The Magi

The silver and black Maliphist cape Elijah wore during the journey north blew uncomfortably through the gusty wind. It was much too long for him, and he wished he could take it off, but Becca insisted on all three of them wearing the garments for the entire journey. They found a small supply of food the Maliphists had kept for the horses and an even smaller amount for themselves, so Elijah, Paul, and Becca had to ration their portions for the remainder of the day and night. At this point, any food, even the small scraps they found, was satisfying because it had been almost two days since they had eaten anything.

It was sunset by the time they reached their destination. Inside the thick forest, just east of Malpetra, Becca led them to a small rock formation covered with moss. In the middle of the mossy rock, cut deep inside, was a small waterfall about twenty feet high. The water fell into a small crystal clear pond that led to nowhere. A thin layer of mist hovered over the pond and drifted into the green trees beyond.

Becca instructed Paul and Elijah to tie up their horses near the water, then she led them around the rocks to the back side of the waterfall. They followed Becca into a sort of passageway deep inside the rocks into a small niche where a wooden box lay. She lifted the lid of the box and began pulling out objects. First, she pulled out some old books and a pad of paper with sketches. Then, she removed a crude-looking doll with one eye missing. Becca stared at the doll for a moment and brushed the hair to the side and tidied her clothes a bit. The last item she pulled out was a map she immediately unfolded and straightened out.

“What’s all this?” Paul asked her.

“It’s mine. I would come here sometimes if I ever needed some time to myself.”

“So what’s with the doll?” Paul continued.

Becca scowled at him. “I’m a girl, you moron. I played with dolls when I was younger.” Elijah laughed and Paul shrugged off her retort. “I brought whatever I thought would help keep me company.”

“What was the map for?” Elijah asked delicately.

“I made a map of the area from Malpetra to here. I was always afraid I would forget the way here,” she explained. Her eyes were distant as she relived the past memories. Elijah wondered if her memories were fond or if they were regretful.

“So why is it here?” Paul asked.

“They were left behind,” Becca replied. “I wasn’t able to retrieve any of these things after my parents fled the city.”

“How on earth did you find this?” Elijah asked, looking around at the surroundings.

“I liked to wander,” said Becca. “My parents lived near a spot where it was easy to climb out of Malpetra. When I discovered I could leave the city, I began to explore. As far as I know, I’m the only one that knows about it. I assume no one else has found it since my stuff is still here.”

“Wait—” Elijah said, “Out of the city? You climb out of the city?” Becca directed Paul and Elijah to the map she had drawn. It was clearly drawn by a younger Becca.

“Malpetra is located inside a canyon. It’s massive down there, but from up here, it just looks like a giant crack in the ground you want to be careful not to fall into.” Elijah was fascinated. She pointed to both ends of the map. “These are the areas most heavily guarded by the Maliphist soldiers. The river running through the city is scarcely traveled on by common people, but if someone does happen upon the area, they are—well—taken care of—to keep them from discovering the city.”

“What do you mean taken care of?” asked Paul. Becca looked at him gravely, and neither Elijah nor Paul had to inquire what “taken care of” meant. It meant they were destroyed.

“The story that usually makes it back to the common communities is they were on a hiking trip and they went missing,” Becca explained further. Elijah felt sick. He remembered reports of missing people lasting for days until they were pronounced dead or their bodies were finally found. He wondered if some were unfortunate people who had just happened upon a Maliphist city.

“Anyway,” she continued, pointing at the map, “this end is the most populated part of Malpetra. It’s the city center.” She looked up. “It’s huge. Like nothing you’ve seen in Savenridge. Hopefully we can avoid it.” Elijah looked at the edge of the map where Becca pointed. Then, she directed their attention to the opposite side. “Over here is the prison, down the river from the city center. This is where we need to go.”

“How do we get into any of these places?” Paul asked. “If the soldiers are looking for people on both ends, and it’s a canyon, there’s no way inside!”

“Yes there is,” Becca answered smugly. “We can enter the way I used to escape to get here to this waterfall. My parents lived along the river between the prison and the city center. I found a spot to climb out of the canyon right by my parents’ place. I think I can still find it, but finding it from up here is harder than from the bottom of the canyon. I just hope no one has caught on to it yet. If so, we may be in trouble.”

“Okay,” said Elijah. “Then what? You said it might be possible to get my uncle and Samuel and Phinneas out of prison. What do we need for that?”

