Ashur swiveled to glare at Sarah.
“Relax. The traps are based on skill point spending, not character level. The curve isn’t that steep.” She smiled at Keith. “I guess I was in his head enough to know Tira’s character sheet. She had enough skill for a reasonable chance. Plus she took the Scoundrel’s Luck ability, so even if she rolled a critical failure, she would’ve had at least one chance to do it over.”
“Come on. We’re almost out.” Keith ushered everyone past the gate.
Sarah hurried ahead. “We have to move fast. It’s almost dark.”
“Why?” asked Tira. “What happens at dark?”
“Level twenty skeletons,” said Carlos.
Tira stopped, swiveled to stare at him, and gawked. A second later, she took off, blowing past Sarah, puffs of dirt flying from her feet as she ran into the city.
And yes, her hair trailed in the breeze behind her.
“Crap.” Sarah bolted after her.
Keith threw himself into a sprint, shouting, “Tira, wait. You don’t know where to go!”
The tiny rogue kept running, dodging around chunks of stone that had fallen from buildings. Block after block passed. Keith didn’t look toward the side streets, his attention remained on the little girl a few paces ahead. His longer stride let him close the distance, but Sarah edged ahead of him. She had equally long legs, but didn’t wear heavy metal armor.
She grasped Tira’s shoulder and dragged her to a stop.
Keith loped to a halt, crashing into both girls and wrapping his arms around them.
“Level twenty!” screamed Tira. “Are you nuts!? We’re gonna die!”
“Listen to me.” Sarah took a knee in front of the smaller girl. “We have plenty of time. If you get lost here, you won’t find the exit before it gets dark.”
Tira shivered, but nodded.
Elliot stumbled up behind everyone and leaned against a wall, gasping for breath. “You guys… what’s with all the running? Can’t we ever just walk somewhere?”
“How bad is it?” asked Keith.
“We’re not lost. We’re almost at the temple square. The main street goes directly from the gate to the front of the cathedral. She went the right way so far, but from here on, it’s a maze.”
“You know where to go?” Carlos conjured a potion bottle of water, which he handed to Elliot.
Sarah grinned and stood up. “Of course. I designed the place.”
Four blocks later, the wide street they’d been following opened into a courtyard. A dry fountain at the center lay in crumbled ruins, its enchantment broken for over a thousand years. The gold-inlaid face of a cathedral dominated the square at the far side, with gleaming white spires and hundreds of cracks and missing bricks.
“Ooh,” said Tira. “That’s gold.”
“It’s made-up gold in a made-up world, and it won’t come with us,” said Sarah, heading for a narrow alley on the left side of the temple.
“How do you know that?” asked Tira. “You haven’t left yet.”
Sarah cringed.
“Sorry.” Tira looked down. “I didn’t mean it like that.”
“I don’t think it would work that way,” said Keith. “Besides, all the gold is way up high.”
“Uhh.” Tira shook her head. “I’m allergic to skeletons. Especially when they’re eighteen levels over my head.”
“Everything’s over your head, squirt,” said Ashur.
She raspberried him.
Chunks of sandstone fallen from large holes in the walls of buildings on both sides clogged the alley Sarah elected. Undeterred, she climbed on ahead, scouting for threats. Keith lost his grip a few times, too busy watching her move over the rocks with the grace of a half-elf. Each time she dropped out of sight behind a barrier, his heart hammered a little faster and he rushed to catch up to make sure she was okay.
When she dropped down below a giant brick the fourth time—and screamed—he almost passed out.
“Sarah!” shouted Keith, jumping up to the next ledge and scrambling forward.
She dangled from her fingertips a few feet down, over a hole in the street that opened into the sewer catacomb below. A fall of two or three stories waited to eat her. “I’m okay. Saw the hole in time to twist.”
“Give me your hand.” Keith lowered himself flat and reached for her.
She shimmied hand over hand to the left toward him. Her flailing legs found nothing to set foot on, so, with a labored grunt, she pulled herself up with her arms. Once her chin passed the ledge she clung to, she flung up her right hand and grabbed him. The dangerous move committed her to trusting his grip. Time seemed to hold still as he stared into her eyes. The ‘if you fall, I’m falling with you’ all over his face registered clear in her expression.
