The next morning, Tracou spent some time staring at the ceiling of the inn in Dorssur. This building had once been something far more prestigious than an inn because the ceiling, while faded, had once been lavished with bright, colorful animals. In the center stood a stag staring directly at him. Its antlers were so big that Tracou thought, if he had to carry them, he wouldn't be able to lift them. Tracou had never heard of a stag with antlers that large and seeing its depiction made him uncomfortable. He was so far away from home that even the animals were foreign.
But he wasn't laying awake just to contemplate the picture above him—he had bigger things to worry about. What Ina had said to him last night had wormed into his head and made a home there. What did he hope to accomplish when it came to Pendaer? If he could have his way, he wanted Pendaer to pay for what he had done to him. That, unfortunately, had to wait. He had to deal with Pendaer until they found Mirthal and who knew how long that would take?
Yelling at Pendaer when the mood struck him would make everything take longer. That, at least, was certain.
With a grunt, Tracou sat up. Until they found Mirthal, Tracou would try not to fan any Pendaer related fires. Then, once Mirthal was safe, Tracou could do whatever he wanted.
Tracou got out of bed, satisfied with his decision. Try was a gentle word, after all.
After waking Ina up, the two of them got ready and headed toward the stables. They brought some bread from their supply since keeping the food in the stables with Pendaer seemed like a bad idea. This would allow them to feed the pigeon, as well.
The horses, both those they had brought along and others that belonged to Winleans, looked expectantly at Tracou and Ina as they entered. They were hungry, meaning that no stable boy had entered yet.
As they walked inside, Tracou spotted a pair of feet sticking out from one of the stables.
Pendaer still slept. He had chosen to sleep near his horse, which lay dutifully next to him. If a Winlean had walked in here before Tracou and Ina, they would have caught him. What was he thinking?
Ina opened the stable door and knocked on it, startling Pendaer awake. He jerked upright with a shuddering gasp. Slowly, he stood up, glancing around him as though he had no idea where he was. Bits of straw stuck out of his hair.
A smirk pulled at Tracou's lips, but he bit his cheek to keep it at bay.
"Are you hungry?" Ina asked, handing him a bit of bread.
Pendaer took it, frowning, and took as big of a bite as he possibly could.
Now what? Tracou didn't want to stick around watching Pendaer chew. Sighing lightly, Tracou looked around the stables again.
"Guess I'll find a rat," Tracou said to Ina.
Pendaer flinched at this, which drew Tracou's attention, but Pendaer faced away from him. So he was ignoring him. That suited Tracou just fine. The lack of his wand was going to be a festering sore spot for him no matter what and the less he had to talk to Pendaer, the better.
Ina nodded to Tracou, her eyes glittering. "Yeah, you should look around."
There was a glint in Ina's eye Tracou had never seen before. He didn't move for a few moments, trying to figure out what it was, but gave up. The sooner he found a rat, the sooner he and Pendaer could start yelling again.
Truth be told, Tracou wasn't sure how he was going to catch a rat. He wasn't especially nimble. And, even aside from his lack of skill, he didn't know where a rat would be in a stable like this. When he had seen rats, they usually had been in places where food was stored or in long grass.
Frowning, he found a pile of hay and started to sift through it.
"No, no. Try over there."
Tracou looked up to see Ina pointing to the other end of the stable. There wasn't much there—just some tools and an overturned basket.
"Are you sure?"
"You'll regret it if you don't."
If this was part of some riddle Tracou was not going to be pleased. But he wandered over to the basket, regardless. As he approached he noticed there was something on top of the basket—something thin and silver that glinted in the small sunbeam coming through a slit in the wall. Tracou dashed over to it.
His wand lay on top of the basket, free for him to take, which Tracou did, holding it close to his chest. Finally! Now he wouldn't be helpless! Not only that, but they wouldn't have to worry about being cold, at least while he was awake. Holding his wand in his hand was enough to wash away his frustrations. He was in Winlea, but he had his wand! Ergakan had gone weeks without him, but he had his wand! Mirthal was imprisoned, but—... That one was still terrible, but Tracou could save him, now!
