The Cypher Wheel (13 page)

She couldn't sense anyone near, so she gave the go
ahead to the others. They all hurried across the atrium in single
file, lining up behind each other along the corridor, making sure
that no one heard them.

Faen took the lead, with Faedra and Jocelyn in the
middle and Etyran holding up the rear. They crept down the
corridor, passing a closed door here and there. As they got closer
to the stairs, Faen held his hand up signaling everyone to stop.
The next door they came to was ajar, and he could hear noises
inside.

He poked his head around the door frame but couldn't
see inside. The door wasn't open wide enough, which meant the
occupants couldn't see him either, but there was every possibility
that someone could open the door and walk out at any second. Faen
turned to the others and held his finger over his mouth. He
signaled them to move past the door as quickly and quietly as they
could. They tiptoed past the open door and got to the other side
just as the door hinges squeaked.

All four slammed themselves flat against the wall and
held their breath. A woman dressed in a dowdy brown dress that
skimmed her ankles was carrying a large clay pitcher. She leaned in
to pull the door closed behind her.

“I'll bring back some more hot water for your bath,”
she said before clicking the door closed. She looked down the
corridor towards the atrium and started walking without looking the
other way first. The four intruders relaxed their shoulders. The
woman stopped. Faedra could physically feel the tension coiling out
of her three friends. It was as if they were collectively
strangling her, it was so strong.

The woman glanced around, but not behind her.

“That's strange,” she mumbled to herself. “It never
gets this warm in the castle.” She stood still for another
heartbeat, then shrugged her shoulders and carried on walking
towards the atrium.

When she turned the corner at the end of the
corridor, Faedra slumped forward and propped herself up with her
hands on her knees.

“Guys, I need you to breathe,” she said, slightly
breathless herself. “Your tension is killing me.”

The others gave her a worried look, then glanced at
each other, realizing what she meant and puffed out a sigh of
relief.

“Thank you,” Faedra sighed.

“That was a little too close for comfort,” Jocelyn
remarked. “Exciting, though.”

Faedra gave her a look that said ‘you are kidding,
right?’.

“Come on, we must keep moving,” Faen said. “Are you
okay to keep going?” he asked Faedra.

She nodded and pushed herself to stand up. Faen and
Jocelyn were already moving, and Faedra was about to join them when
she noticed Etyran's energy. She turned. He was looking down the
corridor where the woman had been.

“What is it?” Faedra asked.

He visibly snapped himself from his thoughts and gave
Faedra a look as if he hadn't expected her to be standing
there.

“Etyran?” She looked at him, then down the corridor,
then back to him again.

He changed his expression to an emotionless mask.
“Nothing. It was...nothing.”

He strode past Faedra. “Come on, we need to follow
the others.”

Faedra creased her eyebrows. Whatever it was, it
certainly wasn't nothing. Etyran's energy was off the charts. She
wasn't going to get anything out of him right now; she could tell
he had shut down. She followed on behind him, wondering what on
earth could have caused a sudden shift in his emotions like that.
She hesitated on the first step that would take them down to the
dungeons and looked back down the corridor. There was nothing
visible there, but she could sense something. Fear, anxiety,
tension. After a second, she dismissed it. Hadn't they all been
standing in the corridor, just moments ago, emitting those exact
same emotions in bucketfuls? She put it down to their residual
energies still lingering. It wasn't so unreasonable, especially
when no other explanation presented itself.

Faedra turned and headed down the stairs. She joined
the group a few steps up from the bottom where they were gathered
together.

“Etyran, you go and scout around to see how many
guards are down here,” Faen instructed.

Etyran nodded and disappeared. A moment later he was
back.

“I only see two guards; they are both over there
playing cards.” He pointed to one side of the opening.

“Faedra, do you feel comfortable shocking them
unconscious?” Faen asked.

Faedra's eyes widened and she shook her head. There
was no way she could be sure she wouldn't blow them to smithereens.
She had very little control over her power when it was inside her
body, let alone, when she sent it outside of herself.

“Okay.” Faen turned to his friend. “Etyran?”

