Hemlock And The Wizard Tower (Book 1) (16 page)

They left Gwineval’s room shortly after Hemlock fully recovered control of her limbs.  Hemlock related h
er encounter with the sleeping w
izard in the weightless room.  Gwineval’s
already urgent demeanor
actually
tightened
noticeably after that exchange.  He explained to her that they needed to gain the upper floors by unconventional means since
the sleeping wizard, who was apparently very powerful,
could be attempting to locate her magically and
via
agents whom he could station at strategic points throughout the Tower.  They passed through a few doors leading toward the interior of the Tower.  They were able to gain access to a chamber that appeared to be similar to the interior rooms of the
first floor, which Hemlock had seen.  It was
filled with machinery, plumbing and other sundries.  In this chamber
,
there were great pipes which fed tanks of processed Oberon (as Gwineval explained)
on the seventh floor of the Tower
.  Gwineval had read his spell aloud and then he had opened a man
-
sized hatch
,
which was accessed by turning a large iron wheel several times and releasing a latch. 

She stood in front as he opened the hatch
,
and the air pocket surrounding her prevented any liquid from spilling out.  She struggle
d
against the pressure of the liquid, but was eventually able to enter the large tube
,
which could easily fit two abreast. 

Gwineval followed,
closing the hatch from the inside,
and
then
they
found themselves
floating upwards in a gentle motion.  They had already passed one hatch on the way up and another was
approaching
.  As they rose, she considered Gwineval’s statement about
the sleeping wizard.  The thought that the attractive wizard was after her scared her and thrilled her at the same time.

She also
recalled the automaton Gnome called Merit
–
the maintenance room that they had just left having triggered her memory of him
(
or should I say it?
she wondered)
.  She hadn’t thought to ask Gwineval about
Merit
yet
.

Her thoughts returned then to
the sleeping wizard,
Falignus.  If he had been aware of her presence
in the weightless chamber,
then why hadn’t he attacked her or alerted the other
wizards
? 

“Do you think Falignus was too deeply asleep to be aware of me?” she asked.

“He doesn’t often rest in that chamber.  I don’t think it was mere chance that he was waiting there.”

She
now
knew that
Falignus
was the leader of th
e Crimson Order of wizards.  W
hat little
that
she had gathered from Gwineval about
this group
suggested that they were even more evil than normal
wizards
(if that were possible).

Hemlock was guiltily aware that she felt a certain inexplicable attraction to Falignus.  His features were appealing to her and the aura of mystery surrounding the circumstances of their meeting only heightened her curiosity about his motives.  She felt guilt
y
because she knew that this attraction could interfere with her mission.  She tried
to
never allow
her
personal feelings to interfere with her
profession
. 
Prior to entering the Tower
, she had been successful at
maintaining that separation
.
  Now she wasn’t so sure.

As they floated gently upward, Hemlock could see another exit door approaching through the distorting bubbles that constantly played within the stream of Oberon
fluid
.

"
We exit here
,"
Gwineval
said
and pointed at the oval shaped iron portal.

Hemlock felt her bubble being driven sideways toward the portal and in a moment she was inside the alcove
that
it formed
as it
extruded outwards from the sides of the large pipe through which they traveled.

The latching lever
of the hatch
entered her air bubble with a slurping pop sound.  Hemlock looked back at Gwineval, who
se
bubble had eased in behind hers
.
S
he saw that the two air pockets had joined into one.  He still looked distracted
,
but he motioned to her to open the hatch.  She wanted to ask more questions
,
but his strained demeanor discouraged her
;
with resignation she attempted to open the hatch as gently as possible.

She was chagrined as the heavy iron door made a
loud
groan of protest as it opened.  She
was
assess
ing
the surroundings when Gwineval pushed her gently
but firmly,
and she
was
thrust into the room like a wide eyed cat being thrown
toward water
.

Hemlock
'
s teeth ground as her lips retreated into a hissing inhale and she couched low and frantically searched for cover. 

They were at the end of a dim and dusty stonework hallway with a series of dark
arches
on either side of the
fifty foot
length of the hall.
  Many of the arches were enclosed by a shimmering magical barrier.

"
We’r
e quite safe, there is no need for alarm," c
ommented Gwineval quietly as he closed the heavy door with a resounding metallic thud.

Hemlock looked back at him angrily. 
"
You could have told me that before you pushed me in!
"
she growled in response.  She felt an urge to react violently and this surprised her a bit.  She realized that she still didn’t trust Gwineval very much
and liked him less
.

"
The spell to move us through the Oberon tube was quite demanding.  I was beginning to tire so the
re was no time for pleasantries,"
responded Gwineval with little sympathy.

"
Where are we?
"
queried Hemlock
,
regaining her focus and standing fully upright.

"
This is a dark place.  We call it the Hospice
.
A
lthough we often speak of reh
abilitation for those that are sent here,
in reality there have never been any recoveries once
wizards
come to this place
. 
Wizards are sent here to die,"
explained Gwineval solemnly as he began to walk toward a door on the far end of the hall.

"
Why are they sent here?
"
asked Hemlock as she followed the Wizard.

