Pain in the back of his skull beat a steady rhythm. Lying on what felt like a cold dirt floor, he opened his eyes to darkness. An attempt to rise found his legs and arms bound. Slowly, so as not to aggravate his headache, he sought a crack of light that might indicate a way out, but none was to be found. Either I’m blind or in a hole in the ground.
“Miko, are you there?”
“Oh, thank the gods.”
Miko’s muffled voice came from the dark and somewhere not far to his right. “I feared you were dead. You were out for a long time.”
“Where are we?”
“I don’t know. They put a hood on me before they took us. After that, we were loaded in a wagon and I think they covered us up. I was told to be quiet or they’d slit my throat.” He paused a moment, “I’m not sure how long they had us in the wagon before we stopped. I’m pretty sure we’re inside a building. They brought us down stairs and dumped us in here. That was hours ago. I tried to wake you when we got here, but you didn’t respond.”
“Were they the ones who we encountered after leaving Bearn?”
“I didn’t recognize any of them. Why?”
“Lord Colerain’s in town. Perhaps our being here and his being in Cardri are related. I can’t think of any other reason for us to be in this situation.”
“You’re probably right. What are we going to do?”
“Did you mention to anyone that I can do magic?”
“No, I haven’t said anything since they surprised me back in our room.”
“Then let’s hope they don’t find out. It may be the edge we’ll need to get out of here.” James concentrated and cast his light spell. The effort aggravated his headache. The light revealed they were in a root cellar. Sacks, along with several boxes, were stacked against all the walls save one. That one had an old wooden door; it looked to be the only way out.
He saw that Miko was also bound, with the hood still covering his head. A quick, visual search of the room revealed a little hand trowel, similar to what his grandmother used in her garden. It was wedged in-between two sacks. He slowly made his way across the floor and maneuvered to grab the handle. Twisting sharply and rolling away failed to dislodge it. The trowel was wedged too tightly and the handle slipped from his fingers.
Placing his feet against one of the sacks trapping the trowel, James pushed with all his strength. The sack toppled and hit the ground, spilling grain and freeing the trowel. He slid over to it and grabbed it. Turning the blade against the rope binding his hands, he sawed.
“What’s going on?” Miko asked from behind the hood.
“I found something that may cut the rope.”
Fibers grudgingly parted beneath the dull blade.
“Can’t you use magic?”
In dire need of an aspirin, James replied, “I’d rather not.”
Time passed as fiber by fiber gave way.
“Got it!”
With hands free he easily severed the rope binding his legs, then moved to Miko and removed the hood.
“Thank you,” he said when the hood came off. “It was getting hard to breathe.”
“No problem.”
Once Miko was free, James went to the door. Applying gentle pressure revealed it to be locked. Using his orb, he examined the door closely. From this side there was no way to manipulate the lock. Hoping it to be a simple latch and hook, he slid the trowel between the door and the jamb then moved it upward until meeting resistance. A little more pressure produced a faint click as the latch came free. He pressed lightly on the door. It was dark on the other side.
Taking Miko’s hood, he put the glowing orb into it and closed it until only a small opening remained that allowed very little light to come through. Signaling for Miko to remain quiet, he opened the door slowly. The light from the hood revealed a flight of wooden steps leading up. The door at the top had light radiating through the cracks.
“Looks like they’re up there,” he said as he turned back to Miko. “How many were there?”
“I saw four.”
“Let’s hope they didn’t invite any friends along and maybe we can get out of this.” As he started up the steps, he said, “Stay here for a second. I’m going to see how many we have to deal with.”
Miko remained by the foot of the steps.
James took the steps slowly, trying to minimize their creaking. He placed his feet as close to the edge of the wooden steps as possible. Cautiously, he made it to the top; voices came from the other side.
“Just how long are we supposed to wait?” one whiney voice asked impatiently.
“We were told to wait and wait is what we’re gonna do!” another voice commandingly told the first.
“Yeah, stop yer whining, Elz,” another added derisively. “We’re making enough off this.”
“Alright, alright,” Elz said, “I’ll wait.”