“Nothing,” she said.

“No weapons or anything?” Paul asked.

Becca shook her head. “No. We only need to be elusive enough to keep from being seen.”

“But if we get caught,” Paul continued, “they’ll use their elemental powers. Don’t we need something to at least protect ourselves?”

Becca shook her head again. “The prison is made of stone like this.” She ran her hands along the side of the rocks surrounding them. “Elements can’t be used inside stone, remember? It’s for their protection against the prisoners mostly, but it puts them at a disadvantage too. So they use manmade weapons inside the prison—like swords and spears and such.”

“So what’s the plan, then?” Paul asked.

“The guards change shift three times a day. During the change in shift, they get orders from the warden, so they have to leave their posts briefly. We’ll need to time that and somehow slip in and free your uncle.”

“And Samuel,” Elijah interjected.

“And Phinneas,” said Paul.

Becca looked overwhelmed. “If we have time. We’re going to have to take what we can get in the short time we have.”

“How exactly do you know all this?” Paul asked skeptically.

“My dad used to be a guard. That’s why we lived away from the city and closer to the prison. I can get us there, but you’ll both have to do what I say when I say. No questions asked.”

“I sure hope you know what you’re doing,” Paul said.

“Me too,” she replied.

Becca made sure she didn’t oversleep that night. She woke Paul and Elijah up extremely early, gathered up something to eat, and led them by foot through the woods toward Malpetra. It was still dark outside, and she warned Elijah and Paul not to get ahead of her as the canyon opening was a deadly fall if they didn’t watch where they were going. Even though it was a nuisance, Elijah was thankful for the warm cape during the walk in the cold climate.

After they traveled for an hour, Becca stopped and scanned the terrain. Morning approached and the shadows from the arriving sun were tormenting Becca’s memories as she searched for a recognizable sign. Finally, she spotted something she remembered and led Elijah and Paul to a gap in the earth. Elijah thought it was so narrow it might be possible to jump across it if given a running start. He guessed it was a little less than ten feet wide. Looking along both sides of the gap, there were places where the opening was wider, and there were places where it narrowed so much someone could almost step across it. Becca still searched for the right place, pacing up and down the gap, occasionally raising her head to make sure she knew where she was. Elijah began to wonder if she would ever find it when she finally peered deep inside the canyon at a particular spot, sat down, dangled her legs over, and then jumped in.

Elijah and Paul frantically ran over to the place Becca was last seen and looked over the edge. Becca was there, just feet below them looking back up and smiling. She stood on a rock just under the ledge.

“Found it,” she said. “Let’s go.” Elijah and Paul followed her as she carefully climbed down into the deep canyon. Elijah couldn’t help looking around as he lowered himself down the canyon wall. The lower they descended, the more the walls opened up. All they could see at first was stone and dirt towering over them. Eventually, when they had descended far enough, the narrow walls opened up into the massive canyon, where they could see for miles. It was a land untouched by the hand of winter. The air was warmer and the ground was free from the blanket of snow that covered Savenridge this time of year.

Lower and lower they went, carefully mounting and dismounting boulders, repelling off ledges, and jumping over pits and other gaps along the way. At last, they reached the bottom. Becca scanned and visualized the area.

“Look around,” she said. “Get some land marks in your head so we remember how to get back.” Elijah’s first thought was the river. Several hundred yards away, cutting through the canyon was a river running east and west. However, that wasn’t a good marker. It went on for miles, and there would be no way he could use that to help him find his way up. After careful observation, he finally noticed something he could use. Up a few feet from where they stood sat a rock reminding him of a sinking ship. That would have to do. He hoped he could find it again.

Becca first headed toward the river and then turned east. She kept inside the trees and instructed Paul and Elijah to do the same because she was uncertain where the soldiers would be now. They carefully continued their quest to find the prison until the sun was up. Even though there wasn’t much sky showing overhead, the sun completely illuminated the entire canyon.

The trio eventually came to a hill that led up to the base of a small mountain, which Becca explained was the prison. To Elijah, it looked nothing like a prison—just a mountain with lots of stone at the bottom. Between them and the stone prison was a large, square tower with lookout openings along the side. It was the only obvious man-made structure around. Becca continued instructing them.

