by Noah Layton
‘I’m fine,’ I grunted back, dragging myself onto the slice. ‘Are you two?’
‘I’m fine,’ Cass replied skeptically. ‘It’s you who needs to watch out.’
‘How many more of these things are going to drop?’ Talia asked.
‘I don’t know, but we’re probably only halfway down,’ Cass replied.
‘Just make sure you know where you’re jumping to,’ Talia said. ‘We don’t know when it’ll drop ne-’
Talia shrieked out as another range of panels dropped – including hers. She scrambled for the closest panel desperately.
‘NO!’
I propelled myself through the air towards her, grabbing the edge of a panel with one hand and reaching out desperately with my other.
By some miracle I found Talia’s hand as she fell.
I had never felt a greater relief.
‘Jack!’
‘Just hold on, you’re going to be okay!’
Talia could pull herself up my body easily, but one wrong move and she could go plummeting.
‘Just hang on!’ Cass called out. ‘Oh, wait…’
Talia suddenly rose above me, and I found the parts of my body hanging beneath the panels pushed up and aligned.
We had finally touched down.
Cass and Talia offered me their hands and I took one in each of my own, jumping to my feet.
The darkness in the depths of the column was unbelievably crushing. Only the small circle of light way above that gave onto the sky offered any sense of reprieve against the hole that we were stuck in.
Then, suddenly, the ground rumbled again.
But this time we didn’t descend – we arose.
‘To arise, you must descend,’ I said once more. ‘That’s it.’
Like some prehistoric elevator, a new platform beneath us began to rise along the center of the column.
Talia hugged me hard – hell, even Cass, with her usually withdrawn and abrasive nature, clung onto us both as the platform ascended faster and faster, the blue circle of the sky growing larger and larger until we rose to the surface.
The circle of light vanished – now we were back at the peak of the stone tower once more.
I had never been so glad to look up at the sky.
Snow had begun to fall more heavily now. Perhaps it would make the descent more dangerous, but it was nothing in comparison to what we had just endured.
‘JAAACK!!!’
I rushed to the edge of the platform and looked down to see Lara shouting up to us.
‘We’re fine!’ I called back down. ‘It’s okay! We’re all okay!’
‘JACK, THE WALLS!!!’
Walls?
As the echo of Lara’s voice was lost to the air, a scraping replaced it. It was subtle at first, as if spelling the beginnings of an avalanche.
‘What is that?’ Talia asked suspiciously.
‘I don’t know…’ I replied skeptically.
‘JAAACK!!! WATCH OUT!!!’
The scraping double and tripled, multiplying frantically until it was all around us.
Then-
‘What the hell is that?!’
I turned in the direction of Cass’s voice to see a skeletal hand, followed by an ulna and a radius, dragging itself over the precipice of the plateau.
It pulled what it was connected to over the top.
A skull clotted with dirt and muck appeared, glaring at us with dirt-sotted holes grafted into its head where its eyes should have been. It staggered up to the platform awkwardly on a pair of bony legs.
It wasn’t just the legs, though – its entire body was comprised of bones and papery flesh covered with festering, frozen dirt.
‘What the hell is that thing?’ Talia said. ‘Is that… A zombie?’
‘We call them that too,’ I frowned.
The undead monstrosity finally reached the precipice of the platform. It searched around itself absently before finally turning its skull towards myself, Talia and Cass.
‘Shit.’
Before I had a chance to even draw my sword, Talia raced towards the zombie and drop-kicked it in the most well-calculated move I had ever seen.
Her feet struck it straight in the chest and it staggered back with a complete lack of balance, tripping over its own skeletal feet and falling to its end.
I couldn’t even say death – the undead couldn’t die again.
Either way, it was no longer a problem anymore.
But we weren’t out of the woods yet.
Talia deftly landed on her hands and feet after recovering sharply from the kick. Swiftly she stood and turned to us.
‘I don’t think this is a part of the challenge,’ she called out,
‘They’re coming out of the walls!’ I yelled. ‘Which means… Oh shit.’
At that moment, the column jolted sharply.
This column was different to all of the others. It was hollow, and the walls were coming apart thanks to the emergence of the zombies.
Which meant there was nothing left to hold it up.
The whole structure was coming apart.
‘Jack, what do we do?!’ Cass asked.
‘I’m thinking!’
The column began to lean as we staved off the approaching waves of undead.
Die to zombies, or die from the fall.
Or…
I looked in the direction that the column was beginning to lean.
We were moving straight towards one of the other columns.
The height of our column didn’t match the distance to the safety of the land.
But there was another way back.
‘Both of you, stay with me,’ I called to the girls. They promptly rushed to my side at the column’s edge, at the precise point we were tilting towards.
‘We need to keep killing these things,’ Cass said.
‘No we don’t,’ I replied. ‘Just hold them back. Keep them near us.’
‘What?!’
‘We need to use every bit of weight we have to move this thing in the right direction, even if it changes our path by just a few inches. We’ve only got one shot to get this right!’
‘Our path?’ Talia added in confusion, looking over her shoulder. ‘Oh, no… We’re not…’
‘Yep. I know it’s dangerous, but we don’t have another choice.’
