Hemlock And The Wizard Tower (Book 1) (17 page)

Gwineval
moved and stood in front of her, casting
a stern, contemplative gaze toward her.  Behind him
,
Hemlock noticed
an
odd contraption.  It looked like a
large
brass bird cage.  It
was
big enough to hold several men, and
a large bell
,
which was covered with runes
, hung from the top of the inside of the cage
. 

Hemlock
started to ask
Gwineval what the two strange contraptions were for
when a disturbance on the exterior
of the a
trium
diverted both of their attention. 

The outside of the Atrium, which was entirely constructed in glass, with the exception of slim iron supports running through the glass at intervals, featured another balcony, the edge of which was bordered by a stone balustrade.  A
large winged form could be seen maneuvering to land
on the outside balcony.  Its hulking mass was evident
through the distortion
caused by
the streaming water
of the rain shower,
which cascaded
down
over the glass walls.

"
What is that?
"
Hemlock asked guardedly
,
with a hint of hope in her voice.

"
I believ
e that is your method of escape," r
esponded Gwineval
,
somewhat relieved.

"
Gwineval!  Once again I’ve un
derestimated you!" cried a deep and youthful
voice from across the Atrium
, startling Hemlock
.

She turned to see a
lone
figure
which
stood
against the wall across the Atrium from them
, bathed in shadow as Hemlock and Gwineval spun toward
his voice
.  The figure stepp
ed forward into view:  it was a
lean and well
-
muscled figure wearing a loose fitting red robe.  The figure was familiar to both Hemlock and Gwineval.  The wizard known as Falignus, the leader of the merciless Crimson Order faction of the Wizard
Guild
, had found them.

No
words were spoken as
a
moment of surprise
and recognition
quickly passed between all three. 
A
doorway opened in the glass wall
;
the sounds of the storm outside were magnified
,
as was the smell of humidity
over which
a
new,
strong
and
bestial odor
was detectable
.  A slightly portly human figure
entered and
pulle
d back his water laden hood, his features darkening
as he noted the presence of Falignus. 

Hemlock’s eyes widened as she recognized
her mentor,
Safreon.  Even though he was expected, seeing him in this setting sent a wave of com
fort and well-being through her–
and she immediately cursed it
,
for she knew that she was by no means out of danger.

"
Well, isn’t this quite the party?  Gwineval, if I thought there could be some reasonable explanation for all of this I’d gladly pay a fortune to hear it.  But I can see that your actions are clearly
treasonous to the Wizard Guild,"
shouted
Falignus from across the room.

Gwineval’s tail–
now just a small stub after
his fight with Hemlock–
could be seen moving spasmodically back and forth
under his robe
as he answered.

"
You
jump to conclusions, Falignus!  D
o not interfere here.  I will share the
explanation
of this peculiar chain of events with you in full if you will defer to my better judgment and leave this hall immediately.
"

S
afreon, who had
entered
the Atrium at some distance from
Gwineval and Hemlock
,
strode
cautiously closer to
them.  Everyone else was still as the dialogue continued.

"
Gwineval, I feared that someone else in
the Tower had detected the girl–
little did I expect
that it would be you," s
aid Falignus mockingly
.

"
Nor did I ever expect to find you embarked on such an irresponsible course of action as this.  I certainly won’t leave you to play out whatever madness you have planned.  I have called the
soldiers and
they will be here in moments
.
No
doubt they will not
take kindly to your treatment of their Captain or the presence of a traitor and his minions,"
continued Falignus gesturing
first
toward the
unconscious Captain and then toward the trio
.

Safreon had moved to Hemlock
’
s side and
grasped
her hand in a firm grip.  He was pulling her slightly and they both began to move toward the door.

Gwineval began to hiss
toward the pair,
but Falignus noticed Safreon and Hemlock moving and shouted above Gwineval
:
"
Do not move
any fu
rther!
"

A well-muscled and tattooed Wizard
rushed up the
Emerald stair.  B
ehind him were
four more
men who looked similar to the first:
wearing loose red robes which revealed
similar
exotic tattoos coursing over their
well-honed
frames.  While the
Captain
had wielded a jeweled mace,
each of the
five
robed
soldiers
held savage looking morning stars
with
long black handles ending in heavy chains
, each of
which suspended a cruelly spiked
iron
ball.  All five of the
wizard-soldiers
looked
back and forth
between Falignus and Gwineval.  They looked confused.

