. “And I’ve done that. I never agreed to how long I would keep you here.”
The healer comes to Lord Pytherian and says, “The wound is clean but will take a while to heal.”
“Thank you,” he says, taking the torch away from him. “On your way out, can you ask Henri to come in?”
“Yes, milord,” the healer replies. Giving Lord Pytherian a slight bow, he begins walking toward the stairs. Shortly after the healer leaves the room, a guard enters and comes over to them.
“Yes, milord?” Henri asks.
“I want you to assist them to get out of the castle and into the city without them being seen,” he tells him. “And make sure we return their weapons, they may need them.”
Giving him a bow, Henri turns to the prisoners and says, “Follow me.”
“How are we to get in touch with you?” James asks.
“Henri here will be at the north gate,” he says. “He’ll get you in to see me.”
“Okay,” says James as they move to follow Henri from the room. He glances back to Lord Pytherian when they get to the stairs and sees him standing there by the cell, the light from the torch creating a circle of light about him. Then he turns to follow Henri from the room.
The other guards who had escorted them here are waiting at the top of the stairs. They return their weapons to them, Jiron is mighty happy to have his knives back. “Is there anything else you need before we leave?” Henri asks.
“Actually,” begins James, “a mirror would be most helpful.”
“A mirror?” Henri asks. “What do you need with that?”
“Just do,” replies James. “Can you get me one?”
“Shouldn’t be a problem,” he says. He nods to another of the guards who begins running down the hallway. “He’ll get one.”
“Thanks,” says James.
The guard returns a few minutes later with a small, hand held mirror. Henri takes it from him and as he hands it over to James. “Will this do?”
It’s three inches by four and fits snugly in his hand. “Yes,” he says, nodding, “this will do perfectly.”
“Then follow me,” Henri says as he begins moving down the hallway.
“How are we to get out of the castle without anyone seeing?” James asks. “Everyone out there saw us being marched in.”
“Leave that to me,” he says. He leads them through the castle’s back ways, keeping away from commonly used areas. Whenever they see someone approaching, he has them quickly move in a different direction to avoid being seen.
Finally, Henri comes to a door and opens it. He waves them in and follows once they’re within the room. The last guard in closes the door behind them. One of the guards had brought in a lit candle from the hallway and the light shows the room to be a storage room. Boxes and crates line the walls.
Henri goes over to a tall stack and says, “Here, give me a hand.”
James and two of the guards move to help him as he pushes the stack to the side. Behind the stack is a narrow doorway. Henri reaches into his tunic and pulls out a key. Placing it into the keyhole, he turns it and they hear a click as the door swings open an inch. Replacing the key inside his tunic, he says, “Follow this and it will lead to the outer edge of the castle. The corridor will end abruptly and there you’ll need to find a loose stone, three feet above the floor on the right side. Press it, and another doorway will open allowing you to leave the castle. You’ll have but a few moments to pass through before the door slides shut once again. There is no way to open it from the outside.”
“Thank you,” James says as they move to enter the secret passage.
“Just get Korgan before he can implement his plan,” Henri replies, “whatever that plan may be. I’ll be waiting at the north gate.”
“We’ll see you there,” James says and then enters the passage. Once they’re all in, the door is again shut and locked. They can hear the stack of boxes being slid back in front of the doorway.
The orb springs to life and James leads them down the narrow passage. When they reach the end, he finds the loose stone and presses upon it. Before them, the end of the passage slides to the side and they see faint light coming in through the opening.
“We better hurry before it closes,” James says.
Moving to the exit, he has to push his way through the bushes before the exit, the others following closely. Behind them they begin to hear the doorway close once more until it finally shuts tight.
Peering out from the bushes, they discover they’ve come out on the northeast side of the castle. James takes a quick look around and when he’s sure no one is near, steps out with the others following.
“Which way?” asks Jiron.
“One gate is as good as the other,” replies James. “I would guess the north gate seeing as how that’s where Henri is planning to meet us. Most likely, the other guards stationed there are loyal.”
“Possible,” Jiron says.
Moving with a purpose, they make for the north gate. They do their best to avoid others who are out and about on the streets. When at last the gate is in sight, Jiron sees the same two men on guard there as had been there when he’d snuck through earlier.
“No guts, no glory,” James says as he walks purposefully toward the gate.
“But they’ll see us!” Fifer whispers.
