The four left the outpost behind late into the morning. They’d made a breakfast of the supplies that were left, doused the fire and mounted their horses. Blaze was very excited to move, having enjoyed both the sleeping that night and the treats. There were a lot of apples that had been stocked specifically for giving to their horses when they stayed the night.
Morrigan called for her mount and instead of the ghostly pale Eaergo this time it was a pitch black horse with green eyes. The eyes were two points of light that burned holes at whoever it looked at. She put the saddle bags around the creature, staying still as she prepared him for travel.
“What’s this horse’s name?”
“Noir was the name my Queen bestowed on her.” She said staring at the horse’s face for a moment and glanced toward Alistair. “Come. Since you’re going to be riding her with me, you might as well introduce yourself to her.”
He walked toward the horse slowly adjusting the sword at his back. Wearing it in a cross strap across his shoulders was the only way to carry the weapon comfortably. As he approached the horse stared at him with those green eyes and he was on the edge of looking away.
“Don’t break contact. Face her gaze and introduce yourself.” Morrigan said from slightly behind him.
He did as she asked and it wasn’t easy. The gaze was intense, a level of cold radiating from those eyes while at the same time he felt like he would be set aflame by the weight of it. No matter how many spells he used to change his appearance he was sure that this horse seeing through it all.
“My name is Alistair.” He said slowly unsure of what to add. He had no titles or anything to respect.
Noir continued to stare and then lowered her head stepping in place for a moment. Morrigan took his hand and raised it to Noir’s face. The skin was smooth, like velvet and cool to the touch. Cool enough that he wondered if it had been out in the winter for too long.
Morrigan walked past him and mounted the horse. “She’ll tolerate you. She doesn’t hate you but she doesn’t quite respect you yet. You may earn it from her in time.”
Alistair made a face at the notion of not having earned the respect of it. He’d only just met her. But he followed after Morrigan and got on her back. Vincent and Alison trotted up to them, Blaze munching on the last few pieces of another apple.
Once back on the path they assumed the usual formation with Vincent leading them forward and Morrigan trailing not far behind. The skies were grey above them, the sun hidden behind clouds. They had only been riding for a few hours when it became clear darkness was ahead of them. Dark clouds were forming together casting long shadows.
There were flashes of light in the clouds a few times and Vincent made a noise as they rode. “It’s going to rain. Storm.” He said and pulled back on Blaze’s handle bars. He knew that Blaze wasn’t fond of storms. He got easily startled during them. Riding into one wasn’t something that he wanted to do.
“We’re too far away from the outpost to turn back.” Morrigan said approaching and folding her arms.
“Is there any other place close by?” Alistair asked.
Vincent looked around them quickly. There were a range of trees around them, the hills rolling here and there. No place that really had true shelter from the storm. He was going to make a suggestion when both of the twins let out a shout of pain, holding their heads.
“What the hell? What’s wrong?” he asked looking at Alison and glanced toward Alistair who was recovering sooner but the pain was clear on his face as he grit his teeth. “Magic. Powerful magic. Nearby.” He put both his hands on his head as if it would split apart from the pain.
Vincent looked at Alison who was in worse shape than her brother. She was shaking in front of him, holding her head tightly as if she could curl up in a ball against his back. “What does that mean?” Morrigan asked. “Another mage is nearby?” She asked looking at him but he shook his head.
“It doesn’t feel right. Not like another mage. Something else.”
“A demon?” she asked but Vincent was shaking his head. He started swearing under his breath and grabbed Blaze’s handlebars.
“I know what this is. We need to run! Now!” He dug his feet into Blaze’s side and the horse dashed forward going straight toward the storm clouds. Noir was right behind them. Both twins hadn’t gotten better though they had gone closer to silent, moaning in pain at the sensation racking their bodies.
Morrigan pulled up beside him. “What’s going on. What do you know?”
“It’s the mage hunters from the Sanctum. They found us somehow. And they’re hunting us.”
Before she could ask for a clarification the air shimmered around them. She glanced on both sides of her and watched as men on horse suddenly appeared out of the air, shimmering into existence. The men were wrapped in cloaks their faces hidden from view. They held shields of some dark blue metal and swords in their other hands. She’d never seen something like this before.
