The captain of the guard that we had seen at the front gate when we arrived was now crowding the passageway we had come in from, along with what looked like a battalion of men. I tried to shrink towards Asmodean but he stopped me with a stiff arm and I heard the voice in my head from the chamber, the one that directed me to use the orb to defend us from Michael, and it told me to stand and remember what I had just learned.
"You should have stayed in the hole, Asmodean," the Captain of the guard spit out contemptuously as he took a confident step forward, "but I am pleased you didn't, I prefer a fight!" He said this viciously with an awful grin that looked more like pain than pleasure.
"Just like the fight you gave the Lady Corvan?" Asmodean responded, voice full of power and wrath, yet very soft like quiet thunder, it's meaning coiled in a sheath of controlled fury.
The Captain swaggered a step forward and smiled broadly, displaying the many missing teeth he boasted, and said over his shoulder to the troops behind him, "Well I thought she was right enjoying herself for a bit! Not all screaming is bad you know." He laughed cruelly. "Now maybe we'll use you and this young lawbreaker as boys for amusement, eh? Perhaps we start right here since just thinking of her makes me want some pleasure! And besides that," continued the oaf, "what better time to draw even with a wizard than when he has no power!" He smirked and a ripple of laughter went though the men in the passageway.
"Naturally, I would agree that is the time," Asmodean replied, "but your time has run out." With a flick of his wrist a small flame appeared about halfway between ourselves and the guards, a small fire dancing and illuminating the dawning fear on the guardsman's face.
"Not possible, he said you were... Not possible!" he said over and over as if chanting a Mantra, and slowly tried to back away.
Asmodean spoke to me in a soft, measured tone. "Aaron, I need you to try and focus your wind energies on the small flame you see." I knew if I did that they would die, not just die they would die horribly.
"I can't." I whispered.
"If you don't they will report back to their superiors and your friends lives will be forfeit. We are in no position to save them. Keep in mind, they would have left us here to die were the tables not turned. You anyway, I would have gotten ever so much more." Then through gritted teeth he said, "And they raped and murdered the Lady Corvan, Roland and William's mother. If they would do that, what do you think they would do to you?"
I felt trapped and as the fear grew in the eyes of these guards, no more than hired killers, I concentrated and the air suddenly became heavy and cool as it raced past us and flew through the flame, fanning it into a tornado of fire and pure heat. The screams were awful and I had to close my eyes to the awful sight of people running futily as the flames surrounded and engulfed them. The smell of burning charring flesh was nauseating and overpowering, and still the wind blew harder and the flames fanned higher. The smell and screaming will be with me always in my nightmares. I felt my shoulder being shaken and Asmodean screaming to be heard over the rush of air for me to stop. I let my concentration go, and the wind died almost immediately. The awful smells remained and I dry heaved several times. My heart broke as I saw the remains of the Captain of the guard and the site of the charred, smoking and ruined remains of what had been living breathing creatures a few moments ago.
"You had no choice. Many times we do not have many choices and the ones we do have aren't easy to make," he said, walking out in front of me. I looked into his eyes which were filled with compassion at this defining moment of my life. I closed my eyes and just breathed in and out for a moment. When I opened them I felt as though I might be able to move again, if I had to. He smiled and cupped a hand on my shoulder.
"Come, we have much to do and someone has undone my spell, else we would never have had that little run in. Malodur knows I am free, so time will grow short quickly," he said as I struggled to keep up with his long strides down the passageway.
Roland seemed drugged and after asking his one question had fallen silent, slumped between William and Kody. William dragged Roland back to the bed and laid him on it while motioning Kody across the room. Kody went as directed, but it all felt like slow motion as he was struggling with having his thoughts read. This place gets weirder and weirder. William motioned for him to move over near the wall and Kody realized there was a basin, he must want water. Kody picked up the basin and brought it over to William who then dipped a piece of cloth in the cool water and gently patted his brothers face until he stirred slightly, then stopped again and lay still with labored breath.
"What, what's wrong?" Kody asked in a worried tone. William looked at him and his brow was lined with worry. Kody became more concerned than ever as William continued to look at his brother and then at Kody. He motioned Kody closer and pointed at his hand. Kody watched in fascination as a small rainbow appeared in the palm of William's hand, one end in his palm, the other ending on Roland's chest. He looked at Kody and then pointed back and forth a few times. Kody got it, he was supposed to try that too. He studied the Rainbow, memorizing the pattern in his head and then placed his palm face down and concentrated. He felt a warm glow across his palm and was amazed to see a bright vision of colors streaming from his hand, combining with the ones from William's hand and flowing into Roland's chest. The colors bled together to make a stunning show of each hue, each brilliant and wondrous in it's individuality.
