Rise of the Citadel (The Search for the Brights Book 2) (53 page)

“Bowie is here
with another wielder searching the dungeons for Kara,” Brent whispered, moving
quickly to the door. The wardrobe had been thrown open and Kara was furiously
packing clothes into bags.

Kara pulled on
Brent’s shoulder so he faced her. “Bowie came to rescue me?” Brent nodded and
Kara’s cheeks turned red as she smiled. Her packing slowed only a moment as if
she was lost in thought.

“We need to get
out of here. Brandon asked me to deal with these wielders so he would not have
to.” Brent pointed to the door. “Perhaps if we make our way to the dungeons we
will be able to find Bowie and get out of here.”

Twilix pushed
past Kara who seemed to be staring off into nothing at the floor. “No. We go to
where the guards are going and hope we can get there before they are captured
or killed.”

Throwing back
the blue cloak she now wore over her shoulders, she kicked open the door while
freezing a ball of ice in the air. The guards, not expecting an attack, were
quickly dispatched by what seemed to be a ricocheting chunk of ice. Each man
slumped as the ice smashed into their unprotected skulls. Brent followed her
out, “
I
was supposed to dispatch them.”
            Staring at their unconscious bodies, she gave them some healing so
they would not die from the injuries, “Even with your imbuements you are no
match for me. Save your strength. We may need it in the end.” Brent and Kara
struggled to carry the bags as they kept pace with Twilix stomping down the
hall. She only stopped long enough to listen for any movement at the
intersections of the castle.

**********

Twice Auburn
opened the door and each time a servant turned down the hallway.

One stopped at
the small broom closet and tapped on the door gently, “Hello?” A girls voice
asked.

Quickly, Auburn
pushed herself against Bowie and kissed him. He tried to push back but her
imbued strength didn’t let him get far. She thrust her bow to the far side of
his body hiding them. The door opened and immediately shut again, “Sorry,” The
voice said.

Auburn released
him and stepped back. They both heard a giggle as the servant continued on
about their day, thinking secret lovers had found a place to hide. Bowie wiped
his face and felt the scruff snagg on his linen shirt.

Auburn rubbed
her own face, “Yeah, you should probably shave that off.”

“You are the one
who said I shouldn’t shave,” He said frustrated.

“Shhh, I think I
hear another coming,” She waited a few moments. “I guess not. Let’s go.”

They moved out
into the hallway and quickly found their way to the black door. Auburn kept
looking over her shoulder as she tiptoed down the hallway, ready to release her
arrows at a moment's notice. Bowie tried the latch but it was locked from the
inside.

“Stand back,”
She said as she handed him her bow.

“You can’t break
it down, it would cause too much noise.”

She rolled her
eyes at him and gently knocked on the door. “What is the kitchen masters name?”
She asked him before the knock was answered

“Master Harvel?”
he said in response, still confused.

“I swear, you
would get nowhere without me.”

A guard slid
open a small window and peered out at Auburn who stood close to the door.

“Master Harvel
sent me to collect dishes. Am I in the right place?” She asked.

Without a
response the window slid shut with a clang. They could hear keys on the inside
starting to rattle in the lock. They both raised their arrows as the door swung
open.

The guard was
looking the other way, shouting into the hallway, “Serving wench in to collect
dishes.” When he turned back around, his eyes went wide with surprise. The man
attempted to close the door back pulling with both hands. Bowie planted his
strength imbued foot by the door preventing it from closing.

“Say a word and
my finger slips off the string,” Bowie added at a whisper.

The guard nodded
and backed away from the door, dropping the keys. Auburn made quick work
shutting the door and rattling the keys into the lock.

Still holding
the arrow tip at the man's forehead, he gave commands, “Take his weapons.”
Auburn unclasped his sword belt and pulled a knife from his waist and strapped
them onto Bowie. “How many others?”

“Two,” the guard
answered back without hesitation.

“Good, take me
to the young female fire wizard. Her name is Kara Everheart.”

The guard licked
his lips, “She isn’t here.”

