Deliverance (12 page)

“So then, we can leave him alone and if he
tries to escape, we can find him quickly because of this spell?”
asked Gavril.

“Precisely, it gives him freedom and gives
us peace of mind that he will not reveal our hideout location,”
Thaddeus assured them.

“So is it permanent?” Crystal asked.

“Not at all! In fact, there is a spell on
the next page to remove it,” replied Thaddeus. “Now then, I shall
apply the mark. About how big is this hideout, Gavril?”

Gavril pondered and then answered, “I’d say
about a quarter of a mile wide, at the most.”

“Then I will set the distance that wide.
That way, I will be alerted if he leaves the hideout,” replied
Thaddeus. He then reached into a small, cloth pouch on his desk,
pulled out a handful of orange sparkling powder, and muttered an
incantation as he scattered the powder around the tip of his staff.
The powder floated around the tip and glowed like embers. Once they
disappeared, the tip of his staff glowed orange.

Blaze leaned back in the chair hesitantly
and blurted out loudly, “Are you going to set me on fire?!”

“No, no. Of course not!” Thaddeus promised
him, “Now lift your head so I can get a good view of your
neck.”

Blaze hesitantly complied. He stared up at
the ceiling and braced himself for whatever was coming.

“Now this may sting a little. Of course, I
have never used this spell, so I am not entirely sure,” said
Thaddeus.

Before Blaze could yell “WHAT??” the mage
pressed the tip of his staff into the prince’s neck. Blaze felt a
surge of heat through his body and then and explosion. For a
moment, he thought he was dead, but then he realized that his chair
had fallen backwards and that his neck stung.

“Is he all right?” asked Gavril, whose
question was answered when Blaze moaned.

The prince covered the side of his neck with
his hand, where it burned. He opened his eyes to see Thaddeus,
Crystal, and Gavril hovering over him.

When he removed his hand, he heard Thaddeus
shout excitedly, “It worked!”

“Wow, excellent work, Thaddeus,” Gavril
praised.

“What the hell? Someone help me up!” said
Blaze. Crystal bent down and offered him her hand, which he took.
She pulled him up and without thanking her, Blaze stumbled over to
the nearest mirror. He immediately saw the solid black mark. It was
curved upward and made a round curve at the bottom, making it
resemble a flame.

“Great,” he said, “I’m a branded cow.”

“Don’t worry, lad,” replied Thaddeus, “You
will enjoy the peace and quiet you will get now.”

Blaze turned to the old mage and asked,
“Just so I’m sure, you can’t invade my thoughts or anything like
that now, can you?”

The old mage laughed and assured him, “No, I
cannot see what you are thinking, just what you are doing if you
get far enough away from me. Even if I could do that, I wouldn’t
invade a person’s mind like that.”

“Fine. Now may I please have some time
alone?” asked Blaze.

“Of course, Blaze. You are free to go
anywhere you want around the hideout now,” replied Crystal.

Blaze responded by immediately walking out
of the room.

“What an ungrateful—”

“Now, now, Gavril, don’t fret.” interrupted
Thaddeus, “It’s only natural for him to react that way.”

“Especially after being locked up like a
prisoner,” added Crystal.

“Well, I still don’t trust him.” replied
Gavril, “You may be able to see if he leaves, but he could slay one
of our rebels within the hideout and no one would be able to stop
him in time if he were alone. He can’t be any good for our cause;
just look at the man who raised him! If only—” Gavril then stopped
abruptly as if to catch himself before saying something he didn’t
want to.

“What? If only what?” asked Crystal.

“Nothing,” Gavril muttered. He then left the
room without another word and shut the door behind him.

There was a brief, awkward silence until
Thaddeus muttered, “Strange fellow.”

“Father always said he was quite the
mysterious man,” Crystal agreed.

“Indeed,” Thaddeus replied.