He watched in awe as black clouds seemed to pour from Roland's mouth and nose as he lay unknowing and vulnerable. The black clouds poured out like thick black ribbon, oily and toxic in their very unnatural appearance. Roland suddenly stirred, coughing and spitting out the last of the smoky blackness and as he did it turned form nebulous acrid clouds to a greenish fluid that splashed to the ground.
"By the Seas I HATE that!" Roland exclaimed as he continued to cough for a few moments. The rainbow colors had faded and William and Kody found themselves trying to steady Roland between them. He finally stopped tottering and stood regally again and paused a moment before stepping away from them and turning to face them both.
"Healing, while one of the most useful things in the world, is also one of the most uncomfortable experiences." He coughed and sagged momentarily, "At least I am not dead.
"Thank you both. I knew it was poison they gave to me, but I was unable to fight them off. All I could do was... hope that you would come for me.. I am very happy my trust was well placed," he said formally.
William smiled as though the statement were the highest compliment he had ever recieved, then went to the passageway in the wall and, opening it, stepped through into the gloom. Kody approached the wall and felt a restraining hand on his shoulder. He stopped and looked into Roland's green eyes and felt transfixed, like a deer in the headlights of an oncoming truck.
"I felt you... you were part of the healing, were you not?" Roland asked. Kody nodded his assent.
"Your beams were... brighter than my brothers, stronger. You and I are to be important to one another," he said solemnly. Kody blushed and Roland smiled. "Now I know who was interested in seeing me tied to the bed!" Kody gasped.
"What do you mean? How could you know?" he exclaimed.
"Because your face told me all I needed to know." Roland smiled and kissed Kody chastely on the cheek. "Perhaps one day you'll get your wish," he said before turning to follow William into the darkness. Kody smiled to himself. Kissing his friend Drew had been great, but that little peck was like a million and one! He floated to the doorway and passed into the gloom. The door slid shut silently behind them leaving the silence as it's only companion.
Asmodean's long strides made it difficult at best for me to keep up. He turned and twisted on a path that I was sure I could wander until I were old and gray and never find my way out. The stone walls of the passageway were unchanging with the exception of a torch from time to time. These sprang to life ahead of us and died when were past and I felt as though I could barely make out the pattern. Perhaps I could learn fire as well? I began to question Asmodean as we walked, or rather as he walked and I sprinted.
"You said my strong suit was water spells, but I think I can see your fire spell a little bit," I said breathlessly. He stopped so suddenly I barreled into him, bouncing off and landing on my backside.
"They have Roland safe now, in the passages. We are almost there, just a bit farther up ahead," he said, setting off on his murderous pace. I scrambled to my feet but found myself several steps behind him and I struggled to catch up to him. After only a few minutes he stopped in a large antechamber. The chamber resembled the chamber I had found inside the ruins of the Keep, sparkles of jewels set into the gilt covered walls. The only thing missing was the murals in their startling relief, right down to the portal in the middle of the chamber. The circle in front of the twin silver poles had a faint glow to it the closer Asmodean came to it. I bent over, hands on my knees trying to catch my breath and Asmodean seemed to be sitting on a cushion of air once more. I walked over to him and sat on the stone floor and looked up at him.
"We will wait here for them to arrive, then we shall move into the main chamber to plan and prepare," he muttered.
"Plan and prepare for what?" I asked breathlessly.
"For the return of King Corvan, of course. He will attack the castle walls within days, so we have little time to prepare for the battle to come," he said more clearly.
"What battle? Hey, look Asmodean, Kody just wanted to see that Roland was safe, we never said anything about wars or battles. I don't want to kill anyone! Seeing those men die, to watch them... scream and burn was ..." I paused, breath catching in my throat, "the most awful thing I can think of," I finished weakly.
"Well think ye on this then. The portal operates on need many times, but the main portal has been spelled," he replied.
"What is spelled?" I asked.
"Bewitched, bedeviled. It will not work as you ask it to because a spell has been placed on it to prevent it's use, except for short travel. That's almost impossible to stop," he replied.
"I am confused," I said. "Why is it almost impossible to stop short range portal use, but you can block long range portal use?" I asked wearily.
"The portals are all connected, and the closer they are the stronger the connection. Therefor this portal here," he gestured to the two silver poles behind him, "And the ones in the Grand Chamber are so close that they couldn't be cut off from one another. The portals outside the city however are too far away, so the spell stops people from moving through them," he explained.
"So why are we waiting here then?" I asked.
"To enter a main portal you need to be able to speak the language on the circles edge. William cannot speak and Roland and Kody have not progressed that far in their training. Therefore we wait," he said
"Then how did we get through? I heard a voice tell me it would respond to need."
