Lorit retreated back to the shadows and waited.
Soon, a nicely dressed couple arrived, with a young daughter in tow. The girl reminded Lorit of Onolt, only this girl was dressed in expensive clothes and decked out with gold and silver jewelry. If Onolt had jewelry like that, she could have fed the whole family for a year!
Lorit raised a translucent shield just as the Wizard had shown him. He felt the shield rise and turn clear. He held it as he cautiously walked up behind the family, trying to will the guard not to see him.
The guard stepped out of the doorway as the family approached. “Good Morning, Sir,” he said with a deep bow. “Madam, miss,” he addressed the rest of the family.
Lorit kept close to the young girl and slipped in through the doorway behind the family before the guard stepped back into the opening.
He was inside; now all he had to do was locate the boy and walk right out. He surveyed the room he’d entered. The windows, visible from the outside, glowed with the lightening of the dawn. There were tall posts carved with a twisted inlay bearing copper bowls filled with lamp oil. They lit the interior of the room with an eerie flickering light that was only just dissipating with the new dawn.
Lorit made his way along the hall. The floor was polished marble that gleamed like a mirror. He had to tread softly so as to make as little noise as possible or else invisibility would do him no good at all.
He passed a carving made to resemble the temple window. Standing in the window was a skull wearing the hood of a Temple Priest. Next to the carving rested a staff almost as tall as Lorit. It was made of copper-colored wood, with a skull mounted at the top and a sharp iron spike at the bottom. He leaned over to look at the spike. I was coated with dried blood.
“Priests,” Lorit commented, before he caught himself. He looked around to see if anyone had heard him, but he was alone. “Keep quiet!” he whispered, to remind himself.
He made his way down the hall towards the door that Zhimosom had pointed out. He rapped lightly on the door and called out softly “Hello.” He waited for an answer. “Hello!” he called a little louder.
“Who is it?” came the reply.
“I am Lorit. Zhimosom sent me to get you.”
There was a bolt on the outside of the door. Lorit slid it open and pushed. The door creaked open to reveal a young boy of about fourteen summers. He looked scared and nervous.
“Are you really here to help me?” he asked.
“Yes I am,” Lorit said, stepping into the room. He closed the door partway. “What did Zhimosom tell you? Did you learn to hold your shields?”
“All he said was that he was sending help,” the boy replied. “I could barely see him, and it was hard to make out what he was saying… All I heard was that he was sending help.”
“Did he teach you anything? Did he contact you before you were captured?” Lorit asked.
“No. The first I heard from him was last night. He just said he would send help,” the boy repeated. “Please help me get out of here.”
“I’m going to get you out of here, but you have to remember; be quiet. I think I can hold the shield for both of us. Stay close to me and don’t wander. If you do, they’ll see you and I don’t know what will happen, but I don’t think either of us will like it.”
The boy headed for the door. Lorit reached out and grabbed his coat to stop him. “Wait for the priest to call for the Morning Prayer. That way we know he’s occupied, and we can sneak out. The priest is the only one who won’t be fooled by my shields.”
They stood quietly until they heard the cry of the priest from the balcony. He sang out loud and clear, calling the faithful to Morning Prayer. The boy told Lorit his name was Chedel and that he’d been captured by the priest in the market during the previous day’s activities.
Lorit pulled the door open and carefully stepped into the hall. He reached behind him and grasped Chedel by his coat, pulling him close. “Stay close!” he admonished the boy.
They carefully made their way back down the hallway to the room where Lorit had entered. If his map was accurate, they would be able to access a side entrance from here, and make their way out. He steered Chedel towards the archway that led to the side doorway when the family that Lorit had followed entered the room.
“Father, I don’t want to stay for Morning Prayer,” the girl complained.
“Well, you don’t have much choice. You’re a part of this family, and as a part of this family, you go to temple for Morning Prayer. Like it or not,” said the father.
Lorit tried to squeeze past the family dispute, hoping to get around them and out of the door without incident. Just as they passed behind the girl, she stomped her foot and said, “But I don’t want to go to Prayer.”
