Black wizards - Douglas Niles [113]
Alexei led them away from the direction in which the king and the wizard had fled. The mage moved stiffly, and suddenly he stumbled and fell headlong.
"Come on," encouraged the prince, lifting him under the arms. The man was no heavier than a straw dummy.
Once they heard a sound behind them. Pausing momentarily, they heard the pounding of heavy boots and the clanking of weaponry somewhere in the distance. Pursuit had begun! Urging the mage to move faster, Tristan and Daryth pressed urgently along the slippery passage.
"Slow down," cautioned Alexei. The wizard examined the water-streaked walls of the corridor as they moved carefully along. He seemed to be searching for something, and at last he held up a clawlike hand.
"Here!" he said, pointing at a blackened stretch of stone that looked no different from any other part of the tunnel walls. He reached forward and tried to twist a small outcropping of rock, cursing as his broken hands could not grasp the small and slippery surface.
"Help," he mumbled in frustration.
Daryth stepped forward and twisted the knob of rock. Nothing happened. He tried again, maneuvering it this way and that, and suddenly they heard some kind of mechanism click within the walls.
With a slow creaking, the stone wall swung away, revealing a passage barely as high as a man, and no more than three or four feet wide. They could hear the heavy tramp of pursuing guards as they stepped through the opening and saw the secret door close behind them.
* * * * *
We'll be in Doncastle soon. You'll be amazed, I promise you! Lord Roarke is quite ingenious – the defenses are his idea." The bandit, who had called himself Evan, chattered away under the influence of the charm spell.
"And all who live there are outlaws?" asked Kryphon. He was annoyed with the man's loquaciousness, but the information he provided was certainly valuable.
"All of us," boasted Evan, as if the term 'bandit' was a badge of honor. "The king and his wizards have tried, time and again, to conquer us – but we have always driven them off!"
"How do you face the magic of the king's army?"
"We have a magic-user and a cleric of our own. We used to have the support of the druids, until the king and his wizards drove them away – or killed them!"
Kryphon smiled privately, relishing that personal triumph. The battles with the druids had been savage, but wizardry had prevailed. "I would like to meet some of these… spellcasters. Perhaps you could introduce me when we reach the city?"
Before Evan could answer, Kryphon felt a familiar pull upon his arm, accompanied by the languorous press of Doric's body. They had been walking for several hours, and he knew that she was getting tired.
"Can't we stop for a while?" she whispered, plaintively. "You and I can take a little rest. We'll still get to this city before dark!"
"No!" he hissed, pulling his arm away. He realized that he was growing very tired of Doric. Her constant need for attention was becoming a burden. Sulking, she let go of his arm and walked ahead of him.
Kryphon was surprised and a little amused at how quickly his affection had cooled for the woman. He looked at her now, and he saw a gaunt scarecrow where before he had seen a desirably slender woman. In the past, he had vanquished her poutiness with physical release or by allowing her to exercise her incessant need for cruelty. Now he found her moods tiresome and annoying.
Perhaps, he mused, he could find a young woman more to his liking in Doncastle.
* * * * *
Alexei could scarcely believe his luck. Rescue! He chuckled inwardly at the irony of its source: the ones his former master had worked so diligently to destroy! His weariness and pain were forgotten as he shuffled along with Tristan and Daryth. His body grew numb to the efforts of their march.
But his mind whirled with possibilities.
The hatred that had sustained him in the darkness of his