“Keep hidden, and go slow,” she commanded as they began their ascent. “Any sign of movement will alarm the guards!” They methodically crawled up the side of the hill, inch by inch. All of the work Elijah had put into training with Zempke was now paying off. His body felt almost like a weapon as it slowly climbed its way closer to the prison, keeping in the shadows of the trees and tall bushes until they were finally level with the square tower in front of the mountain.

Elijah and Paul followed Becca past the tower, being careful to stay out of sight. The stone at the base of the mountain rose up about six feet and wrapped all the way around as far as Elijah could see. Above the stone was the remainder of the mountain, making it look like a mountain was somehow placed on top of the prison.

Elijah and Paul hid behind a large bush to keep from being seen by anyone in the tower while Becca searched for something. Elijah looked around. The tower was about fifty yards in front of the mountain. A dirt path ran between the tower and an opening to the stone base of the mountain, where the prison entrance apparently was. There had to be another way inside because the opening was in direct sight of the tower. Fortunately, Becca had already worked that out.

“My dad used to patrol this area, just inside the mountain here,” she whispered, making an imaginary walkway with her hands that explained what was supposedly on the other side of the stone wall. “When I used to sneak up here, I found a loose rock at the bottom of the wall. I would take it out and crawl inside through the small hole it left. My dad never knew, of course, but I would sometimes watch him as he patrolled.”

“That sounds creepy,” Paul said sarcastically.

Becca shot him a look.

“Not the time, Paul,” Elijah said under his breath as he looked around again to make sure they were still unseen. Becca started to feel around for the loose rock.

“Help me look,” she said after searching without success. Elijah didn’t want to turn away from the tower, but he did what Becca asked. The three of them searched for what seemed like hours, frequently turning their heads around to make sure they were safe. Soon, Paul signaled to the other two he had found a loose stone. Becca smiled, recognizing it. Paul immediately began to pull it away when Becca lunged toward him and smacked his hands away from the large rock.

“What the heck?” said Paul.

“Are you crazy?” Becca whispered loudly, almost in panic. “You can’t just yank away the stone like that! They’ll hear! You have to do it extremely slow.”

“Do you want me and Elijah to watch while you do it?” Paul asked, irritated.

“I might as well,” she shot back. “You two are useless without me anyway.”

“Hey,” Elijah interjected. “Leave me out of this.”

“Sorry,” she said. “But it’s kind of true.” She took hold of the stone, which was at the very bottom, and gripped the sides firmly. The opening, once the stone was removed, would be large enough for them to fit through, but it would be a fairly tight squeeze and definitely a tight squeeze for the adults they were here to rescue.

The process of moving the loose stone went much slower than Elijah had anticipated. Becca was so careful with her movements it was almost frustrating how long it took. She would move the rock the tiniest bit and then stop. He could almost see her counting in her head as if timing herself before she moved it again. Then, when she felt the time was right, she would move it another fraction. During the entire time Becca was moving the stone, Elijah could see Paul huffing and puffing at her. Elijah thought Paul could probably tunnel under the prison and get everyone out in record time with all the pent up energy he carried.

“Okay,” Becca finally said. “It’s out.” Elijah looked at the stone and was confused. It was pulled out, but it still partially blocked the hole to the inside.

“What do you mean it’s out?” Paul snapped, still wound up and irritated. “It still looks like it’s in to me?”

“I’m keeping it there for now to block the hole still,” she snapped back, still whispering. “If I take it out now, all the light from the outside will show on the inside. If there’s a guard right there, he’ll see it. We’ll have to wait until it’s dark.”

“What if there isn’t a guard there now?” Paul asked.

“Are you willing to chance it?” she replied. Paul huffed, but he seemed to agree. So they waited until darkness fell over the Malpetran land

As soon as she decided it was time, Becca pulled the stone out the rest of the way and slowly lowered it enough to make a small crack for them to see inside the prison. After looking both ways, Becca said it was safe to drop the stone. It made a muffled thud as it hit the dirt, and the three of them worked to push it away, checking around to make sure no one heard the noise.

“Now, at some point, the guards are going to change shift, and that’s when we’ll have to move,” she said. “When they get their orders.”

“When will that be?” Elijah asked.

Becca shrugged. “No idea. We’re going to have to go on nerve.” Just then, they faintly saw the light of a torch inside the hallway, and heard the footsteps of a passing guard. Elijah, Becca, and Paul jumped back away from the hole and waited a minute before they dared look through again.

“Where do you think my uncle and Samuel will be held?” Elijah whispered, looking at Becca.

