Secrets of Arkana Fortress (52 page)

              She could not.

              Her mind and chest ripped apart, the magical strain too much for her meagre capacities. Everything went black. She crumpled to the floor, her final breath a prayer for redemption.

***

The room shook gently at first, then with more urgency. Stone crumbled from the high ceiling as the spire lost its foundations, its towering figure rapidly losing physical form – its smooth appearance fluctuating and its dark aura diminishing quickly. Flashes of deep purples, reds and blues ebbed through it like veins, turning into cracks that split the structure into multiple pieces.

              Mikos felt his legs ache, set aflame by the adrenaline and urgency of his movements. Byde was only a few steps ahead of him.

              ‘We’re not far from the exit,’ Mikos shouted in between the crashing of stone and rupturing of rock. ‘Keep going!’

              Byde clenched his teeth and pushed his body harder and harder, trying his utmost to block out the tiredness. The crashing sounds filled his ears like a torrent, thrashing his eardrums violently. It felt as if the entire world was coming down around him – his world. He threw his arms forward as the flooring suddenly gave way, the steps tumbling down to the floor far below them. He scrabbled frantically for the step in front of him as his legs dangled helplessly over the drop.

              ‘Shit,’ he wheezed.

              Behind him he could hear Mikos cursing. ‘Come on, Byde,’ he urged. ‘You need to pull me up if I don’t make it.’

              Byde huffed as he gathered what strength he could. With a mighty heave he lifted himself up onto the rough stone. What strength would he have left to pull his friend up as well? His head ached violently, a twinge still pulsating in his back.

              ‘Hurry it up, Byde,’ Mikos called above the din.

              ‘I don’t think I can pull you up if you don’t make it,’ he said.

              ‘You have to. Don’t tell yourself you can’t otherwise you’ve admitted defeat already.’

              ‘Damn it.’ Byde forced his body as best he could. ‘Go for it.’ He held out his hands, ready.

              Mikos took a few steps back, a stern look in his eyes.

              Time slowed as he bounded forward across the gap, Byde’s eyes going glassy as he watched his friend, the doubt and anxiety filling his mind. Would he do this?

              Their hands met with a forceful jolt, nearly yanking Byde’s arms out of their sockets. His face twisted in agony as his already fatigued body was put under more strain. He fell to his knees and leaned his weight back. Mikos was heavier than he would have been if Byde had had his full strength.

              ‘You can do it,’ Mikos urged, his voice strained from exertion.

              ‘Come… on.’ Byde squeezed his eyes shut and yelled, channelling his submerged anger into might. Blue began to glow across his body as his veins and arteries lit up with magic, a thin veil of dew enveloping him. He roared with more determination and pulled Mikos up onto the steps in front of him, a heavy sigh of relief exiting his lungs as he fell onto his back, the magic receding back inside.

              Mikos panted. ‘You had me going there for a moment,’ he joked. He raised his head and looked up at the ceiling as it began to cave in. He swore and struggled to his feet, one hand clutching his friend’s sleeve. ‘Get up,’ he urged. ‘The exit’s only up there – not far.’

              They both stumbled their way up the remainder of the staircase, finally reaching a chiselled out obsidian archway that led into a short, granite brick passage. A faint light cascaded at the far end, natural and inviting. Whatever lay ahead of them was a lot more promising than what lay behind.

              The light was sunlight.

              The passage opened up into an aged structure – sky-touching ceilings, arches, multicoloured marble floors, carefully constructed stairwells, and decaying statues. In this place’s heyday it would have been an impressive piece of architectural skill; however the degradation of time and weather had had its powerful effects. Vines and moss had taken over, choking the statues, and spreading across the floors and walls like a cancer. Soon enough this ancient construct would be toppling down and would be gone forever; secrets lost. The arts of dark magic had taken so much away already.

              A chunk of masonry crashed next to the fleeing casters as they achingly churned their legs, heaving themselves forward to safety… wherever that was. They may have escaped the claustrophobia of the tunnels and the cave, but the exit from the fortress above was nowhere to be found.

              ‘How the fuck do we get out of here?’ Mikos remarked heavily.

              Byde’s eyes roamed from one corner to another, each ancient passageway looking as confusing as the next. He knew that there wasn’t time to be running around another maze of passages. He thought for a few moments, aware of the decay happening around them.

              Suddenly he bent down onto his knees and rested a hand onto the mouldy floor stones. His eyes slid shut.

              ‘What are you doing?’ asked Mikos, an essence of panic in his voice.

              ‘Sometimes the oldest methods are the best.’

              ‘Oh OK. What are you feeling for?’

              ‘Wind.’

              Mikos acknowledged his comrade’s explanation with a newly enlightened ‘ah’.

              Through the chaos came a draft of energy from somewhere outside – it was like a glimmer of hope.

              ‘That way.’ Byde pointed to the far end of the expansive room to a crumbled archway. More and more stone fell around them; chunks of surprisingly well-preserved architecture thudding into the marble; pieces shooting off in all directions like sparks from a fire. The breeze that Byde had noticed was weak, but was nonetheless welcoming.

              They couldn’t die here after having stopped the two mages and the destroying the spire. However, it seemed that in order to eliminate the spire and its magical influence, people had to die along with it. Too many people had done that already.

              The corridor through the old arch immediately bent to the left, the gusts of wind growing a lot stronger – their only hope.

              Byde’s entire body was burning from exertion, adrenaline pumping through him still. He had little energy to carry on, let alone use magic if they needed it.

