Chapter 12

 

 

Ben was shortly taken up to a room where he could get some sleep. He found he was exhausted, the terror and excitement of the last few days having finally caught up with him. Glenda gave him some pyjamas and dressing in them, his head had barely hit the pillow on the bed and he was asleep.

 

The next morning he woke to find the day quite old, the sun well up in the sky from the light coming in through the room’s window. Glenda had shown him where the bathroom was the previous night, so he had a wash, dressed again in some Tarken style clothes that had been laid out for him.

 

His own had been taken away, which he wasn’t too unhappy about as they had been quite dirty and ripped in a few places. He headed downstairs to the kitchen and found Glenda there.

 

‘Good morning, Ben!’ she greeted him warmly. How did you sleep?’

 

‘Like a log!’ Ben replied. ‘I must have been really tired.’

 

‘I’m sure you were after what you and Mia have been through,’ she said. ‘She told me more about it last night and I can only say how grateful I am that you rescued her.’

 

‘Well.. I was the one that got us captured in the first place,’ Ben replied.

 

‘Maybe. But things happen for a reason,’ she said. ‘I think your coming here may be the start of something very exciting. Now, are you hungry?’

 

‘Starving!’ Ben admitted. ‘Is Mia up?’

 

‘Oh, yes,’ Glenda replied. ‘She went off with her uncle this morning to the meeting with the guild.’

 

‘Oh,’ Ben said, a little disappointed that he hadn’t gone as well.

 

‘Now don’t you fret about not being with them. Thom thought it best that you stay hidden. Without you, this plan can never go ahead.’

 

Ben seated himself down at the kitchen table and Glenda put a plate of bacon, sausages and eggs in front of him. There was also a loaf of bread and a big mug of milk.

 

‘Now eat!’ she demanded. ‘You’ll need your strength I think.’

 

Ben did so, his mouth watering at how hungry he was. But he was curious about the guild meeting and he asked Glenda about it between mouthfuls.

 

‘Well, it’s a secret group of people who have always hoped to overthrow Lord Agmin one day,’ Glenda said. ‘You can’t imagine how bad our lives have been over the last ten years. Early on, sons and fathers were taken to work in the mines and many never returned. Now his slavers roam the lands looking for victims and fear is ever present.’

 

‘Then it will be good to get rid of him,’ Ben said.

 

‘Indeed it will,’ Glenda nodded. ‘But I won’t get my hopes up till it’s all done. Then we’ll all dance a  merry jig.’

 

After breakfast Ben went out to the stables at the rear of the inn. A small courtyard backed onto the stable building and a shady tree with a bench seat was there. No one was around and he sat down on the bench, listening to the sounds of the town beyond the inn’s high walls.

 

Low chatter filled the air and he could hear carts going past the inn out the front. He suddenly thought about his gran and a frown settled on his forehead. It had now been over a week since he had arrived in Tarken and he was worried about her. How long would Alex Runcin keep her prisoner before he did something… unpleasant to her?

 

He had to do something soon and he vowed that if he helped the folk of Relmak in their quest to free themselves of this Lord Agmin, he would somehow convince them to help him in turn. The thing was, what could they do to help? His mind spun with thoughts of how he was going to rescue his gran.

 

Then a sudden and very wild idea came to him. As he thought about it, it sounded quite crazy and far fetched. It all had to do with where Alex Runcin might be keeping his gran. He thought he knew. He had read enough about him on the Internet to know where he would most likely be.

 

And if that was so, then his plan just might work.

 

* * *

 

Mia and Thom returned just before lunch and called Ben into the kitchen. Neke was there as well and they all sat down at the table.

 

‘Well… it’s happening tonight,’ Thom said.

 

‘Tonight!’ Ben exclaimed in surprise. ‘That was a quick decision.’

 

‘Well, I convinced my fellow conspirators that this was a chance we had to take. There won’t be another whilst Agmin is still alive I fear.’

 

‘How will we reach the cavern under the hill?’ Ben asked.

 

‘By boat,’ Mia said. ‘Uncle has already picked a force of twenty to take part in the attack and we have arranged a boat to carry us there.’

 

‘Will that be enough?’ Ben asked, thinking that it was a small number to attack a big citadel, even if they had the element of surprise.

 

Thom grinned.

