Fairy Opera Chapter 17: Castle

 

Castle

Orion used the stars to figure out where, exactly, we were. When he finished, he put away his astrolabe and called a meeting in the captain’s quarters.

It was myself, Tae, Orion, Jastle, Ruby, and Muco.

Orion crossed his arms. “We’re about the same distance from Grand Castle as we were before we entered the black zone. We have a decision to make. Do we head straight for Grand Castle, or do we investigate what’s happening with the zombies and the Empire?”

“I vote we save my sister first.” I planted my hand on the table. “We need to save her before she’s gone.”

“Okay.” Orion turned to the other members. “I know this whole journey was started for that purpose. But we’ve got another quest we need to complete.”

Muco crossed his arms. “I agree that we should save this boy’s sister. It would do us no good if our most powerful asset were to lose effectiveness due to worry.”

“I wasn’t expecting that from you, Muco.” Orion nodded. “I agree. We should save Rock’s sister.”

“Then we’re unanimous.” Tae nodded.

“Agreed!” Ruby flew onto the table. “Let’s set course for Grand Castle!”

The next two weeks went by as usual, with lessons from Jastle and Orion about swordsmanship and magic use. Also, Burgon taught me how to use a bow. I wasn’t very good at it to start, but Burgon’s teaching methods were effective. Soon I was able to actually hit a target. The Grand Mahogany had a deck space specifically designed for archery practice.

On the second week, the island of Grand Castle came into sight. Orion stopped the ship. Him, Tae, myself, Jastle, and Ruby piled into a small dinghy. We made the journey across open sky to the island’s less inhabited side. A massive wall surrounded most of the island’s edge, but the spot where the secret passage was located was hidden beneath the wall on the east side. Several guards were on lookout, but Orion had cast an invisibility spell around us. He then cast a spell that created a small pigeon—it was a spell that I had developed for the purpose of setting off the fireworks on the other side of the castle. The pigeon held a few scrolls that were set to automatically go off at the mention of a command word. It flew away, above the walls, and was not noticed by the guards. The sun began to go down. When night had fallen, the fireworks went off. They bloomed in the sky on the other side of the castle.

“Quick, quick!” Orion pushed us off the boat and across the grass outside the wall. We pressed against the stone as Jastle walked slowly along the wall’s edge, tapping it. Then he stopped.

“It’s here.” He pressed hard against the wall and a small door opened. Jastle went in first. The rest of us followed. The hallway we entered was pitch black. Orion cast a light spell, illuminating the path. The walls were covered in slime. Rats skittered back and forth beneath our feet. It seemed that this passageway hadn’t been used in quite some time.

“We’re going to have to figure out where Ami is.” I followed Orion through the narrow tunnel.

Orion nodded. “They probably have a list of names and places in the main office. If we can infiltrate them, then we can search for her name.”

“Are you sure they’ll record it?” Tae followed behind me.

“I’m sure. The Empire is persnickety about these things.”

We came to a crossroads. Jastle consulted his map, and then he pointed in the direction we were supposed to go. We came to a series of stairs with a trapdoor at the top. Orion held his finger up for us to be quiet and climbed the stairs. He pushed the trap door open a slight amount. With a few glances, he scouted the area. Then he nodded and pushed his way through. The rest of us followed. We came up into a store room filled with food and weapons.

Orion walked up to a rack of swords and whistled. “Don’t mind if I do.” He took an ornate-looking sword with a curved blade. “Since we’re not here to do business anyways, I may as well take this.” He pulled the corresponding sheath from the wall and strapped it to his side, sliding the sword into it.

Jastle sighed.

We continued through the lower levels of the castle according to Jastle’s map. When we reached the middle levels, we had to start being stealthy. The occasional soldier would pass through, causing us to hide behind the nearest shelter—of which there was plenty. The whole place was quite cluttered. Boxes, racks, shelves, cabinets. The place was a mess.

We reached the door to the office. Orion knelt beside it and took a small cannister out from his pocket. He cracked open the door to the office and tossed the device in. A hissing sound came from behind the door, followed by violent coughing. After two minutes Orion nodded and we pushed our way into the office. The two clerks who were in there lay passed out on the floor. Orion gave us a signal. He and Tae kept watch right next to the door. Jastle, Ruby, and myself searched the office for the record of the dungeon. After a furious couple of minutes, we found it. Then we searched for my sister’s name. It wasn’t there.

I began to lose hope. But then I noticed a small note attached to the desk’s side. Bring calling scroll to cell 134. Remember that she’s an asset.

That had to be about Ami. It had to, I felt it in my gut. I pulled the note off of the desk and showed it to Jastle.

“I agree. It’s our best shot.” Jastle called back Orion and Tae. Ruby landed on my shoulder.

“Okay. We know where she is now. We just have to get her back.”

“Right. But the dungeon level is straight across from the operational area. We’ll be going through a nest of activity. They’ll be bound to spot us.”