              The corridor was dank and damp with moisture, water dripping from the weathered ceiling onto the dark floors. Their footsteps were loud and echoing; their pace urgent. Something skittered over Byde’s feet, but he chose to ignore it – whatever it was, it was about to meet a horrid end.

              Mikos grabbed Byde’s robe and clung on as he led the way. His body was aflame from the adrenaline as well; his legs screaming out for a rest and a hot soak in water. He prayed that there would be time enough for that after their inevitable escape. He was led through a wide, winding tunnel that bore little light to guide them. Darkness was slowly consuming them with an insatiable hunger.

              A stream of sunlight burst into their eyes, blinding them. Regardless of this, they kept on running as fast as they could, the roaring of the collapse happening behind them growing louder as they went. It felt like they had left an angry dragon to a bloody death.

              Ruined knee-high stonework, which was some kind of leftover walling, lay in front of them like a midget maze. Neither of them had the energy to hop over them safely, but nonetheless they tried as best they could. They stumbled and tumbled over each crop of wall, their bodies taking more and more of a beating.

              Moments turned into minutes; minutes into realms of eternity.

              Byde did not know whether it was just his perception or a surge of magic, but time flowed sluggishly. He noticed his robe flowing in slow motion, the thudding of his and Mikos’s footsteps were long and drawn out, and the strong winds from the rolling hills around them caressed his face longingly.

              A wave slammed into the two casters from behind, an explosion ripping their ear drums to shreds. The resultant force lifted them up through the air where they seemingly hung, their arms and legs cautiously flailing as they went. Fear was suddenly in the foreground of their minds.

              They went higher over the walls; past them, and suddenly hurtled to the ground. A mixture of grass and rock met them before the ground dipped into a slope. They rolled haphazardly across tufts of grass, jutting rocks and smooth slate facings; each impact as painful as the last, if not more so. The world blurred past their eyes for what seemed like hours until they came to a halt on a flat of grass.

              Mikos grumbled through a mouth of dirt, promptly lifting his aching head and spitting it out. Through his smoked vision and bloodied brow he did his best to peer up the hill, just in time to see the peak of the fortress crumbling down and caving in on itself. It was then that he felt the sigh of relief exit his mouth, the heavy burden that he and Byde had been interminably carrying, for what seemed like an age, finally lifting into the skies.

              His hand reached over to his friend, gently shaking him by the shoulder in an attempt to bring him around. Mikos frowned weakly as Byde continued his unconsciousness.

              ‘Come on, Byde; wake up,’ he urged softly.

              There was a sudden dread searing through his chest as his attempts failed. His arms flexed and groaned as he tried to lift his weight up. ‘For the love of the gods come round,’ he scolded as he managed to sit upright.

              There was still nothing from Byde.

              ‘Sorry about this, Byde.’

              There were a few rhythmic smacks.

              ‘Ah shit! What the…?’ Byde shifted his body to one side, recoiling.

              ‘Sorry, but you were out cold. I had to bring you round somehow. Thought you may have been... y’know…’

              ‘And that meant slapping me?’ Byde snorted with discontent.

              Mikos shrugged his shoulders then glanced up to where the fortress had been. ‘We did it, y’know?’

              Byde breathed heavily and nodded. ‘Thank the gods for that.’

              There was a short silence between them, nothing but the faint sound of crashing in the distance.

              ‘Y’know… call me crazy, but I can sense a ‘but’ coming up.’ Mikos’s face scrunched up tightly.

              Byde looked down to the floor and curled his fingers into his palms. ‘Didn’t you notice it? When the shockwave sent us flying?’

              ‘What d’ya mean?’

              ‘Everything slowed down.’ He rubbed his temples soothingly.

              ‘I’m just putting that down to the adrenaline and tiredness. Aren’t you?’

              Byde shook his head, his face a picture of concern.

              ‘What’s got you all troubled now?’

              ‘It certainly wasn’t adrenaline or tiredness.’ His deep eyes glazed over reflectively. ‘The old man was right…’

              ‘What?’ Mikos angled his head.

              ‘A mage back in the Praanoc Academy tower on Cryldis believed my theory on the spires without any hesitation. He knew exactly what I was – he was a master at sensory magic and mind reading, and all that.’ Byde waved a hand. ‘At that point I was still under the impression that I was the last caster alive… until he told me that he had sensed another.’

              ‘How?’ Mikos was taken aback a little.

              ‘No matter how powerful a mage’s magic is, they cannot read a caster’s mind. He was unable to read mine.’

              ‘So how did he know you were one then?’

              ‘Because of his inability to read my mind.’

              ‘But I thought the casters were supposed to have disappeared centuries ago?’ How old must he have to be to know this trait of a caster?’

              ‘He said he was 150 years, but what troubles me most of all is what his final words to me were before I left the tower –
‘Time is not what we think it is’
.’

              Mikos took a moment to mull things over. ‘So… you think the time distortion thing back there was…?’

              ‘Exactly what you now think it could’ve been.’

              ‘A form of time magic? From the spire?’

              Byde nodded, worry in his eyes.

              ‘Fuck me sideways…’

              ‘If this is indeed true then we need to go and see Sagio at the Praanoc tower.’

              ‘You think he knows more about this?’ asked Mikos as he stood up painfully.

              ‘He must do. If this is indeed time magic then it’s being utilised by a higher form of mage than any other in this land. Secondly, how is it that his mind hasn’t been warped by it?’ Byde stood shakily. ‘It seems to me that everyone else, including you and I, have been affected by it.’