To our surprise, there were no wards set up around the entrance to the mineshaft, and nor was there a guard on duty. Were we too late? No – a grumpy-looking mule was harnessed to the pulley mechanism that operated the cage, and I could hear voices coming from below.
“Hang on,” I said, lying flat on my belly at the edge of the shaft and tilting my ear toward the opening. “Let me see if I can hear what’s going on before we go down there.”
Fenris copied my pose while Iannis stood guard over us, and together we tuned in to listen to the furious argument occurring down in the mineshaft.
“You can’t do this, Chartis!” Bosal, the delegate I’d spoken to earlier, shouted. I froze, straining to make sure I’d heard him right – his voice was thick and hoarse from the drugs in his system. “You’re one of us! How could you side with these filthy mongrels and use your magic for their gain?”
“I was one of you,” a cold voice answered, and a shiver crawled up my spine as I recognized Argon Chartis’s superior tone. “But that was before Lord Iannis stripped me of my title and tossed me out into the cold, without so much as a recommendation. You did not lift a finger to help me then, Bosal.”
“And so what, that justifies your becoming the tool of these barbaric humans instead?” the Secretary demanded. “I didn’t realize you’d sunk so low, Argon. That any mage could sink so low.”
“Silence!” There was a crack, and I imagined the delegate slumping against the wall beneath the force of one of Chartis’s air-slaps. My cheek throbbed in sympathy – I’d been on the receiving end of a few of those from him myself. “The Resistance has offered me the means for getting my own back! Did all of you really expect me to just slink away after such injustice, like a chastised cur? A mage of my experience and standing?”
“Iannis!” I hissed, jumping to my feet. “It’s Argon Chartis! He’s the mage the Resistance recruited to help them, and he’s about to execute the delegates now!”
Iannis swore, then sprinted for the mineshaft, speaking the Words of the levitation spell as he went. Rather than fumbling with the spell myself, which I still wasn’t super confident with, I hopped onto Iannis’s back as he dropped down into the mineshaft.
“Ciach,” he swore as my arms and legs wrapped around his torso, but one of his hands wrapped around mine and squeezed, as if to reassure I was safe. “Are you trying to get us both killed?”
“I was going for efficiency,” I muttered in his ear as we descended into the shaft, far faster and smoother than when I’d done it on my own. As the elevator cage came into view, I realized Iannis wasn’t going to be able to squeeze by it with me on his back, so I dropped onto the top of the cage, then waited until Fenris floated past him before I swung myself over the side and dropped down into the tunnel.
Chartis swung around, his eyes wide with shock at the sight of us. Power crackled in his left hand, which was aimed at the delegate he’d been arguing with. All seven prisoners had been lined up against the wall, rune-engraved cuffs weighing down their wrists and preventing them from being able to use their magic. Four Resistance soldiers surrounded them in case one of them decided to attack, but it was hardly necessary – the mages could barely stand.
“You!” Chartis shouted, jabbing a crackling finger in Iannis’s direction. Strangely, he almost looked triumphant at seeing the Chief Mage alive. “I knew you had somehow survived that fall.”
“Well, I am a Chief Mage,” Iannis said coldly, stepping forward. “It would be rather pitiful if I could be killed so easily. Step away from the delegates, Argon. I made the mistake of letting you go quietly, and I won’t be doing that again. You are coming back with me to face trial for your treason.”
“Come with you? Not in this life!” Chartis yelled, his eyes sparking with rage. He shouted a Word, and a bolt of lightning shot from his palm, heading straight for Iannis. Iannis raised a hand and shouted another spell as he caught the bolt in his hand. The deadly lightning dissipated, much to Chartis’s fury. “You’ve already stripped me of my rank and thrown me out of the Guild – I won’t allow you to humiliate me by putting me on a public trial as well!”
“Stop this!” Iannis commanded, his eyes flashing. “If you throw around magic like that in this tunnel, it will collapse and kill us all!”
“That doesn’t sound so bad to me,” Chartis sneered, raising his hand again. “It means I won’t have to take the time to kill you all individually.” He shot another bolt at Iannis, and as he did the soldiers rushed forward to attack me and Fenris.
“Help the delegates!” I shouted at Fenris as I charged forward to meet them. “I’ll hold them off while you get them out of here!”
The next few minutes were utter pandemonium. Drawing my crescent knives, I blocked the first soldier’s sword and knocked it away, then came in with a slash at his mid-section. A second soldier went for my ribs as I did so, and I was forced to twist away to avoid the bite of his blade. As a result, my slash didn’t go as deep as I would have liked, and the first soldier jumped back, barely scathed. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Fenris duck out of the way of another soldier’s blade, then come in from underneath and slam his palms into the guy’s chest while shouting a word. Ice spread like wildfire over the man’s body, and the fourth soldier froze as he watched his comrade turn into a sculpture.