"
A certain number of
wizards
overextend their powers and go… insane.
"

Hemlock coul
d see huddled figures in the dark alcoves behind the shimmering magical barriers,
as they passed
them
. 

The place stank of excrement. 

She detec
ted a brutally strong
magic
al force
of containment.

"In some cases, the insanity is the
result of a spell gone awry.  In other cases,
it appears to be due to
a latent defect of the mind
that
may engulf
a Wizard
spontaneously
or be triggered by a trauma during a spell.  In either case, dementia usually sets in qu
ite dramatically and the Wizard
must be sent here to prevent them from using their magic errantly a
nd harming themselves or others,"
continued Gwineval as they neared the door.

"
The conditions here are appalling!
"
commented Hemlock
,
noticing a hideously deformed figure
in one of the cells
crawling
towards them,
its simple cloak
soiled
by
its own filth.

"
Yes, it is true
,"
replied Gwineval
, "but the anti-
magic spells are very difficult and time consuming.  We can
’t afford to break the wards very often–
we don’t have the resources.
It is an unfortunate situation,"
responded Gwineval in
a
detached manner
which Hemlock found reprehensible
.

They reached the door
.
Hemlock, who could not overcome her curiosity,
turned to a nearby cell and saw a middle-aged m
an
near
the mouth of his cell
,
crying and gesturing frantically.  She could not hear his cries through the magical
barrier.  W
ith a shudder she turned away.

"This place is truly wretched,"
she whispered to herself
,
but she suspected
that
Gwineval overheard her.  He said nothing in reply as he reached out to the door handle.

He paused and then turned to her. "
This will be the most dangerous leg of our
journey.  We need to reach the E
merald
S
tair that will lead us to the seventh floor.  The seventh floor is
rumored to be
the home of many long dead Wizard spirits who slumber in what (we hope) is a deep sleep. 
I don’t know what to expect up there. 
It is imperative that you stay behind me, try to move normally, and do not say anything
,
no matter what happens.  We don’t have time for a lot of questions.  If trouble breaks out, run for the
Emerald S
tair!
  But do not climb it!"
B
efore Hemlock could respond
,
he opened the old wooden doorway
,
which kicked up a small cloud of dust
.  T
hey emerged into another dimly lit hallway.

It
was immediately evident
to Hemlock
that they were high in the Tower
,
for
she
recognized the tapered
pinnacle
of the
structure
as she glanced upwards at the
ceiling of what had to be the seventh floor
. 
The Tower walls became mostly glass on the floor above.  Below the glass, a
long
th
e highest point of the stone part of the structure,
she could see small vertical windows carved artfully into the stone
, which descended from the seventh floor down to the sixth floor, and provided a view to the outside from the edges of the wide foyer
. 

The curving, long wall of the foyer rose to form a balcony where it met the edge of the seventh floor.  This balcony loomed above where they now stood
, with a chain stretched along a series of
ornate iron
posts
,
representing
the only restraint
on the balcony that prevented onlookers
from a nasty fall of
over fifty feet
.

Her eye caught motion
to her left
on the
balcony above
.  A figure was coming out of the shadows from an arched portal that fed onto the
edge of the balcony from an enclosed room
.

"The Captain of the Crimson Guard!" hissed Gwineval.  "
Make yourself…
"
he
ordered
as he turned to
ward
Hemlock, but she was no longer there. 

From a position under cover
of shadow
, Hemlock watched Gwineval as he looked around
for her frantically; he soon noticed
her
:
lodged
care
fully against the wall
of the balcony
,
concealed in the
shadow
of
a support column.

Glancing upwards,
Gwineval composed himself
, turned to his right,
and began to walk methodically
forward
.

Hemlock
heard the footsteps above accelerate and then pass her hiding spot as Gwineval continued
walking
down the
length of the foyer
.  She darted to the next support column as the
guard
above hailed Gwineval.

"Is that you, Gwineval?"
called the voice with
a
tone of
surprise
mixed with
an undercurrent of
authority.

"
Ah,
yes.  W
ell met, well met
,"
responded Gwineval dismissively.

"
Are you seeking access to the
Atrium
?
"
insisted the
Captain
.

Gwineval continued to walk briskly and Hemlock was forced to dart forward again silently in order to keep sight of him
against the curvature of the wall.  He was ignoring the Captain,
who continued to accost him.

"
Gwineval
, you are not permitted to access the
Atrium
.  If you don’t stop
,
I’
ll be forced to notify Falignus," t
hreatened the
Captain,
leaning over the balcony directly above Hemlock, the sleeves of
his
red robe
hanging over her as she looked up
.

Gwineval turned
and respond
e
d
to the
Captain. "You’ll do no such thing!" h
e bellowed.

"
You know
that you are not permitted access
to the
seventh
floor
, Gwineval," r
eplied the
Captain
stubbornly.  Both he and Gwineval had stopped moving.

"
Yes, but the pending Solstice requires me to…
"
Gwineval paused almost imperceptibly,
and
Hemlock immediately
perceived
that he was lying
.  "…
reinforce certain spells in the Atrium.  I’ve cleared it with Falignus, you fool!  Now be gone!
"
continued Gwineval.

