He was quiet for a couple of seconds and then burst into laughter, slapping Kyle on the back. With tears weeping from his eyes, Legan rolled the map back up and put it back into its case.
They walked on for most of the day, talking about different things in their lives. Amber described some of the towns she’d visited, but when pressed for the reason she left them she was curiously silent, with only a shrug of her shoulders.
Legan, as usual, was a non-stop storyteller and delighted in making sure a quiet moment wasn’t quiet for long. He managed to fill the time with stories and histories that were both useful and interesting, pausing every so often to look at rock outcroppings, examine his map and make a correction in the direction they were traveling.
Kyle and Amber didn’t argue and allowed Legan to guide them, and soon they were on their way again. The time passed quickly and they found themselves at the foothills to The Seven Backbones. Directly in front of them, the foothills rapidly changed to huge rock formations unsuitable for climbing. Kyle and Legan looked upward at what appeared to be an impenetrable mountain range. Legan stroked his thick mustache and beard with the palm of one hand as he thought about the direction they should take.
“We probably have gone off course a bit, so I’m not sure if we need to travel East or West to get to the valley pass. Normally, it wouldn’t matter, but…” He stopped to look behind them, “It looks like the weather is starting to settle in, and we should find some shelter. So, I think we should…”
“Over here,” Amber called out from a spot one hundred yards away.
When the two of them arrived, she pointed out a large natural opening between the rises where the footing was much smoother, and where stood two large stone monoliths. The top of the stone structures had been carved into simple round orbs nestled on square bases. From where they stood, they could make out the curves of writing on the flat surfaces, but from their distance, they were unreadable.
“Yes, that’s it. Kyle, Amber, welcome to the Valley of the Stone King.”
* * * *
With thunder rumbling behind them in the distance, Kyle, Legan and Amber paused to take in the huge stone monoliths that stood like stone sentries on either side of the pass entrance. The writings carved into them were weathered, ancient symbols, completely foreign to them all.
Kyle pulled some food from his pack and handed a portion to Amber. He waited patiently as Legan carefully copied the symbols onto a piece of parchment and slipped it into his pack.
“Something to keep me busy translating in my golden years,” Legan said as he passed Kyle and Amber sitting on a fallen stone, eating.
“Are you coming?” he asked, “The weather isn’t going to wait on you two.”
After passing through the stone sentries, the path arched upward, crested and then dropped back downward again leading deeper into the pass. Their pace slowed when they crested the hill and stared out into the valley proper. Remnants of an ancient stone city, deserted and worn down by the passage of time, filled the valley. A large stone arch rose up over the path where they walked. The face was covered in the same writing as the monoliths at the entrance, but Legan didn’t stop to make any notations.
They soon came upon squat stone structures that lined both sides of the path in which they walked. These were without any roofs or coverings of any kind and most were in severe states of decay with entire walls collapsed in rubble. They detoured off of the main path and found vast courtyards and commerce hubs similar to the open market places that Kyle missed in Allenon. On the high hills, looking down upon the valley were vast stone buildings, which must have, at one time, been owned by the wealthy in the city, but were now in just as poor condition and threatening full collapse as the rest of the city.
They came to what looked to be the city center. The number of smaller structures that looked to be homes disappeared and were replaced by larger, more official-looking buildings of uniform style. Wide stone stairs ran the length of the front of the buildings and led to pillared entryways at the top of their rise. They were crossing across the threshold of one of these buildings when the sky flashed, followed immediately by the rolling boom of thunder. Seconds later, huge droplets of water pelted the three as the skies opened up with the rain that had been held in reserve.
Running up the stairs through the open arches, they found a building with its roof largely intact, although in one of the far corners of the huge room, the rain was falling without impedance through the collapsed ceiling. Along the wall close to the entrance, they pulled their packs off and deposited them along the dry walls. Legan began exploring the structure looking for any wood they could burn during the approaching night and declined the offer to help from Amber. Kyle stood in the open arch of the door, looking out at the falling rain.
“So what do you think?” Amber asked. She walked to the opening and leaned against the doorway, looking at Kyle.
“Looks like it’s going to rain all night.”
“No, I mean about Adam and Delas heading off to try to find out more information about the medallion. Do you think they’ll be successful?”
“I hope so. The medallion’s enchanted, so the logical place would be any records involving the wizard’s guild. I know it’s like trying to find a grain of wheat buried in an entire silo, but right now the only thing we know about the medallion we pieced together from the papers I collected from the workspace of Kalaldi. If they come back empty handed, then we’ll continue on to this Guild drawn on the piece of map and get answers from the wizards there.”
Amber placed her hand on Kyle’s upper arm and gave it a gentle squeeze, and then walked off, leaving him to his thoughts.
* * * *
Amber walked around the large room looking for Legan. She found him in a small alcove, a large pile of broken and splintered wood at his feet, staring at a figure carved from the sandstone of the alcove wall. Standing with his hand cupping his chin, he was so completely lost in his own thoughts he didn’t acknowledge her until she stepped next to him and cleared her throat in his ear.
