The Ruins on Stone Hill

by F. P. Spirit

  Seth inspected the locking mechanism on the door. It was a standard pin-tumbler lock. It might take him a couple of seconds to fiddle with the pins, but he knew he could open it in under a minute. He wrestled with it all of ten seconds when the tumblers clicked into place. The halfling made a big show of pushing the cell door open with a single hand, something the two warriors couldn’t do with their combined strength moments ago.

  A smug smile crossed his face. “So, who wants to get out of here?”

  Lloyd grinned at him, then proceeded through the door. Titan began to follow, then stopped and placed a steel-clad hand on his shoulder. Her eyes were filled with gratitude. “Thank you, my friend.”

  “It was child’s play.” Seth feigned indifference. Secretly, he was quite pleased with himself. He still felt guilty for leaving Brundon behind. Freeing them made up for that somewhat.

  Seth exited the cell and moved up ahead of Lloyd. He swiftly checked the other cells. All were empty except for a grisly skeleton or two. Thankfully, these were not moving. When they reached the door at the other end, Seth found it locked. He put an ear up to it and listened. There was a sound coming from the other side; it was rhythmic in nature. A broad grin crossed his face when he realized what it was.

  “What is it?” Aksel whispered.

  “Snoring,” Seth said with thinly veiled amusement.

  Aksel waved everyone back down the corridor and laid out a plan. A few minutes later, Seth unlocked the door. He and Glo pulled it back as Lloyd and Titan charged past. It was over in moments. The two sleeping bugbear guards never even got the chance to cry out.

  On the other side of the room was another door; this one was not locked. Seth cracked it open to find a well-lit hallway leading away from the dungeon. It was stone block on stone slab, the same as the other corridors they had seen. Seth led the way as they moved swiftly down the hall.

  They had only traveled a short distance when he spied a junction up ahead. Seth motioned for the others to wait here and silently crept forward. He peeked around the corner and spied one lone bugbear guard patrolling the intersecting hall. Seth rejoined the others.

  “There’s a single bugbear guard,” he whispered.

  Lloyd reached over his shoulders to draw his swords. “That shouldn’t be a problem.”

  Seth held up his hand. “Wait. Let’s do this quietly.”

  Titan’s eyes narrowed. “What do you have in mind?”

  Seth outlined a quick plan, with himself acting as a distraction. A couple of minutes later, the bugbear lay at his feet, easily overpowered by Lloyd and Titan, who had caught it off-guard.

  The companions moved swiftly down the hallway the bugbear had been patrolling. A short way further, Seth discovered a set of carved stone stairs leading upward. They followed them up and found themselves in a dark corridor.

  Seth scouted ahead while the others waited. The hallway was completely black, but that was not a problem for him. He had been trained to rely not only on his eyes. He put those skills to use now, listening as he crept down the dark corridor. Silence. He felt the wall as he slowly took each step. Cool hard stone. He sniffed the air. A hint of dampness. He was still underground.

  About fifty paces down, Seth felt a lessening in airflow. There’s an obstruction ahead. He approached it carefully, still feeling his way along the wall. He came to a door. It was unlocked. He listened. Silence. Seth opened the door and walked through. By the free flow of air around him, he could tell he was in a large open area. He slowly felt his way around until he came across something against the wall. He reached out and carefully touched it. Fabric. He pulled on it and found it was loose. Seth bent forward and pushed against the object. Soft and cushy.

  Seth slapped himself on the forehead when he realized where he was. He swiftly retraced his steps until he found the others.

  “What did you find?” Aksel asked.

  “You’ll see soon enough.” Seth liked being mysterious. It was intrinsic to his profession, and it was also fun!

  When they reached the room a few minutes later, everyone groaned. Aksel held a torch aloft while Glo lit up his staff, illuminating the dark room. They had found their way back to the storage room with the magic mirror. Seth plopped himself down on the comfy couch.

  “Let me know when you decide what we’re doing next.”

