Don

A violent splash of cold water slapped Don straight in the face. He awakened in a brief panic. He tried to rub his eyes, only to find his hands had been firmly shackled together behind the chair he was sitting in. His head felt like it had been trampled by horses. Without the full use of his arms, he could not cast spells. Shaking the dripping water from his brow, he tried to get a good look at the men who were holding him captive.

“Who’s there? What’s going on?”

The sound of giant footsteps hitting the ground in front of Don prompted him to look up. Standing before him was a tall, broad-shouldered man with light brown hair that was professionally styled into a ponytail. His skin was tanned by hours of direct sunlight. He was dressed in exquisite plate armor, holding his helmet by the visor.

“You have been detained on behalf of the Sentinel Order by the Holy Knights. My name is Sir Talix Aldous. I am the man who gave you that throbbing headache you must be feeling by now.”

“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Sir. My name is Don of the Traveler Clan. I would bow, but it appears I have been shackled to a chair.”

Talix tilted his head. “I don’t recognize your accent, but it is clear you aren’t local. Judging by your misunderstanding of knightly titles, I would also assume you don’t fully speak Traven.”

“I was born in Pallumia, but I was raised . . .” Don paused, as he was unsure how much of the truth he should divulge. “Elsewhere . . .”

“Mr. Traveler, do you understand why you were arrested?”

Don raised an eyebrow and cocked his head. “Last I checked, I was the one being robbed. If this is about the horses and cart, I will gladly do what I can to make reparations.”

Talix shook his head. “That is a separate matter that I’m sure the pickpocket in the dungeon will pay dearly for soon. The Holy Knights are more concerned with the spells you were spotted casting. I saw you open a portal large enough for a horse-drawn cart to fit through. There aren’t many magicians around who can manage such a feat, much less under extreme duress.”

With a smile, Don replied, “Wasn’t that impressive? That was certainly a close one. Had I missed the center of the portal by even another inch or miscalculated our speed toward it, we wouldn’t be having this conversation now!”

“Impressive though it was, portals can only be conjured by those who possess the magical gift of evocation, which is highly regulated within the empire. I could not find any magician registration documents anywhere among your belongings. If you cannot produce any such documents, then I will be forced to assume that you are an outlaw magician.”

Don had no idea what that meant, but it admittedly did not seem pleasant. He quickly came up with a lie. “Were they not in my knapsack? I swear on my life I stashed them away there nice and proper before setting off on my journey! They must still be in Pallumia . . .”

The Holy Knight paced from side to side and frowned. “Well, luckily for you, the Church of the Holy Trinity keeps a ledger of all local registered magicians. Now that I have your name, I can check within the ledger to verify your innocence. If you can state where you were first registered, we can send for a messenger from that area and have your registration verified.”

“Fantastic!” Don said with a smile. “How long will that take? I am hoping to finish my journey to Galatea quickly so that I may make it in time for the Festival of the Azure Moon.”

“Sending a messenger by horseback all the way to Pallumia could take several weeks or longer if the roads are not kind. Until then, you are to remain here under my close watch until the Sentinels return from Oxgate.”

Hearing the word weeks ran a chill down Don’s spine. He could not imagine being locked in a cell for even a day, much less weeks at a time. Within the deepest confines of his mind, he began formulating a plan while his face continued to lie through its teeth. “Not the ideal situation, Mr. Sir, but I suppose that is the price I must pay for my crime.”

“The proper greeting is Sir Aldous, Mr. Traveler. Sir is a title, not my name.” Talix squinted. “Traven is the most widely spoken language on the continent. I can’t imagine how you haven’t been exposed to it.”

Don shrugged naively.

“However, your dialect or lack thereof does not concern me.” Talix helped Don to his feet.

The pair walked through the halls of the Holy Knight barracks, where unarmored knights and their soldiers littered the rooms, each giving their own kind of rough look at Don.

