The Magi (The Magi Series) (30 page)

Elijah wasn’t surprised to find the house unlocked. Lots of the Savenridge residents kept their doors unlocked, but he was surprised to find the fire going at this time of night. That meant someone was up, and if someone was up, his chances of getting in and out of the small house undetected were slim. He kept the door shut and walked around to the front window, peering inside. Even with the fire going, it was difficult to see. He looked around the room and saw the silhouette of Mrs. Roddick walking into the kitchen. This was his chance! He quietly opened the door and crept inside, hiding behind one of the chairs facing the fire. Mrs. Roddick soon returned from the kitchen with a steaming cup, sat down on another chair by the dying fire, and wrapped herself up in a blanket.

The sword and shield were hung just behind Mrs. Roddick, who was now reading a book. It would be impossible for him to sneak past her without being noticed. So he waited. It seemed like hours before she finally put her book down and walked into the back room. Elijah wondered if she would soon return, so he waited a bit longer. The coast was still clear.

He took off his boots so he wouldn’t make noise. Gathering his courage, he held his breath and emerged from behind the chair. Creeping silently across the room was a tedious task, but eventually, Elijah was positioned under the mounted weapons. He slowly stood up face to face with the large saber, and under it, the shield. He looked over at the doorway, hoping Mrs. Roddick wouldn’t appear again. His heart pounded as he turned back and carefully lifted the sword from the wall and smoothly slid it under his belt. It was so long that the tip of the sword hit the floor, making the slightest tapping sound. Elijah froze. He listened for any rustling in the back bedrooms. When he didn’t hear anything, he turned and went for the shield.

The shield was round and wooden, forged with brass tacks. It was much lighter than Elijah anticipated. He carefully lifted it off the wall, just like the sword, and carried it by the leather straps, as he would in battle. He actually liked the feel of the shield as he carried it, much more than the weight of the sword that hung from his hip. When he thought the time was right, he tip-toed toward the door, grabbing his boots, and left the house, quietly closing the door behind him.

He met back up with Becca and Adam, who were leaning up against one of the trees. After taking a breath of relief, he handed Adam the sword and offered Becca the shield, but she put her hands up, rejecting it.

“What took you so long?” Becca asked.

“I can explain later. We need to hurry and meet up with Isaac at the north entrance. Do either of you know where that is?”

“Honestly, Elijah,” said Becca, “you’re lucky we all agreed to come along. You’d be useless without us.” He didn’t know why, but her comment made him smile.

Becca pointed them in the right direction, and they headed toward the northern entrance, keeping hidden in the dense forests. When they reached the entrance, Elijah saw what Paul was talking about. Soldiers were crawling around the area, so Elijah, Becca, and Adam were careful not to be seen. No sooner had they made it to the edge of the northern woods, than Paul signaled behind them.

“Pssst. Hey,” he whispered to get their attention. He was carrying a lit torch that he tried to hide behind him so the light didn’t attract attention. “What took you guys so long? Did Button hold you up?” he asked Elijah. Elijah had all but forgotten the confrontation with Mr. Button. It seemed so long ago.

“No,” Elijah said. “It took a while to get these.” He held up the shield and pointed to the sword Adam was holding.

“Well then, let’s get going. We’re running out of darkness, and we’ll never be able to catch up with them if we don’t get out of here soon. The stables are this way.” Paul pointed back behind them, through the thick trees. He took off toward the stables, and Elijah, Becca, and Adam followed.

They finally reached the stable—a long, wooden building surrounded by trees and brush. Beyond the building, also hidden in the trees, was a small cottage with smoke billowing from the chimney. Elijah figured the stable hands lived in the cottage when they were on duty. It was obvious that these stables were purposefully kept hidden, and Elijah saw then why Isaac’s grandfather wanted to take the horses outside Savenridge to stretch their legs. The surrounding trees were so thick, there wasn’t any running room around!

“C’mon,” said Paul as he led everyone into the stables. “Isaac’s waiting for us on the other side.”

