Shaping Magic (7 page)

“Come, I know of another way out. You're not going to like it, but it should be clear,” Aina said with a little chuckle.

“Oh you have got to be kidding!” Lindon said in disbelief. “There is no way I am going down there.” He was staring down a hole in the floor.

“Well it’s either down here or you can try your luck facing a small army that's about to come through the front door. However, I have to tell you that as good as you are with your blades, you really don't stand a chance,” Aina said with humor.

Looking at Lindon, Aina gave a little smirk before she jumped into the privy. Lindon could hear the splash when she landed. Standing there looking down the hole, he wondered how many men could there possibly be out there, and maybe he could stand a chance.

Suddenly, there was a loud crash coming from the front entrance, “I am never going to live this down,” he muttered to himself, and with those words, he took the leap after Aina.

What awaited Lindon as he landed was without a doubt the most disgusting smell he had ever come across. “Oh God, this is rancid,” he choked out.

“Don't be such a baby; it's not that bad,” Aina said with a smile. “And look, no army waiting for us.”

The one thing that Lindon didn't want to look like in front of Aina was a baby. He knew that he was younger than her but not by that much, and if she could handle this, so could he.

With as much courage that he could muster standing knee-deep in waste, he said, “Lead on, O Great and Stinky Lady.” He gave her a little bow and almost slipped in the stinky mess.

Laughing, she said, “That's the spirit.” After a quick look around, she started moving toward the opening ahead of them.

The going was slow for Lindon. To keep from slipping, he made sure of every step before he committed his full weight. The last thing he wanted was to be covered in the stuff. After a little while, they came to a ladder leading up.

Aina started climbing first and indicated that Lindon should wait here for her to make sure the way was clear. After a short time, Lindon got the signal to start his climb up the ladder. When he reached the top, Aina pressed a finger to her lips, so as quietly as he could, he pulled himself out of the hole, thankful to be out of the stink of the sewer. He was back in the tunnel system; he could hear noises down the tunnel back toward the training room. Not wanting to be seen or heard, they started away from the noises as quietly as they could.

They had been traveling for a while in the tunnels before Lindon felt it was safe enough speak. He asked Aina, “What are these tunnels for? I mean the sewer is below them, and the tunnels don't really have a purpose.”

“From what I was told, they are part of the defenses. If the place is ever attacked, they can move tropes to different parts of the city without being exposed to attack.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Lindon said.

Lindon was not paying attention and almost walked into Aina when she stopped before another hole going down of to the side of the tunnel.

Lindon stared down the hole, hoping that she didn't plan on going down into the sewers again. Aina was watching Lindon's face with a little smirk as he was realizing where they had to go to get out of the city.

“I suppose we have no choice.” Lindon knew that she wouldn't have mentioned it if they did.

Chuckling, Aina responded with, “Oh, we always have a choice, but this way doesn't involve dying or getting caught. You do remember that everyone's trying to kill us, right?”

“Yeah, that's kind of what I thought,” Lindon responded sullenly. “However, that doesn't mean I have to like it,” he added under his breath.

This time Lindon took the lead and started down the ladder. At least this time he wouldn't have to jump into it. When he got to the bottom, he moved off to the side so Aina could come down. When she got to the bottom, she looked around. There were three smaller tunnels back the way they had come, and on the opposite side a larger one going in the direction they wanted to go.

After about a hundred yards, they came to a large metal grate covering the opening. He was about to ask Aina what they were supposed to do now when he noticed a small lump off to the side. As he bent over to see what it was, he heard a moan coming from it.

Not sure what or who it was, he kept his swords ready to defend himself. It looked like a child, so he asked, “Are you okay?” and as he did, the child turned their head to look at Lindon.

What he had thought was a child turned out to be a Dwarf with a large nose that took over almost all of its face. What really caught Lindon's attention were the eyes: They looked to be in so much pain that, without thinking, Lindon moved to lift the Dwarf out of the muck. As he held him in his arms, he noticed that there was almost no weight to the poor man.

Turning to Aina with tears in his eyes, he demanded, “How do we get through the grate?”

Aina looked at Lindon and was about to tell him to leave the disgusting creature here because they didn't have the time or the supplies to care for it. However, looking at his face, she could see the anger and the determination in it that she didn't want to face.

Without saying anything, she reached down under the sludge and pulled up on a lever that was hidden there, and the bottom of the gate unlatched and slowly swung upward. Not wasting any time, Lindon was through the opening and out into the night air.

Taking a deep breath to clear the stench from his nose, Lindon asked, “Which way?”

Again, not wanting to confront Lindon's anger, Aina quietly said, “We will head west toward the mountains to get out of sight, then we will turn south. We don't want to travel on the main road.”

As they traveled, Lindon carried the Dwarf with ease. He had always thought that Dwarfs were short but very solid, not like this poor creature. He looked like he hadn't eaten a proper meal in a very long time and weighed hardly anything at all.

As they walked, Lindon could feel something—a light tingling leaving his body. He wasn't sure what it was, but it seemed to flow into the small bundle he carried. The Dwarf seemed to relax in his arms and fall asleep. Lindon didn’t understand what it was, but it didn't seem to be hurting the Dwarf and looked like it was helping, so he decided not to say anything about it or try to stop it.

When Aina decided to stop and let Lindon rest, they were in among the trees and could no longer see the city. Lindon carefully laid the Dwarf down on the ground, and with a sigh of exhaustion, sat down beside him. Aina still hadn't said anything, as she was busy gathering sticks and dried leaves to start a fire. Lindon wanted to help her, but he couldn't seem to find the energy, so he lay down and went to sleep.