“I'm up for it. A good clomp on the back of the head
should do it.”

Etyran gave everyone a smug grin before wrapping the
light around him again. The three left behind poked their heads
around the stone clad entrance to the dungeons. A moment later, one
of the guards slumped forwards onto an upturned wooden barrel they
were using as a makeshift card table. The cards on the table
scattered, and the ones he was holding, slipped from his grip and
fell to the straw-covered floor.

The remaining guard stood up abruptly, pushing his
stool over. He leaned over his friend and gave him a shake.

It was then that Etyran
unwrapped
himself.
Noticing the sudden appearance of another person the guard stood
up, his eyes widening with surprise and shock.

“Time for night-nights,” Etyran said with a cheeky
grin. A second later, he had bonked the guard on the head and was
easing him down to the ground.

Etyran looked over to the others waiting at the
entrance. “Okay, coast is clear. These two will sleep like babies
for a while yet.”

Faedra smiled and moved quickly to the first dungeon.
Nothing in there, she went down each dungeon one by one. There were
unsavory looking characters in some. Forlorn looking prisoners in
others, but none contained a woman and child. Half way down the
line of cells, she started to get worried.

“They have to be here somewhere,” she whispered to
the others who were keeping pace behind her. She went past several
more cells until she got to the last one.

Putting her hands around the bars, Faedra looked
in.

Faedra whispered a silent “thank you” when her eyes
fell upon a woman lying on a straw mattress on top of a rickety
wooden bench. The woman stirred, as if sensing their presence. She
sat up and swung her legs over the edge of the bed and looked at
Faedra. A frightened girl sat up behind her mother and peeked out
around her shoulder.

“Allora?” Faedra whispered.

The woman nodded.

Faedra's heart swelled with happiness. She gave the
woman a big smile. “Stay right there. We're going to get you out of
here.”

Faen, Jocelyn and Etyran were all standing around
Faedra and peering in to the cell.

Faedra placed her hands on the heavy iron lock on the
cell door.

Allora looked in astonishment as the metal slowly
turned red and started to glow. A moment later, the metal was
melting and dripping down the cell bars. Within minutes, the lock
was no longer there; it was now a molten pool of metal puddling on
the floor.

The heavily barred door opened with a creak.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

“How did you...?” Allora asked as she followed
Faedra's gesture to follow her out of the cell.

“I'll explain later,” Faedra answered. “But right now
we need to get you out of here. Be careful of that.” She pointed to
the puddle of molten metal that was now hardening on the cold stone
floor.

Allora lifted up her dirty skirts and stepped over
the puddle, followed by Skylar, who gave Faedra a wary look as she
passed the Custodian.

Faedra gave the young girl a warm smile. “Hi, I'm
Faedra. You must be Skylar.”

The young girl, who was holding on tight to her
mother's hand, looked up at Faedra through frightened eyes and gave
a tentative nod.

“It's alright; we are here to help you. I'll
introduce you to everyone when we've got you to safety.”

Faen and Etyran led the way back to the stairs. They
were almost there when two guards and a tall man in long red robes
entered from the stairwell and cut off their path.

Faen and Etyran stopped suddenly, getting jerked
forward a step when the rest of the group bumped into them.

“Well, isn't this cozy?” The man in the red robes
hissed, eying them with contempt. “Did you think you could just
waltz into my castle without me knowing and steal one of my most
prized possessions?”

Faedra could feel the hatred flowing out of the woman
standing by her side. It was almost choking in its intensity. She
swallowed hard to push back the force of it. Hatred was such a
powerful energy and not easy to control.

Knowing the man standing before them was a powerful
sorcerer, Faedra pushed between Faen and Etyran to stand in front
of her friends and Arawn's prisoners. She was probably the only
real defense they had in there.

Arawn raised a conceited eyebrow at her gesture. “So,
the famous Custodian has the audacity to show her face in my
realm.” Arawn sneered. “Little girl, you should have kept your nose
out of other people's business. It will be my personal pleasure to
make sure you realize the mistake you have made in coming
here.”

