Michael Manning - The Line of Illeniel

The Crown Tower was dimly lit when we arrived. Although the tower was used for housing criminals it had originally been one of the defensive towers that were periodically spaced along the city wall. As the city had grown a new curtain wall had been built to enclose the outer regions and wall near the tower had been taken down, to allow more traffic between the inner and outer city. The tower itself was a squat ugly structure, built from the same rose granite as the majority of the capital. It rose over sixty feet high and possessed six floors above the ground level.

From what Rose had told me I knew the first floor was primarily administrative area. The guards that worked in the tower were kept in the main barracks, so at night there would be only a skeleton crew. That suited me just fine.

The outer door was unguarded. Apparently keeping people out was not considered a high priority. I had to assume there would be guards within the doors though. Penny spoke first, “How are we going to do it this time?”

“We’ll just knock and ask nicely,” I replied. Under other circumstances that might have been a joke. Not tonight though… I walked straight toward the door and began rapping heavily upon it.

A small window opened in the door, “Who’s out there?”

I focused my mind and I could feel two men on the other side of the door. “Shibal,” I said softly and I felt them falling to the floor within. Examining the door I quickly realized it didn’t have a lock… it was barred from the inside. I tried a spell to lift the bar but had little success. Someone had had the bright idea to secure the bar itself with a chain and padlock inside the door.

I considered trying to unlock the padlock from the outside but even if I did the chain would still have to be removed. Given a few minutes I could probably do it… but I didn’t think I had that much time. “Let’s step back a bit,” I told Penny.

“Oh jeez…,” she complained, “I knew this would happen. If you rouse the entire place you’re not going to be able to put them all to sleep.”

“I might… but I have an alternative,” I replied. I spoke quietly and added a few cosmetic enhancements to the shields around Penny and myself. Soft light flared and blue flames wreathed our bodies.

“Oh this is subtle,” Penny remarked looking at her hand as the flames ran up her arm.

“I’m not going for subtle, I’m going for ‘scared shitless’.”

“This should do it then. I nearly peed myself when you set me on fire just now, next time warn a girl,” she said.

“Here we go,” I replied. Raising my staff I pointed it at the tower door. I was pretty sure I could manage without it but the enchantments on it would focus my energies more effectively. I thought I might need my strength later. “Borok Ingak!” I said forcefully and released the power I held within. An invisible ram struck the door, shattering it with a sharp cracking sound. The force was so great it continued inward and I felt more than saw a wall collapse beyond the doorway.

Penny had tensed and was about to run for the doorway but I put my hand on her arm, “Wait.”

Almost a minute passed before three men came out. I thought two of them might be the ones I had already put to sleep. One of them was bleeding badly, probably from the inward explosion of the door. They immediately took note of the two flame-robed people in the street.

“Holy hell!” one of them shouted, stumbling back toward the doorway. I put him to sleep before he could go further.

“Stop!” I commanded, walking toward the remaining two men. Having seen their companion collapse they both stood still. I could sense them trembling as we walked nearer. “Who is in charge here?”

One of the men looked as if he were about to faint but the other retained enough presence of mind to speak, “C..c..c..aptain Gerold sir!”

“Go fetch him for me…,” I told him. He hesitated for only a moment before I shouted, “Now!” That was more than enough; he took off at a run. I glanced over at Penny, “Move around the tower, they may have another exit. We can’t afford to have anyone running loose.”

She looked at me with worry. I could tell she was afraid something might happen to me if I were left alone. Finally she made up her mind. “Alright… don’t do anything stupid,” she said, and then she sprinted off into the dark near the base of the right side of the tower.

A minute later three men emerged from the shattered doorway; one of them looked significantly less sloppy than the other two. All three approached cautiously. “May I ask what business you have with me… sir?” I had to give their captain credit, even scared and facing a man covered in flames he managed to keep his voice calm.

“Do you have the keys to the cells within the tower?” I tried to sound menacing but I’m not sure if it helped. The flames were more than enough already.

“They’re in my desk,” he answered nervously. I could see his right cheek beginning to twitch.

“Go get them and release everyone taken from Duke Lancaster’s home,” I told him.

“Begging your pardon, I’m not sure I know all of them.”

“Ask them… open any cell that contains some of them. I want them out here in five minutes, otherwise… Well you won’t like ‘otherwise’, so let’s just make sure I don’t have to go there,” I ground the words out with as much authority I could muster.

It took longer than five minutes but I pretended not to notice. I wasn’t really keen on ‘otherwise’ either. In fact I didn’t have a plan for it. Soon men were emerging from the building, forming a large crowd. One of them shrieked when Penny appeared from the left side of the tower and ran by the milling throng. I had to suppress a smile.

“Someone started to climb down from the top back there,” she informed me.

“Did you hurt him?” I asked.

“No he took one look at me below and changed his mind,” she replied.

I couldn’t blame him. At a guess it had been the guard captain looking for an alternative to violating his orders. I addressed the crowd, “I’m here to reclaim those wrongfully taken from the Lancaster residence yesterday. Is there anyone here that wasn’t hired by Rose Hightower?” Since there were more than three hundred people standing in front of me I figured it was a good guess that some of them were just along for the ride. Unsurprisingly none of them volunteered to return to their cells.

I turned to Penny, “If you don’t mind, take the good captain and his men inside and lock them in one of the cells.” She nodded and began herding them back toward the tower. “Be good and she won’t have to hurt you!” I called as they went reluctantly back inside. Inwardly I was nervous, if they turned on her once they got inside things could get ugly. I could only hope their fear was as great as it appeared.

It turned out I needn’t have worried. Penny returned a few minutes later without having had any trouble. I extinguished the flames shrouding us; it seemed to be making our new recruits nervous. “Those of you who are ready to work come with me. I have a job for you. I can’t promise it will be safe, but those who follow me will be far from the king’s reach within a few hours. Those of you who don’t wish to come are free to leave, but you’re on your own if the watchmen find you.”

People began drifting away silently. Mostly those that Rose hadn’t hired and I sincerely hoped I wasn’t releasing a large number of violent criminals upon the city. I simply didn’t have the time to try and be more specific. Of those that remained a voice rang out, “Exactly who are we working for?”

The person speaking was careful to do it from the back. I’m sure whoever it was worried that I might be a lunatic. “My name is Mordecai Illeniel, the Count di’Cameron. The king and I have had a few differences regarding how things should be handled. The end result being that many of you were locked up for nothing more than agreeing to take a job. If you stick with me I will do my best by you. I can’t promise it won’t be dangerous though.” I lit the end of my staff to make it easier for them to see me in the gloom.