‘Dangerous to you,’ Cass managed to laugh. ‘Talia and I will be fine.’
‘Don’t worry about me. Here they come!’
The zombies closed in on us sharply, drawn to us in droves.
The column continued to tilt, degree by degree, until the weight finally decided its path.
Then we moved fast.
‘Hold on!’
The next column loomed ahead.
Now was the time.
‘Get ready!’
We held on to the jutting rocks with one hand and swept out at the closest zombies with our weapons in our other hands.
Zombies on one side.
The floor turning diagonal beneath our feet.
The column approaching.
Now.
BOOM.
The column hit our target perfectly.
The zombies went flying in all directions, including atop us as our column struck the next.
I lashed out hard, punching and swiping at every one of our assailants with ferocious rage.
The undead scrambled along the platform, and with nothing to cling onto they went toppling from the edge and into the pit.
Our column became lodged against the next, leveraging its weight harder and harder between the base in the darkness below and the stone of the edged column.
One had to give first, and just as our column cracked and crumbled beneath us, capable of smashing to pieces and sending us to our deaths at any second, the next column finally gave and began to tip.
‘Wait, wait…’ I ordered as the seconds dragged by, the column steadily pushing closer to a diagonal lean. ‘… Go!’
We leaped onto t
he next column and began to climb rapidly.
There was no longer any time for mapping a path.
This was the only way.
Our climb quickly turned into a diagonal crawl.
In seconds we would be horizontal, smashing into the bank of the pit.
In the shreds of moments before that happened, I raced after Cass and Talia who were already racing ahead with their innate agility.
We were still twenty yards from the ground.
A fall like that could kill.
But the treetops offered a promising if not sharpened safety net.
Talia and Cass leaped, landing amongst the branches and each finding their own to cling to.
Following their lead was my only option.
I jumped.
The closest tree, a thick trunk spanning a multitude of strong branches, came up on me faster than I could even imagine.
I hurtled towards it and struck the first branch hard, my hands doing little to slow the speed of my approach.
I struck it hard chest-first and felt the wind hurl itself out of me.
I toppled down, striking another branch hard with my arm before yearning out for a third and successfully catching it.
The next thing I knew I was shaking my head back into the moment, clinging tightly onto the branch as-
BOOM.
The top of the column slammed into the land at the edge of the pit just as I struck the trees. I felt the vibration running all the way through the trunk and into my hands.
I clung on for dear life, watching the column as it snapped and tilted upwards, slipping heavily into the pit and out of sight.
I promptly checked my body, and despite plenty of cuts and bruises, and one hell of a sharp pain running through my left hand-
‘I’m alive…’ I breathed. ‘Holy crap, I’m actually alive. WOOO!!!’
I descended the branches precariously before touching down on the forest floor, rushing to meet up with the girls.
They were all safe.
Talia and Lara practically jumped me, hugging me tightly.
Cass was doubled over nearby, panting for breath.
‘Good gods…’ She wheezed. ‘I thought that first climb was the highlight of my day.’
‘This blacksmith is fucking insane,’ Lara said. ‘He built all of this?’
‘Maybe not the zombies,’ I said. ‘But I’ll bet he knew they were there.’
‘Honestly,’ Cass said, looking out at the pit, ‘how is somebody supposed to survive that?’
‘Maybe they weren’t,’ I replied. ‘The odds were against us there, but we still made it out.’
‘The odds are always against us,’ Lara grinned, kissing me on the cheek.
‘You’ve got that right.’
We all crossed to the pit’s edge and looked out at the collapsed columns in silence.
‘Well, there goes 800 gold,’ Lara commented sarcastically, peaking over the edge of the pit where the contraption had disappeared to, along with the section of cliff edge that it had been secured to.
‘Ughh…’ I groaned painfully, the adrenaline finally subsiding and the pain from my injuries setting in as I sat down. ‘See, this is why I don’t bring you girls along on these missions. You never know when an ancient stone column hiding the clue to a mysterious treasure will be hollowed out by an insane dwarven blacksmith and turned into a collapsing death-trap filled with zombies…’
‘Nope,’ Talia smiled. ‘You never know.’
I examined my left hand and tried to move my fingers, and immediately felt a burst of pain rush through them.
‘Crap.’
‘What is it?’
‘I think my finger’s broken.’
Talia examined my hand, taking my middle and index finger between her smooth skin before squeezing gently.
‘Does this hurt?’
‘Ow,’ I said dryly.
‘Fingers,’ she said. ‘Plural. I don’t think they’re broken, just beat-up. We need to get you a splint.’
‘Can I just say,’ Lara said, offering me a hand and pulling me to my feet, where she ran her hands across my chest and gazed into my eyes. ‘Sarcasm aside, you are the craziest man that I have ever met. You could have died.’
‘Could have,’ I quoted. ‘But didn’t. Not today, anyway. Come on, let’s back to the cove before any more of those things come after us.’
Chapter Eleven
We arrived back at Ichabod’s Cove before nightfall. During the return journey Cass fashioned a reasonably impressive splint for my fingers, and after a lot of discomfort and repressed groans of pain she finally managed to get it fixed to my hand.
