The Rise of Isaac, Books 1-3, page 36
The firelight from the torch outside their cell illuminated Ely's pale and clammy looking skin.
Oliver frowned at him, resting a palm on his grandfather's shoulder. "Are you sure you're feeling up to it?"
"Yes, yes not to worry. All will be well when I get out of this place," Ely said.
"Can't you heal yourself?" Larkin asked.
"Don't you think I've tried? Something in this place is affecting me," Ely wheezed, moving toward the cell door.
"Is that possible?" Oliver asked anxiously.
"Yes, anything's possible. Mages aren't immortal," Ely said heavily. He lifted a hand and white-hot sparks crackled in his palm then stuttered and died. "Drat," he hissed, trying again. "Come on, come on blast you."
The sparks grew a little hotter then the cell door clunked loudly as it opened and swung in.
They froze, waiting for the sound of a soldier's footsteps. When none came Oliver stepped through the door out into the passage.
Larkin and Ely crept out behind him, shutting the door as quietly as possible. Oliver winced as the hinges screeched. He counted to ten and no guards appeared.
Oliver glanced at Ely. "Are you sure you're able to do this?"
Ely nodded. "I don't know if I'll be able to again. This is our only chance."
Oliver was torn but, if it was their only chance to escape, they had to try. "Come on then," he breathed, heading in the direction that Anna and May had been taken.
Passing beneath a stone archway, they emerged in a long corridor full of cells. They crept forward and the clunk of something metal dropping onto stone made them freeze. Oliver hurried into the shadows of a small alcove in a gap between the cells.
"Oliver," Larkin hissed and Oliver turned to find him supporting Ely's weight.
He rushed forward and helped Larkin lower Ely to the ground, leaning him back against the wall.
"Are you okay?" Oliver asked, his pulse elevating. He cursed, pulling at his hair.
"Yes, yes," Ely muttered, wheezing heavily as his eyelids slid closed. "But perhaps I'd better stay here for now, come get me when you find the girls."
"Okay," Larkin said.
Oliver hesitated and Larkin's hand slid around his wrist, tugging him back out into the passage.
"He'll be fine," Larkin hissed. "We don't have a choice."
Oliver nodded, throwing a final glance at Ely. He was well concealed in the alcove but leaving him there made him worry. Their plan was rapidly falling apart but all he could do was carry on.
They hurried down the dark corridor to their left and ducked through another stone archway, emerging in a seemingly endless row of cells.
Oliver signalled to Larkin and pressed a finger to his lips. He nodded and they tiptoed forward, glancing left and right inside the cells. Passages led off on either side of them as the vast room opened out into an immense network of cells. The sound of a throaty cough was the only noise to perforate the silence.
Torches were set at intervals along the corridor, lighting the way in a flickering haze of orange.
"They could be anywhere," Larkin whispered and a prisoner stirred from sleep to their left.
"'Oo's that?" a gravelly voice spoke from the cell and they shrank into the shadows of a darker passage, fleeing along it.
The sound of their footsteps were painfully loud in the quiet.
"Hey hey!" a woman cried out from her cell, filthy hands reaching for them from between the bars.
Oliver glanced at her then collided with Larkin, sending him stumbling forward into another cell.
Meaty hands took hold of Larkin by the shoulders and he shouted out in alarm.
"Shouldn't be out of your cell. Go on, wriggle, wriggle," said an enormous beast of a man as he stepped into the light.
Someone started tapping a metal object against their bars so a repetitive clang, clang, clang echoed around the chamber.
Without thinking, Oliver lunged for a torch, ripped it from its bracket and smacked the hot end against the huge man's arm. He roared out and released Larkin. Oliver seized him by the material at his chest and yanked him away.
"What's all that racket?" a man's voice boomed out from somewhere nearby and the sound of heavy boots approached.
Oliver and Larkin darted to their right, charging down a corridor. They turned right once more and found themselves back where they had started near the little archway that led to their cell.
"Prisoners out! Prisoners out! Prisoners out of their cells!" a scrawny man started singing as he spotted them, his wrinkled face stretching into a toothless smile.
