As they approached the gates Wollfen called out,
“
Hark! Weary travelers approach!”
The guard on the inside called back,
“
Announce yourselves and state your business.”
Wollfen told them their names and their intended destination.
“
You may enter.”
Wollfen and the three motioned their horses forward as the gate swung back and they entered the inner compound. Inside there were quite a few troops standing around and the hairs on the back of Wollfens neck pricked up, something was wrong. The gate shut behind them and a call went out.
“
Raise arms!”
The soldiers reacted quickly aiming crossbows and bows at the four on their horses. Wollfen had no idea what was going on.
“
Drop your weapons and get off your horses slowly!”
They did as they were told and once off their horses the beasts were led away. The four of them stood there isolated in the middle with soldiers all around them with weapons at the ready. A ranking officer stepped forward and looked them up and down.
“
So you are Wollfen what?” Wollfen nodded in reply.
“
Yes I am he, may I ask who it is I am addressing?” The officer smiled.
“
My name is Lord Ayburn son of Baron Gerulf and brother to Lord Ercanbold. It seems I have caught myself some spies?” Wollfen looked at him in surprise.
“
You are mistaken sir, we are not spies at all. We act on behalf of the Kingdom and have come with information on the state of affairs south of here as well as a quest to go to the Elves further north.”
Ayburn smiled again and this time he make a clicking noise in his mouth while shaking his head. He motioned to one of his subordinates.
“
Search them. I’m afraid Wollfen the game is up, it's no good protesting your innocence here, we have heard all about you already.” Wollfen clued on straight away and responded with a name.
“
Dimarus.” The Lord nodded as he was handed the scrolls and coin bag found on Wollfen.
“
He is a good scout of mine, a well respected and loyal employee of the Kingdom.” Wollfen protested.
“
I tell you Lord Ayburn, he is none of those things, he cannot be trusted.” Ayburn wouldn’t listen, he opened the bag of coins.
“
What do we have here, Isogorrean gold and a scroll which appears to be counting the numbers of our soldiers? I think the evidence is plain. Take them away and put them in separate dungeons below! They will be dealt with after winter!” Wollfen protested as they were dragged off,
“
You must listen to me Lord Ayburn! Those things were found in Dimarus’ residence! They are not mine!” It all fell on deaf ears, the Lord had already turned away and was walking back to his office.
The four of them were manhandled down some stone stairs under the fort. Down they went until it was almost pitch black. A torch was lit and they were shoved along a corridor with wooden doors to the side. At each of the doors one of them was shoved inside under protest and the door slammed shut.
As Wollfen was shoved into the last one he turned to the closing door and kicked it hard with his boot. It slammed shut on the unsuspecting soldier breaking his nose. There was a cry of pain and the door opened again. Four burly soldiers entered and Wollfen fought hard getting in some good hits, but it did no good and he was beaten soundly before they left him lying and bleeding on the cold stone floor. He shook his head to try and clear the cloudiness, kicking the door was a stupid thing to do but he was angry.
Dimarus had done a number on them and Wollfen had walked right into it. He opened his eyes and looked about. He couldn’t see a thing, it was pitch black in there. He felt his way around the room and found the cot. It was maybe five foot long and had a musty blanket on it. When he lifted it he could hear bugs scurrying away. That was just great, he hated bugs. Now he felt around some more but there was nothing so he returned to the cot and eased himself down. His muscles hurt from where they had kicked him while he lay on the floor and they cried out at every move.
What could be done? No one was expecting them anytime soon and so no one would know they had been locked up. The more he thought about it the more depressed he got. The garrison didn’t have regular contact with any of the towns during winter. They really were cut off until the thaw and that was over three months away. Kassandrea wouldn’t be getting any help at this rate. He felt in his pockets to see if the soldiers had missed anything but they were empty. They had even found the teleporting crystal. Wollfen’s plans were shot.
Lord Ayburn sat back in his chair looking at the scrolls. Not only was there a list of northern cities and towns with their current troop numbers but the second scroll showed a schematic of the underground piping and service tunnels of Kassandrea. That was the big one, if the Isogorreans ever got a hold of this information then Kassandrea would most likely fall. Now that he had managed to catch these spies and get a hold of their information he would be able to get back into the good graces of King Arrick. Maybe then he could get out of this godforsaken outpost. Ayburn looked up to his adjutant.
“
Get Dimarus in here now.” The adjutant saluted and moved off.
Soon Dimarus arrived and stood before Lord Ayburn.
“
You called for me sire?” Ayburn gave him a smile.
“
You would not believe the luck that has come our way. I have captured Wollfen and his crew. Also I now have the information he has gathered too.”
Dimarus’ eyes went wide when he saw the scrolls proffered to him by the Lord but he did not accept them.
“
May I ask how you managed all this my Lord?” The Lord laughed.
“
The fools strolled right in! They had no idea at all! It was incredible, you were right to make haste for here Dimarus. If you had gone anywhere else I would have welcomed them with open arms! And then what? They would have gotten all the information they needed before turning it over to the Isogorreans. We have been very lucky.”
This damned fool, thought Dimarus, he has no idea. What a privilege to be working for such an idiot.
“
You are a very sharp person my Lord, you have succeeded in dealing a big blow to the enemy.” The Lord was positively beaming, luck was finally going his way.
“
I tell you what Dimarus. We should make haste with all this information. It must be taken to Oceania and Lord Gerulf immediately. Once he has it he will be able to make real changes and fast.”