Holding his wand tightly, he vowed to himself to never let anyone take it from him ever again.
It had been in Pendaer's possession for a long time, though. Who knew what his horrible presence might have done to it?
Tracou channeled a small amount of magic through his wand, making the air shift about. It worked just fine. Using it felt amazing after weeks and weeks without it!
Beaming, Tracou made to turn around and rejoin Ina, but he stopped. Something squeaked underneath the basket. Tracou knelt down beside it and peered in.
Not only had Pendaer given him his wand back, but he had caught a rat for him, too. The rat had begun gnawing on the basket to free himself, quite displeased with his predicament.
Whatever Ina had said to Pendaer must have been serious. How did she do it? He would have to ask her later, but he got the feeling that she wouldn't give him a satisfactory answer.
Tracou moved the tip of his wand near to the rat. The process of making an animal one's familiar depended on someone's affinity to the animal in question. It was possible to make any small to medium sized animal one's familiar, of course. All dezmek had an affinity with snakes, but they usually had one or, in rare cases, two other animals that suited them. Tracou only had one: cats. As far as infiltrating a castle went, a cat would be too large and most snakes would have a poor time in this weather.
A familiar could be used for several purposes. The most common one was to help with magic because having a second living creature to draw energy from added to the amount of magic a dezmek could use at one time. Again, snakes were best suited for this task. Tracou's purpose for this rat was to use it to explore places he couldn't. Sailors would use seagulls or sometimes fish to do the same.
Concentrating on this rat, Tracou's magic engulfed it in a pale purple glow. Essentially, he was portioning off a section of the rat's mind and making it his own. He didn't control the rat, not completely. It was like riding a horse—he held the reins, but a horse could always bolt if the rider wasn't careful.
He pulled back when he had finished, letting out a small puff of air. It was hard for him to deal with a rat; both snakes and cats were predators. But he had done it and he felt a level of pride he hadn't felt since he was learning magic from a tutor.
Freeing the rat from its makeshift cage, Tracou held his hand out to it. The rat gingerly stepped onto his hand and was quite patient with him when he stood up and returned to Ina.
"I did it," he said, like a child showing his mother.
Ina smiled at him. "Great. Look, Pendaer, he did it."
Sneaking a glance at them, Pendaer's eyes zeroed in on the rat. A moment passed and he was looking away again.
No matter what Pendaer did he couldn't ruin Tracou's mood.
"Let's go to this castle and let the rat rummage around. If it finds Mirthal, we can rescue him."
"We'll try to get him out at night, right? Then maybe Pendaer can come with us."
"Maybe. Until then..."
Pendaer eyed Tracou, his eyes flicking down toward his wand every so often. He stood there, rigid, before taking a deep breath.
"Dezmek. Does... does it—?" Pendaer stopped, clearing his throat. He waved a hand at them like nothing had happened. "Ugh, just go!"
"What if someone sees you?" Tracou asked.
"I'll be fine!"
Ina placed a hand on the back of Tracou's elbow. "Let's go."
With one last look back at Pendaer, Tracou and Ina left him behind.
Outside, the world was gray. Clouds had gathered overhead, turning the sky into something monotonous—all one color and texture. It was the perfect day to stay inside, but most people didn't have that luxury whether it was here in Dorssur or all the way in Ergakan.
"How far away can you be from the rat?" Ina asked as they walked.
"About a mile, maybe more. Not far."
"That's farther than I expected."
"It would be even farther if it were a snake."
"A snake, huh... You really like snakes."
Tracou started shrugging, remembered his rat, and stopped himself. "They're good animals."
The castle, which could be seen almost anywhere within Dorssur, gazed down at the city from the highest point of the hill. Unlike Shalen, which grew outward haphazardly, Dorssur was contained by a wall and every inch of space was put to use. Buildings clustered together along narrow roads. Even their inn was surrounded. Only the castle had any breathing room—not only did a square wall surrounded the castle, but there was an extra half mile in between the castle and the city.