 

‘It will do and there is a far greater number in the prison cells,’ he said. ‘Some are criminals, but many are awaiting to be taken to the mines. But we’ll free them all… a pardon to any if they help us take the citadel.’

 

Ben and Mia dozed for the remainder of the afternoon, getting as much sleep as they could as it would be a long night ahead Thom had warned.

 

He rose again when it was dark and joined Mia in the kitchen for some dinner. Thom was out and they played cards to pass the time. Ben grew more nervous as the night passed and he had butterflies in his stomach the size of small birds.

 

To his greater worry a violent storm rolled in from the sea toward midnight. Rain drummed against the roof and lightning and thunder shook the air outside. Ben wondered whether they would have to call the attack off.

 

But when Thom returned with the storm an hour old he was quite pleased with the foul weather.

 

‘Time to go,’ he said. ‘This storm is most welcome as it will drive the citadel guards into shelter and their watch will be a good deal less.’

 

They put on some heavy coats provided by Glenda and then Thom led them outside to the stable. They passed through the door that Ben and Mia had been pulled through and down the same alley. They made their way down several more in the rain swept, windy darkness, then emerged from a last to a darkened wharf.

 

It lay almost directly beneath the citadel’s hill, its sheer dark cliffs looming high above them. A large row boat was moored at the wharf and Thom’s force was already aboard all armed with swords. A few also tiny crossbows, small enough to be held in one hand. Ben couldn’t quite see the darts they fired and wondered how useful they would be if they needed them. A few of the men nodded at Ben in greeting, though their expressions were tense.

 

Thom was the last to jump aboard and then half they the crew took up oars. Pushing the boat away from the wharf, they began to row out into the choppy bay. They plunged and tossed through high waves, sending water spraying back over them all. Ben feared that a wave might capsize them and toss them into the water.

 

But they shortly passed safely beyond the bay and around the edge of the cliffs. Ben couldn’t see much, with only the flickering lightning shedding a little light. When it flashed, he could see waves dashing against rocks only a short distance away. Then they turned toward the cliffs and he saw a deep darkness ahead, like the gaping maw of some beast.

 

Then it reared above them, the narrow mouth of the cavern under the hill. A surging wave carried them inside and Ben saw a wall pass by so close he could have leaned out and touched it. Then the water suddenly calmed as the cavern deepened and broadened further inside.

 

Someone lit a lantern and light bloomed in the air, bright after the night’s darkness. Ben found the cavern huge, its ceiling high and lost in shadows. Then he spotted a narrow stone jetty ahead, jutting out into the water and they quickly docked beside it.

 

Quickly everyone got out and stood silently about the jetty. Thom lit another lantern and motioning for Ben, they headed up it. A narrow path led deeper into the cavern and then passing around a bend, they came upon the door.

 

It was a large, formidable looking one made of iron. It was also quite rusted and pitted with age, appearing to have almost fused itself with the surrounding stone.

 

‘Well… this is it, Ben,’ Thom said. ‘It’s up to you and your strange key.’

 

Ben nodded and fishing the Silvyn out of a pocket, he placed it against the lock’s plate. He then willed it to open the door.

 

The Silvyn’s silver symbols pulsed a couple of times and almost instantly he heard two locks snap open. He was astonished at how easy it had been. But when Thom tried the door, it was still closed fast.

 

‘I was afraid of this, he said. ‘The door is fused shut it hasn’t been used so long. We’ll have to try and force it, though I fear the noise might attract attention.’

 

It was then that Ben remembered that Mr Wallace’s letter had said the Silvyn could do other things that he could discover on his own.

 

‘Let me try something else,’ he said.

 

He changed the mental picture in his mind from opening a lock to loosening the actual door. The Silvyn began to glow again, its symbols spinning around its dark surface. It grew a little warm in his hand and he took it away, feeling the Silvyn hovering in place.

 

Then the door began to vibrate, tiny shudders passing through it. It made a juddering, rattling noise, but not nearly as loud as something striking it. Then quite suddenly it opened inwards and Thom clapped Ben on a shoulder.

 

‘Well done, Ben!’ he grinned. ‘That’s saved us from being heard for sure.’

 

Ben grinned too, happy to have done what he had said he could do. As he put the cooled and darkened Silvyn back into his pocket, he made a point of remembering that a door didn’t need a lock to opened by it. It could free something by making it vibrate.

