The Broken Key (02) - Hunter of the Horde

by Brian S. Pratt

  “Tell them to be quiet and wait,” Bart said, annoyed at their impatience.

  Kevik relayed his message and those waiting on the surface grew quiet.

  As Bart finished his circuit of the room, he came back to the steps where he again stepped onto the first step of the stairway. “Looks like if we don’t disturb that thing, nothing will happen,” he said.

  “Is it safe then?” asked Kevik.

  Chuckling, Bart shook his head. “No. But I think we can get past this room without incident if we just don’t touch that thing in the center of the room.” Just then, the blue glow surrounding the fountain vanished.

  Before Bart could comment, Kevik said, “It doesn’t last forever.”

  “Right,” responded Bart. Then he turned to look up the stairwell and could see the silhouettes of the others as they stood in the opening staring down. “Come on down,” he hollered.

  Riyan was the first onto the steps and was soon standing at the bottom with Bart and Kevik. Once everyone was gathered, Bart pointed to the object in the middle of the room.

  “That is magical and I believe to be the cause of everyone’s death,” he said. “Whatever you do, don’t touch it or go near it.”

  “But, how did it kill them?” Chad asked.

  “I don’t know,” replied Bart. “I do know that we can get by it without activating its latent magical energies. Stay close and step where I step.” When he received acknowledgement from everyone, he turned back and entered the room. Giving the fountain a wide berth, he led the others to the exit on the far side of the room.

  As Chad was passing by the object, he said, “The central column appears to be hollow.”

  Seth paused next to him as they took a closer look. His eyes widened slightly when he noticed coins resting in the bottom of the bowl area. “Look,” he said. “There are coins in there.”

  “Would you two get away from that!” demanded Bart.

  Chad nodded at what Seth had said. “It looks almost as if the coins could be dropped into the opening at the top of the long neck.”

  Riyan joined them, all the while making sure not to come into contact with the fountain. At mention of coins, he wanted to see if they were the King’s coins or not. But what he saw lying in the bottom of the bowl were neither the King’s coins nor the ones in use today. Rather, they didn’t look to be coins at all, just bronze slugs.

  “Interesting,” he breathed. And he had to agree with Seth, it did look like the slugs would be able to pass through the opening at the top of the neck. If the threat of impending death wasn’t so palpable, he would have tried it.

  “What is wrong with you people?” Bart exclaimed after coming up behind them. “Are you looking to die?”

  “We didn’t touch anything,” argued Chad.

  “Just looking,” added Seth.

  Bart rolled his eyes heavenward and gave out with an exasperated sigh before walking back over to the exit leading into parts unknown. A glance behind him showed the others were leaving the side of the fountain and following him, much to his relief.

  The light coming from Kevik’s staff revealed a passage moving outward from the room. Pools of water dotted the floor, probably having come down through the open stairwell when it rained. Neither door nor opening was visible in the area the light illuminated. Bart glanced back to the others and said, “Stay close and don’t touch anything.” He started to enter the passage then stopped. Turning back one more time he added, “Curiosity can be deadly in a place like this. Understand?” When he saw the others nod, he turned back and stepped into the passage.

  It was a plain, stone passage that Bart stepped into. Not for the first time he wondered what this place had been. If he knew that, he would better know what to expect. At first he had thought it may have been a temple, but after seeing that fountain looking thing in the room behind him, he wasn’t sure.

  The passage continued for thirty feet or so before coming to where another passage joined theirs from the right. He had Kevik move the glowing tip of his staff into the new passage and found it to be no different than the one they were in, plain stone.

  “Should we continue straight?” asked Seth.

  Bart nodded. “We can always come back if we need to,” he said. Then with Kevik remaining behind him with his light, he continued past the opening.

  “What are we looking for anyway?” Chyfe asked. “You guys have never quite explained that.”

  Bart came to a stop and turned around to face the others. Then to Riyan he said, “You may as well show them.”

  Riyan nodded and took the pack from off his back. Setting it on the floor, he opened it while the others gathered around. Once the pack was open, he reached in and removed the two segments of the key.

  Chyfe and the twins were awed when they saw the golden key segments. “Are they real gold?” Chyfe asked.

  “We believe so,” replied Riyan. “These are part of a key that we’re fairly certain will open the seal guarding the King’s Horde.”

  “So Durik was right,” Seth said. Moving his gaze to Riyan he added, “You guys do know where the King’s Horde is.”

  Riyan gave him a grin and nodded. “Yes,” he replied. “We’re almost positive about that.”

  “Where is it?” asked Soth. Intrigued and excited, his gaze moved from Bart, Riyan, Chad, and then to Kevik.

  “Don’t look at me,” Kevik said. “I haven’t seen it. I joined them after they had already begun the quest for the Horde.”

  “The less who know, the better,” Bart said.

  Seth got a hurt look on his face. “Don’t you trust us?” he asked.

  “Trust has nothing to do with it,” replied Bart. “But what you don’t know, you can’t reveal should you find yourself in Durik’s basement, if you know what I mean?” Soth nodded. “We get you,” he stated.