"It can respond to need, but do not forget you were also trying to say the words, you were casting then even if you didn't know it. The portal felt your power and your need, and that pushed you over. In order to be safe in knowing they have made it to us we shall wait and enter together. Once we are on the other side I can then set traps to keep us safe in the Grand Chamber," he said.
"I think I understand now," I replied. "How is it I can see some of the fire pattern?" I asked.
"Because air is used in the making of fire, so what you se is the air portion of the spell," he explained. I nodded as this made sense to me.
"Can you show me some water spells?" I asked.
"Not much I'm afraid. I am very weak in water and air, although I can see them and cast them on very small levels," he replied. "You see the difference between yourself and myself is that you are very powerful in one in particular and a few similar elements. I, on the other hand, can work anything but am very weak in certain areas. You cannot, for example, spell fire. You can't see it, it's pattern makes no sense to your water inclined spelling. Here, let me show you this at least, perhaps you can use it as a building block," he said as he stood and held his hand out, appearing to concentrate on his upturned palm as he spoke to me.
"Water exists in the air, especially in the damp areas like this Keep. There is a subterranian river nearby, it keeps these moisture in the air. You can draw on it like this," he said as a ball of water coalesced in his hand. He left it hanging in the space between us. I reached out tentatively and placed a finger against the water, it resisted my probing finger and dented inward. I watched as Asmodean shifted the pattern of the spell, and then he told me to push on it again. I did so and found my finger penetrating the ball, only to withdraw it and find it dry. I watched in amazement as it turned slightly and glittered. I reached out my hand to grasp it and when I did the water copllapsed in my hand like a burst ballon and the water fell to the floor.
I looked down on the water and concentrated on the pattern I had seen. The water leapt from the floor and resumed it's ovular shape. Asmodean resumed his seat and I began to adjust the water by changing bits of the pattern. Once or twice it began to disintegrate, but I had figured out several shapes and sizes. I made it rain down repeatedly, the same water leapt back to the air only to fall back down again.
"Remember that water is also a solid object, one cannot compress water, therefore it has weapons uses as well." I looked at him and questioned how this was so. He replied that by forming a spike of water and making the pattern resistant to penetration it can act as a weapon. Hell, just making it solid and throwing it made it a danger to anyone in it's path.
I experimented with size to see how much he could draw from the air. He watched in fascination as the baseball sized glob of water continued to grow until it was the size of his head, and it continued to swell.
"You must take care, water is included in the air we breathe. If you draw too much you could kill for lack of air," Asmodean warned. I nodded and began releasing the molecules of water by the hundreds of thousands to once again become the air we breathe. At last there was no more than a golf ball of water remaining, and that too dissipated back into the air.
"That was an impressive show of control, especially for one so new to the art," Asmodean stated. I created a pillow of water and sat down on it to be more comfortable. And we waited, and waited, and waited.
We stepped into the gloom and began to make our way down into the depths of the Keep. I was looking at the top of Roland's head as we descended and felt surprised as the thought that I hoped to see him like that again ran across my brain. He stopped and looked back at me with a small smile. He stepped up to me and whispered in my ear.
"If you can work magic, your thoughts rise to the surface of your conscious mind, and anyone else that woks magic can read it, so you must learn to mask or hide it." He said. I felt so embarrassed I would have crawled under a rock had one been handy just then, and I felt as though my cheeks were glowing like Rudolph's nose.
"If you mask your thoughts like this," he said, allowing his thoughts to flow to me. I was stunned to hear him speaking in my head!
"Thoughts are like paintings come to life, they are vibrant and hide what is behind them, for they are almost solid. Solid enough to hide other things behind them, like other thoughts," I heard his soft voice in my head. "If you picture the halls of your mind as just that, you can imagine pictures of thoughts on their walls. Then you move your conscious self behind one, see how I'm doing it?" He asked as his voice faded from my head. I nodded and concentrated. I felt a shifting in my head, a slip and then a settling as my thoughts moved behind others.
"Better?" he asked smiling again. I nodded sheepishly while William looked on with a grin.
"Good. Don't lose those thoughts, just hide them for a bit." He smiled and turned to follow William again. Oh, that was cruel! Such a tease. His body made no reaction to the thoughts I had so I figured he couldn't hear me.
We kept on in the gloom, at last reaching the charred remains of the guards that had followed us into the passageway. William opened the passage and we stepped into the hallway cautiously. Bustling sounds could be heard over the Keep as people were roused out of bed, and it was obvious there was something big going on. We decided it probably had something to do with us.
