by Rick Dearman
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When he awoke he covered Seevan’s body as best he could. Turning toward the sarcophagus he examined the inside in detail. The king had been buried on a mound of treasure. Adderand knew that there was no way that he could carry all of it so he made sure that he took only the best and the lightest. The gold had to be left it was too heavy. He took only the gems and jewels.
Inside the sarcophagus was the scabbard for the sword. The scabbard was black with silver decoration in the leather. The sword itself was a bastard sword. It could be used with one or two hands. The blade was engraved with symbols of moons and stars.
He belted the scabbard on and put the treasure into Seevan’s empty backpack. He arranged it onto his chest, enabling him to carry the treasure as well as his own supplies.
Adderand walked past the vorgog and gave one last kick before moving into the corridor. He continued to hold the sword in his hand so that the light from the sword allowed him to see in the darkness. He wondered at the sword as he walked it was obviously magic.
He made his way back to where the party had battled the vorgog. The sword light allowed him to follow the trail of blood to the beast’s lair.
In the lair the bodies of Seevan’s hired help all hung head down from the ceiling. There were other corpses not as fresh. He had often seen death but this was disgusting. The reeking stench made him sick and he vomited onto the rocks.
He addressed the silent corpses as he searched for the documents the spy Mealdan had stolen from the Tagarians. “If ye bastards had not been all bollocks and na brains, ye’d all been alive now.”
He found the scroll tube and taking out the documents he examined each one. They showed the entire battle plans created by the Tagarians for an attack on the Argorth homeland. These documents would get him a king’s pardon and a possibly a dukedom. He only had to deliver them before the Tagarians attacked. One of the corpses had a dagger he took for himself.
He stuck the scroll tube in his belt and made his way back toward the entrance of the cavern complex. He made good progress and emerged at night. The stars shone brighter than Adderand had ever seen. He winced slightly.
“I’m bloody exhausted,” he said aloud. He decided to sit down near the entrance of the cave to wait for daybreak.
