Ebudae (12 page)

“One or two more levels. It’ll take us below
the wards protecting the city,” Ebudae answered. “It will likely be
dangerous. Only monsters and the most dangerous sort of people go
there.”

“How fun,” Glav replied, forgoing clever
remarks. It showed how concerned he was. “What wards are you
talking about?”

Ebudae decided it was time to reveal the
truth. “The ones protecting Dralin from the dangers of the ruins
it’s built over. Dralin
is
built over them and there
are
columns holding everything up.”

Glav looked dubious, but no longer dismissed
it out of hand. “You sound very sure of yourself. How do you
know?”

“Because Pelya and I go adventuring down
there whenever we get the chance. We don’t know this area
though.”

“There is definitely more to the two of you
than you’re letting on, but this isn’t one of your little play
adventures,” Aphry said. “Does anyone
else
have any ideas
what to do?” The words irritated Ebudae and Pelya, but they
remained silent.

“Lizor should go first,” the giant
suggested, jamming his thumb into his chest.

“Good idea,” Glav agreed. “The monsters will
become too full from eating him to bother with the rest of us.” The
others chuckled nervously.

Ebudae raised an eyebrow at Pelya and
received a slight nod. “I need everyone to remain still calm while
I establish protections,” Ebudae told them.

At the raised eyebrows, Pelya said, “She’s
serious. It’s important.” They nodded and looked at the wizardess
with curiosity.

Ebudae took a deep breath and concentrated.
The spells would take more energy to cover so many people, but she
relished the opportunity to cast on more people than just her and
Pelya. The words and gestures came to the front of her mind as she
concentrated. Ebudae grabbed ingredients from one of her pouches
that would help form the desired effects.

Gathering the energy came first.
Supernatural wind whipped her hair around, not touching anyone
else. The ingredients disintegrated into the energy, adding colors
to the swirling. Then Ebudae began to weave the colors with
gestures and speak the words that would fashion the energy into a
spell of protection for the group.

It only took a few seconds before she
released the casting. Wind slammed into her back and blew her hair
forward, a feeling she enjoyed. The colors became sparkles that
settled upon everyone and disappeared.

She took out more ingredients, briefly
noticing the dropped jaws and looks of astonishment on their new
friend’s faces. Ebudae began the next casting. It would protect and
sharpen everyone’s minds. The spell she was casting was different
from the one she had taught to Pelya the night before.

More wind and colors swirled before she
cast. That one turned into a colored mist that disappeared into
everyone’s ears. It was a sensation that tickled the hairs on the
back of the neck and caused everyone’s eyes to widen.

The last spell she cast would help their
speed and strength. It would evaporate faster than the others, but
since she had everyone in one place, it was best to do it right
away. When she was done, sweat was rolling down Ebudae’s forehead
even though it was cooler in the passage than in the summer heat
outside. Pelya put an arm around her and she rested her head
against the taller warrior’s shoulder.

“There is
definitely
more to the two
of you than you show. I’d like to know more after all this is
done,” Aphry told them.

“Will she be alright?” Juggles asked Pelya,
worry filling his voice.

“She’ll be fine. Ebudae just needs a few
minutes to recover and she’ll be ready for anything. We should get
going now though. That last spell doesn’t last as long as the first
two.” Pelya gestured down the stairs, indicating they should
go.

Aphry made her way down and the rest
followed. Ebudae held onto Pelya for support. She felt Juggles put
a hand on her back too. By the time they made it to the bottom, she
was doing fine, other than being a little tired and hungry.
Fortunately, she had a supply of high-energy food bars and she ate
one of those.

At the bottom of the stairs was a gloomy
hallway illuminated yellow by two magical lanterns at the end. A
metal door waited for them between the lanterns. Pelya whispered to
Ebudae, “I wish I had my other sword.” She referred to a magical
blade that Ebudae had found in the ruined academy before they had
begun adventuring together. It had a razor sharp edge that never
dulled. The one Pelya currently wore was enchanted, but not as
much.

“The door’s locked,” Glav said from ahead.
“I’m going to use my amazing lock picking ability on it since I
don’t think it’ll open for my amazing joke telling ability.” He
bowed at the nervous chuckles and turned to the door.