There was one road that led to the castle. It was wide enough to handle two wagons at a time, but that meant they would be out in the open. Leafless bushes lined the road. A great many trees stood in lines behind these bushes, likely orchards when the weather was right. Using the road was a bit too direct, so Tracou and Ina strode through the trees.
As they neared the top of the hill, Ina suddenly put her hand out in front of Tracou, stopping him.
"I think we should let the rat loose here," she said.
"Why?"
"There will be guards up there. I'm not sure if a dezmek like you should get too close to them."
That was reasonable. The guards by the castle must be more antsy than the ones at the entrance to the city.
Tracou knelt down and set the rat on the ground. The rat sniffed the ground, unfamiliar with the area, but Tracou tugged on the rat's mental reins and sent him off towards the castle. Tracou closed his eyes, let out a slow breath, and focused on the rat and what it was seeing. In order to do this, he had to temporarily give up his own vision.
"I can't look at both places at once. You need to keep a lookout, okay, Ina?"
Beside him, Ina mumbled her assent.
The top of the hill teemed with soldiers. The rat balked at this, but Tracou wasn't about to let it run. Most of the soldiers clustered around the one entrance to the wall that surrounded the castle, but there had to be a hole in the wall big enough for a rat. Reluctantly, the rat dashed over to the wall and kept close to it as it searched for a hole.
Pairs of guards patrolled the wall, giving the rat a shock, but no one noticed it. They were too busy speaking to each other in Winlean.
Once the rat found a hole, it sniffed around it. Other rats had gone through it, which was both a good and a bad thing. Several thoughts ran through the rat's mind, but one stood out: would these other rats accept him as one of their own or would they chase him away?
Tracou's rat, apparently, was a he.
Regardless, Tracou directed the rat through the hole and he squeezed through.
Inside the walls there wasn't a lot of activity. Some servants milled about, but that was about it. Surely there should be a lot more happening. The lack of activity was both good and bad for the rat—there weren't many people to notice him, but there weren't many places to hide. But, a tiny trooper, the rat crossed the courtyard and began to check around the castle.
As the rat crawled around the edges of the castle it quickly picked up the scent of other rats again. Following the rat scents led to, what else, the door to the kitchen. This was the back door to the castle, perhaps so refuse could be more easily disposed.
The rat slipped into the kitchen. Immediately Tracou regretted not feeding the rat when they were in the stables because he could not be dissuaded from finding something to eat. He had to wait as the rat inhaled some breadcrumbs that had spilled on the floor. The smell of rats was strong a little past the kitchen, likely where there were nooks and crannies to hide in. The floor of the kitchen and likely the whole castle was covered in rushes. This gave rats an especially easy time moving about.
Once sated, Tracou had the rat wander about the castle as best as he could. There were few rooms in this castle. Perhaps there were more upstairs, but Tracou was convinced that prisoners wouldn't be held upstairs. On the bottom floor there was a big hall, the kitchens, a dining area for when the king hosted guests, and one large room for the servants to huddle together to sleep. The castle might have space for a fire, but servants would still be cold during the winter. Unlike outside, the castle was humming with activity. It was right around lunch time. At least one soldier kept watch in every room, but a group of them guarded the staircase. The king must have been upstairs.
The more poking around the rat did, the more tense he became. It wasn't the way he would have done it without Tracou urging him to explore. The condition of the rat was of little concern to Tracou once he had fulfilled his purpose, so he continued to push him along.
When the rat was nearly finished making its rounds to see what each room was and the entrances, he spotted a door tucked away past the servant's quarters where people might miss it. There weren't any other doors in the castle aside from the entrance and back door, so it had to be investigated. The door itself was sturdy, but it had been poorly placed into the wall leading to a small gap in the bottom underneath the hinge. The rat slipped inside with ease.
Darkness, damp, and people smell filled this room. Other rats came in here sometimes, but rarely. There wasn't much in the way of food, here.
Two people inhabited this room. One of them was definitely a human—the rat knew that scent well. But the other smelled like the one who had caught him in the basket. He had to be an elf. The realization made Tracou flinch.
"Are you okay?" Ina asked, voice tight.