  With that, he closed his eyes and let his body sink further into the soft cushions of the sofa. The others continued to deliberate. He knew they would talk things through for a bit, especially Aksel and Glo. Those two overanalyzed everything. He would let them handle the fretting while he relaxed. A short while later, Aksel roused him from his comfortable perch.

  “We found another door.”

  “Where?” Seth asked.

  “Behind one of the large cabinets.”

  “Oh very well.” Seth grudgingly got up and strode over to the newfound door, putting his ear up to it.

  Silence. Beyond the door was another dark corridor. Seth told the others to wait there, then went out to explore. He wandered around for quite a while, discovering more dark rooms and passageways. As he went, he began mapping it out in his head. Based on his calculations, he was probably near the back of the keep.

  Seth turned a corner and saw light down the hall. He made his way down the passage, and found a dimly lit cross corridor. A few torches lined the walls at irregular intervals. The dancing flames left a number of shadowy areas along the passage.

  At the far end of the corridor, he spied a strange greenish glow. It reminded him of the undead mage at the top of the tower. His curiosity piqued, he crept down the passage toward it. As he drew closer, the green light grew brighter. It was a sickly color; something about it did not seem quite right. He also began hearing noises drifting down the hall—it was a rhythmic sound. As he got closer, Seth realized it was chanting.

  He reached what turned out to be an archway and peered in. Beyond lay a large chamber, the walls hewn from stone just like the halls. The ceiling was shrouded in darkness, numerous columns disappearing into the shadows above. In the center of the chamber stood a large pool filled with sickly green glowing water, the source of the strange light. Sporadically-placed torches lit the rest of the chamber, but much of it was still bathed in shadow.

  Seth’s eyes were drawn to the other end of the pool. Two figures stood over a stone slab up a short flight of steps, their bodies covered with brown fur. Both figures wore horned helmets and carried long gnarled wooden staffs. They were bugbears; probably the two mages that Gilstench mentioned yesterday.

  The mages stood over a stone altar with an unmoving body stretched across it. Their staffs raised as they chanted their hideous song. Seth peeked further around the corner and saw four pale bugbears standing beside the pool. They were unmoving, their eyes filled with vacant stares. They were zombies!

  Bugbear zombies? Seth thought he had seen it all till now.

  He had to tell the others about this. Seth backed quietly away from the arch and retraced his steps down the hallways and rooms to where the rest of the party waited.

  Necromancers

  The gem pulsed with a greenish glow, the steady beat of a crystalline heart

  Three quarters of an hour had elapsed since Seth found the bugbear mages. Now he led the companions down the hallway just outside the large chamber.

  They halted a few yards down from the entrance. Glo saw the strange light emanating from the archway. It bathed the walls and floor just outside the chamber with a sickly green color. Seth crept down to the arch and peered inside. After a few moments, he returned.

  “They’re still there.”

  “Not very surprising,” Aksel whispered. “I am by no means an expert when it comes to the dark arts, but even I know that a Create Undead spell takes an hour to cast. And perhaps more importantly, in order for it
to work, it must be cast at night.”

  Glo had to stifle a laugh for the first time since they entered the keep. They only escaped from the dungeons a couple of hours ago, and at that time it had been early morning. It couldn’t be more than noon now.

  He thought back to what Gilstench had told them. Telvar was teaching dark magic to two bugbears, Bilehack and Curdlemung. Bugbears were not noted for their intellect, but these two novices had made a huge blunder. All the better. He had been worried about facing two trained necromancers and four bugbear zombies. While this would still be dangerous, at least now they might have a chance.

  The companions retreated down the hall and formulated a plan of attack. Seth described the layout of the chamber in detail. It gave Aksel an idea.

  “If we can get Glo close enough to the mages, he can use his fire spell on them.”

  Seth wore a wicked smirk. “Are we sure there’s no oil up at the altar?”

  Glo gave him an acid look. “Very funny. Perhaps you want to take them both on yourself?”

