Ancient Magic

by Blink, Bob

  Now as the creature started moving toward Rigo, he looked for someplace to go. There was nothing to climb between himself and the rapidly approaching creature. He tried pushing it with magic, but that seemed only to slow its advance. He was about out of ideas when Jeen unleashed her own magic, a bolt of the blue white energy. That hurt the creature, which bawled angrily. A second bolt and then a third from Jeen, and suddenly it was over. The creature, or what was left of it, slumped in a heap some twenty paces away. Jeen’s final bolt seemed to trigger something inside the beast, and it went up in a ball of flame. At the same time the glow in Rigo’s staff faded quickly away.

  Cautiously the group approached the fallen beast.

  “Yup, that’s it,” Ash’urn said. “Smells the same as I remember. But it’s hard to tell what it was from what’s left.”

  He was correct. The few bones and charred husk that had been the creature were all that remained. Jeen’s bolt may not have done the damage, but clearly without her ability they would have lost this round. Rigo was frustrated he had no ability with the intense beam, and that only Jeen was able to stop the creatures. They were fortunate there had been only the one of them.

  “It’s immune to your magic,” Daria said after a few moments.

  “So it appears,” Rigo agreed wryly. “It seemed able to thwart most of our magical abilities. I hope there aren’t many more of these things.”

  “There’ll be more,” Ash’urn warned ominously. “It’s simply a question of when and where. It’s been forty years since I last saw one, but the fact there’s more than one says there has to be a lot more. I suspect we’ll find other surprises like this in the Ruins.”

  “We’ll deal with that once we get there,” Daria said. “For now, I suggest we start on our way again. I, for one, am not going to get any more sleep, and would like to get out in the daylight where I can at least see what I’m fighting.”

  The others agreed, and in very short order they were back on the trail, hoping that was the last of the things they would encounter down here in the dark.

  Chapter 50

  They soon lost track of time in the cavern. There was no awareness of night or day and no good means of keeping track of the passage of time. They walked most of the time, resting when everyone felt the need. Rest stops were now supported by a watch schedule, since the magical warning system that Ash’urn had deployed had proven unreliable against the creature that had attacked them. While they didn’t know it, it was almost three days later when they finally arrived at the cave in.

  “How did they manage this?” Kaler asked when Rigo and Jeen expanded their balls of light to show the massive tumble of boulders and rocks that stretched all the way to the ceiling eight or ten man heights above them. The jumble of rocks continued all the way to the roof and seemed jammed up against it. In a few places it was possible to see where the side of the cavern had broken free and what might have been the old wall had fallen to join the jumble. Many of the massive boulders were as large as a house and after a short survey it was apparent that the gaps between the larger stone were entirely filled with smaller rocks. How far the pile extended couldn’t be determined as the slide buried the nearby walls as well as the passage they had been following. There was no doubt this was the way. The worn path they had been following disappeared under the fallen rock.

  “One would think that some kind of magic was required,” Rigo agreed as he surveyed the blocked path. For the first time he began to doubt his own confidence that they had been directed this way for a reason.

  “I would guess the ceiling of the cavern here was far higher than it now seems,” Ash’urn said finally. “Somehow they caused something up there to give way, and it all came crashing down making it appear the rocks were piled ceiling high. Probably they extend higher and there is a large void somewhere up above all this.”

  “Perhaps that is the way through,” Daria observed. “All we have to do is climb up and find our way into that space.”

  “It doesn’t appear that simple,” said Ash’urn. “And it might not be stable up there.”

  “We have to take a look,” she observed. “There must be a way through or we are stuck and will have to return and take our chances with the guards at the mine.”

  “It’s been a long time since we last stopped,” Rigo said slowly. “I suggest we make camp, rest, and afterwards we can start looking for a way through.”

  Kaler nodded and pointed off to one side where a large flat area existed. Before long they had set up, and while they ate they looked around in hopes of seeing a promising avenue to explore. After a bit everyone drifted off, except Rigo. He had volunteered to take the first watch since he couldn’t sleep anyway. He couldn’t help but wonder if he’d brought them all on a long meaningless trip. It would be more than depressing if they had to make their way back and hope to escape that way.

  “There’ll be a way,” Ash’urn said softly from off to Rigo’s right.

  Rigo looked over at him. “I thought everyone had gone to sleep.”

  Ash’urn smiled. “I thought I would drop right off, but find my mind reluctant to let go.”

  “It doesn’t look good, does it?”

  “The blockage is indeed formidable. But those who caused this to happen had little control other than to trigger the fall. Daria is more than likely right that a means exists to get through. The question is whether we can find it in a reasonable time.”

  “I feel that magic should provide an answer here, but cannot think of how anything I can do might help. The scale of this is far too great to push aside the blockage and I doubt whether the fireballs or Jeen’s energy blast would have much effect.”

  “Either could well bring more of the roof down upon us,” Ash’urn observed.

  “You don’t know any more useful spells or useful techniques that might help, do you?”