The startled dwarf half-ducked. “Now, do you think that was called for?” He asked, his face turned a subtle shade of red.
“What are you thinking so hard about?” Amber asked. She could have teased the dwarf about his day-dreaming but she didn’t want to stir up any trouble.
Legan squinted and then returned his gaze to the carving in the wall in front of them.
“I’ve been studying this carving, and something seems to be off with it, but I can’t seem to figure out what.” Legan tapped his finger against his chin, finally resting it on his lips as he studied the carving again.
Amber looked at the female figure, which appeared to emerge from the stone wall, and trapped at her waist. Her hands steadied a large water jar on her head. The entire piece was expertly done with beautiful detail work on the woman’s hands, dress and face. The jar was closed and its sides were covered in symmetrical patterns down to a smooth base where it contacted the woman’s hands. Amber stepped to the right of the figure, then to the left.
“Hmmm,” Amber said, as she looked from one side to the other. Legan is right, she decided, something isn’t right here, something…
“What you’re seeing is a lack of symmetry. That’s what’s bothering your eyes. We’re used to seeing statues and paintings that are even on both sides. Arms or legs, when we can see them completely, are usually set evenly on both sides. This one is different though.”
Amber stepped closer to the carving and noticed the lightened marks on the base of the vase, under the carved hands.
“The hands don’t actually touch the vase…wait that one does...this one doesn’t. Interesting.” Amber reached up and touched the stonework with her fingertips. She traced the shaped stone of the arms from fingers down to the shoulders and her nail caught on a seam where the arm emerged from the seam of the carved clothing.
“Well, now that my curiosity has been satisfied, I’ll get this wood toget
her and get a fire going. I expect it won’t be too much longer before the darkness comes in completely and the temperature falls. Are you going to be playing with that mis-formed piece of rock for much longer?” Legan picked up the fallen wood at his feet.
The sound of chains contacting a metal gear and the low scraping sound of stone on stone filled the air.
“Hello,” Amber exclaimed, her hand wrapped around the stone wrist of the carving.
She had pulled the arm away from the base of the vase, downward and it had pivoted at the shoulder. To the right of the carving, a huge slice of stone wall scraped along the floor and disappeared into a slot in the wall. With a smile on her face, Amber released the statue’s wrist and the arm stayed in position.
Amber peered into the darkened passage revealed by the sliding stone wall. She looked over her shoulder to speak to Legan, but found he was gone. Before she left the alcove to look for him, he reappeared holding a slender stick with a dampened cloth tied to one end.
“I thought I might as well get a torch, it looks like we’re going to need it,” Legan said, putting the torch on the ground and kneeling over it. He struck his flint and steel together, showering the oiled cloth with sparks. With a sputter, the cloth caught fire. He handed the torch to Amber and placed the flint and steel back into the leather pouch at his waist.
Amber looked along the edges of the alcove and located a clay pot that she struggled to move from its position. With some effort she wrestled it into place against the slot opposite where the passage door disappeared into the wall. Stepping over it, she held the torch high and started down the short set of six steps and onto the floor of an ancient storeroom.
“You coming?” She called up to Legan.
* * * *
Amber raised the torch higher and looked around the small room. Along both walls were high wooden shelves, empty except for a thick layer of dust and small pebbles broken away from the overhead stonework.
Legan bumped into her and she almost dropped the torch.
“Sorry. I was looking around the room,” he said.
“Not to worry. It looks like we’re a hundred years too late,” she said, stepping into the room and taking a closer look at the empty shelves.
Legan was behind her by a step or two. He ran his fingers along the shelves and wiped them on his pants.
Amber stepped past the last shelf at the far end of the room and suddenly let out a whistle.
“Legan, take a look at this.”
The dwarf stepped around her to get a look at what caught her attention. Leaning against the bottom edge of the wall were the rotted remains of a man covered in cobwebs and a thick layer of dust. Tattered clothes hung from the form and a rotted leather belt looped around its middle.
Amber knelt down and let her fingers follow the belt around until her hand was hidden behind the body.
“Aha,” she exclaimed, pulling a rotted leather pouch free.
“Robbing the dead?” Legan said, disgust in his voice.
“Robbing?” Amber laughed. “Trust me, he isn’t going to miss it.”
Amber thrust the torch into his hand and, holding the pouch in one hand, pulled on the thin string holding it closed. The string disintegrated and the mouth of the pouch eased open. She upended the small bag into her open palm. A half dozen pieces of gold, ten silver coins and a large oval-shaped red ruby collected there. Reaching around to her own moneybag, she pulled it free and opened it one handed. She dropped the coins inside and then held the ruby up, admiring it in the torch light.
“Isn’t that beautiful?” She asked, rotating it in her fingertips.
So very beautiful, like the one…
“Well, all I’m saying is that it isn’t right. That’s all,” Legan said.
“Huh?”
