Escana (49 page)

El-Vador nodded, as if he had
been expecting this. 'You are sensible to not commit yourself fully
so soon. If I am reading your mind and supplying illusions from it
there is no way I can convince you, illusion or otherwise, that what
I am doing is real.'

She frowned at him. 'Why go
through all of this then if you knew already that it wasn't going to
convince me?'

'I did not know for certain that
it wouldn't convince you, I'm glad that it didn't. Having said that
it does ease my conscience to know that your father can rest assured
that you are safe. This display wasn't entirely for your benefit
alone. Believing this isn't an illusion is a conclusion you must come
to of your own accord, I can only hope that over time you may realise
that.'

He moved closer to her then and
she didn't back away.

'I have one more thing to show
you.'

He pressed his head against her
and the world turned white.

H
e had
considered Jimmy a reckless and impulsive youth when they had first
met. The boy had certainly lived up to expectations with his latest
stunt.

They stood pressed up against the
cage doors behind The Hermit, the guards watching them from either
side of the cage, presumably to see who would dispatch of Jimmy and
earn his reward.

After being burdened with the
company of the irritating boy this far, Jakob was tempted to leave
him to his fate. He knew that he couldn't abandon him in good
conscience, and his head seemed rather insistent that Jimmy must stay
alive in order to defeat The Six.

Why was he not imbued with power
then to leap to Jimmy's aid? His vision remained the same and he felt
no different than before, was this some way of communicating not to
interfere? Jakob didn't want to try fighting his way through the
whole cage anyway.

The stranger cast his gaze about
the ring of men then extended a hand toward them, with his palm
facing forward, as if commanding them mutely to stop.

There was no laughter at such a
stupid suggestion, there was no bravado or mockery, simply a brief
pause from a number of the men as they eyed the man in front of them.
Jakob had to admit, The Hermit was a very tall man, and though his
cloak should have made him a primary target for those who desired to
keep warm later, nobody had approached him for some inexplicable
reason. Even the guards had given him a wide berth.

Some of the men seemed to be
questioning the virtue of attacking this man without knowing what he
was capable of. They paused and started looking around at their
temporary allies. Was one of these individuals going to make a grab
for Jimmy while the rest attempted to incapacitate the stranger?

As if sensing this uncertainty,
one of the men leapt forward and balled his hand up into a fist,
swinging it down at The Hermit's shoulder as a makeshift club.

It was the same as before with
Jimmy, Jakob simply couldn't see what The Hermit had done. He
certainly heard it. A snapping noise and a howl of pain as the man
went down to the cage floor clutching his wrist. The Hermit toed him
away as if in disgust, causing several of the other men to wave their
hands in dismissal and stalk their way back to the corners of the
cage. That still left a few others who remained unconvinced at the
display, these few were bolstered by the guards who wanted blood.

'Now!' screeched one of them and
they leapt at him simultaneously. Jakob flinched but it turned out
that none of them went after either him or Jimmy, their sights were
set firmly on incapacitating their protector.

The Hermit went under in a
milling pile of bodies, Jakob had intended to try and catch what the
man would do next but his vision was obscured by the flying fists. He
felt a strange urge to help the man but sense dictated that there was
little he could do in such close quarters but get himself hurt.

He saw a body exit the pile at
high speed, rattling against the cage wall and coughing up no small
amount of blood as he clutched at his ribs frantically. A louder
popping sound came from another body and a scream was cut short.
Everything went very quiet as the cloaked figure shoved the lifeless
bodies off him. He looked briefly at Jimmy and Jakob, presumably
checking that they were okay, then approached the slave he had thrown
into the wall.

A stream of gurgling curses
issued from the man as he looked up and caught sight of who was
approaching.

The Hermit looked down at the man
and he spat blood at his face in a final gesture of defiance. Was
that pity Jakob saw in the cloaked figure's eyes? The crunching sound
as his hand snaked out and stole the life from the man certainly
didn't seem like an act of mercy.

He took a look at the guards now,
they backed away from the cage and eyed the door warily. The leader
that had bribed the men into attacking Jimmy had fallen silent, as if
waiting for the man to tear the cage open with his bare hands and
kill the guards as well.

If The Hermit showed any signs of
doing that Jakob couldn't see them. He felt very foolish for talking
to the man in such an insolent fashion before.

The man settled himself onto the
floor in an unperturbed manner, as if the entire eyes of the cage
weren't upon him. Jakob watched Jimmy wander over to The Hermit,
expecting him to thank the man for saving his life. He did nothing of
the sort.

'Is that all you're going to do?'
Jimmy shouted at him.

The Hermit ignored him. Jakob
looked on, aghast. Had the boy lost his mind?

'You could tear that cage door
off its hinges and crush the guards beyond it, instead you decide to
sit down and remain a captive. What is wrong with you?'

The lack of response or even
acknowledgement seemed to exacerbate Jimmy even further, it was some
kind of desperate fury brought about by fear and captivity. Jakob
started to move toward the boy before his remonstrations made this
dangerous man question his allegiances.

'Jimmy,' he called out, hoping to
divert his attention.

He grabbed him by the arm but
Jimmy shook him off, the men from the other side of the cage looked
on in fear and confusion.

'You saw what he was capable of
Jakob, yet now he sits and does nothing while we all rot away in this
cage.'

Jakob slapped him hard, sending
him reeling. Jimmy looked back at him, stricken.