Faedra looked the sorcerer right in the eyes, trying
to keep her face expressionless. “You don't scare me,” she stated,
lifting her chin. Hoping against hope that he couldn't see through
her bluff. In actuality, she was quaking in her boots.

“Really?” Arawn replied, a wry smile daring to curve
the corner of his mouth. “Guards.”

The two guards standing either side of him surged
forward. Faedra put up her hands hoping energy balls would be
thrust from them. She never really knew what was going to come out
since attaining Savu's power. She just made the request in her head
and hoped for the best.

Just as before, the balls that shot forth were
purple; a mix of electrical energy and fire. Faedra watched in
shock as they hit an invisible wall and dispersed before her in a
beautiful array of lightning fingers and sparks.

She looked to the men standing either side of her.
Faen and Etyran looked as shocked as she did.

Arawn dropped his head back and laughed. It was so
cold and heartless, it sent shivers down Faedra's spine.

“Is that all you have, little girl?”

Faedra tried again, a little more forceful this time.
Nothing but a pretty light show exploded in front of the group.

Arawn and his guards took a step forward.

Faedra and her group took a step back. She narrowed
her eyes at Arawn.

“I thought Savu was the most powerful being in the
seven realms.” Faedra whispered to Faen.

“Savu was the most powerful being in the seven
realms,” Arawn interrupted, causing Faedra to return her attention
to him. “But Savu is not the one controlling his power anymore. You
are. Or rather, you're not, as the case seems to be.” A malevolent
smirk twisted Arawn's lips at his statement.

“Oh, buggar,” Faedra mumbled under her breath. “This
wasn't part of the plan.” She looked back at her friends. They all
took another step backwards as Arawn stalked forward, taunting his
prey.

Faedra had to think of something, and quick. These
people were depending on her. If she couldn't match Arawn's power,
the rest of her group stood no chance.

“Hmm...I wonder.” An idea was forming. “Maybe, just
maybe.” She pulled the cypher wheel from its pouch, along with the
piece of paper that had the last clue on it. Why she'd kept that
scrap of paper she had no idea, but it might just end up being the
one thing that could save all of their lives.

“Hold on to me,” Faedra instructed the group of
people crowded behind her. There was a slight hesitation before she
felt several sets of hands grab her clothing.

“What are you doing?” Faen asked, giving her a
sideways glance while still keeping his attention on their
adversary.

Faedra started moving the dials on the wheel,
inputting the last clue.

Arawn narrowed his eyes.

“What is that?” he said, lunging forward.

Faedra looked up just in time and shot another energy
ball at him, causing him to erect his shield and take a hasty step
back.

“Here, take this and input this clue,” she instructed
Faen as she handed him the cypher wheel and the scrap of paper that
held the clue. They needed a few minutes and Faedra knew Arawn
would be on them in a flash if she didn't keep him at bay. She
could, at least, do that.

“Everyone hold on to Faen,” she stated, looking up at
her Guardian. His expression was one of confusion but he didn't
question his Custodian's instructions and started turning the
dials.

“It suddenly dawned on me, that clue must be a set of
co-ordinates, right?” Faedra whispered to her Guardian. “If my
hunch is right, it should take us back to the meadow where we first
arrived.”

“Oh, clever girl,” Etyran muttered on the other side
of her.

Faen gave her a proud smile. “Let us hope you are
correct.”

Faedra kept throwing her energy balls at Arawn's
invisible wall. If nothing else, they were keeping him at bay and
giving them the precious few moments they needed to see if her plan
would work.

“Okay, last one. Everyone holding on to me?” Faen
asked.

Everyone responded in the affirmative.

“Let us pray this works then, shall we?” Faen said as
he turned the dial, inputting the last letter of the clue.

Faedra saw a bright flash and heard a furious scream
just before she felt cool droplets of water splash on her face.

She opened her eyes. It was dark. It was raining.
Hopefully just a shower,
she thought. The silvery light from
the full moon peeked out from behind one of several scattered dark
clouds in the sky. Faedra looked around her. They were standing
under the same tree they'd found themselves under the day
before.