Chapter 10: An Iron Fist
"Help me up please. Thank you. Careful now. Alright then." Urantan took a few deep breaths as he relaxed a bit. Selian nodded approvingly as two of his men supported his old friend. The rest of what he presumed was Urantan's group did a quick check for wounds before coming over to offer their thanks. They still seemed a bit dazed, but they got away with nothing more than a few minor wounds.
"So how are you?" asked Urantan, smiling warmly to Selian.
"I've been better," replied Selian calmly. "You look awful though."
"Well that was a quite rude, albeit true. You're usually clean-shaven though, couldn't find the time?"
"No, I've been kind of busy lately, what with the attack and all." Everyone else exchanged confused looks, but Selian and Urantan continued to smile and exchange small talk. Selian had grown used to Urantan's unusual calm demeanor, no matter the situation, and had grown fond of speaking with him. It was much easier to relax, although he had to admit that sometimes the situation wasn't one for relaxing.
"So were are we going?" asked Mark impatiently.
"Excuse me?" asked Selian, obviously a bit put off from being interrupted. Selian's men began to tense up a bit, causing Danik and Merk to back up.
"Sorry, he's young, and a bit hasty. I was getting up to that though, where do you stay? Obviously not in the streets." As Urantan asked the question, the soldiers turned to Selian expectantly. This was a tightly kept secret amongst them. There were many of the group even, who didn't know the exact location. Selian sighed and looked back at Urantan. He sized him up and moved on to the others, trying to tell how trustworthy they were. After a long moment, he began to speak, before being interrupted.
"Sir, surely you aren't going to actually tell them!" protested one of the soldiers. The other soldiers declared their agreement, which produced a flurry of words and argument, mostly going back and forth between the soldiers and Mark. Mark was slowly becoming a bit more pressed to find shelter, as he was almost sure he could hear footsteps not far off. Selian raised a hand, which immediately quieted the crowd.
"Let us not forget what Urantan has done for this city, over the many years. I think he deserves this. I trust his friends equally, and I suggest you d-"
"Sir!" Selian swiveled around to see one of his men marching towards him, pushing a Burthorpe soldier in front of him. "I found him resting in the house right there. He's obviously a Burthorpe soldier."
"I'm not a Burthorpian," complained the young man. Selian walked up and lifted his face. It was battered, bruised, and dirtied from what could only have been recent bouts. Dried up blood covered his cheek. Selian stared directly into his eyes, trying to decipher the truth.
"James!"
"You know him?" exclaimed Selian, glaring at Mark. Mark ignored Selian, and he instead ran to James, followed by Danik and Merk. Urantan decided he was better off staying put but smiled at him nonetheless.
"Hey, how did you guys get here?" asked James, who had found a bit more confidence, enough to push Selian back a bit and give himself more space. Selian's men held their weapons readily, and even Selian himself was a bit taken aback, although no one seemed to notice.
"Well," began Urantan, "We knew you were here, so we came here ourselves. Juna arranged for transportation, of course. We were then ambushed, and saved by the lovely people who meant to torture or kill you, with no justification. And now, well, here we are." He finished the statement smiling happily, although the soldiers looked a bit unnerved that not only was there a Burthorpian in their midst, they were being ridiculed for wanting to kill him. They looked at the ground for a bit, before looking at Selian, hoping he would have a good retort.
"Why do you seek friendships with Burthorpians?" asked Selian at last. The other soldiers nodded or grunted in agreement with their captain.
"He's not a Burthorpian!" yelled Mark. Urantan nodded to emphasize the point.
"Surely you are mistaken!" yelled one of the soldiers, who was again met with grunts of approval.
"I can assure you myself," said James, "That I am not from Burthorpe. I am a druid from the town of Taverly, a short ways to the south of Burthorpe. If you look closely you will see that my clothes are green, not black traditionally worn by Burthorpians. The Burthorpians took their idea from the garb of the ancestor druids, which I wear now. The only difference is they changed to black, presumably for stealth missions." James recited almost exactly as Hajex had told him to say while he was still in training, if anyone asked him. The soldiers weren't quite sure how to respond, and Selian merely looked at Urantan for his approval. Urantan gave a slight nod.