Gwineval spoke first
.
"Guards, hold your ground.  Y
ou do not understand what is transpiring here.
"

"
Do not be deceived
,"
replied Falignus commandingly
,
"
Gwineval is harbori
ng fugitives within the Tower.  Y
ou can see that he is in the process of aiding their escape!
"

Hemlock glanced at Safreon. 
His look
acknowledged that
he shared her expectation that this
exchange was not going to end
peacefully
.  Their many months
on the street had developed a rapport between them that allowed them to communicate non-verbally in tense situations
. 

Hemlock felt confident that
she and Safreon,
together with
Gwineval
,
could handle the
wizards
.

"Lord Falignus
,
should we
wait for the other council members to
determine what needs to be done?" asked one of the wizards tentatively
.

"
Yes, let’s wait for the oth
er wizards," r
esponded Falignus gloatingly as he slowly began to walk toward Gwineval, Safreon and Hemlock. 
"
Be
mindful
of this lot
though,
fellow
wizards
.
  Do not let them escape."

"
Thi
s is overly dramatic, Falignus.  S
top where you are before you do something foolish!
"
chided Gwineval in an angry hiss.

Falignus
addressed the guards.
"
They will inevita
bly move to make their escape.  Y
ou five must be ready to join me when that happens.  You k
now Gwineval’s skills in battle and the girl may be his equal.  B
oth
are fast and deadly fighters. 
I have not faced the old man, but I would not underestimate him
,
considering
his current company.
"

Hemlock and Safreon moved to Gwineval’s flanks forming a
loose
wedge with him as the
five
guard
wizards
advanced
into the chamber
toward them, following the advance of Falignus
.

"Do not move! Any of you!"
commanded
the
guard Wizard
as he moved forward with
his companions
.

Suddenly Gwineval’s voice boomed in Hemlock’s mind:
"
WHEN I ACT
,
MAKE YOUR MOVE!
"

In an instant
,
Hemlock met Safreon’s gaze and she could see that he had also heard Gwineval.

Suddenly there was a great flash and
sparkling tendrils of energy
erupted from Gwineval’s clawed hands
,
quickly spanning the length of the room and
forming a
shimmering barrier between them and
Falignus. 
Gwineval stood in place and it looked to Hemlock like he had to concentrate on this spell in order to keep it in effect.

Where the barrier crossed the
huge
machine
in the center of the room,
there was a hissing and popping of magical energy but the machine did not appear
to be
damaged.

Hemlock
sprinted
backwards toward the door through which Safreon had entered the Atrium. She could hear Safreon moving as well.  They both heard shouts coming from behind them and there were red flashes and the almost deafening roar of magical thunder.  Time seemed to slow down under the oppressive weight of the magical
energy
now
in the air
.

Hemlock felt like she was running
in m
olasses or
heavy sand. 
Glancing back at Safreon
, his face bore an expression of surprise as well
.

When she reached the
glass
door
,
she grasped the handle
and tried
to fling it open
. 

B
ut it did not open.  The forward push that she gave the doorway seemed to make the entire glass wall stretch strangely outward, however, like the surface had gained some mysterious elasticity.  Safreon, apparently not anticipating this
failure
, could not stop from bumping into Hemlock from behind
.
T
his
thrust her against the door, further i
ntensif
ying
the strange stretching effect before
it snapped backwards, and
they both were thrust back toward
the center of the A
trium and the strange melee that was unfolding there.

Hemlock was not sure that she could even fight under these conditions, yet it was now clear
that she would have to, for the r
obed
guard w
izards were now forcing their way through shimmering seams
that had been rent
in the barrier that
Gwineval had created.  As she
moved back
toward Gwineval, she could see that the energy emanating from his hands was being met by similar discharges from Falignus on
the other side of the barrier.
B
ut Falignus
’ energy
was focused on the areas through which the robed
wizards
now invaded. 
One guard-wizard
had not co
mmitted himself to the battle, looking to Hemlock like he was not
sure about
which side to aid.