A second guard
opened the door on the other side of the room, stepping out of a dark hallway
lit with torches. He started to pull his sword and the first guard jumped to
the side, away from Bowie’s bow. Unprepared for Auburn’s strength, they ignored
her to rush Bowie with the first guard pulling the knife from the seconds belt.
Auburn kicked the first in the side, sending him crashing into the second. Both
men went tumbling to the ground.

Bowie took
control of his wind magic and slammed the inner door shut and again pointed his
weapon at the two men struggling to get to their feet in their heavy armor.

Auburn put a
foot in one’s back, “Stay down.” She snatched the blade from the second one’s
hand like a rattle from a baby.

“Sargent
Crescent, Master Crescent- I mean Bowie Crescent. I know who you are,” One of
the guards said with Auburn’s leather boot in his back.

“Good, then tell
me where she is, the fire wizard, Kara” He said, nodding to Auburn to let him
up.

“The fire wizard
hasn’t been down here for weeks. She gained control of her anger and has been
training with Wizard Twilix. They never leave each other's side.”

Bowie looked at
Auburn, wondering if they were telling the truth. Auburn was unsure what to do
so she hefted her bow and went to searching scrolls on a nearby table. The
scrolls detailed their occupants; what angered them and what calmed them down,
food preferences, clothing sizes, and names of family members. Auburn brought
one over that had Kara’s name on it and showed it was crossed out. She had been
in cell number eight.

“Cell eight,”
Auburn said outloud.

The inner door
leading to the tunnels opened again and the third guard stepped halfway into
the room. He acted quicker than the others and shut the door as he disappeared
back into the tunnel.

“Bloody hell!”
Bowie ran for the door and thrust it open just in time to see the man tug on
the rope running along the tunnel's ceiling. Alarm bells started to ring in the
floors above the dungeon. Without thinking, Bowie launched an arrow striking
the man’s shoulder and sending him to the floor in a scream of pain. They were
already too late. The rest of the castle’s guards would be on them before they
knew it. “Keys!” He shouted.

Auburn threw
Bowie the keys and he ran down the hallway finding a room marked with a cast
iron figure eight pinned to the door.

“Kara, it’s me
Bowie. I’m coming in.” He opened the door to the dark cell unable to make out
its contents. Pulling the torch from the wall, he held it into the room so that
he could see. The empty cell was black with only a metal bed hanging by half
melted chains. He had imagined a depressing cell, but this was beyond what he
had been able to conjure in his mind.

Bowie ran back
up to the small guard's room and found Auburn pushing the small table in front
of the door. The door opened a couple inches before she slammed her strength
imbued body against it, shutting it once again in defiance of the guards on the
other side. Bowie joined her in her struggle to keep the door shut and managed
to put his key into the lock and turn the tumbler. The guards got to their feet
but they were unarmed and knew they didn’t have the strength to beat either of
their captors.

“Auburn, hurry,
go get the injured guards weapons and help him up here.”

She did as she
was ordered, disappearing into the dimly lit tunnel of cells. Bowie faced the
two captured guards, “Is there another way out of here?”

“One way in and
one way out, Master Crescent,” The second guard replied as he clutched his ribs
where Auburn had planted her foot.

A loud crash
followed by yelling could be heard outside the door. Auburn came back into the
room and looked up at the noise on the other side of the door.

“We better
figure something out fast,” She said putting the third guard near the others.

Bowie looked at
the key ring still in his hand and back at the guards. He smiled a mischievous
smile. Snatching up the scroll, he opened the door to the tunnels. “I would get
behind the door Auburn, it is about to get hot in here. Moving down the tunnel,
he called out to each of the captured wizards confined inside. He unlocked
their doors as he spoke, “Today is your lucky day. I’m breaking you guys out.
We only have one chance at this so if you have ANY control over your anger, the
time to use it is now. In a moment there will be a whole castle’s guard coming
through the door. Work together to free us and free yourselves.”

Bowie waved
Auburn down the hallway, “If you gaurds want to live, I would get into this
cell.”

