Through Time
By Dabeagle
Chapter 3
The door in the stone wall opened into a passageway concealed in shadows. Roland said he would stay behind so as not to raise suspicion and make things harder for us if he was found to be missing. The orbs in our packs began to glow and Keir removed one and held in front of him to guide us down. We descended a slow spiral that was filled with cobwebs and small creatures that scurried out of our way. The orb initially gained steadily in strength, and then its color slowly turned milky and then began to fade.
I was second in line and was vaguely disappointed that William wasn't in front of me. A wave of guilt washed over me about my complaining about his lack of speaking. How awful that must be to not be able to talk, to not ever speak words of love or passion. I felt my cheeks growing hot at the thought of that and turned to glance at William, silent and catlike as he walked behind us. He grinned shyly and I returned it and turned back around in time to stumble into Keir.
"Jeez, watch what you're doing!" He hissed.
"Sorry." I mumbled.
We continued to descend in the fading darkness and the orb continued to lose its light until it winked out entirely. We continued to spiral downward in the total darkness when I heard William flail suddenly and stumble unto me, arms moving wildly.
"Wait, what's wrong? Hold on!" I whispered loudly. He ceased his thrashing and I reached for him in the darkness. I found a huge spider web, or what felt like one on his face. I slowly removed it, savoring the feeling of touching his smooth face, and trailing my fingers over his mouth. Strictly to remove cobwebs, you understand. I ran my fingers through his hair thoroughly and got all the offending wisps off of him and then helped him to his feet. I wish I could see his face right now!
"Did I get it all? You okay?" I asked, immediately wondering how he'd answer me. He reached out and fumbled for my hand and then raised it to his face to show me he was smiling. Smiling! I glowed inside right up until I got an elbow in the ribs.
"Hey, look there’s some light!" Keir said. Little pest! We moved forward and found the source of the light streaming through a crack in the wall, another secret door but slightly less concealed I guessed from the gap that showed the light that was flickering and wavering under the bottom of the door, must be torchlight. How far down were we?
I felt around the edges of the door but found nothing that would release the panel. William gently nudged me aside and then took my hand in his, not that I fought it off or anything, and placed it about knee level. I felt a small indent in the rough surface, but he kept dragging my hand until I found the edge of the door, which was beveled. Inside the doorway was a small circular stone, which he forced my fingers to depress. The stone slid easily into the door and the door slid silently out of the way, like an elevator door almost 'cause it slid rather than swung out. I poked my head out and looked into the passage we had been led into. It was very dim with torches festooned to the walls every fifteen or twenty feet. Keir and William had stepped into the passage with me and as the door closed I realized I was still holding William's hand. I withdrew quickly and began to feel very grateful for the dimness of the corridor so my burning cheeks could not be seen.
"Which way?" I asked William. His face was completely neutral, the smile he'd worn in the passage vanished as if it had never been. Not that I was keeping track of such things. He started off and I realized that there was a gentle slope downwards in this corridor and it grew cooler as we went. At last we stepped into a large antechamber, which was the cellblock. We huddled in the arch as we surveyed the room. The lone guard was slumped in his chair, head at an odd angle. Couldn't be comfortable for sleeping, that's for sure. Quietly and with great care William led the way and we followed down the cellblock peering into the cells, many crammed so full that people who were very likely dead were standing pressed tightly to the bars of their prison.
We continued on to the end of the chamber where a smaller corridor led to a smaller cellblock, and here the horror truly began. A woman was hanging, hands impaled on iron hooks and the skin on her back flayed open. Her... her groin was caked with dried blood, as though abused in a most vicious manner. The woman dangled, fine satin gown puddled on the floor, spun golden hair soiled and missing in clumps where only ragged flesh remained.
William opened his mouth in a silent scream and dropped to his knees, mouth straining to vocalize the pain his heart felt. Large tears puddled in his eyes and I felt my stomach heave and I turned to the wall and threw up what felt like every meal I'd ever eaten. William continued to stare, eyes looking as though they would fall out at any moment, pain in evidence as his mouth moved in vain. Slowly, he stood and I went to help steady him.
William tottered and gasped as his mouth moved in silent prayer. He opened his eyes and walked unsteadily towards the woman and kneeled, placing his hands on his lips and then over her heart. He then rose and removed her impaled hands, catching her tattered body and laying it gently upon the stone floor. I stepped to him slowly.
"Who was she, William?" I asked in a low voice.