  “Now, within where we believe the King’s Horde to be located, we found not only the King’s coat of arms, but three others as well. One we’ve already located,” he said and then held up the segment they found in Algoth, “and that’s where we found this one. The other one we found near the King’s Horde itself.”

  “Would that double headed falcon we found earlier be part of another?” asked Seth.

  Chad nodded. “That it was.”

  “So because of the presence of the double headed falcon, you believe another part of the key may be here?” asked Soth.

  Riyan shrugged. “It’s all we have to go on right now,” he told them.

  “The last place where we found one of the segments,” Bart began, “there was a door with four slots wherein the segments could fit perfectly. It was by putting the segment we already had into one of them, that a secret door opened to a room holding the second segment.”

  “Four slots, four segments,” explained Riyan. “At least that’s what we believe. Also, each of the slots bore one of the coats of arms we found near the Horde. The double headed falcon being one of them.”

  Seth nodded. “I think I understand.”

  “You forgot to mention that we almost died several times while getting the second segment,” Kevik said.

  “Almost is the key word there,” Bart said. “Now, can we get going or must we stand here talking?”

  Riyan returned the two segments back into his pack before they resumed moving down the passage. Once his pack was again around his shoulders, Bart headed out.

  They didn’t go much further before the passage opened onto another room. When Bart reached the opening, he stopped when he saw the ceiling of the room had at some point collapsed. Two feet from the opening, a pile of rubble began that reached all the way to the ceiling. The way was blocked. Whatever this room had once held was now forever lost.

  “Must have happened when the structure above collapsed,” suggested Seth.

  Bart nodded. “Most likely,” he agreed.” Turning around, he said, “Back to the other passage and let’s hope it isn’t blocked either.” Moving out, he returned to the jun
ction and turned left into the passage they had earlier passed by.

  Ten feet from where they entered the passage, it turned again to reveal steps leading down. Ten steps down, then the steps turned a ninety degree angle to the right and descended for another ten steps. After still another ninety degree turn to the right, there were fifteen more steps before they ended at a passage moving to the right and left.

  Engraved in the wall across from the opening of the stairwell was a man sized representation of the double headed falcon coat of arms. “Looks like we’re on the right track,” commented Riyan when he saw it.

  “That’s a good sign,” agreed Chad.

  Bart had Kevik shine his light down to the left, then to the right. Both ways were more of the plain stone passages that they’ve been following. Bart finally decided to try the right and headed that way. The others stayed close behind him as they didn’t fancy falling behind and being left in the dark.

  Bart followed the passage, his eyes scanning floors and walls for any irregularities which may indicate a hidden trigger or secret door. But so far, nothing. Not too far down, they came across two doors sitting across the passage from each other. The one on the right still had a door which was closed while the other was missing its door.

  He first checked the doorway without a door and found it to be a small room, possibly had been used as a storeroom at one time. A couple rusted iron bands that may have been used in the construction of a barrel or box lie on the floor. Of the wood that they had once secured there was no sign.

  Moving from the room, he turned his attention to the door across the way and moved to open it. To his surprise, it was unlocked. He pushed the door open and found a matching room of the one they had just inspected. Only this time, there were two barrels in poor condition sitting against the far wall. The bands were rusted as the ones in the other room had been and the wood looked as if it would fall apart if you touched it.

  “These have been here for some time,” observed Chyfe.

  “Go check them out,” urged Seth.

  “Sure,” Chyfe said, “why not?” Stepping into the room, he crossed over to the two barrels. The wood of the first one he inspected broke apart under his touch, only to reveal that it was empty. A reddish fluid poured forth from the second one when he broke it open, causing him to jump back in startlement.

  “I think it was wine,” he said as he returned to the others. The acrid smell from the fluid told the others that if it had been wine, it had spoiled a long time ago.

  “They say wine improves with age,” commented Seth.

  “I suppose it does up to a point,” replied Bart.

  Leaving the room behind, Bart continued leading the group as they followed the passage. Not far from the room with the two barrels, the passage turned to the left. Once past the corner, they followed the passage for another thirty feet before it opened up onto a large hall.

  Bart entered the hall and brought the group to a stop. “What the hell happened here?” he exclaimed. As the others emerged from the passage, they too looked in shock at the state of the hall.

  The hall was easily three hundred feet long and a hundred wide. From one end to the other, dozens, if not hundreds of tables and chairs were in a complete state of disarray. It looked like a battle had raged through here. Indeed, they could see where tables had been stacked to block the entrances to the hall. There was even a pile of broken tables near where they stood.

  “Someone attacked them,” said Chyfe. Pointing to the tables used as barricades he said, “They must have made a last stand here before whoever it was broke through.” Glint of metal caught their eye and they began to notice weapons lying about the hall.

  Bart crossed over to where a longsword had been wedged into the edge of a nearby table.

  Upon inspection, the blade was found to be almost completely eaten away by rust.

  “Who’s got the bundle of torches?” Bart asked.

  “I do,” Seth said.

  “Take two out and light them,” he said. “Then let’s give this hall a once over and see what we can figure out.”

  “Alright,” replied Seth. Soth moved in behind him and pulled two torches from the bundle in his pack. Once they were lit, they split up and began investigating the hall.

