Sinners of Magic (21 page)

In a flash, Nekton rolled over
and grabbed his leg, taking the guard completely by surprise.
Before he could yell for help, Amadeus was upon him from behind,
gagging him with his huge hands and pulling him to the floor.
Nekton grabbed the sword from the soldier’s grasp and twisted it
with a flick of his wrist; a flash of metal held his stare before
he stabbed the Nonhawk clean through his heart. His cry was stifled
by Amadeus’s suffocating hand, the blood from his wound pumping
freely like water from a well.

With not a moment to lose
Amadeus grabbed the dead soldier’s belt and searched through the
mountain of keys dangling from it, desperate to find the right key
before another sentry came looking for his comrade. His palms were
sweaty and his fingers slipped whilst he tried each key in the
rusty, old lock.

‘
Hurry,’
urged Nekton, becoming anxious when the seconds ticked by, ‘or
we’ll never make it out.’

‘
I’m doing my
best!’ Amadeus snapped, his jaw tightening. ‘Pressurising me at a
time like this is not exactly helping!’

At last they heard a ‘click’
and both gave a huge sigh of relief, but they couldn’t rest on
their laurels for they were not free men yet. They fled from the
dungeon, unsure of the castle’s layout, and their sense of
direction was dulled due to the lack of food and sleep.

‘
Do you know
where you’re going?’ Nekton hissed, his frustration mounting. ‘Only
I heard that somewhere inside this castle there’s a narrow corridor
leading from the dungeon to the cliff top; it’s where Forusian has
his prisoners thrown to their death.’

‘
Yes, I’ve
heard that story too,’ said the warrior, checking behind to see if
they were being followed. ‘But, more importantly, I have heard
there is a path which leads from the cliff to the
shore.’

Nekton shuddered.

‘
Then we must
find the corridor that leads to the cliff face.’

Amadeus stopped dead mid step,
raising his hand for Nekton to fall silent. Straight ahead a group
of guards sat by a glowing fire, laughing and joking, oblivious to
the two prisoners who had almost walked in on them. They doubled
back and at a fierce pace raced away, feeling bursts of anxiety and
claustrophobia engulf them, caused by the close confines of the
stone walls. They swerved to the right when a V-shaped tunnel split
into two but panic rose in their bellies when time and time again
they found nothing but dead ends. Each time they were forced to
turn back, retracing their steps until once again yet another blank
wall greeted them.

‘
We’re going
in circles,’ Nekton gasped, when his breathing became more
laboured. ‘I really thought for a while that we had a
chance.’

‘
We’re not
beaten yet, old man,’ Amadeus hissed, feeling a thread of fresh air
blow on his face. ‘Nekton, we’re so damn close, I can almost taste
the sea.’

They bore left, running with a
sudden spurt of energy; their hands gripped the damp walls of the
narrow passageway to steady themselves and when they came to the
end of the outlet they could see the waves crashing against the
shore and the blue of the sky, but their access was barred by a
metal gate filled with rusty ironwork.

‘
What do we
do now?’ whined Nekton in despair. ‘We’re well and truly trapped;
there’s no way we could break through these.’

Amadeus stared at the bars,
weighing them up before grabbing hold of the two in the centre with
his bare hands.

Nekton looked at him in
astonishment.

‘
You don’t
honestly believe you can bend them, do you? Why, that’s just pure
crazy.’

Amadeus ignored him. He closed
his eyes in concentration, working his mind on channelling all of
his strength down through his arms and into his hands. He had been
born with great strength and he was going to use it to get them
out. With a determination that would have impressed even the king,
Amadeus pulled with all his might and his body shook with his
efforts, but the bars didn’t budge and he gritted his teeth,
unwilling to be beaten.

‘
It’s no
good,’ said Nekton in dismay, ‘your strength alone is not
enough.’

