Mighty Hammer Down (18 page)

"I
¾
I don’t know. It’s
hard to remember anything," he said as he picked up his
sword.

"Do you remember me? Do you remember
who you are?"

"Well, no. I mean yes, sort of. I knew
my name when you called it. I don’t exactly remember you, but I
know I have seen you before."

"All right we can worry about that
later." She reached up and flipped his hood up to cover his head.
"For right now we have to focus on getting out of here."

"What did those men do to me?" he
asked.

"I don’t know Rommus. I saw them kill
you a few nights ago, or at least I saw them stab you. I screamed
to warn you, but you didn’t hear me. They captured me and I tricked
them into thinking I was on their side. I only just now found out
you were here and that you were alive."

He put his hand to his forehead as he
tried to remember. "I don’t remember that. I remember feelings,
like a dream, but that’s all."

"We’ll talk about it later," she said
as she opened the door a crack and checked for people in the
corridor. "We have to leave here now. They will be looking for us.
I would hide that sword in your robes if I were you. It will most
definitely draw their attention. Either that or leave it
here."

He hid the sword under the heavy folds
of fabric and they made their way down one of the dark halls. There
were torches at regular intervals, and at all the intersections,
but the black marble walls did little to assist the light. In some
sections the floors were just dirt, with no flooring at all, which
seemed odd since most everything else was elegantly decorated. She
assumed that some sections were newer, and that the Mages had not
yet had the time or money to finish the floors. She was amazed at
how far the tunnels went, figuring they must run under nearly all
of Brinn. With so many passageways, there had to be many ways
out.

"How do I know you?" he asked softly
as they walked.

"I met you a few days ago. We had a
fight with some Mages and we kind of saved each other’s lives. You
took me to your home and tended to a wound I got in the
fight."

"I don’t know you well
then?"

"No, we have not really had time to
get to know each other yet."

"Then why should I trust
you?"

"I didn’t ask you to trust me. It
should be obvious to you that I don’t mean to harm you, or else I
would have done so already. I need to get out of here just as badly
as you do. You don’t have to trust me, but I am offering my help if
you will take it."

"Why would you help me?" he asked as
they turned into another corridor that rose gently.

"Believe me Rommus, we are both better
off with each other than without."

He walked a while in silence as he
thought. "Where are we now? How do we get out of here?"

"We are under the city of
Brinn…"

"Brinn! Yes I know that
name."

"Well good, maybe your memory will
return in time. Anyway, I don’t know how to get out of here, but I
figure if we keep going up, it will lead us out into a street
somewhere. Maybe once we get to the streets something will look
familiar to you."

"Who were those men in
black?"

"Those are Mages. Here in Medora they
seem to like to wear black, but I am only familiar with Silver
Mages. The Black ones seem a little more sinister than what I am
used to." She caught his arm as she noticed a narrow set of stairs
hidden between two closely placed columns. There was no torch
anywhere in sight.

"You want me to go up there? I don’t
think I’ll fit."

"Sure you will, you just have to duck
a little and turn sideways."

He pulled the golden sword from his
robes, took a deep breath and started up the tiny stairway. She
pulled the knife he made her from inside her own robes and followed
him up the cold, black marble steps.

Chapter 15

Rommus snapped awake from a dream. In
the near darkness it took a few moments before he remembered where
he was and how he got there. Off to his right, he could see the
form of Alana sitting with her arms wrapped around her knees
keeping watch. He had chosen this place in the woods because it was
in a large dent in the ground, something like a tiny valley, and
the horizon could be clearly seen all around. They simply had to
look up slightly to see any forms moving in the
moonlight.

He was unsure of the time, but he knew
it must be close to sunrise. The events of the night before were
still blurry, but some memories were returning to him. He was also
having less trouble remembering things about his life, but things
were still not making sense to him. There was a large part missing
from the center of all of this, but he couldn’t quite put words to
the feeling.

"Are you awake?" Alana
asked.

"Yes, I am now. I assume you didn’t
see anything on your watch?"

"No, just a few small animals making
noise, but no people. How do you feel?"

"I feel fine. No headache or anything
like I was expecting to have. Actually, I feel really good, like
well rested and energized. What time is it?"

"Not quite sunrise. What are we going
to do about food? I am starving."

He sat up on the robe he was using for
a bedroll. "We’ll wait a while until there’s a little light and
then we’ll head for Taburdum. It’s only a little more than two
hour’s walk from where we are now. It could be a little longer
though. It’s hard to tell how far we came in the darkness and I
don’t know exactly where we are."

"What are you going to do about a
shirt?" Alana asked.

He looked down at where his shirt
should be and saw bare skin. "Good question. I guess I’ll have to
cut this robe up and make it look like one. I could buy one in
Taburdum if I had any money with me, but I don’t think going back
to Brinn to get money or another shirt is a good idea. Maybe
something will work out when we get to Taburdum."

She put her hand in front of her mouth
as she yawned. "Can you remember anything more about last
night?

He tried to talk over his own yawn.
"No, I don’t remember anything new. Everything seems somewhat
normal except for a big gap in the middle, and I am not remembering
much before meeting up with you in the halls beneath the city. Can
you fill in anything I am missing?"

"Well like I said before I was
captured after I saw them stab you with that sword you have there,
so all I really remember is a cold wet cell. Eventually one of the
Mages came to my cell and questioned me. I made him believe I was
an ally of some kind and they put me in that room with a guard. I
was able to kill him and take his place, and that’s when I heard
all the commotion and met up with you."

