Chapter 34: Afternoon Light

It was around ten minutes later that Alcar, soaking wet and dripping green algae but feeling very much relieved to be back on the surface, was finally able to look back towards Katresburg – from the outside.

The weather had cleared, and perhaps because he had spent so much time underground, it felt surprising to him to see that the sun was up. It couldn’t be later than mid-afternoon, it was clear to see. In fact, the sun was blazing down, and steam was beginning to rise from Alcar’s robes. Brutus shook his fur repeatedly, and then began to sniff at the nearby rocks.

With Lox’aar, they had emerged a little further east than where Alcar and the others had met with Kora a few days earlier. They stood on a low rocky ridge between two fields. To the south, very close now, lay a country track that Alcar was fairly sure was part of the same route that Kora had used when transporting them to the main city road recently. Further farmland lay to the east and west, with most of the fields surrounded by low picket fences.

To the south, however, the vast stretch of swamp could clearly be seen beyond the settlements, looking much as it did from any angle. The swamp was so enormous that it formed a barrier that cut right across Kamarok province, both to the east and the west of the city of Katresburg. Its rich, damp, earthy smell pervaded the area.

To the north-west of where they stood lay the city itself. Its tall city walls punctuated with their tall narrow towers was a very distinctive sight even from a distance. Alcar could now see that he had been basically correct in his assumptions – the tunnel had led right under the city walls and then taken him far distant from the city, curving towards the swamp, without his needing to return to the surface at any point.

Having got his bearings, he looked around at Lox’aar. “Thank you – you saved me! But tell me – how did you and Warlik get away from the Imperials?”

“Ahh,” said the lizard warrior, gesturing, and beginning to lead the way back towards the road. “It took me longer than I would like, I must confess. I had to replace my bow, though – that was the worst of it.”

“It didn’t take you very long – it’s only been a couple hours since we saw you.”

She shrugged and shook her head a fraction. “Enough time for judge, jury and executioner to do their work, if things had turned out differently. Or, more likely, for us to be forced to join the army, and marched off to war with the rest of the slave soldiers. But Warlik and I are perhaps too experienced and cunning to meet that fate.” She nodded silently for a moment. “Really, though, I must admit that you kids did us a huge favor. When the general decided to pursue you up onto the wall, we were left with only ten soldiers guarding us.”

“Still,” said Alcar, as they walked on. “Ten against two doesn’t sound like great odds. And you had your hands tied, if I’m not mistaken.”

Lox’aar made a high-pitched chortling sound. “I’ve always liked a challenge, Alcar. And frankly, those army drones are no match for us at the best of times. And then, when we saw Maluhk and Mac Shinter in the street...” She looked around at him, and winked.

“Oh – you saw my master? That’s great news.”

She nodded. “He helped us free ourselves.”

“And then you overpowered the guards straight away?”

“Aclar, Mac Shinter is a shadow knight. He could easily have beaten even ten Imperial guards with a blunt training sword. But Malahk’s sorcery is more subtle than swordplay. An incantation had them seeing things, chasing shadows around the road, leaving us free to simply walk away.”

At the mental image, Alcar immediately began to wonder how he could learn that particular feat of sorcery. And how he would gain further instruction in the arts, now. Nonetheless, he grinned warmly at the archer. “Nice.”

She shrugged. “That way has the advantage that the old knight didn’t need too be implicated in our efforts. Not yet. He remains in Katresburg, while Warlik and your master fled the city.” As she spoke, she paused; they were now only a couple of dozen yards from the farm track, with Brutus walking just ahead of the pair.

“So... why aren’t you with them now?”

“It’s good that you ask the right questions, kid. But the answer should be obvious. It’s standing right in front of me.”

Alcar glanced behind him, and then pointed to his chest with a surprised expression. “You came looking for me?”

“And for the others, of course. You were the hardest to find, I must admit, but there aren’t that many young sorcerers in green robes that pass through the Underground Halls of Spokash. And with a dog, too! I spoke to Ta’rox –a warrior from my clan who I believe you spoke to – and found out what I needed to know. It’s just lucky I got there in time, before anything worse could happen.”

Alcar shuddered and nodded, thinking of the enormous gray spider again. “Thanks again,” he said. “Without your advice and protection, Brutus and I would be... well...”

“Unconscious, and wrapped up in a web,” she said. “I would have been lucky to catch sight of you if that had happened. But all the same, we try to help our comrades, and never give up. You can count on that, if nothing else.”

“I am grateful.”

“You are most welcome, Alcar. Allies and adventurers, right? But I’m afraid I now must leave you.”

Alcar frowned, looking around at the archer. “Leave me? But why?”

Lox’aar pointed off towards the swamp. “The plan remains. You and the other apprentices can go to the Trollbone Hills to seek out the codex. I will travel with Warlik to the heart of the swamp to follow one of the other leads. There have been multiple sightings of the book – only rumors, but well worth investigating. And the more rumors we check out, the quicker we’ll find it. That’s the plan, anyway.” She placed one hand on his shoulder. “Take this – I hope it brings you luck.” Lox’aar now passed him a small rectangular parcel, tightly bound in dark parchment, and with a red cord strung around it.

“Sure,” said Alcar, frowning as he took the mysterious parcel and then placed it into an inside pocked of his robes. “Very well. I suppose this place in the swamp is familiar ground for you?”

She looked towards the swamp again. “There is a stronghold controlled by a rogue orc by the name of Prokatz. A monstrous, vile individual – a killer. But he is difficult to pin down or challenge, for he lives in a set of caves that rise high above the waters. It’s not easy, but we will try.”

“Then good luck, to you too, Lox’aar. I believe in you.”

She smiled. Now on the farm track, she pointed not towards the city, but off to the south. “Your friends are waiting for you at a farm house. Olynka told me that you would remember it from your previous adventures...?”

“Oh – right. Kora’s place, I guess? I think I can find it, yes.”

“Then here we must part.”

It was only after he had walked away that it occurred to Alcar that in her explanation, Lox’aar hadn’t actually told him where Master Maluhk was going. How long would it be before he saw his master again?