  “Me?” Seth said with mock fear. “Nah. I’ll leave the caster types to you. Anyway, those zombies need to be distracted as well.”

  A worried look crossed Aksel’s face. “What did you have in mind?”

  Seth reached into a pouch on his belt and pulled out a couple of small round objects. “How about smoke bombs?”

  Glo raised an eyebrow. “And you yelled at me for calling you an assassin? Why don’t you just announce it to the world with those things?”

  Seth glared at him with a look that could have melted iron.

  “Are you really an assassin?” Lloyd asked.

  Seth shifted his dark gaze toward the young man. “Ninja,” he answered, pronouncing the word carefully. “The term is ninja. And I really don’t like to talk about it.”

  Aksel cleared his throat. “Alright, from now on the A word and the N word are forbidden.” He glanced at Glo. “Right?”

  Glo agreed. “Sure, as long as we can forget about that incident at the top of the tower.”

  Seth smirked impishly. “But we got such a bang out of it.”

  “Seth!” Aksel hissed.

  “Fine. No more fire jokes.” Seth had trouble wiping the smirk off his face.

  Aksel sighed deeply. “Good. Now then, what about those smoke bombs?”

  The discussion continued until they had come up with a reasonable plan. Seth went first, sneaking down the hall and disappearing through the archway. A few minutes passed before Glo started down the hall after him.

  When he reached the archway, Glo peered around the corner. The chamber was indeed large, the columns rising up into the shadows as Seth had described. His eyes were drawn inexplicably to the pool. Something about the pale green water bothered him. It was more than just the color. The pool seemed…wrong somehow.

  He ripped his eyes away and focused on the would-be necromancers. They still hovered over the altar, chanting horribly. He peered in a bit further and saw the zombie bugbears lined up next to the pool, facing the altar.

  Try as he might, Glo could detect no sign of Seth. He had to admit, the halfling was good. Now it was his turn.

  Glo tiptoed through the doorway and along the shadowed wall opposite the zombies. He kept his eyes trained on the bugbears, but luckily he went unnoticed. He stealthily inched his way across the chamber toward his goal—the first column.

  It went painstakingly slow, and he stopped a number of times, warily watching the creatures, but none turned his way. After what seemed like an eternity, Glo made it to the column. He drew in a deep breath, calming his nerves.

  Once they settled, he peered out into the chamber. There was a faint movement behind the column directly across from him. There’s Seth. The halfling signaled he was ready.

  Glo glanced toward the entrance. From this angle he could see Lloyd and Titan just outside the archway. The two warriors had their blades drawn, ready to charge.

  Aksel stood beside the duo, waiting for Glo’s signal that all was ready. Glo nodded, signifying that they were in place.

  Aksel turned and motioned to Lloyd. The young warrior sprang forward and raced into the room, heavily stomping on the stone floor as he ran. Strangely enough, no one turned. The horrible chanting all but drowned out Lloyd’s dramatic entrance.

  The warrior stood between the archway and the pool, both swords drawn and reflecting green and orange between the light of the strange pool and flames surrounding his blades.

  “Penwick!” Lloyd cried at the top of his lungs. That got their attention.

  The zombies slowly turned around, mindless faces gaping at the red clad warrior. Even the two bugbear mages stopped their incessant chanting and spun around.

  Lloyd, with a look of satisfaction on his face, screamed his battle cry again and launched himself toward the waiting zombies.

  At that same moment, two round grey objects flew out into the midst of the zombies. They clanked onto the stone floor and then exploded. Clouds of thick grey smoke billowed out from them, enveloping the four zombies.

  The would-be necromancers turned toward the expanding cloud. They growled at each other excitedly as the smoke continued to cover their hapless minions. After a few more agitated grunts and growls, both casters turned toward Lloyd, their staffs raised.

  Through all this, Glo had been on the move. He ran from pillar to pillar across the pool from the excitement, preparing his own spell as he went.