He had planned on only taking a short rest but when he woke it was dawn, and his stomach grumbled at the smell that was coming from the fire. Sitting up, he saw Aina beside the small fire, cooking a rabbit on a spit that she had made. The Dwarf was still asleep beside him. Not wanting to wake him, he got up and moved closer to the fire.

Aina looked up as Lindon approached. Seeing the question on his face she said, “You looked like you needed to sleep.” She held up one of her throwing knives. “I did a little hunting and managed to come across this little fellow.”

It didn't take long for the smell of the cooking meat to wake the hungry Dwarf, but from his experiences in the Human city, he didn't expect the Human or the Elf to treat him any better. Elves and Dwarfs hadn't gotten along since before there were Humans. The Elves were people of the sky loving the sun and the trees, whereas the Dwarfs were people of the ground, living below the surface to mine and tunnel in the depths of the world. They never had any major confrontations; they just basically tried to pretend the other never existed.

The Dwarf was a little surprised that he was still alive; he had thought when he was lying in the filth by the metal grate that he didn't have long to live. However, here he was, still alive and actually feeling better than he had in a very long time. At a loss to explain it, he figured it was time to face whatever was going to happen. He sat up and faced the fire but didn't make any move toward it, not wanting to offend the Human. He didn't have a weapon to defend himself, and he had received enough abuse to last a lifetime.

Donovan saw the Human say something in a rough tone to the Elf but didn't quite catch what it was, then the Human got to his feet and started coming toward him. When the Human got close, he could see that he had food in his hand. Kneeling down in front of him, the Human held out the meat. As he looked into the Human’s eyes, he saw compassion and an underlying hint of anger almost like if he could, he would hunt the man responsible for Donovan’s condition and end his or her life. Having no idea who this young man was, he got the feeling that if he did know, his previous captor would be dead.

After giving the food to the Dwarf, Lindon stood up and had to go for a walk, away from the Elf and the Dwarf, not trusting himself to speak. Lindon knew that there was cruelty in the world, but it was beyond him how anyone could inflict that kind of abuse on another being. The Dwarf’s face was crisscrossed with cuts and bruises and one eye was swollen shut, and he could tell from the way the Dwarf moved that there were many more under his clothing. Lindon's anger almost got the better of him. It was a good thing he left his blades back at the camp, if he hadn't he might have gone straight back to the city to exact his revenge.

Back at the camp, Donovan hungrily ate the food that he had been given; he wasn't overly worried about the Elf doing anything to him. As far as he knew, the Elves didn't subscribe to abusing their prisoners, but they also wouldn't go out of their way to help either. 

Neither Aina nor the Dwarf had moved since Lindon had left, but at least the Dwarf had eaten the food he was given. Lindon had also given him his own share of the rabbit, and that was why Aina had been upset with him. The Dwarf needed the energy a lot more than Lindon did and after the night’s sleep, he was feeling fresh and going a little hungry wouldn't hurt him.

When Lindon came back to the camp, he went to the Dwarf and, holding out his hand, said, “Hello, my name is Lindon, and my friend here is Aina.”

The Dwarf, a little nervous, slowly raised his hand to grasp Lindon's hand and sheepishly replied, “They call me Donovan, son of Kaltamorn.” He didn't acknowledge Aina, the same as she hadn't acknowledged him.

Back toward the city there came the sounds of barking dogs and horsemen racing toward them. Upon hearing them, the Dwarf jumped to his feet. “Oh my God, my God, he's coming to get me!” The Dwarf started to panic; he knew that if he was caught there would be no escaping again. He started to run away from the coming noise, but still being weak from his ordeal, he only made about two steps before he tripped and landed face down in the dirt.

Pulling himself up to a sitting position, he looked toward Lindon and with a courage that spoke to his proud people, said, “I cannot get away, but if you leave now they will not know that you helped me.”

Aina was taken aback from that statement; she had fully expected the Dwarf to ask for Lindon's help in getting away. Not that it really would have mattered what he said, she had gotten to know Lindon well enough by now to know that he would never leave the defenseless Dwarf to his own fate—the same as when he had acted to protect her when Lairgnen would have killed her. Lindon would stay and fight, and so must she. When he challenged the house for the right to wield the twin swords of Kaden, she had known then that she was his to command and if necessary she would die for him. That didn't, however, mean that she wouldn't let him know if he was being an idiot.

Before the Dwarf spoke about being left behind, she would have gladly left him but even in his panic about being caught, he selflessly wanted Lindon and herself to leave, and she could respect him for it even if he were just a Dwarf.

Without being told, she swiftly headed into the woods. The Dwarf, thinking that she had left them both, suggested to Lindon that he should follow her.

Lindon just turned to the Dwarf and calmly replied, “She isn't running away; she is gone to see how many men are coming.”

Lindon helped the Dwarf to his feet and brought him closer to the fire, and, helping him sit down, told him, “Just stay by the fire. Everything will be fine.”

He was at a loss for words. Here were a Human and an Elf both trying to protect him. He tried one last time to make the boy understand that he wasn't worth their lives too. “The men who are coming after me are killers; they will not hesitate to kill both you and the Elf to get me.” 

Lindon only smiled at him.

Aina came jogging back into camp and reported that there were four swordsmen and one man in robes. There were two large dogs leading them. Donovan gave a little sigh, thinking the end was near.