***
“The entrance is somewhere around here? You’re kidding, right?”
They were all standing at the beginning of a large valley that stretched some fifty leagues from west to east. Fortunately for them, it was only about twenty leagues to the lake, which they could just see in the distance. Large groups of boulders were scattered here and there. There was also a lack, Sarah noted, of any vertical objects that were flat enough for a door to be mounted on.
Kahvel arrived then, landing with the grace of a swan. He surveyed the quiet valley.
“There are a dozen or so dragons in the vicinity of this valley. We must be careful. And we must be quick. Ye do not want to be out here any longer than necessary.”
“Any ideas on where to start?” Steve asked.
“To reveal the exact location of their realm would violate the oath we dragons have taken with the dwarves.”
All seven people stared at the dragon in shock.
“Ye know the exact location of the entrance? How?”
“One of my brethren observed a group of them using their entrance. They are not the only ones who are skilled with illusion.”
“So where is it, then?”
Kahvel snorted, looking north. “That way.”
“Smart ass. Can you be more specific?”
Sarah smacked her husband on the arm. “He just said that he can’t reveal the location. Weren’t you listening?”
“What I can tell ye,” the dragon rumbled, “is that ye need to go roughly nine hundred paces north, then about two hundred seventy five paces east.”
“But – you just said that you couldn’t say where it was?”
“That will put ye in the correct area,” Kahvel explained. “I did not say where the exact entrance could be found. Ye have to find that yerselves.”
“Are ye coming with us, dragon?” Rhenyon asked.
“I will accompany ye until ye find the way down. Then ye are on yer own.”
“Understood. Ye have our thanks.”
Kahvel nodded.
Setting out across the open valley, not much was spoken. No one wanted to draw attention to themselves, however, seven humans and a gold dragon were going to warrant a second look no matter what species you happened to be. Counting off the correct number of paces north and then east put them in the middle of a large group of individual boulders.
It was, Steve mused, as if a large giant tossed a handful of stones up in the air and let them fall wherever they pleased. He walked over to one rock and knocked on it. Solid stone.
“It has to be one of these stones,” Sarah said, more to herself than anyone. “The dwarves are said to be masters of illusion. We just need to know which one, and then we’ll figure out how to get into it.”
“Aye, let us split up and investigate the stones to see if any of them stand out.”
For the next hour, anyone passing by would have laughed out loud as the seven humans dispersed amongst the large stones, knocking in various places, and peering suspiciously at assorted bumps and cracks. However, all were exactly as they appeared to be: rocks.
“Nothing here,” Steve called, after circling around his stone three times, knocking at various places.
“Same here,” Sarah reported, inspecting her rock closely for hidden hinges or buttons.
“No luck here,” Rhenyon reported, as did the other four soldiers.
“What if there was another way to activate the door?” Sarah asked. “Clearly we’re missing something.”
“Like what?” Steve wanted to know.
“Oh, I don’t know. For instance, if the dwarves had some special type of metal in their axes, and they had to lay one of them on the stone for some hidden mechanism to work.”
Pheron whistled. “Impressive, Lady Sarah. Ye would make an excellent strategist.”
Leaning on his rock, Steve tried his hand at thinking outside the box. Here they were, standing amidst a bunch of large stones, and one of them possibly contained a hidden door. What other way could they try to make a fake rock open up?
“What about jhorun? Some type of jhorun might be needed.”
Sarah smiled and kissed him on the cheek. “Good one! Maybe the presence of jhorun or else a specific type of jhorun might open them up. Everyone ought to try their jhoruns on it.”