"He speaks the truth," declared Selian, who hardly cared anymore, nervous for their general safety out in the open. "I think it's time we go back."
"Back where?" questioned James.
"Follow us, and carefully. We don't want to have to fight when we don't have to," said Selian, ignoring the question.
He led the way, with a first line of soldiers right behind him. Next were James, Mark, Danik, Urantan, and Merk, followed by the rest of the men. James continued to ask questions but Urantan persisted that he wait until they reach a shelter of some sort. At last they entered a decrepit building close to the southern gate; very similar to the one James had been in previously. The walls were damaged or holed and the shutters hung limp at the side. Oddly enough, the windows themselves were clear and polished. The door was also locked, needing a weak spell to open. Selian directed everyone in, following everyone else behind.
The inside was very similar. Rubble was piled in the corners and dust fell from the ceiling. The stairway was completely destroyed somewhere around the tenth step onward, with the previous steps hardly looking strong enough to step on. In the kitchen area the dining table was smashed to pieces, accompanied by something James could relatively recognize as broken chairs. The fireplace was filled with bricks, a torn book and blood next to a rocking chair set beside it. The blood was the only sign of a fight, or murder; the body was no were in sight. James could picture a man sitting there, enjoying an afternoon read, when his house was stormed. He had no defense. He had no way of fighting back.
Those who hadn't seen the building before were having the same reaction. Selian, however, calmly walked over to the fireplace and began pulling out the bricks and rubble. He carelessly threw them across the floor in back of him, working diligently to pull them out. Another soldier took the bricks and piled them neatly nearby. When Selian was done he turned around, wiping the sweat from his brow.
"Let's go." He turned around and sat down, looking at the fireplace. He moved forward, legs outstretched, before they disappeared. A moment later he completely vanished, climbing down the long ladder that led into the depths. The higher ranking officers followed. Next were the lower ranking soldiers, ecstatic at the honor of knowing the location. One stayed behind, pushing James, Mark, Merk, and Danik in, although he was a bit gentler to Urantan.
James descended as fast as possible, not comfortable with the tight dark space. It seemed to go on for awhile and he was not happy with hardly being able to see in front of him. This problem was made worse when the soldier who had pushed them in covered the fireplace with bricks again, cutting off the only light source. The others voiced no complaints, but he couldn't tell if that meant they were okay with it or they just wished to remain silent.
The ladder itself was painful; nearly each rung gave him splinters. He spent nearly three minutes finding a good way to climb comfortably with his claws, until finally he decided that he would have to hold them in his mouth. He fought back the fear that he would cut his mouth to shreds and continued to climb down. He was too busy being afraid that he was going to get stuck in the small passage.
Finally his foot found, instead of a new rung, the hard surface of a stone floor. Overcome with joy, he dropped down and looked around. He put the claws back on his wrist and began feeling the wall. After
some time in the darkness, he found a passageway to follow. He moved forward slowly, his arms outstretched before him. After a few twists and turns, he could see a light.
The light was coming from their goal, the large cavern that held the encampment. Tents were lined in rows with random opened areas for fire pits and sparring areas. Farther down was what James presumed was the civilian area. It was hard to tell because only a handful of people were out and about. They just seemed to wander around dejectedly with no purpose.
"Welcome to the Ardougne Revival Center," declared Selian, obviously proud of what he had accomplished.
"How…How did you do this in such a short time?" questioned Urantan, looking at it in awe. Selian pointed off in the distance where James could faintly make out what looked like a large wooden box on wheels.
"We struck a bit of luck. Long ago the dwarves had this connection to Ardougne in hopes of owning the land. Eventually they found this cavern was too small and didn't suit their needs. They left, but the mine cart still remains, which can bring us to one of their small villages. We sent a party there and asked for help. They generously gave it, claiming they hoped to get rid of the threat we have here. I suspect they will want some sort of payment afterwards, but it was the only way." He seemed lost in thought after this, and there was silence for a moment.
"So, now what?" asked Mark, looking around.