Orion looked up. “What about if we use that?” He pointed to an air vent above us.

“I don’t have a map of those.” Jastle shook his head.

“I’m fairly certain that those vents travel the same network as the corridors.” Orion grimaced. “We have to take the chance.”

“Okay.” Jastle went first, climbing up onto a chair and forcing his way into the vent. It was a little tight for him, but he was able to get through. I went next, then Tae, then Orion. We clambered along the vent network, following Jastle’s lead. Through the vent openings, I could see various operations being carried out within the castle.

“Wait.” Jastle stopped. “Look down there.”

I looked through the vent’s opening down at a room that looked like a lab. In it, scientists were working on a gigantic beast that appeared to be stitched together from dead body parts. A number of zombies were held in chains against the wall.

“They’re doing something. Like they’re preparing for a war.”

“A war? With zombies?” I did my best to whisper.

“Yes. These are the souls that Baphomet said were being stolen from him.”

“Our mission is to rescue Ami, though.” I looked away. “We can let someone else deal with that.”

We continued to climb through the vents, eventually making it to the dungeon sector. We crawled along them until we reached the cell block we were looking for.

Cell 134. I climbed out of the closest vent and walked up to the door. I had designed a lock picking scroll just for this purpose. Using it, I unlocked the door.

Ami was inside, laying on a hard stone bed with a thin blanket over her. She looked up.

“Rock.” She sat up. “You came for me.” She threw off her blanket and ran up to hug me. “Thank you.”

“We’re not out of this yet.” I looked back at Orion, Tae, and Jastle.

“Who are these people?” Ami looked at them.

Ruby flew out from my pocket and hovered in front of Ami’s nose. “They’re friends.”

“A fairy!” Ami laughed.

I was so glad to see that she was okay. She had a few bruises, but she looked to be in good spirits. I grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the room.

Before I could orient myself, I heard boots on the ground. Orion and Jastle looked at each other.

Orion grimaced. “We’re going to have to fight our way out. They probably discovered the unconscious clerks.”

Ami clenched her fist. “I’m not going back there!”

I pulled Ami in the opposite direction of the footsteps. “Jastle! Tell us where to go!”

“The only viable path is right through the barracks!” Jastle started running beside me.

Tae and Orion followed. We sprinted along the hallways, taking turns as Jastle told us.

We sprang out through a door and right into the middle of a soldier’s barracks. About a dozen soldiers looked at us with incredulity.

Orion grabbed another cannister. “Close your eyes and cover your ears!” He tossed it.

I closed my eyes and covered my ears. The bang that followed was blisteringy loud. I could see my hands through my eyelids. Then the light faded. When I opened my eyes, all the soldiers in the room were reeling.

Orion led us through the barracks and back out into the hallway. Jastle led us down another corridor.

We stopped. There, in front of us, was Cardinal Malgor. His bright red eyes stared at us as he readied his sword.

Jastle, myself, Orion, and Tae took up positions around him.

“Four against one.” Malgor took a step towards us. “It’s an even fight, then.” He darted towards Jastle. Jastle blocked Malgor’s sword, sending sparks flying. Jastle’s sword rang against the wall. He staggered backwards. Tae moved to fill the gap. She struck twice, both shots blocked. Malgor pulled a second sword from his belt. He took a stance and attacked Jastle. Jastle rolled underneath the sword and recovered his own weapon.

Orion struck at Malgor. Malgor grabbed the blade with his gauntlet and ripped it out of Orion’s hand. Orion backed off.

I moved in. Using my new sword skills, I engaged Malgor for a few seconds. He slashed me on the leg and send me reeling backwards. Blood splattered on the ground.

Tae approached Malgor and exchanged a few blows. She struck him on the arm, but his armor deflected it. Malgor then kicked Tae’s feet out from under her. Tae fell backwards, slamming into the wall.

Malgor engaged Orion. He feinted a blow and then slashed. Orion gasped. He held his hand to his chest and pulled it back covered in blood. Gritting his teeth, he came back at Malgor. Malgor blocked every blow that Orion made.

Jastle ran from behind Malgor and tried to stab Malgor’s back. Malgor moved to the side and caught Jastle’s sword in his armpit. Jastle tried to yank it out, but couldn’t, so he backed away.

Orion and Malgor exchanged a few more blows. Malgor pulled out a scroll. “Null stop! Paralysis, library seven, decimate!”

“Apac!” Orion pulled out a scroll just in time. Both beams of magic canceled each other out. Before Orion could recover, Malgor skewered him.

Orion grasped the sword in his belly. “Run! Everyone, run!”

“We can’t leave you!” I tried running towards Orion, but Tae pulled me back.

“He’s sacrificing himself for us!” Tae gripped my hand and pulled me as she ran.

Ami, myself, Jastle, Tae, and Ruby ran away from the battle. Malgor watched us go, his eyes blazing, not chasing. The last thing I saw of Orion was him collapsing to the ground in a pool of blood.

 

18

***