A low growl escaped from deep
within the warrior’s throat and he gripped the bars once more.
Power pulsated from inside his body and sweat ran down his cheeks
as he continued to channel his energy to where it was needed most.
A faint creaking seeped from the rusty bars followed by an eerie
squealing sound. Amadeus heaved a sigh before standing aside to
expose a gap large enough for both of them to pass through.
Weakened by the amount of energy he had just used, he leant on the
wall for support. Nekton stood by his side.

‘
Come on,’ he
yelped in delight, ‘you’ve done it; you’ve managed to set us free.’
He tugged at Amadeus’s arm, but the warrior didn’t move.

‘
I need a
moment’s rest,’ he gasped, his arms hanging limp at his side. ‘I
must get my strength back.’

‘
We have to
keep moving, you know as well as I do it won’t be much longer
before they realise we have escaped.’

‘
Just another
minute,’ Amadeus insisted, still weak, ‘that’s all I ask.’ Nekton
could see Amadeus was totally exhausted, but time was of the
essence and he could rest later. With a firm grip, he took hold of
Amadeus’s arms; the warrior was a big man, but it was Nekton’s turn
to use his own strength.

‘
We cannot
stay here,’ Nekton declared, gasping for breath when he realised
just how heavy his comrade really was. ‘I’m much too old to be
experiencing such an adventure,’ he added, when a spark of vitality
twinkled in his watery, blue eyes.

He dragged Amadeus through the
opening and then dropped him like a stone on the velvety, soft
grass. Amadeus gave a feeble smile.

‘
I’ll never
live it down if word gets out that I was saved by a dwarf,’ he
scoffed with a grin.

Nekton hauled him to his feet
and they trudged the rough and winding pathway until they found the
steps cut in the cliff that led to the shore. The steps were
slippery from the sea spray, making them treacherous underfoot, and
they made their way with much caution, forever glancing over their
shoulders in fear of being caught.

Once they hit the shore they
hugged the shoreline until they made it to a road and then headed
straight for the seclusion of trees. The night was drawing in and
neither elf nor dwarf knew the woodland through which they roamed.
Amadeus took the lead and Nekton followed close behind. They walked
for many miles, wanting to stop and rest but fearful of the
consequences, knowing they had to get out of Forusian’s territory
if they were to have any chance of survival.

Eventually, Nekton could go no
further and he called to Amadeus to rest; although Amadeus was
reluctant to do so, he realised he had no choice for Nekton had
done well to keep up for one so old. Amadeus finally succumbed to
his companion’s needs and decided they should take this time to
find something to eat. The woods were alive with animal activity:
owls hooted alerts on their leafy branches and bats flew low in
search of their own tasty morsels of food. Amadeus was swift when
he needed to be and when he spotted a plump rabbit several feet
away, his elf feet moved like lightning.

Nekton sat against a tree,
resting his weary bones on the mossy bark. He lifted his head when
he heard his friend return, grateful to him for allowing him to
take a much-needed rest.

‘
I have
dinner,’ said Amadeus, holding up the dead rabbit. ‘We cannot stay
here for the rest of the night and we shouldn’t really light a
fire, but we are ravenous so we will eat a little, rest a little
and move on.’

‘
You speak
wisely,’ Nekton agreed, ‘but I am old and cannot keep up with you;
my legs have given up on me, I cannot move another
step.’

‘
Nonsense,’
scoffed Amadeus, whilst he searched the ground for something he
could use to skin the rabbit. He picked up a few flat stones,
throwing them down again before finding one which he felt was sharp
enough to do the job.

‘
You don’t
give yourself enough credit; you have kept by my side and have not
faltered once. We haven’t much further to travel before we enter
the realm of the dwarves. There we can get horses and stock up with
fresh supplies.’

Nekton rose stiffly from his
comfy spot and set out to find tinder and twigs to make a fire,
contradicting what he’d just said about his feet.

‘
What did you
mean when you said ‘we’ can get horses and fresh supplies?’ the
dwarf asked, lighting the fire with the ease of one who had done it
many times before. ’You wouldn’t need much in the way of supplies
once you reach my realm, why, you’re only a day’s ride away from
your home.’

