Sinners of Magic (23 page)

Amadeus opened his mouth to
speak, but Nekton was no longer able to hold onto his horse and
fell to the ground in a heap.

Amadeus jumped from his mount
and bent down on his knees, scooping the ailing dwarf in his strong
arms. Bridgemear dismounted and placed his cool hand on Nekton’s
damp forehead. He felt his fever burn his fingertips and he closed
his eyes. A blue light glowed above his hand and travelled down his
fingers. Muttering undecipherable words, Bridgemear whispered a
spell, letting the light melt against the dwarf’s skin. Nekton’s
eyes fluttered and he suddenly sprang to his feet, then looked down
at Amadeus in surprise.

‘
What are you
doing down there?’ he asked, clearly puzzled at the warrior being
on his knees.

Amadeus rose to his feet and
smiled, grateful Nekton was looking much better.

‘
Thank you,’
Amadeus said to the wizard in gratitude, ‘he has become a good
friend.’

‘
There is no
need to thank me,’ said Bridgemear moving his hand onto his hips,
‘he is my keeper and therefore my responsibility; I will always
watch over him.’

Amadeus took the slight rebuff
on the chin and then concentrated on guiding Nekton back to his
horse before remounting.

‘
So,’ said
Amafar, who had been silent up to now. ‘What is this message from
King Gamada? It must be something pretty important to risk the
wrath of an Oakwood wizard.’

Amadeus turned towards
Bridgemear and watched the wizard climb back on his horse. Taking a
deep breath, he faced the wizard’s look of scorn.

‘
Bridgemear,
wizard of Oakwood,’ he cried, feeling all eyes boring down on him,
‘I must inform you of the return to the extraordinary world of your
daughter, Crystal, born of Princess Amella.’

Bridgemear almost fell off his
horse and the beast whinnied in protest when he grabbed the reins
too tightly, forcing the mouthpiece to cut into her flesh. It was
clear to those who looked on that he was astonished by the
unexpected revelation, his face a picture of confusion.

Elveria frowned, his mouth
pulled into a disapproving line.

‘
I always
knew your past would come back to bite you on the arse,’ he hissed,
like a venomous viper.

Bridgemear ignored him. His
mind was too busy whirling over the fact that his daughter was back
in his world and he felt despair; the Elders would be furious when
they found out. His brain worked overtime – why was she back? Had
she come to seek him out?

‘
Where is
she?’ Bridgemear cried, trying his best to ignore the roar of
raised voices and words of despondency.

Amadeus shrugged his
shoulders.

‘
I assume she
will have reached Nine Winters by now,’ he said, grabbing his
horse’s reins. ‘I have not been to my kingdom since I was captured
by Forusian’s men and only visited the realm of the dwarves to
gather horses and food for this journey.’

‘
Then we
carry on to the Kingdom of Nine Winters,’ Elveria cried out. ‘We
must find out what she is doing here and, more importantly, why the
Nonhawk king tried to stop us from finding out.’

Chapter
1
3

Matt and Arhdel sat on their
horses and looked at the dark silhouette of Forusian’s castle. They
could only legitimately enter the castle by crossing two bridges
over the outer moat and entering through the main gatehouse. They
already knew that was not possible and instead planned to use the
limited information given to them by King Gamada.

They turned their horses and
made their way down towards the sea. Their plan would start with
gaining entrance to the castle via the underground system. This was
not a pleasant way to gain access, but the only way they could get
in without being detected.

Arhdel was the first to jump
off his horse and onto the shingle. The crunch of it under his feet
sounded loud in his ears but the noise of the waves crashing
against the rocks disguised his steps and the taste of salt soon
entered his mouth. Matt was less enthusiastic to leave his horse
and Arhdel waved to him and urged him to follow.

The boy must
learn to grasp the importance of courage,
thought Arhdel, scanning the shoreline and checking they
hadn’t been seen. He would try to teach him as best he could and
believed Matt would not be slow to learn.

From his belt the warrior
pulled out a small dagger with a jewelled hilt and once Matt was by
his side he presented it to him. It was pleasing to the eye and
Matt was stunned to be offered such a gift.