Someone grabbed Keith’s ankles. He clapped his hands around her wrists; her fingers locked around his.
“You’re beautiful when you’re terrified.” Keith winked.
“Turdling. Shut up and pull.” She grinned.
Keith leaned up and back, but didn’t have much leverage to lift her. However, the grip around his ankles tightened. Elliot and Carlos dragged him back, which in turn lifted Sarah out of the hole. Once she found footing on solid stone, she pushed, and all four of them tumbled into a heap in a small pocket between mounds of debris.
“Thanks,” rasped Sarah. “Ow, my fingers.”
“Crap, this is a dead end,” muttered Ashur.
“Nope.” Tira tiptoed around everyone and climbed onto a three-inch ledge along the cathedral’s wall at their right. “We can use this.” Without waiting for agreement or a command not to, she pressed herself into the wall and shimmied sideways like an Egyptian hieroglyph, creeping out over the damaged section of street.
Keith patted Elliot and Carlos on the arm. “Thanks guys. Whew.” He smiled at Sarah. “Nice reaction save.”
She stood and dusted her leather armor skirt off. “This is a lot more fun when falling to death is imaginary.”
“You wouldn’t have died from it,” said Tira, still shuffling across. “Twenty-foot drop is only 6d6 damage. You’d probably have only broken both legs. Unless you flipped over and landed on your head.”
“Thanks.” Sarah smirked.
“Umm, El?” asked Keith. “Can you swing that ledge?”
“Yeah. I’m not that round.” He playfully punched Keith in the shoulder.
Sarah climbed next, also making it look easy. Keith waited for her to move away and stepped up on the narrow shelf, hugging the wall as best he could with all his weight on his toes. Sliding his boots one at a time, he made his way to the left. Once out over the hole, he succumbed to curiosity and peeked back over his shoulder. A mound of rubble at the bottom resembled the decorative parapets from the cathedral spires. It must’ve fallen off the ten-story building and plowed into the street like a catapult stone, crashing into some manner of sewer catacomb below.
Fortunately, he had to go only about twenty feet to reach solid ground again. Sarah grabbed his arm and helped him climb down. Ashur scooted across with ease. Carlos insisted Elliot go next. As soon as Elliot pressed himself to the wall, head turned toward the others, Carlos whispered a few words and a faint magical light spiraled around Elliot, who didn’t react.
With that, Carlos also hopped up on the ledge.
“Levitation,” muttered Sarah, grinning. “He’s smarter than he looks.”
Keith stifled a laugh. “Yeah.”
“Why didn’t he use it on the rest of us?” whispered Ashur.
“It’s a six mana spell,” said Keith. “Tira’s so small she could do somersaults on that ledge. Sarah and I made it, and you’re like a pro soccer player.”
“I never tried a handstand on a three-inch beam before. The one at the gymnastics place is four inches.” Tira eyed the narrow stone strip. “But the wall’s in the way.”
Elliot leapt off the ledge over the street, and floated to the ground like a balloon. “Whoa. You cheated.” He
laughed. “Thanks. No wonder it was easy.”
With an alley ahead free of debris ahead of them, Sarah continued at a light run. The others hurried after her. Elliot kept a hand on Carlos’ shoulder, gliding after him like a parade float, his sandals a few inches off the ground.
“I could get used to this,” said Elliot. “Be nice to your healer.”
Sarah hooked a left turn down a side street and went past two alleys before going right again. She ignored three more cross-streets on the left, two on the right, then took the fourth left. Not twenty feet later, she went right again into a cramped alley between buildings, right again after another short jog, and left around a corner to a narrow passageway.
“Geez,” said Keith. “How do you deal with something like this at the table?”
“Mapping.” Sarah stopped at the end of the passage and peered out into a large city street. “Graph paper. We’re clear.”
