Shadow and Wild Magic

There was a short debate between the female lizard and the guard. They argued whether Shadow should return to the dungeon or be brought to the cages. The capturers hadn’t guessed his age well, Shadow concluded. The dungeon was for the adults and the cages for the cubs. Shadow was neither.

They returned him to the dungeon after all, and they took Khaleen next. Shadow leaned against the wall and slid to the ground. He spent some time staring at the void until he gazed at the old Ten Zin for the first time in hours.

“We have to find Master Khan,” Shadow declared. “I know where his amulet is. If we can break him out, we can cross the Barrier.”

Ten Zin scoffed the same way he did last time. “You are so young. There are only four of us. How do you expect us to break out of a fortress with just us four?”

Shadow didn’t know how to answer that...yet! He’d find an answer, he was sure of it. There was something he’d noticed about this place. The darkness, the stench, the loudness of it all. He didn’t quite know what to make of it yet, but it bothered him. As if some sort of idea was scratching at his head.

A door opened. It wasn’t the door to their cell but it was close. A thump, a grunt, Shadow could hear it. Then, he heard a man’s voice. A human speaking—shouting in Common at the guards outside.

“Hey! I’m coming for you, scale-face!” the man shouted comically. He had a booming voice that made him sound authoritative.

“Silence!” the guard shouted back in the sithrax language.

“How many times do I have to tell you, I don’t understand you!”

The guard didn’t respond. Shadow heard heavy footsteps leaving the tunnel. Then, against everything he’d have expected, the man...began singing! His voice was husky and hoarse. And he sounded drunk.

“You can chain me, you can shut me, but you won’t take…

“My vanity!

“I’m the prisoner...

“The executioner won’t want to break

“’Cause you can’t take my vanity!

“What? Not good enough for you, scale-face? Alright, again.” The stranger cleared his throat. “You can chain me! You can shut me! But be glad you can’t take my vanity!

“I’m the prisoner, or soon to be,

“Executioner…

“Wait ’till I escape, you filthy lizard-apes! ’Cause you can’t take…

“You cannot break...” He inhaled deeply and prepared for the loudest verse: “My vanity!”

Shadow couldn’t hold in his laugh anymore. He could hear the man clearly through the wall, and the man’s song was hilarious.

“Who’s there?” the man asked. He’d stopped singing.

Shadow came closer to the wall and pressed his ear against it.

“Hello?” the man called. “Am I the lucky prisoner with a cellmate?”

“Hello? Ehm...yes. I think I’m next to you,” Shadow responded in his best Common. His parents had taught it to him.

“Great!” the man exclaimed sarcastically. “What are you in for?”

“We were leaving Rallis—”

“Silence, boy!” Ten Zin intervened. “You don’t know who’s out there.”

“But—”

“But nothing. Silence.”

Shadow could hear the man on the other side come closer to their wall.

“Your friends in there don’t want you talking to me?” the stranger asked.

Shadow made a choice there and then. Ten Zin, Mielo, and Khaleen were too afraid to do anything. But Shadow had an escape to plan, and this man sounded like he’d want to be part of it. The more allies he could find, the better.

“We were going to cross the Barrier with Master Khan!” Shadow said quickly. “He has an amulet that will get us through. I saw where the sithrax are keeping it. I think I have a plan.”

“A plan?”

Heavy footsteps echoed outside. Someone banged loud against the door.

“Quiet!” a guard shouted in lizard tongue, then he switched to Common and addressed the man in the next cell. “Stop talking, or the Pale Warden will have your head. I will not repeat myself.”

“Tell him I said hi,” the man said in a mocking voice.

Shadow couldn’t hold in his laugh again. So much so that the guard banged on his cell door before marching away.

It was quiet again until the stranger broke the silence. He was whispering, but it was loud enough for Shadow to hear.

“What’s your name, friend?” the man asked.

“Shadow.”

“Ha, what a strange name!” The man chuckled.

“How about yours?” Shadow asked.

“I’m Ezra.”

“Nice to meet you, Ezra,” Shadow said politely, just like his parents had taught him.

“Likewise. Now, tell me about that escape plan of yours.”

Shadow cleared his throat before telling Ezra of his plan. Sithrax couldn’t hear as well as sindurs did, but he was careful nonetheless.

“They keep the amulet on the fourth floor, with the weapons. I know how to get there,” he said. “I can sneak there and steal it.”

Shadow sat leaning against the wall between his cell and his new friend’s. Being cautious and scared wasn’t the thing that would get him out of here. As much as Ten Zin and Mielo disapproved, Shadow still wanted to share his plan.

“What makes you think you can pass all these guards without being detected?” Ezra asked.

“The sithrax are big and strong, but they’re also very stupid.”

Ezra laughed out loud. “They still have eyes and ears.”

“Not as good as mine. I’m sindur, they won’t hear me.”

The man in the next cell suddenly fell silent.

“You don’t think I can do it?” Shadow checked.

Ezra let out a barely audible chuckle. “I met a sindur once. Your kind will never cease to surprise me.” He paused for a minute. “Okay, so, the plan is: you somehow get out of your cell, steal that amulet, and then?”

“I find where they keep Master Khan.”

“Who’s that Master Khan bloke?”

“Bloke?” Shadow didn’t know that word.

“Man. Who’s Master Khan?”

“He’s a wizard. He was helping us get out of Rallis. Only a mage can cross the Barrier. But he was wounded. I think they keep him in another cell.”

“So, Shadow, correct me if I’m wrong,” Ezra began. “But for your plan to work, we need to get out of our cells, steal the amulet, find the mage, free him, then escape the fortress? Do you see where I’m going with this?”

Put like that, Shadow’s plan sounded incomplete and simply impossible. Shadow looked to the ground briefly, then his eyes met Mielo’s. The red lynx had a look of we told you so on his face.

“Shadow?” the man called on the other side of the wall.

“Yeah...Forget it,” Shadow mumbled. Hearing this excuse for a plan in this man’s voice made it all sound foolish.

“Forget it? When we’re just getting started?” Ezra sounded appalled. “Come on, we have a plan to work on. We’ll start by figuring out how to get out of our cells,” he said decisively before the guard returned.

The guard banged on the door once again. Ezra stopped talking, and Shadow smiled at the void. So, the man in the next cell did believe it was possible. The excitement returned in Shadow’s heart. It was time to turn his idea of escape into a mission.