Riyan saw the confused look on Kevik’s face. “You were caught by another trap,” he explained. “Chyfe hit you to break the spell.”
Kevik nodded in understanding. “It wasn’t a trap,” he said. “I don’t know what it was, but there was nothing magical about it.”
“Then, what?” Bart asked.
“I…I don’t know,” replied Kevik. “The image that formed when I first cast the spell was hazy. None had ever done that before. Usually it’s clear.” Riyan offered him his water bottle and he took it. The others waited quietly for him to drink.
After several swallows, he handed the bottle back to Riyan. “Thanks,” he said as he handed it back. “The vision felt strange, I don’t know why. The identification spell always gives three visions concerning the object. The pain began with the first, and increased horribly during the second.” Turning to Chyfe he said, “Your blow kept me from receiving the third one. If the pain had increased as much with the coming of the third vision as it had from the first vision to the second, it might have killed me.”
“So, striking you was a good thing?” Chyfe asked.
Kevik nodded. “Yeah.”
Chyfe sighed with relief. “I’m glad,” he said.
“But what about the visions?” asked Bart. The pain he had felt had gradually been diminishing and was now only a dull throbbing behind the eyes.
“Not much to tell I’m afraid,” replied Kevik. “The first one was the fashioning of the weapon. Though because of the haziness, I couldn’t get much detail from it. In the second the weapon was being wielded.”
“Could you see who was using it?” asked Chyfe.
Kevik shook his head. “No. By that time the pain was so bad it was beginning to distort the vision.”
“So what caused the pain then?” Riyan asked.
“I don’t know,” stated Kevik. “I’ve never heard of anything like this happening before.” Glancing around, he tried to locate the weapon but was unable to.
Seth indicated the entrance to the passage and said, “Tossed it out there. Want me to get it for you?”
“No!” Kevik replied, a bit more forcefully than he had desired.
Riyan held forth the red gem and asked, “Do you still need this?” Kevik saw the red gem and nodded. Taking it from Riyan, he placed it against the bump on the back of his head and soon, the soothing magical energies began working. It wasn’t long before the swelling had gone down and the pain was but a memory.
They stayed there for a couple hours while Kevik got some rest. Bart was allowed to rest too while the others took turns at watch. Seth volunteered for the first watch as he wasn’t tired. After a few minutes, his brother got up from where he had been trying to go to sleep and joined him.
“Not tired?” Seth asked.
Soth shook his head. “No.”
Seth had been sitting on the edge of the table. His brother came and sat beside him.
“Father would be surprised to see us now,” he said.
Soth grinned. “Not that he wouldn’t have wanted to be here with us,” he replied.
“Probably,” Seth said. “If mother would have let him.” At that they both laughed.
Their mother was a bit overprotective of her family. Where their father would have been excited by the prospect of finding the King’s Horde, their mother would have said it was a fool’s quest that wasn’t worth the danger. Maybe all mothers were that way.
“Want to explore?” Seth asked after they had spent several minutes talking about inconsequential things.
“Maybe we should stay close,” replied Soth.
“Why?” asked Seth. “What could there possibly be down here that would pose a threat?”
Soth shrugged. “I don’t know,” he replied.
“I want to see what’s down there,” Seth said as he pointed to the passage they had yet to enter.
“Bart said we needed to be extra careful,” his brother cautioned.
Seth gave Soth an annoyed look. He could always get his brother to go along with whatever he wanted to do. Even now, he could see his brother beginning to give in.
Seth snorted and hopped down off the table. He almost lost his balance when the section of the table he had been sitting on cracked and fell apart as he got off. “We will,” he replied with a glance back to the broken section of the table. Then he looked at their sleeping companions and was relieved to find that they hadn’t been disturbed by the table’s cracking. “Starting with no more sitting on old and brittle wooden tables.” His brother gave him a grin. “Alright,” Soth said after another half a minute. “But not too far.”
“Come on,” Seth whispered. Then he began crossing the room, being careful not to disturb any of the sleepers. They took one of the two torches with them, the other they left sitting in one of the torch holders attached to the upper section of the walls.
Seth paused at the entrance as he let the torch’s light illuminate the passage. The light showed the passage extending directly away from the room until disappearing beyond the light’s reach. Glancing back to his brother, he grinned and said, “We’ll only be a minute.”
Soth glanced back to the sleeping figures and nodded. “Let’s hurry then,” he said.
Then he followed his brother from the room.
Riyan awoke some time later to a dark room. “Seth?” he asked. He had the watch after Seth and was worried that he hadn’t been awakened before now. A second passed by and Seth didn’t answer. “Seth?” he said in a louder, more urgent tone.
“Riyan?” Bart’s voice came to him from the darkness.
“Seth’s not here,” Riyan replied. “He didn’t wake me for my turn at watch.”
“Seth!” Bart yelled.
Then the darkness was dispelled when Kevik’s staff erupted in light. “What’s going on?” Kevik asked. The others were now awake too.
“The twins are gone,” Riyan said. Getting to his feet, he looked at the torch sconces on the wall and saw only one of the two that had been there when they had gone to sleep.
It had burned itself out. “Damn them!” he cursed.
