External forces.
‘How long’s it been?’ asked Sheila.
Hank tightened his grip round her shoulders, but didn’t reply. It was dark, so they must have been waiting here for at least five hours. And the longer they waited, the more serious the situation became.
‘At least we found somewhere safe,’ he said at last. ‘At least Diana’s getting help.’
The walk to the town had almost killed him. They had searched the forest for almost a day before finding Diana, and whatever had saved them had also protected her from whatever dangerous creatures it contained. But she was unconscious, and they couldn’t wake her up, and he had no idea what was wrong.
He’d picked her up, glad she was reasonably light, and they’d walked for another two days before stumbling into this town. They’d found little water and less food and by the end he could barely stand up.
At first, he’d been afraid no one would help, but they were recognised almost immediately. The Dungeonmaster had visited, telling the townspeople to look out for them. At least the old man was trying to help, in his own way.
They’d been taken to the Healer’s house; Hank couldn’t forget the look of worry that had crossed the man’s face when he’d seen the Acrobat. They were shown to their own rooms, but Bobby and Sheila soon came to his for company. And together, they’d waited.
And waited.
Before too long, Bobby had sunk into a deep sleep and Sheila had put him to bed in his room down the corridor. Hank had wanted Sheila to try and rest too, but she’d refused to let him stay up and face this alone. So they had sat pressed close together, to wait for news.
At last, there were quiet footsteps outside the door, and a knock. A man in green robes appeared through the door, his expression was one of concern. One look, and a cold, white stab of fear shot through the Ranger.
‘How’s Diana?’
‘She sleeps,’ the man said. ‘There is nothing more I can do, for now.’
‘But, what’s wrong, will she be ok? Won’t she?’ asked Sheila, her voice choked full of emotion.
The man gave a small, but warm, smile.
‘Your friend must find her own way back where she belongs, if she can. She is strong, and she has good friends that care for her, but we can only watch over her, and wait.’
‘How long?’ said Hank.
‘Maybe hours, maybe days,’ was the reply. ‘There’s nothing more you can do. Please, you should rest.’
The man looked between the two as if trying to reassure them, then bowed, and closed the door behind him.
There was silence for a couple of seconds, and Hank closed his eyes, thankful that at least the Acrobat was still alive. Then Sheila turned into his shoulder and began to cry. Great shuddering sobs crashed through her body as all the pent up fear and frustration of the past few days was released. He brother wasn’t here; she didn’t have to pretend anymore.
He held as tightly as he could, trying to tell her it would be alright and Diana would be fine, but his words just made her cry harder.
‘It’s been over two weeks,’ she said at last. ‘Over two weeks and we haven’t had any sign.’
Presto.
Eric.
Uni.
Anything could have happened to them; they had only just survived themselves. Who knows what fate had befallen the others.
‘They could be… anywhere,’ whispered Sheila.
He almost suggested they could have gotten home, but he stopped himself. She wasn’t gonna believe that either! He ran his hand over her hair and she leaned against him, tears running down her cheeks.
‘What are we gonna do?’ she asked.
There was only one answer to give, even though he knew it wasn’t going to help.
‘I don’t know, Sheila. I have no idea where to start.’
It was getting to be embarrassing; this time he had lurched from one disaster to another. Ever since they had set foot in that Orc camp there had been nothing but trouble. The girl was dead and his other friends had disappeared. He was lost; his confidence was in pieces and he just didn’t know how to make things ok this time. The Thief gave a shaky sigh but didn’t break down again. It was good to tell her the truth.
‘You need to get some rest,’ he said. ‘You need to sleep. I’ll watch over you.’
He made as if to move, but Sheila just held on to him more tightly.
‘No.’
Hank looked into her eyes; there was a look that he didn’t recognise there. The fear and regret of moments ago was totally forgotten, and he wanted her more in that moment than he had ever done before; so beautiful, so vulnerable and so alone.
Unable to stop himself, he leaned down, and kissed her.