Her father reached out to take hold of her. She pulled back to escape his grasp and bumped into Chedel. The boy let out a startled grunt before he caught himself.
The girl turned and looked at the space where they stood. “I felt someone here!” she cried out. “Someone’s in the room with us! I just bumped into them.”
She started swinging her arms around as if attempting to swat the invisible perpetrator. “I know there’s someone here.”
Lorit grabbed Chedel and pulled him quickly down the hall. He put his hand over the boy’s mouth to silence him. They stood pressed against the wall breathing hard and trying to do it quietly. When the girl didn’t follow them, Lorit headed for the side door.
When they reached the door, Lorit twisted the knob and pushed. The door was old and rusty and didn’t want to budge. He heaved his weight against it until it started to move. It creaked loudly and opened almost enough for him to fit through.
“Down here,” called a voice from the room where the family still argued. “I think I heard something.”
Lorit gave another shove, and the door moved enough to let him squeeze through. He pulled Chedel after him into the crisp morning air.
Once outside, they both heaved against the heavy door. They managed to push it shut just as something hit it from the inside. Lorit grabbed a shattered brick from down the alleyway and jammed it under the door as the guards attempted to force it open.
“Run! Follow me,” Lorit called to Chedel. He headed down the alley that Zhimosom traced out for him on the map.
Overhead, he could hear the sound of the priest as he sang out the prayer.
“We need to get far away from here before the guards report us,” Lorit explained. “We have to find a way out of the city and fast.”
“I know a way,” Chedel offered. “My uncle runs wagons in and out of town all day. They should be heading back to the homestead with an empty soon. They always deliver the fist load just after sunup.”
“Lead the way, then,” Lorit replied.
The two young men headed off down the avenue to find Chedel’s uncle.
Sojourn
Lorit and Chedel hid beneath a tarp stretched across the meager remnants of straw that littered the bed of the wagon. The straw was scratchy and constantly poked both of the boys. The dust not only had a strong tendency to itch but also threatened to make Lorit sneeze. He was worried that any noise would reveal their hiding place, so he forced himself to endure the agony all the while the wagon made its way to their destination. When they reached the fork in the road, Chedel’s uncle halted the wagon.
“We’re here,” he called out.
“Is there anyone on the road?” Lorit whispered.
“No. The road is clear. There’s a small stand of trees just off to the right where you can take cover. Head for them and you should be out of sight before anyone else comes along,” the driver answered.
“Thanks for the ride,” Lorit called as they headed for the trees. He and Chedel ran as fast as their cramped legs would take them until they reached the small grove of trees that marked the beginning of the woods proper. The trees provided them shelter from the heat of the morning sun as they made their way towards the river.
The river was wide and deep despite the lateness of the season. The water crashed among the rocks violently, making its way south. There was no way to cross the river here.
“There’s a ford to the north of here,” Lorit explained. “Zhimosom showed me the route on the map before I came for you.”
“How did he teach you these things?” Chedel asked. “I was only able to see him faintly, as if through a dusty glass. I wasn’t able to make out much of what he said beyond his assurance that someone was coming to get me.”
“You should be glad you got that much,” Lorit explained. “The temple is shielded. It was difficult for him to make even that slight contact.
“I was fortunate,” Lorit continued. “Zhimosom was able to reach me the other night. That made it easy for him to contact me last night. He showed me a few things he thought would help us in our quest. We have to go to Amedon, to meet with him in person.”
Lorit paused and grasped Chedel’s arm, stopping him in his tracks. “Do you smell that?” he asked.
“It smells like smoke.”
“Be quiet,” Lorit said. “Let’s see who’s up ahead. Don’t let them see you.”
Lorit crept from tree trunk to tree trunk, scanning the forest. The smell of smoke grew stronger as he made his way northward along the bank of the river.
He came to an area where the trees had been cleared to make way for the road, as it drove straight for the river. Crossing the water was a ford that had been built up by depositing loose stones in the river until there was a solid roadbed just beneath the surface. The water splashed as it crossed the ford, accelerating across the rocks and rushing downstream.
