Ebudae (14 page)

The inhumane treatment of people and animals
disgusted Ebudae and tore at her heart. The more she was away from
home, the more she wished she could go back. Books were a much
better way to experience life than actually experiencing it.

Ebudae felt a burst of pleasant sadness. It
settled into her heart and mind, bringing a smile to her face.
Ebudae liked being sad, but there was something causing it. She
looked at the nearby cages and found it. “Ohhh, you’re so
cute
!”

Staring at her miserably from a rusted cage
was a black bunny with droopy ears and the most sorrowful eyes in
the world. Ebudae shoved the last of the energy bar in her mouth
and opened the cage.

She pulled the bunny out of the cage and
held it to her chest. Its fur was dirty, but Ebudae put her cheek
against it while petting the fragile creature. “I always wanted an
emo bunny!” Emo bunnies had the ability to cause emotions of
melancholy and gloom in creatures they considered dangerous. Those
creatures became apathetic and lost the will to attack the emo
bunny. A group of bunnies would create overpowering emotions in a
predator and could even cause it to run off a cliff in an act of
suicide. The effect didn’t bother Ebudae because she tended towards
melancholy and gloom most days anyway.

Ebudae checked him. “You’re so skinny, you
poor thing. They’ve starved you, haven’t they?” She looked around
and saw a bale of hay along the side of the wall. “Here we go.” She
went over to it and grabbed a handful, placing it on her chest for
the bunny to eat. “I’ll call you Shade. It’s a good name for emo
bunnies, I think.”

“What are you doing?” Pelya asked, coming
toward her. “We have the prisoners freed and Juggles is getting the
last of them out. What in the world is that?” She pointed at the
furry object in Ebudae’s arms.

“This is Shade. Shade, this is Pelya, my
best friend.” Ebudae introduced them. “Shade is an emo bunny they
were starving like the rest of these poor creatures. I’m saving
her.”

Pelya stared at her incredulously.

“Let’s go. We can’t just stand here,” Ebudae
said as though it was obvious and she wasn’t the reason they hadn’t
left yet. She ducked past her friend and walked toward the
exit.

“Really?” Pelya asked after her with arms
out to the side. “Really?” She began talking to herself while
following. “I’m picking locks and saving people destined for
slavery. Meanwhile, she’s saving an emo bunny and naming it Shade.
Really?!”

A booming sound from the door interrupted
Ebudae’s dialogue. Her wards sizzled and dust came from underneath.
“If you’re done talking to yourself, we should go, Pelya.” Ebudae
grinned back at her friend who glowered at the playful accusation.
Then the wizardess wisely chose to run.

They dashed through the double doors, each
grabbing one to close. There wasn’t enough time to lock them or
cast a spell, but hopefully it would make the followers pause.
Ebudae held Shade with one hand while pulling the door with the
other. Pelya looked around and found a broken cage to her left. She
grabbed a bar from it and slid it through the handles.

“We’re in the ancient city,” Ebudae said.
There was no sky above. Instead, a ceiling consisting of stone
braced by magically enhanced ribbing was about two hundred feet
above their heads. It was difficult to make out details from where
they were, but the girls had found tall buildings in their
adventures where they were able to get a closer look at it.

Little dots of light were scattered over the
ceiling, ground and crumbling buildings. They were plants that
glowed with liquid luminescence flowing through their translucent
leaves. It was said that they grew thick in the depths of the
world, but that was further than the girls had ever dared to
go.

A breeze flowed through the air, filled with
a putrefying odor. “That bridge has scummy water under it,” Pelya
said, pointing at a long canal with stagnant water. A low, arched
bridge spanned its width. Dim lanterns with green light were at the
end of waist-high rails on both sides. The last couple of slaves
were staggering over it, holding onto each other desperately.

A muffled blast sounded from the room
behind. They gave each other worried glances. “We need to go,”
Ebudae suggested. She began walking toward the bridge.

“How are we going to rescue all of them?”
Pelya asked with a gesture at the stragglers while walking beside
the wizardess. “There’s no way they can run.”