‘
I’m not
going home; no, I’m going with you to Raven’s Rainbow to find the
wizard, Bridgemear.’

‘
Is that the
reason why you came to Raven’s Rainbow in the first place?’ asked
Nekton, blowing gently onto the fire and watching it crackle into
life.

‘
Yes, I have
orders from the king to tell him his daughter from the elf world
has returned to the Kingdom of Nine Winters, but I was obviously
intercepted by Forusian’s men to stop me from doing so.’

The dwarf looked surprised – a
wizard has a daughter by an elf? Could this be true?

‘
How did
Forusian know you were going to seek Bridgemear?’ he asked
instead.

‘
That’s a
good question. There were only two other people who knew I had been
asked to go on this quest; one of them was the king and I don’t
believe for one minute it was him. No, there has been treachery
here by another, and I know exactly who he is and I will seek him
out and ensure he pays for his betrayal.’

Amadeus finished skinning the
rabbit before making a spit from an available branch. They ate by
the light of the silvery moon, talking in whispers until it was
time to put out the fire. The pair travelled throughout the night
and by dawn somehow made it into dwarf territory.

The sun was rising into a ball
of orange when Amadeus turned to Nekton and swore an oath that he
would make sure Bridgemear knew of his daughter’s return, even if
it was the last thing he ever did and Nekton knew he meant every
word.

Chapter
1
2

The damning news of the dwarf’s
abduction finally reached the ears of the wizard Bridgemear.
Suspicion was raised when a weary, weather-beaten traveller in
great need of shelter and a bed for the night found the hut at
Fortune’s End to be deserted.

His disappointment soon changed
to concern when he saw a horse tethered to the side of the hut and,
once inside, found startling signs of a struggle with shards of
broken glass covering the floor.

Bridgemear was filled with
outrage for who would dare to violate the laws of the land laid
down by his ancient forefathers? The primordial magicians had ruled
this land with strong hearts and justifiable moral standings and
their voices filled his mind, like a phoenix rising from the
ashes.

... And the land shall have
safekeeping, owned by none, ruled by neither, a place where the
lonely traveller can rest without fear of interrogation or reprisal
for his sins. No man, wizard, elf or dwarf will ever have the right
to harm a hair or claim a soul from another. If the wish for peace
is ever broken then the one who kisses the lips of death will
willingly stumble upon his own demise and know his soul to be lost
forever …

His eyes flashed icy to match
his mood, but they were as clear as running water. He looked down
at the magician’s staff held in his clenched hand. It was a
magnificent piece of magic, a stave passed down from generation to
generation and embodied with mystical enchantments. The tip held a
small, golden globe; inside something mysterious and cloudy swirled
about, a sign of the unique power created by those who were now a
part of Bridgemear’s ancestral descent.

The wizard’s mind ran wild.

Heavy will be
their loss
, he thought, when a bitter
smile touched his lips,
but
first I must find out who has taken the
keeper
.

Pointing his stave at a
sixty-degree angle, his voice sounded strong and determined when he
spoke an incantation. The golden sphere started to revolve,
producing a dazzling bolt of light. The beam condensed into a long,
thin tunnel of white, creating a projection of luminosity within
the atmosphere.

‘
Awaken,
Adlanniel!’

A face of immense beauty
materialised from the prism of light, but her greatest asset was
her voice; soft, husky, like music.

‘
What do you
wish of me, master?’

‘
Show me
Fortune’s End.’

‘
I will take
you to wherever your heart desires,’ she said, her voice smooth as
silk. She melted away into the vapour which formed around her. To
her magician the spirit revealed the lush, green woodland that was
known to be Nekton’s home.

Everything looked peaceful and
serene and Bridgemear was disappointed to find there were no
telltale signs of foul play. Frustration played upon his mind for
he needed to know who had taken the keeper.

It was
someone clever who took him,
he
thought,
s
omeone
who knew the consequences of their actions and someone who is not
playing games.