They walked into the stables and jogged to the end of the walkway, passing dozens of sleeping horses. At the end of the hall was a large wooden gate, big enough for a horse, that had already been opened. Paul ran through the gate, so the others followed without hesitation. As soon as they crossed it, Paul turned around, closing it behind them.

The gateway led underground into a sort of secret passageway. There were wooden slats and boards placed securely overhead and on the sides to keep it from caving in. It reminded Elijah of an old mining tunnel. It was long and dark as they headed down under the earth, and only the light from Paul’s torch guided them. A cold draft eerily blew through the passage. They could only see a few feet in front of them, so they were apprehensive about each step they took as the darkness of the long tunnel stretched on before them.

After a few minutes of careful walking, Elijah could sense that the passage was leading uphill, and before he knew it, snow started to appear under his feet. Soon, the dark gray of the arriving morning appeared ahead of him, and they climbed from the tunnel—out of Savenridge. It wasn’t long before they saw the outline of a small boy and three tall horses gently stirring among the thick trees.

“I was only able to get three,” said Isaac as he worked on securing the saddle on the last horse. “But as soon as I finish this they’re all saddled up and ready to go. Two of us are going to have to ride double.” Elijah had ridden horses before, but he was no expert. They glanced at each other before Paul finally took charge.

“Alright. Isaac, you should ride since you know these horses more than the rest of us. Why don’t you take Elijah with you?” Elijah was thankful that he was riding with the most experienced, and a little relieved that he didn’t have to take the reins himself. “Becca or Adam,” Paul continued, directing the others. “Either of you know how to ride?”

Becca nodded. “Let me go alone,” she said stiffly. “I can handle a horse, but I’m not sure how good I’ll be with someone hanging onto me.”

“Okay,” said Paul. “Adam, do you mind carrying the crossbow?” Adam was already carrying Elijah’s sword, but he agreed. He picked up the heavy weapon and slung it over his shoulder.

“Is it loaded?” Adam asked with a little worry.

“No,” said Paul, “I’m carrying the arrows if we need them.” Paul was wearing a pouch on his back where there were only a handful of arrows. “Let’s go, everyone. Becca, I guess we’re following you. Where are we going?”

“Well, there’s a hideout about halfway between here and Malpetra. I assume they’re going there, since it’s almost a two-day journey to the city. They’ll want to rest before they head off again,” she said. “That’s probably our best chance at catching them off guard anyway.”

“Then let’s go there,” said Elijah.

Without skipping a beat, Becca flung herself up onto the back of her great chestnut horse, sat up in the stirrups, gripped the reins tightly, and blasted through the trees, taking the lead. Isaac did the same, but it took Elijah three attempts to work up enough momentum to swing his leg over to the other side of the black horse he was trying to mount. As soon as Elijah was up and clinging to Isaac, they kicked off and followed Becca. Paul and Adam swiftly followed on their dark gray horse.

Elijah had to duck under numerous branches as Isaac, who was clearly skilled at riding, swiftly guided the horse through the thick forest. After a few pretty good whacks from a branch, Elijah lowered his head behind Isaac’s back and waited for the ride to ease up.

Before long, Becca led them out of the forest and into an open clearing. The darkness of the woods hid the morning well, but when Elijah looked up into the open sky, he saw that the sun was already peaking its way over the eastern mountains, and it lit up the sky with its golden hues. Since so much time had passed between the break-in and now, Elijah wondered if they were already too far behind to catch Hannah. He hoped Becca was right in assuming that the Maliphists would rest once they reached their hideout.

For hours, the five rode, stopping only to feed the horses. They headed in the general direction of a range of snow-capped mountains to the north. They rode through a massive area without any trees, which was breathtaking. There was a very large lake they had to find a way around, which took them over hills and through untouched land. Elijah loved the wildlife he was able to spot as they whirred by. Rams and elk and even bison were roaming the wilderness, discovering the world again as the grip of winter’s hand was beginning to release and give way to spring.