'You owe this man your life after
your act of unmitigated idiocy. He has his reasons for not opening
the cage even though he might not be able to tell us why.' He
gestured at the pile of bodies then. 'How are you planning to force
him into doing otherwise?'

Jimmy visibly deflated, perhaps
finally seeing the foolishness of his actions. He sulked over to his
part of the cage and didn't say another word, not of thanks or
apology.

Jakob looked at The Hermit then.
'Are you okay? There were a lot of fists flying about there.'

The Hermit nodded.

'Still on that idiot's side?'

The Hermit nodded, Jakob nodded
back at him in acknowledgement and sat next to a sullen and chastened
Jimmy.

He stared at the other side of
the cage to where their fellow captives were cautiously venturing
forward again, they had a lot more space now. The bodies wouldn't be
a problem, the other slaves were already eyeing their former comrades
hungrily.

With a call from the guard and
crack of whips, the cage continued to rumble on toward the desert.

T
hey were
lead from a chamber by a group of guards who mercilessly prodded them
forward as they attempted to grow accustomed to moving with a manacle
fastening their legs together.

Gadtor was reminded briefly of a
two legged race, after much cursing from both of them and a number of
threats from the guards they had developed a begrudging rhythm to
their movements.

This was no simple tying of the
legs, the manacle in question was more like a block of ore that
seemed to have no discernible fastenings. It was exhausting to lift
even when they had developed a scant teamwork and raised it in
unison.

He was weary to the bone when
they had finally made their way down to the massive caravan that
other volunteers for the war were being herded into. He refused to
let it show, given that Thom's sweat-streaked face seemed the only
indication that the man had exerted any energy in lifting the block.

The caravan was a rickety
structure that had seen much repair recently, apparently it had only
just made it to Urial in one piece. Gadtor didn't fancy being inside
it if it broke down in the middle of the desert but then he didn't
have the luxury of choice.

Confident that they weren't going
to escape, their escort departed from whence they came. Seeing only
one way forward, Gadtor and Thom hobbled up to join the rest of the
line and were promptly stopped by another series of guards.

'Papers please,' the first guard
said, an unfriendly smile touching his lips, they had watched the
approach with a mild amusement they seemed ready to milk to its full.

'What do you mean, papers?' Thom
asked, not disguising the instant dislike from his tone.

The
guard
eyed
his
associate.
'You
hear
that
Bezai? No papers.'

Bezai
shook his head sadly. 'That's a fair block you've got on your legs
there gents, what did you do to pick that up?'

Gadtor
could feel the rage emanating from Thom, he wasn't overly pleased
with the treatment himself but he hadn't expected any better either.

'Are
you going to let us pass through or not?'

Bezai
feigned a deep contemplation, the other guard chuckled at this but
clearly had nothing else to add. 'Let me see now... No papers, a bad
fucking attitude for a prisoner and the stones to make demands? I say
we cut you down where we stand.'

Thom's
arms flew up faster than Gadtor could muster any reaction to, he
stumbled as Thom tried to lift the block unaided, sending them both
onto the floor, much to the guard's amusement.

'Fortunately
for you two jokers I've got strict orders from up high to let you
make the journey from here to Sah'kel.'

They
picked themselves up with some effort and little dignity, apparently
they were going to be let through after all.

'If
it's all the same to you Bezai I'm quite happy to remain in the
city.'

The
guard shook his head at Gadtor's words. 'It's nice that you have a
sense of humour about these things but it'd be my head on a stick if
I bucked the chain of command. Have fun with your ill-tempered
friend.'

Gadtor
nodded in resignation and with a look at Thom they prepared to set
off toward the ramp leading up into the caravan.

The
other guard stuck an arm out. 'That's nice that you think you know
where you're going and all but we've also got very specific orders
that we have to carry out, gents.'

Gadtor
didn't like where this was going.

Bezai
pointed at a small box attached to the side of the caravan. 'We were
told that for crimes most heinous that you were to get the box for
your journey.' He eyed the manacle again. 'I guess you really pissed
off the wrong people. Can't promise to keep an eye on you in the
heat, we've got a lot of folk to look after here, if you're still
alive when we get there you'll have your rations to fall back on.'

Thom
had fallen oddly silent, had he accepted the punishment or was he
deep in thought?

'Lead
the way then sir.' Gadtor replied, keeping a modicum of diplomacy to
the proceedings.

They
made their way up to the caravan and it seemed to grow in size with
every step. Gadtor absent-mindedly wondered just how many people were
being sent off to the front line in these things and what it had
taken to have them volunteer. He had never paid the conflict in
Sah'kel much heed given that he had his own war to fight, it looked
like he was about to experience war on a much grander scale.

The
box had clearly been built as a punishment device to house a single
person, one of the guards wandered over to it and unfastened a large
chain, the lid fell down on rusted hinges and formed a ramp to their
place of captivity.

Small
holes in the surface of the wood provided enough air to breathe,
there was a bucket in the corner but precious little else. Gadtor
hoped that Thom was a greater conversationalist than he had given him
credit for, it was going to be a very long journey in such cramped
conditions.

The
thought of escape had crossed his mind briefly, he dismissed it just
as quickly. As capable as he found Thom he knew that unarmed,
outnumbered and hobbled with their block of a manacle they were as
good as dead should they attempt it.

They
made their way up the creaky makeshift ramp and ducked down under the
roof of their new home. He spotted Bezai waving at them cheerily as
the door was slammed shut. A rustling a chains in the darkness and
then silence. They were trapped.