The sound of shuffling cards came from the other side. After listening for a moment, he returned to Miko and told him what he overheard.
“I don’t like this, James,” Miko said. “If there are three up there, then where’s the fourth? And is he the one they’re waiting for?”
“I don’t know, but I don’t want to be here when whomever they’re waiting for arrives.”
“Yeah,” Miko said, “we better get out of here fast.”
James returned to the cellar where they had been dumped, and took a quick inventory. He found little of use, just grain and seeds. The boxes however gave him an idea and he pried three small boards off a broken one. He used the trowel again, sharpening one end of each. He handed the trowel and the hood with the glowing orb still inside to Miko, then carried the sticks as he climbed to the top of the steps.
He paused a moment. Hearing the three men talking as they played cards, he turned his attention to the door. The door was secured by a sliding bar. Fortunately, there was a handle on this side. He slowly slid it until the end came free.
He thought about what he was about to attempt and it made his head ache even worse. A few calming breaths… Okay, James, you can do this. He readied his sticks, and formulated the spell he planned to use. Once he had it, he nodded to Miko who indicated that he was ready. With one final deep breath, he kicked the door open.
It slammed against the wall and startled the three men, causing them to leap from their seats. They turned in surprise to see him framed in the doorway. One drew a sword as the other two drew knives.
James took the three sharpened boards, and threw them in their direction. As they flew across the room, words of a version of his spear spell issued forth. Magic surged and took hold of the sticks. With incredible speed and accuracy, they impaled each man in the chest. He had but a moment’s satisfaction before pain erupted in his head.
As James burst through the door and cast his spell, Miko followed him into the room. He carried the trowel in one hand as a weapon and held the hood with the glowing orb in the other. Movement from the far side of the room caught his eye just as James launched the three sharpened sticks. A fourth man, who had been resting upon a cot, sprang to his feet. Wearing nothing but shirt and pants, he drew a sword from the sword belt looped around the back of a nearby chair and advanced.
Before the man had the chance to take two steps, he came to an abrupt halt when his partners were struck down by the sticks. Afraid to face one capable of such a thing, he turned to flee for the door. But then James succumbed to the effort of casting the spell and crumbled to the floor. With only Miko left, the man stopped his flight. He eyed James’ immobile form on the floor for a moment before turning a look full of malice upon Miko.
Miko held the trowel out before him threateningly. In a voice filled with fear, he said, “I…I am a great wizard too! A…and if you don’t throw down your weapon, I…I....I will cast the fires of hell at you.”
The man snorted and advanced toward Miko. “Go ahead, kid, burn me. I dare you.” He took another two steps toward Miko who did nothing but stand there menacing him
with the trowel. “Thought not.”
As he came closer, Miko grabbed the open end of the hood with his left hand. With his free hand, he held the other end and said with all his might, “Fires of hell, burn him!” He swung the hood toward the man and let go with his left hand. The hood opened and the glowing orb sailed out, straight toward the man’s head.
He backpedaled and held up his arms, screaming as if the fires of hell truly were coming for him.
Knowing he only had a few seconds, Miko advanced with speed and struck with the trowel, just as the orb hit the man in the head and harmlessly bounced off. With the strength of desperation, Miko thrust the trowel into the man’s belly which cut through the shirt. The slash opened a long gash causing his innards to slip free. Tripping over his own guts the man fell to the floor. Not dead, but in great pain, he watched Miko take a knife from one of the fallen men at the table and come to his side.
“If you tell me who hired you I’ll make it quick.”
The man replied weakly, “I don’t know who it was.” He nodded to one of the dead men, “Carl there made the arrangement. He said that someone wanted you captured alive. Once we had you, he went and made contact to find out what they wanted us to do with you. When he came back, he said that someone would come this evening to collect you and that we’d get paid when he arrived. That’s all I know, I swear!”
True to his word, Miko made it quick, ending the man’s pain. He wiped the knife on the dead man’s pants, got up and returned to where James laid unconscious on the floor. He checked James’ breathing and was relieved that he still lived.
Miko shook him gently. “James, are you okay?”
Coming to, James gasped and held his head. Intense pain warred with consciousness.