“I’m not sure, but I have a good guess,” she answered. “They have a separate wing for their higher interest prisoners. It’s pretty far inside there, but I would bet that’s where Phinneas is being held. Probably your uncle too.”

“What about Samuel?” Elijah asked.

“I don’t know,” Becca said. “It’s possible.” They all jumped back again as the guard made a return trip across the hall. After he passed by, Paul stuck his head in and looked around. When he came out, he had a funny look.

“What’s the matter?” Elijah asked.

“It’s enormous!” Paul said. “How are we going to find our way?”

“By following me,” answered Becca. “I don’t know every inch in there, but I can get you to the high interest wing and back.” Just then, they saw some torch lights leaving the tower and some other torch lights leaving the mountain. There were more still coming up the walkway all heading for the tower. “This is it,” said Becca. “They’re changing shifts. It’s now or never.” She stuck her head in the hole, pushed her body up, and slid through. Paul and Elijah did the same, and with some help, they were all inside the prison walls.

Elijah immediately felt the nerves numbing his body. His legs felt weak like they were going to give out, but as soon as Becca led them deeper into the prison, he loosened up. The pitch black hallways inside the mountain made it almost impossible to see where they were going. Becca ran her hands along the walls to feel a pathway. The stone walkway ceiling was so low they had to duck as they walked. Elijah could reach up and touch the top in most places. Their slow pace panicked Elijah. There was absolutely no light, and he knew they had limited time. He kept imagining someone right behind him grabbing him as Becca continued creeping along slowly.

After walking through countless corridors, twisting and turning through tunnels, they came to a long bridge of sorts, leading into another section of the prison. Becca stopped and whispered to Elijah and Paul.

“This is the high interest wing. We have to be fast.” She darted across the bridge with Paul and Elijah right behind her. As soon as they reached a row of prison cells, Becca turned to Elijah and whispered. “Keep watch to make sure we’re safe. Paul and I will work to find Phinneas and then you can look for your uncle.”

“And Samuel,” Elijah whispered back. He looked down the hall where Paul and Becca were searching. He saw them fidget with part of each door, raise a heavy-looking iron bar, and slowly open them, being careful not to make a sound. With the amount of time and strength it took to open each door, they needed to find Phinneas fast, or they would never get finished.

Elijah turned around to make sure they were still safe. He walked down the hall, turned the corner and suddenly came face to face with one of the prison guards who held up a torch. Elijah felt the blood completely leave his body as he looked up at the prison guard.

“What are you doing here?” the guard asked. The tone in the guard’s voice surprised Elijah. It was not threatening, but merely curious. Elijah stood dumfounded for a moment, hoping for something intelligent to come out of his mouth. “Well, come on!” the guard urged. Elijah looked down and noticed the long silver and black cloak. In the dark, he realized he probably looked just like a Maliphist kid. He slowly covered his brown Magi gear under the cape and looked back up at the guard. In a million years, he never would have thought he could have come up with such a clever response. But in that moment, a moment of complete terror, Elijah Hawk delivered.

“I’m on a dare. Some of my friends at school dared me to run through the prisons at night. I’m supposed to spend the night and report back tomorrow, but I need something to prove I did it.” The guard stared at him for a moment. Elijah stopped hearing the sounds of doors opening and closing. He hoped that meant Becca and Paul were aware of his situation.

After a minute, the guard smiled at him. “You kids,” he said in an almost endearing way. “I’m sorry, son, but I’m going to have to take you out. Tell you what. I have a son who goes to the academy. He’s a little older than you are, but I’ll let him know I found you here and had to make you leave. That way, you’ll be good on your dare. Do you know my son? His name is Kyle Youngman.”

“No, sir,” Elijah said politely. The guard made a grunt and then began to lead Elijah out of the prison. Once or twice, Elijah almost made the mistake of looking over his shoulder to see if Paul and Becca were safe, but he knew that would raise suspicion, so he stopped himself. He just had to hope they would make it out safely on their own.

The guard walked him all the way out of the prison, and a few of the other guards followed the commotion. Elijah lowered his head through all the attention. He was eventually brought all the way to the tower and held in front of the warden. The guard explained his story and what Elijah had told him. The warden was a lot less amused with Elijah’s story than the guard was. He looked down contemptuously at Elijah.

