The God-Stone War

Chapter 27

We climbed the stairs slowly. My nausea had almost completely passed, but either the poison or Karenth’s attack had left me feeling shaky, so my footing was unsure. Walter let me keep a hand on his shoulder, and as we neared the top he opened the conversation again, “So… about the ‘difficult’ part, I’m hoping you have a plan for this part as well, preferably one that doesn’t require using me as bait.”

“Don’t worry,” I replied brightly, “I don’t have any plans involving you at all.”

He stared at me suspiciously, “Somehow that doesn’t reassure me.”

“Actually, I didn’t expect to live this long. I figured Karenth would kill one or both of us before he finally entered the chamber,” I elaborated with a shrug of my shoulders. I probably wouldn’t have been so flippant if I had been alone, but since I had an audience in Walter, I felt I should make the most of my limited time before the poison finished me off.

Walter stopped, forcing me to come to a halt as well. “Earlier you said you had a plan.”

I gave him an apologetic look, “Well, originally the Ironheart Chamber was the backup plan, in case two of them came at the same time. I figured I had a good chance of handling, one if I could just trap the other one. Obviously that isn’t possible now.”

The other wizard gave me a serious stare for a moment before taking my arm firmly over his shoulder and changing direction. He didn’t bother uttering a word of explanation.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

He kept going, dragging me along without offering me a choice.

I wasn’t in the best shape, but I had enough strength to fight him to a standstill. “Dammit! Will you stop!?” I protested, “I’m not going anywhere till you explain yourself.”

“You just admitted you can’t fight, and you don’t have a plan. It’s time to leave and seek aid. There is still a chance Lady Thornbear knows of an antidote,” he answered stubbornly.

“No!” I argued, “If Doron finds his brother, he’ll free him and we won’t have accomplished anything.”

“If he finds you, he won’t leave enough behind to have a proper funeral, then he’ll search out his brother, and we will be even worse off without you to help when they come back to finish us next time,” returned Walter. Even I had to admit his reasoning was fairly sound.

“Damn you! Stop making sense,” I said, conceding his point. “Let me think for a moment. I have something in the back of my head.”

“Two minutes,” he said crossly. “Then I’m going to haul your obstinate ass out of here, even if I have to bind your arms and legs with magic and levitate you behind me.”

“I’m your liege. That would be an act of treason,” I threatened.

Walter was truly irritated. He spit on the ground in a most un-Walter-like fashion. “You can have me hanged afterward if you wish. You have a minute and a half left now.”

My mouth opened in protest, but I could see the conviction in his eyes. He meant it. Instead of debating, I focused on the problem at hand and ran through the possibilities in my mind. Try as I might, I could see nothing. Holding my hands up, I stared at them, their emptiness seemed to symbolize what I had left to use against Doron; absolutely nothing. With Karenth, I had had the advantage of an elaborate, enchanted trap and many carefully crafted lies. The biggest irony being that I had lied to everyone but the shining god. I had known he wouldn’t believe me. Instead, I had put the information I wanted him to believe, in the mind of someone he would have expected me to trust.

Of course, Karenth had been fairly intelligent. According to the rumors I had heard, his brother Doron was much simpler. A complex ruse would probably fail to work if the opponent was incapable of understanding the information presented to them.

“Your time is up? Have you produced a miracle?” said Walter sardonically.

I frowned, “No.” It felt like I had something tickling the back of my head.

Walter gestured and said a few words. My arms and legs were drawn to my sides, held there by an invisible force. Another word and I was lifted from the ground. Motioning with his hand, my body floated upright beside him, and the older wizard began walking in the direction that would lead us to the main entrance.

“Stop it! You’re taking us to the entrance anyway… they’re still fighting there. We will be spotted for sure,” I argued.

Walter laughed, “I’m a Prathion. No one spots me unless I choose it.”

And just like that, it all fell into place in my mind. “I’ve got it,” I announced.

My jailer ignored me and kept walking.

“Let me go Walter. I have an idea.”

He snorted, “I’ve heard that before.”

“Then just leave me here, this won’t require your help,” I suggested.

“Not a chance. How long do you think I’d live once the Countess discovered I’d left you behind?” he replied.

“Did I ever tell you the story of my chess match with Devon Tremont?” I said, changing the subject abruptly.

“Several times… are you planning to challenge Doron to a game of chess? Somehow I doubt he is a big fan of the game,” retorted Walter wryly.

I nodded, “You are probably correct, but as my father used to say, ‘there’s more than one way to skin a cat.’”

He ignored my clever allegory and continued walking. I floated behind him, drawn along as if by some invisible string.

“You know how much I enjoy games,” I continued.

“A selfish pleasure, since you usually win,” replied Walter, “But Doron isn’t going to take you up in a game of skill or strategy. He’s far more likely to crush your skull and make pudding out of your brains.”

