“We need information,” said Nikolao. “Who else is down here?”

  Nikolao still sat atop the man he had wrestled to the ground, one hand resting on his windpipe as a reminder of his predicament. His companion, lying dead with a broken jawbone on the other side of the mine chamber, was a less gentle reminder.

  “There’s two more,” the brigand responded quickly. “Travis and Ionda. That’s the boss, and the bloke we work for.”

  Jarod recognized the names as those the man had called out during the fight. They could be close by, maybe somewhere in the mineshaft half of this underground complex. He kept a wary eye on their entrance.

  “That’s not what your friends up above told us,” said Nikolao. “They said those two were working together.”

  The brigand gave a shallow shake of his head, carefully avoiding any sudden movements. “Mighta been what the boss told ‘em, but it’s not the truth. We wouldn’t be down here if it weren’t for Ionda. Not right for man to be this far underground for so long, but he pays us well enough to make it worthwhile.”

  “Why did he hire you? Did he need protection?”

  “Dunno, you’d have to ask the boss. It’s just a job for me.”

  “But you have been protecting him…”

  “Honestly, not much. He hired the lot of us, said we needed to be ready for a fight, but we ain’t seen any action this whole time. Lets us do the usual work in the meantime though.”

  That “usual work” must have been robbing and possibly kidnapping anyone who happened to wander along the forest path. Who knew how many people had been killed or held at knifepoint. If their party of five hadn’t been prepared for a fight, they might have fallen victim to the same fate.

  Nikolao felt comfortable enough with Filgrin and Basma helping to keep the man from running that he glanced up to check the entrance they’d arrived from, and scan the room for any second exit.

  “Where are the other two?” the surveyor asked.

  “Over in the other part of the mine, with all the fancy stonework.” The brigand frowned and got a distant look as he replied. “Something ain’t right over there though. Too much magic for my taste. That Ionda’s playing a dangerous game if you ask me, looking at things he shouldn’t.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “I don’t know. Don’t know much about magic myself, but this stuff ain’t like any of the stuff I’ve seen. Makes my skin crawl just thinkin’ about it. But I’ll put up with it for the money,” he hastily added.

  “And why exactly were you two over here?”

  The brigand glanced back at the metal bars shrouded in darkness. “See for yourself.”

  A couple of figures had stepped past the darkened veil that hid the back end of the prison and were peering out into the chamber beyond.

  “Basma?” a quiet voice, just barely above a whisper eked out through the bars.

  “Esther!” Basma exclaimed. “It’s okay, we’re here.”

  Standing in the mine’s prison was Esther Foxlove, looking still healthy, if a little shaken. Her cloak lying among the brigand’s stash was half the reason they’d descended into the depths in the first place (the whole reason for Jarod). He’d feared the worst after all that had happened to him in recent times, but here she was, alive. He had a chance to redeem his failure of Wilfurd.

  Beside Esther was a young man Jarod didn’t recognize; it wasn’t anyone from Cleftshire. He looked worse for wear than Esther, a bit thin and with dark circles under his eyes. But he bore the selfsame look of surprise and hope that Esther did.

  “Anyone else in there?” called out Nikolao.

  Esther looked without recognition at the surveyor, but responded all the same to their potential rescuers. “A couple of gentry from the city. They got thrown in here earlier today, but they were too inconsolable for me to even get their names.”

  Jarod smirked. That would be the surveyors.

  Nikolao turned to the brigand. “What’s your name, criminal?”

  “Udi, sir.”

  “Udi, then. If you want a chance at escaping with your life, tell us how to free these prisoners.”

  Udi glanced down at his belt. “There’s a key there, opens up those bars. There ain’t no lock for it to go into, but you reach that key past the barrier of darkness and turn it, it’ll open everything right up.”

  Nikolao kept an eye on Udi, but reached down and pulled the key from the man’s belt. He grabbed a fallen dirk from off the ground and leveled it at the man as he walked away. Udi took a deep breath and held it as Nikolao’s sword pointed at his head and the surveyor approached the black iron bars.

  Observation (social) check (?)

  [4]+1

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  Partial Success

  Something about the brigand nagged at Jarod. Maybe it was the way he looked at Nikolao, or maybe how he held his breath as though in anticipation rather than fear. Whatever it was, was enough to make him speak up. “Wait!”

  Nikolao had just started to extend the key to the bars when Jarod called out. The surveyor’s head snapped back to Udi to ensure he was still well restrained, and then he looked to Jarod. “What?”

  “It’s just, something doesn’t feel right. What if you do something wrong and you get hurt?” It was hard for Jarod to find the right excuse to stall releasing the prisoners. He gestured towards Udi on the floor. “Just have him do it instead.”

  Nikolao regarded the suggestion for a moment, never changing the target the tip of his sword pointed to. “Reasonable enough” he said finally. “Very well then, stand up. Slowly.”

  Basma and Filgrin released their grip on Udi’s arms to allow the brigand to his feet. They watched him carefully, ready for any sudden movements, but he would have been a fool to try anything with this many swords pointed at him.

  He took the key from Nikolao’s outstretched hand. “Fine, I'll do it myself. Ain’t nothin’ to it.”

  The swords never left the man’s back as he made his way over to the cell, and took the key in his left hand, reaching out slowly. Esther and the young man had stepped back into the cell, leaving only the wall of darkness to stare back into the room. As he approached it, Udi kept his right hand at his side, where they watched it twitch once, but he clenched his fist as if to soothe his nerves and continued.