  “Nothing comes to mind.”

  They were silent for a long time. Then Rigo asked Ash’urn about the spells he knew.

  “The people who taught me had lost all memory of how and why they had access to the spells. There were none among them who could perform any magic without using the spells, so they were not the people you seek. Even among them, only a small percentage had taken the time to try and learn or were able to recall the memorized phrases exactly enough to make them work. I think they knew only a small fraction of the spoken spells that once existed.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  Ash’urn sighed. “Some years later I stumbled upon the remains of another village. The people had either moved on or had been wiped out by disease or something else. I found remnants of an old library. Several of the books were remarkably well preserved – possibly some kind of magic at work there – but in a language that I have never seen before. I think they were spell books because several were illustrated. I was able to locate what I suspect is the written form of the invisibility spell I demonstrated for you. I can’t be sure since I cannot read the text, but that is my guess. Even if they could be read, how would one know how to pronounce a dead language with no one to demonstrate? What I have concluded from months of looking at the texts as I traveled, was a unique feature of the language. I believe that unlike our own language, each sentence was jumbled into a single word. That is why the spells are so convoluted. They represent a descriptive sentence in a single word.”

  Rigo was suddenly excited. “You have these books?”

  “Yes. They are put away back near my home. But of what use could they be?”

  “I don’t know, but perhaps simply seeing the text might trigger something just as your use of the spell did earlier. I would very much like to see them.”

  “You are welcome to have a look, but at the moment they are many month’s journey from here. I do not think the opportunity for your investigations will present itself any time soon.”

  “I guess not,” Rigo agreed. But he wondered if there might be additional clues waiting in Ash’urn’s archives.
r />   “Well?” Kaler asked as Daria climbed back down the rock pile. More nimble than the rest and used to scaling impossible routes in the past, she had been the one who was chosen to make the climb to the top of the cavern to see what might be there.

  “It looks just like it does down here,” she said after jumping off the last rock to the cavern floor. “I cannot see anyway to get on top of the rock pile up there. We’re going to have to look elsewhere to find a way through.”

  Rigo scanned the walls. There was nothing that looked promising. “Do you have any ideas?”

  Daria nodded. “There is clearly nothing here. Every effort was made to seal the passageway at this point. I suggest we backtrack somewhat and look off to the side of the trail for anything that might suggest an alternate passageway.”

  Even though it felt like defeat, there was little other choice. They decided to leave the camp in place for now, and scout back. If they couldn’t find anything within a glass, then it was unlikely they would be getting through and they would come back and make preparations for the return trip.

  Rigo had lost count of the number of false starts that Daria had tried, climbing into dark crevasses with himself or Jeen providing light. They had been at it for a long time, when Daria’s head popped back into view.

  “This might go somewhere,” she said. “It opens up a little way in and turns in the right direction. I think it parallels the old path.”

  They used the soft white stone that Ash’urn had found to mark the spot, then returned to their camp to eat and talk. There was some argument whether just Jeen and Daria should follow the new path, or whether they should all go. Finally, Rigo insisted they stay together. Only he and Jeen could provide light, and only Jeen had the ability to protect them from the creatures should any more appear. Besides, if the path proved viable, why should they have to backtrack once again? Other dangers might lurk in the dark, and being together offered the best chances. Besides, he couldn’t see himself sitting and waiting while he worried what might be happening to the women.

  Keyed up and hopeful, they packed up and started back after eating. Daria and Jeen led the way, with Rigo bringing up the rear this time. As he crawled through the narrow opening offered by the boulders, Rigo wondered at Daria’s description that this was an open path. He had to walk bent to keep from hitting his head, and more often than not found himself crawling or climbing over rocks as he wound his way through the narrow openings. Ash’urn dutifully marked their way, so they could find the way back if needed.

  After considerable time, the path opened up somewhat, and Rigo could walk upright, but even then he couldn’t stretch his arms fully to either side without encountering the walls of the cave. He had lost all sense of direction, feeling as if they had looped back and forth several times. Only the sense of their ultimate destination far away in the Ruins afforded him a sense they were slowly making progress in the way they needed to go. He didn’t know if Daria was able to tell where they were going or whether she was simply following the opening in the rock. Somehow he thought it was the former, as she had passed several branches in their path without hesitation.

  “Be careful,” Daria shouted back at them. “It’s wet and slick ahead.”

  Rigo saw what she meant a short time later. The walls and floor of the passageway were damp with slowly dripping water. The deposits of limestone were smooth and would have been slippery enough even if dry. Wet, as they were here, they were extremely slippery and more than once Rigo had to support himself with his hands against the damp walls.

  After more than a glass of this, they heard the sound of water rushing through the depths. Not too far away an underground river was cutting through the darkness. As the sound of the river grew stronger, the right hand wall disappeared, leaving them with the left wall and a narrow slippery surface to walk along. Rigo used his light to peer into the darkness on his right. The walkway dropped off sharply and fell into rocks below, sometimes only a short way, and others a considerable distance. He still couldn’t see the river, however.