****

Blaze trained completely alone until
nightfall. He wasn’t spied on, smothered by people who didn’t trust
him, or hauled back to his bedroom when he was done. Apparently,
word about the tracking mark spread fast, so Blaze finally felt a
sense of peace and quiet, even though he felt degraded at the same
time. Despite the fact that Blaze felt like he was being treated
like a dog being trained by its master, he had to admit, he liked
it better without the dwarves and Gavril constantly on his back. He
took solace in the thought that the old mage wouldn’t be able to
spy on him as long as he stayed in the hideout area.

CHAPTER 7

A few days after Thaddeus had applied the
tracking mark to Blaze’s neck, the halflings returned with
important information about a possible Gaull shard sighting. It was
late morning when Maryn approached Crystal with the news, and she
soon found herself rushing around the hideout telling everyone she
could about an emergency meeting. She then made her way to Blaze’s
room after not finding him in anywhere else in the hideout.

“Blaze, wake up!” she shouted as she opened
Blaze’s bedroom door and peeked inside. The irritated prince
groaned, sat up in bed, and rubbed his eyes. He’d only slept in his
trousers, so Crystal was surprised and a little embarrassed to see
him without a shirt on.

“What the hell do you want?” he groggily
asked as he tried to flatten his hair with no luck.

“Maryn just brought her team of halflings
back from the northeast, and she says that they discovered where a
Gaull shard may be. We’re having a meeting as soon as everyone
organizes in the meeting room,” Crystal explained.

“And?” Blaze asked, giving her an
exasperated expression.

“And I want you to get up and come to the
meeting so we can assemble a team.” replied Crystal, “So get
dressed and come to the meeting room.” With that, she dashed off
down the hallway.

Crystal then made her way to the meeting
room to see all of her friends as well as plenty of other rebels
waiting for her. Maryn stood in the middle of the room with a group
of older halflings surrounding her. When Crystal approached her,
she could see Maryn gloating to her brother.

“Told you I’d find something first!” she
teased.

“You had a head start! It’s not fair!”
pouted Taryn.

“It’s not my fault you kept flirting with
the girls in that tavern! I just have more focus than you!” Maryn
countered.

Once Crystal cleared her throat, the twins
saw her and immediately stopped arguing.

“Hey boss!” Taryn greeted.

“When do you want me to start?” Maryn
asked.

“In a moment. I want to give more people a
chance to arrive first,” replied Crystal.

Within a few minutes, a few more groups of
people as well as Blaze arrived. Blaze walked over to a space by
the wall and stood alone while the other rebels joined their
friends. Once everyone was settled, Crystal beckoned for Maryn to
begin.

Maryn then climbed up onto the table in the
middle of the room and began, “So my friends and I traveled
northeast of here about fifteen to twenty miles, and we were
passing through a village when we heard some people talking about a
red flash of light they saw about two weeks or so before. It was
around the time of incident at the City of Magi, so we asked around
some more and heard that there were some old ruins half a mile
outside of town. It was there that people said the red flash came
from and everyone who goes near it sees these weird and scary
creatures wandering around. The creatures attack anyone who goes
near the ruins and the people are worried that they will attack the
village before long. When we heard of this, we headed back
immediately to report it to Crystal.”

“So you don’t know for sure that the shard
is even there?” asked Gavril.

“No, but it seems to point that way. The
villagers all reported seeing the flash stretch across the sky and
then land around the ruins area, so it’s a safe bet that we will
find one there,” replied Maryn.

“Even so, we can’t let those monsters
threaten the villagers either. I believe that this lead is worth
investigating, so I will assemble a team immediately.” Crystal
stated, “Thank you Maryn and to the rest of those who aided
you.”

“Not a problem, Crystal!” replied the
halfling girl, who then jumped down from the table.

“In the meantime, I believe we should still
send people out to search the areas for more rumors,” Gavril
said.

“I agree.” replied Crystal, “Now then, Maryn
and Taryn, I want you to continue to lead the searches in the
surrounding areas.”

“Will do!” said both twins at once.

“Sigurd, will you stay here and watch over
things while we are gone?” asked Crystal.

“I shall make you and my brethren proud,”
the dwarf confidently responded.

