Aglanthol 3 - The Castle of Saelethiel (The Law Cannot Be Shaken) - 17. Chapter 17

Ogol looked down into the canyon. He felt magically drawn to the bottom of it. Eager to find the truth at the bottom of the abyss, Ogol more skidded than climbed down the slope. He didn’t pay attention to his scratched hands and his half-twisted ankle that was the result of a risky jump. Ogol ignored the pain and his exhaustion. He eagerly sought his way down to the ground. He sensed an energy that was strong and tempting. Ogol felt that he was close to his goal.

Night had fallen when Ogol reached the bottom of the canyon. He sat down on the ground. He was tired and exhausted. He had hurried. He had forgotten to take along food and water. He tried in vain to materialize some supplies. Ogol was sitting on the ground. He was thirsty and hungry. His euphoria, however, still kept him in high spirits. His thirst for power was unquenchable. He ignored his physical thirst, albeit it was the first warning.

~~**~~

Neldor, Qildor and Magath had returned to their camp. Night had fallen. Qildor and the wizard were fast asleep. Magath, however, was wide awake. He turned from one side to the other, unable to calm his running thoughts. Why had he come here? What was this all about? He tossed and he turned. He felt nervous and anxious. Finally, he rose to his feet and left the camp.

He climbed the path that led to the abyss. The full moon shed a ghostly light and the world looked creepy. Magath felt drawn to the canyon. What was going on here? He felt the need to unveil the secret. He had a feeling that the abyss held the truth. Magath reached the canyon and looked down to the ground. Yet the bottom of the abyss lay in dark shadows.

~~**~~

The brethren stood and changed seats again. And then they drew their chairs closer to the centre. The spherical energy field immediately shrank. The field condensed and centred. An immediate shift in the material world followed instantly. Heavy clouds covered the nightly sky and hid the stars and the moon. The night turned black and threatening and an electric storm came up out of nowhere. Saelethiel’s powerful energy raged. A magical storm materialized and broke loose without a prior warning. The walls of the canyon crumbled. Stones and boulders rolled down.

Ogol jumped to his feet and started to run. He slid and then fell to the ground. Stones slid next to him and suddenly Ogol found himself lying on the ground and stuck between two stones. Magath fell when the wall of the canyon tumbled. Along with stones and boulders he skidded down the slope. Half-way down, he was lying on the ground. He was also stuck between two stones.

The night was pitch-black. The rain was pattering and a mighty storm was blowing. Both men were lying on the ground, stuck and unable to move.

The brethren stood and opened their eyes. They raised their hands like in prayer. The time had come. The two men were ready to face the truth. They were ready to undergo the trial.

~~**~~

Magath was lying on his back. His right leg was stuck between two stones. He struggled to sit up and finally managed to do so. But, however hard he tried, he could not move the stones.

The rain poured heavily down on him and soaked his clothes. Cold rain ran down his face. The ground was rocky and the stone was cold. Magath’s body soon felt cold as well. He sat in an uncomfortable position, yet he did not dare to lie back again. He feared to lose his conscience or simply fall asleep because of exhaustion.

Magath did not see anything. The night was dark and it was pitch-black in the canyon. He listened into the darkness. But all he heard was the heavy rain and the storm that raged above him. At least, no more stones and boulders were rolling down the slope. Magath wondered why he was unharmed. A boulder could have easily killed him.

He sat for a while, unsure what to do. Crying for help would be entirely useless. The rain was too heavy and the wind blew too loud. Neldor and Qildor would not hear him. Magath guessed, however, that his companions were already looking for him. The crash of the canyon wall could not have gone unheard. Neldor and Qildor, however, were fast asleep. The energy shift had not affected them. No noise had left the area where the energy had condensed. Neither did the wind blow in their place nor did rain fall down on their camp.

After a while, Magath struggled once more to free his leg. The effort was in vain. Magath breathed heavily. His body trembled because of the cold and because of the sudden fear that overwhelmed him. He tried to calm down. Dawn would be breaking in just a few hours. Then, at the latest, his companions would come for his rescue.

Magath shifted his position until he sat more comfortably. He listened into the darkness and wondered why the walls of the canyon had tumbled. The brethren had changed the energy field again. Why had they done it? In order to kill him?

Magath felt angry. Who were the brethren to decide on his fate? Who were these men who hid in a castle that was hidden from the eyes of an average man? Magath gnashed his teeth. How he hated this term. From the eyes of an average man. Neldor had said it several times. Neldor, the wizard, who, so far had gotten nothing accomplished. Magath instantly felt guilty at his thoughts. The wizard was haughty and arrogant sometimes, but he had taught him the mind focusing technique. He had spent hours exercising with him. It was unfair to blame him. Why was he always blaming Neldor and never the man they had followed?