= = =
Eric had grown up watching adults in conflict, so it didn’t take him very long to figure out what was going on. The group of men that had captured him seemed to be mercenaries, but their trip through the caves to find him had obviously pushed their loyalty to the limits. The loss of the rare and coveted unicorn had made them angry, more for the loss of income than anything else.
They’d beaten him twice since that first day; his armour had been removed each time then, half-naked, he had been hurt and humiliated until their frustration had been vented. But it wasn’t as bad as it could have been; he’d been beaten up more painfully at school. They had been rough, but realistic enough to know that he had to reach his final destination in one piece. They weren’t going to risk losing more money. Ranyar had watched with a frown, but had no real desire, and perhaps no power, to stop them.
And that thought was more unpleasant than anything these thugs could dish out.
Well, that, and the fact they’d mentioned a “she” a number of times, always with the same intonation of fear. He’d watched those crappy fifties films with Presto; he knew that having someone the underlings were afraid to name was a bad thing. At least with Venger they knew what they were up against. His natural sense of self-preservation was in overdrive, but there was no way he could get away. Ranyar was too canny for that. Instead, the Cavalier kept himself from panicking by watching the group, and learning anything he could use to his advantage.
Eventually, they had left the caves, but that hadn’t made him feel any better. He didn’t recognise the surroundings, and they seemed to be heading upwards, further into the mountains which was hard work in the armour, and even worse as they refused to unbind his hands from behind his back. He had consoled himself that at least he had food, and was warm, and that Uni would have found the others by now, they would be catching up every day. All he had to do was hang on.
It had taken days to cross the mountains and, much to his surprise, they came to a small fortress, nestling under the cliff. Ranyar and his gang seem pleased, they hadn’t beaten his since they left the caves, and Eric had sensed that this place was their ultimate destination.
Now, as he walked through the gate, he wished he had been wrong. It was without the usual sounds of any sort of encampment; no sound of horses or other beasts, no sound of life at all. There were only a couple of guards, mercenaries too. Eric had the feeling that whoever was in charge didn’t need them; whatever else was here, there was powerful magic and that did little to ease his fears.
None of his captors were at happy about this place, the men hung together barely talking as their leader spent a long time in deep, animated conversation with one of the gate guards before they were finally taken through the dark corridors and into the main hall.
It was narrow, with only a couple of chairs, and lit in the same way as the rest of the fortress. The Cavalier couldn’t help thinking that whoever owned this place was very rarely here. There was a smell of dust and still air that he’d only met before in some of the abandoned houses they’d occasionally taken shelter in.
‘You’re late.’
Eric almost missed a step. He recognised that voice. Of all the people he’d suspected, he’d never though of her. Stupid really, she was the one that had started all this; the one they’d gone to for help in the first place.
The Seer.
She was standing at the end of the hall, wearing the same simple white robe as she had when they’d first met. But she looked harsher, colder and more powerful. Eric frowned. It was on her advice that they had gone to the Orc camp in the first place. Had she planned their defeat? Was she working with Venger? Had she already caught the others?
With a careless flick of the wrist she tossed a bag of coins at Ranyar, who just started counting. From somewhere behind her, three impassive, grey-clad guards appeared, and Eric got a sudden wave of panic.
Evil Villains all have the same weakness, he thought, the sound their own voice. Get her talking; get as much information as you can. The others could be here any minute. Keep alert, keep thinking. Keep hoping…
Ranyar handed over the Shield to one of the guards, who took it to the Seer. She ran her fingers over the surface slowly. Then she looked directly at the Cavalier for the first time, with a cold, leering stare. It was a look that made his skin crawl. He wasn’t a person, he was a commodity, something to be bartered with; something to use up and thrown away. The panic grew more acute. He might still be bound, and surrounded by heartless mercenaries, but he was damned if her was going to give her the satisfaction of making him break down. He took a deep breath, trying to stare back.
‘Whaddya want with me?’ he said, cringing at the squeaky pitch of his voice.
A smile twitched at the corner of her mouth, but she ignored the question. One of the men behind cuffed him across the face for speaking out of turn.
Ranyar looked up.
‘It’s not all here,’ he said.
‘That’s for making me wait,’ she said. ‘And I wanted the unicorn. Since you lost her in the caves, you’ll have to pay.’