“What?” he asked dazedly.
Miko took him by the arm and encouraged him to stand. “Come on, we got to get out of here.”
Memory returned.
Miko assisted him to his feet. The effort to stand produced black spots that circled before his eyes. With Miko’s help, he made it to a chair and sat down.
“See if there’s something to drink.”
Pain ripped through his head and he felt as if he was about to black out again. He closed his eyes, and took a few slow, deep breaths.
As Miko searched the room, James looked at the three dead men with boards protruding from their chests. Then he noticed the fourth man; throat slit and entangled in his own intestines.
“Found some ale by the looks of it,” Miko said as he returned. He held out a bottle.
James took it, hesitantly sniffed it and then drank some. It was ale, if a bit stale; it did help to further ease the headache.
“Thanks, that helped,” he said then indicated the dead man with a nod of his head. “You did that?”
“Yeah,” Miko smiled with pride.
“Good work,” James congratulated. “We need to get out of here, but not before we take care of some things.” He got up and moved toward the men killed with the sharpened boards. He removed the board from the closest dead man’s chest. “I don’t want anyone to know I can do magic. Collect the other two and put them in a sack with the trowel, we’re taking them with us.”
“Why bother?” Miko asked as he grabbed a sack. He took the blood-stained board from James, and then removed the ones from the other two placing all three into the sack.
James picked up the sword that belonged to the gutted man, and stabbed one of the other three through the place where the stick had impaled him. “I want anyone who sees this to think that we were rescued, that we didn’t get out by ourselves. That way in the future we may have an edge in a similar situation.” He went to the other two and stabbed them in a similar matter. “I doubt if forensic science has evolved very far around here for someone to be able to tell that they were not killed by a sword.”
“Forensic science?” asked a confused Miko.
“It means the study of a crime to tell what actually happened.”
“Oh,” responded Miko. “Why would that be important?”
Finished, James placed the sword back into the hand of the man on the ground. Seeing the orb lying off to the side, he canceled the spell and caused it to disappear.
“Knowledge is power,” he said as he proceeded to each of the four men, searching their pockets. Some coins and two small gems were in the pocket of one man at the table. He found the medallion the little creature had given him around the neck of another. He found his other amulet in the third impaled man’s pouch with several coins.
He put the medallion around his neck and tucked it inside his shirt. The other amulet, coins and miscellaneous valuables went into his pouch. He turned to Miko, “What people know determines what they do. The better your information, the more effective your course of action will be. And if your information is wrong, it could lead you into actions which may be a waste of time or even cause you problems. Understand?”
“I think so,” he replied, not sounding very certain.
“Regardless, let’s get out of here before someone comes by.”
James moved to the door and opened it slowly, peering out. Still very dark, the street was illuminated by the light that spilled past him through the door. The street appeared deserted. He stepped out into the night, and quickly closed the door after Miko exited. Once again the street plunged into darkness.
They proceeded down the street a little ways, and came across a refuse pile heaped against the wall of a building. Sure no one was watching, they pried up the pile and placed the sack with the sticks beneath the stack of junk. Satisfied that the evidence was well-hidden, they continued on their way.
A shadow watched from the darkness as they made their way from the refuse pile. It disengaged from the dark once they were gone and crossed to the refuse pile. It rooted around for several moments before standing, the sack containing the bloody boards in hand. The shadow then took it as it hurried after James and Miko.
James soon realized that they were on the outside of the outer wall, in the poor sector. They moved down the road at a quick pace, and were soon at the gate which led back into the city. The smaller gate for travelers stood open, brightly illuminated by several torches. The two guards on duty turned to look back through the gate into the city at the sound of an approaching horse. A rider appeared, and signaled to the guards as he left the city.
James and Miko hid in the shadows as the rider appeared. Miko gripped James’ arm as he pointed. “James, that’s one of the guards who chased us from Lord Colerain’s estate.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” There was no missing the certainty in his voice.
The rider passed through and turned down the lane that led out of the city.
James started for the gate when Miko suddenly stopped him. Turning toward Miko he heard him say, “If we go through the gate now, then Lord Colerain’s men might discover we’re back in the city.”
