PALE REIGN OVER GESHEM - CHAPTER 15 By Abyss DISCLAIMER: Take any previously written disclaimer, shake well, apply here. Greetings all, Abyss here. Special thanx to -=Kielle=- for proofreading, and to the many others who have sent me comments. You people make this worthwhile. By the way... Just saw DRAGONHEART... great movie IMHO. Fantasy lovers... see this film. Keep the faith Abyss ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Can you get us into the castle?" The Gambler's grin widened. They were in yet another basement, this one considerably larger. Cyclops guessed they were in a warehouse of some sort. They had seen only what the Gambler allowed them to see: passages, locked doors, and a few rooms. There were at least twenty or more thieves here that Cyclops had seen so far. From the likely size of the place, there could be far more. "That I can, friend. Tho' I can promise it's anything but easy." Cyclops started to respond, but the Prelate cut him off. "Can't she just phase us in?" He indicated Katherine, who responded in turn. "My shadowsuit has limits, faker." "And those would be?" "None of your concern." Cyclops broke in. There was some antagonism between those two, and they didn't need enemies amongst the only allies they had in the city. "It's enough if we can get in. Hunter, will we be able to deal with whatever we find there?" "That depends. If we can free the Mage, we can disrupt the spell that's holding the Queen. Without him..." "Why can't you disrupt the spell yourself? If you can free the Mage..." the Prelate asked. "Before he was taken, the Mage told me of the spell the Pale Man used. It involves the power of the realm itself. It's beyond me. We need the Mage." "Maybe not," the Gambler broke in. He walked to a door and knocked, then ducked his head in. "My dear, would y'be so kind as to join us?" He ducked back out, and after a moment a woman came out. Cyclops thought he was used to the alternate versions of people he knew who kept appearing, but this shocked even him... She was a tall woman, wearing a long dress of green cloth that shimmered and shifted as she moved. Her eyes were an icy blue and her hair the colour of gold, braided into long intricate locks...the name fell from his lips... "Belladonna..." The Gambler looked at him curiously, but the look she gave him was equal parts shock and suspicion...he saw her eyes flash back to the door behind her, which she hastened to close. The Gambler made introductions. "Might I introduce my Lady Lustre, foremost spellcaster of the Thieves Guild, and enchantress of my heart. Dear one, you know the Hunter--" the look that passed between the two women dropped the temperature in the room several degrees, and Cyclops wondered where they had met before "--and Lord Summerisle..., and Lord Summerisle." Lustre looked from Cyclops to the Prelate and back again. She turned to Stephanie. "Is your fool of a master playing with raising the dead now, Hunter?" Stephanie's reply was just as cool as the question. "They're real, witch. More real than that imp you sent after me." The Gambler broke in before the exchange turned bloody. "Now, now, ladies...we all on the same side now, no?" Neither woman had a chance to respond. The door Lady Lustre had entered from opened again, and an almost familiar figure shuffled out slowly. Cyclops stared. So did almost everyone else in the room. The Gambler grinned and walked over to the man, throwing his arm across the other's shoulders and indicating those in the room. "Lady Hunter, Lord Summerisle, and Lord Summerisle, may I present...Lord Summerisle, tho' he prefers to be called Scott." * * * "We attack? Did you hit yourself on the head pulling that sword out? How do the two of us attack over a hundred bandits alone?" Lillian slid over a bit on the cliff and pulled Tabitha forward by her arm. She pointed and Tabitha looked where she indicated. There was a man directing the placement of the bandits. His hair was a weird shade of white, almost pink. He was dressed in garish colours that showed up vividly even at this distance. When he gestured, he did so with something long and twisted in his hand. "That's their leader. He's carrying a war-horn. We'll sneak up and grab it, then sound it to warn the Lord-Consort. He'll be wary and they won't be able to catch him by surprise." "That is the most foolish, suicidal thing I have ever heard...we'll both be killed!" "You have a better idea?" "Yes. We sneak around them and get to the Lord-Consort first." "Look again, Tabitha. They have the pass covered. The only way we get around them is to go around the hills, and we will never reach our forces in time that way." "And dying will be more effective?" "We won't die, serving-girl. They are arrayed for someone coming down the Great Road. They aren't expecting someone from behind. We can be in and out before they know what hit them. It will be like magic." "You think you're good enough to get us in and out like one of the Mage's teleport spells? You're insane, Lillian." "The Land watches over fools and madwomen." "Wonderful. You're mad, and I'm definitely a fool to go along with this, so we can't fail." Lillian slid down the rocks they were perched on. With a quick prayer to the Land to make their deaths quick, Tabitha followed. * * * END CHAPTER 15 ..