There were two on either side of them and at least three behind them, “How did this many of them surround us?”
“I don’t know. Turning invisible? Causing the two of them to be in pain like this? I’ve never seen the hunters do stuff like this. I’ve never fucked with the hunters in general!”
“Do you have a plan?” she asked reaching to her side and drawing her rapier.
He drew his sword and the gun, shaking his head. “Keep running and try to escape.”
She shook her head and let her eyes turn red. She narrowed them as she urged Noir to run faster. Both their horses started sprinting the sudden increase in speed buying them some time. The clouds above quickly darkened and the first few drops of rain started to fall. There was a flash of light in the distance and she knew if they got that far it would be their best bet at escaping.
She glanced at her side and one of the hunters was coming closer to them. The hunter looked at her and the sword came at her head. Her rapier met the blade and she deflected it away. The force of the blow made her arm shake much to her surprise. She thrust her blade in retaliation but he jerked back in the saddle to avoid the blow.
His sword came back at her and she jerked her arm back painfully to block the blow. She couldn’t deflect it this time and had to hold her ground. Gritting her teeth together she leaned against the blade to try and push him back. She looked up and jerked her blade away as Noir retreated. The hunter had attempted to strike with his shield but now he was only hitting air.
They pulled the reins of their horse turning to chase after her. She yanked the reins and dug into the horse’s side as it sprinted right past them. Her sword came out and clashed with the hunters as they passed. The rain was coming harder now and distantly she could hear thunder.
Vincent wasn’t faring much better. The hunter was wielding an axe and swinging it wildly. It took everything Vincent had to block the blows and each one almost knocked the weapon from his hands. He was already trying to keep Alison from falling out of the saddle while keeping his horse steady.
“Blaze to the left!” he pulled on the handle bars and sent the beast running in the opposite direction to get some space between them. Spinning the revolver in his hand he fired off a trio of shots. The bullets hit right on the target hitting the man’s chest but he didn’t knock him free of the saddle.
Scowling he spun the gun around and reached to reload as Blaze took off again. Thunder boomed overhead and Blaze let out a noise of panic. He stroked the horse’s neck as they ran. “Come on Blaze! I need you to be strong for me. For Alison.” The horse made some sort of grunt but he sprinted even faster.
“Thanks buddy.” He whispered and turned to look behind them. Five horses were trailing them now. They were talking to one another quickly and he shook their head. Reaching toward the side of their mount they brought up what looked like one of the rifles from the Free City but he knew the Sanctum didn’t have that technology.
“It’s a crossbow!” Morrigan shouted from beside him and flexed the sword its blade shifting down and exposing the barrel. “Lower your head.” She said to Alistair who managed to do as she asked. She aimed the gun behind her and got off two quick shots. The first one missed but she watched one of the hunters fall off their saddle.
The one wielding the crossbow leveled a shot and fired. It struck Morrigan in her shoulder and she almost dropped her gun with a grunt. The impact jerked her shoulder and she nearly dropped the weapon. Reaching over her shoulder she yanked the bolt out and threw it on the ground.
The thunder boomed overhead and suddenly the rain dumped down onto their heads. Lightning flashed overhead with another blast of lightning above them. She blinked through the rain as it tried to flood her gaze. She glanced over her shoulder and another bolt was already loaded into the cross bow.
She tried to aim another shot but pulled back because two more hunters were on their way at her. She flicked the weapon back to its rapier form and leaned forward as Noire started running faster. A hand touched her shoulder and she looked at Alistair in surprise.
His teeth were gritting together and eyes narrowed, the tears washed away by the rain. “Give me the gun.” She looked at him for a long moment and then nodded her head handing the rapier to him. It felt awkward in hand, a weapon he’d never used before.
But turning around he aimed trying to fire a shot. It was harder than he even remotely thought it was. “Hold it with both hands. Or use your arm to balance!” she shouted directing the horse to turn a sharp turn.
