A Bard's Story: Here There Be Dragons

Chapter Seven

Staring at the incredibly nondescript stone walls of their cell, Leyha announces, "I'm going to write a book."

Kehdem doesn't bother to open his eyes. "Hmm?"

"It's going to be called The Adventurer's Manual, and it's going to have all sorts of tips in it. They're going to be useful things, like don't get mixed up in any prophecies, and always carry an hourglass in case you get thrown in a dwarven dungeon with no way of telling the time."

"Oh, shush," he says. "It hasn't been that long. And do you really believe we'd be any closer to getting the marks removed if we weren't locked up?"

"Ash seemed pretty friendly," Leyha says.

"Maybe because he's the only one who can translate for us."

"Jes could."

"You know what I mean."

She sighs, because she does. There's rather a difference between translating and explaining. "He was answering our questions pretty reasonably."

"Well, then. Here's to hoping that removing the marks is as easy as getting them."

"You don't think it'll be easy?"

"Nothing ever is," he says. "In the meantime—"

He stops so abruptly that Leyha almost asks him why. But as soon as the question springs to mind, she knows: he heard something that sounded like a conversation happening outside their door. She rubs her forearm idly as they both strain to hear meaning in the guttural Dwarven. Eventually, a small slit opens in the smooth stone door.

"Hello?" comes a hesitant voice.

"Ash? Jes? Is that you?" Leyha asks.

"Ash," he answers. "We are trying to get you out. But the yelet, they want..."

He is quiet for a moment. "Ash?"

"I am thinking of the words," he snaps. "The yelet want to send you back... outside, xî? Out of the mountain? They want to send you out and shut the door after you."

Kehdem is the first to respond to this. "But... why?"

They hear Ash sigh. He exchanges a few more words with their guard. "It is complicated," Ash says. "I can explain, but I have to go."

With a small clang, the flap he was speaking through shuts. Kehdem and Leyha exchange a look layered with meaning. Ash's tidbit of information is just small enough to frustrate, rather than clear anything up. "If you're so terribly bored, how would you feel about practicing a bit of magic?"

She considers it. At the very worst, using up some of her energy should make her tired enough to sleep for a few hours. "Alright," she says. "But can you teach me something new?"

"If I can come up with anything," he says. He pauses, burying his face in his hands as he considers his few options. "We've done some illusion work, haven't we?"

"A little," Leyha says. "Distracting flashy lights, things like that. Why?"

"I could show you some more advanced illusionary magic. You can make images with magic, if you know what you're doing. But it takes a fair understanding of those simpler illusions."

"Let's try it," Leyha says.

Kehdem launches into a detailed explanation of the craft of making images with nothing but magic. As he promised, it's a complicated process, but it certainly makes the hours of their imprisonment slip away.