‘
I don’t
understand,’ Matt stammered, refusing the dagger and pushing it
away with his fingertips.

Arhdel closed his eyes, trying
not to lose his patience.

‘
Take it,
it’s yours,’ he insisted. ‘You will need a weapon worthy of a
warrior whilst you fight by my side.’

Matt paled.

‘
I’m really
grateful to you,’ he said, touched by his generosity, ‘and deeply
honoured, but I cannot accept such a gift.’

Arhdel looked puzzled.

‘
Nonsense
lad, I’m giving you the dagger because you will most likely have to
kill to stay alive.’ Without ceremony, he thrust the blade into
Matt’s hand.

Matt gulped; in his naivety he
hadn’t really thought about anything as drastic as killing
someone.

Murky clouds began to roll in
from the sea and obscure the light from the stars and then huge
drops of rain splashed down from the heavens, landing with a plop
onto Arhdel’s armour.

‘
Damn it!’
Arhdel cursed, ‘that’s all we need.’

Grabbing hold of both sets of
reins he pulled the horses onto a grassy bank set well back from
the sea.

‘
They’ll be
alright here,’ he advised, when the rain turned heavy. ‘The sea
doesn’t come this far and the rain will not last
forever.’

The rain was bitter cold and
Matt felt sorry for the poor beasts.

‘
We must
hurry and find the entrance,’ stated Arhdel, pulling him away, ‘or
I’ll turn into a rusty tin can before your very eyes.’

As nimble as a squirrel, Arhdel
began to climb the steep incline. Matt tried to keep up but the
short stumps of grass dotted here and there were slippery underfoot
and he kept stumbling.

‘
Come on, in
here!’ called Arhdel from some way up. ‘I’ve found the entrance we
were looking for.’

‘
Are you
sure?’ Matt tried to shout against the wind, but his words were
lost to the sea and so he carried on in silence.

Arhdel checked to see if they
were being followed before entering a small cave. The ceiling was
exceptionally low, forcing him to crouch on his hands and knees as
he made his way through. He could see a hole about a foot square, a
squeeze for anyone bigger than a small child to get through let
alone a chunky warrior wearing plated armour.

Matt tracked him down and
appeared at the rear. He stared briefly at the small hole that
Arhdel told him they must use and, unconvinced, his eyes searched
for an alternative route.

‘
You can’t be
serious,’ he gasped, when he realised there was nowhere else they
could go.

‘
It’s the
only way in,’ said Arhdel, brushing a calloused hand over the
stone.

‘
See this
wall? It’s already crumbling, and if we concentrate on this area
here,’ he said, pointing to where the stone was disintegrating, ‘we
should be able to make a hole big enough to enable us to get
through.’

His eyes darted around the
cave, surveying its structure.

‘
Let’s just
hope it doesn’t collapse on top of us,’ he muttered under his
breath when he caught Matt’s look of scepticism.

‘
How are we
going to do this? We don’t have a shovel or any tools with us,’
Matt complained, reaching the warrior’s side.

‘
We use our
hands and feet,’ boomed Arhdel in his ear. ‘Come, lad, are you a
man or a tiny, furry mouse?’

Matt shook his head in despair
but joined the two large hands which were already tearing at the
mud and stones. It was a very slow process; his nails were soon cut
to the quick and the silt ingrained itself into his smooth skin.
Dirty water was oozing through the hole and in no time at all it
seeped through most of his clothing, soaking his skin.

It seemed to take hours, but
after much hard work the opening was just large enough for them to
crawl through. Arhdel went first, pushing his bulky frame through
the jagged hole, causing shards of decaying stone to break off and
fall into the water.

‘
I’m almost
there,’ called Arhdel, still pushing his way through. ‘But it’s my
damn armour,’ he roared, ‘it’s stuck on a chunk of
granite.’

‘
I’ll push
from this side,’ Matt yelled, grabbing the soldier’s shoulders and
giving them a shove. ‘You just need a little more power behind you,
that’s all.’