William was about to open the next passage when two guards rounded the corner at a fast clip. The lead guard had his sword out in a flash and he closed the distance quickly. He stood in the en-garde position, ready should one of his assailants draw a sword. Behind us the sound of more feet and we were pinned in between the guards. One from behind us danced forward, distressingly graceful in his chest armor as he brought his sword forward in a whistling arc. Roland sidestepped and thrust an open palm upward into his assailants nose creating a bright red sunburst across the guards chest. Roland wrenched the blade from his fallen opponents hand and parried the on coming assault from the next guard, dispatching him in short order. The two who we had run into first commenced attacking at the same time, William produced a dagger from the folds of his clothing and sidestepped the attacking guard. He stepped to the man's side and pulled him up by the throat so as to be standing chest to back with him, and drove the dagger through the guard's temple. The remaining guard swung at Roland's exposed side as he turned to face the threat. Before either of us could react, William had stepped in front of the blade and it buried through his side, crimson hanging in droplets from the blade as it protruded from his back. Roland screamed, a strangled battle cry and the very stone beneath the guardsman's feet opened.
He fell almost immediately, save for a sickening moment when he gripped the hilt of his sword and it withdrew from William's body, then the guard fell, screaming in a most gut wrenching fashion.
Roland caught William in his hands as he crumpled, life's blood dripping on the flagstones of the passageway. Tears welled in Roland's eyes as he gingerly held his brother.
"William, oh my dearest William. Ever willing to do your duty," he said while stroking his cheek.
"The second son," William gurgled as droplets of blood became visible in his mouth, "Swears to uphold the kingdom and protect the heir from all harm." He paused, breathing laboured, "To taste the cold steel before the heir, that is his duty. And that I swear," he said.
Roland placed a small kiss on his brother's brow as he coughed blood onto his chin.
"Can't we heal him? Like we did you?" Kody broke in with panic strident in his voice.
"No. My brother and I are both weak in healing. And you and I are Fire and Earth strong, one reason why you healed me so well. He needs someone strong in water to save him." Roland murmured regretfully, voice heavy with sadness.
"Aaron!" Kody said with a shout, "Aaron is strong in Water! We have to get William to him, he's with Asmodean, let's go! We haevn't any time to waste!" Kody exclaimed. Roland's eyes opened wide as he saw the implication. He quickly stripped off his shirt and tied it about his brother in an effort to staunch the flow. Kody bent and picked up William's unconscious form in a fireman's carry and Roland opened the passageway leading to Asmodean and his brothers life.
The smell of burnt flesh in the passageway was overpowering, but they marched quickly along. Roland stopped suddenly and turned to face Kody.
"I am going to make a ripple to travel on, you must stay steady. We haven't enough time to walk all the way," he said. Kody nodded and asked what a ripple was.
"It's a ripple in the Earth, you ride the crest," Roland said quickly as he pointed to the ground and a ripple of earth appeared on top of the stones just under his feet. Kody felt the dirt suddenly lift him as well and then they were moving! The dirt cycled under their feet and they moved along the passageway very quickly, twisting and turning. Kody felt sure he was lost and worried with each passing second that William wasn't going to live.
Asmodean twitched and then his head snapped up quickly, tilted to one side as if listening.
"Aaron, here they come! And they're moving quickly, something is wrong!" he said as he leapt to his feet. I scrambled to my feet to see them come to a gentle stop on... Mounds of dirt? They both looked worn, and Kody had William draped over his shoulder, and dear god there was blood everywhere! William! I headed for them as Kody lay William out on the ground, his breathing so shallow as to almost not be there at all. I looked at Kody who seemed to be all right, thank god. Kody wasted no time.
"Watch!" he ordered. He places his hand over William's wound and a rainbow burst forth from his palm and ended in the wound on William's side. "Do it!" he commanded. I nodded and copied the pattern he was making. I felt warm heat burst from my palm and down into the gaping wound on William's side. The colors were so bright and vivid, each and every color in all it's glory seemed to be in attendance. The bright glow from my hand was almost blinding as it coursed into William, and I saw Kody stop and back away from me as the heat from my hand was very real. It almost felt as though my palm were burning. And still the colors flowed and I saw that the wound on William had begin to stitch closed. A small blemish in his skin farther up his side faded and was gone, and as the colors overflowed the wound and covered his body I saw the wound close entirely, as if it were never there.
Slowly, ever so slowly the colors faded into nothingness and the heat in my palm was gone. I felt drained and leaned back heavily on the wall behind me. Roland had a look of wonder on his face, of awe.
"Your beams had such intensity, the colors were... Filled with a magnificent power," he said in a voice that almost sounded as if he were in a trance.
"I have never seen such a display of healing, ever. I think this is as close as someone has ever come to curing death." He said softly.
William sat up slowly and gave a loud groan.