Five minutes later, Aphry lost her patience.
“Aren’t you finished yet?! There’s no telling how long it’ll be
until someone follows us down those stairs.”

Glav stood. “It’s beyond my abilities. I’m
sorry.”

“Lizor. Break it down,” Aphry commanded.

The big man looked at the door dubiously.
“It’s iron. Lizor is strong enough, but it would make noise.”

“Great, what do we do now?” Aphry asked,
throwing her hands in the air.

“I’ve got it,” Pelya said, taking out her
picks and moving forward through everyone.

“This’ll be interesting. If I can’t get it,
I seriously doubt . . .”

Pelya interrupted as she moved past him to
the door. “Good. I like it when people doubt me. It makes them
easier to defeat.”

Glav didn’t have a snappy comeback for that
one, so he watched over her shoulder as she studied the lock for a
moment, took out three picks, inserted two and then switched them
around. She put one back and pulled out another. In a moment, she
had three of them in the lock and a satisfying click sounded
through the hallway.

“You girls are beginning to frighten me,”
Karla told her. “You know more than anyone your age should ever
know.”

“We’re awesome like that,” Pelya said. She
stood and snuck through the door before Glav could. Ebudae was
alarmed that her friend was so far ahead without her. They did
everything together. Pelya came right back though. “I don’t see
anyone. It’s a large storeroom.” Glav nodded and entered. Pelya
stood aside while everyone else followed, waiting until Ebudae
caught up. “Sorry. I realized immediately that you weren’t with
me.”

They went through, followed by Juggles who
closed the door. “Should we lock it?” he asked.

“No. We might need to make a quick escape,”
Ebudae replied. She looked around at the room.

“This really isn’t your first adventure,”
Juggles said.

“No.” Ebudae gave him an embarrassed smile
before looking at the room more. More lanterns with magical yellow
light illuminated haphazard crates and barrels. It was big enough
for all of them to fit.

“Do we even know what we’re doing?” Aphry
asked.

“Yes,” Glav said. “We’re following you.”

Aphry glared at him. He grinned widely in
response. Aphry pointed at a door on the opposite wall and a door
on the right side of the room. “Does anyone have an opinion as to
which door we should take?” No one did, so she chose the one on the
opposite wall. “We’ll take this one.” She tried the handle and then
looked at her two rogues. “It’s locked.”

Glav went first and looked at it. He got up
after brief study and gestured for Pelya to handle it. Ebudae
wasn’t surprised when Pelya unlocked it immediately. Her friend had
explained to her that people tended to use the same type of locks
for all their doors.

Pelya let Glav go through first again, but
he came back after a moment. “It’s a long hallway. There are a few
more lanterns, but I can’t tell where it leads.” He looked at
Aphry. “Shall we go?”

Aphry thought for a moment and looked at the
other door. “Pelya, can you open that one?”

“Yes.” She went over and had it open with
little effort.

Glav shook his head in consternation. “I
have been humbled.” His face brightened as he pulled out another
raisin cookie. “But I have another cookie and that’s all that
matters.” He took a large bite, looking pleased with himself.

Aphry rolled her eyes and entered through
the door. Ebudae had come over to stand next to Pelya and the two
of them followed her before anyone else could. It was a short
hallway lined with six rusty iron doors, three on each side. Grates
on the ceiling let stale air into the area.

“This looks like a prison,” Glav said,
shoving in behind Juggles and moving past the girls to be with his
wife. “Maybe Jovias is in one. I don’t see any openings in the
doors.” He tried the handle on one. It didn’t budge so he looked at
Pelya.

She began to work on the lock. “It’s been
oiled recently, so there might be someone inside. Be ready.”

Ebudae backed against the wall and prepared
to cast. Glav, Aphry and Karla moved further into the hall with
knives ready while Frank and Juggles waited just inside the main
door. Lizor stayed in the storage room in case anyone followed
them.

It took a little less than a minute and a
few pick changes to solve the lock. “You’re going to have to tell
me how you learned all that, lass,” Glav said. “Those picks look
magical, so I’m thinking they may have something to do with it.”
Desire flashed across his features and torchlight illuminated a
glint of greed in his eyes.

