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The rope bit into my hands, but I didn't dare relax my aching fingers as uncountable serpents twisted against each other and hissed beneath me. How they survived in this pit beneath the Pillars of Peril I couldn't begin to guess, but I wasn't about to become their next meal. Carolina had sworn Gaius was coming down from the other passageway, and if I could hold on long enough, he'd be able to pull me to safety.
My feet slipped against the rope. Gaius had helped us in our adventure to the Tomb of Darinius, but could we really trust a magister? He had a fancy home to go back to, and the only danger he faced there was if I decided to tell someone about his itchy fingers. Not like Carolina and me. And he never seemed to take anything seriously or put in his full effort, even with his life on the line. Would he really work any harder just to save mine?
I could climb out on my own. I'd done it before, though never while carrying as much weight on my back. I looped the rope around my feet and reached one hand to grab further up — and then the whole thing groaned and lurched downward. I abandoned climbing as I swung back and forth, wondering if I even had time to drop the knapsack before it was all over.
Then a sudden prickling feeling, like being surrounded by needles that never quite broke the skin, and the rope went slack in my hands as I began to rise. I looked up, and there was Gaius after all, holding out both hands and muttering to himself, lit by the same violet light that now surrounded me. His handsome face was creased in concentration. Maybe I'd given him too little credit.
-
"Only think of me from time to time," Gaius said, eyes gleaming with mischief, "and it will be as if I am with you the whole way!"
If we had still been out in the western desert, I would have shoved him. Here in Ventus, I just had to glare at him and let his imagination supply the rest. Letting him and Carolina get on a boat with the bulk of the treasure while I just took the cursed relic along the roads alone didn't sit right with me, even if the decoy worked, and Gaius thought he needed to tell me to think of him? I'd be lucky to get through a single night without thinking about him far too much. I'd be cursing him the whole way back to Minrathous.
I turned to Carolina instead. She was done up like a real Alta girl, hair coiffed to hide her ears with jewelry from the trove we'd plundered and a beautiful flowing dress — I knew better than to ask its providence. In their finery, she and Gaius looked like some pair, and that left a bad taste in my mouth too. No one who saw them would know them for the thieves they were. But that was the point, so I didn't say anything about it. Just told Carolina, "Keep this wretch out of trouble, will you?"
"I'll get him home safe," she replied, laughing. "You just look out for yourself, Indy. You've got the harder job now."
I couldn't be seen with them after that, so I left the inn first, knapsack over my shoulder and whistling an old sailors' tune. Stopped for lunch at stall overlooking the harbor, and overstayed my welcome to watch the ship with the bright green sails finish loading and set sail for the capitol. Then I dusted myself off to head for the city gates, and the open road.
-
The next swing of my sword missed my assailant's throat, but caught the scarf covering his nose and mouth. I chanced a moment to look at his face, but there was no reflective glow of magic in his eyes. My bad luck, to escape my trackers and stumble upon ordinary bandits along the road. But it wasn't luck that had let them get the jump on me — just stupidity.
I could have used some of Gaius' magic right about then. That same spell that was keeping his sails full on the way home would have wrapped this fight up quickly, even if I'd have had to listen to his silly little battle quips the whole time. But I'd made it this far in life without magic. I could take care of a few bandits on my own. If Gaius ever learned I had actually wanted his help in a fight, he'd never let me live it down.
-
The storm battered the hillside, wind moaning through the rocks and grasses. The abandoned watchtower I'd found kept the rain off me, but I still shivered under my coat on the cold stone floor. I should have abandoned the relic to the flood and saved my bedroll instead. Surely Gaius and Carolina had arrived in Minrathous by now, and I didn't need to protect them any longer. Even without the relic, we'd be living like kings off the rest of the treasure. I just had to make it back myself. And if I'd let the relic wash away in the rising water, I could have made the rest of the trip that much easier for myself.
Then I thought about telling Gaius I'd lost it. The great adventurer Incendianus Julius, bested by a storm. The worst part is, he wouldn't mock me for it, and he wouldn't turn against us. I did know him better than that, much as I hated to admit it. But he'd know that I was capable of giving up — that I could be beaten. And then I knew there was no way I could have abandoned the relic.
Lightning flashed outside, followed by the roar of thunder directly overhead. I'd wait out this storm, because despite what people said I wasn't actually a madman. But then I'd had enough of sneaking around and waiting. If I had read the map right, I was only three days southwest of Minrathous, and I'd run the whole way home if I had to.
-
I only had to knock once before the hidden door opened and Gaius was pulling me inside. "Indy!" he exclaimed, patting down my arms like he was looking for hidden knives. "Thank the Maker — you're three days late, and in this weather!"
He released me then, but only to push the knapsack and my tattered coat from my shoulders. "You're soaked, of course. Stay here, I'll find you some dry clothes. And a stiff drink, you'll no doubt want. I'll be right back." Then he smiled, a bright and cheerful thing that I had never known to appreciate before. "Welcome home, Indy."
Then I was alone in the room. I managed to coax my numbed fingers into removing my boots, and then I peeled off the leather vest and my shirt and dropped them on the floor with the rest of my things. When Gaius returned, I was shivering in front of the fire and dripping on the floor.
"This should fit you well enough," he said, holding out a dark blue robe. "We'll work on trousers in the morning."
I wrapped the robe around myself, and then took off my current trousers and kicked them aside. Gaius had busied himself with a bottle and glasses in the meantime, and turned back to hand me a glass of something dark amber and deliciously scented. I toasted him with it and drank.
"Tell me all about your adventures!" Gaius urged me. "You thought of me often on the road, I'm sure — as I often thought of you."
"More than I'd like," I told him, although I was also smiling, "and probably less than I should. But next time, you're coming along for the whole adventure."