"Shut up!" Larkin said through clenched teeth.
"Larkin?" Anna's voice sounded and Oliver twisted around, spotting her a couple of cells along.
"Dammit, we must have missed them somehow," Larkin hissed as they hurried toward her.
Anna's hair was lank and her cheeks a little hollow but apart from that she looked well. May was getting to her feet behind her, looking in a similar state. Oliver slid his arms through the bars, pulling Anna into a fierce embrace and her fingernails clawed into his back. He stepped away, reaching for May.
Her fingertips brushed his just as heavy footfalls approached, fast.
"Get back to your cell," May hissed in a panic.
"No, we have to get you out!" Oliver whispered.
"How?" Anna said, shaking her head.
"Come on, we need Ely," Larkin snapped.
The footfalls were just a corridor away.
Larkin shouldered him and they fled back toward the alcove.
"Prisoners out, prisoners out of their cells!" the old man sung again as they passed.
They pelted back down the passage and dove into the dark space.
Ely was practically unconscious. Oliver and Larkin shared a look that confirmed that they had no choice but to get back to their cell. Wordlessly, they each linked an arm beneath Ely's and lifted him to his feet.
"Wait," Oliver whispered, listening.
They stepped forward just as footsteps approached from the direction of their cell.
As one, they shrank back into the shadows. Oliver held his breath. A solider stomped passed them without a moment's hesitation and they waited until they could no longer hear him.
Oliver shuffled forward and peeked out into the corridor.
"Gotcha!"
Oliver jumped as he spotted the crazed-looking prisoner who had spoken from across the hall.
"Go," Larkin insisted and they ran out into the corridor, fleeing back toward their cell as fast as they could.
Oliver yanked the cell door open and they hurried inside just as another set of footfalls sounded nearby.
"Lock it Ely!" Larkin hissed, roughly shaking his shoulders to wake him.
Ely moaned as he awoke and focused on the door in front of him. He groaned with effort as sparks flashed then died in his hand over and over.
"Come on," Oliver breathed.
"Someone's coming," Larkin said in a strained voice.
Clunk.
"What's all this then?" A soldier appeared, his forehead shining with a sheen of sweat in the firelight.
"What's what?" Larkin asked innocently.
"We heard there were prisoners out," Oliver said, stepping casually forward and gazing left and right down the passage.
The soldier frowned, stepping toward their cell door and gripped the bars. He shook it firmly and it clunked loudly in its frame to confirm it was locked.
Oliver let out a slow breath through his nose, raising his eyebrows at the guard.
"Go to sleep. If there's anyone out of their cell they'll be caught soon enough. They wouldn't get past the ten soldiers guarding the exit even if they did get that far," he said then walked away.
"Ten soldiers? Ely can barely open a door, how could he ever take them all on?" Larkin hissed as the man disappeared from view.
Oliver sighed heavily, his heartbeat finally returning to normal. "We're never getting out of here."
4
Harrow
Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.
Oliver sat up, disturbed by the strange sound.
A man in white overalls appeared pushing a trolley past their cell. One of the wheels was bent awkwardly making the screeching noise that was setting Oliver's teeth on edge.
Oliver turned to watch and spotted a body atop it covered with a white sheet. His heart accelerated and he stood, gazing at the man pushing the trolley who had a large medical mask covering most of his face.
"What happened to him?" Oliver asked.
A low chuckle sounded from behind the mask and the man slowed. "Who knows, kid? Maybe he caught a virus or maybe he was a mage taking his chances."
Oliver stiffened. "What do you mean a mage taking his chances?"
The man was almost past their cell now. "Mages don't fare too well on our chow in this part of the prison."
"What do you mean?" Oliver frowned, a chill running through him.
"Anyone who lied about being a mage when they came in may think they're being clever, but the food served to non-magic folk is poisonous to mages." He chuckled again. "They'd do better to be truthful and serve their time in the mage section of the prison. Silly, silly." He started whistling as he disappeared from view.