He nodded and rested the blade on his arm. Trying to aim he watched the other riders. Another of the hunters had brought out their own crossbow, drawing back the bow string. He fired off a shot and he missed the hunter but he did hit the horse. It let out a shriek and stumbled across the ground and crashed taking one of the other hunters with him.
The hunters leveled their crossbows and a bolt slammed into Noir’s side. The horse let out a screech and a second bolt brought them down. Morrigan and Alistair flew from the saddle crashing into the ground. Noire disappeared in a puff of smoke. They slid further in the now muddy ground forcing themselves to try and stand.
“Shit!” Vincent shouted as he looked at Blaze and Alison then back at them. Pulling on the handlebars he directed Blaze back at them. As he caught up with them the other hunters had surrounded them their weapons drawn. Morrigan drew her sword and the blood coated it as she brandished it at them.
She blocked a strike from one of them and ducked down slashing the legs from under the horse. It screamed and fell into a bloody heap. Turning to face another she was run down by another horse. It slammed into her running her over as she rolled backwards but her fingers were tight around the katana.
Blood dripped down her mouth as the hunter came back for another charge when Blaze jumped forward suddenly as his rider fired off another pair of bullets. The hunter swerved around the shots but he came forward circling around the pair.
“What the hell are you doing back here?” Morrigan barked spitting onto the ground with a glare. “You should have kept running!”
“I couldn’t leave you behind. She wouldn’t have forgiven me if I did.” He said and Alistair sank to his knee but held the gun and tried to ready another shot at the hunters. There were still two riding on their horses and two more running on foot.
“There’s more of them.” Alistair said softly and shook his head.
“And more coming.” Vincent said gripping his weapons tighter. “We can’t fight them off. Not like this.”
Morrigan scowled feeling a bestial hate run through her exposing her teeth at them. “We will kill them all and drain them of their blood.” Gripping the sword with both hands as the blade gleamed red under another flash of lightning.
“No, you’re not.” Alison’s eyes opened and they were glowing. The pain of this showed on her face but she floated off Blaze’s back holding her hands out. She thrust her hand forward and a wave of ice spiraled in a cone in front of her. They split up but one of the hunters was caught in the blast getting frozen in place.
With a boom of thunder suddenly two more hunters came out of the nowhere swinging blades at them. Morrigan spun with unnatural speed and lunged. She blocked one blade and spun around slashing straight through the sword and the man’s chest almost cutting him in twain. The blade caught on his shield to her shock and the other sank his sword into her shoulder.
Turning to face him she thrust her hand out grabbing his throat. She squeezed and the hunter let out a choked cough. Before she could snap his neck the other punched the shield and it flashed with light. The explosion sent Morrigan sliding backwards and dazing her vision.
The two horseman sprinted toward Alison and she turned to face them. Her hand glowed brightly and an icicle erupted from it. They tried to swerve around it but she caught the back leg of one horse sending it stumbling toward the ground.
The other was on her immediately and she tried to ward off the blow but the sword slashed across her cheek and into her shoulder. Letting out a shriek of pain she sank to her knees and then collapsed over to her side. The glow in her eyes blinked slowly but it came back almost immediately as she thrust her hand at the man sending a frozen wave at him.
Blowing him clear off his horse the startled animal. She pushed herself off the ground and floated off the ground and looked for her brother. He was rushing to Morrigan’s side trying to help her against the hunters that were gathering around them. She looked back toward Vincent who was riding Blaze and battling another hunter on horseback.
She raised her hands to try and help him when lighting struck above. The flash of light didn’t just dissipate though. It struck a few dozen feet away from them and dazzled her gaze. And then she felt power waft over them. She hoped that this was a new ally. Someone who could give them a hand here but it wasn’t to be.
A beacon of light was raised into the air and for a second, she saw the man holding the staff. He made some symbol with his hand then slammed it down on the ground and she felt a bolt of pain right in her chest. Something struck her, raising her further off the ground before she slammed into the ground unconscious.
Alistair saw the light before it hit him sending him spiraling away and onto the ground. He didn’t even get a chance to process it, to cry out for the others to avoid it before the darkness stole him away.