“I have no doubt you will, my friend.”
replied Crystal, “As for the mission, I would like for Gavril,
Thaddeus, Kerali, and Blaze to join me on the journey to the
village.”

“Why me?” asked Blaze.

“Yeah, why him?” repeated Sigurd.

“Blaze can help us get there before his
father by telling us what tactics his father will use and how to
either avoid them, or take advantage of them. Therefore, it is a
good idea to bring him along,” responded Crystal. She then turned
to Blaze and asked, “Will that be All right with you?”

“Fine, whatever,” replied Blaze.

“Good.” said Crystal. She then turned to
Gavril. “And can you round up some of your warriors to guard the
village while we investigate the ruins?”

“Of course,” replied Gavril. He then turned
to Maryn and asked “How many people do you think will be enough to
guard the village?”

“The village isn’t that big, so not that
many,” Maryn answered him.

“We also don’t want to travel in such a
large group, so about three or four of your best men will work
fine, Gavril,” replied Crystal.

“Very well,” replied Gavril.

“Let’s begin preparations immediately.” said
Crystal, “If we leave in about an hour, we can get there before
sunset if we don’t make any stops. Now then, let’s get to
work.”

****

It was noon when Crystal and her team set
out to the northeast. The air was still cold out from the late
winter, but spring was approaching and the sun was shining upon
them. The land was drenched with melting snow as the sun laid its
blanket of warmth across its path. Throughout the day, as the
afternoon came and went, the team did not even have to clutch their
cloaks around them to keep warm.

The sky had already begun to glow orange by
the time the rebels reached the tiny village. The citizens
confirmed what Maryn had told them about the ruins, so after a
brief rest and a meal, they venture southeast of the village
towards the ruins. As Crystal requested, three of Gavril’s best
fighters stayed behind in the village.

“According to the tavern owner,” said
Gavril, as they walked across the plains, “the ruins were once an
old mansion that burned to the ground about thirty years ago. The
owner of the mansion apparently lost everything in the fire and
died from a disease some years later.”

“That’s quite a sad story,” replied
Crystal.

“That’s life, I’m afraid,” replied
Gavril.

“It sure is getting dark.” said Crystal, “I
hope we can find the shard when we can’t see well.”

“Or see the monsters well enough to fight
them,” Thaddeus added.

“I should not have a problem with my eyes.”
said Kerali, “If you all cover me, I can take out quite a few of
them in the dark.”

“Good idea,” replied Crystal, “and with our
fire spells, Thaddeus and I could light the way.”

“Of course,” replied Thaddeus.

“I can take the front lines and I am sure
that Blaze can as well,” said Gavril.

Blaze didn’t say a word and walked behind
the group.

“Try to keep up, Blaze,” Crystal called back
to him.

“I’m fine, Princess. Just keep walking,”
Blaze remarked.

The team reached the ruins in less than an
hour. The sun was already below the horizon and the faint orange
glow that peeked overhead was steadily fading into the black and
starry night sky. As the dark curtain of night shaded the land, the
dull shape of a crescent moon started to peek out in the east.

When the rebels finally came upon the ruins,
they found an old, rusted iron gate lining the property. The group
daringly but cautiously ventured into an old courtyard in front of
the wreckage and saw that the ruins of the enormous manor were
covered in soot and cobwebs. The beams that once lined the walls
were still standing upright and the archway of the front door was
still intact. Several floors above the ground level still stood,
but did not seem to still be able to support anyone’s weight.

Not long after stepping into the courtyard
between the gate and the front of the ruins, the rebels heard a low
growling noise followed by steady footsteps.

“What was that?” Crystal asked in a low
voice.

“It definitely didn’t sound friendly,”
Gavril remarked.

The rebels immediately braced their weapons
and backed against each other to avoid a sneak attack. They watched
around the courtyard, waiting to see the source of the noise.

“Watch for any signs of movement!” exclaimed
Crystal.

The growling continued and seemed to be
coming from more than one source.

“How many are there, Kerali?” asked
Gavril.

“I hear about three different growls and
judging by the sound of their footsteps, I believe they are
quadrupeds,” replied the elf.