Slowly at first, the lead wagons began to move up the escape tunnel. The long train of wagons and horses moved slowly at first gathering some speed as the line was allowed to spread out a little. As the main escape tunnel went on, branchings occurred every so often. These were different routes out of the castle. As the column moved along, different groups would split off and go up individual tunnels according to a well-orchestrated plan devised by Lenamare many years ago. Lenamare prided himself on providing for every possible contingency. His escape tunnels, dug secretly by his own demons who had been sworn never to reveal their existence to anyone, went for miles underground, each going to a well-placed strategic escape location. As a further precaution he had wisely planted explosive spells to seal the tunnels and destroy the castle from this end, to prevent pursuit through the tunnels. Their very lives and their escape was all to be due to Lenamare’s incredible genius, as he had informed everyone at a meeting the other night to outline the evacuation.
It had been only two days since the major attempt on the shields. The wards were beginning to weaken fast without the proper support, so in that short time Lenamare directed the preparation for the escape of his people. Unselfishly, he Lenamare, would stay behind to hold Exador at bay and seal the tunnel behind the escapees. If necessary, as was very likely, he informed them, he would give up his own life for his people.
Actually anyone that really knew Lenamare, such as the masters and the senior students, as well as the Captain of the Guard, knew he was not completely forthcoming. They knew full well he wouldn’t be doing this if he didn’t feel he could get out looking like a hero, with very little risk to himself. However, out of respect for, and perhaps, fear of, their Head Master, no one said anything
The long tunnel wound its way through granite, and occasionally man, or rather, demon-made brick walled areas. Eventually the tunnel that Jehenna’s group would take came. So without further ado, her wagon set off down their tunnel. Two guards on horses going ahead; behind her wagon trailed Lenamare’s wagon, then a wagon loaded with food for her group, then Master Trisfelt and the four children, followed by two wagon loads of peasants and another food wagon. Riding along beside and interspersed with the wagons were mounted guards. In total they had ten soldiers, including the two leading the way. Jehenna really hadn’t wanted to take the peasants in her group, but there had been no graceful way to back out of taking them, and still preserve Lenamare’s selfless image.
To Jenn it seemed as if they’d traveled an entire day underground with only the torches held by the guards and her and Master Trisfelt’s Mage Light lighting the way. Eventually however, Jenn thought she could perceive some light that they weren’t making themselves ahead... Sure enough, within a few moments they reached a large granite doorway where a torch had been lit by an advance scout who had gone ahead to ensure the route was clear. The doorway was about twelve feet high and fifteen feet wide. There were double doors apparently made out of stone and placed at a sloping angle, so that the top was closer to Jenn than the bottom.
The scout turned from the spy hole in the giant doors and nodded to Jehenna that all was ready. Slowly Jehenna traced a pattern in the air in front of the doors and chanted “Omiestes, Crim faltos, sig viernon et sofos... Open Sesame!”
“Open Sesame?” Jenn asked as Jehenna finished to spell.
“Don’t ask me. Some silly code word Lenamare uses on these doors. I guess he got it from some demon one time. I really have no idea, nor do I care.”
With that there was nothing much more Jenn could say, and by this time the giant doors were raising upwards and outwards. Daylight came flooding into the tunnel, temporarily blinding everyone. Cautiously the mounted guards moved outside to inspect the vicinity of the doorway. After looking around for a few moments they motioned for the wagons to come forward.
As the wagons rolled out into the sunlight, Jenn glanced at the position of the sun. It was three quarters of the way across the sky. That meant they’d been in the tunnel for only about four hours. Goddess, how it had seemed longer. Nevertheless, here they were. They were in a thin area of the same forest she’d found the soldier in, only about a two and a half hours ride from the that spot. According to the map she’d seen yesterday it was now only a six hour journey to the mountain pass that would take them eventually to Freehold. As it was, they had a journey of about ten days through the mountains ahead of them. A lot of riding, but as Rupert had said, better than Exador.
Back in the keep, Lenamare began to relax a little. He’d shifted the wards back to their normal balance, and Exador hadn’t noticed anything. As was to be expected, his incredibly believable illusions of soldiers manning the wall completely fooled the army outside. It had been a long two days, he needed a little relaxation. He sat back in the padded chair in his office and poured himself a glass of wine. The illusions needed only the barest fraction of his mighty intellect to maintain, and the wards were completely on automatic.
The wards had been the hardest part of the last two days. Trying to design and build the mechanism that would allow Lenamare to adjust and maintain the wards all by himself. With the masters and students who constructed it gone, only Lenamare’s ingenious device in the warding chamber kept it going. True it would only be able to support the wards for about thirty six hours without the people who constructed it; however, that should be more than sufficient time to give his people a head start. True when he discovered the deception, Exador probably would track the people. He’d probably even manage to find a good number of them.
That, however, was unimportant, what was important was that it would appear to the Council that Lenamare had tried his best to save his entrusted vassals. The only other thing that mattered was that Jehenna get away with the book, so they could rendezvous later. Actually, only that last was truly crucial to his plans. In any event, a day of peace and quiet would be nice for a change, no inferiors to bother him, and Exador firmly entrenched outside with no way in. Ah, the joy, he thought as he slowly spun around in his chair.
Chapter 26
Tom opened his eyes at the sound of the commotion coming from the tunnel leading into his cave. He hadn’t been asleep, he didn’t seem to need it unless he expended a large amount of energy. After the battle with the demons, he’d felt rather tired, but not enough to really need sleep. So he’d just rested for a few hours in his stone chair, waiting for another call. Surprisingly, it hadn’t come.
He’d gone a few days at least, by his reckoning since the demon battle, it was hard to tell when there were no nights, and one didn’t sleep; but still no calls. With this free time he had amused himself by carving himself a table out of stone that could sit in front of his throne, like a desk, if he so desired. Naturally, the table literally weighed a ton, but with his strength it was no problem to move it around as if it were a folding table.
At the moment, he’d just been relaxing with his feet up on the table, leaning back in his chair-it had, incidentally, taken quite a bit of work to get his new body in a position like this which was actually comfortable. As he began to pay more attention to the noise, it sounded like a small party coming down the corridor. Sure enough, Boggy and Tizzy were coming out of the tunnel even as he thought this. They were laughing and carrying on, and each had what appeared to be a wine glass in their hands. Tizzy also was carrying a bottle of wine in his lower left hand. As they walked in, they saw Tom staring at them. “Hey Tom, old boy... congratulate friend Boggy here!” Tizzy shouted joyfully.