They descended a set of stairs leading to the dungeon beneath the barracks. The stench of piss and shit riddled the air. There were only two cells. It didn’t seem like the Holy Knights took too many prisoners, but if they did, they weren’t prisoners for long.

The left cell contained the thief who robbed Don and nearly successfully robbed him a second time. He was still wearing the same face from earlier. The guard stationed there roused from his drowsy state as soon as he heard Talix’s armor clanking down the stairs. Talix handed Don off to him. The guard opened the empty cell and pushed Don inside.

The magician turned around, trying to move his still-bound hands. “Would it be possible to have these shackles removed, Sir Aldous?”

He shook his head. “Absolutely not. We know full well that you magicians cannot cast your spells without at least having full mobility of both your limbs. I will gladly have them moved to the front of your body so you may eat your meals, but I’m afraid that is as much comfort as I will grant.”

Don nodded and gave a crooked smile. “Of course . . . What was I thinking?”

Talix pulled a key from his belt, unlocked one of Don’s hands, and grasped his wrist tight. His grip was firm like a laborer. Don felt like he wouldn’t be able to move even if he wanted to. After locking the shackles again in front of Don’s body, Talix tossed the key to the cell guard, whacking him in the nose. He stepped out of the cell, glaring at the thief in the adjacent cell. “Don’t get too close to that one, Mr. Traveler. He’s dangerous.”

Don tried to exchange a smile with the thief, but he only responded with a murderous glare. Talix continued up the stairs. The cell guard sat back down at the end of the short hall as he lit up his tobacco pipe once again and began doodling on a spare sheet of parchment.

Sitting down in the cell, Don awkwardly exchanged glances with the thief in the corner. Though only a brief few seconds had passed since Talix left the pair in their cells, centuries passed in their minds. Later, the cell guard stood from his hard wooden stool. “I’ve to go take a shit. Don’t you two go anywhere! Ha!” He laughed to himself as he made his way up the stairs.

“So . . .” Don attempted to break the silence. “Now that we’ve got a moment to ourselves, I can introduce myself properly. My name is Don of the Traveler Clan.” He gave a polite head bow awaiting the thief’s response.

“You set yourself up to look like a prime mark, only to chase me around the whole flaming city. And for what? A sack full of useless iron bits!” The thief sat back down and rolled over in his cot. “Piss off, magician.”

Don grasped the bars that separated their cells. “I truly am sorry about that, but I promise you I can explain myself. It’s actually quite the story!”

“I said piss o—”

“I have come to Travenhall to reunite with my clan,” Don interrupted. “However, to do so successfully, I need a companion who is equipped with skills I cannot learn. I need someone skilled in the arts of thievery, burglary, and all things banditry to escort me to them and to help guide me through a harsh world that I truly do not fully understand.”

The thief remained turned away from Don, but his lying angle gave Don the impression he was still listening.

“So, I set out on a quest to find myself a thief, but every time I would ask the locals where to find one, I was directed to a dungeon similar to this one. The thief had already been caught. Or they were among a gathering of corpses hanging from a tree like fruits dangling from a branch.” Don lifted a finger as he paced through the cell. “It dawned on me that I had made a mistake! Of course, I would never find a thief just by asking around because a thief is not a known thief until they are caught or hanged.”

“Does this fucking story have an end?”

“I knew if I wanted to find a quality bandit who was worth my time, I would need to find one who hasn’t been caught yet, and at the same time, I needed to find a bandit whose skills I could witness firsthand. I sold several of my belongings and gathered a decent amount of silver since that seemed to be one thing scoundrels valued more than anything, and I flaunted it about in the most populated place I could find. To my surprise, it seemed my plan worked far too well! Before I knew it, you had stolen my coin purse straight from my belt! I managed to get a good look at your face and garb so that I may find you again, but once you melded into the market crowd, you had vanished. Now I know it was because you transformed and disguised yourself, but I did not know this at the time.

