The Tower of Bashan (38 page)

“Our hard work,” she said looking up.

“Ours then. Now grab it and let’s get out of here.”

Andrasta took a deep breath. Her hand shot out, fingers wrapping around the jewel. Her arm retreated, only the jewel stayed in place.

What in the . . .
Rondel’s gaze sought Andrasta’s.

She stared at her empty hand in disbelief, then she reached out with her other hand. Fingers passed through the jewel, causing it to flicker like a torch. Frantically she tried again, approaching from above, from underneath, and from the sides. She went slowly and she went fast.

Nothing worked.

Andrasta seethed, so angry she couldn’t even speak.

“Let me try,” he offered. His attempts yielded a similar effect.

“I’ll try,” said Lela walking up.

Her hands flickered through the jewel as well.

“What is this!” Andrasta yelled, swinging her sword at the stone wall and kicking their packs across the room. “We’ve come all this way for nothing? Some sort of blasted sorcery must be affecting it,” cursed Andrasta.

“It is sorcery,” said Rondel leaning in. “But not what you’re thinking.”

“What do you mean?” hissed Andrasta, storming over.

He stuck his hand in the middle of the jewel and left it there. The image not only flickered as before, but also changed shape based on where he held his palm or fist. “I don’t think it’s real. It’s an illusion created by sorcery. For all we know the jewel looks nothing like this.”

There was an audible twisting of leather as Andrasta gripped the hilt of her sword. “I swear I’m going to make it my life’s ambition to kill every sorcerer I come across.”

“They aren’t all bad. Remember we know one personally.”

“He’s right you know,” came a slippery voice from behind, smooth as poured oil.

All three turned, readying weapons as a man who looked near Rondel’s age appeared in the doorway. His skin had a golden hue that contrasted well with hair as black as coal, and a beard equally dark. He wore Kindi garb—a black sherwani and white churidars. “We aren’t all bad. Though I admit we do have our eccentricities. Like this place,” the man continued as he glided into the room. Rondel looked down and swallowed.

He’s floating.

“Who are you?” Andrasta barked.

“Take a guess,” said the man.

“Thalamanak,” answered Rondel.

The man grinned. “And on the first try. A sharp mind.”

“You’re supposed to be dead.”

“The stories of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. My fault as I started most of those stories.”

Rondel asked. “Why?”

“My reasons are my own,” he said calmly.

“He doesn’t look like the painting we saw,” said Andrasta.

“He was known to take many forms, remember?” Rondel said.

“True, but what if I told you that this is my true form?” Thalamanak held out his hands.

“I wouldn’t believe you.”

“Good. Skeptical too. I like that. The wait appears to be well worth it, though you three weren’t who I expected to finally make it through the tower.,” He frowned at Lela. “By the way, you’re right. This isn’t my real appearance. Just one I have a fondness for.”

Andrasta lunged, blade darting forward so fast that Rondel could barely register what he saw until she stopped suddenly with her sword and arm having completely passed through the sorcerer. The image flickered until she withdrew the weapon.

“Another illusion,” she said, spitting at the image’s face.

“Thankfully so,” said Thalamanak. “You’re a fast one. Reminds me of—”

“What do you want?” interrupted Rondel.

“Here to gloat at his stupid trick, I’m sure,” said Andrasta.

“Would you mind not insulting the powerful sorcerer?” said Lela, finally. “I’d rather not die right now.”

“It’s just an illusion, it can’t do anything,” she said.

The sorcerer extended his hand and lightning shot out, scorching the ground at Andrasta’s feet. “Are you sure about that?” he asked, his demeanor almost bored. “Now, enough with the small talk. First, I came to congratulate you. You see, this tower was created to serve a purpose. It was meant to test the skills of those brave enough to try their hand at stealing the jewel.”

“The jewel isn’t real,” said Andrasta.

“It is real. It’s just not here. I don’t have it and I need help getting it back. It was stolen from me and hidden in a place filled with complicated and dangerous obstacles and traps. I converted the tower into what someone might face trying to recover the real jewel. It’s my version of a training ground.”

“That explains the layout and the nature of the guardians,” muttered Andrasta.

“Are you saying that since we passed your test we’ve now been deemed worthy to go and steal the real jewel from some other place just as dangerous, if not more so, than here?” asked Rondel incredulously.

“Exactly. My, you are a smart one. I’m glad. I hate explaining everything over and over again.”

Rondel ignored the comment. “Why does a sorcerer with your skills need our help at all?” He gestured to the scorch mark on the floor. “Your illusion can do that. I can only imagine what the real you is capable of.”

“No offense, but I doubt that you can. You do raise a good point though.” He paused, face twisting slightly into a bitter sneer. “My power will not be enough to steal the jewel from where it is presently located.”

“So you’ve just waited around for thousands of years until someone successfully navigated the tower.”

“I’m a patient man.”

“Obviously. But why haven’t you shown yourself to the world. I mean, you could be patient while sitting on the throne of some empire or country.”

His grin returned. “Who’s to say that I haven’t? Remember, I do have many forms.”

“All right. I’ll buy that. So where is the real jewel hidden? I’ve never heard of anything in Untan that can compare to the tower.”

“That’s because it isn’t in Untan. The jewel is in the underworld.”

“You mean hell?”

He’s crazier than I thought!

“If you prefer that word, it works just as well. But yes, it’s on that plane.”

“Why is it there?”

“That’s not something you need to know.”

“So you want us to break into hell and help you steal the jewel from the gods themselves?”

“Yes.”

