Magpies and Magic 2: The Great Escape: Magpies and Magic, #2

By Timothy Michael Lewis

Faced with Princess Candera’s kidnap by the Asperian Secret Service, our heroes attempt to undertake a daring mission to free her. 
However their usual level of incompetence quickly strikes and they too find themselves imprisoned in Minaturia’s most fearsome prison Ultricon. 
No one has ever escaped its magically secure interior. 

Inside the prison it soon becomes clear that they are not alone in their efforts to escape. Joining forces with the existing prisoners they hope soon to escape through an extremely long tunnel. But why do the guards not seem to care about the obvious escape attempt? Why does the tunnel never reach the surface? 

In the world outside Casper and his forces are being pushed back to their last fortress by Stephanie's superior army. It seems only a matter of time before he is killed or faced with exile to the underworld. 

The Pentagram Council while gloating of their success wonder about the force possessing Stephanie's body. Why can't they control her in the way they expect? Can they conquer Minaturia and then turn their attention to the world of the Giants? 

Can they escape? Is Stephanie lost forever, possessed by an unknown evil force? Will Casper avoid defeat from her advancing forces? Will the Pentagram Council succeed in their efforts at world domination? 

Find out in the next exciting part of the series, Magpies and Magic: The Great Escape.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Timothy Michael Lewis
• Release date: Apr 5, 2016
• ISBN: 9781910802045

Book preview

Previously in Magpies and Magic

This is the second in the series of Magpies and Magic books. It makes sense to have read the first book. However if you read it a while ago or haven’t read it then I’ve created a summary of the previous book that you can find here to help you understand this book:

http://stonehampress.com/summary-magpies-magic-book-1/

CHAPTER ONE

Kolan looked at the sea captain and wondered. Can I trust this man? In the harbour at Abula there were only two ships going to Asperia. There was this ship and the other ship was run by Troglodytes. Given their smell and general habit of randomly eating people, he felt he had to trust Captain Yerro, despite the fact that something about him made Kolan feel deeply uneasy.

The rest of the party were away trying to buy provisions and weapons for their mission to free Princess Candera. Roubar had discovered that she was most likely in Ultricon, the highest security prison in Asperia. Built by the Dwarves, but taken over by the Asperians centuries before, it was rumoured to be escape-proof, so getting her out of there was going to be difficult.

The plan, which really was at best very vague, was to attempt to free Princess Candera when she was taken out of the prison for execution. Vifal had left the group and returned to Damolia, the day before. Trelio understood that their mission to free Princess Candera was fraught with danger so made no real effort to persuade him to stay.

Assembling to board the Sparrow, the fine ship captained by Captain Yerro, the party were not in high spirits. Krolith had managed to offend Hilary with a joke about Asperian serving girls and everyone was fairly quiet. Malcolm was grumpy, as the possibility of freeing Stephanie, his partner, from the evil enchantment of the Dark Pool seemed even more hopeless than usual. If he had had any clue of how to free her he would have abandoned the group to take it.

Madeleine was more distraught than she had ever been, though Kolan had barely noticed; he just thought she was acting more feminine than normal with his rather simplistic view of women coming to the fore once again. Madeleine tried desperately to cover up the maelstrom of feelings she felt after Princess Candera had been kidnapped but had failed.

Hilary too was upset and on edge. She too loved Princess Candera in a parental way. She had watched her grow up and as her personal maid had always taken care of her. She felt that maybe she had protected her too much from the world; she worried how she would cope in Ultricon.

Trelio was still getting over the shocking discovery that his own father had been part of the Pentagram Council. He knew that it had been clearly against his will, at least initially, but he did wonder whether he could have done more to help his father bring them down. Now they were more powerful than ever and the future looked bleak. He, too, would rather be fighting them than freeing Princess Candera, but due to the lack of a better plan, he was coming along for the ride.

As the Sparrow set sail, the party were treated to a feast by Captain Yerro, in which everyone had an enormous amount of fun. The more observant might have noticed that neither Captain Yerro nor the crew were drinking the same wine as the party. They found themselves becoming increasingly drowsy, while the crew remained strangely sober.

---

Waking up Kolan discovered to his dismay that his hands were bound behind his back. He sighed. He knew they should have waited for another ship. It was clear to him they had been drugged as he felt awful. Even with normal wine he had never felt this bad the day after.

Captain Yerro appeared in front of him.

I am sorry my friend, but business is business. There is a bounty on your head. Me and my men will never need to work again! he said with an unpleasant smile on his face.

I think… whatever I paid you… it wouldn’t be… enough! shouted Kolan, barely able to talk due to the lingering effects of the drug.

You know us sailors too well. I am glad you guys enjoyed yourselves last night, as you won’t be having that much fun again! laughed Captain Yerro.

