Master of Chains - Jess Lebow [97]
They were wrong.
"Are you ready?" asked Ryder.
Curtis nodded. "Yes. I think so."
Ryder frowned at the illusionist. "What do you mean, 'I think so?'"
Curtis shrugged. "I mean I think I'm ready. I won't really know if I'm ready until I actually try to be ready. Judging from every other experience I have, all signs point to me being ready." He held a finger in the air. "But you never know. I provide no assurances."
Ryder shook his head. "Get on with it."
"Right," said Curtis, and he began to cast a spell. Waving his hands over Ryder's head, the illusionist spoke two quiet words then snapped his fingers.
Ryder looked down at his hands. All he could see was the dirt and stones on the ground below. His body was completely invisible.
"Guess I was ready," said Curtis.
"Good work," said Ryder. "Now head back and meet up with the others. You know what to do, don't you?"
Curtis nodded. "I think so."
Ryder sighed. "Well, I guess that will have to do."
"All right," said Curtis, and without another word he turned and walked back toward where the Broken Spear would be waiting for Ryder's signal.
Ryder watched the wall. When the first guards came into sight, he started counting. When the same guards had moved out of view, he crept closer to the drawbridge. Darting under the huge links, he jumped, grabbed hold of the massive chain, and clung to its underside. Then he waited, finishing the count he started when the guards had moved out of sight. From where he was, he couldn't see the patrolling guardsmen. He smiled. Even if he could, they certainly couldn't see him.
Hanging there, upside down, Ryder counted. When he reached three hundred he began to climb. Hand over hand, he pulled himself up the chain. He moved cautiously, not wanting to rattle the links or to call any attention to himself. He was invisible, but not silent.
The going was slow, but soon he was close to the top. The chain entered the wall just below the bottom of the crenellations. As he got close, Ryder could hear the guards conversing.
"Do you think there is any truth to the rumors that the Crimson Awl are planning a raid on Zerith Hold?" asked one man.
Ryder stopped climbing to listen.
"No," said another. "Haven't heard much out of them for a while."
Ryder smiled. By morning, they will have heard something out of the Awl.
He continued to climb until he got to the edge of the stone. The voices of the two guards grew softer as they moved on. When Ryder could no longer hear them, he hoisted himself up on top of the chain and through the hole in the wall.
Slipping inside, Ryder let himself down onto the darkened floor. As he had suspected, the chains ran through the wall and down into a torchlit courtyard beyond. About a man's height above ground level there was a raised platform that ran the entire circumference of the courtyard. In the middle of the platform, the iron links of the chains connected to a circular contraption that was covered with gears and had a large crank attached to one side.
Though the chain was the way Ryder had intended to enter the Hold, the platform below was not empty. Archers patrolled along the edge, looking down toward the wooden doors and iron portcullis, ready to pincushion anyone who set foot inside. If he climbed down the chain, he'd likely be heard.
Guess I underestimated this entrance, thought Ryder.
Though it was a clear night, a slight breeze blew through the openings in the wall. Turning away from the courtyard, Ryder scanned the space around him. Up here, where the chains ran through the stone, there was a narrow room. Only a small amount of light came in through the slits from the courtyard below, but it was enough for Ryder to see a ladder leading through the floor.
Better than taking the chain, he thought.
Placing his foot on the top rung, Ryder lowered himself one foot at a time into the shaft.
The ladder ended maybe fifty rungs below and left off hanging