“You’re a long way from the academy,” he hissed. “The first thing I want to know is how you got in.” Elijah panicked for a moment. He couldn’t tell them about the loose stone because they would surely go and investigate, which could mean the end for Paul and Becca, who were still inside. He also didn’t think it was believable to say he just walked in during the change of guards. Finally, he came up with something.

“I snuck in under a loose stone. Over there.” Elijah pointed to the farthest place from where he thought Paul and Becca would be. The warden looked over at the area where Elijah pointed and called over some more of his guards.

“Go and search for the tunnel this little rat was able to make and fix it,” the warden commanded. He turned his attention back to Elijah. “Well young man, you’ve done something very foolish tonight. I’m going to have a word with Chancellor Billings at the academy, and you will be severely punished. Do you understand?”

“Yes, sir,” Elijah said.

“Very well. You let your friends know if they try something like this again, the punishment will be much, much worse,” said the warden.

“I will, sir. Sorry, sir,” Elijah said. The warden called a few of his guards over and instructed them to take Elijah back to the Maliphist academy. Just as he left with the guards, the warden called over.

“Oh. What’s your name, young man?”

“Isaac. Isaac Rogers.”

The guards took Elijah into a small boat and paddled him swiftly up the river. The trip was long, and even though the stakes were high, Elijah drifted off to sleep to the tempo of the rowing paddles.

It was daylight before Elijah was awakened by the guards telling him to get out. He looked down at his robe and clothes and saw his brown gear was more obvious in the daylight than in the night. He tried to wrap the oversized Maliphist robes farther around him.

Malpetra was almost the exact opposite of Savenridge. It was massive! Very gaudy and important-looking buildings and statues were scattered everywhere. The streets, narrow but clean, were made of evenly spaced cobblestones. The shops and buildings were two or three stories high, and they were already bustling with business. Elijah saw an amphitheater with marble columns, a huge building made with solid gold trimmings, a gigantic garden and fountain with people meandering about for their morning stroll, and a larger-than-life coliseum at the center of the city.

Even the canyon cliffs were a sight to see! Long, high, fantastic-looking buildings Elijah had never seen before were built up on the sides of the canyon walls. Large bridges connected the two sides of the cliffs. Homes with courtyards and fountains were built up on the cliffs that overlooked at least five waterfalls Elijah counted, which flowed gracefully into the river running through the city.

The plants and vegetation made it look like Malpetra was in the thick of spring already. Flowers were growing in abundance. The streets, although made of stone, had thousands of containers of greenery scattered about, beautifying the land. Elijah would never have guessed this would be the dwelling of people with such a destructive nature. It was like wandering through a fairytale painting.

After walking through the winding streets, and leaving the center of the city, they came across a large wide-open countryside with fields and grasslands. Elijah found it hard to believe there was so much space in a canyon like this. The guards guided Elijah down the street that led up to a very large building reminding Elijah a lot of Saint Phillip’s Academy. He followed the guards up to the front doors, and suddenly, a voice he recognized came booming from ahead.

“Let me get the door for you,” said a friendly-sounding Detective Scott, walking out of the academy. Elijah hid his face the best he could and hoped Detective Scott didn’t see him, but he was pretty sure they had made eye contact for a brief moment. Luckily, Detective Scott didn’t seem to recognize Elijah.

“Wait here,” said one of the guards as he left Elijah just inside the front doors. It was then Elijah realized a problem. They didn’t know him here. He had gotten away with saying he was from the school to the prison guards, but the teachers and trainers would surely know he was lying. At least, he though to himself, by this point Becca and Paul would have had enough time to get themselves out. Even if Elijah was caught now, it would be too late to catch them, assuming they were able to escape.

A very tall man with dark, curly hair briskly walked up to Elijah. His look told Elijah he was mad. He reached back and instantly struck Elijah across the face. Elijah fell over mostly out of surprise.

“What’s the meaning of this?” asked the tall man. Elijah held his tongue. “If you don’t answer me, you will spend a week in solitary detention!” He didn’t know what this meant, but Elijah figured he ought to know if he was a Maliphist, so he tried his best to look fearful. The man waited for Elijah to answer, but no words were said. “Very well.” The man grabbed Elijah by the cloak, and he was dragged toward a room in the very corner of the building. As he was being dragged, Elijah caught sight of something that made him furious! Dressed in full Maliphist robes and walking the halls of the academy was Samuel, on his way to class—very much free. They made eye contact as Elijah passed him.

The door to the detention room opened, and Elijah was thrown inside.