  Suddenly there was a yell from ahead, and Jeen’s light went out.

  “What happened?” Rigo shouted to Daria.

  “Jeen slipped,” she yelled back. “She went off the side. I can’t see her. Rigo, you need to come up here,” she demanded.

  Carefully Rigo made his way to where Daria waited, making his way cautiously past Kaler and Ash’urn who leaned into the wall and held him as he stepped around them.

  “Where?” he asked Daria, when he reached her.

  Daria pointed to a spot a couple of feet behind where he stood. Rigo extended the staff over the edge and increased the light. There, laying in the rocks two man heights below them was Jeen. He could see blood on one of the rocks and see that she wasn’t moving.

  “I’ll go down,” Kaler offered. “You need to stay up here Rigo. If your light goes out, we are lost.”

  “Let me,” Daria said. “I’m smaller and more experienced with this.”

  They tied their one piece of rope around Daria and helped her make her way down the slippery incline. Kaler almost lost his footing and fell down after her, but finally Daria arrived where Jeen had fallen.

  “She’s breathing,” Daria reported after a quick check. “Throw me a water skin.”

  Ash’urn tossed down one of the skins, which Daria deftly caught. She kneeled next to Jeen and used some of the water to wipe her face and touched a wet cloth to her lips. Carefully she checked her for broken bones.

  “I think her arm is broken,” Daria said. She arranged Jeen as comfortable as she could in the small space. Moving the unconscious woman caused her to stir.

  Jeen hissed as the pain of the broken arm reached her.

  “Don’t move,” Daria warned her.

  “What happened?” Jeen asked.

  At almost the same time Kaler shouted from above. “How is she?”

  “Wait a minute,” Daria shouted back to Kaler. “You slipped,” she said to Jeen. “How’s your head?”

  Jeen reached up and felt her head with her left arm since the right didn’t seem to be working. It came away bloody. “Got a lump there,” she said. “I think I’m okay though.”

  “She’s conscious,” Daria informed those above. “Give her a minute.”

  As Daria watched the lump on Jeen’s head shrunk visibly, then disappeared. The blood seemed to simply be absorbed into the skin. Then Jeen carefully extended her arm, wincing as she did so. She stared intently at it, then suddenly flexed it.

  “Better,” she said in satisfaction.

  “I forgot you could do that,” Daria said realizing Jeen had used her magic to heal her wounds. “Does it hurt to heal yourself with magic?”

  “Somewhat,” Jeen admitted. “It’s gotten me out of trouble more than once though.” She lit her ball of light and climbed to her feet. “How do we get out of here?”

  Daria was about to answer when something caught her attention.

  “Jeen, can you bring your light over here?”

  Jeen did as asked. Just ahead, hidden from above was a large opening that extended for as far as the eye could see in the direction they wished to head. Daria stepped back and hollered up to the others, “Find a way to secure the end of the rope and come down here. I think we have found the way to go.”

  Soon enough they were all together looking at the pathway that Jeen’s fall had revealed. Off to one side a slowly moving river of water flowed in the same direction they were going.

  “It certainly appears a better route than we were following,” Rigo agreed.

  Once again they set off, Rigo happy to sense they were headed in the proper direction. Jeen appeared none the worse for wear, and kept up without complaint. Her skill with healing was another ability that Rigo wished he could learn.

  Considerable time passed before the path started to climb slowly upward. There was no choice but to follow the only opening available, and within a short time the narrow opening they were following op
ened into a vast cavern. They were well above the floor of the cavern, and Rigo had to use the full power of his light to reveal what lay before them.

  “There,” Kaler said and pointed to his left.

  Below and extending to the top of the cavern was another rock fall. It filled the whole left side of the vast chamber.

  “The other side,” Daria said softly. I can see the footpath below.”

  Rigo could see that she was right. Below them was the pathway that would take them out. They had bypassed the cave in. Slowly and carefully they made their way from the opening down to the floor below.

  Chapter 51

  There was no way to determine just how thick the blockage they had worked around really was. Nothing on this side of the barrier gave any clues to how far away the opposite side might be. Given the distances they had covered, despite the circuitous route they had been forced to take, Rigo suspected the barrier was a lot thicker than he would have initially guessed. Whether the entire way was solidly blocked or whether there were rock falls on either end was impossible to guess. The key thing was they had found a way around. It was also a path that could be retraced if necessary.

  That wasn’t the end of it, of course. They still had to reach the far end. If the stories about this place were accurate, they had as far to go as they had yet come.

  “It appears you were right,” Ash’urn said to Rigo echoing his thoughts as they stood at the base of the blockage.

  “Let’s get started,” Daria said. “I’ll be glad to see the end of this place.” She touched Jeen’s arm and pointed to the trail leading away from the pile of rock. One by one, they started on the trek, Jeen’s light showing the way. Once again, Rigo brought up the rear, his own light completing their small oasis of brightness in the darkness.