“You got to admire their persistence,” I said, and meant it. “But why chase you? It’s me they want.”
Thorm laughed into the wind, his blond mustache whipping about. “That Titan made it clear hanging around would not be tolerated. Besides, once you vanished in the thing’s mouth I think they must have thought you dead. So, I was the closest target to take out their aggressions on.”
“Sorry to get you into this mess, Thorm.” I seemed to spend a lot of time apologizing to my friends because of my own problems.
“Apology not accepted,” Thorm said with a smile. “This is all part of the game, and I will be the first to admit this is really fun.” He glanced behind him briefly, and said. “But I must go, Miss Valesh. I’m going to see how far I can lead them before they lose interest or have to stop for a bathroom break. Good luck with Ogden!” And with that he signed off.
It felt good to know he was okay, and even better that neither of my friends held any animosity toward me for their predicament.
I moved through the trees until I looked down upon the huge ice complex.
Speaking of my problems, it was time to solve my biggest one, once and for all.
And to do that I had to break into a fortress.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Between the tree line of the forest and the edge of the chasm, I darted from cover to cover. If it weren’t for my Shadow ability, I would have easily been spotted.
Still, from a tactical point of view the forest edge was too close to the fortress walls. The trees should have been cleared out to at least a hundred paces, and the ground in between pruned of any cover. This just underscored Ogden’s overconfidence that no one, even an invading Guild, had a hope of breaching his Titan defense.
Well, having just breached it I was now going to invade.
Once I reached the very edge of the chasm, I looked down. Sheer rock walls vanished into an impenetrable darkness. The far ledge was at least twenty paces distance, and flush with the fortress wall. A sane person would not risk the jump, but I had to try.
I took a couple of dozen paces back and looked up at the battlements far above.
From this angle no one could see me. With the cover of approaching night, and my active Shadow ability, I didn’t think I’d be spotted, even if someone happened to be looking right at this area.
From my inventory I took out two short daggers and gripped one in each hand.
With a silent prayer, I ran.
At the very edge of the chasm ledge, I jumped and used my Leap ability at the same time.
I sailed across the vast space the wind buffeting my ears.
Apparently, my investment of skill points in Leap paid off, for I managed to cross the distance easily. I slammed against the wall, jamming both daggers into its ice.
It took a moment to get my bearings and be thankful I wasn’t pinwheeling into the chasm’s darkness for an eternity.
I began to climb, pulling myself up with the daggers, then using my Sure Footed ability to keep my feet firmly lodged against the wall’s slick surface. Over and over I repeated this process. Occasionally, I would risk a glance upwards, but no one was peering down.
At the half-way point, the massive drawbridge to my left suddenly rumbled to life and descended. I froze in place and hugged the wall.
The noise of the huge chains lowering it down was deafening, and I could feel the vibrations in the ice itself.
The drawbridge thudded into place and a group of riders exited the fortress and crossed over.
A little alarmed by they appearance, I twisted around as much as I could to get a better view. Was one of them Ogden? If he left now, what would I do? None appeared to have his sloping owl shaped outline, and they followed the snow-covered path to disappear into the forest.
Were they the ones who I’d seen with Ogden earlier? I couldn’t be sure.
As the drawbridge began to be pulled up, clattering away, I resumed my climb.
Sooner than I expected I reached the top, and with extreme caution I peeked over.
No one was there. Only the view of various roofs of the fortress’s inner buildings greeted me.
Slowly, I pulled myself up and glanced down the battlements in both directions. Nothing, and no one. I knew there were clockwork guards on the walls, so I remained cautious as I dropped down onto the icy walkway.
A short distance to my left an open doorway into a tower presented itself. To my right, a long expanse of exposed wall.
I slinked to the tower and entered.
The walkway continued through the tower and out onto the next set of battlements. Far in the distance I could see a clockwork guard wobbling along. Too far to be a threat.
Ice stairs spiraled downward into darkness, and on those I descended.
Going down the same distance I’d climbed up made for a small joy and I quickly reached ground level.
A single closed wooden door was set into the ice wall of the tower. Opening doors represented the greatest risk of discovery for a Shadow. Yet, the huge size of the fortress coupled with the few patrolling guards, made the chance of someone looking at the door as I opened it pretty small.
I slowly reached for the doorknob.
The door exploded open.
As the door slammed inward, I jumped back and instantly took out my sword.
A clockwork guard stood within the entrance, its squared body blocking the way. Then it waddled in, turned to the stairs and climbed.
I breathed a sigh of relief, trying to recover from a near heart attack, and leaned against the wall. The pommel of my sword clinked against the wall’s icy surface, causing my Shadow form to shimmer.
The clockwork guard stopped.
Tensing up, I prepared for a fight.
The guard did not move, only stood there with one blocky foot on the next step up. Slowly, its head turned and square black eyes seemed to scan over the little room. Steam shot out of its back.
I held my breath. How difficult would this thing be to dispatch? My eyes fell on the lightning wand sticking out of one of its arms. It gave off an electrical crackle.
Seconds passed, and I thought I could hear the gears grinding away within its body. Was it assessing the situation? Did it have an artificial intelligence which could reason things out? Then, as if to answer my questions, the guard turned its head forward, and resumed climbing up the stairs.
I waited a good while until the noise of its clomping footfalls were gone. Since I didn’t know how connected these guards were with Ogden, I could not risk eliminating one, even quickly. A normal guard could raise an alarm, but these automatons were a different conundrum. I needed to err on the side of caution and avoid them completely.
The tower door stood open, a snow-covered courtyard beyond. I eased up to it and looked out. No other clockwork guards were nearby. In fact, the vast open space looked abandoned. Just my luck I’d almost smacked straight into the only guard in this section.
Across from the tower was the main fortress complex, a collection of different buildings of all shapes and sizes. Various doors presented themselves, so I chose one at random and moved to it.
Night had fallen, and the courtyard was almost completely black save for the occasional glowing sconce or fire pit. Maybe the clockwork guards didn’t require much light to still maintain their rounds. Regardless, I kept my distance from any source of light. Shadows excelled in the night.
I reached the door and crouched to one side. Giving the courtyard one cautious scan, I reached up and tried the knob. It was unlocked. I eased the door open, and bright light spilled out.