Oliver swore and snapped around, hurrying toward Ely who was sleeping in one corner. He shook his shoulder.
"Ely?" Oliver hissed.
Ely half opened his eyes, looking woozy. "Yesmaboy?" he slurred.
"The food in this part of the prison is poisonous to mages," Oliver whispered.
Ely blinked, waking up a little more. "How do you know?"
Oliver didn't want to mention the dead body in case he scared Ely. He was already frightened himself. "A soldier told me," he lied. "But they can't tell the difference between someone being ill and a mage reacting to the poison."
"Dammit," Ely swore. "Well what can I do, I can't starve to death?"
Oliver shook his head in dismay.
Footsteps sounded behind him and Larkin appeared.
"Did I hear you say the food's poisoned?" His eyes were wide in alarm.
"Only to mages," Oliver said, dropping down to sit by Ely. "It's to catch out mages who lied."
"I'll have to weather it out. I'll eat as little as I can."
Oliver frowned and reached out to lay a hand on Ely's shoulder. He didn't know what he could say and when a solider appeared with their breakfast Oliver felt suddenly sick.
The man wordlessly took a tray from a trolley and slid it under the bars. He moved on toward the other cells, humming to himself.
They all eyed the food in silence then Larkin stood and brought it over. It was the usual array of nuts, dried fruit and a lump of dry bread.
"Maybe you could remove the poison?" Oliver whispered.
Ely shook his head. "I can barely cast a single flame. And even if it were possible, which I doubt, I'm already too weak to try." He grimaced at the food and Oliver prayed they would be freed before it was too late.
***
Oliver guessed it had been almost a month since they had been arrested. He shuddered under a thin blanket. It did little to ease the icy feeling that had set into his bones. He assumed it was early morning because he was always coldest when he awoke.
Sergeant Knole banged his baton against the bars. "Breakfast," he said, sliding a tray of dried fruit, nuts and crackers into their cell.
No one moved towards it and Ely groaned. He had deteriorated further in the last few weeks but Oliver was sure his lower intake of food had slowed the process. Every day he hoped that they would be let out but he was always disappointed.
"Can't we have something different?" Larkin spat, looking up at the soldier. His face was shadowy and his cheeks had hollowed out slightly from losing weight.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Would you like me to hunt you down a snowdeer sir? Carve you up some venison?" Sergeant Knole jibed.
"Yes thank you, that would be wonderful," Larkin said sarcastically, his face twisting in anger.
Sergeant Knole laughed in a low chuckle. "Be grateful you even get food you spoilt brat. You're not living in your mansion back in Aleva now." He sneered at him.
Larkin frowned but didn't reply.
"That got your tongue in a twist," Knole said, smiling. "I know a little posh boy when I see one."
"Shut up," Larkin snarled.
"Bet your mummy and daddy are missing their poor little baby-"
"I said, SHUT UP!" Larkin roared, cutting the man off, getting to his feet and lunging an arm between two of the bars toward Knole.
The Sergeant jabbed Larkin sharply with his baton and a wave of electricity exploded out of it. Larkin was thrown back across the cell, collapsing to the floor where he convulsed for a moment. Larkin crawled away from the bars as far as he could, twitching as the electricity left his body.
"Why'd you do that?" Oliver spat at the man, rushing to kneel by Larkin's side.
"He came at me," Sergeant Knole said with a shrug.
Oliver scowled at him, eyeing Larkin's pained face. "You alright?" he muttered.
"Get away from me," Larkin snapped, forcing himself into a sitting position.
Oliver moved away, turning his back on the boy.
Sergeant Knole disappeared down the corridor towards where May and Anna were still being held. He sang as he went and it echoed back to them for a while before becoming too distant to hear:
"Oh come to me pretties, oh come down below,
To the Freezer we go, with a hey and a ho.
Oh come to me pretties, it's dark down below
Where the cold kills you slow and no one will know."
Oliver slid under his blanket and time seemed to stand still as he lay there. At some point Xen appeared with Nex beside him.