He pointed to himself and then to the sky.
"Your mother?" I asked, still very quiet.
He nodded yes, and then pointed over his head again.
"Yeah, I guess she went to heaven," I said with sadness.
He shook his head and pointed up, then made as if he was placing a ring or something on his head. I looked at him in confusion and he repeated the action, and then placed his imaginary circle over the woman's head.
"She's the queen?" I asked. "Roland's Mother?"
He nodded affirmatively.
"But then, you and Roland are..." He nodded with a sad smile. I turned this over in my mind. He took the tattered remnants of the dress and, after closing the wide and staring eyes, covered her face. He stood then and began to inspect the room. It was circular and had four doors in it, one closed. He went immediately to the door and peered through the peephole set in the door. He pushed on the door and found it locked. We would need the keys from the sleeping guard. I headed back out to the main chamber and crept silently to the guard who moved not at all. Boy, what a deep sleeper!
The keys were on a small ring of hammered steel on the rough-hewn table next to the guard. As I reached for the keys I got my first real glimpse at the guard. His eyes were wide and staring, much like the woman in the other room. His neck had looked odd because it was, a purplish band running around its visible surface, bulging in a very un-normal way. Suddenly my stomach revolted again and I dry heaved, stumbling away from the dead guard and leaning against the wall for support. William stepped out and placed a concerned hand on my shoulder. My skin was torn between the electricity of his touch and the scenes that played in my head of that poor woman and this young guard. I stood again quickly, forcing my feet under me and grabbed the keys, unmindful of their jingling due to the indifference the guard was sure to have. William and I strode to the one locked door and I inserted the first key, which failed to turn. I tried six more before the tumblers fell. William pushed on the door that squealed open in protest.
Chained to the wall was a man, dark hair who was facing away from us. His skin was flayed open on his back, much like the woman's had been. He turned his head slowly, painfully and we saw the defiant power in his eyes.
"William! Thanks be! Help me, these bindings are laced and I cannot break them," the man said vigorously. William took the keys from me and worked them to the lock on the restraints, finally getting the right key, and the man fell to his knees with exhaustion.
"The guard," he panted. "Dead?" he asked haltingly from pain as the wounds on his lashed back broke open and blood ran feely down his broken skin. William nodded and twisted his own head for emphasis.
"I thought so, but I couldn't be sure. My physical self is so weak I can't do much. I couldn't feel if I got him or not. The shackles were laced with belladonna, and you know that limited me even further. But as days pass, I find I grow in strength as the sun glides ever deeper into shadows." He glanced at William and gave him a small smile, "I felt you coming, so the guard's time had come, poor misguided lad." He rubbed his wrists and slowly stood to his feet. He took stock of Keir and myself, as we still stood in the doorway, side by side by side by side.
"And you two, we have been waiting for you," he said, with a small smile on his face. William glanced at us in curiosity.
"William, do you know who they are? Think carefully and remember your teachings, though they may have stopped. Can you think of any knowledge that might apply to them?" he said quietly, his voice carrying power.
William, for his part, looked confused as he studied us. I was growing uncomfortable, like an animal on display, and was wondering how William could possibly tell him what his answer was, should he have one at all.
"No? Well, open your mind as Asmodean teaches," he said to William and then turned to us. "You have much of my power with you. You carry it even now. You have heard my voice and taken instruction, and now we should know of each other. Your packs, please," he said, holding out his hands.
As if in a trance we handed our packs to him, practically in unison. Why am I doing this? I wondered. It has all our food and clothes, but I seemed powerless to stop.
"When the surprise attack came I was only able to cast part of the slow time spell, and that is why we repeat the day again and again," he said while unlacing the tops of the packs. "Malodur shackled me and drained as much as he could from me, but he's greedy and instead of destroying it, he hid it in hopes he could add it to himself somehow. Now it will return to me."
He set the packs on the stone floor and reached into one, and it glowed bright blue, almost as a blue sun would, and he held it aloft in his hand. His feet lifted off the ground about a foot and the orbs began to float out of the packs, slowly spinning and orbiting the wizard. Asmodean slowly turned as well, and when his flayed skin was visible, an orb crashed into the broken skin and ruptured, spraying blue over his tortured body.
