Techromancy Scrolls: Soras (20 page)

Their voices started getting closer and we hid behind one of the massive doors as the Duchess chided the man, “Your plan of using Raneth and Poe as catspaws to unthrone Liam and secure the other realms for us was an utter failure.”

They walked past in their heated discussion and down the corridor and the man hissed back, “They were Adepts! Who would have thought a fucking Wexbury archer with no magic potential could have ever taken them down?”

I swallowed. Shit. They were behind the rise of the Rogues that killed so many? What are they hoping to accomplish? I narrowed my eyes at their backs, keeping my power from flaring and alerting Kennick of our presence. I smirked, they knew only the official story of what happened at the Monolith and believe that it was Lord Samuel who had slain the two adepts, not me.

The Duchess was just barely taller than myself, she was in riding gear instead of the dresses I usually associated with the Duchesses of the realm. Her light brunette hair was tied back in a severe braid. I could taste her power. I had learned the secret of all the leaders of every keep, which they hid from even their own people. That all of them had magic potential. Aelwen had barely more than myself.

I swallowed at the retreating form of Kennick. He was tall and moved like a predator, not a scholar. He was the man with the shaggy dark beard shot through with silver and long shaggy dark hair from my vision... pursuing me. I remembered the power and the pain as I searched as I fled, for something I knew would be there. He tasted of that same power and it was immense and terrifying.

Aelwen retorted as they turned down another corridor, “We should have started with Wexbury to begin with. Those self-righteous, altruistic fools are always riding to everyone's aid.”

I couldn't make out his response, but for one word that made the fire of Wexbury flare up inside of me with pride. “...Donovan...” They feared Prime Techromancer Donovan. My lips curled into a vicious smile.

When we could no longer hear them, Ranelle took out a small silver mirror from a belt pouch and slowly extended it into the doorway. She moved it slowly around looking intently at the reflection. Then slowly pulled it back.

She held a finger to her mouth before she held up one finger and pointed to the left of the door. One guard. I almost felt sorry for the person since I knew what was coming. Ranelle started building up power but Sara just stepped past her and into the room before any of us could stop her. Mother Luna!

She started speaking in English, in a loud and commanding voice, “You there, what are you doing leaning against the wall? Stand at attention! You are supposed to be guarding the prisoner, woman! Shall I report you to Kennick? Your armor is in disarray, straighten it up! No not like that, like this...”

Then there was a glurking sound and then silence then she stuck her head back out the door and nudged her head toward the room beyond as she said in a pleased voice, “All clear.”

We followed her in to find a female dark knight laying face first on the stone floor with her life's blood puddling around her neck. I felt green, bile rising in my throat, and I diverted my eyes to prevent from vomiting.

We heard the distant thunder, which had been constantly echoing the ruins, receding. Ranelle shook her head at Sara and hissed, “That was reckless.”

Sarafine shrugged and said, “The Altii knights have been drilled to respond to orders from people with authority. I figured if I caught her off guard and acted like I belonged there, and was at a higher station, I could get the drop on her.” The woman scared me, I was glad she was on our side.

I wondered if I would have reacted the same way to a strange woman snapping orders at me. I probably would have done just as the dead woman had done after a lifetime of taking orders from people above my station as a commoner, and then in my squire training.

I looked around at the large room, one wall was covered with rusted iron bars, divided up by stone walls into ten or twenty large cells. The other side contained the remains of various archaic torture devices which were no doubt used to interrogate enemies of Solomon.

In the second cell with new chains wrapped around the old rusted out lock and a new padlock securing it, was an old silver-haired woman slumped in a chair, with chains binding her arms and legs to it. I made a high pitched distressed sound. She was unconscious and she was covered in blood, bruises, and burns. I whispered, “Mother Udele!”

The others turned as I ran to the cage. The woman I respected as much as my own mother, raised her head, she was conscious after all. She smiled weakly at me through bloody and swollen lips. “I knew you would come my young Sora. I see you got my message.”

I was crying now and nodding as the others examined the chains. My vision blurred and she said softly, “When I sensed your eyes on me, I knew you would free our people. I was about to give in, but you gave me strength. Gave me hope that my Seeings were but a possible future.”

She opened her eyes to lock them with mine as she asked in an almost pained, hopeful tone, “Our people? The children?”

Ranelle answered for me, “Safe. You lost three men who tried to breach the siege to bring your Soras to the caravan, Alexandru of the Lupei fought them all the way to Wexbury and was able to bring your Soras to liberate your band.”