Xen tapped a little knife on the bars to get their attention, a tinny clash of noise that sent a wave of fear through Oliver.
"Morning all. And how are we today? Ready to give up and die yet?" Xen asked, his mouth curving into a sneer.
"Never," Oliver growled at him.
"Pity. When you do, let me know and I'll gladly end your suffering. A little gutting would brighten up my day, I haven't done one of them in a while."
Oliver knew better than to push the man but scowled at him all the same. Ely sat up and Oliver caught sight of his face. He looked weaker than ever, his eyes heavy and his hair tinged with grey flecks.
Xen was still talking, "-although you couldn't do the mages that way. I'd do them personally. I can enchant my blades, see? So they couldn't heal as fast as I could burn through their bones," Xen said with a grin.
"You can't kill us," Larkin said in a hoarse voice.
"Might be a bit tricky as you're not from Glacio but you still broke our laws. I got away with killing your little friend on the grounds that he attacked me first. You'll probably be given a nice little punishment though at least. Maybe I'll just take a limb from each of you. I could build a doll."
"You're sick," Oliver snapped, unable to contain himself.
"I simply live without regret. What I do today gets wiped away by tomorrow. Nice clean slate each day," Xen said, leaning back against the wall and gripping Nex's shoulder. He looked up at Xen with a wide-eyed expression.
"Oh yeah? How so?" Oliver asked, his lip curling back at the man.
"Coz I'm already dead see? I've got the blackening."
Ely tilted his chin up, his skin looking damp and pale. "Ah, the blackening: a mage allergic to magic, very rare indeed."
"It's terminal?" Oliver asked, unable to hide the hope in his voice.
Xen nodded slowly. "I'm a dead man walking. I'm reborn each morning and succumb to death by dusk." He clapped Nex on the shoulder.
"But you don't. Not really," Oliver said angrily.
"No, but one day I will and 'til each day is over I won't know whether I survived it."
"That doesn't make any sense," Larkin argued. "Anyone could say that. I could be dead by the end of the day and not know it."
Xen lunged at the prison and rammed his knife through the bars towards Larkin's face. Larkin lurched away in shock, pressing himself against the back wall.
"It's not the same," Xen growled, his hard gaze surveying them all for a moment. "I'll have fun slicing you three." He backed away from the bars and walked out of the corridor. "Watch 'em, Nex," he muttered to the boy who nodded and stepped forward, observing them with an even gaze.
Oliver waited until he was sure Xen was out of earshot then spoke to the boy. "Hey, Nex? Is that your name?"
The boy didn't respond, his eyes glassy and distant.
"Let us out of here," Larkin whispered to him.
Nex didn't move. His head was shaved since Oliver had last seen him and his eyes were hollow as if he hadn't slept in weeks.
"Is that your dad? Xen?" Oliver asked.
Nex nodded once, firmly.
"He's a real charmer," Larkin said sarcastically, knocking his head back against the wall in frustration.
"You're not helping," Oliver snapped at him.
"He clearly isn't going to let us out," Larkin said.
"We can at least ask him about our friends. Or do you not give a crap about them?"
Larkin didn't answer.
"Nex?" Oliver tried again a moment later. The boy's eyes met his. "Have you seen our friends? There's two mages and a couple of girls."
Nex frowned at him then nodded slowly.
"They're okay?" Oliver asked excitedly.
Nex nodded once more and Oliver sighed with relief.
***
An hour or so passed and Nex hadn't moved. He stood resolutely, staring at the wall behind them and didn't respond to any more questions. Ely coughed in a splutter and Oliver silently cursed Xen for putting him in this position.
"Are you okay?" he moved over to Ely.
"I'll be alright, my boy. Not to worry," he said, but his voice was weak and croaky.
"Nex, can we have some water please?" Oliver asked.
Nex turned, lifted a jug and a glass from a table, poured a drizzle into it and passed it through the bars without a word. Oliver knew the drill: he let Ely finish the liquid then returned the glass to Nex who placed it back on the table.
"I'm worried about May's curse," Oliver whispered to Ely.