Considering it a moment, he nodded. “What should we do?”
“Find a place to hole up for the night and then come in with the crowd in the morning.”
“Where do you suggest we go that won’t leave us robbed or dead by morning?”
“Out of town a ways,” he suggested. “Perhaps down by the river.”
“Alright,” agreed James, “let’s do it.”
They moved down the street until arriving at a junction with another road that headed away from town. Turning onto it, they continued until the outer buildings of Cardri could no longer be seen. Off the road to the west sat a field of tall grass wherein they made their camp.
The shadow, still following, watched from the road. Once certain they were down for the night, it left and headed back to town.
Morning dawned to another sunny day. James’ head still throbbed, but nothing like it did last night. The back of his head still bore a tender lump.
The road to Cardri already held a decent amount of traffic. They joined those making for the gates. The gu
ards paid them no notice; they were simply another set of anonymous faces.
Once back at the Dancing Squirrel, they went to their room where they found most of their belongings except for the tarts and crumb cake that their captors had taken.
“What do we do now?” Miko asked, settling down on the bed.
“We do what we came here to do and get out as soon as possible.”
“And that is?”
James took out his medallion and showed it to his young companion. He indicated the design on the face. “I want to find out if this design has any special meaning.”
Miko looked closely at it and asked, “Why? What’s so special about it?”
“I can’t really explain, but let’s just say it’s something I need to do. I also want to keep the fact that we’re investigating this medallion a secret, okay?”
“Sure, I understand,” Miko agreed, intrigued by the secrecy. “If you like, I could see if there is any place around here where you could do that. Someone like me could get around without arousing suspicion. I’m just another of the street brats.”
“Okay, but be very careful,” James cautioned as he gathered the rest of their baggage. “Lord Colerain may yet have other plans in the works for capturing us. I still can’t believe he’s still after us just because we were trespassing.”
“That’s the way with some nobles,” Miko explained. “Especially, Lord Colerain. I once heard of a boy who on a dare threw a tomato at his carriage as it passed through town. Two days later, the boy disappeared. It was never proven that Lord Colerain was the one who took the boy, but that’s the general belief.”
“Sounds like someone we need to stay clear of,” he said. “We’ll move to the Silver Bells, the inn where Perrilin said he was engaged to play. When you find out anything, meet me there.”
“Alright,” Miko said as he opened the door. “I’ll see you there.”
Once he was alone, James changed into a clean set of clothes then went down to the common room. Inius sat quietly by the front window as he looked out into the street. He wore a sad expression.
“Something the matter?”
“Furball is missing,” Inius replied. “She was here last night when I locked up, but I haven’t seen her since.”
“That’s too bad,” consoled James. “I’m sure she’ll turn up.”
The innkeeper sighed. “I hope so. She’s all I have left of my Eliena. Of course, I have grown fond of her, too.” He noticed James carrying his belongings. “Leaving?”
“Afraid so,” James replied as he handed over the room key. “Something’s come up and I need to go. You can keep the advance for the next two days. I really enjoyed your inn and your people.”
“Thank you,” he said. “If you are ever in Cardri again, I hope you will stay with us.”
“I’m sure I will. And if I should see Furball, I’ll get her back to you.”
“I would appreciate that,” Inius said as he continued to stare out the window.
James exited to the stable and found that his horse had been well cared for. He patted him on the side, “They treating you well, boy?”
“Of course they are,” a voice answered. Turning, he saw the surly stableman from yesterday. The man’s disposition apparently was little improved. The man carried a bale of fresh straw.
“Good day to you,” James greeted cheerfully, stepping aside as the man pushed past to deposit the straw in the next stall.
“I suppose it may be,” the man replied. “You leavin’?” He grabbed a pitchfork and spread the straw across the floor.
“Yes, heading out today.”
The man looked at James over the stall wall, made a grunting noise and walked out.
“Friendly sort of chap, eh?” he asked his horse. The horse snorted for an answer. “I agree,” he said as he finished securing his bags. He then mounted and rode from the stable. He kept an eye out for anyone taking a special interest in him. Since last night he intended to keep on guard, and watch for anyone who might be following him.