Udele gave a merciless smile at that as Ranelle just shook her head in amazement, telling the woman, “You chose well. The Lightbringer?” Udele's smile grew a little smug at the look the Great Mother was giving her.

Sara said from the body, “No keys. The other two must have them.”

Ranelle told me, “Stand back.” I nodded and with the frightening speed she brought up her power and released it in an almost concussive blast the had my ears ringing as the lock and chains simply exploded outward. Making pinging sounds as pieces of metal shrapnel hit the walls and bars.

It didn't seem to take anything out of her, she was right, she was good at violent releases of the power. I pulled the protesting iron door open and ran to Udele. I hugged her then looked at the chains. Each arm and leg were in irons. And we had no key.

Ranelle hissed and spat out, “I cannot do the same for these locks, It would most likely kill you Udele. Maybe we can pick them.”

She looked over at Roman with a questioning look and he stepped quickly forward and pulled a short piece of metal with a hook on the end from a boot. He carried a pick with him? He started on her right foot. As he worked, everyone turned to watch the door, drawing weapons. It was taking too long. I sighed in frustration and placed a hand on his arm to stop him and motioned him back.

This, I could do. It was just metal, and metal liked me. I reached out and felt the metal in the locks, they were pretty simple, all I had to do was grasp the release with my power... I saw a tendril of amber quest into the metal from my fingers. It was as if I could feel the internal latch and I flicked.

With a little metallic click, the cuff fell free of her arm. Within moments, I had the others unlocked and I was under one of Mother Udele's arms and Ranelle the other as we pulled her to her feet. We were moving fast, back out of the dungeons and toward the bolthole, retracing our steps. I whispered, “Let's get you home, Mother.”

She smiled up at me and I tried not to wince at the evidence of the abuse she suffered. She said with a sigh, “That would be nice Laney. I'm so very tired.”

We had just turned down the last corridor toward the wine cellar when the silence we ran through was shattered by the sound of alarm horns. Shit! They had either discovered the body of that first knight or the guard in the dungeon.

Ranelle hissed out, “Rahat!”

We hastened our pace, more carrying than assisting our silver-haired prize along as we heard voices shouting.

Roman spun as we reached the door with Ranelle's power lighting our retreat He drew his bow and an arrow from his back in one smooth motion and let loose the arrow down the hall just as two armed men carrying torches rounded the corner in pursuit. With a flick of his blade, the first man deflected the arrow.

We pulled Udele along with us into the wine cellar and I looked around desperately as I let my power trickle into me and the world became bright as day, an amber hue to everything. We heard more men coming. I let Ranelle take Udele and I shooed them toward the bolthole as I said, “Go quickly, I'll be right behind you.”

They went and Penelope and Roman took up positions on either side of the tunnel with arrows drawn. I glanced at the portion of the large lattice rack of wine that still stood then at the doorway and I drew Anadele and lit the room for the others who were squinting as the light from Rain receded down the escape tunnel.

Sara was by my side, looking at me like I was daft. I grinned at her and stepped to the rack and with two sweeping blows from my blade into the dry rotted wood, it started falling and Sara and I were just able to get out of the way as it came down in a horrendous crash of splintering wood and shattering bottles, blocking most of the doorway.

Sarafine gave me a wicked grin and we ran for the tunnel. Just as we passed our archers, we could hear the shouts and footsteps of our pursuers reach the blocked doorway arch. Roman and Pen let loose arrows that whizzed through the air and I heard two clangs at they were batted aside by blades. Then the sound of blades hacking at the brittle wood of the lattice as our archers fell in behind us and we ran through the rubble-strewn tunnel.

We quickly caught up with Ranelle and Udele at the collapsed area as they made it through the mess. Roman scooped up Mother in his arms and started forward. Rain said,”Go with them, all of you, Laney, light their way.” We all started running again, and I looked back when I heard men in the tunnel now, yelling for us to stop.

I was wondering what Ranelle was going to do when I felt her drawing in power. Mother Luna! She couldn't release that much raw energy in here it would cause a... I blurted, “Shit! Faster!” To the others as Ranelle focused her power on the dirt and root ceiling of the cavern.

My ears popped from the pressure as Rain screamed in defiance and released the energy all at once. The ground shook as it struck and the earth above came crashing down in the tunnel, I glanced back to see her running at us in a mad sprint as the collapsing tunnel seemed to chase her toward us.