 

They went back around the corner and Thom waved the others to come forward. They came quickly, eagerness written on their faces. They all began to file through the open door and down a short corridor to a spiralling stairway leading upwards.

 

* * *

 

It was a long climb up to the dungeon levels. The stairway was quite narrow, only allowing them to only climb in single file. Ben thought it hadn’t been used in a long while, the stone steps quite crumbly and the damp walls cracked and pitted with age.

 

They eventually emerged into a wide corridor where some floor to ceiling iron bars stood. But a gate in them was open and at the end of the corridor was a closed wooden door. Thom stopped before it and putting an ear to it, listened for any sounds beyond. He tried the handle and the door opened a fraction.

 

‘This door leads to the lowest level of the dungeons,’ he said to Ben. ‘From here you’ll have to join Mia. If there is fighting, you don’t want to be near it.’

 

Ben nodded, knowing he wouldn’t be much use in a fight. He went back to join Mia at the rear of the line. Neke was with her and apparently he was to be their minder.

 

‘Where are we?’ Mia asked.

 

‘On the lowest level of the dungeon,’ Ben replied. ‘Thom say there might be fighting.’

 

‘Let’s hope not,’ Neke said. ‘Thom wants to deal with the prison guards without being discovered. He can then seal the barracks shut. But if we’re discovered… well, we’ll be luck to escape.’

 

The column began to move and they were quickly passing down the corridor lined with cell doors. They came upon a small guardroom and here Ben saw a guard lying unconscious on the ground, already dealt with.

 

Someone had taken his keys and cell doors were being opened. Some prisoners came out, some  looking in sorry shape, dirty and thin from the lack of food Ben guessed. A rank smell of unwashed bodies and human waste filled the air and he almost gagged at the horrid stench.

 

Some of them had to be left behind their condition was so bad, but there were eager others who helped themselves to weapons from a rack in the guardroom. The group began to move again, heading up a stairwell to the next level.

 

And so the growing force moved up through the dungeon levels, each time overpowering any guards. It was on the fourth and last level that they found Dale and he was quickly reunited with Mia. He didn’t look the best. He had nasty, bloodied gash on his head and cuts and abrasions on his face and arm. He was quite shocked at being rescued, but overjoyed at seeing Mia who hugged him tightly.

 

‘I’d thought I’d lost you!’ she said through some tears.

 

‘I thought I was lost too,’ he replied, eyeing Ben with a wondering frown. ‘I must admit to being amazed at what’s happening. Is Uncle Thom really planning to take the whole citadel?’

 

Mia nodded.

 

‘And it’s all due to Ben,’ she said. ‘Without his help none of this could have happened.’

 

Dale eyed Ben with a good deal of respect.

 

‘You have my thanks, Ben,’ he said. ‘It seems you have two tales to tell me once this is all over.’

 

‘Yeah… it’s been a pretty eventful week,’ Ben admitted.

 

There were so many freed prisoners now that no one seemed to be moving forward again. Then word was passed down that Thom and some others had moved on up into the citadel to secure the slaver and guard barracks. Everyone else had been told to remain where they were.

 

Some women and children had been freed as well and Ben found himself being clung to by a frightened girl of about ten who couldn’t stop shaking.

 

Time passed and Ben at one point thought he heard the clash of weapons. But it was hard to be sure as thunder and lightning still sounded from the storm outside. He figured they’d been waiting for close to an hour when a sudden cheering went up from some people closest to the door leading out of the dungeons.

 

‘Lord Agmin's dead!’ a man shouted. ‘Threw himself from a balcony rather than be taken alive!’

 

At the whole room erupted in cheers, some people whooping in delight whilst others began to weep in relief.

 

‘Relmak is free, Ben!’ Mia grinned and gave him a huge hug. ‘And it’s all because of you!’

 

‘Oh… that’s all right,’ he muttered, embarrassed at the fuss.

 

‘Don’t be so humble, Ben,’ Dale said. ‘You have helped free Relmak from a cruel and terrible tyrant. You can feel very proud.’

 

Ben grinned, suddenly feeling that perhaps he was a bit of hero. He had suddenly remembered something else that Mr Wallace’s letter had said about the Silvyn. That it would take him to places where he could be of help to people in need. It appeared he had done exactly that for the folk of Relmak.