He phased into the spiritual realm, more spectral than truly invisible, passing through the shackles binding his wrists as six of the soldiers standing guard around them drew their bows and released their arrows.
Seth had begun to react. Levi hadn't yet. Several guards had started to release their swords with bloodlust in their eyes.
Six arrow shafts split the atmosphere toward the place where Ethan had been standing and where his friends still stood. He danced elegantly among the arrows, turning to each in turn with gentle glancing sweeps of his hands, caressing them into changes of trajectory-the archers becoming the new targets.
As six arrows dashed into the right thighs of the six archers who had fired them, Ethan's spiritual blade split into two, leaping to his hands already in motion. He divided each of the other guard's swords through their scabbards, barely a blur to the naked eye, even before the men could finish drawing them.
Ethan became fully flesh once again. His empty manacles completed their descent to the purple runway carpet behind him with a dull clank. Levi jumped, only having just begun to raise his bound hands, trying to ward off the archers he'd known were going to fire. The archers, for their part, fell to the floor in pain, grasping their wounded legs, as stunned as anyone.
King Stephen stood there, heaving, his mouth agape in disbelief. The court fell silent as gasps of alarm and the sound of severed sword blades hitting the floor died away. After a long moment, staring at Ethan, Stephen said, 'You can't be him.'
Ethan straightened, a calm assurance he'd never felt before growing in his chest. 'I am Shaddai's Deliverer, Your Highness. In the name of The Sovereign Lord of Creation, I demand that you release us.'
No one moved. The guards looked at one another, then to their king, dumbfounded. Levi smiled, all teeth, raising his manacles with a shake, intending that someone produce a key to affect his immediate release.
Ethan might have rolled his eyes at his friend, but felt the moment required a firmer stance. He had expected the King's obstinacy to evaporate; only it didn't.
King Stephen looked shocked, as though Ethan had just slapped his face. 'What did you say to me, boy? I'll have your head before you demand another thing from me! And your traitorous friends will share your fate.'
Ethan tried to calm down, to think rationally. Something wasn't right here. Why was the King acting this way? He sensed Seth and Levi's unease now. They were preparing to move fast if it became necessary.
Ethan's flesh tingled as though ants were crawling underneath his skin. And then he realized what was happening. He searched beyond what natural sight could show him. His vision shifted somewhat. Black tendrils of smoke became visible to him. They seemed to emanate from the king's throne, as though it had been on fire briefly and then extinguished.
He heard the voices too-many of them all whispering at once. Wicked, blasphemous thoughts full of venom were seeping into King Stephen as he stood near the silver throne. Ethan lunged instinctively for the King. He shifted from the physical to the spiritual realm-barely a visible specter when he passed through Stephen's body with his raised sword.
Piercing shrieks rose from the throne, multiplying in intensity as Ethan slashed down through the ornate silver chair with its regal purple upholstery. He cleaved the high back in two diagonally, with his first strike, then severed the seat and arms from the base with his next.
Spirits, like gnashing black eels, shot away from the ruined piece of furniture. King Stephen collapsed upon the platform, a marionette whose strings had been cut. The spirits evaporated-their screeching curses the only residue remaining until all fell silent again.
Ethan returned to his physical form as people rushed to the fallen king. 'Is he still alive?' Levi asked.
Ethan felt Stephen's heart still beating in his chest and sighed with relief. 'Yes, he only fainted, I think.'
'I saw those serpents come out of the throne when you destroyed it,' Levi said. 'What were they?'
'I suppose they must have been some sort of demon I've never encountered before. They may have caused the King to act that way.' Ethan hoped he was right. This theory would answer many things and keep them from going to war with the King in his own throne room if he recovered.
Levi stood up, assuming command. 'All right, you lot,' he said, referring to the guards who stood about gaping at the madness they had just witnessed and their king still lying unconscious on the throne room floor. 'Let's get King Stephen into his bedchamber on the double.' When they dawdled around, looking at one another, Levi raised his voice even louder. 'What's the matter? Haven't you ever seen a demon possessed chair before? Now, get moving, or I'll inform the King of your laziness when he wakes up!'
This appeared to be enough incentive. Men quickly came out of the woodwork to help move the King safely into his own bed. Levi looked pleased with the turn of events and their escape from kingly wrath, until he realized no one had ever released him. 'And let's get a key on these manacles, shall we?'
INTRUDER
Gideon watched silently, from a patch of thick yellow grass, for two hours, as the two guards stood half asleep before the main gate, leaning precariously upon their spears. The sun had set more than two hours ago, and he felt sure that he had their routine pretty well figured out.
Every half hour, the guards were required to call out 'all's well,' and the gatekeepers replied in kind. Gideon hoped they might follow a standard protocol, relieving these men now that nightfall had come. This meant he wouldn't have long to act.
With the night as his cover, Gideon eased from his patch of grass so that its rustling wouldn't startle the men. He approached silently, remaining out of view of the guard who should have been facing him but was instead trying precariously to get his pipe lit. Gideon sprang.
He snapped the neck of the guard nearest him; the one with his back turned, relieved the man of his spear and swung it toward the man with the pipe just as the guard raised his eyes to the disturbance. The wooden end of the spear struck him across the mouth, sending the lit tobacco flying through the darkness like scalded fireflies. The guard mumbled in pain, but with a broken jaw, he wouldn't be crying out any alarms in the near future. Gideon stuck him across the back of the neck and he fell unconscious with several of his own teeth oozing out from between his bloody lips.
Gideon worked fast, pulling the unconscious man out of sight into the undergrowth. The other guard he relieved of his uniform. He hid the body before assuming the man's post with spear in hand.
He didn't have long to wait before a cry spread across the wall to change the guard. Gideon waited until he heard a slide in the gate and a man calling to him from the other side. 'Ready to come in for the night, lads?'
'Aye, it's getting a bit chilly out here and I need to relieve myself, besides,' Gideon replied. The man closed the slide, where only his eyes had peered through into the darkness, and began to unfasten the mechanism holding the main gate into its locked position. He heard the clank of heavy metal, the withdrawal of counterweights, and knew he never would have forced it open. He smiled. This was too easy.
First one guard, then another emerged from the gate as it opened slightly behind Gideon. He stood his post just inside the torchlight, waiting for these men to notice the obvious.
'Hey, what happened to Izzy?' the first guard asked.
'I told you, I need to relieve myself,' Gideon said. 'Izzy couldn't wait.'
The second man wandered toward the darkness, calling for Izzy as the first replacement turned to face Gideon. When the man saw his face in the light and didn't recognize it, he started to cry out. Gideon lashed out like a viper and hit the man in the throat with two fingers. The guard gasped weakly, once, before Gideon followed through with an elbow, covered in metal gauntlets, to the face. Down he went. Gideon caught the other man before he could turn completely around. He brought the handle of his spear down on the man's collarbone with enough force to send the guard crashing, unconscious, to the ground.
Within moments a call of 'all's well,' resounded across all stations upon the wall above him. Gideon paused from hiding the unconscious men's bodies and called out to them. 'All's well!' The main gate still stood askew. He now had one half hour in order to get a few essential supplies and escape through the other side of the fortress before anyone realized the main gate had been compromised.
Gideon squeezed inside the gate and pulled the large lever to reset the spring and lock on the main gate. A dirt courtyard opened up beyond the raised portcullis above him. Sheep bleated contentedly in a pen to his left