At that point, Captain Yerro beckoned two sailors to haul Kolan up and escorted him out of his cabin and onto the deck of the ship.

Out in the light, Kolan could see that they had arrived in Asperios. Due to the nature of the welcome party of Asperian soldiers he could tell that they had been betrayed to the Asperian authorities. He saw Malcolm being led off the boat under a net by a large group of soldiers. Behind him the rest of the party was lined up and escorted one by one off the ship. Everyone had been taken prisoner. It looked like they might be reunited with Princess Candera sooner than they expected.

---

Roubar was first off the ship after Malcolm and was taken away by two senior-looking Asperian guards in a different direction from the rest of the party. It was clear to him that he was going to the castle. The rest of the party were being boarded onto carts, and were taken off away from the city.

It took some time to go up the hill from the port to the castle. He had walked this route many times when he was High Priest of Asperia, but this time every step felt like a mile. The normally short trip took an eternity.

Once inside the castle, he found himself taken into a large chamber that he recognised as the main banquet hall, where Princess Candera had been transformed into a penguin at the start of their quest. He immediately recognised the tall figure of Toluk who was now wearing a much more ornate version of his Chief Minister’s garb.

Such a shame, Roubar. I always had such respect for you. If you had just stayed in Abula none of this would have been necessary. Why did you have to try to free Princess Candera? said Toluk.

She has done nothing to you! We aren’t going to let you kill her! said Roubar.

Kill her? She will be perfectly fine. I am going to marry her!

What? shouted Roubar. His confusion was because he didn’t think that Toluk liked women.

She is going to be my bride, and I will become the new king of Asperia!

She will never agree to that!

We have our methods, said Toluk, who Roubar noticed subtly showing him a large blue ring on his finger. It was something Toluk had only started wearing just before Princess Candera was cursed.

I think she would rather die than marry you. You know she doesn’t like men, don’t you? said Roubar.

She doesn’t need to do anything but give me legitimacy. The people grow tired of this revolution and seek a restoration of the throne, said Toluk.

This makes no sense, you already run the country!

Through a revolutionary council: a rabble of rag-tag revolutionaries all with different aims and needs. I seek the ultimate power of the crown! shouted Toluk.

We will stop you! declared Roubar, then realising how silly that sounded.

Only if you can escape Ultricon, which as you know is impossible, said Toluk.

Roubar stood there dumb-founded. Sadly he knew that Toluk had a point. No one had ever escaped from Ultricon. No magic worked there; it had legendary defences and no one had ever come out alive.

CHAPTER TWO

Roubar found himself rejoining his friends when he was shoved in the back of a large metal-clad truck. All of the prisoners were bound and blind-folded. He did not struggle when he too was blind-folded. He knew that as well as being impenetrable, the location of Ultricon was also a secret. It was somewhere in Asperia, but no one really knew where. He intended to attempt to count the time it took to get there to give himself a clue. But then he noticed an unusual smell and began to start breathing in something strange. He felt drowsy and fell asleep under the influence of the gas he was breathing in, ruining his plan to work out where the prison was.

His next memory was of waking up wearing a dirty grey prison uniform with his friends around him in a large octagonal room. A large Troglodyte guard prodded each prisoner in turn with a large stick. On either side of the room there were entrances covered with heavy steel portcullises. One led to a long tunnel up and the other a long tunnel down. The portcullis covering the tunnel going down suddenly began vibrating into life. It then raised slowly. Roubar could see several figures in the distance approaching from the tunnel beyond the portcullis.

Wake up! Me take you to processing! growled the guard. Roubar held his breath. Troglodytes made perfect guards as their smell alone acted as a great personal defence device. Their skin was permanently slimy. While not overly tall, they were invariably fat with very broad shoulders and large three-fingered hands with razor-like nails. Through the open portcullis more Troglodytes appeared. He felt himself being pushed with Krolith and Hilary towards one of the newly arrived Troglodytes.

Take them to Block C, said the guard to the Troglodytes who had just arrived.

Hilary, Roubar and Krolith were escorted down the tunnel by their new Troglodyte guard and could see the rest of the party being split into small groups and taken down behind them. The tunnel forked into eight different paths, each with a block name signed above the door. They were hauled down the tunnel with Block C emblazoned above it and saw their comrades being hauled down different tunnels. Roubar worried that he would never see Kolan, Madeleine, Malcolm or Trelio ever again.

---

Casper, like his brother Malcolm, hated being confined underground. But his Retacan supporters had fled underground and he had joined them. Stephanie, full of the evil power of the Pentagram Council, had defeated him out in the open and he was forced to descend down into the caves under the castle in Ithaca. This was the last bastion left with Dark Elves surrounding the city and very close to obliterating the remains of Casper’s Retacan crusaders. He was amazed they were still loyal to him given that he felt no loyalty to them. He was too lazy to form his own army and by ingratiating himself with them it had been easy.