In the clearing, Lorit could make out a small knot of people surrounding a smoking camp fire. Lorit stayed hidden as he watched them. There were three patrollers in their armor, with their shields and staffs placed carefully within reach. They sat in a circle around the fire, chatting in low voices.
Just outside the circle was a lone figure dressed in black robes. His hood was pulled over his head, but Lorit was pretty sure the man’s head would be shaved.
“Just what I needed,” Lorit muttered to himself, “another priest.” He turned and quietly made his way back to Chedel.
“There are three patrollers and a priest at the ford,” Lorit said. “If we can get past them, we can make it across the ford. I don’t know where else we can cross the river. I think the next crossing is leagues to the north of here.”
“Can’t we just use your shields so that they can’t see us?” Chedel asked.
“The priest will be able to see us. That’s why I had to wait until Morning Prayer, so the priest would be busy.”
Lorit shook his head in disbelief. All the effort to hide and make their way out of town and here was another priest baring the way. ”Where did this one come from?”
“There is another town just across the river from here. Maybe he came from there,” Chedel offered.
“I am not sure how we’re going to get across the ford. Do you have any ideas?”
“Maybe we should wait until they’re asleep.” Chedel shrugged his shoulders. He seemed quite happy to let Lorit do all the thinking for him.
“How good are you at conjuration?” Lorit asked.
“Me, I can’t conjure anything,” he replied. “Why would you ask me that?”
“The priests came for you. Didn’t you conjure something? How else did they detect you?” Lorit asked.
“I didn’t conjure anything. I wasn’t even aware that I had the potential to be a wizard until they grabbed me,” he explained. “They knew who I was, where I lived, and everything. Said they’d been watching me and started to sense the beginnings of something. I never did any wizardry.”
Chedel looked at Lorit questioningly. “What did you do that they detected you?”
“I conjured an apple. I was just sitting there having lunch with my sister and poof, there it was, a nice, red, juicy apple,” he explained. “Zhimosom told me that was the reason they could sense me. He taught me how to do it, so they don’t pick up on it.”
“Won’t that help with the priest here?” Chedel asked.
“No. He can sense the shields I used to hide us. Maybe we should wait until nightfall.”
Lorit scouted around until he found several large flat stones. He piled them up, setting them carefully one on top of the other until he had a stack almost as tall as he was. He stepped back to admire his work. The rock pillar tilted wildly and threatened to topple at the slightest touch.
“What are you doing?” Chedel asked.
“Hush, I am preparing,” Lorit answered.
“Preparing what? All I see is a pile of rocks.”
“This is a diversion. I plan to use it to get past the priest and the guards.”
Lorit stacked several piles of rocks in various locations scattered around the clearing before he finished his work. As the sun set, the rock piles took on a sinister look, in the lengthening shadows.
Lorit waited until darkness fell, before he spoke. “Let’s get moving before the moon rises, or we'll lose this lovely darkness.”
He motioned toward the river, “Follow me, quietly.”
Chedel followed closely behind Lorit as they made their way toward the clearing. He hoped the fire that warmed the guards would also blind them, so they wouldn’t see Lorit and Chedel make their way towards the ford.
The priest lay on his pack with his robe covering his head. Lorit wasn’t sure if the priest were already asleep or just dozing off.
“Let’s wait a bit,” he advised Chedel. “Give him a chance to go to sleep before we make a run for it.
They waited breathlessly until Lorit was comfortable. He whispered, “I think it’s time.” He peered into the campsite where one of the guards was asleep on his bedroll. One sat close to the fire, warming himself, as the night had cooled off. The third guard stood looking up the road that lead back toward Mistbury Tye.
“Get ready,” Lorit whispered. “When I give you the signal, you run.”
“Ready,” Chedel whispered in reply.
Suddenly there was a crash in the woods where Lorit and Chedel had spent the afternoon. The guard called out, “Who’s there?”
“Halt, who goes there?” the guard demanded. He headed into the woods, to investigate the source of the sound. Just as the first guard entered the shadow of the woods, another crash came from the opposite side of the clearing. The second guard jumped up, grabbed his spear and headed into the woods in the opposite direction.