The First Mage

The entrance to the tunnels we were aiming for was hidden in a building in the north of Cerus, past the path that would lead to the ritual platform. The streets were largely empty after the bell had rung, and we didn’t anticipate any problems on this side. Since the tunnels were supposed to be a secret, they would apparently not be able to bring entire platoons into town through them. Even though this wasn’t Alarna, if they were to take over Cerus, now or in the future, they would want as few people as possible to know about the tunnels, their layout, and the security measures. The only reason Reurig knew where the Cerus tunnels were, was that he and his partner had followed the handful of soldiers inside when they were looking for us. Afterwards, Reurig had explored them, to check out potential escape routes.

Sending a smaller team inside through the tunnels might’ve been an option, but Reurig and Berla believed that this was unlikely to happen right away, as the soldiers would approach the mayor first, to request his cooperation, or threaten him with consequences if he didn’t agree. However, this didn’t mean that nobody would be waiting for us outside. Reurig had found two viable exits for us, one being close to the road leading north and one in the woods. It would be simple to place a squad at either exit, just in case we were to come through there. In the worst case, we would have to be ready for a fight.

We arrived at a small, one-story building and went inside at Reurig’s instruction. Hidden under a rug, we found a door in the floor. Reurig made short work of the lock on it, opening the door after only a minute. He opened it carefully, but there was nothing to see, just a wooden ladder that was leading down into the darkness. We took one of the lanterns that were placed in the room and made our way down the ladder, one after the other. Reaching the bottom took another solid minute per person.

While everyone was still climbing down, I was already examining the tunnel. It was very narrow, with just enough room for one person to walk through it, and with a relatively low ceiling, at about one hundred ninety centimeters. It was dug into the earth, though there were occasional rock walls, which would presumably help in keeping the tunnel from falling in. Additionally, there were support beams in regular intervals. It looked safe enough, though I wouldn’t necessarily want to go through here if I didn’t have to. Today, we wouldn’t have a choice.

Once everyone had made it down, we started walking, with Reurig leading the way. It was impressive that he had memorized the path to the exits, seeing how there were more and more crossings and side paths as we went on. The tunnels were essentially a maze. Apparently this was one safety measure put in place to prevent people and beasts, but especially beasts, from just wandering inside.

The tunnels were intended as a safe way for the leadership to get in and out of the towns when necessary, and since the primary concern were beasts, not humans, a maze and a couple of heavy, locked doors would be more than enough to protect the town. Both Alarna and Cerus wouldn’t usually have anyone guarding them, because there were more important jobs for the towns’ Fighters.

Down here, it became a little difficult to judge time after a while, but I guessed it took us about half an hour to reach another ladder, leading up. The one that would bring us into the middle of the woods, in an area where nobody would usually go.

“Alright, Reurig will have to pick the lock, but afterwards, I will take the lead,” I said. With scripts, I had the highest chance to defend myself against a number of attackers, so I would leave the tunnel first. Everybody nodded and Reurig went to work. After a few minutes of climbing and lock picking, we switched places. I went first and carefully opened the hatch to look outside. All I could see was untouched forest, and I could see no sign of someone having been here recently.

I opened the hatch all the way and climbed up carefully, keeping a close eye on my surroundings. When I still didn’t see anyone, I knocked against the ladder, to signal for the others to come up. A few more minutes passed until we were all out. We looked around at the trees for a moment and took a deep breath of the fresh forest air, as if it had been months since we had last been outside. I wondered how long it would take us to truly get used to living in a town again, though Miles had once said that you do get bored of nature eventually. I couldn’t see it yet, but who knows.

When we were just getting ready to move out, I noticed a shadow in my peripheral vision. With Berla and Reurig both drawing a weapon, I knew I hadn’t been mistaken. There was someone hiding behind a nearby tree. A few seconds later, someone appeared from behind another tree, right in front of us. It was a large man in the typical Alarna armor, though, curiously, he was unarmed.