Morrigan and Vincent weren’t much better. The bolt didn’t target them but the shock of it made them hesitate. A small drop in their guard. And that was all it took. Vincent was knocked off Blaze’s back and immediately he was pinned down against the ground.
Morrigan was harder to subdue, fighting as hard as she could. But with the full weight of the hunters on her she couldn’t keep fighting. She never let go of her katana but the strength to wield it was gone. In fact, the longer she held it the more likely it would kill her.
The leader of the group came forward. “Father, the two mages have been subdued.” The hunter bowed in reverence to the main as his staff touched the ground and he approached the pair.
“Very good son,” he said and waved his hand slowly over the man’s bowed head. “Our great Father smiles upon your efforts.” He said.
“What shall we do with their companions?”
“Restrain and bring them along. They can face trial the same as the heathens. Perhaps they can be saved.” He looked at Morrigan’s bloody form and then stared at her weapon. “Though this one may be too far gone. Wrap her weapon. Do not allow yourself to touch it. A cursed object that cannot be allowed to remain.”
“You fools dare. I fight for my Queen. The Queen you betrayed and exiled!”
The priest staff slammed into her head knocking the wind from her chest. She coughed more blood but didn’t tear her hateful gaze away. “You are in no position to make threats heathen.”
“Looks like the Sanctum hasn’t changed at all.” Vincent said as he glared at him and laughed. “Still imprisoning and persecuting those that are different. Lots of insecurity from that there Father of yours huh?”
“You will be silent!” One of hunters shouted striking him at the back of the head.
He hit the ground again and grunted as his vision swam. “You will be taken to the Sanctum. And you will each be judged under our Father’s eye.” He told them and they were struck again this time hard enough to rob them of consciousness.
A loud slamming of metal on metal awoke Vincent. It was a groggy awakening as he slowly pushed himself up. The spottiness of his vision was only helped by the fact that there wasn’t much or any light where he was. He tried to stand but stumbled and his head clanged into the bars in front of him.
Groaning and sliding down to his knees, he leaned against the cool metal of the bars and raised his eyes up slowly. Through the bars of the darkness he saw a soldier in silver armor holding a torch. He couldn’t see through the helmet he wore but the man was already walking away.
He felt along the bars slowly to try and get his bearings and eventually found himself leaning against a stone wall. There were a few torches down here but they were dying embers and insanely dim. It was wet and cold and he pushed away from it quickly. He was in the center of a cell. He could see that much. The air smelled stale and tinged with piss and more solid waste.
He touched his chest and winced feeling all of his pain from the fighting and everything afterward. His sword was gone as was anything else that could have been deemed a weapon. Just his clothes were left. They even took his coin purse. He swore at that realization but he shook his head. The thing that mattered the most was he was alone.
He went toward the bars and tried to squint through the darkness. To check the other cells for any of his companions. The darkness was too thick and he couldn’t piece it together. He started pacing the room slowly trying to think. Considering where they’d been taken at they couldn’t be at the capital. Not enough time would have passed. There was just no way he’d been unconscious that long.
“Hey new guy!”
He started at the voice, a raspy and old one that he barely heard. Going to the bars he tried to see if anyone was trying to flag him down. But he could barely see much in the hallway. Just the three cells in front of him and none at all to the side. So as someone not new to being in a prison he shouted back.
“What! I’m trying to plan my escape here!”
The other voice snorted and laughed at him. “You really are new. There’s no escaping from this place.”
“Where is this place?” he asked leaning against the cell bars.
“You don’t even know and you’re planning your escape.” He laughed again.
“Just answer the question.” He said back rolling his eyes.
“You’re in Varuct. Though if the chatter is anything to go by you won’t be here for long.” He laughed again and faintly he could hear them walking away and then plopped down onto the ground.
Taking a few steps back and putting his hands to his head he walked around the cell slowly. “What have the soldiers been saying?” he asked looking at the wall.
“Lots of talks about a trial. These Sanctum soldiers always get excited about a trial of a mage. Reaffirm just how great they are.” He said with a coughing fit that was probably meant to be a bit of laughter. “And since you’re here too, we assume you’re with them.”