Pelya narrowed her eyes as she put the pouch
back in her tunic. “So is my sword and I’m a hundred times more
skilled with it than I am with the picks.” Glav’s eyes widened and
he took a step back. Pelya grabbed the handle and yanked the door
open. The hinges were quiet, indicating they had received oil as
well.

There was nothing inside but a pile of hay
in one corner and a bucket in another. Frank went inside and looked
around. “There’s no sign that anyone’s been in here, maybe check
the others?”

Pelya moved to the next one. Everyone
shifted with her. It only took a moment before the lock clicked and
she put the picks away.

“Why do you always put them back when we’re
probably going to open all of them?” Karla asked.

“It’s important to take care of your
equipment. If I leave them out and we get into trouble, they could
be stepped on or lost in flight if we run away.” She patted her
tunic where they were now safely tucked. “I don’t need to worry
about them now.” Pelya yanked open that door.

Frank investigated. “Same thing. It’s
empty.” Pelya went to the next door and performed the same ritual.
When the door opened, Frank went to enter, but backed away instead.
“What is
that
?!”

Aphry looked inside at the creature sitting
in the corner. “That’s not my brother. Close the door
now
.”

“Wait a minute,” Pelya said, stepping into
the doorway and preventing anyone else from closing it. Ebudae
hoped that no one would be stupid enough to try to shut her friend
inside with the creature. She was quite capable of killing them all
if it came to that.

“Hello there. Can you understand me?” Pelya
asked.

The voice that came from it was astonishing.
It sounded like two voices woven through each other, both tired and
hurt. “Yes. Tell me if you are here to torture me or to rescue me.”
Ebudae couldn’t get a good look at it yet because Pelya was in the
way, but she could swear it had four pasty white arms sticking
through the sides of the burlap frock it wore.

“Neither,” Pelya responded, taking another
step in, much to the dismay of her companions. She did have her
hand on hilt though and Ebudae knew how fast the sword could be out
of its sheath. “We’re here to rescue someone else.”

“Then I insist you release me so that I may
find my way to freedom,” it said. The singsong tones were
demanding. The upper level voice was lilting and soft while the
lower was deep and powerful. It struggled to stand, lifting its
shaky body.

“We should close the door and leave it
locked in there,” Aphry said. “In fact, I insist on it and I’m
still leading this, Pelya.” The tone was firm and demanding. Pelya
looked back, undecided for just a moment. Then she backed out of
the room and Frank slammed the door with a clang.

Ebudae had enough time to see the creature
reach its feet. It was so tall it had to bend over in the cell. It
was even taller than Lizor. The eyes were like upside down
teardrops with stunning violet irises that glimmered in the
torchlight. Two arms braced against the ceiling and two braced
against the wall for support.

“I’ll just bet that Jovias is in one of
these,” Pelya said. She moved to the door across the hall. They
exchanged glances as Ebudae backed away to let her work, both
realizing that Pelya had left the creature’s door unlocked.

Nobody else said anything, being too busy
staring at the cell that had just closed, trying to digest the
oddity of the creature that had spoken to them in multiple voices.
Pelya rapidly opened the next door and stood aside.

Frank went to the door and took a step in.
“Jovias! By the Gods.” He dashed into the cell to the body curled
up in the corner. The others forgot about the creature in the first
cell. Karla was the next in, followed by Aphry. Glav entered, but
the rest stayed outside so as not to crowd the small space.

Pelya took Ebudae away from the others for a
moment and placed her mouth against Ebudae’s ear. She whispered,
“When the rest of us leave, stay back and give the creature your
spare knife. It deserves a chance to live.”

Ebudae nodded. She had been thinking
something similar. The creature was fascinating. Pelya stood in
front of her while Ebudae lifted her skirt and grabbed a knife she
had strapped on her left thigh. She had one on the right too,
liking to keep extras for when things got bad. All of her training
with them had come from Pelya who was a master of knives in
addition to everything else, a fact they hadn’t mentioned to the
others.