Chapter 17: Turning Points and Sticking Points
'I always knew he wasn't one of us, but I honestly did not think Erasmus would have been so foolish' raged Takeshi. Erasmus had tried to hide the fact that Bo was the slave that had 'run off' but that had been extensively searched for by the guards, but Takeshi had threatened to have truth spells used – which would require dragging more of the desert mages into the situation. This had forced Erasmus to admit that Bo was indeed a former slave who had been illegally liberated, and was assisting with an official investigation – one that Takeshi had not even been aware was being conducted. Takeshi had been both horrified and gleeful to find out such a breach of secrecy had occurred, although his irritation at being out of the loop was undisguised. Thankfully Erasmus managed to hide the fact that Bo was immune to magic, knowing that Takeshi would use everything he could learn against the duo. Erasmus also managed to make it sound as though Hayes and Arty had no idea that Bo was an illegally freed slave. 'He should be handed over as a show of good faith!' grinned Takeshi, taking more pleasure in the situation than he should have.
'Your Council Woman person already knows I am here though! She said she was looking forward to meeting me,' blurted Bo, desperate not to be sent back to the slave quarters. Takeshi's smile faltered as he turned to face the source of his irritation.
'Don't you think you've caused enough trouble? For Erasmus? For me? For the entire peace negotiation?' gloated the man, looming over Bo and leering unpleasantly. Bo closed his mouth, wishing Arty and Hayes were there to back him up. As it was Takeshi had banned anyone for entering or leaving the room, using his official status as leader of the peace party to enforce the orders. He stroked his chin thoughtfully, speaking his thoughts aloud as though they were just occurring to him, rather than having been already thought out.
'This is difficult. I can't leave him with you, obviously! Who brings a wanted fugitive to peace negotiations with The King? But I can't dispose of him until I know what The Chairwoman wishes, I suppose. That could take several days though.'
'I could cast a spell right here and now if you like?' offered Erasmus. Takeshi glared at him for cutting in,
'That would be too suspicious – why would we be casting a powerful spell here when it is so difficult for our mages to do anything within the castle walls? You know very well that the magic is thin this far from any sources, and that any great spells are sure to be noticed immediately when they suck it all up. No it will have to wait until a lettermage can deliver a letter to the lower council for recommendation to the higher council to commune with us, and then for another letter to be sent back with a time and date.' Erasmus leapt from his seat,
'That will take too long! What are you planning on doing with Bo until then?' Takeshi smiled sickeningly, placing a heavy hand on Bo's shoulder.
'I'll take care of him. I have a place where no one will ever find him.' Bo's blood ran cold at the thought of being at Takeshi's mercy.
'You can't just keep him cooped up!' argued Erasmus heatedly, but Takeshi was not impressed,
'I can do what I like, Erasmus – or have you forgotten who is in charge here? You're just lucky I don't turn him in and be done with it. Now – I am going to take the slave and you are hereby forbidden to contact the Council yourself – it would draw too much attention, and cause too much suspicion. We need everything to go smoothly for the peace talks – and if too much attention is drawn I may be forced to give your boy back to the slave masters, despite what the Council says.'
Erasmus ground his teeth with fury but was unable to reply. It was either do as Takeshi wished, or have Bo handed straight to those who were after him. Sensing that he had won for the moment, Takeshi tightened his grip on Bo and pulled the stunned teen out of the room, wordlessly marching him down the hall. Bo struggled as soon as he was out in the corridor, nearly breaking free of Takeshi, planning to run to Alexander.
'Run away and I'll make trouble for Erasmus – I don't think the guards would be pleased to find out he was hiding you, do you?' hissed the desert man. Bo growled but said nothing, realising that there was nothing he could do without getting Erasmus in trouble. Takeshi seemed to derive pleasure from his victory, grasping Bo painfully by the nape of his neck.