Had Tracou been able, he would have seen her face dominated by worry.
"I think I found him. Be quiet for a second."
The elf sat cross legged with his back against the wall, his eyes closed. Unable to override the rat's natural caution when it came to a creature that was related to one that had captured the rat before, Tracou had to wait as the rat slowly snuck over to him.
It was Mirthal. He looked... different than he had back in Shalen. The sight of him made Tracou's stomach sink. Before, Mirthal had been vibrant—the kind of person that drew attention just by existing. Now... he had dulled. He was skinny and his hair only hung down to his chin. Worst of all was the expression on his face. Even Mirthal's neutral expression had been cheerful in Shalen. Here, there was nothing.
With severe prodding, Tracou coaxed the rat closer and closer to Mirthal. The elf took notice, turning his head slightly which made the rat freeze. But he didn't do anything so the rat pressed on.
There wasn't anything Tracou could do to help Mirthal with just this rat. He couldn't feed him, he couldn't take him outside, and he couldn't even talk to him. The only thing he could do was try to offer him some comfort. The rat, feeling much better about Mirthal because he hadn't done anything to him, climbed on top of him and settled on his knee.
"Ah... Hello." Mirthal said, voice small and full of the echoes of tears.
There was movement from the other cell. "Gone mad already?" a woman asked harshly.
Mirthal ignored her. Reaching a hand out, he steadily moved it closer to the rat. He pet the rat with two fingers. This was not offensive to the rat, who allowed it to continue. Soon two fingers became a whole hand and Tracou got the rat to move over to Mirthal's thigh. Now he would at least have a friendly animal with him.
Again, Mirthal spoke to the rat, this time in Elvish. This way the woman in the dungeon with him couldn't comment on what he said.
The rat stared up at Mirthal just in time to see a shudder run through him. Then something wet splashed on the rat, making him flinch. The rat wanted to flee after that, but Tracou held the reins tightly. As long as he had even the slightest bit of control, this rat was going to stay with Mirthal.
Mirthal spoke again in what sounded like an apology, having seen the rat flinch. He rubbed his eyes, silent aside from when he gulped air down.
Tracou could hardly stand to look at Mirthal like this. It must have been such a shock for him, going from being a prince to being locked in a dungeon. Though the rat resisted, Tracou had him give Mirthal's hand a light lick.
This produced a pained smile from Mirthal. He said something else in Elvish, his words fading into silence by the end of his sentence.
All Tracou could do was give Mirthal some comfort now, but he would get Mirthal out of there. No matter what.
"Tracou?"
It was Ina. Tracou blinked a few times, focusing on her.
"I found him."
"Okay. Do you think we can get to him?"
"There are too many soldiers, both inside and outside the castle."
Ina nodded. "Do you see those towers?" she asked, pointing to the castle. "There are probably archers in there, too."
Soldiers at the entrance, soldiers inside the castle, soldiers ready to attack from above. How were three people going to get through all of them, grab Mirthal, and slip away unscathed? They couldn't just walk inside even if all three of them had been human. If they tried to rescue Mirthal and failed, all of them would be stuck here. No one in Ergakan would ever know what had happened to him.
"What are we going to do?" Tracou breathed.
Ina ran her fingers through her hair and sighed. "This is a first for me. I've never been inside a castle, let alone stole something from one."
"We aren't stealing."
"Mm, I suppose. I think this is similar."
Tracou could not have this conversation, not now. He tested his magical tether to the rat again—the rat had fallen asleep in Mirthal's cell. That was good enough for now. Tracou broke his connection to the rat, but if he came close enough to the rat in the future he could take control of him again. He had already carved a spot for him in the rat's mind.
Satisfied, Tracou stood up.
"We should go back to Pendaer. Maybe he can help us come up with something."
"All right. Hopefully no one caught him..."
A wave of uneasiness swept through Tracou. He had no love for Pendaer, but they needed all the help they could get if they were going to save Mirthal. He turned to look at Ina, whose eyebrows raised.
"I'm sure he's fine," she said gently.
Unconvinced, Tracou marched down the hill, Ina close behind him.