  When his fingertips first touched the wall of darkness, a sound like rushing wind immediately filled the mine chamber. Quicker than anyone could react, Udi suddenly seemed to dissolve into a dark mist and get sucked past the bars and into the prison. Jarod and Nikolao’s swords lunged forward after the escapee, but they both met nothing but air where he once stood.

  A scream rang out from inside the cell, then sounds of a brief scuffle. A few moments later, Udi’s voice could be heard from the other side.

  “Best follow where I lead ya, lassie. Wouldn’t want a sudden movement to mark that pretty neck of yours.”

  “Esther?” Basma called out tentatively.

  A few seconds later, Esther Foxlove came into view, a throwing knife at her neck. Behind her, an arm pulled tight across her upper chest to keep her in place, was Udi. A patch in his pants had been torn away, revealing a hidden pocket he must have secreted the knife in.

  “Drop the knife,” called out Nikolao, raising his dirk to point past Esther at the brigand.

  “Careful where you point that thing,” the brigand said. “I’ve got a nasty tremor in one hand that comes out when I’m threatened.”

  A premonition played out in Jarod’s head. A repeat of Wilfurd’s situation in the alley. Just where it seemed he was free, his friend was thrown right back into danger again. Right back to his own death. Now the same thing was happening with Esther. Just as they’d gotten their opportunity to rescue her, she’d be placed back in grave danger once more.

  “What do you want?” Jarod asked.

  “Ahh, a man who understands his predicament,” Udi said. “I’ll address you then. I want out. What you do with these prisoners is none of my concern, but I know it is yours. If you want them to survive, you’ll do exactly as I say.”

  Jarod looked to Nikolao, but the surveyor’s jaw was clenched tightly, probably fighting the urge to say something dangerous in their current situation, so Jarod continued. “Tell us what to do, and we’ll do it.”

  “Look over there, in the chest of drawers. Grab one of the health potions from the bottom left drawer, and then grab the clear thing in the second drawer.”

  Jarod did as the man said, grabbing one of the two viscous red vials from the drawer for Udi (and carefully pocketing the other for himself). The item in the second drawer was a perfect cube of transparent material, like an uncut gemstone, but clear. When he picked it up, he watched the world reflect and refract across its surface, flickering the image like a torch flickers its flame.

  “Grab that torch from the wall and walk in front of the cell,” Udi said “You’re gonna have to hold the cube up in front of the light and adjust it until it lines up with the cell. You got that?”

  Jarod had to have Basma hold the torch for him because of his injured arm, but he did as he was told without complaint. He stepped into place and held the cube up in front of the steady glow of the magical torch. When he did, the room was flooded with a cascade of colors. Vibrant greens illuminated the outline of Nikolao in front of the cell, while the iron bars were cast a neon purple hue. With each slight adjustment of the cube, the colors shifted again, whirling between blues, reds, and pinks.

  In one position, a dark black light was cast out from the cube, somehow still illuminating even in its darkness.

  “That’s right, keep your eye on that black spot,” Udi said. “Position it right over the cell.”

  Another small twist of the cube, and the glowing black light pierced through the veil of darkness. The back wall of the cell was revealed for the first time, shining in its paradoxical brightness upon the young man standing uncertainly behind Udi, and the two surveyors curled into fetal position against the back wall.

  “That’s enough, you can drop the light,” Udi commanded again.

  As Jarod lowered the cube, the room was bathed in the unflinching glow of the torch once more. The bars of the cell were still there, but the previously dark iron had faded to a wispy grey, which Udi and Basma stepped through without obstruction.

  “Now, we’re all gonna go back to the entrance and watch as I leave outta here,” said Udi. “If nobody tries any funny business, you’ll get your lass back without a mark on ‘er.”

  Jarod handed the health potion to the brigand as he circled around their group back towards the entrance. He kept his shortsword drawn, but not raised, not wishing to seem any more a threat than was prudent.

  “Lyanna, Gideon, get over here,” Nikolao barked in the background. Jarod heard muffled replies from the captured surveyors, but his focus was on Udi and Esther.

  The brigand backed away out of the side branch that they’d come down, and back into the main mineshaft. He’d clearly made the trip many times, because he walked confidently backwards, never loosening his grip on Esther, never leaving his back turned to Jarod.

  Soon they’d arrived back at the entry chamber to the mine. To his credit, Udi had been careful to not make any more noise than necessary. A smart move, because if he did, it would only endanger his position.

  Udi positioned himself with one hand on the ladder, the other still clutching his knife to Esther’s throat. He glanced up the mineshaft ladder, making sure it was still clear, and then addressed the semicircle that had gathered around him. “A pleasure doing business with you lot. May we never meet again.”

  The brigand pulled his knife hand up onto the ladder and turned to scamper away. As he did, he kicked out at Esther, sending the woman pitching forward to be caught by Jarod. Udi had soon disappeared from view, leaving behind the group that had suddenly grown to nine. Nine intact, though perhaps not fully healthy, bodies, just relieved to not have lost one of their number to the hostage situation.

  A hissing sound from above, and then a small package of something lit with a sparking fuse thunked against the stone floor.

  “Get back,” Nikolao ordered, ushering the group around the corner, back toward the main mineshaft.

  A deafening bang resounded through the chamber, loud enough to be painful in the tight, stone walls. But aside from the sound and a brief puff of light and smoke, there was no explosion. It was just a firecracker. Everyone was still standing.

  “What are you doing out there,” a deep and heavy voice called out from down the other hallway. It had the same thick city accent that they’d heard in the other brigands.

  Jarod and Nikolao glanced at each other. The bastard had dropped the firecracker just to alert his boss. Their danger wasn’t over yet.