I stood in shock, as he did not disintegrate as the bullet and gun had earlier, but the blue glow seemed to tug at and seal the ragged breaks in the flesh, making a bloody ruin whole and healthy again. The glow continued over his body until he was a blue sun being orbited by small azure suns. These orbs slowly began to seep their eerie blue contents and swirl in to a dazzling blue aura that whipped around him without disturbing the air at all. The swirling blue, which looked vaguely like clouds, swirled ever closer and finally settled on the wizard’s body, sinking into him.
"At last! I have my strength, and my wits to defend with!" He spun on his heel. "William, do you have the answer?"
William jumped as if he had been in a trance and nodded his head to the affirmative. He lifted his hand to show a ring, intertwined colors ran on circles, like a twisted rainbow. The Blue and Green bands were shining with a light all their own.
"Yes, they have come at last." Asmodean turned to see us again as he spoke. "Legend, which gave way to myth and was almost forgotten to time, foretold your coming. And your eyes confirm my hopes and suspicions."
I Turned to Keir and nearly jumped out of my skin as his eyes were glowing the brightest blue, the white gone altogether. He in turn had backed away from me, and I was grateful and worried at once. What was wrong with him?
"Aaron, your eyes!" Keir whispered in awe.
"Mine?' I said, "Yours are glowing blue!" I exclaimed.
"Yours are green, really bright. Like everywhere you had white it's all green now!" Keir said with more wonder than fear in his voice.
"My eyes turned green?" I said worriedly. Nothing else looked green, like I wasn't looking through a tint or anything. I turned and looked at Asmodean and William.
"What's happening?" I asked nervously.
William looked at me in awe, as though I was a strange bug under a glass, and I can't say I was happy about it. Asmodean merely smiled benignly and motioned us out of the cell.
"We must find a safe place first. Soldiers are coming, and it is usually wiser to avoid conflict if one can." And with that he strode out of the chamber with us in tow. William kept giving me sidelong glances and I grew more nervous and embarrassed with every step.
We passed the overcrowded cell and the dead guard and headed into the passage we had used to reach the prison. Asmodean halted quite suddenly and turned to Keir.
"Watch closely," he said and moved his hands in half arcs over the wall. The wall parted as if it were liquid, showing a hidden passageway. He reversed the motion and the rip in the wall closed as if it were never there.
"Now you try," he said to Keir. Keir looked at him wide eyed and asked just how he was supposed to do that.
"Listen carefully," Asmodean said with patience. "You have energy locked in you right now. Magic has been worked near you and awakened the abilities you have. The same for your traveling companion. You must begin to wield the magic as soon as you can, and so start with something simple, like opening a sealed passage."
Keir looked at him like he had three heads and was sprouting a fourth. "I can't work magic, or whatever it is you just did to that wall!" Keir exclaimed.
Asmodean looked at him patiently but with purpose as well. "The presence of the blue energy in your eyes indicates you have the power to perform magic like this." He moved his hands in the half arcs again and the wall in front of him parted again, and once again he closed the passage the same way. He turned to Keir. "Now place your hands like this and concentrate on seeing the wall shift as you saw it do a moment ago," he said, placing his hands out, palm out in front of him.
Keir hesitated for a moment then placed his hands in a similar stance. Asmodean instructed him to move his hands in the fashion he saw when he had opened the doorway, and Keir complied. He inhaled sharply and the wall shimmered and then parted.
"Good, let's go," Asmodean said matter-of-factly and entered the passage. "Seal the door behind you," he said to Keir as he waited for us on the other side of the doorway. We stepped through, William and I standing behind Asmodean and Keir as Keir moved his hands over the doorway and it sealed us in darkness.
A blue flame leapt from Asmodean's hand and lit the passageway. He showed Keir his finger and asked him if he could see the pattern. What pattern? Keir nodded yes and a moment later a small blue flame leapt from his pointer finger. I was in shock, to say the least. What the hell was all this?
Asmodean moved down the passageway until we reached a cavern-like opening. With a small wave of the lit finger, torches around the room leapt to life, and the shadows were chased from the room. He sat down with his legs crossed and slowly lifted off the ground about three inches.
"Now is the time for questions and answers. First, some important information," he said, looking at us seriously as we took seats on the floor. We waited for him to continue.
"Names?" he said looking from Keir and then to me and back again. "Or shall we dub you the Green and Blue Wizards?" he asked. William chortled and I felt my cheeks warm. What did he mean wizards?
"I'm Keir, and he's my best friend Aaron. Are we really wizards?" he asked excitedly.
