“You’re the boy from Cyperus Village,” Maebus exclaimed. He stared at the youth who still had his axe slightly raised in the air.
“Uh ... yeah,” the young warrior replied. He seemed very much in shock.
Normandy sat up from the ground and walked toward the prison bars. After running his gaze from the warrior’s head to his feet, he said, “What’s your name?”
“Oh, sorry. I’m Leoden.” He reattached his axe to his belt and reached through the bars attempting to shake the tall man’s hand. Normandy however did not comply.
“Leoden, how did you get here?” he asked instead. “In fact, how did you even know we were here?”
The Cyperan shook his head, “Sir, I don’t even know where here is.”
“Then why did you come?”
Maebus could hear the curiosity, amazement, and slight frustration in Normandy’s tone.
“I ... I don’t know. Well actually, I guess I was guided here ... kind of.”
“By who? Who else is here with you?”
“Umm ... there’s no one else here but me.”
“You’re not making sense!” Normandy groaned.
“Young man,” Kelm began before Maebus could. “You are in the dungeon of the Realmsic Castle and—”
“The Realmsic Castle!” Leoden exclaimed. His eyes grew wide with disbelief.
“Yes, yes. I’m Grand Wizard Kelm, the Realmsic Advisor and—”
“The Realmsic Advisor!” Leoden blurted. “Sorry...”
“Uh-huh,” Kelm continued. “The man you spoke with back at your village is King Maebus.”
Leoden took a step back. “Whoa! Are you serious?”
“Very,” Kelm’s monotone voice was artificially calm. He inched closer to the bars that separated him and Leoden. “You’ve probably seen Normandy in your village at some point in the past,” he pointed to the woodsman. “And Fable is a member of the Archival Order.”
Maebus observed the young man’s ears perk and his eyes dart back and forth as if trying to make sense of what he was hearing.
“What’s going on here?” Leoden asked.
Maebus took a step forward. “There’s no time to explain, but answers will come. Right now, we need your help. Can we count on you to help us escape?”
“Oh!” Leoden said, now focused on the long black bars that stretched from the ceiling to the floor. “Sorry, I hadn’t noticed you all were imprisoned. I guess I’m still a bit in shock.”
He then took a moment to examine the thickness of the prison bars. “I can try to get you out. But I don’t think I’ll be able to bend this iron.”
“You don’t have to,” Kelm said. “If you can help free my arms and hands from this brace, then I can use my power to remove these prison bars.”
“Sure. Anything!” Leoden said. “What do you need me to do?”
Kelm leaned his back against the metal, trying to soften the clank of the brace against the bars.
“These braces were magically forged to inhibit my powers. But Laymen must also be able to use them. See if there’s a button or a switch anywhere on the back that will release its hold.”
Leoden examined the brace. “There! I see it,” he announced. “Lean closer to the bars so I can reach it.”
Kelm pressed his back into the metal as far as he could. Leoden reached in and tapped the release button. Instantly, the brace snapped open and fell to the ground. Kelm exhaled and rubbed his swollen forearms and wrists. “Thank goodness,” he said.
“Quickly! Free the rest of us,” Normandy demanded.
With a wave of his hand, the Wizard simultaneously released their braces.
“Excellent!” Maebus cheered.
“Thank you,” Fable added, rubbing her wrist.
“Okay, now everybody, stand back,” Kelm ordered.
Leoden scurried away from the dungeon cell. Kelm focused his power on the iron bars. Within seconds, they blew from their hinges with a thunderous bang, and rocketed into the adjacent wall. Fable was knocked to the cell floor from the impact. Maebus immediately sprang to help her to her feet.
“I’m sure nobody heard that,” Kelm lied. He then turned to see Fable being assisted from the ground. “Oh no, are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Let’s go!” Fable replied.
“Wait!” Normandy shouted. “Leoden, this place is heavily guarded. How did you get past the main gate?”