All the soldiers experimented with their abilities, hoping the stones would react in some fashion. Rhenyon gazed at the large rocks. He wasn’t sure how to apply his woodworking jhorun to this situation, but was willing to try. Pretending the stone was wood, the captain started pressing various spots to see if he could shape the rock to his will. Being composed of solid rock and not wood, the rock naturally refused to cooperate. Pheron inspected his rock, and then the stone’s neighbors with his nocturnal vision. Nothing. Rhein coaxed a medium-sized lizard out from under one of the stones and had it investigate the area. Nothing. Kern pulled out his sword and watched as it polished itself to a mirror shine, then angled the sword so that the reflected light shone upon the rocks. Nothing. Finally, Darius stepped up, sheepishly looking at his companions, and made the flowers in the area grow to twice their normal height. Picking a few, he laid them on his rock. Again, the rock ignored them.
“Everyone rotate,” Sarah ordered. “Pick a different stone and try again.”
Nothing. None of the large boulders were impressed with their attempts to gain entry to the realm below.
As one, the soldiers all turned to look at the Nohrin.
Steve snorted. “Don’t look at me. I happen to think that if I try anything, I’d end up melting ‘em. I’m sure I’d wind up on the dwarves shit list, and since I need them to do me a favor, I’d just as soon not do that.”
Sarah stepped forward. “I could try mine. What should I do?”
“Ummm, I’m not sure. Pretend there’s something in it and try to teleport it out.”
“Are you sure you don’t want to try yours?”
“And what? Melt the rock into lava? I don’t even know if I could get it that hot.”
Sarah faced the stones and started mentally probing them with her jhorun. The first stone she examined remained inert in her mind. No images, nothing. She tried the others. Same thing, except… She backtracked, returning to the fourth stone. Something felt different about this one.
Steve watched as his wife hesitated over one of the stones.
“What is it? Something wrong?”
“This stone feels different, almost as if it’s alive. The others were just lifeless masses of rock. This one is tingling.”
The soldiers all gathered around the stone, inspecting every square inch of its surface, looking for any indications on how to open it. Nothing.
“I think ye are right, Lady Sarah,” Rhenyon commented. “I believe jhorun is the key to reveal the entrance. Try again.”
Sarah relaxed, calming her mind and her jhorun. She thought of the stone before her and attempted to get an image of what the inside might look like. Instantly, a picture formed. Yes, this was the entrance! There were the stairs leading down! The rock had hinges so well hidden that they would never be found. An image of a complicated mechanism also formed, showing her the intricate workings of the latch that opened the stone. There! She focused in on a small weight hidden just inside the stone. That weight needed to move in order to trip the latch. But how do you make it move? Moving her hands over the stone, her left hand stopped at a point directly over the weight.
“Here. There’s a small weight buried within the stone. It needs to be moved. I just don’t know how to move it. It appears to be delicately balanced on a scale of some sort. Maybe if we could budge the rock some it might tip the weight.”
All the soldiers went to the stone and on the count of three, bumped the rock as hard as they could. They may as well have tried to pick up Kahvel. The stone didn’t budge.
“Let’s try again
,” Steve suggested.
This time everyone (minus Sarah) gathered on one side of the rock and heaved. Still nothing.
Sarah brightened suddenly. “Hon, I have an idea.”
“What?”
“Heat it. Stone can sometimes expand under pressure. Or maybe it might simply respond to fire. You’re the only one who hasn’t tried anything.”
All five soldiers instantly backed well away from the stone.
“Fine.”
Steve ignited a hand and placed it over the spot Sarah had indicated. Nothing. Warming up, he increased the heat by several notches. Still the rock ignored him. Cracking his knuckles, Steve ignited his other hand. Pressing down on the same spot as before, he sent an intense blast of fire deep into the stone. What was that? Was it his imagination? Did the stone just tremble?
“Whoa! I think it moved! Just a little. I think I need to go hotter.”
At this, the rest of the group took refuge behind several of the large stones. Steve sent a brutal blast of heat down into the boulder and maintained the intense levels for at least ten seconds. The surface of the rock heated quickly, glowing red within seconds. And then they all heard it: an audible click. As smoothly as if it were on oiled hinges, the entire surface of the rock lifted away from the base, revealing a dark staircase descending deep into the earth.
“Jackpot!”
The Prophecy Page 32