As he was ushered further down into the caves under the castle he could hear fighting behind him. His entourage of crusaders and Ogres pushed him to move faster than he was comfortable in such a confined space.

Do you know what is down here? asked Casper.

No idea, but the Ogres reckon it connects up somewhere with the Goblin Realm, said a harassed-looking human crusader next to Casper.

Why on earth are we going to the Goblin Realm?

There is nothing for us on the surface except death, since your fellow bird started helping the enemy, said the crusader.

Casper thought how things had changed. He barely noticed he had entered a large very ornate chamber. The walls were covered in what looked like gems; the Ogres broke away and started trying to prise them off. On one wall was an image of two figures and an inscription in a language Casper could not make out. Between the picture of the two figures was a perfectly carved hexagonal recess. Casper suddenly had a thought.

Guard, pass me my treasures, shouted Casper.

A crusader handed a sack to Casper’s beak. Being a Magpie was not great for storage; Casper had toyed with getting a tailored outfit with pockets, but being clothed was considered deeply taboo for Magpies. So he used his lackeys to carry bags around for him. Most of them did not consider his treasures that special. They mostly consisted of shiny metal objects, usually of steel or iron rather than gold. Privately the Ogres had looked through Casper’s items and already picked off anything that in their eyes was vaguely valuable.

Emptying the contents of the bag on the floor, Casper looked for one item. It was a hexagonal steel object which he knew was magical from bitter experience.

After he had first acquired it in his home world, he showed it to Malcolm and Stephanie. Once they had all touched it at the same time they were flung into the world of Minaturia, so he knew it had magical powers. But in all Casper’s experiments with it since he had been unable to get it to do anything.

Looking at the small hexagonal hole in the wall, the object would fit it perfectly. He asked his human crusader companion to place the object in the hole. He followed Casper’s order without enthusiasm and inserted it perfectly. Nothing happened.

Casper then touched the object with his beak and felt strange: this time something magical was happening. He thought of his predicament and his need for reinforcements. Suddenly he was flung back from the wall.

When he recovered he saw everyone moving away from one side of the hall. Three enormous birds, larger even than Casper, had appeared. He recognised them as the Hayland Valley Crows, the most dangerous birds he knew in the old world.

What, what are we doing here? said Stukley, the first of the birds to get a bearing on things.

You have been sent here to help me, said Casper.

We don’t answer to Magpies! said Euge, another of the crows.

You will in this world! shouted Casper, using his magical abilities to pin each of the birds to the wall. He had no idea if they possessed magical powers in this world, but he guessed they’d have no idea how to use them yet if they did.

How are you doing that? gasped Euge.

Will you help me? You can help me rule this world: you will be rewarded! said Casper, appealing with the carrot as well as the stick.

I am sure we can come to an arrangement, grunted Stukley.

With that Casper released the trio, Euge, Stukley and Mutkro upon this new world.

CHAPTER THREE

The Pentagram Council were having as much success in the West as in the East. The Barbarians under Asomorph’s leadership had put up a good fight but were almost totally defeated. They were left holed up in their one remaining coastal town, Skyrax, in the extreme north. The port was on the border of the ice-sheet and they were faced with three choices: go even further north into almost certain death from the extreme cold, stand and fight or flee by boat. The Barbarians had enough ships for their now depleted forces to escape, but Asomorph had fought against that option for months.

But as the summer was coming to an end and the possibility of escape by boat was threatened by the fast approaching ice-sheet, he gradually heard more demands from his warriors to flee.

Talking to his deputy, Ulk, he asked if they should leave. Ulk told him that everyone wanted to go. They were only barely holding off the few Dark Elves that had reached the port. Everyone knew a huge force was coming up the coast. But Ulk had not consulted his colleagues: he was expressing his own view. He had ambitions to head a new Barbarian kingdom in a new land. Tired and feeling dejected, Asomorph gave the order to take to the boats.

The Barbarians loaded all their possessions onto their long-boats and headed West. The Elves had achieved their ambition to remove the Barbarians from Junopia; the Barbarian presence was now to be felt in Middlita instead.

---

Malcolm and Trelio found themselves being taken down to Block F of Ultricon prison. The insides of the prison cell blocks were remarkably open plan, and consisted of a series of cells lining a central area that more or less governed itself with only a few Troglodytes observing. The tunnel entrance was blocked by a pair of tremendously heavy stone doors that meant escape that way was going to be near to impossible. Trelio discovered very quickly that no magic worked in the prison. He did not know how they did it but he could not feel the magical energy inside him; it was like when the Giants were nearby.

Malcolm, as the only bird in that block, received a large amount