Lord Ayburn was seeing the biggest change of all in his mind’s eye, being called back to the city from this backwater. Dimarus had half an idea of what the Lord would do next but didn’t push it. He didn’t think he needed to prompt this moron at all.
“
Do you have orders for me sire?” Ayburn looked at him.
“
How is your arm? Do you feel up to a trip to Oceania?” Dimarus couldn’t believe his luck.
“
Yes sire, I am fully fit and ready to serve.” Lord Ayburn was lapping it up.
“
Very well Dimarus, I give you this mission. You are to take these scrolls of intelligence and make haste to Lord Gerulf and tell him of who we have captured here, do you understand?” Dimarus nodded as he spoke. This really was all falling into place for him.
“
Yes my lord, whatever you command.” He bowed his head.
“
Good man! You are one of my best. I will let you decide when to leave as long as it is within the next day.”
The Lord took a box from within his drawer and placed the scrolls in it. Then he locked the box and held it out to Dimarus, one hand lying on top of it he looked him in the eye and spoke very seriously,
“
Make haste when you leave Dimarus, a lot depends on this.” Dimarus bowed after accepting the box and backed out of the room. This was just too easy.
As he walked off Dimarus couldn’t help but wonder at how the world worked, it wasn’t so long ago he was desperate to simply survive. One thing was for sure, these scrolls would never make it to Oceania or any Kingdom city for that matter. An idea occurred to him as he walked along, he really should make a visit to his friends below before he departed, in particular Darkling. He returned to his quarters and placed the box in safekeeping. After that he turned around and left for the dungeon below, he was looking forward to seeing Dark’s face when he popped his head in.
Down in the gloom Dimarus approached a guard and asked for directions to the blonde’s cell. The guard took him to it and Dimarus ordered it opened. Taking a torch in he was welcomed by Dark taking a flying leap at him and he had to dodge to the side. As she landed he punched her in the side of the head for her troubles. It didn’t stop her. She came back up swinging with a fist towards his crotch but again he managed to dodge the blow and hit her in the side of the head again. He kicked her while she was down and it made her throw up.
“
Bitch! Do you really think you can get the better of me?” He kicked her again once more in the stomach and Dark lay there whimpering and clutching her belly.
“
That’s for sticking me in the arm you slut.”
He watched her as she lay there moaning. He kneeled down next to her and gave her a little story.
“
I’m going to be leaving soon and the scrolls that Wollfen was so considerate to bring along have been placed in my care. I am going to take them to the rightful owners and then, that’s going to start a chain of events that will change the entire course of the war.” He paused for effect and leaned down close to her ear, “And all because of your precious Wollfen’s efforts.”
Dimarus got up and left the cell leaving a crying Dark curled up on the cold rock floor as the door was slammed shut. The room was thrown into blackness once more. He headed back upstairs and out into the sunshine wondering to himself what he ever saw in her? She wasn’t compliant at all in any way to him. No the wenches at the bar were a lot more generous. None of it mattered, all of these people here would probably be dead in a few months when Isogorr made its next push. He went back to his quarters to make preparations to leave. There was nothing here to interest him now. His next stop would be the Isogorrean siege army at Kassandrea.
Dark lay in the blackness of that cold cell, she was so angry it was making her cry, the pain of her stomach was like some distant ache, she wasn’t really aware. No, it was thoughts of what she wanted to do to Dimarus for his betrayal. A traitor to his country, she wanted to see him suffer not only for that but also for what he had done to Wollfen, that was really what was angering her the most. Dark lay there focused and brooding, he would keep, vengeance was going to be a dish served cold.
Over the next week Wollfen thought about how to get out of this mess. For the first time in so long he felt utterly helpless. He had tried mind touching out as far as he could go but it had been to no avail. Night and even Solynne were too far away to get into contact with. Even if Night hadn’t returned to Port Volarus, the only thing that could be said was that she could have spoken as daughter of Windere to have the situation investigated. That would have meant having a messenger sent to Windere and would have taken over two weeks turn around too.
The only person he had been able to share with was Dark next door and while that had given him comfort it hadn’t helped with their situation. He would ‘chat’ with her each day for a while, but he didn’t push it. She was growing magically but her energy levels would become quickly exhausted. He could at least give her comfort with the situation they were in. It was a small thing but knowing each other was close and having that time together helped.
He was very angry about the beating Dark took. If he ever got a hold of Dimarus, the man would wish he had never been born. Wollfen would lie in the dark getting worked up into a state just thinking about it. He took great pleasure in imagining the suffering he could inflict on that creep. Dimarus, by luck or by design, had gone in the right direction and managed to influence perfectly that fool who called himself Lord Ayburn. Did stupidity run in that family?
Wollfen did wonder how the other two men were holding up all alone and in the darkness. He couldn’t mind touch them at all. They didn’t have the talent. They were tough though, Vaughn and Burkhard had proven themselves to be very competent over the last few weeks and he had a lot of respect for them. He wondered if maybe they would be leader material? Could those two be replacements for Keera and Justin? Ideally he would have liked to have six riders together at any one time but finding people of the caliber Wollfen needed was getting hard. Most people were involved in some capacity with the war if they had any leadership or combat capability.
The slot in the bottom of the door slid open and a weak light shone in pushing back the blackness momentarily while a bowl was slid in. Then it was shut again with a bang and total darkness engulfed once more. Sitting up he had a scratch. The bugs loved his warmth and it had almost driven him batty the first few days with them crawling through his clothes. Now it was just a dull annoyance having them crawl about on his skin. Every now and again a bigger one would get in and he would crush it against his body. For a man who hated bugs he was doing quite well he thought.