Finally, around midday, all of them feeling rather tired and grumpy, Becca slowed her horse to a trot and attempted to gather herself, trying to gauge the location of the hideout. Isaac and Paul urged their horses closer to her.

“We’re close,” she said quietly, still looking around. “I’m not sure if they’re here, but if they are, we’ll need to tie up the horses and go by foot soon. They’ll be deep inside the forest somewhere in that direction,” she said pointing northeast. Elijah shifted in the saddle, trying to get the blood flowing again in his legs and rear.

They found an area to secure the horses next to a patch of newly sprouting grass. Becca led them deep into the forest, and they all prepared themselves for a potential fight. Adam gripped the sword tightly, Paul carried his crossbow, and Elijah strapped on the round, wooden shield. Along the way, Elijah and Isaac picked up large sticks they found on the ground that could be used as clubs. It wasn’t much, but it made them feel more secure. They all knew their weapons stood no chance against three Maliphists, but they were armed anyway, hoping that the element of surprise would be enough to save Hannah.

Soon, they came upon a clearing about fifty yards away from where they were. In the very center of the clearing was a magnificent cave! The mouth opened to about fifteen feet and all around it was the most brilliant blue ice Elijah had ever seen. To make matters more incredible, directly above the cave grew three enormous trees with dozens and dozens of thick branches hanging over the mouth and along the side of the cave. Completely covering the trees was the same brilliant blue ice. The ice hung down from the branches like long, perfect icicles. It looked like an oil painting where the artist’s hand smeared the edges of the icy branches down toward the ground, creating a weeping effect of ice that stood like a frozen palace around the cave. In the silence of the clearing, Elijah could hear cracking and popping as it melted from the increasing temperatures of March.

They started toward the cave, but Becca reached out and grabbed Elijah.

“Wait,” she said in a hushed voice. “There’s someone standing guard.”

“I don’t see anyone,” said Paul as he and the others looked around.

“You never do,” Becca replied, “until you’re standing face to face with them. But trust me, if they’re here, there’s a guard. Let’s go around to the other side and then sneak our way back to the entrance.” They followed Becca, and they soon found themselves surrounded by the hanging ice, walking toward the mouth of the cave. It was almost hypnotizing how blue it was.

When they reached the front of the cave, they carefully peered inside, worried that any movement might alert someone inside. At first it didn’t appear that anyone was there, which disappointed Elijah. He began to fear that they had missed the Maliphists. However, as Becca was investigating the cave, she suddenly shot her head back and flattened her body against the side of the cave. The others did the same just as one of the Maliphists walked right out of the mouth, oblivious to the five adolescents that he had just walked by.

The lone Maliphist stood about ten feet from the entrance of the cave peering out into the wilderness around him. His back was facing them now, but as soon as he turned around, he would see them! Elijah sensed that this was the time to do something, but he didn’t know what to do. They all had weapons that would kill, and even though he knew the Maliphists wouldn’t hesitate to kill him, Elijah wasn’t going to destroy a life if he could avoid it.

Before he could act, however, Paul grabbed the thick stick Isaac had picked up, ran up behind the Maliphist and swung as hard as he could at his head. His aim was a little off, missing the center of his head, but he caught him on the neck and the blow sent the Maliphist to the ground, unconscious. It all happened so fast that none of them had a chance to react. They all sat as still as a photograph, mouths open and eyes wide, watching Paul drag the unconscious Maliphist away from the cave’s opening. He looked at them so casually, as if he did this sort of thing every day, that even in the midst of a life or death moment, it was almost humorous. He laid the body of the Maliphist down next to them, wiped off his hands, and returned to his place next to the others, who were still flush against the icy cave.

“Well,” Paul said panting, “at least we know they’re here.” Becca again peered into the cave. After a few moments, she turned to the rest.

“It goes pretty far in there. I can’t see a thing! I think only one of us should go in. That way, if something goes wrong, it’s just one of us. There’s really not a whole lot more we can do inside there with all five of us,” Becca claimed.