Arhdel wriggled and squirmed
whilst Matt pushed from behind, the granite unyielding until a
final push made it give way and Arhdel fell straight into the
stinking water below. The water wasn’t very deep, less than waist
high, but he was soon gasping for air and cursing.

‘
Are you
okay?’ Matt shouted, scrambling to his feet and peering down at
him.

‘
Get in
here!’ ordered Arhdel, having finally lost his patience. ‘I haven’t
all day to wait for the likes of you.’

Matt grinned. It was the first
time he’d seen the warrior lose his cool. Without a second thought
he jumped into Arhdel’s awaiting arms and was grateful when he
caught him with a splash.

The tunnel was much wider than
Matt had expected and the water colder too. It was dark inside the
tunnel, but Arhdel had come prepared. From inside his vest he
pulled out a wand the colour of milky tea. He scraped it against
the wall like you would a match and a bright glow illuminated their
path.

‘
What’s that
you’ve got there?’ Matt asked.

‘
It’s a
candle that never dies,’ Arhdel replied, checking about for Nonhawk
soldiers. ‘They’re quite rare nowadays and were given to soldiers
many centuries ago to aid them in the darkness. It’s called a
wickercal.’

‘
Wicked,’
said Matt, with a broad smile.

‘
No, it isn’t
bad magic,’ said Arhdel, misinterpreting Matt’s meaning. ‘It’s a
tool created only for good.’

‘
That’s not
what I meant,’ said Matt, realising his mistake. ‘In my world the
word ‘wicked’ means fantastic.’

Arhdel shook his head in
dismay. ‘No wonder your kind’s all messed up,’ he said, rolling his
eyes in consternation.

They carried on through the
brown, rippling water, stopping only when the tunnel turned into a
crossroads.

‘
What do we
do now?’ Matt asked, shivering with cold and aware his lips were
turning blue.

‘
I’m not
sure; the king only knew about the way in and nothing else. I guess
we will have to use our instincts and hope we don’t get lost.’
Arhdel moved the wickercal to view each tunnel in turn.

‘
Let’s go
this way,’ he said, pointing his hand in the direction he thought
looked the safest.

‘
How do you
know if it’s the right way?’ Matt asked.

‘
I don’t,’
Arhdel replied, shrugging his shoulders, ‘but we’ll soon find out
if I’m wrong.’

He turned left, wading further
into the darkness and Matt felt his apprehension deepen, anxious in
case he should be accidentally separated from his mentor.

‘
What are we
actually looking for?' Matt asked when he caught up with the
warrior.

‘
We’re
looking for an open grate or door which will lead us to the
kitchens.’

Matt nodded and so they
wandered purposely looking for some kind of an opening which would
lead them inside the castle, but found nothing.

‘
We’re going
around in circles,’ Matt complained when he recognised a worn stone
ledge they’d passed several times before.

‘
Yes, I can
see that,’ Arhdel snapped when he saw it too. ‘It’s not as if I’m
blind.’ The warrior decided to take a moment’s rest and moved to
lean against the ledge.

‘
We’ll have
to go back to the crossroads,’ said Matt, stating the
obvious.

‘
Oh, so
you’re the expert now!’ said Arhdel, wiping a crust of dried dirt
from his face.

‘
Well no, of
course not, I’m just saying it’s the only thing we can do,’ said
Matt, feeling Arhdel was being rather unreasonable.

Arhdel glanced away and a small
hole chiselled neatly in the stone caught his eye and, wondering
what its purpose was, he pointed the wand closer. Shadows danced
against the stone, making the opening look even more intriguing and
Arhdel reached out and put his hand inside. He grappled around and
felt something soft and furry touch his fingers and he gasped,
quickly pulling his hand away.

‘
What’s wrong
with you?’ asked Matt, when he heard the warrior suck in his breath
and then he saw a huge, black hairy spider with sixteen red eyes
charge out of the hole, waving its front legs in the air in a
menacing dance towards him. Matt jumped back, repulsed by such a
creature, but Arhdel simply chuckled, looking slightly foolish. The
spider eventually lowered its venomous quills and headed back to
its nest, but those numerous eyes never left Arhdel’s sheepish
stare.