Finally they arrived at Takeshi's room. It was much grander than Erasmus' if only because the furnishings were not liberally coated with papers filled with research notes. In one corner stood a tall black wardrobe. It loomed ominously in the corner, as though it was just waiting for someone to step inside so that it could eat them.
'You probably can't see it yourself – but I have a very special wardrobe. I managed to purchase it for a steal from the auctioned possessions of a mage who had unfortunately passed on. It answers only to me – only I can make it appear, and I only I can make it disappear. Don't worry you'll be perfectly safe inside. No one will be able to see, hear, smell, or find you, with or without magic. Not even Erasmus would be able to break the spells on this little collector's piece. I hope you aren't afraid of the dark.' With the last disingenuous wish for Bo's peace of mind, Takeshi pushed the boy into the gaping doorway of the cupboard, closing and locking it behind him. Bo pushed against the door, trying to get it to open again, but it was as he suspected – the door would only be opened with a key and from the outside.
Sighing heavily Bo sank to the floor of the cupboard, as far as he was able. It was slightly too small to accommodate him lying down, making it difficult to fall asleep despite the late hour and the soporific effect of the alcohol. He could hear muffled sounds of movement in Takeshi's room, and was vaguely comforted to know that the outside world hadn't vanished completely, but the shock of the situation was wearing off and the fear and anger at his treatment was becoming clearer.
'TAKESHI! YOU'RE A STUPID SELFISH SPITEFUL RAT TURD!' shouted Bo at the top of his lungs, listening to hear if there was a reply. He knew that no one could hear him, but it made him feel slightly better for having said it. Bo tried not to think about how long he would be in the cupboard, or when Takeshi was going to feed him (if ever). The more he sat and thought, the more worried and anxious he became. What if Takeshi was relying on some sort of magic to keep Bo alive, and wasn't planning to check up on the boy? To quell the rising tide of panic, Bo ran his fingers blindly over the corners and edges of the cupboard's interior, hoping to find some weakness, or some place where light might be let in. As the minutes ticked by the teen began to realise that there was no way out. Not even light could reach him, and he no longer knew if he was facing the front of the cupboard or the back. The air in the cupboard was warming up with Bo's activity and he started to wonder if oxygen could get in or out, or if he was going to suffocate in the dark. This did nothing to subdue his panic, and feeling that he was about to expire if fresh oxygen did not enter the cupboard, Bo began to beat on the doors, hoping to catch Takeshi's attention. 'Takeshi open the cupboard! There's no air in here!' Bo paused, listening at the door for any sign that he had been heard, but there weren't even the usual muffled sounds of movement. 'Please Takeshi, I just want to breathe!' Bo beat on the cupboard more violently, but to no avail. Eventually when his hands ached deeply from the activity and Bo could no longer stop his eyelids from drooping the teen sank into an uncomfortable half-crouch and tried to occupy his thoughts. Slowly, and despite his fears, Bo was affected by the dark, and the late hour. If he was in Erasmus' room he would be waking up in a scant five hours for training and his body was telling him it was way past time for bed. Slowly, still trying desperately to think of a way out of his predicament, the teen fell asleep.
Bo woke some hours later, uncomfortably contorted so that he lay on the cupboard floor, more or less. Although he couldn't tell in the darkness, he thought that it must be just before dawn. For a second or two he suspected that he had woken up at that time out of habit, and was about to go to sleep again when he heard a muffled yell of indignation from the room beyond. Anxiously, Bo untangled himself, which was surprisingly d
ifficult, as one of his arms had gone to sleep, and the rest of his body was sluggish and unresponsive. He pressed his ear to the cupboard, trying to hear what was going on. Circling the walls, he tried to find the place with the best vantage for listening in on the outside world. There was another muffled shout, but this time Bo could tell it was from Takeshi. There were also crashes and noises of breaking glass. Bo leapt back from the wall he was facing when something knocked heavily against it, panicking that there must be someone trying to break in. There was another loud crash and the cupboard trembled violently. Keeping his weight centred, Bo was the only thing that prevented the large item of furniture from toppling onto its side. The teen held his breath anxiously but no further bumps or knocks were inflicted upon the cupboard, although it did rattle occasionally from whatever activity was going on outside. Bo wondered if perhaps the noise was, in fact, a rescue party. He considered the fact that it might be the castle guards, still looking for him, but decided quickly that it was best to get out of the cupboard, and sort out whatever else he came across as he came across it. Believing himself to be facing the cupboard doors, Bo recommenced attempting to muscle them open, awakening the pain in his hands from the last bout of enthusiastic cupboard bashing. Again it was to no avail, and eventually the noises from inside the room died down to an eerie silence.
