Adept (The Essence Gate War, Book 1) - By Michael Arnquist Page 0,75

when my chance came, it was executed without flaw! Thought I had caught my robes afire for a moment, but nay, it was a clean grab. Grelthus was livid when he discovered it missing, and naturally he turned his suspicion upon me, but in the end I convinced him that I had last seen it amid the clutter of his table. He procured another, but he was, regrettably, much more guarded around me after that.”

A hard grin spread across his features. “I invited him to join me in the cage and search my person for the key, but he declined.”

“A moment ago you were protesting your innocence,” Bellimar chided, the corner of his mouth quirked in a slight smile.

“I said I had harmed none of the Wyrgens in my capture,” Syth said. “I never denied being a thief, and a rather accomplished one at that.”

“Damn your hide, Syth!” Amric growled. “If you had shared this earlier, we could have pursued Grelthus before he gained such a lead.”

He strode toward the cage, but Syth waved his hand in a flourish and the metal cube vanished from sight. “Not just yet, friend,” he said, wagging his index finger back and forth. “I had to make certain you would free me first, and while your attitude thus far has been laudable, I will nonetheless require your promise on the matter before I pass the key over to you.”

“You have it,” Amric said, holding out one hand. “From the moment you spoke, I had no intent of leaving you in the grasp of a madman.”

“Noble words. Swear it,” Syth gritted.

Amric caught and held the man’s gaze with his own. “I swear, if it be within my power, that I will free you from this cage and from Stronghold as well. If I cannot free you, I will end your life if you wish it, rather than leave you as a captive here.”

Syth’s eyes narrowed, searching the swordsman’s, and then he gave a slow nod. A flick of his wrist brought the cube into view once more, and he peeled back a billowing sleeve to thrust one sinewy arm between the bars of the cage, careful not to let the crackling blue fire contact his flesh. Amric lifted the device from the man’s palm, finding it lighter than expected, and he studied it as he stepped back from the cage. It was metal, as he had already observed, its outer surface etched with an intricate tracework of fine lines that pulsed faintly with contained energy. He grimaced. Magic and more magic; he was surrounded by that which he sought most to avoid.

“Quickly now, how do I use it to open your cage?” he asked.

“This cage sits atop a glowing pad of some kind, which powers the bars,” Syth said. “Look for a metal panel set into the stone of the wall here, it will appear much like the stone but will be glossier and smoother to the touch.”

Amric located the panel, smooth and featureless amid the coarser stone of the wall. “Found it. Now what?”

“Press the cube to the panel and give it a twist, and the bars should extinguish.”

He did so, and the brilliant blue shafts sizzled and winked out, leaving the brooding metal husk dull and lifeless in their wake. Syth eyed where the barrier had been for a moment, as if disbelieving its absence, then sprang from the cage in one lithe movement. He stretched his hands over his head as high as he could reach, and then leapt into the air in a tight spin before landing cat-like on his feet once more.

“Magnificent!” he exulted. “Many thanks, my friends! At this moment, even the fetid air of this cave of jackals seems sweet indeed. Let us depart this foul place without further delay, for I have not felt the kiss of sunlight upon my face for far too long.”

“Soon enough,” Amric said, striding for the stairwell. “We are going after our companion first.”

Syth darted across the room to halt before him, blocking his path, and Amric felt an accompanying gust of wind brush across his skin.

“Hold a moment,” said Syth. “Stronghold is infested with savage, mindless beasts that enjoy nothing more than to dismember intruders. This place is a veritable maze, warrior. I have seen the maps spread across Grelthus’s table, and tried to study them without him knowing, against my eventual escape. Even if Grelthus survives to reach whatever destination he has in mind, and even if you can survive