“Ryan,” began Eric, “I’d feel comfortable if you stayed here and guarded the entrance.”
“Sure,” replied the big man. Matt thought he didn’t look comfortable being left behind. Who could blame him?
Dravo motioned Matt over and whispered, “At the end of this hall is a room with as many as ten people. Can you subdue them?”
Matt thought about what spells he had ready for that and made a quick decision, pulling out a pouch and fishing inside for a small marble he finally retrieved. He stepped up to the hallway and put the marble in his palm.
“How far?” he asked. The corridor wasn’t lit. Only light from this end and the other filled it, but the flickering glow was faint at the other end and he wasn’t sure what he was seeing.
Dravo answered, “Fifty feet.”
“Straight?”
“Yes, but the room opens to the left for ten paces. There are several ways to leave that room, and if anyone does, it will be to alert others inside. We control the entrance, but they could reach the hostages before we stop them. They can also ring the bell, and then…”
Feeling like he understood the significance, Matt tried to ignore the pressure. It seemed like a long time ago when doing this or anything in front of others made him nervous. Now he only felt that way because failure meant people getting hurt, a different kind of pressure that made his old fears seem trivial. He shrugged it off, focused his will on the marble, and said the words of magic.
Safely fly through wind and air, burst with force, and strike what’s there.
The marble rose above his palm and floated down the hall into growing darkness as he focused on its movement. He only had a general sense of how far it had gone and stared hard for some sign it had emerged into the torchlight at the end. It was too far, and too dark, but he thought it had reached the end. Hoping for the best, he made a hand motion as if to swat something to his left. Someone shouted in elven just as Matt said another word and a percussive blast of air walloped everyone in that room, sending bodies into walls and whatever else was there. While he couldn’t see it, he heard the commotion of wooden furniture being overturned and metal falling to the floor. Maybe the noise made that an unwise spell. He nodded at Eric, who sprinted that way with Prince Dravo right behind and Matt following with everyone else.
Nearing the corner, Matt heard struggling and soon saw Eric deliver a kick to a guard’s head as Dravo held another dark elf in a headlock that was making the victim lose consciousness. Both scuffles were soon over. Eight bodies lay on the floor, along with two tables and several benches. Anna pushed past him and checked several.
“They’re still alive.”
“They should be out for a while,” Matt remarked, his voice still low. Suddenly he saw movement from a hall to one side. Eric saw his alarm and chased after a dark elf with one of their human guards following. A shout in elven rang out from there, and Dravo grabbed his arm.
“With me.” The prince turned toward a stairway leading down and descended with Matt coming as fast as he could, lifting his robe with the hand that didn’t hold Soliander’s staff. A glance showed Anna coming, too. When they reached the bottom, they saw a dark elf trying to close a metal gate ahead until Dravo threw a knife that struck the bars and bounced off.
“Down!” Matt shouted. He didn’t wait for Dravo to dive to the floor as he summoned a torrent of fire that hurtled down the hall from his staff and caused a shriek of pain. He stopped the flames to see two men on fire, the gate still swinging open. Dravo rose as they rushed forward and kicked his way in, their own guards moving to the left and right where other doors led elsewhere. A glance at once showed a water well inside, but then Matt was through the gate ahead, gagging at the burning smell of the two fallen elves. Behind him, Anna stopped to help them. He wondered if that was a good idea, but he also felt bad about what he’d done. The sight of white light surrounding and healing both men made him sigh in relief. As long as they didn’t get up again soon and become a problem…
They heard a commotion ahead as the short hall opened into a wide room with several jail cells full of humans, many of whom were rising, sleepy eyed and fearful. The smell told him of their poor condition, the sight of torn clothing, dirty hair, and smudged skin confirming it. No jailers were here, and he counted twenty-two, one short of what they had heard. He wished Ryan was here to do the nice sort of speeches he gave, or even Eric. Fortunately, Anna saved him from having to do it.
“Hello everyone,” she said, stepping toward the cells. “We are here to rescue you, but we need you to keep quiet and move quickly but cautiously with us. Do you