Alone in the dark, with nothing to hear but his own breathing, and with hands that felt like he'd skinned and bruised his knuckles, Bo waited. He gently felt the quickly swelling lumps that his knuckles had become, wincing at the stinging sensation, and the ache. He did not know what had happened but his mind quickly supplied a number of horror scenarios, the worst of which being a night assassin sent to kill Takeshi, meaning that Bo would never be found by anyone ever again. Breathing deeply through his nose, Bo tried to calm himself but he was unable to. In a state of uncontrolled panic the teen rocked on his heels, unable to find something to steady his thoughts with. This was interspersed with shouting and continuing to bash on the wood of the cupboard, heedless of any damage he may be doing to himself. Bo could only hope that Erasmus would come and find him – that his friend had more power than Takeshi gave him credit, and would be able to find the cupboard and get it open. What seemed like hours later, there came a soft scrabbling noise. Unlike most of the previous noises in the room, it sounded very clear.
'Hello!?' called Bo loudly. The scrabbling stopped. 'No! Please come back!' the teen shouted desperately, beating at the cupboard. Without warning there was the sound of heavier thumps that rocked the cupboard to its base. Bo was just starting to wonder if perhaps he had been hasty in attracting the attention of whatever was outside when his world tipped over. Bo fell on his side heavily, when there was a heavy thunk. Bo looked up as the cupboard screeched around him and rocked violently. Suddenly there was a glimmer of light.
'Ztayink back from hole, Bo, yez?' Bo was glad that he did as he was told when there was another thunk, and a large, gleaming axehead bit into the wood, halting only inches away from Bo's face. Bo closed his eyes and curled up into a tight ball, away from the growing hole. In a few brief minutes, however, the gap was large enough for the lithe teen to squeeze through. Thankfully the predawn light was dim, and took little getting used to, although Bo blinked and rubbed at his eyes. When he could see, the former slave was horrified at the state of Takeshi's room. It was completely trashed, with all of the man's belongings thrown to the floor and trodden on. Despite this, all that currently mattered to the teen was that he was now free of the cupboard. Bo was momentarily overwhelmed with relief. Shakily he looked around to find Alexander staring at him, still holding the formidable looking double handed axe that Bo had seen in his hidden room. By his side was Ruben, who grinned shyly and waved. 'You think you are gettink out of mornink trainink so easy?' Alexander joked, hauling the still shocked Bo into a crushing and entirely unexpected, one armed bear hug. Bo scrambled to get free, not wishing to offend his saviour, but also not wishing to be pressed quite so close to Alexander's armpits, which had already worked up a fine sweat from the morning's activities. 'Bo, ve take lonk time to find you! Muzt leef quickly - iz beeg search to find you.' Checking to make sure they were unobserved, Alexander hastily lead the way to a secret entrance into the walls that was hidden behind a hanging rug.
Quickly the portly weapon master navigated the secret passages, turning here and there without hesitation. Soon Bo's head was spinning with all the turns that had been taken, and about ten minutes later he arrived in Alexander's hidden quarters. Bo sat wearily down on the floor, and Alexander quickly glanced over the teens hands. Bo noted that they looked as bad as they felt. Dried blood caked his knuckles. 'I look at hands because they alvays are needink bandages!' joked Alexander, moving to his trunk to obtain a few of said bandages. In a grimmer tone, he continued, 'Erazmuz haz been taken to jail. Zo haz ze varrior vomen and every dezert mage.' Alexander didn't mince his words, and it took a moment or two for Bo to take in what the weapon master had said.