  “What do you hope to find?” Soth asked.

  Bart glanced at the others and said, “I don’t know. Just let me know if you find anything out of the ordinary.”

  “You got it,” Soth said. Then with one of the torches between them, he and his brother began moving through the battle scarred hall.

  “What do you hope to find here?” Riyan asked. He and Bart had the other torch while Kevik, Chad, and Chyfe used the light from Kevik’s staff.

  “I’m not sure,” he said. “But remember when we were in Algoth? The ghosts there fought someone bent on their destruction.”

  “You think that whoever it was that destroyed Algoth may have taken out this place too?” Riyan asked.

  Bart nodded. “It seems a little too coincidental to me,” he said. He and Riyan were heading to one end of the hall where there was a raised dais. Two large tables had at one time held prominence there, but now were lying shattered near a solitary door at the rear of the dais. The door was only partially closed.

  Three steps led up to the dais and they were quickly upon it. Bart went to the remains of the two tables and examined them for a moment. While Bart was busy, Riyan looked out into the hall and saw the other two groups as they moved among the overturned tables. The twins had stopped to inspect another of the barricades near an exit on the far side of the hall.

  Ragged banners hung from the ceiling, most were unrecognizable tatters. But from what could be seen, they had at one time depicted coats of arms. Above his head hung four larger banners. Though they were badly worn and faded, it was easy to see the four coats of arms that had been found within The Crypt depicted upon them. The dragon-sword, the double headed falcon, the King’s symbol, and the one with the single stripe running across it.

  “Bart,” Riyan said. When his friend glanced in his direction, he drew his attention to the banners hanging far above them.

  When he saw them he gave Riyan a nod. “That cinches it,” he said. Then he gestured to the remnants of the tables. “It looks like they tried to use these as a last barricade.” Pointing to the fragments he said, “Though it didn’t last very long.”

  “They would have fled through the door,” observed Riyan.

  Bart nodded. “And I’d wager that’s where we need to go.” He went to the edge of the dais and hollered to the other two groups, “Find anything?”

  “No,” came the reply.

  Quietly to Riyan he said, “I really didn’t think they would.” Then to the others he said, “Come on then. Let’s get going.” While he waited for the others to join them on the dais, he again looked out over the hall. In his mind he could envision the last stand of the brave men who must have fought here. Cornered in this hall as they had been, what must it have felt like to know death was coming for you? Truly a tale worthy of a saga. Too bad no bards had been there to witness it. Of course any that had been would have been lost when the defenders were overrun.

  When Chad reached the top of the dais, he pointed to the banners hanging above them. “Hey,” he said, “did you guys…?”

  Riyan nodded. “Yeah, we already saw.”

  Seth noticed Chad gesturing to the banners and looked up at them. He saw that one of them was the double headed falcon that they had been seeing. “Are those important?” he asked. The others looked up at the banners as well.

  “Those are the four coats of arms we mentioned earlier,” Riyan said. “The second from the left is the King’s banner. The other three we think were important nobles of his court, or maybe allies. Can’t be too sure, but,” he said which drew the eyes of Chyfe, Kevik, and the twins, “where you find one you tend to find the others. Or at least the King’s coins.”

  He pointed out the banner
bearing the dragon-sword coat of arms. “It was in an area where that one was prominent that we found the second segment,” he explained. He drew forth his sword and showed them the matching emblem on the crosspiece. “Also found this sword there along with my dagger.”

  They each closely examined the sword’s crosspiece. When Chyfe had finished his examination, he looked back to Riyan. “Maybe there will be something here to find,” he said hopefully.

  “Never know,” he replied.

  Over by the door, Bart was scrutinizing it and the area around it before opening the door further. Kevik stood nearby providing light with his staff. He could hear the others behind him discussing the banners and Riyan’s sword. His thoughts, however, were on the here and now.

  He didn’t find anything suspicious during his examination of the area so he put his hand on the door and pushed it open. The squealing of the hinges as it swung open brought the conversation behind him to a stop. A second later they joined him and Kevik in front of the door.

  “Bring your staff closer,” he said as the door opened.

  Kevik stepped closer until the light from his staff pierced the darkness on the other side of the door. What they found when the darkness rolled back was a long passage.

  Long enough in fact to prevent the light from illuminating all of it.

  “The defenders held this door against their attackers,” Bart said, more to himself than to the others. “Did they hold? Or were they pushed further back?”

  “I would think they wouldn’t have been successful in keeping out whoever was attacking them,” Chyfe said. “From the state of the barricades they utilized earlier, whoever it was wouldn’t have been stopped here.”

  Glancing back, Bart nodded. “I would agree.”

  “But this door wasn’t shattered like the two tables that were used as barricades,” countered Chad.

  “True,” agreed Seth. “However, the door was open.”

  “Maybe the defenders had emerged after the battle was over?” suggested Riyan.

  Bart glanced at his friend and said, “If they did, why did they leave their hall in such disarray? Had they won the battle, they would certainly have straightened things up out there. No, the defenders lost this battle.” Turning back to the doorway, he stepped forward and entered the passage.