To Cheat Death

Chapter Twenty-Three

A new intensity filled the guards faces as they hurried me back out through the door we entered in. We went in a different direction as when we came. The walls were a bright yellow that hurt my eyes. Garish tapestries hung at regular intervals. Most of them showed violent battles where the red blood contrasted badly to the yellow walls. The smell of strong soap hit me as we turned a corner.  A maid kneeled a rag over her hair to guard against dust, scrubbing the white stone floors with a sopping rag. She glanced up at the noise and for a moment I thought her piercing gaze went beyond the curiosity of a passing servant. Then she looked down and became entirely focused on washing away imaginary stains. I thought I must be seeing things. A second maid stretched her fingers high and stood on her tip toes to clean the top of a tapestry. She ignored us. We turned another corner and a man with dull clothes and dark hair stood in the middle of the hall. The lead guard stepped forward and the man stepped into his path as he pulled a small knife from its sheath and started cleaning his finger nails.

"Get back to the kitchens where you belong." The guard growled.

"What makes you think  I am from the kitchens?" The man said without looking up.

"Cur, I will cut you down for your insolence." He drew his sword with a clang.

"I would not do that if I were you." The man said inspecting his fingers.

"Or what?" The guard snarled.

Suddenly the maid from the hall stood before me. I looked to see what she had placed in my hand. A small opaque crystal. The four guards around me did not move and their eyes were still fixed on the lead one. I opened my mouth to speak and the maid laid a finger over her lips, then pointed. The lead guard still spoke with the man. I looked just in time to see the second maid perform a perfect roundhouse kick to the back of the lead guards head. He fell.

"What-" I began.

"Shhhh." The maid grabbed my arm and pulled me to the wall. The man touched the bare stone, concentrating. Nothing happened. 

"Cursed thing." He mumbled, then begrudgingly knocked. A section of the wall faded into darkness. The maid pulled me the rest of the way in and some part of me knew the wall behind me was solid again. My eyes adjusted and light seemed to fill the air like water to a sponge.

A voice echoed behind us.

"Nice try, Zadik. But the door still doesn't like you, apparently."

I turned to see a smirking youth, leaning causally against the wall. His hair was cut short and light brown. He was attractive with a well shaped jaw and with his shirt pulled against his solders you could tell he was strong.

The maid closest to me gave a barely addible sigh. She smiled broadly and pulled the rag off her dark walnut hair.

"Oh my goodness I hate it when we wear these things." She motioned at her raged servants dress.

The youth looked at the other girl.

"Proud of yourself? For that unnecessary display of your kicking skills?"

She smiled and shrugged,  indifferent.

"Maria liked it, I'm sure."

"He was paused." He raised an eyebrow at her.

I couldn't take it anymore.

"Wait a second. What does that even mean? Who are you people? What kind of magic makes walls disappear? And where-" I turned and my words trailed off in awe. The light had filtered to an enormous cavern. If three of me had stood on top of each other I sill wouldn't be able to touch the ceiling.  The far wall was much farther than I thought and open doorways led to tunnels that led away out of sight.

"Where do you get all this space?"

"Come." Said the youth walking toward one of the open doorways.                                           "Martic will explain everything but for now, welcome to the secrets in the walls society. "

....................

"Wait, how many did you say live here?"

"Near three thousand." Answered Martic. His face had a fatherly look and his greying hair declared his age even if his eyes did not.

"And how on earth do you keep that many hidden from the magicians?"

"Some believe this place was created with elvin magic. Space is of no consequence. Whole room can exist in a single stone of the wall. At least that's what the theologians theorize. No one knows exactly how it works. We just know the magic of this place somehow escapes the magicians notice."

"And what stops someone from walking out those magical doors and spilling your secrets to the magicians?"

He smiled as if the question was ridicules.

"The doors don't open for everyone. Only around 500 here can open the doors. Most of them are shifters with a few exceptions. Overall we have found no pattern. Its seemingly random. The walls either like you or they don't. But all who can open the door are either watched or if they are trusted they open doors for the people we rescue."

"From the games."

"Yes, we sneak them from the lower levals but for the ones in the ring we can do little. It is rare we take someone as heavily guarded as you are. In case you are wondering they used a time pause to rescue you. It is a magic that was found here in the walls when people first opened the doors some fifty years ago. Anyone not touching a crystal is frozen in time. It is limited of coarse. I worry that they will fail and Maria and the rest who rescued you will be injured or captured. Maria is my daughter. My wife died three years ago and I am left alone to worry for my her."

"How long have you been here?"

"I was captured and brought here at twelve, I think it was. I was rescued before the area and have been here ever since. Now I think our time is up, I have to go, Maria will show you around."

He was gone before I could ask another pressing question. Why had he stayed here all those years? Yes, he escaped the games but why had he never escaped the city?