'But why?' asked the teen, forgetting about the state of his hands. Alexander glanced at Ruben and nodded. Long explanations were difficult when he had such a strong accent and it would probably be quicker if Ruben could remember the details.
'Uh- Well the um...'
'The Queen claims one of the desert mages (probably Erasmus) stole her precious whitestone necklace,' came a new voice. Before Bo could blink Alexander had the newcomer pinned to the wall by his throat. The portly weapon master had moved faster than Bo had believed possible. Alexander loosened his grip slightly upon finding the intruder was Will. 'I followed you. Came to make sure Bo was okay after all this,' Will choked out. Reluctantly Alexander let the white haired teen go, ushering him into the room with the rest of the slowly growing group. Will massaged his neck tenderly, nodding to Bo by way of greeting. 'Anyway there was a search. The whitestone was found in Erasmus' room, and as a result all of the desert people have been taken in for questioning, probably to be charged as a whole.'
'That's ridiculous!' growled Bo angrily, as Alexander gave him the first aid equipment. 'Erasmus would never steal such a thing. He's not even interested in whitestone 'cause it has no 'natural magical properties!'' Will frowned at Bo, shaking his head.
'I don't think it's really about the jewels, Bo. They know they are missing a desert mage – that's you by the way – and The Queen and King are furious. They reckon you were tipped off somehow. In any case I reckon you'd be interested to hear where they bin keeping the desert people.' Will paused, waiting to make sure everyone was listening carefully before lowering his voice slightly. 'They took em into the secret tunnels what lead to that underground place you bin talking about. I looked around a little bit durin' the day and I'd bet my bootlaces that's where they're being held. If I had bootlaces 'course.' Bo cursed quietly under his breath. He had been worried about himself, but now the news that Erasmus might be in danger set off a panic many times worse than he'd felt while cooped up in the cupboard.
'What exactly is going on?' asked Ruben uncertainly. He looked slightly bemused, and almost like he didn't really want to know. Bo sighed, and explained the whole story, from him being immune to magic, to Takeshi locking him into a cupboard. Ruben nodded thoughtfully, 'I suppose that would explain things, and I suppose that artefact is one of the three artefacts of demons. Gosh that's not good.' Bo looked sharply up at his blithe mage friend.
'Artefacts of demons?' he asked. Ruben blinked slowly, eventually realising that not everyone knew what he was talking about.
'Oh, well I was reading about using magic with naturally occurring ores – in the library – when I came across a passage about three rocks of the demons. It said that at first the world was shared by demons and humans, but that the demons were immortal. The humans wanted to harvest the immortality and power of the demons so they created artefacts that could trap the soul of a demon inside, and from there those demon souls could be transferred to a human body. Unfortunately they didn't realise that the hu
man would then be as good as dead, with their own soul consumed in the process, giving the demon control of the body. There were cases of people fighting back, and having a split personality until the two sides ended up destroying each other, but that was only rare cases. Luckily though, in a mortal body it is possible to kill a demon by cutting off its head or otherwise wounding it fatally with sword or by magic. Problem is that demons aren't like humans; we harness the excess magic that is floating around in the air, but demons create their own magic. A demon soul would be like a never ending power supply of magic, to a human mage – but of course, still being concious, the demons were less than willing. Anyway the people realised their error and powerful magicians destroyed one of the three rocks, killing all of the demons that had been trapped in it. A super mage with lots of ability managed to hunt down and kill the humans who had been infected with a demon before they could get more people to be infected with other demons, because they were intent on releasing as many of their kin as possible, before finding a way to return their immortality and enslave the remainder of humanity, uh... then it warned that one of the stones was in the desert and the other one was deep in the sea, and that they should never ever be reactivated. I guess it's a good thing the first stone was destroyed and all, even though it is a clue to ancient powerful magic that isn't recorded, even in the magical tomes of the desert. I figured it was a creation myth about why the demons from old folk tales don't exist any more, but I suppose your description of the artefact kind of makes me think it might be true...' Ruben trailed off, realising that everyone was paying very careful attention to his rambling. The teen shrugged, suddenly self conscious, as Alexander, Bo, and Will digested the information.