“True,” replies James. “But I’m counting on them not worrying about those leaving nearly as much as those entering.”
“I hope you’re right,” Fifer says as they come closer.
When they’re close, the guards take notice of them but otherwise say nothing as they pass through the gate. James nods in greeting to them as they pass by, the guards return his greeting.
“We made it!” Fifer exclaims quietly.
“Figured we would,” Jiron says. “People always see what they expect to see. The guards back there expected us to be okay, and since we acted the part, that’s what they thought.”
As they move away from the gate, two shadows detach themselves from the darkness. James sees them coming toward them and stops abruptly.
“It’s okay,” Jiron assures him as he recognizes Jorry and Uther.
“You did it!” they say, amazed.
“Yeah, but we don’t have time to talk about it,” he replies.
“What do you mean?” Uther asks.
Fifer quickly fills them in on what’s been going on.
Jiron says, “You guys go and get the others stationed out at the other gates and meet us back at the inn.’
“You got it,” Jorry says.
As they head out into the night to round up the others, James says to Jiron, “Now, take us to Miller.”
Giving him a nod, Jiron moves out toward the inn.
James follows closely behind and after a minute, asks, “How’s Miko?”
“Doing okay, last I saw,” he replies.
“I’m getting worried about him,” James says.
“So am I,” agrees Jiron.
They don’t progress very far before they begin to smell smoke. Not wood smoke from someone’s chimney, but more like from a building that’s burning or has just burned down.
As they near the inn, a large crowd can be seen gathered around a burned out structure. “I believe that used to be the inn,” Jiron tells him.
Hurrying forward, they see the crews working to extinguish the last of the fires. “What happened?” he asks one onlooker.
“They think it started in the back,” the man tells him.
Another man steps forward and says, “Yeah, this bunch came in through the front, a rough bunch by the looks of them. They went through to the rooms in the back and then we heard sword fighting. Then all of a sudden, we smelled smoke coming from the back. By the time we all got out, the fire was spreading pretty fast. In no time, the whole place was on fire.
“Did anyone from the back make it out?” James asks anxiously.
Shaking his head, the first man says, “Not through the front, anyway. No one has said if anyone made it out the back. Seems dark deeds were done there this night.”
“Perhaps,” says James. “Thank you.”
The men nod and turn back to watch the crews as they finish putting out the fire.
They move away from the crowd and James asks, “You heard?”
Jiron nods, “Think he got out?”
“Under normal circumstances I’d say yes. But now, the way he’s been acting, I don’t know.”
“They said they heard sword fighting,” Jiron says. “That means Miko would have ‘woken up’, so to speak.”
“I know,” replies James, “that’s what has me worried.”
“Woken up?” Fifer asks.
“Never mind that now,” James says quickly. “Let’s move over to the rear of the inn and see if we can find out anything.”
“Okay,” Fifer says as he leads the way, scanning the faces of the crowd for any sign of Miller or Miko.
At the rear of the inn, the fire had gutted it pretty good. Only a few timbers and crossbeams remain. James begins to move in among the charred rubble before a guard blocks his way, saying, “It isn’t safe, you’ll have to stay back.”
James looks at the guard and says, “I know, but we knew someone who was back here. I just wanted to find out if they made it out or not.”
“It’s not a pretty sight,” the guard says.
“I realize that,” James says as he looks to the guard imploringly.
“Alright,” he says. “But be careful, it’s still very hot in there.”
“We will,” he says to the guard. To the others, he says, “Come on.”
The heat from the smoldering embers is quite hot, almost too hot. He begins moving into the charred structure when Jiron grabs his arm and says, “They were over this way.”
James nods and lets him lead the way.
Jiron steps through what’s left of a wall and then says, “This was the room.”
“I can tell,” replies James as he looks around at all the burned, dead bodies scattered about. The remains of the collapsed ceiling covers most of the bodies but he’s still able to make them out.
“Look here,” says Jiron.
James moves over and sees the remnants of a headless body that looks to have once been tied to a chair. Ropes bind it’s extremities to broken bits of burned wood. “This must’ve been Shyn,” Jiron explains.
“Good!” he hears Fifer say.
Using their knives to maneuver smoldering wood away from the bodies, they discover arms, legs and heads that are no longer attached to anything. Testament to the brutal battle that had occurred here shortly before the fire.
