78

I Just Need a Little Air

DeFrantis

"What are you looking for?" DeFrantis asked, twisting painfully against the pillar she was leaning on.

Eddiwarth stood near the dark window, inspecting it. "I don't know. The glass looks pretty thick. It might be hard to break."

She wriggled some more and tried to use the tension on the chains around her wrist to straighten herself. "Come here."

Eddiwarth tapped on the pane. "Even if we break it, I'm not sure the opening would be large enough for us to get out." He looked back at DeFrantis. "Besides, we have to figure out how to get you out of your chains first."

Karendle added from across the room. "That's what we're trying to do. That's why we got you out."

DeFrantis added, "Come over here. I think this will help."

Eddiwarth stepped over to the pillar DeFrantis was chained to. "I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at." He grabbed the ring holding the wrist chains tight up above her head and tugged on them. "These feel pretty solid."

That's not what I'm talking about. Just focus on what I'm saying. She leaned forward, away from pillar, and arched her back. The position stretched her arms back behind her neck and she winced in pain. "Under my shirt, across my back, there's a small dagger. That will help you break the window."

"What?"

Just pay attention and focus! She sighed, then coughed. She leaned her head as far forward and down as she could. "Just reach down my collar, and find the small dagger that I hid there. It's not that hard."

"Reach down your shirt?"

Really? This is not that complicated! "Yes, and quickly. This hurts!". She hissed, "And don't think of grabbing anything but the dagger!"

He hesitated and slid his hand down her neck under her collar. His hands felt cold and the invasion was awkward. She felt his arm and hand inch closer to the steel that she had hidden there.

"Got it?"

"Yeah, I think so. It's not easy to grip." He slid his hand out slowly and pulled back. It was a small stiletto, more of roundel dagger. The blade was thin and triangular and came to a sharp point. It had a small metal handle, about as long as the blade, with a T-cross guard. The entire length was crusted with dried and smeared blood. DeFrantis flexed her back, shifting on the floor. Ah! That's much better! That's been poking me ever since I hid it there.

"Ok. Now take that, and use the blade to break the windows."

He still looked a bit confused, but he started walking over anyway. "Why do we want to break the windows?"

Oh, by the Creator, give me patience! "We need relief from the mage's bane smoke. If we can get some fresh air, maybe we can muster up the will to break out of these chains!"

"Just trust us and do it!" Karendle added. "But try to do it as quietly as possible...."

DeFrantis heard a few light taps as he nipped at the glass with the blade. Then there was a harder hit, and another one harder than that. A crackling and tinkling told her that he had done it. Immediately, she felt a slight and cool breeze dust across her legs. "Yes! That's it! Do another pane!"

There was another crack and the sound of glass on the floor. "How's that?" Eddiwarth called out.

Karendle said, "Now do one on the other end of the room, so the air blows through!"

As he moved, a bit of wind blew across DeFrantis' face, and she breathed deep, sucking in the cool air. She coughed as she got some of the dense smog in her lungs along with it. "I can... feel it! That's what we need!"

A moment later another crackle sounded and suddenly a more steady draft was coming into the room. As the smog grew thinner, DeFrantis breathed deep and felt that familiar surge as her head cleared and her will began to return. She could hear Karendle taking in air as well.

She brought her hands forward, focusing her attention and her will on the shackles. Her will was weak, but growing, as she surrounded the shackles in shadow. She pulled on them, tensing them against the pillar. She jerked and felt them cut into her wrists. These chains that bind me will no longer hold me down. Now, I am their master! Now, they set me free!

She felt her arms and wrists relax and drop down into her lap as the shackles that held them dissolved into mists of shadow. She looked at them, and rubbed the soreness with her hands, her face in a smile of satisfaction. She hurried to her feet, and strode over to Karendle. "I'm out! Hold your hands up! Now it's your turn!" Karendle smiled and raised her shackles.

DeFrantis knelt next to her. As she started to focus on the chains, she heard the wind coming through the broken windows. The wind carried with it the sound of a child crying.

79

Scrybabies

Karendle

"That's right!" The tall man said, "You keep quiet and stop that crying!" Even hunched over, he towered over the small children huddled together on the pile of straw on the floor. His wrinkled and stubbly face was distorted into an angry scowl and his hair flopped down into his harsh and forceful eyes. The children cowered against the wall. Their shirts and faces were dirty, and the breeze through the window above them whisped their tangled hair.

The one that had been crying was trying hard not to burst out a second time. An older girl held him closer as he shook. She said, "We'll be quiet!" There were five of them, the oldest of which was the girl, with 10 winters at the most.

The man stood. "That's better. Now get to sleeping!" He backed away from them and returned to his chair. It was a wobbly wooden assembly, next to a slightly sturdier table. The table held a lantern, well-lit, a sword in a sheath, and a few half-drunk tankards of ale. On the other side of the table sat another man, not as tall or broad-shouldered. He had a full beard and and a rag tied tightly around his bald head. He grabbed some black and white knuckle bones off the table and rolled them between his hands.