“Actually, I didn’t go through the main gate. I snuck in through a drainage pipe. Come on. I can lead the way!”
Maebus reached inside his robe and unsheathed his battle sword.
“Now hold on! Wait just a minute!” Kelm threw his hands up in astonishment “You’ve had your sword this entire time!?!”
Maebus chuckled. “That dumb ox General was so obsessed with finding the crystal, he forgot to search me for weapons.”
Kelm quickly thought it over. “Or perhaps it didn’t matter, since your hands were already bound.”
“Hey! Can we go?” Normandy demanded impatiently.
“Sorry.” Kelm said sheepishly.
• • • • •
Leoden stood aside as one by one, his friends exited the prison cell.
“This way!” he gestured them forward with a nod.
Together, they maneuvered from the holding area. Propelled by a sense of urgency, Leoden needed to lead them carefully, for entering the guarded structure was one thing; escaping would require a different skill set.
“The dungeon is crawling with sentries,” Leoden explained. “So stay single file against the walls to reduce our chances of being spotted.”
The group complied. Swiftly, they ran, following Leoden, who was guided only by his instinct. After several turns, his mind began tingling with a familiar sensation. He sensed danger.
“Stop where you are!” The shout echoed from down the narrow hall.
Leoden turned and saw several Legionaries chasing them down, brandishing swords. Kelm instantaneously pivoted and shot a sparkling blast of energy down the corridor. It crashed into the side of the wall, shattering shards of debris into the guards’ faces, stopping them in their path.
“Nice!” Normandy exclaimed, pumping a victorious fist.
“Sound the alarm,” another guard screamed, coughing and rubbing his eyes. “The prisoners are escaping!”
Within seconds, metal bells rang throughout the castle.
“Great!” Kelm said sarcastically, scanning around for Legionaries.
“We’re almost to the drainage pipe!” Leoden encouraged them.
Rounding the stone corner, the group came face to face with two armed Legionaries. With no time to react, Leoden bashed his shoulder into the first guard’s chest, who fell backwards upon the ground and slid against the wall. Leaping over the injured man, Normandy slammed his massive body into the second guard, also knocking him down. The corridor began filling with soldiers. Kelm fired several more hand-blasts behind them.
“There it is!” Leoden shouted, pointing towards the drainage tunnel. He guarded the entrance as they all ran through. “Just go straight, the pipe leads outside.”
Leoden pressed upon the back of everyone who passed him, pushing them forward. Once everyone was through, he followed closely behind, protecting their rear. Running through the dark interior, their feet splashed through mud.
“This reminds me of our escape from that mountain town,” Maebus said to Kelm.
After several hundred feet, they exited just beyond the castle’s east exterior guard wall. The frigid night air hit them hard—harder than the stones that were suddenly being chucked at them from the towers above. While scrambling for cover, a fist-sized stone smashed into the side of Fable’s head. She fell motionless to the ground.
“Fable!” Kelm screamed.
“Oh no,” Maebus reacted. Sprinting toward her, Normandy scooped her from the ground. “I’ve got her,” he yelled. The Archivist had been knocked out cold.
“How dare they!” Kelm’s voice thunder
ed. His eyes hardened as he gazed upon the Legionarie that threw the stone. Clenching his fist, his eyes violently began glowing red.
The Wizard leapt into the air, swinging his arms in the direction of the castle. A red surge of power pulsated from his body and sliced through the guard tower. The Legionaries ceased their rock-throwing, screaming as the tower slid from its foundation, fell several stories, and slammed to the ground.
“Whoa!” Leoden exclaimed, never before witnessing such a display of magic.
A dust cloud rose from the rubble toward the night sky. Kelm’s chest heaved with hectic breaths, his temper seemed uncontrollable. Frantically, he searched for his next target.
“Kelm,” Maebus called to him, but was ignored.
“KELM!” Maebus shouted forcefully. The Wizard jerked toward him, almost as if to strike again.