'Zo ve muzt deztroy artefact, might be end of humanity,' Alexander said bluntly. He'd heard enough to confirm his beliefs that whatever was going on in the abandoned dungeons was bad and needed stopping before it could consume the entire kingdom. He had been uncertain before, knowing that there was a possibility that The Queen was involved made things difficult, but Alexander privately hoped it was a case of mistaken identity; surely the real Queen would never endanger her subjects.
'We also need to save Erasmus, and the rest of the desert people,' added Bo quietly, but firmly. There was no way he was going to let his new friends fall prey to a giant artefact-demon-thing. The only trouble was that the group only numbered three teenagers and an old man. Bo looked to Alexander, hoping that the more experienced campaigner would have a plan.
'Ve only safe-ink them from ztrange thingz happenink in dungeon. They muzt go on proper trial about ze white-ztone yez? Vill be properly cleared up – no mis-under-ztandink, no var, yez?' Alexander didn't bother waiting for Bo to agree or disagree before continuing, 'Now, ve not know who set up desert people to getink into trouble. Might be somevun same people from artefact – might not. Muzt be careful,' the rotund man paused to stroke his wiry black beard thoughtfully. 'Ve need Bo to lead vay to artefact. Ruben, are you able to be breakink artefact?' Ruben looked up, startled at having been addressed again so soon.
'Uh yeah I might be able to. Magic's not something I know off by heart it's just something I sort of … feel when I get next to the material.' Alexander nodded. Ruben would be their best bet, but assuming that the teen was unable to complete the task, and the group was somehow killed or captured, word would have to be sent to an outside party. 'Okay. I make note to zend to desert people. I tell them vhat haz happened, because they be not knowink. Zen if we fail, they vill be ready.' It irked Alexander to rely on people from outside Middlefortress, but the weapon master did not know who he could trust with the information on his own side. Quickly a note was made, and Alexander carried it to a lettermage himself – one that he knew would do the right thing. While he was gone, Bo, Ruben and Will sat tensely in the small room. Bo applied the bandages and cream to his own battered hands, wincing occasionally, but ultimately finding that the cream soothed them almost instantly. Will was almost certainly being missed at the slave compound, and the teen was fingering his collar nervously, hoping it wouldn't go off while Alexander was not around to set it to rights.
'Do you mind if I look at it?' asked Ruben curiously. Will shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, but not succeeding entirely.
'Just don't set it off, yeah?' he asked. Ruben had already laid his fingers over the silver circle. His eyes were closed and a small frown of concentration was stamped across his face.
'Ah – I see. If I just do this --' Will yelped, his hands flying to his neck. After a moment or two nothing further happened.
'What did you do?' asked Will incredulously.
'I just broke the restraining spells. It can't be set off any more, or rather it can, technically, but the spells are sort of confused. So if you set it off then it will think that it was already set off and won't set itself off again. That's what that little buzz was just before.' Will managed a confused 'huh' and Ruben apologised for being bad at explaining himself. Before any further attempts at explanation could be made, Alexander was back.
've get rezt now. Tonight iz time to free captives. Iz not good idea to rush in. This they might suspect, yez?' Bo was force to reluctantly agree with Alexander's appraisal of the situation, and made himself as comfortable as he could. Weary after his strange and taxing night, Bo swiftly drifted off to sleep despite his worries for Erasmus, and the thin straw-on-stone bedding. The teen's dreams were not peaceful, and at some time during the day he woke in a cold sweat from unnamed horrors. Everyone else seemed to be sleeping, or at least lying on their backs silently. Rubbing his eyes Bo sat up. He felt refreshed and wouldn't be able to get back to sleep for some time. Sitting quietly his thoughts very quickly returned to Erasmus, Arty and Hayes, as he wondered if they were okay or if they had already been given to the artefact.