Andrasta cut in, laughing. “You’ve got a lot of guts to ask us something like that.”

“I’d like to think so.”

“The answer is no,” she said.

Rondel stepped in and put his hand on her arm. “No. The answer is yes. We’ll do it.”

“What? We aren’t—” started Andrasta.

“Trust me.”

The two stared at each other for several breaths. “All right. I trust you.”

“What about me?” said Lela. “What if I’m not on board with this?”

Thalamanak regarded her. “You can come or not. It doesn’t matter to me. I believe your skills are the most easily replaced.”

“Thanks,” she said with much sarcasm

“No. She comes with us too,” said Rondel. He gave her a look that said the matter was over, then quickly regarded the sorcerer again.

“Very well.”

“So, now that we’ve agreed to do this for you. What are you going to do for us?”

Thalamanak folded his arms. “Name your terms.”

“Money. Lots of money.”

“And our own kingdoms,” said Lela.

Rondel smiled. “Yeah, a few kingdoms would be nice. Don’t give me that look. It’s obvious how important this is to you.”

“All right. Done. Anything else?”

“How about some food and water?”

The illusion snapped its fingers and a small feast appeared before them.

“While you’re at it,” said Lela. “Can you heal our injuries too?”

Thalamanak closed his eyes. A slow warmth washed over Rondel. Gradually the ache in his side from the spear as well as the multitude of his others scrapes and bruises faded away.

“Anything else?’ said the illusion.

Rondel grabbed a roll of bread and shoved into his mouth. “While we eat, start telling us more about what we’re going to face.” He looked around. “When we’ve had our fill, you can get us out of here without us having to go through the tower again. I expect there will be people waiting for us.”

“Right down to business. I like that. Don’t worry, I can easily put you outside of the guards’ notice.”

CHAPTER 35

A small hum tickled his ears and his skin felt like he walked through a sandstorm. Rondel exited the tower holding a lungful of air. His heart beat in anticipation of falling to his death. However, his feet found purchase. One minute he was hundreds of feet high in the upper room of the tower, the next he stood on solid ground below.

It worked.
He looked around.
On the opposite side from the entrance though. I guess it doesn’t really matter.

A small shudder from Lela came from behind. A heavier curse from Andrasta followed. He turned. The two examined themselves in disbelief.

“That felt awful,” said Lela.

“We walked through a wall,” said Rondel. “What did you expect?”

Rondel turned his attention to the night sky. “I wonder how many days we’ve been gone.”

“At least three or four, I think,” said Andrasta.

At the sound of voices, Rondel raised a hand to silence them. Someone barked commands. He couldn’t make out what was being said, but approaching footsteps put him on alert.

“C’mon,” he hissed. They ran behind the nearest vendor stall.

Two ragged-looking men, sporting obvious wounds from recent fighting limped by on patrol.

Once they passed, Lela whispered. “They work for Beladeva.”

“Why are they still here?” asked Andrasta.

“Probably waiting to see if we would show up with the jewel so they can steal it from us,” said Lela.

Rondel examined the night sky. He pointed. “Look at the stars. Isn’t that
The Warrior
over there?”

They both shrugged.

“You’re no help.” He squinted. “Yes, it is. Those three stars make up the head of his spear. It was in the same position the night we entered the tower.” He paused. “And those men on patrol. You saw how bad they looked. No way they’d look that bad off after three or four days. I’m pretty sure it’s the same night. Time must pass differently inside the tower.”

Andrasta spat. “I really hate Thalamanak.”

“Who doesn’t?” Rondel said. “At least we won’t have to worry about seeing him again.”

“We won’t?”

“Of course not.”

“But you said yes to his offer,” said Lela. “And you asked him a thousand questions.”

“Of course I said yes. I lied. The questions were to convince him that we really were accepting his offer. The last thing I wanted to do was offend the one person who could get us out of there. We needed him as much as he claims to need us.”

Andrasta blinked. “I don’t believe it.”

“Why? I said to trust me. Don’t tell me you wanted to help him?”

“Gods, no. I don’t trust him in the slightest. I just,” she shook her head and grinned. “You just keep surprising me.”

Rondel winked.

“I can’t believe you two are talking like that so close to the tower” hissed Lela. ‘What if Thalamanak hears you?”

“Impossible,” said Rondel. “He admitted that his real form is somewhere else. We’ll be fine. At least for a while. He never admitted it, but I got the feeling that part of the reason he needs our help is that his powers are suppressed.”

“But the illusion. You saw how powerful it was,” Lela said.

“I did, but it’s tied to the inside of the tower itself. It can’t leave. I thought that was obvious.”

“Oh,” said Lela. “So what do we do now?”

“Get to someplace safe for the remainder of the night. Then after a night of decent sleep, we’ll put our heads together and figure out what to do next.”

“Kill Beladeva for starters,” said Andrasta.

Rondel frowned. “You know I don’t like assassination work. It’s bad enough what I helped you do to the guards earlier.”

“No one said anything about us getting paid. This is more about settling scores. And this is a good deed I thought you’d be interested in.” She nodded to Lela.

You want to do it for the girl.
“All right. I can get behind that.”

“Good.” Andrasta pushed her way past Rondel. “I’ll take point.”

Rondel came in behind her as they maneuvered their way through the vendor stalls toward the front of the tower. He realized that his partner had the same thought as he did, wanting to see what Beladeva was up to before making their escape.

Several dozen of the crime lord’s men hurried about. Among other things, some shored up the entrance with a defensive barricade while others constructed what looked like some sort of cage.