He swore again because he knew they were further away than he hoped. “How far away are mages imprisoned?”
“Why you asking? You won’t make it there.”
“I told you already. I’m going to break out of here.” He said. “And I need to know what direction I’m going.”
The old man laughed again. “If only we were as young as you were. We could be so ambitious and naïve. We think we’re glad you got thrown in here. It’s been boring and quiet.”
“Alright well this is getting me nowhere.” He said and before he could go back to his own thoughts, he heard a door slam open. He heard the metal boots crunching across the ground and he went toward the opposite wall and slumped down. He let his head fall between his knees and pretending to be a down on his luck prisoner. But he had his gaze upward to watch.
There were two soldiers and a third person that he couldn’t see easily. They yanked open the bars of the cell and tossed their captive inside. One of the soldiers left but the other remained for a moment.
“Hey come on now. I don’t want to be stuck down here with them.”
“Yeah yeah I’m coming. Fucking heathenish filth.” He said staring into the cell and turned away.
“Why are we holding her here. Just burn her at the stake with the rest of her people.”
“There’s a way to getting it done. The Father requires it of us.”
“Our Father says the same about the Norians.”
“If the Norians could be saved we would but they would rather die than embrace His light.”
Their voices faded away as they left through the door and it slammed shut. He waited a few seconds and then got to his feet. Grunting lightly, he stumbled forward and grabbed the bars. Leaning against them he stared at the cell across from him. It was dark and he could barely see who it was but he didn’t ignore the chance.
“Hey. Old man this a new comer or they been here before?”
The rasp of the man didn’t come immediately. In fact, it didn’t come at all. It was just a slow and rough laugh. He coughed a few times but then it was silent. Rolling his eyes Vincent looked into the cell.
“You’ve been outside right. Do you remember anything of out there? Or see something? Are you even alive?” he added wondering.
“Is that even a real question bandit?”
The voice and the name made him cringe for a moment and he blinked staring at the darkness. From within it a pair of red eyes stared back at him and he grabbed the bars leaning forward.
“Morrigan. Holy shit it’s you?”
“Yes.” Her voice was strained. She slowly crawled forward and grabbed on the bars of the cell. She dragged herself upward and he finally saw her through the dim light. Her face was bruised and bloodied. One of her eyes was barely open. Her fingers hands shook slightly as she held onto the bars.
“What did they do to you?” he asked slowly and she laughed without humor.
“There’s a lot that they did to me. They called it interrogation. It seems the Sanctum truly does remember my Queen.” She pressed her forehead against the bars and then looked at him. “I didn’t see outside these walls. But I could guess at where the twins might be kept.”
“Where? How far out?” he asked. “We need to break out of here first but that’s better than nothing.”
“You mean you need to break out.”
“What? You’re not going to help out?”
“I can’t.” She glared at him and even that didn’t have the bite that it normally did. “They drugged me with something. I’m not recovering fast enough. And with the interrogation on top of it I won’t be worth anything when shit hits the fan.”
She sank down to her knees and slumped against the bars for support. “You’re a knight of Cerise. Isn’t there like, I don’t some blood thing we can do?”
“We’re in a prison. I’ll be lucky if I can walk let alone leave this place. I am not the priority Vincent.” That was the first time she’d ever used his name before so he quieted down and listened. “Those twins are. You’re going to rescue them.”
“And we’re going to rescue you.” He said with finality and she rolled her eyes slowly.
“You’re stubborn,” she shook her head slowly but chuckled. “I’m not a map maker so forgive me if this description is not precise.” He couldn’t help but smile slightly at that. “There’s a spiral stair case from here. It’ll lead to the floor above but that’s not the main floor of this place. There’s another dungeon. They dragged me from a room straight down there. In the opposite direction, I felt power. Or rather I should have felt power but it was blocked.”
“Blocked?”
She scoffed. “I keep forgetting you have no magical ability.” She rolled her eyes slowly. “It’s like seeing through a fog. Whatever the Sanctum uses to subdue mages makes it difficult to locate them as well.”