'It is hard to sleep during the day, isn't it?' commented Will, who had clearly been alerted to Bo's wakefulness by the teen's constant shifting. Bo did not reply, feeling slightly beyond words at that point.
'I miss Erasmus a lot,' admitted Bo, although it was an understatement. The teen hadn't even realised how much he really did miss his friend until he voiced it. He had often heard that people didn't know what they had until it was gone but he had thought it a silly saying. He realised the small truth then, when he wished he could have Erasmus' constant cheerful chatter to buoy his flagging spirits. Somewhere in his gut Bo felt horribly sick at the thought of Erasmus being injured or killed, and he wanted to tear through walls and anything else that got in his way to get his friend back again. Bo didn't feel like he would be able to tell this to Will though, not certain that he could find the appropriate words, nor that if he did his white haired friend would understand the feelings. Will sat up on his stone mattress and gazed sympathetically at Bo.
'When we get to rescuing him, I'm sure Erasmus will be glad to see you too.' Bo shifted on his bed, not entirely comforted and too awake to fall asleep again.
'Iz remind me of time,' Bo glanced at Alexander who was still lying on his back, looking up at the ceiling. 'I haff friend once, called Chekhov, who get taken hostage. Vas not good - he vaz very zkilled vith ze ranged veaponz, ezpecially gun. They send uz his finger as proof that they haff heem - vaz hiz trigger finger. Zo ven ve get heem back ve choppink off all their fingerz, and and ve say 'eef you can fire gun vith no fingers, ve not kill you!'' Alexander laughed heartily at what was apparently a joke. 'Zey cried so much! It vas very funny to see zem trying to fire gun vith foot. Ve all laugh so much ve let zem to run avay.' It took some while for Alexander's mirth to die down after his story, and in the meantime Bo and Will shared horrified looks with each other. 'Eef all people are vake up, ve haff varm up, yez?' Alexander, who had been lying fully clothed on top of his own bed, swung his legs over the edge and got up. Will, Bo and Ruben (who had also been awake, but had been too busy toying with one of his latest creations to hear the horrible and not very reassuring anecdote) were set to clearing the area in readiness for some sparrin
g. This was a dismally quick task, as Alexander seemed a little light on worldly possessions, having only a stash of weapons, and a number of barrels filled with pickles. Once the area was ready, Alexander chose Will and Bo, asking the two to spar. Ruben was happy to continue his own activities for the moment, and Alexander was keen to find out how well Will handled himself in a fight.
Bo took up a ready stance, facing Will who was not in any kind of stance at all, and was looking more than a little amused by the whole situation. Cautiously Bo approached Will, keeping his guard up as he went. Will moved away from Bo, keeping a good distance between them as he watched his friend's movements. Realising he would have to be more active in pursuing his target, Bo moved forwards quickly, ducking low to perform a sweeping kick in an effort to knock Will's legs out from under him. Will jumped over the kick, and responded by booting Bo in the face. Although the blow didn't have much force to it, Bo was so shocked he fell onto his rear. Quickly he scrambled back to his feet. Once again the two circled, and Will, who was still sizing up his opponent, wasn't likely to make the first move. Bo went in with a number of punches. Although Will did not seem to know what was coming, he was able to react fast enough to block or dodge most of the blows, and when a punch did connect it was only ever a glancing blow. Quickly Will found Bo's rhythm, and he blocked one punch, before ducking under the next and turning to elbow Bo in the back of the head. Bo's head jerked forwards, and he was left flinching just long enough for Will to kick the backs of his knees and cause the teen to topple forwards. Taking his advantage as far as he could, Will stood on the back of Bo's calf to keep the less experienced opponent down - a surprisingly painful tactic. Bo twisted his upper body violently, escaping from Will and throwing the white haired slave off balance. Before Will could bring his foot back to the ground Bo lunged forward, leaping from the ground and up, pushing Will to keep him off balance before delivering a punch that smacked soundly into Will's lower jaw. Will stumbled back, clearly surprised and Bo followed him. Somehow it was different to when he had been fighting Ruben - those fights had moved so slowly that Bo had been able to spend his time thinking about his movements and considering his tactics. With Will, Bo had quickly thrown such thoughts out of the window, and started to rely on instinct, and the techniques that had already been committed to his muscle memory. Almost without realising what he was doing, Bo used Will's flinch as an opportunity to take down the teen, and by the time Alexander had broken up the battle, Bo found himself sitting astride Will, having punched the silver collar slave in the nose. It was Alexander's almost too firm grip on his shoulder that brought Bo back to earth.