“There’s one type of game that I sometimes lose, especially when I play Marcus,” I hinted.

“I’m not particularly interested in tossing dice and casting our lives away on a game of pure chance,” said Walter, “nor do I think Doron will consent to giving up his advantage. He has us at his mercy already.”

“Not dice, more like cards,” I corrected, “… and perhaps the advantage is ours. Perhaps the god of iron should be seeking mercy from us instead.”

Walter stopped. “I know I will regret this. Go ahead and explain what you’re thinking.”

I explained my plan intently while he listened. Once I had finished, he removed the spell binding my arms and legs and let me walk on my own feet again. I gave him one of my confident smiles, to let him know he had made the right choice.

“Don’t grin at me like that,” he groused.

“Why not?”

“Because your idea is one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. There is almost no way it will work, and when it fails, you and I will both suffer long and painful deaths,” he complained.

I ignored his pessimism, “Hah! You said ‘almost’. So you agree there’s a chance?”

He peered at his feet, “No, not really.”

“So why are you going along with me?” I asked, somewhat surprised.

Glancing up, Walter’s visage held an expression of sincerity. “Because of the way you said it,” he admitted.

That seemed a bit odd to me. “That’s a rather silly way of deciding something,” I told him.

He muttered something under his breath. I didn’t hear it clearly, but it sounded as if he said ‘you can’t fix stupid,’ one of my favorite mottos. I dismissed the thought. The phrase was utterly un-Walter-like.

“You have no idea what you’re like, do you?” Walter said questioningly. “Most of the time, you are completely oblivious to your effect on the people around you.”

“I have wondered,” I admitted, “but being a nobleman, now I’ve just assumed I will never get an honest answer regarding people’s opinions of me.”

“That isn’t really what I’m talking about, Mordecai. I mean the look you get, when you’re intent upon something,” said Walter.

I could tell he was about to drift into embarrassing territory, so I tried to divert him, “Are you referring to me sticking my tongue out of the side of my mouth when I concentrate?” I demonstrated what I meant. In point of fact, Penny had often told me it was an endearing expression.

He let out an impatient sigh, “No, I’m talking about your absolute confidence. Many times now, we’ve been in, what I thought, were hopeless situations, and whenever it happens, you always come up with something. It usually sounds implausible, and I frequently think it’s a bad idea, but I go along with it anyway.”

“You have to,” I interrupted, “I’m your liege. Obedience is mandated.”

“Don’t interrupt,” he grumbled, and then he snapped his fingers and vanished in front of me. His disembodied voice continued, “I don’t have to do a damned thing. I’m a Prathion, and one of the few living wizards that remain. If I wanted, I and my family would return to quiet obscurity somewhere far from anyone that knew us.”

“Point taken,” I agreed.

Walter reappeared as suddenly as he had vanished. “The reason I keep following you into dark caves,” he said, referring to the first time he had faced the shiggreth with me, “is because of your absolute conviction. It’s the look in your eyes and the tone of your voice. It tells me, and everyone else around you, that you are certain of your course of action. Even though you’re betting your life, and frequently the lives of many other people around you… you don’t waver or hesitate. You should though… any sane man would suffer some self-doubts or indecisiveness, but if you did, I imagine people wouldn’t follow you.”

I swallowed; my throat dry after listening to his revelation. I doubt myself constantly. Do I really seem so sure to others?

“That’s why I released you from the spell. That’s why I’m here, when every instinct in my body is screaming at me to get as far away as possible. I can hear it in your voice and see it on your face when you find your answer, and no matter how stupid it sounds to me, I can’t help but believe in you,” Walter finished.

There was nothing to say to that, so I put my arms out and embraced him. “One of these days you’ll get yourself killed following me around,” I stated somberly.

“You saved my life not long ago, and I probably owed you several for helping my family even before that. I’ll still be coming out ahead on the bargain, even if I die today,” answered the older wizard.

We didn’t talk for a bit after that, just walked, heading ever closer to the area that Walter indicated still had quite a bit of fighting. It wasn’t long however, before my friend held up his hand, gesturing to me that we should stop. “We’re close. There are at least twenty men ahead, fighting just past that door,” he pointed at a door that led into the scullery.

That room itself was of modest size, but it connected to the much larger main kitchen area. “How many of them are ours?” I asked.

“Only a few, Harold and two others, wear your armor. One of the enemy is fighting alongside them… no, wait… that’s Dorian!” stated Walter at last.

That puzzled me. “How could you confuse him for one of the enemy?” I questioned.

“He’s fighting naked,” said the other wizard. He didn’t bother to elaborate further, for I could easily understand the confusion that might cause him.

“That blast of Karenth’s must have completely destroyed it,” I postulated, remembering the moment earlier when he had intercepted the attack meant for my illusory self. “If we survive this day, he will never live this down,” I added. Dorian had always been easily embarrassed.