"Yes, both of you. To our people you are known as Quantum Wizards, because you have a foot in more than one plane of existence. It was foretold you would come to free this land from its shackles of war and unite it under the banner of peace and acceptance."
My mouth must have looked like it unhinged. He was nuts! Quantum Wizards and planes of existence? He looked directly at me.
"No I am not 'nuts' as you put it and that is what you are, like it or not." He looked back and forth at the two of us. "The Quantum Wizards are very special, and very powerful. They each work with nature, in harmony, usually with one element. For example, Keir's eyes turned blue due to his ability to work especially well with the planet's energy. He can still work general magic, like the doorways, but his real strength lies in Air. You," he said, looking at me, "have green eyes due to your abilities with nature and weather. You'll find Water and plants will respond to your bidding, and weather will become a close friend of yours."
I have to admit my curiosity was getting the better of me, but I was still skeptical.
"If I can work magic, why did I see no pattern when you asked Keir if he did see one? He said he did, but I didn't," I asked.
"Because Air is used in Fire. Fire being primary and Air a component, you couldn't see it, or very little. Now if it had been pure Air, for example a wind spell, you would have seen it because Air contains Water. Like this," he said and held his hand out, palm down. Air began to shift under his face-down palm and a small cyclone sprang to life, tossing dust about and sucking it into a whirlpool of air. And I did see something, it looked like... almost like a circuit board, like the pattern of the metal paths engraved on the board. It was like a map.
"Yes, like a map, a template or recipe, whichever suits you best. And now that you see it, follow my example," he said quietly.
I placed my hand out hesitantly and faced it palm down. I imagined the circuit in my head and felt a small breeze, but nothing happened. I looked at Asmodean and he nodded to try again. I looked at his pattern carefully, and noticed a part I hadn't thought of, and so tried again. I felt a small suction on my hand and looked down in surprise as a small cyclone spun and danced on the floor near my feet!
"Good. Now, Quantum Magic works well when mixed properly. For example," he said, placing a small piece of wood on the floor, "Aaron, concentrate your wind here instead of focusing under your hand." I did as he told me, and the suction on my hand was gone, replaced by a small whirlpool of air dancing on the wood.
"Now, Keir, place fire on the wood," Asmodean instructed.
Keir pointed at the wood and blue flame erupted from the wood, spurred into fiery life by the wind that fed it.
"Cheers, you have worked tandem magic. Now you see why Quantum Wizards are so dangerous? For one wizard to balance two spells is difficult at best, but for Quantums to work together, it can be devastating. They have to be trained carefully, to be masters in order to cooperate in battle and in peace. They are more powerful than any single wizard alone; when combined the Quantum Wizards harness the very planet. And that is why you are so important, why we have sought you out. To save Roland, and his mother, the Queen."
William turned his head sharply and looked at Asmodean at this last statement. Asmodean would not or could not face William. "She endures day after day, and each day she lives and dies. Tomorrow that changes." He looked at us. "Watch carefully; this spell will hold us in time much more solidly, not haphazardly as the spell that is working now does. Time cannot be stopped altogether, but it can be bent as most rules can."
He spoke in something that may have been close to Latin, and much that sounded like little more than grunts. I felt the hairs on my arms stand up and then I swear I saw time wash past us, like a wave of luminescent water.
"Now we have time to work," he said and nodded to William. "Take Keir and go get Roland. Show him some spells for practice on the way, and then bring Roland into the circle. I will take Aaron with me."
What? I wanted to be near William! I opened my mouth and Asmodean cut me off.
"He does too, but there is much to do and I need your help. Don't worry, there will be time later," he said, not unkindly. My mouth dropped and my cheeks burned, I looked at William whose eyes went wide and he hooked Keir's arm and disappeared down the passage the way we had come. I turned to face Asmodean.
"Okay buster, I'm not moving an inch until you explain a few things!" I said. Asmodean shook his head, "Later," he intoned and began to turn from me. I don't know where it came from, but I suddenly reacted, lashed out with a pattern I didn't know like it was second nature to me, and I saw the air tighten into a grip around Asmodean, binding him in place.
"I, ah, oh boy." I gulped. To say he looked surprised would have been to use understatement as the British do. It took no more than a moment for him to undo the spell, and he turned to face me.
"Already the planet speaks through you." He shook his head in wonder. "All right, let us speak then, here and now." He settled on a cushion of air once again and began to speak.