“What?” asked Chad.
Riyan pointed to the lone torch on the wall where there used to be two. “They went exploring,” he explained.
“What do they think this is?” questioned Bart “Some kind of grand adventure?” Anger was clearly visible on his face.
“Looks like it,” replied Riyan. Grabbing his pack, he made ready to set off after them.
The others likewise gathered their things, Chyfe took up Soth’s pack that he had left behind, and then headed for the passage they had yet to explore.
“Seth! Soth!” Riyan hollered as they entered the passage. Only silence answered his call. He glanced to the floor and saw two set of footprints disturbing the fine layer of dust.
Bart moved out with Kevik right behind to provide light. They followed the passage as it extended away from the room for a ways before it turned sharply to their right.
“Seth!” Riyan called again, and as before, no reply.
“I’ll kill them,” Bart said. “If they’re not already dead that is.” Not too far from where they turned the corner, they saw a torch lying on the floor of the passage ahead. Bart immediately slowed his step when he saw it.
“Looks like their torch,” observed Chyfe. Indeed, a wisp of smoke wafted from it indicating that it had been lit not too long ago.
“But where are they?” Riyan asked. His annoyance at their decision to explore began to make way for genuine concern for their well being.
Bart brought them to a halt while they were still ten feet away from the torch. “The rest of you stay here,” he said and then moved toward the torch. When Kevik made to join him, he said, “You too. I can see well enough if you stay with the others.”
“Alright,” replied Kevik.
Moving forward alone, Bart took one hesitant step after another. The fact the torch was lying on the floor of the passage could only mean two thi
ngs. Either there was someone else down here with them, and Bart didn’t even want to think what that might mean. Or that they had ran afoul of some sort of trap. Of the two, he felt the latter possibility was the more probable.
“Seth! Soth!” Chyfe hollered. Still no reply.
As he continued forward, Bart painstakingly scrutinized the floor before taking each step. He could readily see where their feet continued to disturb the dirt and dust. Their tracks went to just past where the torch lay, and then ended. The dirt and dust in the area where the prints ended was greatly disturbed. It almost looked like Seth and Soth had rolled on the ground before disappearing.
Bart grinned and nodded. He was pretty sure of the type of trap that they had run afoul of. Turning back to the others, he said, “Riyan, bring a rope.” A moment later, Riyan was there with a coil of rope. Bart took one end and secured it around his waist. “I think the floor opened up on them, then reset afterward.” Riyan glanced at the rope tied around Bart’s waist. “Do you plan to trigger the trap?” he asked.
Nodding, Bart cinched the knot tighter. “Yes,” he replied. “Only way to discover exactly where they went.” Once he was satisfied the rope was securely tied about him, he glanced to Riyan and said, “Ready?”
“Yes,” he replied. By this time the others had come forward to join them. Chad and Chyfe took hold of the rope as well to aid Riyan in holding it should such help be needed.
“Alright,” Bart said. “You guys give me a little slack.” When he had several feet of slack, he turned and began walking past the torch. With every step he drew closer to the area where the footprints ended. He reached the end of the footprints and came to a stop.
The falling away of the floor as he had anticipated hadn’t materialized. Standing in the spot where he was sure the twins were when it happened, he turned around to the others.
“Well?” asked Riyan.
“There’s a trap here,” Bart said. Glancing back to the floor he considered the dilemma. Then he got an idea and jumped high, coming down hard on the floor.
That did it. When he hit the floor, the right side dropped away to form a steep ramp.
Bart lost his balance and fell. He began tumbling down the ramp and into the dark opening that the dropping of the right side of the floor had revealed.
As soon as Bart jumped and the floor opened up, Riyan and the others gripped the rope tightly to prevent him from sliding into the opening. “Hold on Bart!” Riyan cried out and then began pulling him back.
“Don’t pull me back!” Bart said. The rope had stopped him just before he had slid off the slanted floor. He could feel the floor trying to rise back into its previous position, but his weight was preventing it. “Just hold me here.”
“Bart?”
Seth’s voice came from out of the hole that the triggering of the trap had revealed.
Bart looked into the dark recesses of the hole. “Are you and your brother alright?” he asked.
“Think so,” Seth replied. “We’re in some kind of holding cell. There’s a locked door.”
“Thank goodness they’re alive,” breathed Chyfe.
“Now all we have to do is get them out,” Riyan said.
Glancing back to those holding the rope, Bart said, “Maybe.”
“Get us out of here!” Soth hollered.
“You two can cool your heels for a little while longer,” Bart hollered down the hole to them. Then he turned back to Kevik and pointed to the edge of the ramp. “Can you goo it there?” he asked.
“Why?” asked Riyan.
“To keep it from returning flush with the floor,” he replied.
“Sure,” said Kevik. A second later, the side of the ramp on the other side of Bart became covered in goo.
“Okay Riyan,” Bart said. “Pull me back up.” As they pulled him back to the floor of the passage, he kept an eye on the ramp. Once his weight was completely off, the goo coating it was able to prevent the ramp from rising back even with the passage.
“What are you thinking?” Riyan asked him when he helped him to his feet.