Ebudae felt guilty. “I don’t think we can
save them.” Her friend had a strong sense of honor that interfered
with her sense of preservation at times.

“I’ll die trying,” Pelya vowed. “We gave
them their freedom. They have hope. Letting them get captured again
would be cruel beyond all tolerance.”

Ebudae looked back as they crested the
bridge. She knew they would fight to save the slaves and tried to
figure out how to do it without being killed in the process. Ebudae
and Pelya were capable beyond their years, but they were still
young and there were only the two of them. She reached into another
secret pocket in her dress and pulled out a pouch.

They reached the other side of the bridge
and caught up to the stumbling slaves. Ebudae thrust the emo bunny
at Pelya. “Take Shade and get further away. I have an idea.”

Pelya opened her mouth to protest, but then
took the bunny, knowing the wizardess had a plan and arguing would
just waste time. She looked at it in displeasure, but held it
against her chest. “Come on,” she told the two former slaves. They
sped up as much as possible, but they were old and malnourished, so
it wasn’t a large improvement.

Ebudae opened the pouch in her hand and took
out a runeball. Magic could be stored on multi-faceted balls by
carving runes into them while uttering words of magic. They were
hard to make and required a precise hand. Different materials
created different effects of varying power and the tools used for
the carving contributed as did liquids one could pour into the
carvings. It was a coveted skill because the runeballs created
could hold a great deal of power and be used without draining magic
of the user. More valuable was the fact that people who didn’t
normally wield magic could even use them, although it was more
dangerous in the hands of the untrained.

The one in Ebudae’s hand was powerful. She
knew that because she had created it. Runes were her favorite part
of magic and carving them into runeballs was the most enjoyable of
all the supernatural crafts. Keywords normally activated them, but
this one had extra safety precautions in the form of a series of
motions to trigger it.

It took a minute to go through all of the
necessary motions and Ebudae made certain to do it exactly right.
There was a point where she could stop and take her attention off
it just before the end. Pelya and the slaves were a safe distance
ahead, so she looked back. At that instant, the double doors
blasted to pieces. Shards of wood flew through the air, landing in
the water and on the bridge.

To break through her wards and to destroy
the doors that way would require a wizard of power and knowledge.
Ebudae saw yellow and black uniformed soldiers coming out of the
door and decided not to wait for whoever else might be coming. She
said the final incantation and ran her thumbs over two of the
runes.

Sky-blue light shot forth from the runes.
Even though they were thin, the light was overwhelming. Ebudae
threw the runeball at the bridge and watched.

She should have run and she knew it, but the
urge to see it work was too great. The runeball hit the bridge,
causing the light to escape. The stone disintegrated around it and
the air tore as the blue light poured forth. Within a few seconds,
the bridge had crumbled into glowing dust that fell into the murky
water below it. The air became bright blue as though the sky was
invading the dark. The tearing sound continued, leaping to the left
and then to the right as though struggling its way out of a
bag.

Instead of the stone dust falling harmlessly
into the murky water, it set it on fire, blue flames springing up
in a sickening roar. The smell was bitter, like disease washed with
vinegar. Ebudae began to back up as the light ate into the stone
path leading from the bridge. She could make out figures on the
other side running back into the building.

The light was slowing as it expanded, but
Ebudae turned and ran to join her friend. They would be safe from
Blavoci’s men for quite a while.

The dangers of the ruined city ahead were
another matter.

Chapter
9

“I can’t believe they left us,” Pelya
muttered as she handed food and drink to a bone-thin man wearing
rags. Ebudae had used another runeball, one that created a feast,
and they were serving the famished slaves. She had smaller ones for
just the two of them when they went adventuring, but had made this
one because a lady never knew when a large group would have to be
served.

“I’m surprised by that too. It makes me mad
and a little hurt.” Ebudae handed some meat and cheese to an
elderly man who smiled at her, showing how few teeth he had
left.