  Glo rounded the last column just as the bugbears focused on Lloyd. They were so intent on the warrior that they did not see him coming. He stopped a few yards away, raised his arm and spoke the words, “Ardens Manus.”

  A cone of searing red flame leapt from his outstretched fingers and fanned out toward the unsuspecting bugbears. Both necromancers paused and glanced over their shoulders, but it was too late.

  Looks of dread crossed their brutish faces as they were engulfed by the cone of fire, then the bugbears disappeared from sight. Yelps of pain could be heard from inside the bright hot cone. It only lasted a few moments, then the stream of fire stopped. The cone faded away, and the two necromancers reappeared, their bodies scorched and their fur smoldering, little flames still dancing in spots.

  The bugbears turned as one toward the source of the searing attack. Their dark beady eyes fell on the solitary elf. Horrible growls escaped their throats as they raised their staffs. It was a frightening visage. Glo took a step back and began another spell of his own.

  The bugbears, so focused on retaliation, neglected to heed the clanking metal sound that crossed the floor. As the noise grew louder, Glo’s nerves faded and a smirk crossed his face. Their plan had worked. Once again, the bugbears were too late to realize their imminent danger.

  They turned just as Titan slammed into them. The green light of the pool shown off the warrior’s polished armor as she bowled into both bugbears shield first. She struck with such momentum that she sent the large creatures tumbling off the steps onto the floor below.

  One bugbear had been hit so hard, it lay on the floor completely dazed. The other one scrambled to its feet and turned to run.

  Titan turned swiftly, drew her sword and took a great swing. She caught the necromancer in the back, the gleaming blade slicing through the hapless creature, splattering its blood across the room. The bugbear fell to the ground in a heap, not to move again.

  The second bugbear recovered and regained his feet. He growled as he raised his staff, training a spell on the warrior who had knocked him down. Before he could let it fly, two projectiles flashed across the room and hit the creature square in the chest. A pair of knives protruded from the necromancer’s torso as he slowly slid to the ground in front of the altar.

  Glo turned to see Seth standing there with a smug smirk on his lips. Behind the halfling, Lloyd stood over a pil
e of zombies with a wide grin on his face, the last vestiges of the smoky cloud dissipating around him.

  Behind him, Aksel strode into the room. “Did anyone get hurt?’

  “No,” they all said at once.

  Their plan had worked! Both mages and zombies had been dealt with swiftly and painlessly.

  Seth went to retrieve his knives from the bugbear mage. As he passed the altar, he stopped and stared. “Looks like they found Gilstench.”

  Aksel, Lloyd, and Titan ascended the steps to see for themselves. Glo started to follow, but then something caught his eye. From the steps, he could see the bottom of the pool. There was something down there. Glo spun around and strode over for a better look. He reached the edge of the pool and peered down. At the very bottom lay a large dark crystal about the size of a fist. Glo watched in fascination as the gem pulsed with a greenish glow, the steady beat of a crystalline heart.

  His head began to hurt. In fact, his entire body began to tingle in a rather unpleasant way. The feeling abated momentarily but then reasserted itself once more. Glo realized that the strange phenomenon occurred in rhythm with the pulsing of the dark crystal.

  He suddenly became aware he was not alone. Seth stood next to him and stared at the gem below. The halfling had a strange look on his face. Seth spoke slowly, as if mesmerized, “It’s…rather…pretty…”

  “Don’t stare at it,” Glo warned him in a raspy voice. He too was finding it difficult to speak.

  Seth shook his head and glanced up at him. “What do you mean? It’s not like it’s…”

  “Alive?” Glo finished for him. “No, not exactly. But it radiates evil…” It was getting harder to think. Glo realized he needed to do something now, before the crystal completely clouded their minds. He struggled to lift his hand, feeling as if it were made of lead. Glo finally managed to raise a finger and point it at the bottom of the pool. He found it difficult to speak, but finally managed to croak out two words. “Nullam…Telum…”