“Right. So once I get out of here take the opposite path that you did and hopefully find and free the twins. Come back and rescue you and get out of here.” He said and she shook her head.
“You’re so damn stubborn.” She said a spit onto the ground, coughing into her palm. “Your priority is those two above all else.”
The old man coughed and spoke up again. “You know you haven’t answered the most important question.”
He scowled looking toward the old man. “Really starting to not like you geezer.” He said and started patting down his own clothes and going to his sleeves. A few times he came up empty and others his clothes were torn in a lot of places but he managed to find a few tiny rods. Nodding quickly, he linked them together so that he had about two of them.
Once he was at the door he slid the two rods into the gates lock and started moving it slowly. Picking and sliding against the gears. He felt the slight shakes of the lock and slid it further and further past until finally he heard a loud clunk. Taking a step back he slowly slid the door open and smirked.
Snatching the two lock picks back and sliding them into his boots he walked toward Morrigan’s cell and crouched to look at her. She looked back at him and the red of her eyes dulled slightly. He didn’t know what to say so rather than force himself to say anything he just nodded toward her.
Moving quickly, he kept going and slowed down to look at the old man. Sadly, he was sitting too far in the corner for him to get a good look at him. “Well look at that. I made it out didn’t I?” he asked and the old man grunted.
“You won’t get far.”
Throwing him a middle finger Vincent went down the hallway in the same direction that he’d seen the soldiers rock after dropping off Morrigan. The door itself wasn’t heavy but it didn’t take some effort to force open. Stepping inside slowly he thought about closing the door behind him but he decided to just leave it there.
The stairs were exactly as she described, a long spiraling sort. The steps were somewhat uneven which was just fine, expecting any sort of luxury for them wasn’t high on his list. The air at least got better in quality. Less stale but still just as bad scent wise. Squinting his eyes slowly he continued until he got to another door.
Wooden and heavy like the one down below. Except this one was on the stairs and blown wide open. He stared at it trying to figure how it got on the stairs like this. He climbed them and broken out onto the strangest sight he’d seen in a while. Especially since meeting the three of them.
His hand went to his hip but of course there was no sword there for him to draw. So he tried to be as unassuming as possible as he walked down the hallway. It was stone just like the one before it. There were more torches out here but a few of them here weren’t lit. Most of them weren’t actually.
He remembered what Morrigan said and turned around to look down the opposite hallway. And that wasn’t a sight he was ready for. A soldier torn apart on the ground. Chest and legs on opposite sides of the room. Leg and arm in a cell. Blood and viscera everywhere. He held a hand to his mouth and nose to block it out.
“Alright this is new.” He stared at the stained armor. The head was even crushed, the metal crumpled and a red and pink paste leaking from within it. Ignoring that part, he picked up the soldier’s sword. A nice hunk of steel though sadly nothing special about it. Keeping it in hand he grabbed one of the dying torches and started forward.
For some reason, this floor was a lot colder than before. He could see his breath on the air. Each slow breath creating mist and clouds. Most of the cells up here were empty. The doors note even opened. As he walked the silence was getting to him, somewhat unnerving. He was really hoping that whatever killed the soldier had gone the other way but knowing his luck that wasn’t the case.
He walked up to a broken cell door. Mangled and torn against the ground. It was damn near wrenched off its hinges. He walked toward it holding the torch against it. There were claw gouges deep inside it. He walked toward the other end and there more claw gouging’s as well. Whatever did this was strong and probably big too.
Gripping the sword tighter he stepped into the cell knowing better but he had to investigate at least a little. He wished the torch was brighter though. Holding it against the walls they were blank and as he followed the length of the room the place was empty. Whatever had come in didn’t stay. Or maybe it hadn’t gone in one at all.
He turned around to leave and the entirety of the cells door was filled. The six armed beast huffed at him, several eyes staring at him. First there were only four around the head but then it doubled to sixteen and then more. Too many for him to count easily. He stared at the thing his skin crawling as the creature let out some sort of high pitch whine.
He shrugged his shoulders gripping the torch and sword. “Alright. Let’s get this over with.”
The Harlequin Library 