'I'm sorry Will!' cried Bo. Will grinned, holding his nose to prevent it from bleeding,
'You got a nice strong right there - don' think I wanna be onna recievin' en' of it no more though!' Will laughed the incident off, saying Bo needed to release his frustrations elsewhere, jesting that Bo needed to find himself a woman. Ruben was paired with Will, when Will had fixed his nose with magic, and then Ruben was paired with Bo. Not wanting a repeat of the last battle Bo was more defensive, only lashing out with an attack when he did not think it would do too much damage, and never committing his full strength to any of his movements. After some further sparring, they were given a few exercises to complete, and Alexander joined them for these. Somehow the familiar movements helped to ease Bo's mind and make him relaxed. He had almost managed to completely forget the predicament he, and his friends were in by the time Alexander abruptly halted proceedings, claiming that it was time for food, drink and to kick off the raid.
Bo wore plain clothes, rather than his expensive outfit that the King's tailors had supplied, while Will had only his slave clothes, and Ruben was wearing another pair of slave clothes that Alexander had 'found' for him (Bo suspected the women in the washing rooms would find some of their clean laundry mysteriously missing). All three teens were offered leather armour. Bo accepted, wanting as much protection as he could, while Ruben and Will rejected the offer, instead opting to strengthen their clothes against physical attack with magic, although it would be a drain on their concentration. Alexander was also wearing well fitted leather armour, of the kind favoured by guards of the inner castle. The weapon master looked fierce enough without armour, in Bo's opinion - with armour he was downright frightening, although it could have something to do with the honed battle axes that he sported - one hung from his hip, and the other, larger axe, was strapped across his back. Bo was given a sword, which upon handling he recognised to be the sword The King had provided him with - sharpened of course. He looked up at Alexander, surprised, only to receive a stern glare.
'This svord rep-re-zent your kingdom now, yez? You fight under leetle turtle symbol. Not use my veaponz anymore.' Alexander gave Ruben a three foot long staff, that had both ends capped with metal. He also provided the teen with a goodly sized dagger and a belt with holster to strap it to. Will was equipped with a half-staff and dagger as well, as the slave expressed a preference for such weapons.
Feeling anxious, both about the danger he was putting himself in, and the fact that if he did not go something awful might happen to Erasmus, Bo nervously shifted his weight from foot to foot while Alexander gave them all one last check down. He seemed to accept that they were as good as they were going to get.
'Ve are goink now. Iz important - main goal iz to dez-troy ztone, yez? Muzt not let demons out of ztone, or not only this kingdom iz being deztroy. Bo - ve need you to find vay there, but not need you to get capture. Ve not know vhy you are vanted, zo ve not let zem get you in case iz somsink bad, yez? HOKAY! Ruben and I – ve make fight-distraction. Vill and Bo, you free ze desert warriors, and zey vill help uz. Zen ve go after ze rock. Ruben - you vill be destroyink rock. Eef ve are all alive after zis, zen ve vill drink ztrong zpiritz, and eat many pickles!' Alexander nodded, a white, toothy grin flashing from within his beard. Ruben looked taken aback. He had not considered that he might have the most important role in the group. In a way he was pleased to know he wasn't expected to do battle with humans that were possibly infused with demons, but in another way he was not keen to be the centre of attention in such a conflict. Alexander, however, had already moved on - it hadn't been a suggestion or a request, it was an order that he expected to be followed. When Ruben weighed up the odds, he had to admit that Alexander was far scarier than a stone full of demons, and so he would do as he was told.