"It's my turn, right?"

The taller man sighed, "I'm not gonna toss lots all night. I'm not giving you any more of my money!" He grabbed his tankard and drew a long swallow.

The other man ignored him and tossed the bones from his palms. They rattled across the tabletop and came to rest. "That's a three! The smaller man shouted. "I win again!"

Next to the straw that the children huddled on was another, smaller table, with a second lantern. It sat in the corner between two walls. In the second wall, next to the table, was a large, wooden door, with a latch and metal bands.

Karendle leaned up against the other side of that door, her eyes closed, her mind focused. Tightly clutched in both hands, directly before her face was a glowing blue stone. "I see two men, sitting at a table."

Eddiwarth stood directly behind her. He was not tall, but Karendle's half-dwarven stature made him hover over her. "Good, good..."

"This is working!" She whispered, excited, "It's working!"

"Yes, keep it down." He rested his hand on her shoulder. "Now, project your mind's eye further into the room. Turn it around. What else do you see?"

"Oh, by the Creator! I see them!"

DeFrantis stepped up behind them. "Who? Where are they?"

Eddiwarth shushed them.

Karendle whispered, "Four... No, five kids. They're huddled on a straw mat across from the men."

"Which ones? Who are they?"

"How should I know? Should I ask them their names?"

"Quiet!"

They all looked at each other for a moment. Finally, DeFrantis spoke. "You're right. Let's figure out how to take the men down." She took a breath.

"We only have the one dagger for a weapon, so we'll have to use our powers," Eddiwarth noted.

"Yes, but we don't know what we're up against, so lets be a bit cautious using our will. I can fill the room with shadow. That will give us a few moments of surprise." She looked at Eddiwarth. "If we need to, can you take down the door?" He nodded. "Karendle, you rush them. Maybe there'll be a sword you can grab"

"Alright, then." She held out her hand and focused her mind in the space beyond the door. She could feel the shadows swelling around her. They heard shouts from beyond the door.

"Let's go!"

80

Reunited, For the Moment

Eddiwarth

Eddiwarth steeled his shoulder and threw himself at the door. It banged loudly and he bounced off of it like coins tossed against a wall. "Ow! That hurt!" They heard muffled cursing and children's shrieks.

Karendle rolled her eyes. "Just blast it!"

Eddiwarth took a breath and pointed his hand at the door. With a loud crackle, bright lines of flashing electricity sparked between his fingers and the handle, shattering it into bits of metal and a thousand shards of wood. What remained spun inwards into the room. Instantly Karendle and DeFrantis ran into the darkness.

Eddiwarth could hear them as they stumbled, but the shroud of darkness hid everything. Karendle shouted, grunted, then he heard a crash. That would be the table, I'd bet. He heard a sword rapidly being drawn.

A man shouted, "What's going on? Where are you?"

What do I do? I can't see anything! He heard Kaendle's voice shouting, "I've got one! You're going down!"

Just as suddenly, the shroud of darkness dissipated into the shadows of the room, and Eddiwarth could suddenly see in the lanternlight. The table was upturned, and Karendle was struggling with one of the men. She was behind him, her arm around him in a choke hold. The other guard, the taller one, stood by the downed table, swinging his sword in confusion. Just as Eddiwarth was about to react, he saw something flash in DeFrantis' hand. The dagger! She ducked low, underneath the man's flailing arm, and lunged upward, plunging the blade deep into the man's chest. He gasped twice, then stumbled backward.

She hissed, "Stay away from my kids!" and pushed him down. He didn't get up.

Karendle pulled tighter on the man's neck as he thrashed on the floor, trying to dislodge her. He quickly succumbed to unconsciousness and Karendle shoved him aside. She looked up at Eddiwarth, "Thanks for the help!"

Eddiwarth was stunned and unsure what to say or do. The entire fight had just flashed past him like leaves blowing in the wind. The crying children brought his attention to focus again.

DeFrantis spun around and rushed to kneel with the children. "Andrina, Maresio!" She swooped her arms to embrace them, and they leapt into her arms. "DeFrantis! You've come!"

"It's OK. It's all going to be OK, now." She held them each and stroked their hair as they sobbed and climbed over her. "I'm here now. I'm here."

She leaned back and touched each one as she looked them over. "Where's Leyonne? And Toolie?"

The oldest girl shrugged. "We don't know. Someone took them away a few days ago!" DeFrantis dropped her head and reached around again to hold these five children close.

Eddiwarth and Karendle looked on at the scene before them. They glanced at each other, and that glance carried a loneliness, a sense of distance from their own parents.

A distant door slam and shouts shattered their reverie.

Eddiwarth ventured, "I thought this was a bit too easy."