Eric just managed to stop himself asking how she knew. The look on Ranyar’s face showed that he was as surprised as the Cavalier. The way she seemed to know was unnerving. She is a Seer, I suppose…
But that wasn’t it. His day as the Dungeonmaster had had an effect; he recognised bad magic when he saw it, and this woman was steeped in some kind of power that he’d never seen before. Not even in Venger. And she’d hidden it completely at their first meeting, or he would never have gone along with Hank’s plan.
Ranyar stared at the woman with the same look he’d used every time Eric had been beaten. Then he shrugged.
‘I do have more work for you, Ranyar, should you wish more money. My guest will need to be prepared.’
It was the expression on her face that terrified him; a piece of meat, that’s all he was. There was no emotion, no reaction to him at all.
She’s insane!Ranyar didn’t seem pleased at the prospect of remained here either, but the thought of earning more money won. He nodded. Then the grey-clad guards moved forward at a gesture from the Seer and Eric was half dragged, half marched through the halls of the fortress and down into the dungeon.
Waiting at the open door was another person, in a long crimson robe and with a cowl over his head. At least, it might have been a person. It could have been a demon. It could have been anything. The powerful aura of dark magic made Eric stop his futile struggling; he could barely draw breath without a crushing wave of fear.
They forced him through the door, into the freezing cold dungeon. There were a few sundry stones, and a small table, but the thing that caught his attention was the table with the manacles on it.
‘Tie him down.’
He opened his mouth to speak but something struck him in the stomach. His knees buckled and he was lifted, helpless, on to the table.
= = =
Presto was alone.
He was in one of the rooms at the top of Venger’s castle. It was quiet and cool, with a fantastic view out across the Realm that he had quickly grown to detest. He’d seen no one but the Orcs who’d brought his food.
Nothing had happened. After that night, there had been nothing. Nothing! Presto wasn’t foolish enough to think Venger would have forgotten about their bargain. He was just toying with him; making him wait.
He had nothing to take his mind off his friends. Hank and Sheila; Bobby and Diana. Eric…
He hadn’t even cried. Though the Mirror had shown him only empty space and darkness, Presto couldn’t help but hope that the Cavalier was still out there, somewhere. In his heart, he couldn’t stop that hope. And he longed to look into the Mirror’s dark depths again and find out more.
As usual, there were footsteps by the door. The Orcs were here, with food and water. Presto didn’t bother turning round to watch them.
‘Good evening, Magician.’
The voice made Presto go cold. He was here at last. A complex mix of pride, relief and fear compelled him to turn and face the Arch-Mage. There was almost no emotion on that pale face, except the faint hint of excitement. Yet he looked different, older maybe, harder and more evil, if that were possible.
‘The ground never opens up and swallows you when you need it to…’ the Magician murmured.
Venger took as step back, to allow Presto to precede him out of the door. Somehow, the Magician managed to move, and the momentum him carried him forward.
Much to his surprise, Venger guided him back to the main hall, where the Mirror stood, uncovered.
‘So you may see that I have kept my word,’ said the Arch-Mage.
He had wanted so much to see in the days before that Presto had trouble stopping himself running forward. The Mirror seemed different, too. It had more… life was the wrong word, but it had more something, as if before it had been coming out of a very deep sleep.
The images flickered almost as soon as he saw the surface. There was a jumble, but he saw red dragons fall from the sky, then Hank and Sheila embrace by the river’s edge. Then there was a quiet room, and Diana lay there as the Healer prayed at her side. Bobby was sleeping.
‘They are safe, as you see,’ said Venger, now standing uncomfortably close behind him. Presto nodded. It was difficult to tear himself away from the Mirror, much harder than before. He wanted to see the future. It would show him what was…
‘No!’ It was a command, and the Mirror went dark. Presto turned to face Venger, expecting retribution, but there was only that sinister smile.
‘You may look once more. Afterwards,’ said Venger.
Again, the Arch-Mage took a step back. This time, there were Drow in the doorway, waiting.
Presto closed his eyes for a second.
For my friends…
= = =
= = =