When he arrived at Cardri’s middle wall, he found a single, wide gate that gave entry where there had been two in the outer wall. The gate busy with many people passing through, though not nearly the crowd that had bottlenecked the outer one. James grew nervous as he approached the gate for the guards gave him a close scrutiny. But when he came to the gate to pass through, they didn’t stop him.
On the other side he found the streets to be much cleaner. The buildings slowly made way for residences and estates. A broad thoroughfare ran left and right from the gate which extended further into the city. A man walked by carrying several packages, making deliveries. James hailed him, “Excuse me.”
The man paused and turned toward him. “Yes, sir?”
“I was wondering if you could tell me where I might find the Silver Bells?”
Pointing down the street to the right, he said “That way, you can’t miss it.”
“Thank you,” James said as the man continued on his way.
The buildings along this route were very well kept and the businesses were of a higher quality as well. Rather than taverns and the more mundane shops he found in the outer area, there were more craftsmen such as goldsmiths and artisans.
After several blocks, he came upon a very nice, three story building. It had a set of four bells which hung in front; they looked to be made of silver. They made a melodious sound with the breeze. Must be the Silver Bells. Can’t be real silver or they would have been stolen by now. He tied his horse to the post out front, grabbed his backpack and climbed the four steps to the door that stood open at the top.
He walked inside and immediately saw that this was an upscale establishment. Pictures hung on the walls as well as various pieces of sculpture set in small alcoves placed strategically around the common room. White cloth draped the table, and not a stain was in evidence.
A man saw him enter and approached. “Can I help you, sir?”
“I hope so. I am looking for a bard by the name of Perrilin. He said he might be engaged here.”
“He was.”
“Was? He told me he would be here for a week.”
“Yes, he was going to be” the man explained. “But the city watch came in last night and took him away in the middle of his performance. You can find him at the city jail I would think.”
“Do you know why they took him?”
“No, they didn’t bother to inform us. Miss Gilena was very put out that they disrupted her place in such a way. They didn’t even wait until he was finished, just dragged him off the stage right in the middle of a song.”
“Too bad,” said James. “I happen to be in need of a room and a stall for my horse. I have a boy with me; he’ll be by after a while.”
“The rooms are a gold a night,” the man explained, “and another silver for your horse. Meals are extra.” He gestured to the far side where a lady stacked glasses. “That’s Miss Gilena. She can get you set up.”
“Thanks for the help,” he said gratefully then walked over to Miss Gilena.
“Excuse me, ma’am.”
She turned and said, “Yes, how may I help you?”
“Looking for a room and a stall for my horse.”
She looked him up and down with an expression that bordered on snooty. “It’ll be a gold a night and another silver for your horse.” The expression on her face clearly said that she didn’t think he would take the room, much less afford it.
James pulled out two golds and two silvers and handed them to her.
Her mood changed abruptly at sight of the coins. Where disdain once reigned supreme, smiles and cheerfulness now ruled. She snatched the money from his hand. “Welcome to the Silver Bells, good sir.” She reached beneath the counter and brought forth a room key. “We have one room left. It’s on the third floor, top of the stairs, all the way at the end on the right.”
He took the key. “That will be just fine, thank you.”
“The stables are out back
. Gunther should be there and he will find a stall for your horse.”
“Appreciate that,” he said gratefully. “There is a young boy with me by the name of Miko who will be here a little later. Could you direct him to my room when he arrives?”
Certainly.”
“Thank you.” With that, he headed out the front and collected his horse.
James took his horse around back and found Gunther who soon had his horse settled in. He took his belongings and returned to the inn where a boy assumed the carrying of the bags then showed him to his room. Once there he held the door open, allowing James to enter first.
The boy set the bags down by the bed and then looked at James, not making any move to leave.
James pulled out a couple coppers and handed them to the boy who pocketed them and promptly left, shutting the door behind him.
James settled onto one of the beds and yawned. Deciding to relax until Miko arrived, he laid there for a time, mulling over the events of the past few days. Though worried about Miko, exhaustion soon overcame him and he fell asleep.
Chapter Twelve
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