“I knew the only way I would find you again was to set the same trap with even more tempting bait, but you had already stolen all my silver. I crafted my decoy bag and did my best to make it look like a thick coin purse. I tied it to my kelpie hair rope so that you could not cut it so quickly without a silver blade. I made myself a target in the market, and I believe you know exactly what happened after that.”

The thief rolled back over in his cell to face Don. “So you set this whole affair up just so you could hire me to be your personal thug?”

“Yes!” Don said with absolute confidence and pride. “I promise you I will make it worth your while. My father is a fairly rich man and will no doubt be willing to offer a generous reward for your service.”

“You are absolutely crazed,” the scoundrel responded. “But I will admit you have piqued my interest.”

“Fantastic!” Don interrupted. “Now, once we esca—”

“I wasn’t finished,” the thief interjected. “What truly interests me is your ability to appear anywhere you wish and make windows to other locations. Could you open one of those windows anywhere in the world?”

Don shook his head. “I’m afraid not. The furthest distance I have ever conjured a portal was around three hundred yards from the entrance portal, and that puts me at a risk of overcasting. However, if I had the materials to craft a teleportation circle, I could teleport a group of people anywhere on this planet so long as there was a proper circle on the other side.”

The thief’s eyes widened as he lunged for the bars between the cells like a starving prisoner who was offered food. “Give me your word that you will send me home one day, and I’ll work with you as long as it takes!”

Don’s beaming smile returned as he extended his manacled hand. “I swear that I will do everything in my power to teleport you anywhere you please as soon as we have the funds to do so. Teleportation circles are expensive to craft, after all. Perhaps my father will have access to one and we can get you where you want to go!”

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The thief grasped hold of Don’s hand with his elongated arm. “You’ve got yourself a hired thug, Mr. Wizard.”

“I don’t think you’ve told me your name yet, partner,” Don said with a raised eyebrow.

“Shalnark. Just Shalnark.”

“Very well, Just Shalnark, it is a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance!”

Shalnark let go of Don’s hand and stepped back. “Great that we have that established. Now we need to get you out of those manacles. If what the Holy Knight said is true, you can’t open a portal without your hands.”

Tugging on his manacles, Don sighed. “Unfortunately, yes. I was hoping, as a professional rogue, you would have a plan for getting us out of these cells or at least getting me out of these manacles. Can’t you pick the locks on these with a toothpick?”

Shalnark rolled his eyes. “You’ve read too many epic poems. Primitive locks can’t be bypassed by just any shard of metal or wood. You need a skeletonized key or at least a sturdy pry bar.” He looked toward the stairs at the sound of heavy drunken footsteps returning. “But I think I’ll just use the proper key instead.”

***

Shalnark

Ebennen, do you think you can craft a decent disguise of that brutish Holy Knight? Shalnark thought.

I think I got a good enough look at him to copy his features well enough to fool that drunken guard, but we are far shorter than he is.

If you sell the performance enough, that shouldn’t matter. They have no idea we have this power, so he won’t be suspecting a thing.

Give me control, and I’ll see what I can do.

Shalnark removed his tunic and cloak, exposing his torso. He closed his eyes as he allowed Ebennen to overtake his very being. Though Shalnark was adequate at using his power, Ebennen was an artiste. All he needed was one good look at his muse, and he could replicate their look almost perfectly. Also, he was a far better actor.

Once Ebennen had control, his skin tone began to change from a pale white to tan. His facial features shifted. His nose grew fuller, his hair grew longer, his chin grew more robust, and his brow furrowed. After the metamorphosis, his face and body looked just like Talix. He cleared his throat a few times as his voice lowered with every cough.

Don watched in childlike wonder as Ebennen shapeshifted into a Holy Knight. “I knew it! You did change your face!” he whispered.