Pen looked back and said, “Come on! We have to go people!”

Then we were in the rain, it was still heavy but not the torrential downpour from earlier, the lightning was nearing the horizon. We turned as we heard the rumble of the collapsing tunnel and saw the approaching light from Ranelle near the entrance.

She dove out of the entrance and did a graceful roll as the bolthole collapsed and sealed itself in a fury of noise and debris. She rolled to her feet and grinned at me. “Bracing.”

I'm sure I was pale as a ghost. I slapped her shoulder hard and chastised, “That was reckless, we could have lost you!” Then I realized what I did and took a knee with my head down. “Sorry, Great Mother.”

She chuckled as I heard her starting to run, “Less bowing, more running, Laney.”

I grinned and got up and ran with them to the shoreline by the remains of the pier. My eyes acclimated to the night and Sara waved her arms to signal the dark waters that were not as violently choppy as before but still had rough waves slashing across its surface.

We saw fires being lit all around the ruins as Roman muttered, “Come on, come on.” Then he nudged his chin and blurted, “There!”

We looked and we saw a boat being batted by the waves, pulled forward by powerful strokes from Alexi. I saw the determination on his face at the boat slid up to the bank.

Over the sound of the rain and the shouts from the keep, I heard the hollow thud of the boat's bottom striking rocks. That was the closest he could get. He jammed an oar between two nearby rocks as Roman waded in, being careful to keep Udele out of the water even though she was already soaked to the bone by the rains. He lifted her in like she was no burden at all then he held his hand toward us.

We all dashed into the waters, our footing unsure on the uneven rocks below the surface, and the waves batting us around. He lifted each of us into the boat as arrows started striking the water and rocks around the boat, a couple embedding in the side of it.

With a great heave, he pushed the boat from the rocks and dragged himself aboard, almost capsizing us. He joined our blonde haired archer in returning fire. They used what little arrows they had left, sparingly. I took up the second set of oars and lent what little muscle I had to getting us clear, until Alexi and I had us far enough away from shore that the incoming fire didn't pose much of a threat.

Then Roman shouldered his bow and shooed me away and took over. I joined Ranelle with Udele, who looked barely conscious. She looked positively blue. My eyes shot wide and I pulled off my cloak. The chill summer air and driving rain made me shiver as I wrapped my spelled cloak around her.

As cold as I felt, I knew it to be worse for her because my leathers and clothes were similarly charmed, just not as heavily as my riding cloak, and I could still feel the chill. We turned south and skirted the island, heading for our horses. As we rounded the island, we saw what looked like a couple dozen men rushing to the boats on the front side. Were there not more?

The analytical part of me grinned thinking that that was all the men they had. Roman estimated twenty-three men and we took down around fifty surrounding the Gypsy caravan. Was this all the men that Kennick and Duchess Aelwen had? We had dwindled their numbers by two-thirds.

Then the primal part of me shook my head. Twenty-three, well, twenty-one now, were more than enough to roll over our little Greva. I swallowed.

Then Ranelle exchanged looks with me and we nodded to each other as we took in the situation. If they made it to the other shore to their horses before we hit land, they would overtake us in moments. We were as Bowyn would put it, “Knee deep in horseshit with only a spoon and a feather to guide us.” Whatever in the hell that meant.

Rain said in a calm voice. “Gentlemen, if you could please hold us as steady as you can.” They stopped rowing and laid the flat of the paddles on the waves, trying to keep us as steady as they could as the Queen of the Mountain Gypsies stood and brought her arms to her side.

She looked at Sara and me, and said in a toneless voice, “After this, it will fall upon the two of you to defend us from magical assault. This will do me in.”

She flicked her fingers and seemed to ignite into an explosion of white mist and power. She started moving her hands through the air gracefully, as she pulled in more magik of the spirit into her from the very lake and I felt some tug from me as well and drift into her. I shielded my eyes, she was as brilliant as a star in the heavens as her arms did an intricate dance in the air, a sigil started forming, it felt as if it were a tangible thing. The air began to chill and I saw my breath crystallizing in front of me as I recognized the rune of power. It was the one the Lipei women had put on my waterskin to keep the water cool.

I started to shake as the cold it radiated seeped through the spells and charms on my clothing. She wavered a moment, strain on her face. Then she growled out a challenge and thrust both hands forward at the rune. Striking it and with a singing tone, it exploded away from her like a comet, leaving a trail of ice in the sea in its wake.