"I got stabbed. I forgot about that."
He abruptly sat up straighter. "Oh no, Uritus and Mirra! I remember
I had gone to see her. I caught them together and I was stabbed
when I was leaving."

"Who is Uritus?" she asked.

"He was a friend of mine when we were
younger," he said with his head resting in his hands. "We grew
apart somewhat as we got older, but he is the son of the Emperor,
so I still see him all the time. I can’t believe he would do this
to me. They were both so cold about it too."

"You mean you walked in on the two of
them together and they were rude about it? You didn’t kill him or
at least beat some respect into him?"

"No. The thought crossed my mind, but
I guess I didn’t take it very well and I couldn’t do much more than
stumble out the door. Maybe if he hadn’t have been there I would
have been alert enough to avoid getting attacked when I left." He
reached down to feel where the blade had torn his skin but had a
hard time finding the scar. "Seems like this wound healed pretty
quickly. Maybe the Mages have better herbs or
something."

"Or maybe they healed it with magic.
But I don’t get it. The man who stabbed you wasn’t wearing a robe,
but it’s obvious that the Mages were behind it, because we both
ended up underground with them. But why stab you and then heal
you?"

He stared into the darkness for a
moment before shaking his head. "I have no idea. All that really
matters is that we both got out of there alive and unharmed." He
turned his head in her direction. "Wait a minute, how did you see
me get stabbed? What were you doing following me to
Mirra’s?"

She hesitated a moment before
answering. "Well I got up and looked out the window when you left,
and I saw the man following. I thought maybe you were in danger so
I followed."

"Well I guess I should thank you for
trying to help, but I’m not going to."

She smiled in the darkness. "And why
not?"

"Because you shouldn’t have been out
of bed and wondering where I was going, especially with an injured
leg."

"You’re right, there’s no excuse. But
things might have ended up a lot worse if I didn’t. You can thank
me later when you come to your senses."

He smiled back at her. "We’ll see. I
did get my hands on this sword though. I guess that’s one good
thing that came of all this. It doesn’t really make up for the lost
girlfriend and the friend betraying me. Oh and getting stabbed and
losing my memory wasn’t fun. But at least I took their precious
sword from them. This thing must be worth a fortune."

"Yes and I seem to remember someone
telling me that there was no such thing as a sword made of gold,"
she said with a smirk that could just barely be seen in the faint
blue of the coming dawn.

"I still stand by the comment. This
thing is far too light to be made of gold. And it’s way too strong.
Gold is soft. You can almost dent it with your fingernails." He
picked up the sword and held it closer for her to see. "And look at
this. It’s hard to see in the darkness but see where the hilt meets
the blade? There’s no separation. It’s like the thing is made of
one solid piece of metal. Even the hilt is made entirely of gold.
Look at the handle. This wasn’t beaten in a forge. Something this
intricate has to be poured into a delicate mold."

"So you’re saying that it was made by
pouring a metal that looks like gold into a mold?"

"No. That’s not possible either. A
weapon like that wouldn’t be strong at all. It’s possible to pour
metal hilts around a blade, but not a whole weapon like this. I am
totally confused by it." He held the sword up and inspected it in
the pale light.

"Well perhaps you are holding the
sword of Arius. Did you ever think about that?"

He laughed. "Of course not, don’t be
silly. Honestly I totally forgot about that myth. But maybe you’re
half right and someone went to the trouble to make a sword look
like his sword. Whoever did it is certainly more talented than I
am."

He took the blade and started cutting
the black fabric of his robe into something that would pass for a
shirt. He was certain that the people of Medora would be suspicious
of the black clothing, but there was nothing else he could do. He
cut the sleeves shorter, and then cut off the bottom to make it the
correct length. After cutting off the hood and removing some excess
fabric, he had something that he thought would work. He hoped that
someone in Taburdum would be kind enough to give him a shirt.
Perhaps he could stop by the armory and see if there was anyone
there that he knew. He wrapped the blade of the sword in some of
the extra cloth and put it through his belt. It was probably the
worst excuse for a scabbard he could imagine, but at least he could
carry it at his hip without cutting himself.

While Rommus was busy with the fabric,
Alana threw acorns at random objects in front of her. She almost
always missed. "What are we going to do now Rommus?" she asked when
she finally hit the leaf she was aiming for.

"We? I don’t want you in any more
danger because of me. You should go back to Vindyrion where you’re
safe."

"Rommus those Mages know I left that
place. They’re not stupid. They saw us together before in the
alley, they know I followed you to Mirra’s, and I’m sure by now
they have figured out that we left together. They’re going to be
hunting me too."

Rommus scratched his head as he
thought. "I guess you’re right. But I don’t like that I pulled you
into this."

"We can debate over who pulled who
into what later. Right now we are both in danger and we are better
off sticking together. So what’s the plan?"

"I hadn’t really thought about a plan.
I just wanted to escape safely. I suppose for now we should worry
about getting to Taburdum and getting some supplies. It’s too bad
your experience here in Medora has been so bad."

"Oh it hasn’t been bad. I mean, don’t
get me wrong there are parts that I could do without, but I love
this place. It’s more beautiful than I ever dreamed."

"Oh! That reminds me. I had a dream.
That’s what woke me up."

"Well what was it about?"

"Now that I have waited so long to
talk about it, it’s hard to remember. But it was something about
the Columns of Inshae, visiting there or something. They were huge,
just like my father said. Have you ever seen them?"