"Quantum Wizards used to be more commonplace than they are now, but they grew unruly and the planet's resources began to deplete. While they worked the planet's magic they would not die naturally; age was no factor to them. The planet would rejuvenate them and keep them young and vital. That was until Callas.
"Callas was a very powerful worker of magic, mostly of Air. He had a mastery of the weather that is still unequaled. Unfortunately, wind is also the most temperamental of the Quantum lines, and the weakest. Air ebbs and flows like the seas, and he simply passed in his sleep one evening, old and gray he was found to be in the morning. That should have been a herald, a wake up to the others, but casting and manipulation of the planet's energy had become commonplace and so much a part of everyday life that it was all but impossible to stop. One by one the energy did not exist to sustain them and they began to die off, some quietly like Callas, some much more violently. Energy workers were the worst to see die; it must have been painful, I know it was painful enough to see it happen." Asmodean grew quiet.
"So if I'm one of these people, I'm going to die like this?" I asked with just a little alarm in my voice. Just a little.
"That was thousands of years ago. The planet has healed, and Quantum Wizards are very rare. Most people now cannot feel the planet's energy, and therefore cannot be taught to use it. Others are so strong that they only need magic to be worked near them to fan the sparks inside them."
"Like with me and Keir?" I asked.
"Exactly," he replied.
"Ok, but what are we supposed to do with this power? And why did you tell William to teach Keir stuff? And how come it seems like.."
"I can read your mind?" he finished. I nodded, open-mouthed.
"Your thoughts are unprotected and near the surface of your conscious mind. Because we work in magic, our thoughts are more easily laced together. As to what you're supposed to do with this power, you're here for Roland, and the planet."
"What does that mean?" I asked with frustration.
"The planet is broken into many pieces, one at war with many others. States give way to countries that fall to outside attack, and then the conquerors are swept away by yet another set of invaders. Pillage and plunder is the normal behavior. Together we will change that. We shall unite the nations under one banner. And you were here to start with because you saw Roland in the mural in the practice chamber."
"Practice chamber? You mean where the portal is?" I asked.
He nodded. "New magic workers are trained in that room, and it was ideal to let you taste what you could do," he said.
"What do you mean, what I can do?" I asked, again laced with frustration.
"It was your energy that opened the portal, heightened by your need. And by your desire for Roland. In the end, your desire was not enough, but Keir's was ample, coupled with need to open the fickle portal." I was once again open mouthed about how matter-of-factly he spoke about the attraction between Keir, the two princes and myself.
"You asked about William. He was once very strong as well, and many spells can be cast with hand motions and concentration. But the more powerful spells require speech, and when he lost that ability, he lost the desire to work magic. You have to understand William; he was to be the warrior prince. As the younger of the two brothers he was considered expendable in political terms. The only way he could make his mark, please his father, was through combat. When Orund surprised him on the battle field, that all came to a stop." Tears stood in Asmodean's eyes. "William was my best student, better than Roland; all he can work is general magic. He worked very hard and it was doubly hard on him to lose that power. Now, he has a purpose again. He can teach, he can be instrumental in bringing peace despite the loss of his voice."
I digested this very carefully. William was obviously loved by his brother, and his mother was very important to him. Well, wait, was she? He was shocked, but he recovered quickly.
"We have little time for grief right now, so he moves on out of necessity, not from uncaring." I looked at him in frustration; I didn't like my thoughts to be read.
"It's not so bad really, why do you think William stays close to you?" Asmodean asked, a small smile skirting his features.
"What do you mean?" I asked cautiously.
"William can feel your thoughts and emotions as well. In fact, I felt him reach out and test your thoughts a few days ago, something he hasn't done in ages." Asmodean stood and stretched. "Certainly beats sitting in a pub and staring longingly all night wondering if he or she likes you enough that you dare to try and make friends, much less love."
"Hey! Who said I was interested?" I replied indignantly and a little fearfully.
"Your heart did, of course. Don't be alarmed about that! There is very little prejudice to do with your emotions. I do not share them, but naturally I want to see the princes happy," he said in a reassuring tone.
"And... do I make him happy?" I asked cautiously.
"Very. Now, time for your lesson. Your strength lies in Water, although as we saw wind and weather are quite reasonable in you as well as Earth should be in your range. Watch closely, I am going to teach you a spell called surface ripple." I pulled myself from thoughts of William and watched his motions carefully. The magic seemed to swell around him like a small green nimbus cloud, swirling and dancing in luminescence. He then pointed at the ground and a small ripple moved through the dirt, as if it was water and a pebble had been dropped on its surface.
