Free The Fifth Vertex (The Sigilord Chronicles) by Kevin Hoffman

general, he simply couldn't stay mad at him.
    "Urus, I saw what they did to you," Goodwyn said. "During the ceremony.   I—"
    "I don't want to talk about it," Urus replied.   "Truce?" he signed, then held out his arm.
    Goodwyn nodded, grabbing hold of Urus's arm up past the elbow. They clasped firmly in the typical warrior greeting and then let go.
    "Grab the mace end of my suzur; I'll guide us through," Goodwyn said, unraveling some of the weapon and handing Urus the mace.  
    "Who's going to guide you?" Urus asked.
    Goodwyn just smiled and spun around, disappearing into the darkness. A moment later the suzur chain jerked taut, tugging Urus forward.
    They ducked into the dungeons, and Urus's mind recoiled, the absence of sight and other senses almost too much to bear. For a few minutes he held onto the tiny scraps of remaining light from the lamp at the entrance, but that quickly faded until it was darker than the darkest night and, other than his grip on Goodwyn's suzur and the occasional scrape against a stone wall, there was nothing.  
    He focused on the smells to keep from panicking. He smelled smoke, tea, and coffee, all probably from the fires kept by the guards in the cell blocks.
    They turned corners, descended stairs, turned more corners, and climbed back up even more stairs. Even with a light and a map, Urus was sure he would never be able to navigate this maze alone. How was Goodwyn doing it?
    As he wrapped his mind around that new puzzle, he slammed into Goodwyn's back. His friend had stopped short. A finger pressed up against Urus's lips, and he knew instantly something was wrong. Goodwyn took his hand in the darkness and spelled into it, "K". Then he spelled "E". Then a "B". Two more taps in his hand to let him know he should be able to figure out the rest of the word.
    Kebetir.
    Kebetir was in the dungeon!
    Goodwyn pulled down on Urus's arms, and they knelt together, careful not to make a sound. Panic threatened to take control of him. It was in a situation just like this that he had failed in his last attempt at the gauntlet. Unable to hear, Urus could never detect the other students sneaking up on him, nor could he tell if he had made a sound.
    Goodwyn pressed his hand into Urus's chest. He wasn't sure if it was to help keep him calm or to let him know to stay still. Either way, he was glad for it. The touch of something, anything, down here in the dark was welcome.
    They waited for a while, the darkness stretching time and making the wait agonizing. Urus's knees ached and his lower back throbbed. Sweat crept down his neck and soaked outward through his shirt, triggering an itch that demanded to be scratched.
    He resisted, barely. Even the quiet shuffle of the leather armor might give away their position.
    Finally, Goodwyn helped him up and spelled again into Urus's hand: FAST .
    Urus made a fist and tapped Goodwyn's hand twice. He grabbed the mace end of the suzur again and Goodwyn was off, this time running at full sprint.
    They ran fast enough so that Urus struggled to keep his breath. Goodwyn veered and twisted, knowing exactly when to turn and which way to go, despite the complete darkness. How many times had he been in the dungeon that he could find his way through it so well?
    Finally a tiny bobbing light appeared in the distance and they swung toward it. Once the light expanded outward from a pinprick to a circle to reveal a hallway, they could make out the shapes of iron cells, a large fire pit below a chimney hole in the ceiling, and two guards.
    They slowed to a walk, hoping to look casual, as though they had every right to be there. Urus let go of Goodwyn's suzur, resting his hands on his own mace pommels for reassurance, assuming the "Remig Stance" named after the weapon master who stood on the ramparts, hands on pommels, glowering at the students all day long. Of all the people in the palace, Weaponmaster Remig always seemed the most like he belonged there. Urus even tried to look angry and