From the small
guard room, the two guards hurried to help the third one into cell eight. Bowie
watched as the imprisoned wielders hesitantly peeked out their doors. Bowie
waved Auburn inside after the guards and grabbed a second torch off the wall.
He handed the torches to her and watched one of the cell doors slowly swing
open. A man a head and a half taller than him stepped into the hallway. He was
shirtless and his black hair hung past his shoulders. His beard nearly matched
the length of his hair. He faced Bowie with liquid flames dripping from the
unkempt hair, clenching fists at his side. More wizards stepped into the
hallway upon seeing his confidence. Bowie took the dungeons key from the ring
and tossed it to him. He nodded in return and Bowie slowly closed himself into
Kara’s old cell. He turned the cell key, locking them inside.

The thick door
blocked most of the sounds on the other side. He could hear voices but not what
was being said, much like in the tunnels. Bowie moved to the injured guard and
gripped the arrow tight in his hand. He looked at Auburn, “You ready to
practice your healing?”

“What? Now?” She
said, scrambling to hand the torch to one of the other guards whose eyes were
wide with shock.

“Yes, now. I
don’t know how long we’ll be down here and this man could die if untreated. I’m
not here to kill men that are just following orders. Now, get ready.” He pulled
the sheath from one of the daggers and shoved it into the guard's mouth. “You
will probably need to bite down on this.” He gripped the arrow shaft sticking
from the man’s shoulder and yanked the arrow free.

**********

  Twilix stomped
through the hallways, crashing ice into any guard that stood in her way. She
did not distinguish them from friend or foe. If they had a weapon in their
hands, they were soon unconscious. The closer they came to the dungeons, the
more encounters she had. Twilix heard an officer shouting from around the
corner leading to the dungeons. She held up a hand for Kara and Brent to wait.

  She coolly
turned the corner to find a high ranking officer hiding behind a charred table.

He made eye
contact with her and visibly relaxed, “Oh thank the Brights. Ready the attack,
Twilix is here!” He shouted to men standing in various protective locations in
the hallway.

  “What is going
on here?” She asked, still holding her ball of ice at shoulder height.

  “Someone has
managed to break into the fire wizard’s cells and let them free. We’re trying
to contain them. Perhaps you can help us bring them back.”

  Twilix didn’t
flinch when bouncing the sphere of ice off of every guard in the hallway. The
soldiers of the Earth Realm were defenseless against the onslaught of the fire
wizards trying to break free. Back around the corner she motioned Brent and
Kara to follow her and in soft soled shoes, stepped lightly around the mass of
unconscious armored soldiers lining the hallway.

“Kara, would you
mind shielding us? Don’t attack those in the dungeon, just shield us.”

Kara nodded and
walked to the dungeon door stopping short of the doorway.

Twilix looked at
Kara worriedly examining the cast iron door. “Kara, you do not have to go in. I
was simply wanting a shield.”

Kara did not
take her eyes from the door but nodded her head.

  Twilix called
out in a sweet voice to the door. “The hallway has been pacified. You may come
out. I will warn you that should you try and harm anyone in this hallway, I
will make swift work of your life. Come out and go on your way.”

Smoke tendrils
still poured out of the crest of the doorway into the hall. The silence had
taken over when soldiers and wielders shouted only moments before.

Twilix’s voice
was like a knife cutting the tension, “Did you hear me?”

  “We did,” A
male voice called back. The door opened halfway and a small creature walked
out. The creature was made of flames and was hard to determine its true shape
but to Twilix it looked much like a cat. It turned in the hallway and Kara
backed away as its gaze fixated on her. The tiny creature's mouth opened
emitting the man's voice, “It is you? They have come in search of you and you
came back to where they torture you.”

  In a puff of
smoke, the flames disappeared along with the form of the cat. A large man with
long hair and a beard walked out from the room, clutching a key as if it were a
sword.

“You know me?”
Kara asked.

  “We have all
seen you before.” More wizards stepped out into the hallway. The wizards were
unkempt and unshaven. Most wore the leather straps she had been reduced to
wearing upon her waking in the same dungeon. “You have inspired most of us to
gain control of our flames. It wasn’t a short time ago we all saw you come in
and not long after, leave us again. We need you to teach us how to control our
magic,” The man said.