“So much for not wanting us to get into
danger,” Pelya said sullenly. She handed fruit and bread to a man
who had been helping others. He bowed to her with tears in his
eyes, causing the warrior’s eyes to tear in response. “The
magnificent Carnies rescued their friend and then left two little
girls to make their way alone with these poor people.”

The next man to approach smiled at Pelya.
“You are noble young women we owe our lives to, not little girls,”
he replied in a voice cracked from disuse. “Thank you for rescuing
us.” Others weakly issued thanks as well. Dim hope filled their
eyes when they weren’t looking at the dark surroundings in
terror.

It was twenty minutes after leaving the
bridge behind and they were camped in a collapsed building. The
walls were still intact and there was only one entrance to defend.
Pelya was leading the group south in hopes of finding a way out of
the ominous gloom. Slaves carried seven of Ebudae’s runeballs,
which provided white light to see by.

Ebudae reached down and put a carrot in
front of Shade who had already eaten some lettuce and a couple
slices of apple. “We haven’t rescued you yet,” she told them
gently. “We’re doing our best, but this is a part of the ancient
city we haven’t explored.” She broke a piece of bread and handed it
to the next man along with some carrots and a slice of meat.

“You ladies shouldn’t be exploring down
here,” One woman said in disapproval. “It’s dangerous and not at
all proper.”

“Which is why we’re going to ask you all not
to tell anyone about us,” Pelya replied. “There’s a small chance
those men won’t be able to find out anything about us, but if you
tell someone who rescued you, we could be in danger.”

“We’ll not tell,” the man with the cracked
voice said. “I give you my word on that.”

Pelya smiled gratefully at him. “Thank you.”
She handed food to the next person. Fortunately, there were only a
few more because the food was almost gone. “We need to find
someplace to get out soon though, because I don’t think we’ll go
unnoticed for long.”

They resumed looking into the darkness in
silence again while Pelya and Ebudae handed out the last of the
food. Five minutes later, Pelya stood. “It’s time to go. We can’t
stay here.

The freed slaves groaned as they stood, with
some requiring help to get up. But all of them made it to their
feet and began following the young women with the stronger ones
helping the weaker. Ebudae didn’t say anything about the yellow
eyes she saw in the distance. Hopefully, the group was too big for
the creatures to bother them.

Hope had been used up. Pelya whispered in
her ear. “I saw yellow eyes to our right. There were a few of
them.”

“I saw a pair . . . I see more. I don’t want
to fight.” Ebudae whined just a little. She was tired.

“I know, but . . .” Pelya shrugged. The eyes
came closer.

“What’s that?” a young man asked in a
tremulous voice as he looked into the murk.

“My ladies, I think there’s something out
there,” one of the older men suggested. Ebudae could hear fear in
his voice and didn’t blame him in the slightest.

Pelya drew her sword, making it sing as it
departed the sheath. The sound danced into the darkness. The
creatures that hunted them wouldn’t be intimidated, but Pelya
didn’t care.

Shadowy shapes slung low to the ground made
snuffling sounds as they sniffed the dank air for their prey. Their
bodies moved on powerful hind legs while long, thin front legs
reached forward for fleshy prey to scratch. Their skin was pale
with stubbly brown hair covering it and flowed into long twitching
tails like a cat’s. Sharp teeth posed a serious threat, but at
least they didn’t have poison like other creatures in the
ruins.

They were slochunds and the girls had fought
them before, but it would be much harder to protect a large group.
Luckily, they never traveled in more than one or two packs of a
half dozen or so of the creatures. “Weaker people in the middle,”
Pelya said over her shoulder. “Anyone who doesn’t have something
already, try to grab a stick or rock as a weapon.” A few of the men
had found metal bars and one even had a rusty sword that was just
as dangerous to him if mishandled as it would be to the
creatures.

Yellow eyes came closer and the creatures
began making squealing sounds that terrified smaller prey into
freezing. It was also effective on most of the slaves. The girls
knew slochunds to be cowards once things went badly. Ebudae set
Shade down and acted first with a spell. The ingredients were in
her hands and she turned them into fiery orange energy with a few
words. Then she shaped that fire with gestures and an
incantation.