"Follow me," replied Selian, heading for what seemed to be one of the largest tents. They entered to be greeted by two soldiers who were guarding it. They did a quick verification check before standing again at the door. "You're dismissed," said Selian, hardly giving them a glance. They nodded and left silently.
The tent was bare. A sleeping roll was off to the corner with a few personal items next to it. A small table was beside that, atop it a clay plate with only a few bread crumbs and half a wedge of cheese. A full suit of armor was on a stand, a long sword made of finely polished steel was propped against it. In
the center was a larger table with a detailed map of Ardougne and a few drawing instruments. This was where Selian was, and the rest of them followed.
"Most of the enemies are here," explained Selian, pointing to the castle situated in the center of the city. "There are about one hundred troops stationed in the castle itself, with a ring of soldiers surrounding it. Other soldiers guard the pathways leading to it, with sentries making regular intervals to the very outskirts of the city, going as far as the first sign of wilderness outside. We have made three successful trips to the surface, including the most recent one. The last one was the most daring, it was the only one in which we actually engaged in combat. The other trips were only to gather information."
James, Mark, and Merk stared at the map, trying to understand. Urantan decided to stay a little further off, thinking. Danik, however, was studying the map intensely, trying to formulate a plan.
"And how many soldiers do we have left here?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the map.
"We estimate a total of sixty eight. We must keep at least twenty soldiers stationed here at all times, lest this place be ambushed and the civilians hurt. This is the main reasons why we have tried nothing. That and the fact that they have all entry points guarded. We can do nothing but a few small scouting trips."
Urantan stepped up to the map, pushing James out of the way. "This is the house we entered to get down here correct?" he asked, pointing to the paper. Selian nodded. "Good. If my calculations are correct, we should be somewhere around…" Urantan moved his finger around, trying to make an exact calculation. "Here," he said at last.
"Almost, more closer to here, the last turn was west, not north," corrected Selian, pointing to the correct location.
"Of course. So that means that if you went to the end of the cavern you would only be a few meters from being under the castle. Can we not enter it from there?"
"The castle isn't built like the one of Lumbridge, there is no underground entrance. That is viewed more as a design flaw than anything."
"Then we make our own," replied Urantan. Selian seemed uneasy about the idea.
"If we could take the castle from under their nose, it would give us a huge advantage!" exclaimed James, trying to convince the captain.
"Am I the only one who remembers the hundred soldiers in the castle waiting for us?" asked Mark. James deflated, but Urantan seemed indifferent.
"We have no choice, do we? It has to be this way."
"I say we take about twenty five men with us, and do our best to storm the castle. We have the element of surprise, and if we cans stay silent, we can overtake them all slowly," posed Danik.
All eyes were on Selian. He had the final say. No matter what they though, if he wanted it, they would do it, as would any of the other soldiers here.
"Urantan, you better get tunneling. Everyone else, we have some preparations to make."
--
"We may have run into a bit of a… problem," stated a young man. He was of slim build and clad in black. He was at one knee, speaking to a wizard of considerable power. The wizard was glancing at his finger nails as he addressed the problem, sitting in the regal throne of the former Ardougne King. He acknowledged the messenger, motioning for him to continue.
"A soldier has reported a small skirmish near the outskirts of the city, a handful of Burthorpians were attacked by a few remaining rebels."
"And what is the problem, exactly?" asked the wizard, not even bothering to look at the messenger.
"The rebels won." This seemed to get the wizard's attention. He quickly stood up, glaring at the messenger as his hand began to glow bright blue.
"And tell me that you found and destroyed these rebels afterwards!" he bellowed, his voice echoing in the large halls.
"Actually, sir, they disappeared, we cannot trace them. We ha-" Before he could finish the statement the wizard had become overcome with rage. He swung his hand, hitting the messenger square in the face. The soldier was thrown across the room, sliding over to the door.
"Find them, and do not return with bad news again!" The soldier got up, his face streamed with blood, and ran out of the room. The wizard approached the window and peered out, trying to decipher the location of the elusive Captain Selian who had defied them openly twice now.