“Gentlemen, ladies, my name is Bern Raia, I’m the captain of the southern district of Alarna,” he said, introducing himself. “I’d like to inform you that you’re surrounded, but we’d rather handle this situation peacefully. If you come with us of your own volition, I promise you preferential treatment. If you act against us, we will make sure you never think about resistance ever again before we bring you home. Make your decision.”

Looking around us, I could see a few spears and swords stick out from behind trees. He didn’t seem to be bluffing. Hiding behind trees wouldn’t exactly protect anyone from my attacks, but it did make aiming more difficult, and we didn’t know exactly how many soldiers there were either.

I glanced at Berla and Reurig, but they seemed to be at a loss for what to do as well. We had hoped that they wouldn’t be waiting for us in the woods, or that they might not even know about this hidden exit. And even if they had been here, we hoped it would be a small group that we could take down quickly. This route had certainly been a risk, but it was the best one we had in our situation. We couldn’t have stayed in Cerus, because we didn’t know the mayor’s intentions, and this was the only way out of town, with the soldiers in front of the gate. Now we would have to somehow get past these guys. What would Miles do...?

“Captain Bern,” I said, “I suspect you know that a few soldiers don’t pose a threat to us. I have to wonder, do you not value your life? Nobody has to know we ever encountered each other here.”

“Unfortunately, I won’t be able to take you up on this generous offer,” he said. “Of course I’ve heard about the men who faltered at your antics last time, but you’re sorely mistaken if you believe that a few threats like that will get you out of this kind of bind time and time again. Especially against my men.”

Great, apparently he thinks he got something to prove, maybe to beat Captain Lera... He won’t let us go.

I didn’t know what to do. I counted at least one squad worth of soldiers, plus the captain. But there might very well be more, and if they wouldn’t get flustered like the ones that had attacked Miles and the others at the ritual platform either, we would be in trouble.

“Tomar...” Berla whispered from beside me. “This is it.”

I swallowed hard. She was saying that we would definitely not be able to get out of this without hurting anyone. I had talked big just a few days ago, saying that I was ready for it if necessary, but even though I agreed with her assessment, I had trouble picturing myself actually hurting someone in that moment. I had made peace with the thought of doing what’s necessary, but I realized that I had thought that Miles would be the one doing it once the time came.

“I don’t know if I can...” I whispered back.

If I can’t though... What are our options...? I thought. Berla would be of little help against this many enemies with her handicap, which left Reurig, Riala, and me to do the bulk of the fighting. Reurig would hopefully be able to handle one or two of them, but that still left enough soldiers to get close to us. And if we didn’t shoot to kill, we would run the serious risk of getting overwhelmed. Especially since we wouldn’t be able to run in the woods either. Not with Berla.

“Captain...” I said. “Please reconsider.”

“Squad 1, ready,” Captain Bern said and several soldiers appeared from behind trees, weapons at the ready, and a few of them being much closer than I would’ve liked. “Last chance, Mr. Remor.”

“We...”

I thought that maybe we should surrender for now and wait for a better chance to make our escape. We had learned new tricks that they didn’t know about, and they might not guard us with multiple squads all day long. Maybe we would be able to escape and lose them in a dark forest on the way back to Alarna, or maybe we would be able to turn someone. There were options. We don’t have to resort to hurting people yet, there are other ways we can handle this, I thought. That’s when I heard a branch break behind me, followed by a scream from Riala.

“Tomar!”

I spun around, but Riala was gone. Wasn’t she right behind me!?

Looking up, I saw an agent a few meters away, holding Riala tight with one arm, while putting a dagger to her throat with the other. My eyes went wide.

“It’s over, Mr. Remor. Get down on the ground,” I heard the captain say, but it didn’t truly register. Something snapped inside me and I raised my arm, aiming at the agent’s head. With a single movement of my finger, I pressed on my palm and activated a script. A stream of water shot out and the agent fell motionless to the ground. I immediately turned back around and saw the surprised captain staring at his former subordinate for only a split second. The last thing he saw when he looked back at me was my outstretched arm, now aimed at him.