“You see Miller or Miko?” James asks the others.
“Hard to tell,” Jiron replies. “I haven’t found anyone yet that would’ve been the same size as Miko.”
“If Miller’s here,” Fifer states, “I doubt if we would know for sure. They’re all burned too severe.”
“Fifer!” a cry can be heard coming from the crowd.
He looks up and sees Jorry and Uther returning with the others. “Over here,” he hollers, waving.
“Let’s get out of here,” James says.
When they finally make their way out of the burned building, the others join them. Uther asks, “Man, what happened?”
“Where’re Miller and that kid?” Jorry asks right after.
Indicating the burned out building, Fifer says, “They might be in there, hard to tell. Everything’s burned beyond recognition.”
“James, the mirror,” Jiron suddenly reminds him.
“That’s right!” he cries as he quickly moves to leave the area.
A guard stops them before they get too far and says, “Where’re you guys going?”
“Trying to find our friends,” James explains.
“I don’t think so,” he says. “We need to find out what happened here and you all seem the only ones who know anything about it.”
“I’d like to help, really,” James replies. “But this is an emergency.”
“Sorry,” he says. “I need you to stay right here until the watch captain shows up.”
“When will that be?” Jiron asks.
“Shouldn’t be too long,” the guard says. “He may need you all to come back to the jail to answer questions.”
“I’m afraid we’ll have to decline the offer,” James tells him.
Three guards come over and stand next to the one talking to them. The guard says, “It isn’t a request.”
Miller’s band comes and stands behind James as he says, “Unless you want a fight, we’re leaving.”
Seeing the odds, the guard just glowers at James as he and the others begin backing away.
Once they’ve moved a sufficient distance from the guards, they turn and make their way quickly away from the fire scene. They find a quiet alley that’s away from people and move into it.
“What do you think happened back there?” Uther asks.
They all glance at each other for a moment then James says, “I think Councilman Rillian sent men there to get Shyn and things got out of hand.”
“Why?” asks Yern, a red haired member of Miller’s band.
“So we couldn’t use him as a witness against him I would expect,” James explains.
“But how did they know he was there?” Uther asks.
“I’m afraid I mentioned it when we were being arrested,” admits James. He reaches into his pack and pulls out the mirror. “If you guys will be quiet for a while, I’ll try to find out if Miller and Miko are still alive.”
He pulls out the mirror and everyone huddles around to watch as he tries to find Miller. The image flickers a moment and then they see the burned out remains of the inn. A charred corpse lies partially buried under the collapsed roof. “I’m afraid Miller is dead.”
The men begin cursing and Jiron shushes them up while James tries to locate Miko.
Fearing the worst, James let’s the image of Miller go and another one begins to form in its place. He sees Miko walking as if dazed down a street, bloody sword in hand. He widens the image and sighs with relief when he fails to see anyone around him.
“Does anyone know where this is?” he asks. “It should be fairly close to where the inn was.”
He slowly scrolls the image until one of the men says, “Yeah, I recognize this place. It’s not too far away.”
James cancels the image and glances to Illan, an older man graying at the temples, and asks, “Can you take us there?”
Illan nods, “Sure, this way.”
Putting the mirror away, James follows Illan as he leads them down a side street. They cross two more streets before turning down another side street. “He should be somewhere around here,” he says.
They move quickly down the street and sure enough, find Miko walking away from them. “You guys stay here,” James tells them.
He moves forward alone, and as he nears Miko, says, “Miko, you okay?”
Miko stops but doesn’t turn around. James says softly, “Miko, it’s James.”
Turning around slowly, Miko gazes at James with red rimmed eyes.
James suddenly realizes that Miko is several inches taller than he had been earlier, and broader as well. The Fire is having a dramatic effect on him. “You okay?” James asks him.
“What’s happening to me?” Miko whispers as he begins to move toward him. He can see tear tracks through the soot covering his face.
“I don’t know,” replies James. “But we’ll figure it out.”
When he comes near, James gives him a smile. Miko returns the smile with a small sad one of his own. Putting his arm around him, he walks him back to where the others are waiting.
Jiron’s eyes widen when he sees the changes in Miko. He glances to James, who only shrugs.
“James!” Miko exclaims, as he suddenly comes more alive. “Korgan is in the city!”
“Yes, I know,” he replies. “Now that you’re safely back with me, we can go take care of him.”