Chapter 4: Day one - A traitor, an injured elf and a visit from the council

It was a busy week. The mages showed up the day after I had opened the secret passages. It was early in the morning and I had climbed out of my crowded bed and started making rounds of the injured from the day before. As I was leaving the bunkhouse slash stables I saw them enter the gate. There were four of them and they walked as if they owned the world.

As they came up to me they were abrupt, “boy, where is this entrance to the Keep passages?”

I looked them up and down slowly which made a young looking one snort and start muttering a spell. Unfortunately for him I could feel the beginnings and reached out from five feet away to grab his throat. When he started to gesture a pinch at a nerve juncture stopped it. The other three were alert now and looking at me.

When the young one had stopped struggling I released him. Quietly I faced them, “lets try this again. My name is Michael and this is my home. How may I help you?”

One of the older mages stepped forward, “that was very interesting. How did you do it?”

When I only looked back another mage, taller and skinny cleared his throat, “we are here to take possession of the necromancer’s property.”

I looked back at him, “I did not know I had put it up for sale.”

The mage flushed and started to reply when the older mage put his hand up, “we were told that there was a situation. That there was left over magic from the necromancer.”

I looked at him carefully, “the work area had magic but it seems to be warded. So no I do not need a mage.”

When the young one started to reply hotly the older one only held his hand up, “what is it that you want?”

I smiled, “that is not the question. The question is, what do you want?”

As I said this I felt the mage that had remained silent start to weave a spell. Quietly I looked at him, “I have already warned you.”

Reaching out I touched him at a point in his brain making a shield with my chi. It was a point that I noticed was most active in a mage and seemed to affect their ability to do magic. As he started to pull something from under his cloak I again reached out, this time to touch him at a point in his spine at his neck.

As the mage froze I stepped up to him. His cloak pin had the same glyph that had been on the silver pendants that the three dead drow guards had around their necks, “tell me mage, how did your glyph end up on a pendant around the neck of a dead drow?”

Saying that I brought out the silver pendant I had pulled from the drow in the workroom. As I held it out on the palm of my hand the glyph seemed to glow. Without warning the older mage stepped forward. With a gesture a web of magic sprang up around the mage, cutting off my touch.

Darkness seemed to envelope the pendant and the old mage looked at my hand that held it and then at the mage, “Pendar, you have questions to answer.”

Holding out his hand out to me, “may I.”

When I put the pendant in his hand he turned to the skinny mage. The other mage stepped forward and looked at the pendant and then at the mage being held by magic. With a nod he stepped back and gestured to the younger mage. The young mage stepped forward, looking long at the pendant before glaring at the mage held in the web of magic.

The old mage looked at me, “we will be taking the mage Pendar. He will face a quorum of his peers. If they determined he was involved with the necromancer he will be put to death and his property sold off.”

After they had left I sent out two runners. One to Garret with the process for admantium, heat shielding for a forge and the suggestion that the first thing he made would be the tools for the smithy. The second runner was to see if Samuel was available for a healing. I told the runner to make sure he knew it was not an emergency.

I found John and asked, “Could you find some men to work for a few days? I want bunks made for the rooms on the bottom two floors of the passageways. In addition I want the stairwell cleared to the Keep and the whole thing cleaned up, including the gate to the Keep up above.”

With his help and two long ladders hauled up the cliff on a rope I went back to the ruins. Using the ladders together I managed to get to the third floor of the Keep. There was some smoke damage but there was a lot that could be salvaged. The fourth floor was the same with one addition.

I found an elf or drow, (I could never tell them apart) he had been beaten and there were signs of cuts or stabs. He was also in a suspended state. I called down to John, “send a runner to bring Samil!”

I checked the attic while I waited. Although the things I found might be out of date many we would still be able to use. I climbed down the ladder when Samil arrived and explained what I had found. When we went back to look at the elf/drow and Samil nodded, “he is an elf.”

Stepping on a light colored square of flooring the elf seemed to wake. With a look around, “I still will not talk!”

I smiled, “well if you do not talk how will I find out your name?”

The elf looked at us closely and I could see the pain he was holding back. It was the way he clinched his teeth and held his body, “Elvan.”

I knelt down, “we are here to help. I am a doctor.”

After saying that I started checking him. In addition to bruises, (and he had plenty) there were three deep stab wounds and five other deep cuts. On top of that the right arm, left leg and three ribs were broken. We rigged a sling to help us lower him down the ladder. Once we were on the ground John brought a litter so that we could bring him down the stairs.

It was not fun getting him through the collapsed part on the stairs but after that it was easy. Once out of the passages I had them take him in to the large bath so that he could be cleaned up. I found Sarah, Cassy and Jen in the bath. Sarah was trying to get them to relax. Jen was sitting at the edge of the water so she would not get her back wet.

I smiled, “is there any word from Samuel?”

Sarah nodded, “the runner returned to say he would be here at noon.”

I gestured to the elf, “would you help clean him? His name is Elvan.”

Samil had said he would take the news to those that represented the elves here. I told Sarah what to watch out for and went to find Sam. Walking out the door I almost got ran over by a crowd of children following Jeremy for lessons. I found Cat and Sam in the kitchen with Ann. They were talking about the rooms and how to decorate them.

I cleared my throat, “Sam? Would you get the trauma kit? Cat, I need the plaster and bandages for a cast. Also the stronger linens to tape ribs.”

After they had left I looked at Ann, “could you find someone to do a little shopping for clothing for Cassy, Jen and the girls?”

Back at the pool I checked Elvan and then I mixed several drugs. One was a strong narcotic that was extremely addictive. After he was sedated I began. I cleaned the wounds with a saline solution I had mixed up and then carefully stitched his wounds closed. I set the leg and had Sam wrap it.

When she was finished I made sure the arm was set and had Sarah hold the position while Cat wrapped it. The ribs were only fractured and I had Sarah tape them tightly. As they were finishing I could see that the injured or sick were starting to arrive for this mornings rounds. I looked at Cat, “find someone to take him to the first room inside the passage. Have someone stay with him until I can check him again.”

As I started checking what I termed my sick a group of three showed up. They told me that they were representatives from the city council and that the property was being taken back by the city. I looked up at them, one was a dwarf and the other two looked like fat cat merchants, “well gentlemen, if the city is taking back the property I will remove my plunder, reset the traps and of course send you the bill.”

With a start the short, fat one asked, “what bill?”

I looked at all three of them, “since I have not had the property for twenty-four hours I would have to assume that it was a ruse to get me to destroy the undead guards in the tunnels. This means you are liable for any bills by me.”

I glanced at my patients, “I was thinking of charging one hundred gold pieces for every undead guard I had to destroy.”

They started to argue but I stopped them, “you will also undoubtedly be receiving a complaint from the dwarf merchants.”

They looked at me then at the dwarf, “why?”

I looked at them, “I am a partner with a dwarf named Garret. There is a forge in the passages. I was going to use it to make and refine new metals.”