“Snap out of it!” Maebus said, trying to calm his friend. “Please, stop! Control yourself, or you’ll kill us all!”
The Wizard pulled away from Maebus. Gradually, the glowing hatred in his eyes diminished. After a moment, Kelm fell to his knees. Maebus leaned down to grab him, throwing one of the Wizard’s arms around his own neck. He then quickly assessed their location.
“We’re on the east side of the castle,” he said to the others. “We need horses. Head to the stables,” he pointed to a large structure only a few yards away. Leoden led them towards it, with Normandy carrying Fable, and Maebus supporting Kelm. With one kick, Leoden bashed open the stable doors.
“Grab any horse, quickly!” Maebus commanded as they entered.
“No thanks, I’ve got my own,” Leoden said. With two fingers in his mouth, he produced a deafeningly loud whistle. Moments later, his brown steed burst through the opposite side of the stable and galloped to him.
“Hey Zinly,” he patted the horse’s long face and quickly mounted. “Thanks for staying close by.”
Normandy handed Maebus the reins of several other horses.
“Let me go,” Kelm demanded. The King released his grip.
“Are you okay to ride?”
“I’ll be fine,” the Wizard replied while reaching for the reins of a horse.
“Here they come, lets go!” Normandy yelled, pointing to an entire platoon of Legionaries charging towards them.
The woodsman hastily mounted his horse and positioned Fable in the saddle in front of him. “Come on, I said let’s go,” Normandy demanded. “We’re plowing through them!” He secured the Archivist against his wide body.
“Yaw!” he exclaimed, snapping the horse reins. Charging forward, the others followed, bolting out of the stable.
“Follow me!” Normandy shouted, gaining momentum. “I’ll run them down, ha, ha, ha, ha!”
“You’re a mad man,” Leoden laughed, galloping beside him.
BOOM! The ground suddenly exploded.
Leoden’s horse reared up to avoid the blast, nearly throwing him off. He struggled to regain control. “What was that?” he yelled.
Another explosion hit not far from them, scattering bits of earth in every direction.
Maebus, too, was nearly blown out of his saddle. Regaining his balance, he pointed to the castle’s highest command tower. “Up there!”
Gazing upward, Leoden saw a sinister looking silver-haired man, producing what looked to be a fireball within his hand.
“It’s the Warlord,” Maebus shouted to the group.
“The Warlord!” Leoden exclaimed.
“At least he’s keeping the Legionaries away from us,” Kelm stated.
Damian shot another flaming fireball toward them. Leoden only saw the amber flames flickering before he realized they were headed directly towards Maebus.
“Oh!” The King snapped the reins of his horse and jolted off before the fireball impacted the very spot where he had been standing.
Damian fired another.
“Go! Go! Go!” Normandy screamed.
“Go where?” Leoden asked.
“The hell out of here!” Normandy’s muscular arms held tightly to Fable, who was still passed out from her injury.
“Head north,” Maebus ordered, galloping forward.
Barely dodging Damian’s continued attacks, the group followed Maebus into the Centre Forest.
• • • • •
Upon the command tower, the wind whipped Damian’s wispy silver hair as the smell of burnt grass hit his nose. He watched as King Maebus and his comrades disappeared into the darkened woods.
General Thane, who’d been standing next to Damian, stared in anger as his prisoners fled. “My Lord,” he began, “I swear to you that I’ll track down the King.”
“Don’t bother,” Damian held up a hand to stop him from leaving. “Let them flee, for that’s what they are known for doing. Now that I have the Realmsic Crystal, Maebus and his people are inconsequential.”
“But surely they’ll return,” Thane argued.
“And when they do, all will be dealt with ... permanently.”
Damian turned away from the tower balcony. “Punish all those responsible for their escape, and then continue planning my campaign, General,” he said before reentering the castle.
Chapter Forty-Seven