I was impressed.
"Now, you try." I nodded slowly and brought the pattern to mind, and then pointed at the same spot. Nothing. I tried to focus harder, but to no avail.
"Do you see the pebble in the middle of the floor?" I looked and nodded. A small piece of dirty white quartz sat on the floor.
"Use it as a focus point, see the earth ripple around it. Focus calmly in your mind, there is nothing but the stone and earth."
I looked at the stone and imagined the earth as a still pond, but all I could generate was a puff of dust.
“You aren't strong enough in Earth, for you this is nothing more than a parlour trick. Imagine it taking place in the center of an army, with earthen waves standing as tall as hills. Make no mistake, the Earth has rage." He stretched and stood. "Time to move on, even if time has stopped, we don't have all day!"
"Indeed, you are right, your time has run out!" intoned a deep imposing figure emerging from he darkened tunnel.
William and Keir moved back down the passageway to the blank stone wall. William nudged Keir and held up one finger in a gesture to wait. He then pointed at the wall where the passageway was and moved his hand in a slashing motion. The gateway turned translucent and they could see into the passageway.
"Wow, can they see in from the outside?" Keir asked.
William shook his head no. A guard was stuck n place with his back turned to them, seemingly frozen by the thickening bands of time. William passed his hand over the gateway and it solidified again. Keir made the same slashing motion and the wall shimmered into an opaque translucence again. After being sure the guard would not see them, Keir opened the passageway, then sealed it behind them. They hurried up the passage to the stone wall where the door to the passageway was hidden.
Suddenly the Keep was alive with sounds, the shouts of men, the clang of armor and guards yelling. William's eyes sprang wide open and he quickly depressed the button to open the passageway. As the door slid open four armed guards stormed around the bend in the passageway heading in the direction of the jail. They charged the boys, who darted into the passageway.
"William, we have to stop them now, we have to fight! If they find this passageway it'll endanger Roland!" Keir said urgently.
William nodded, and turned to face the threat as they entered the passage. As the last of the four stood in the doorway, William moved his hands and the stone door to the passageway slammed shut, with the guard trapped in the wall. The three remaining guards were unaware of the fate of their comrade and charged up the stone steps towards the boys. Keir pointed at them and the air around them began to move. Dust swirled around them, as if they were in the eye of a hurricane, while the wind speed increased and swirled around their attackers. Small bits of loose mortar broke free from the walls as the wind howled. The armored men looked confused, and then tried to retreat. Their movements slowed as they became unable to draw breath in the gale around them; their weapons clattered to the ground without a sound, completely swallowed in the speed of the rushing air.
In moments it was over, the guards dead from lack of oxygen. Keir sincerely hoped some survived, but in his heart of hearts he knew he'd just killed them. He only felt marginally better realizing they'd have killed him, given the chance.
"How'd that happen? Asmodean's spell should have almost stopped everything, right?" Keir wheezed as they climbed side by side.
William held out his hands in fists, one next to the other and then pulled them apart.
"Someone broke the spell?" Keir asked. William nodded the affirmative in reply. They climbed in silence until they reached the top of the stairwell. Keir extinguished the flame on the tip of his finger and William made the door translucent. A guard sat in a chair across from them, and Roland was bound to the bedpost with rope that was firmly tied and he appeared to be unconscious. The guard was talking, but there was no sound permeating the wall.
Keir looked longingly at Roland and thought to himself, 'Oh man, if only the timing wasn't so bad!'. William nudged him in the ribs and Roland began to stir. Keir looked at William who just smiled and shook his head. William pointed at Roland and then began to move his fingers. The rope began to untie itself, slowly at first, and then with more speed. The rope moved across the room and began cinching the guard in the chair tightly to his perch. The guard woke suddenly and William made a circle of his thumb and forefinger, casting Quiet; and the guard was disabled. The heavy blanket from the bed lifted and crossed the room as well, and covered the guard so that the room was not visible to him. Then William opened the gateway and they entered the bedchamber.
Roland was dazed on the floor, slowly trying to stand. Keir took his wrists in his hands and began rubbing them to encourage circulation.
"What happened? I felt Asmodean cast, but then there was a counter casting, and his spell was gone. And hey!" He stood suddenly looking from William to Keir and back, "Who thought it was interesting to see me tied to the bed?"
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