Ebennen stood tall, though he did not match Talix’s above-average height. He put a finger to his lips as he looked toward Don. With a perfect transition, he threw himself onto the bars and began banging away. “Cell guard! Cell guard!” The footsteps on the stairs went from a drunken stumble to a drunken sprint. When he arrived at the base, his face grew pale at the sight of a half-naked Holy Knight in place of the thief in his charge. “Open this door, now! The thief is escaping!”

Nice sell, Eb, Shalnark said from within.

Without much thought, the cell guard scrambled for the keys, trying his best to hide his alcoholic breath from his apparent superior. “My lord! I swear I only stepped away for a moment!” He ran straight to the cell door and stood directly in front of it as he tried every key on the ring to open the door. His shaky hands struggled to insert the keys into the lock.

“Get a move on, you fool!” Ebennen yelled as he stood by the cell door. “Every second you waver, the thief gets further away!”

Don looked on from the opposite corner of his cell in wonder, watching Ebennen work his own magic. That look of wonder turned to horror as Don looked toward the stairs at the tall, intimidating Talix Aldous himself standing with an arming sword in his hand. He was still dressed in his armor with his helmet on, this time with the visor pulled up.

“What in the Seven Hells is going on here? Who authorized you to open that cell, soldier?”

The guard’s eyes furrowed in panic as his gaze darted back and forth between Ebennen’s imitation and Talix himself.

Realizing his attempted ruse would soon be discovered, Ebennen quickly capitalized on the guard’s confusion. He reached through the bars with both arms, grabbing hold of the guard’s tunic. Leaning backward with a mighty tug, he slammed the guard’s head into the bars with all his bodyweight, dropping him unconscious in his hands instantly. Pushing him to the side, Ebennen saw the guard managed to insert the key before Talix arrived.

The Holy Knight charged the cage with his sword pointing right at Ebennen’s gut. Without a moment to lose, the rogue unlocked the gate and shoved it directly into the charging Talix. The swinging door staggered the Holy Knight backward and flung the keys from the keyhole in front of Don’s cage.

“Guards! Guards, to me! The prisoners are escaping!” Talix screamed as he widened his stance to catch his balance.

I think you better handle this one! Ebennen cried as he surrendered his control back to Shalnark.

“Shit!” Shalnark grabbed hold of his removed tunic and threw it in Talix’s face, blinding him. He followed through with a swift front kick to the groin, only to be met with agonizing pain as his toe nearly shattered on Talix’s codpiece. Talix fell to one knee to recover from the devastating impact on his manhood. With one hand on his crotch, he tried to rip the tunic from his helmet, but it had become caught in the plumage that protruded behind it.

Don dove to the edge of his cage. He tried to reach for the key that had fallen there, but the manacles were too large to fit through the bars. In an adrenaline-filled panic, he yanked as hard as he could at the chains binding his hands together, but his aggression was in vain.

Shalnark stood on his left heel as he regained his composure from his shattered toe. Shalnark grabbed hold of Talix’s pauldron and his sword arm and slammed it into the wall. With three good slams of the wrist, Talix dropped his sword to the ground, and Shalnark kicked it back into his cell with his heel.

“Could use a bit of help here, Traveler!” Shalnark yelled.

“Just a moment!” Don continued to roll around on the floor, trying to find a way to squeeze his unyielding manacles through the bars and reach the keys. No matter how he contorted or twisted, the manacles simply would not allow him to reach his hands through the bars.

Talix let out a battle cry of anger as he grabbed hold of Shalnark. They wrestled for dominance, but the rogue was no match for the Holy Knight’s brute strength. Talix quickly overpowered Shalnark and grasped him by the neck with the edges of his gauntlets digging into Shalnark’s skin. Talix spun around with a violent pivot, slamming Shalnark into the wall.

“Don!” Shalnark wheezed.