His thoughts shifted to Ogol. He had seen the man in their camp when his ward had not worked for a while. The man was grim, dark, and evil. Why had he come here? And, more important, why had they followed the man? He could have stayed home and could be enjoying his life. Why had he accompanied Neldor and Qildor? A dubious quest had led him here. Now he sat stuck in an abyss. Perhaps he would never find a way out of here. Why had he set out on this quest?

Magath’s thoughts stopped abruptly. "Because I volunteered," he said sourly."My fault only. I was being naive. Why, by all means, did I go with them?" He pondered. He had had various reasons. He had wanted to stay with Qildor. He had not wanted to see the man go and perhaps never return. And he had also felt a thirst for adventure. He had never left Tanmil in all his life. The Western Mountains were far away and the Castle of Saelethiel was a place of mystery that had fuelled his fancy.

‘The castle. Always the castle,’ Magath thought. His feelings towards the place were ambiguous. The secret place intrigued him greatly. But meanwhile he held a grudge against it. The castle withdrew from them. He was certain meanwhile that he would never see it. After all, it was hidden from the eyes of an average man. Magath frowned. The brethren were to blame. They had caused his predicament. And yet, he had to admit that their powerful magic intrigued him. "Goodness!" Magath called out. "Am I going insane? Instead of thinking of a way to free myself, I sit in the pouring rain, thinking of the magical castle.

Magath pushed his thoughts aside. He tried to free his leg again, but the effort once again was in vain. Magath gave up. He sat silently, resigned to his fate. Help would come in just a few hours. Dawn would come and morning would break very soon.

The hours passed by, but dawn was not breaking. Magath started to worry. His worry turned into utter concern and he had a sense of foreboding. The awful truth slowly dawned on him.

~~**~~

Ogol was lying on his back. He was not able to sit up, however hard he struggled. A stone pressed his right hip on the ground. He was able to seize the stone with his hands, yet he was not able to push it aside.

The heavy rain poured down on him. Ogol was thirsty. He had not drunk in many hours. He licked the rain from his lips, but this barely sufficed to satisfy his thirst. The rain ran into his eyes. Ogol wiped the water off and gazed upwards, but he did not see anything. The night was dark and it was pitch-black in the canyon. Ogol closed his eyes. He needed to find a way out of here.

Since his physical efforts had proven useless, Ogol turned to ponder on magical techniques. Magic did not work well in the brethren’s energy field, but creating an image had been very easy. An image, however, would not get him out of his predicament. But Ogol had not yet tested all the magical techniques and spells that he knew of.

He tried to concentrate, yet he got distracted by his own thoughts and feelings. He was angry. He could barely suppress the emotion. Ogol tried a few spells. When none of them worked, he was not able to hold back his feelings any longer. Ogol flew into a rage. He cursed and ranted aloud. This, apparently, was the brethren’s work. What an unworthy effort to stop him.

‘They are acting like common criminals,’ Ogol thought. ‘Why not challenge me to an open fight? Why not kill me? Why throw me to the ground and get me stuck? Hell, what is this all about?’

Ogol tried to sit up again, but he was not able to. The effort exhausted him. His whole body hurt. Ogol forced himself to calm down. He would find a way to free himself. It should not be too difficult. He just needed to concentrate and control his emotions and feelings. Ogol tested a few more spells. But they did not work either.

‘All right,’ he thought. ‘I must think of a high magic approach then. There are a few techniques that might work. Luckily, I do remember them all.’

Ogol lay back on the ground. The rain poured down on him and Ogol licked his lips. His thirst was distracting him. It had become painful meanwhile. If only more of the rain ran into his mouth.

Ogol concentrated again. He went through all the magical techniques that he had learned in the past. He finally found an approach that he was sure would work out well. He would channel the energy of the rising sun into the stone that pressed his hip down. He then would elevate the stone until he was able to free himself. Under normal conditions, his life force would have sufficed to elevate the stone. But Ogol did not deceive himself. He was exhausted. His body was weak. He decided to not rely on his life force alone. The morning sun would solve the problem. Its light would soon reach the ground.

Ogol was lying on his back on the ground. His body meanwhile felt cold and numb. His physical condition was bad and his thirst was unquenchable. The physical need tormented him and had already started to blur his mind.

Ogol waited for the rising sun. But the rising sun did not come. Ogol realized the fact despite his blurred mind. Ogol lay stuck on the ground of an abyss and slowly the truth dawned on him.

~~**~~