The Key of Ban

Coaldon and Brother Patrick left together. Brother Patrick waited in the winery for Magee and Norbert while Coaldon hurried down the tunnel. When the young warrior arrived at Hilda’s, he created a commotion with the change in plans. Hilda and the two apprentices spent the rest of the evening gathering horses, arranging tack, organizing supplies and loading the pack horses.

  Topple accepted, with obvious delight, his responsibility to monitor Crossmore. He opened his mind to detect if any magical activity was emanating from the West Tower. As he relaxed, he paid little attention to the confusion surrounding him. He wanted to focus his full attention on his opponent. In the beginning, he found only small pulses of magic flowing from the West Tower. At sunset, he felt the touch of magic brush his mind. He sensed the reaching hand. He slowly opened his mind to the intrusion. He found an enticing invitation to open a dialogue with Crossmore. The evil wizard had accidentally contacted Topple. Topple did not reveal his identity, but only remained silent.

  Pushing aside this request, he detected Crossmore had inadvertently left himself unguarded. Topple giggled as he found that his adversary had carelessly opened himself to a mind search. With the skill of a great artisan, Topple slowly reached into his opponent’s mind. A flood of anger and hatred greeted him like a blast of hot air. At first Topple sagged in bewilderment at the intensity of Crossmore’s emotions. With caution, Topple pushed aside Crossmore’s passion, allowing his thoughts to be heard.

  He heard Crossmore talking to himself, “I know a rebellion has started somewhere. I feel a stir in the flow of magic. I cannot find it! Why? Why? Could it be the power of the Great Warrior? I feel something close to me. No! That is not possible. I have too many spies in the city. Or perhaps, I should look closely in my own backyard.”

  Topple withdrew his probe from Crossmore’s mind. He did not want to be detected. He quickly developed a plan that would draw his opponent’s attention away from Neverly. First, he wove a wall of magic to protect himself from Crossmore’s power of enchantment. Then, with a gentle probe, he touched his adversary’s mind with a distorted series of words. Topple felt the evil wizard’s instantaneous attention to the words. Topple gently projected a simple message. The words sent by Topple were, “The warriors are ready ----leave tomorrow ------four days to Neverly-----attack-----surprise is important------we must be successful.”

  He felt a pause of relief come from Crossmore. Topple was elated that his adversary was so gullible as to accept such a phony message. This was uncharacteristic of Crossmore’s usual efficiency. Topple sensed that his enemy’s attention was distracted by thoughts of Noel. Topple laughed, “If this is the case, then Crossmore is creating his own downfall. This might be a weakness we could exploit.”

  In the wine cellar Brother Patrick rested in a state of meditation. He thought, “Why did I become a monk? I guess I need to discipline myself away from the things of the world.” As he drifted into a deeper contemplation, he felt himself blend into a pleasant harmony with the general flow of life. He knew he had to offer the world an image of the Truth. His example needed to reveal the existence of the One Presence. He recognized the importance of offering his life to something greater than himself.

  The monk was drawn away from his reflection by noise coming from the winery. He heard a woman say in an uncertain voice, “Is anybody here?”

  Brother Patrick came out of his hiding place to extend his greeting, “I am Brother Patrick, a warrior monk from the Monastery of Toms. It is my pleasure to be your escort this evening.” He noticed both Magee and Norbert had small traveling bags and wore clothes suited for life in the palace.

  The monk continued, “In the future, you will need to wear rugged traveling clothes. Be careful while walking in the tunnel, your shoes do not offer much protection from sharp rocks.”

  He locked the door to the old winery and led his two guests down the tunnel to freedom. It was a slow trip because Magee and Norbert’s feet had become sore from walking on the rough surface of the tunnel floor. The soft life in the palace had not prepared them for the trials of this strange night.

  Upon arriving at the house, Brother Patrick introduced them to Hilda. He said to her in private, “It will not be long before we find out if our two guests are tough enough to survive the challenges of the escape.”

  In the basement of the palace, Pacer and Earthkin waited for Noel.Earthkin said, “Even though we have taken every precaution, something may go wrong. I hope we are ready for the unusual.”

  During the evening Noel’s thoughts ranged from joy about the rescue to panic about the trip down the shaft. Several times she looked down the narrow shaft into the black emptiness. To her, the darkness of the shaft symbolized her mysterious future. After Magee and Norbert departed for the basement, she was forced to act on her own. This was a new experience. In the past, she could always turn to her guardians for support. In truth, she liked the feeling of independence and the power of making her own decisions.

  The guards checked on her several times during the evening. She was haunted by the fear they suspected something. She did not want anything to go wrong. She had dreamed of this moment all her life. While waiting for her escape to begin, anxiety nearly overwhelmed her. Her distain for Crossmore provided the motivation to continue. This was not just an escape attempt, but also a personal challenge. The journey down the shaft had become the door way into a new life. She had to prove something to herself.