She darted out and ran left. Two blocks later, the group collected at another gate, though instead of a stone slab that could crush a house, this one consisted of ornate bronze bars. A second set of decorative bars entwined with the larger ones, depicting the silhouette of an eagle-like bird. Beyond the gate, a field of short grass littered with volleyball-sized stones extended off past a fountain and benches. At the opposite end, the meadow curved upward into a gentle, sloping peninsula atop a jutting sea cliff. Near the tip, a slab of stone resembling a huge tombstone covered in carved runes stood at the center of a round platform of gold-decorated marble.
“It’s a hunk of rock,” said Elliot.
“It’s a portal.” Sarah pointed at Carlos. “Shannon’s wizard opened it last time. I don’t understand what she did. This portal wasn’t part of my city.”
“The gate’s locked,” said Keith, rattling it.
Tira walked up and stared at the keyhole well over her head. “Boost, please.”
Ashur grabbed her under the armpits and lifted her up to the lock plate. “You’ve become an inventory item for opening locks.”
“Stuff it, Ash.” Tira leaned close, studying the mechanism.
“It ain’t gonna open with you staring at it,” said Elliot.
“I’m checking for traps!”
“Ugh, I hope it’s not a ‘story lock’ that we need a special key for.” Carlos folded his arms.
“Oh, I’m gonna be mad if it is.” Tira fumed. “Eep. Trap. I knew it!”
She dug a tool out of her pack that looked like large tweezers with a bend at the tip. “Please don’t shake me.”
Ashur tried to hold more still, but only wound up shaking harder. “Ugh, you’re heavy for a squirt.”
“Hang on.” Elliot trotted a ways down the street and came back dragging a barrel. “Stand on this.”
Ashur set Tira down and shook his arms out to recover from holding her up so long.
After Elliot pushed the barrel up to the gate, Tira climbed on. She sat back on her heels and leaned close to the lock. Everyone held their breath as she inserted the tweezer tongs into the keyhole.
Tira gasped and went wide-eyed. She started to scream, but stopped. Terror became a sheepish ‘oops’ face, and she continued fiddling with something inside.
“Luck,” whispered Keith. “She just rerolled a critical failure.”
Ashur edged up behind her. “If you die, Mom is going to ground you forever.”
“I know.” Tira twisted her body, the tweezer held in both hands. She glared with furious concentration at the lock mechanism, the tip of her tongue poking out between her lips.
A high-pitched squeak emanated from Elliot.
Everyone whirled to gasp at him.
“Sorry. I’m nervous.” He fanned behind his butt.
Tira leaned up and back, extracting a bright, glowing diamond from the keyhole. For the few seconds it took her to ease the gem past the opening, she whined out her nose. When it came clear, she slouched in relief. “Oh, man.”
“Guess it would’ve been bad if that crystal touched the bronze?” asked Carlos.
“Yeah.” Tira held it up. “Lightning. Lots of it.” She opened the Bottomless Bag and dropped the gem inside. “Now for the easy part.”
Ashur hovered ear to ear with Tira, watching her attack the lock for the next ten minutes.
“Do you mind?” muttered Tira. “I’m trying to work here.”
He leaned back a little.
“I know I’m a girl, but I can do it,” grumbled Tira.
Ashur rested his hand on her shoulder. “I don’t doubt you. I’m in awe. Wanted to watch you work.”
Her grumpiness became a smile. Soon after, a sharp click came from the gate.
“Got it!” chimed Tira. She jumped down off the barrel, which Elliot pulled aside.
Keith pushed at the heavy bronze bars, and the gate swung inward. Metal that hadn’t moved in ages protested the disturbance with a loud, groaning creak. Sarah crowded up behind him, but he didn’t mind. He glanced back at her face, hovering by his left shoulder, and managed a nervous, eager smile.
“We made it,” he whispered.
The others pressed in. Keith pushed the gate wider and stepped past it onto the white stone walkpath that led to a cobblestone circle where a few stone benches had long ago crumbled to debris. Within seconds of him entering, the grassy peninsula took on an unnatural green glow as if the sun focused all its attention on that one small patch of land. The sky shifted to a deep blue that threatened a storm any second. Saltwater-laced wind whipped at them, fluttering everyone’s hair and clothes.