As the two struggled in the opposite corner, Don changed his strategy. He spun on the floor and shoved one leg through the bar, pressing the keyring down between his heel and the floor. Folding his leg, Don dragged the keyring within his arm’s reach and finally had them in his grasp. He looked toward Shalnark pinned up against the wall and hastily struggled to undo his manacles. His hands simply could not reach the keyholes from within the manacles. “What a stubborn design!” he yelled.

With Shalnark pinned against the wall, Talix delivered a couple of devastating punches to Shalnark’s face, which was still imitating his. “Seems I caught myself two outlaw magicians in one day without even knowing it!” He reached to his side to draw his rondel dagger. To his surprise, all he could grasp was an empty sheath.

Shalnark smirked. “Missing something?” He brandished Talix’s rondel. “Allow me to return it!”

With as much might as he could muster in his confined position, he thrust the dagger upward into Talix’s left armpit, which was covered only by mail. It penetrated enough in a vital spot to cause Talix to stagger backward in pain but not deep enough to inflict a mortal wound. Talix’s armor served its purpose well.

Trampling footsteps echoed through the halls above them. The guards in the barracks would be upon them soon.

Shalnark regained his footing and yelled, “Any day now, wizard!”

“M’Im m’working on it!” Don replied with the key in his mouth.

Talix stumbled into Shalnark’s cell and picked up his sword from the floor. He kept his elbow tucked to his side as blood slowly dripped onto his polished armor. Shalnark flipped the rondel to a reverse grip and held it in front of his body as he adopted his defensive stance. The two combatants stared at each other’s center mass, waiting for the other to strike.

Talix broke their stalemate with a series of thrusts. The rogue parried the thrusts but did not dare close in on his fully armored opponent. Talix pressed his advantage, backing the retreating Shalnark into the wall behind him. With nowhere left to flee, Talix stood tall, preparing to charge his cornered prey.

Small wrinkles in space opened in front of Talix as well as on his flanks, halting him in his tracks. These looked just like the portal Don used to stop the carriage but were far smaller.

“You there, Mr. Sir!” Don yelled from within his cell, twirling the chains of his manacles overhead like a lasso. “Leave my partner alone!”

Don swung the twirling manacles with all his might and tossed the weighted end through one of his portals that led directly into Talix’s face on the other end of the bars. A chunk of solid iron slammed with immense force directly into the visor of the Holy Knight. The impact crumpled the faceplate and sent Talix stumbling backward. Before he could regain his footing, a second strike came from the portal behind him. The impact slammed him directly in his backplate, juggling him forward.

Shalnark watched in awe as Don battered Talix from within his cell with one attack after another. Talix turtled under his arms to deflect the blows from his face as he retreated up the stairs. Once he was out of Don’s sight, the onslaught of portal manacle attacks ceased. Don dropped his weapon and began making a massive circular motion with both arms. A larger portal slowly formed in front of Shalnark after about thirty long seconds as a host of guards started to run down the stairs.

“Quick, get in!” Don yelled from his cage.

“What about you?” Shalnark replied with one foot in the portal.

“I’ll join you soon! Large portals cannot be closed willingly until they run out of energy, so get going!”

Nodding, Shalnark ran through the portal into the market once again.

***

Don

The guards flooded the room, with Talix close behind with his helmet removed. Talix’s and Don’s eyes met one last time as Don squatted down deep. With one hand on the floor and the other behind him. Don gave Talix a wide tooth-filled smile as he jumped straight up. In a puff of blue light, Don disappeared from his cage and appeared on the other side of the small barred window in the corner of the jail. He jumped again to land atop the roof of the Holy Knight barracks.

This spell was called Inner Space Jump, or Jump for short. This spell allowed him to teleport up to sixty feet to any location he could visibly see.

Out of harm’s way, Don put his hand above his eyes to block out the sun as he scanned the town for the exit portal. From his vantage point, he quickly spotted it down the hill, surrounded by a crowd of people. Don jumped twice from roof to roof to overlook the exit portal. By the time he arrived, the guards had already poured through armed with swords, but Shalnark was nowhere to be found.