  After the final room-check by the guards, Noel changed her clothes, crawled into the climbing harness and sent a rock clattering down the shaft. With shaking hands and paralyzing fear, she grabbed the rope hanging in the shaft and crawled through the wall feet first. This allowed her to place her feet on the opposite side of the shaft. With her feet firmly planted on the wall, she slid her back onto the opposing wall of the shaft. Firmly holding the rope in her right hand, she slipped the rope into the two locking rings and pulled the rope around her waist with her left hand. The clips would allow the passage of the rope for normal descent, but lock in case of a free fall. With the right hand, she gripped the line over her head. With her body trembling with anxiety, she took an uncertain breath and lowered her weight on the rope. This was one of the most difficult things she had ever done. She was hanging onto a rope in a pitch black shaft. She could only depend on herself and the rope to reach the bottom.

  With trembling arms, she pulled up on the rope over her head with her right hand, allowing the resistance clip to release its hold. This movement permitted a short section of rope to pass through the grip of her left hand. This allowed her to drop a short distance down the shaft. She was slow in moving her feet down the wall causing her to hang in a precarious head back position. She quickly lowered her feet to compensate for the awkward position. It was not long before she mastered the fundamental of rappelling down the wall. Her confidence increased as she moved down the cavity. She began to assume an overly confident attitude at her accomplishment. With her increased coordination and self assurance, she increased the speed of her descent.

  Feeling good about her achievement, she momentarily forgot Earthkin’s warning about the collapsed tunnel wall. The consequence of this oversight was soon made apparent. As she rappelled downward, her feet shot into the open space of the collapsed wall. This motion caused her feet to shoot upward and her weight to shift backward. This action forced her to fall into a head down position. Her weight shifted against the shoulder straps of her handmade harness. In panic, she released her grip on the rope. She gave a yelp of fear.

  Noel’s body swung wildly in the open space. Her head violently slammed into an obstacle in the shaft. For several moments she remembered nothing. Then, in a dazed state, she realized she was hanging head down in darkness. The shoulder strap of the harness was the only thing keeping her from falling head first into the cavity. Fright gripped her. She thrashed wildly in an effort to find something to hold onto. To her relief, she grabbed a wooden beam next to her head. This offered her a sense of security, bu
t did not solve her problem. She was still hanging upside down. Fear became the master of the moment. The use of reason and self-control played second hand to terror.

  Through the haze of her mind, she heard a muffled voice. Abruptly, she realized someone was calling to her. Refocusing her attention, she listened.

  In the distance she heard Earthkin ask, “Are you all right?”

  In a weak voice she answered, “I’m upside down and don’t know what to do. I am scared.”

  In a gentle voice, Earthkin directed, “You will need to rotate yourself to an upright position. Reach up, grab the rope and pull yourself up. Give it a try.”

  As her thoughts cleared, she did as Earthkin had advised. She grab the rope and pulled up, but she was not able lift herself into the upright position. She tried several more times with the same results. She did not have enough strength in her arms and shoulders. Doubt dominated her thinking.

  Then she demanded of herself, “I must do something. What can I do? Maybe, I can use the beam. The timber reaches across the shaft at an upward angle. If I grab the beam and pull myself up the plank, I might be able to put myself into the upright position.”

  Hugging the timber with both arms, she slowly climbed up. With each pull of her arms, Noel moved up the beam. After several minutes, she realized her body was level. She grabbed the rope with her right hand. Pushing off the timber with her left hand, she rotated into an upright position.

  With a squeak of joy, she whispered, “I did it! I did it!”

  With a throbbing head and trembling muscles, she slowly rappelled to the bottom of the shaft. When Noel crawled out of the shaft, it was apparent she had had a difficult trip to freedom. Her clothes were ripped and she had a large bump on the side of her head.

  Pacer bowed to Noel saying, “I am Pacer, a good friend of your grandfather. It is my pleasure to welcome you to your new life. It looks like you had a rough trip down the shaft. Please sit on the floor so I can attend to your wounds.”

  Noel smiled in greeting as she allowed her shaking legs and body to rest. Without talking, Pacer quickly applied bandages to Noel’s wounds. Finished, he said, “You have a spectacular black eye, fat lip and a large bruise on your face. I would not call them beauty marks. Are you ready to go?”

  Noel nodded, “Thank you for helping me. I have waited a long time for this moment. I will follow you.”

  It was midnight when Pacer, Earthkin and Noel walked into Hilda’s home. Magee, sitting by the fireplace, gasped in horror when she saw Noel’s wounds. Noel ignored Magee’s mothering. She proudly treated the wounds like a badge of courage. Noel, Magee and Norbert’s reunion was caught in the midst of chaos.

  People rushed around the room to complete the last minute preparations for the departure. In this confusion it did not take long for Noel, Magee and Norbert to feel an added sense of insecurity. The excitement of the escape was replaced by the reality of their new situation. The narrow confines of Noel’s past life had just exploded like an out-of-control horse. The new surroundings and the unfamiliar sense of freedom, only added to her feeling of anxiety. She felt like dancing and laughing, yet at the same time she wanted to cry. Rather than doing either, she just sat in front of the fireplace and closed her eyes.

  When she opened them, Noel found herself gazing at herself in the face of the young man standing before her. She knew she was looking at her twin brother. Without pausing, she leaped to her feet and threw herself into his arms. At that moment all her frustrations and confusion melted away. The security of Coaldon’s presence was enough to provide her the courage and strength to do what needed to be done. Their childhood bond was rekindled into a powerful union of hope and support.

  ~ ~

  Escape from Neverly