“Wow,” said Carlos. “Is it me or did that storm come out of nowhere in like two seconds?”
“Dude, gonna rain hard,” said Elliot. “Let’s move.”
“It’s not that.” Keith grinned. “This is a major scene. The weather has to be dramatic.”
Only about a hundred yards of grass stood between them and going home—and a solid block of stone that Carlos somehow had to turn into a door.
32
Portal Magic
Keith held his shield up, pivoting defensively behind it. He took point, advancing along the walkpath of stones leading in from the gate. About twenty paces later, the ruins of basic stone benches littered a circular area around a dead tree. There, the paving ended. No creatures appeared to be in sight, nor did there exist any other way into the hidden cape, high above the ocean. To the left and right, stone walls blocked passage. Short of flying or climbing up the cliffs, anything dangerous would need to enter the same way.
He continued past the end of the walkway, relaxing somewhat at the lack of creatures. Sarah kept an arrow at the ready and did a full spin around every few steps. Tira seemed eager to run to the top, but didn’t go past Keith. Elliot, Carlos, and Ashur also readied their weapons, shifting about as if they expected something bad to happen any second. Lightning flashed in the sky beyond the peak of the peninsula, directly behind the portal slab.
At the subsequent crack of thunder, Elliot and Ashur screamed while Carlos hurled a firebolt at the gate.
The boys’ screams made Tira shriek.
Keith whipped around at the roar of the fire magic, expecting danger. Once he realized his friend had panic-cast, he let out a heavy, relieved sigh. Sarah showed little outward reaction.
After a few seconds of tense staring at each other while the strong saltwater wind whipped down the hill, the group resumed their trek up the grass to the portal dais atop the incline. Three stone discs of decreasing size stacked on top of each other, forming steps. A little taller and wider than an average doorway, the rectangular obelisk appeared to be carved from six-inch-thick onyx, the front and back smooth as glass, the sides rough. Thousands of strange runic symbols adorned both faces.
“Looks like this is all you, Fuegor,” said Keith.
Carlos looked down at his gaudy orange and yellow robe. “I s’pose that’s me.”
“You open this thing, you can call yourself ‘the Magnificent’ all you want.” Elliot grinned.
Everyone gathered around as their resident wizard approached the gateway and gazed at the runic writing. Sarah didn’t step up on the dais, remaining on the grass at the edge of the largest disc. She faced down the length of the grassy plateau at the bronze gate, squeezing and relaxing her grip on her shortsword.
Noticing her unusual paleness and the faint tremble in her legs, Keith walked up beside her and put his arm around her back. “We’ve at least got two days’ lead.”
“It’s just like last time. It feels exactly the same.” Sarah looked into his eyes. “I’m scared.”
“I am, too. But I’m not scared of Yzil. I’m scared we might mess this up and not get you home.”
Elliot scoffed, shaking his head. “Come on, man. She’s Private Ryan. She’s gonna get home and all of us poor slobs are gonna die. Army logic, right? Get ten guys killed to save one.”
She sniffled. “That doesn’t make me feel better.”
The howling wind picked up speed, almost blowing Ashur and Tira over. Elliot flashed a ‘heh, why not’ expression, then bowed his head in apparent prayer. Jagged streaks of lightning flickered in the dark clouds out over the churning ocean, far enough away that no thunder reached them.
“That’s really awesome.” Ashur gazed at the brewing storm. “Wish I had my iPhone. Could get some badass pictures.”
Sarah looked up. “What’s an iPhone?”
“It’s like something from Star Trek,” said Keith. “My mom’s got one. I’ll show you later.”
“Feh,” said Elliot. “Apple zombies. Android all the way.”
“I’m the wizard.” Carlos raised his finger. “I should be handling all explosive devices.”
Elliot gasped, looking personally offended. “One model. Only one model had that problem. It’s not all Androids.”
“What are they talking about?” whispered Sarah, both eyebrows up. “There’s androids in 2017? Really?”
Keith chuckled. “No, it’s just a name of a kind of phone. Like some cars are Ford, some smartphones are Android.”
The Cursed Codex Page 26