Don heard the caw of a raven behind him as it perched itself upon his shoulder. “Ah! There you are, Dusk! I was worried they caught you too.” He stroked the head of the bird as he continued to scan the crowd for his new partner.

A strange birdlike call came from the alley beside the building he was standing on. He peeked over the side to see a woman wrapped in a shawl wearing the same breeches as Shalnark. Don slowly climbed his way down from the building to meet him. “You can change your gender as well?” he whispered. “That’s incredible!”

Shalnark replied, still using Talix’s deep voice. “Not exactly . . .. I can change my face and skin, but I can’t seem to figure out how to change my . . . male tools.” Shalnark glanced at the raven that flew down with Don. “What’s with the bird?”

“Oh, this is Dusk. He’s an animal guardian I’ve made into my familiar.”

Shalnark shook his head and rolled his eyes. “I should’ve guessed it wasn’t just a pet.” He looked up toward the building Don was perched on. “Why didn’t you just magic your way down here?”

“I’m afraid my essence reserve has run dry for now. Our tussle from earlier and our escape really put a serious drain on me. I’ll need to meditate and rest before I can use magic again.” Sweat dripped from Don’s brow as if he were sitting in a steam house, and heat radiated from his body like a fever.

“Search everywhere! Keep your eyes open for more sorcery! They can’t have gotten far!” Talix yelled from the exit portal.

Shalnark grabbed hold of Don. “We better make ourselves scarce. Follow me, and I’ll lead us out. Keep that bird quiet.”

Shalnark led Don down the alleys but didn’t seem to be approaching the edge of the town.

“Where are we heading?” Don asked.

“I’m taking us to my stash. Every good thief keeps a hidden stash somewhere in case they need to leave town. I left your silver there as well as extra weapons for myself.”

After a series of twists and turns, the pair arrived in a secluded alleyway. Shalnark knelt next to a loose brick in one of the houses and pried it free with Talix’s rondel. He reached in, pulled out Don’s silver purse, and placed it on his belt. “I’m keeping this as a down payment by the way,” he said, pointing a finger. Don didn’t care too much.

Opening the silver purse, Shalnark placed a gilded necklace with some kind of amulet attached to it inside. “Nabbed this off the Holy Knight during our struggle. Might come in handy later.” He manically chuckled to himself.

Don joined him in laughter. “You truly are an accomplished pickpocket! I knew I made the right choice with you, my friend.”

Shalnark smiled, pulled out a couple of daggers from the stash, and attached one to his belt. He placed the brick back in place, turned toward Don, and gave him a knife of his own. “How long do you need to rest to be able to teleport yourself?”

“I could use my Stride spell to get out of the town after a couple of hours.” The Inner Space Stride spell, Stride for short, worked as a long-distance version of Jump that could take him up to one mile in any direction but took far longer to cast and required far more essence.

“I’m going to acquire a couple of horses. Meet me at the crossroads south of town when you can. I’ll meet you there by nightfall. If anyone approaches, hide. If I don’t make it by the following morning, assume I’ve been caught and leave this place far behind.”

“I’ll do no such thing! If you are caught, then I’ll simply rescue you again!”

Shalnark placed his brow in his hand. “You really are a naïve bastard, aren’t you?”

“I absolutely am!” Don said, giving Shalnark a thumbs-up. “But that’s why I hired you. To keep my naivety in check.”

“Just meet me at the crossroads, all right?” Shalnark said with a smirk.

Don wondered if the rogue was capable of any other expression besides the scowl. Shalnark took off at a sprint down the alley and swiftly climbed back up a building.

Don lay up against the wall of the alley and brushed Dusk’s beak. “Well, my old friend, it looks like we found the perfect man to accompany us on our exploits. With him at our side, I’m sure we will reunite with my clan. I wonder what Trilla would think of him . . .”