Gwineval began to walk again and Hemlock watched the
hands
of the
Captain
above her.  They clenched the chain restraint for several moments
, turning red with tension,
and then withdrew
from view
.  She heard the
Captain
’s footsteps withdrawing
back toward the direction from which he came
. 

Hemlock dashed off
toward
Gwineval
,
who stood
anxiously in front of an o
rnate double stairway
which rose upward to the seventh floor balcony and was constructed with a dazzling, gemlike material which appeared to be translucent e
merald
.  It
was lit by
a dance of inner lights
which cast
Gwineval in an eerie light.

Despite its beauty, t
he sta
irway filled Hemlock with dread, for
it reeked of perverse magic
.
S
he could feel the
pattern
of death emanating from
the light within
it.  There
were spells of binding as well;
spells that felt
like they might be eternal in nature.  The magic evoked
feelings of awe and a certain moribund majesty
,
which she could only compare to how she had felt when she had first seen a mountain range as a small girl.

She became
fully aware
then
of the sheer magnitude of the magical power which coursed through the stair.  It was many, many times stronger than the already considerable magical dweomers which she had encountered
during
her intrusion into the Tower.

"
Is there another way up?
"
she whispered through clenched teeth
,
as she struggled against
an instinctive
repulsion from the death aura of the stair
.  S
he felt
like the death aura was
leeching into her mind
and affecting her senses
.

"None we can take now,"
Gwineval responded
,
gesturing toward himself in a waving motion
which encouraged
Hemlock to proceed.

Hemlock
moved toward him and then felt physically ill
.

"It’s so vile!  A
nother way!
"
she said in a muffed cry.

"Get a hold of yourself!  It is
part of
the magic that preserves those that dwell in Shadow that is affecting you. 
I did not have time to ward you against it.  It will not permanently harm you. 
You must resist it and climb the s
tair–it’s the only way!"
hissed Gwineval more urgently.

Something within Hemlock heard his plea and she felt herself moving toward the stairway almost unconsciously.
  She was dimly aware of falling into Gwineval’s arms.
  Her
consciousness then turned inward as she resisted the corruption of the baleful green glow of the stairway and climbed it step by torturous step. 

She was only barely conscious as she
reached
the top of the stair.  She felt
Gwineval’s
ab
rasive hands under her armpits
supporting her
,
and
then
laying her down at the threshold of an open space where sounds echoed and were magnified.  She heard the patter of a driving rain on glass and thunder rolling in the distance.

"
Gwineval, what is going on!?
"
Hemlock was dimly aware of a strange voice cal
ling suddenly from their left. 

It was that of the Guard Captain
. 

She felt an abstract fear but was too incapacitated to react
at all
.  All
that
she could do was listen impotently
to the voice which
she feared might be her and Gwineval’s
undoing.

"
You are violating the sanctity of the
Seventh Circle without permission
!
  There was no order from Lord Falignus to admit you!"
cried the
Captain
.

Hemlock considered, that Gwineval was at a crossroads.  She had trusted him reluctantly and
within
limit
s
.  He was now totally in control and she wondered, with a strange
detached
serenity, whether he would betray her and Safreon or (and she realized how insane and improbable
the alternative
sounded)
whether he would instead betray
the Wizard Guild.

She had her answer immediately as
she managed to open her eyes in time to see twin bolts of white fire shine
from Gwineval’s outstretched arms
and bathe the Guard Captain in a dazzling light.  The magic threw the Captain’s
body back against an iron pillar and left
him
unconscious
.

Hemlock lay
there some minutes,
slowly regaining her strength.  She heard Gwineval pacing
nervously
and cursing from time to time. 

Evidently his decision is causing him some anxiety
,
Hemlock
thought
.

As she regained her full faculties, she
became aware of a dull electrical sound which pulsed to an
irregular rhythm,
as if a vessel of energy was building up and then discharging.  When she finally felt
that
she could stand
,
she lifted herself onto all fours and Gwineval he
lped her up.  Then she saw it:
the object of her quest. 

It was a tall machine with a large crystal base
that was as wide as four men standing with arms outstretched.  The crystal stretched upward in two halves and was anchored internally by
two
gently curving
metal beams
,
which
rose
almost organically upward
from the base of
the crystal
and stretched
all the way to
the
high ceiling of the glass Atrium. The machine culminated
in a long metal rod
at the very top
, which extended through the ceiling
where a round trap door had been fashioned in the glass and left open to the elements
.  R
ain poured in through the
opening and over the machine,
turning to steam each time the machine pulsed to life with an electrical
burst
.

Now that she stood before
what she saw as a
mechanized
manifestation of
the Wizard’s
evil
magic, Hemlock felt
nothing.  She was
devoid of emotion
. 

After all of the effort
that she had expended and
all of the incalculable risks
that
she had taken, she had expected to feel some sense of triumph
at this moment
.

Instead she fel
t hollow,
even as she
perceived
the magical aura of the device which
was emitting magical power; and she experienced the effects of that power in stark contrast to the negative magic of
the Emerald stair
: this aura re–energized her, much to her surprise.
 

The mere thought of the stair made her shudder
anew
.