“Seth said there was a locked door below,” he replied. “It may be a way into the lower areas.” He untied the rope from around his waist.
“If it’s not, we might get stuck down there,” countered Chad.
“I’ll go down and check it out,” Bart said. “The rest of you stay up here.” Then to Kevik he said, “Make sure that ramp does not reset itself.”
“You can count on me,” he said.
Bart then took the rope and with one end securely held by Riyan, he threw the rest of it into the opening. Standing at the edge of the ramp, he hollered down to the twins,
“How far down does this extend?”
“Fifty feet or so,” came the reply. “The last twenty is an almost vertical drop.”
“I’m coming down,” Bart said.
“Are you sure that’s wise?” asked Soth.
“We’ll soon find out,” he replied. Taking hold of the rope, he sat on the edge of the passage and then scooted onto the ramp. Making sure not to come into contact with the goo, he began lowering himself into the dark opening.
“Be careful,” cautioned Riyan.
Bart nodded and then was soon into the opening and out of sight. Once past the ramp, the incline increased. The sides and floor of the chute in which he found himself were smooth. There were no handholds for the trap’s victims to use in halting their descent.
Just as Seth had said, about thirty feet after entering the opening, the chute turned into a vertical shaft.
Light could be seen coming from below once he was in the shaft. Glancing down, he saw where the twins stood beneath the opening looking up at him, one of them held a lit torch.
“The rope’s not going to reach,” Soth told him.
Continuing to descend the shaft, Bart asked, “How much is it short?”
“You’ll have to drop the last ten feet,” Seth said.
“Thanks for telling me,” replied Bart. When he reached the last several feet of the rope, his legs were dangling from the opening in the cell which held the twins. “I’m letting go,” he told them.
Backing up, they gave him room to land. When he saw that it was clear, he descended the last few feet down the rope and then let go. The twins came to him after he landed, Seth with a grin on his face.
“Man, I didn’t think you guys would ever find us,” Soth said.
Bart turned a less than happy face to him. “Would have served you right for going off on your own like that.”
“Aw, come on Bart,” Seth said. “No harm done.”
Bart just glared at him. Lifting his face to the opening in the ceiling, he hollered,
“Riyan, I’m down!”
“Great,” came the reply. “Should we come down too?” Bart glanced around the cell. It was about fifteen feet by twenty with stone walls and a single wooden door. “Better give me a minute,” he hollered up to him. “Also, you’ll need another ten feet of rope to make it all the way.”
“Okay,” said Riyan. Then he began pulling up the rope to secure additional length to it.
The interior of the cell was bare, just stone walls and door. Bart went over to the door and began inspecting it. There was a small, barred window set at eye level through which he tried looking out.
“As near as we could figure,” Seth said as he stood behind Bart, “there’s another passageway running outside the door.”
Bart couldn’t see much through the little window, but what Seth said made sense. A passage would enable someone to come and collect those who had succumbed to the trap.
They then could be interrogated and so forth.
The door itself looked to have been very strong and formidable in its heyday. There was no access to the locking mechanism from this side, which wasn’t too great a surprise.
He ran his hand over the wooden surface of the door, then took out his belt knife. Using as much force as he could muster, he struck the door wit
h the knife.
An audible crack could be heard as the knife embedded itself to the hilt. From the other side Bart could hear something strike the floor, most likely a section of the door that had broken off from the blow. A small sliver broke free from this side when he withdrew his knife.
Turning back to the twins, he said, “Time has sapped the door’s strength. We should be able to break through to the other side in no time.”
“Might have something that will help us with that,” Seth said. Setting his pack down, he reached in and pulled out a small mace. It was just over a foot in length, had a metal shaft and a small round head with many outward protrusions. “Found it in the hall when we were searching,” he explained. “Thought it looked interesting so I took it.” Bart nodded. “You two start working on the door,” he told them. Then turning about, he went to stand beneath the shaft’s opening.
“Riyan!” he hollered.
“Yeah?” came the reply.
“Have Kevik cast another of his goo spells to keep your end open,” he said. “Then start coming down one by one.”
“But there’s nothing to secure the rope to for the last person,” Riyan said.
“Whoever’s last is going to have to come down the hard way,” he explained. “Don’t worry, it’s not that bad.”
“If you say so,” he said.
“Not that bad he says,” Riyan said as he turned to the others standing in the passage on the floor above.
Chyfe came forward with the two ropes he had tied together to give them sufficient length to reach the bottom. “I’ll hold the rope while you three go down,” he told Riyan, Chad, and Kevik.
Riyan nodded. “Kevik, you first.”
“Here,” Kevik said and handed him his staff. Once Riyan held it, Kevik went to the edge of the ramp and grabbed the rope. Before beginning his descent, he recast his goo spell to keep the ramp from closing. “When I tell you I’m down, toss me my staff.”
“You got it,” Riyan said.
Then with Chyfe braced and holding tightly to the rope, Kevik began his descent. The first part wasn’t too difficult for him, but when he hit the vertical shaft, it was all he could do to keep hold of the rope while he continued his descent.
The Broken Key (02) - Hunter of the Horde Page 44