“Amber,” Legan said, snapping his fingers. “Welcome back. I just don’t think it’s right taking treasure from the dead.”
“Well, we could argue the point, but I…wait. Legan, hold that torch up a bit, please.”
With the light from the torch higher, a small alcove in the wall behind the remains of the adventurer was revealed. Mounted into the back wall of the alcove was a figure of a hawk’s head, its beak open in a silent scream. The flicking flame shimmered off the remaining eye of the carving, a large oval ruby.
Amber took the torch back from Legan so that she could get a closer look at the hawk carving.
The empty eye socket had a thick rod extending from the rear of the cupped surface. Amber touched the rod and pushed it gently, feeling the springy resistance of some mechanism.
“This is some fine craftsmanship. Looks like whoever took the treasure from this room left this to tempt some foolish soul.” Amber said examining the remaining gem. She handed her torch to Legan.
“What are you doing?” Legan asked, looking at the cramped space, “Let’s get out of here.”
“Just a second,” Amber said, her thin dagger already prying the remaining gem free from the stone carving. With a twist, the gem popped free, and Amber trapped it with the palm of her hand. In the center of the fresh empty socket, a small rod extended slightly.
From behind them, the sound of the chains clanging against a metal gear could be heard again, the scraping of stone on stone, and in the torchlight that barely touched the far wall, Amber and Legan could see the stone door begin to slide closed.
Legan dropped one of the torches and quickly moved toward the sliding door. He looked over his shoulder to see a calm Amber sliding her dagger into its sheath and pocketing the remaining ruby.
“Come on, come on, before the stone closes and seals us in here,” he called, scrambling to get to the entrance to the chamber.
As quickly as the scraping sound started, it stopped, and it was quiet once again. Amber slid past Legan and walked up the stone steps to the sliding door caught on the clay pot she had placed in the path of the sliding stone panel. She stepped over the pot and out into the main hall of the building.
“Legan, are you going to stay in there all night?” she called into the dimly lit, former treasure room.
Chapter Fourteen
The door closed slowly behind Delas and Adam. She led him to the wooden countertop separating the elder men and women doing administrative tasks from the visitors to the libraries. With a heavy sigh, a thin elven woman closed the book she was writing in with a dull thump, and slid her chair from the table. The squeak of the legs on the wooden floor caused several of the other readers to stop and look up at the room’s newest visitors.
“Can I help you?” The woman asked, annoyance evident in her voice.
Delas looked over the woman’s shoulder at the room and was happy to see that their interruption was short lived and all of the readers went back to their studies. She put her clenched fist to her mouth and cleared her throat.
“Hello, I am Delas Endine, and this is Grenon Briseal. We’re students with the Guild of the Rose, and we’ve come to do research.” Delas turned to acknowledge Adam, and turned back to the woman who had pulled a worn book from a hidden shelf and hefted the tome onto the counter.
The woman opened the book and flipped through several sections, stopping and running her finger down the pages, before turning to another and continuing with her search. With another deep sigh, she closed the book, slid it to one side and pulled another from under the counter.
“Guild of the Rose, huh?” She asked. She opened the book and flipped through several tabbed sections. She ran her finger down the page.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Here, we go. Delas Endine. Briseal, I don’t think…wait. Yes, here you are. Grenon Briseal.”
Lifting her head up from the list of names, she asked, “What were you researching when you were here earlier?”
“The history of Gnorepenne,” Delas said quietly.
“Gnorepenne? That’s in the Northern Region isn’t it?”
“Yes, yes it is,” Adam said in a low voice.
Delas smiled a
nd folded her hands on the counter. This is going easier than I thought it would.
“That information would be located in the lower level of Tangles Hall.” Her finger slid across the map and settled on a small building nestled between two large patches of trees. “Now, let’s get you signed…Oh dear.”
“Is there a problem?” Adam asked.
The older woman behind the counter closed the book and placed it and its companion under the counter. “I’m sorry, but your permits have expired. You need current permits to enter the library proper and examine the stacks. If you and your companion would like to do some research, you will have to have the elder of your Guild send us a request to renew or extend your expired permits.”
“But, they’re…” Delas blurted out and then caught herself. She looked up and saw an older man in flowing blue robes, threadbare at the elbows, look up and examine her and Adam. She swallowed, took a breath and continued, “I’m sure that the requests were sent weeks ago. Perhaps they were misplaced.”
“Misplaced? My dear young lady. Let me assure you that we take our jobs quite seriously here. Permit requests are given administrative priority and are not moved about with disregard.” Her pursed lips indicated the situation was rapidly coming to a close.
Adam looked out of the corner of his eye and saw that the man in the blue robes was still looking in their direction. He lowered his head. “Since we’re already in your log, is it possible to get a few days extension? We were called away the last time we were here, and this is the first that we’ve been able to get back to finish.” Adam, smiled his best, charming smile.
The woman’s stern features slowly began to ease.
Medallion of the Undead Page 15
