“Border fortress,” Shade answered, a bit distractedly, his attention focused on the controls before him.
Nodding, Charm dropped into the passenger seat and tapped his fingers on the arm rests. “If he is alive, how difficult will it be to get him out? You seem to know the Rivasans’ lands better than I do.”
“Virtually impossible. If he is alive, they will have him in the cells below the fortress in Kedravon. The wards there are thick, the guard is heavy, and the floor is lined with Barllen. The only prayer we really have is if they plan to publicly execute him and we can pull him from the gallows,” Shade explained.
“They hang people in Rivana?” Charm asked in disbelief. “Hanging won’t kill the average immortal. It seems like they would have a more effective method.”
“They hang them with chains and slow roast them in Hellfire. I’ve seen one execution in Rivana and I vomited on my father’s shoes at the sight. They eviscerated the poor bastard and then cooked him. I was seven or eight at the time and had nightmares for weeks afterward. I can still hear the screams when I think about it, and the smell,” he shuddered slightly at the memory. The smell had easily been the worst. The oily black smoke had tainted everything with its stench and hours later he had still been able to smell the dead man on his clothes.
“What crime did he commit to earn a death like that?” Charm asked quietly.
“He struck a guard,” Shade replied and kept his gaze fixed on the view screen. There had been more to the crime, of course. The guard in question had found too much interest in the man’s daughter. The man had defended his family and died for it. He remembered objecting to his father about the crime and he clearly remembered the look on Myth’s face. That was the first time his father had ever looked at him with disgust. He shook himself back from the memory and glanced at Charm. “I’m sure the punishment for being Fionaveir is much worse than striking a guard. I have no idea how they will kill your friend but it will be horrible.”
Charm nodded his understanding but remained silent. Shade couldn’t really blame him, though. He hadn’t felt much like talking when he thought the Rivasans had Jala, either. Better a friend be dead than in the black cells under the Kedravon Fortress.
*
Shade circled the city by several miles and landed the ship carefully in a small ravine. He had counted nearly twelve spell hawks on patrol near the borders, but had managed to evade the notice of all of them. It paid to have a dull grey ship at times, it was much easier to blend in with cloud cover. He leaned back in his seat as the ship powered off and looked over at Charm. The rogue had been silent for most of the flight, no doubt worried about his friend.
“I’m not familiar with Kedravon’s layout. I don’t suppose you have a map?” Charm said quietly.
“I don’t, sorry. Look Charm, I can do the scouting here. There is no need for both of us to go,” Shade offered. He wasn’t sure if the rogue would take him up on the offer but he had to try. There was a good chance they would learn that Remedy was already dead and there was no sense in both of them risking their lives for news of a corpse.
“I will not over-react if the news is bad,” Charm assured him and stood slowly.
“That’s not what I was saying,” Shade objected and followed Charm from the ship. The dry heat hit the moment his foot touched the ground and he shook his head. It was always hot in Rivana and today it seemed positively horrible. It would be a miserable walk to Kedravon, there was no question about it. “I was saying I could fly there and be back with news by the time we walked there together,” Shade explained, his eyes roving the sky above. It was close to twilight now, the damned heat should be dying down.
Charm seemed to consider the option and nodded slowly. “That does make more sense, but I don’t like the thought of sending you in alone.”
Shade grinned and shrugged at his partner. “Look at it this way, if they capture me, I have value to Morcaillo so they will likely toss me into the cell next to Remedy.”
Charm gave him a dry look. “Not reassuring and not funny,” he said quietly.
“It should be. No one in Rivana knows I’m Changeling. If they toss me in a cell beside Remedy, I’ll be able to get us both out before morning,” Shade grinned wider and examined the sky again. “If you decide soon if we are both going, or if I’m going, that is.”
“You go, I will wait. If you aren’t back by morning I’ll come for you,” Charm said, though by his tone he wasn’t happy about the decision at all.
“I will be back well before morning, Charm,” Shade assured him and began to shift his form. It felt strange to actually use his gift in front of another person. For his entire life, he had been warned not to. Within moments he fluttered wings and hopped lightly away from his ship. Twisting his head around, he examined the form and cocked his head at Charm.
“A Raven, how perfectly fitting for this land. The Aspects know there is certainly enough death here,” Charm said with a faint nod.
Shade gave a loud caw of agreement and pushed himself into the air, his wings beating heavily as he gained altitude. Kedraven was barely three miles away by flight and a Raven wouldn’t be considered an odd sight at all. He resisted the urge to look back at his ship and found himself hoping Charm would think to camouflage it. A spell hawk in a ravine would be considered a very odd sight.
*