Alexander moved down the dark, sometimes narrow passages agonisingly slowly. He checked at each intersection to make sure there was no one waiting to launch a surprise attack, and occasionally caused the party to double back on their trail to keep from being followed. Bo was almost certain they had wasted more than an hour in the dark, and every second spent not freeing Erasmus was a second that he might be killed, or worse, given to the demon stone. Finally they reached the beginning of the section that could only be navigated by Bo. He was about to do so, when Alexander held up a hand and shook his head. He pushed the teens back, and unsheathed his axe silently, melding with the shadows until even Bo, who knew where he was, could not see him. There came the sound of heavy footsteps, and Bo's heart leapt to life in his chest, beating fast and hard, and urging Bo to action. As the guards rounded the corner, Alexander swiftly and silently attacked. The first guard had lost his head before he even knew he was under attack, and the second was swiftly winded with the butt of Alexander's axe before the finishing blow, which carved into his torso. It took that one slightly longer to go out, but he had not managed to sound the alarm. Alexander quickly dragged the bodies out of sight. He searched them, finding that each man had been in possession of a leather necklace. The necklaces bore small stone tablets and, it turned out, allowed the guards to walk through the tunnels without becoming lost and confused. Ruben nodded thoughtfully,
'It would take too much concentration to maintain a counter spell, I guessed they must have magic infused trinkets to get rid of the effects of the passageway.' Alexander put on one of the ne
cklaces himself, and gave one to Will, assuming he would be stronger and more of a difficulty than Ruben to lead in the correct direction. Ruben was then grabbed by Alexander and Will, and Bo lead the way through the passages, doing his best to remember which way to go.
They continued to creep along at the speed of a snail. Sometimes they were forced to hide from a group of cowled guards on patrol. Bo could feel his breath catching in his throat at the thought of being caught by the sinister looking guards, but each time they were passed over. The group walked silently although if not for Alexander's alertness, they would have been easily discovered, many times over. Bo took several wrong turns, but after a half hour of scrabbling around in the dark, he finally found himself facing a familiar heavy stone door. Ruben had been struggling for the last several meters, furiously attempting to go in the opposite direct to the main group. He wasn't overly powerful but he had been wearyingly persistent until Alexander slapped him about the face. After that, the teen had simply closed his eyes and let himself be dragged along, claiming the magical misdirection was making him feel nauseous. Now however, faced with the heavy stone door, and not intent on getting anywhere, Ruben let out a small gasp of surprise.
'That – that's the same magic they use in the library – for moving the ladders!' Will and Alexander moved Ruben closer to the door and the teen seemed to completely forget where he was. Any trace of fear or excitement had been wiped from his features in favour of curiosity. Struggling, Ruben wrestled his arm from Will, before placing one hand on the rock. His eyes stared off vacantly into the distance, unblinking as he thought long and hard, and tested the stone with his magic.
'Make it quvick, Ruben,' growled Alexander. He looked behind him, before motioning that Bo should hold Ruben's second arm. Bo did so, taking over from the weapon master, who carefully unsheathed the axe at his hip. Ruben wouldn't be rushed however, and it was almost as if he hadn't even heard Alexander. Bo placed his spare hand on the hilt of his sword, as whisper soft footsteps became audible even to him. He looked to Will who was grimly grasping his wooden staff, when Ruben mumbled something. Bo was about to ask the teen to repeat himself, when the stone door slowly and haltingly slid open a small way, thankfully making little to no noise. Hurriedly the party slipped inside before Ruben closed the door again, looking absurdly pleased with himself.