Fortunately for us, our battered and bruised states went unnoticed among the drinkers that occupied the Drunken Steed.
To my surprise Alorion wasn’t blackout drunk on Corinthian’s and leading the entire bar in a sing-along – but instead conversing at the bar with the locals like the most learned imp that had ever walked the land.
Only when I got within earshot of the precise details of his conversation did I realize just how informed Alorion could sound while still being drunk beyond belief.
‘So I turned to the ne’er do well, intimidating as he was, and I stated you sir – I shall endure this injustice no longer!’
‘Hey, buddy,’ I said, tapping Alorion on the shoulder. ‘Burning the midnight oil again, huh?’
‘Master Jack!’ Alorion exclaimed, before turning to the fishermen sitting next to him and indicating me. ‘This man is incredible. One of the bravest I have ever met. Fearless. You should hear some of the stories he has.’
‘Maybe some other time,’ I smiled. ‘Come on, man, let’s get you some shut-eye.’
‘Very well. To the rooms, Master Jack!’ Alorion said, faltering as he slipped off his chair. I barely caught him over my arm, not for the weight but because his body was like jelly.
‘Okay, buddy,’ I laughed, ‘Let’s get you up to bed… Or in a drawer, or something.’
The girls moved ahead of us up the stairs to Lara’s apartment, while I attempted to carry Alorion.
‘You are a fine man, Master Jack,’ Alorion laughed drunkenly. ‘I don’t care what they say about you.’
‘What do they say about me?’ I smiled.
‘All sorts of things – you’re a rogue, a warrior… An acrobat!’
Alorion leaped onto my shoulders, then tipped forwards and slammed hard against the ground.
‘Ohh…’ sounded out from nearby patrons who winced at his fall.
‘I’m okay!’ He mumbled, pushing to his feet and staggering through the door to the stairway. ‘I’m… Perfectly fine.’
‘Sure you are,’ I laughed. ‘Come on, I’ll carry you.’
The moment the door to the bar shut behind me, Alorion straightened himself up and turned to face me, his whole demeanor changing in an instant.
‘I’m not drunk,’ he said sharply. ‘I’ve been tipping it onto the floor and sipping water in between.
‘Well, you had me,’ I admitted in surprise. ‘Why did you do that?’
Alorion looked past me to check the door through to the bar was closed.
‘Somebody has been watching me all night.’
‘Watching you?’
‘I first noticed it when we arrived at the Cove. We picked up a tail, and I noticed him… Or her. They are in the bar right now.’
‘Well who is it?’
‘I have no idea, but they have been constantly looking my way. They’re sat in the corner of the room, just on the right.’
I knew the place Alorion spoke of – it was the darkest, most secluded seat in the tavern, the very place where I had met Lara when I had first come to Ichabod’s Cove with Ariadne months ago.
‘I’m going to go check this out,’ I said. ‘Lock the windows and the door upstairs.’
Alorion nodded and took off. I returned to the door and loosened myself up, then headed out into the hazy wall of laughing and shouting that boomed a
ll about the tavern.
I didn’t even look to the corner booth. Instead I went straight to the bar and took Alorion’s seat.
‘Tribe master,’ Rook the dwarven bartender addressed me. ‘What a pleasant surprise it is seeing your face. What will it be?’
‘Just a pint of ale,’ I replied. ‘Been knocking them back across the cove all day. One more before I turn into bed…’
‘That’s what they all say,’ Rook laughed, ‘until the next thing you know the sun is rising and you’re lying in a pile of your own vomit.’
I feigned a laugh and paid for the ale, taking it casually in my hand for a sip.
The fishermen to my left that Alorion had been talking to struck up a conversation, and I was more than happy to humor them for a few minutes.
It gave me the perfect opportunity to check out our tail.
The being seated in the booth was shrouded not just by shadows but by a heavy cloak – green fabric with a delicate golden lining that ran across its edges.
Based on the few fancy outfits that we had purchased in the past for our visits to the sun-elves – and the silken gowns my wives had been gifted – I knew that it wasn’t anything cheap.
But this wasn’t a man, or any being that stood above four-feet tall for that matter.
Another dwarf?
It was possible. If another tribe of dwarves knew what I was looking for they would no doubt be trailing us.
But how could they have found out? The only dwarves that knew what we were hunting were Onilsia and her companions back at the land.
I didn’t completely trust her and her kin yet, but even if she did have some ulterior motives, there was no way that she could have contacted another dwarven tribe. I had had my eyes on her and her people the entire time.
The only other possibility was that they had conferred with their kin before arriving at my land, left some of their people unseen in the forest and allowed them to pursue me from the shadows during my quests, and were ready to pounce on the bounty at the last moment after the hard work I had put in to find the agrarium.
This was the kind of paranoia that tribal warfare caused.
How the hell I had ever grown to trust anybody in this world was a complete mystery.
The pair of sailors on the seats to my left started singing cheerily to themselves.
I wrapped an arm over the shoulders of one of them and took on the expression of someone wasted beyond belief, drawling along with their song.
