by Tom Liberman
“Again, you presume to tell me my business, I clearly was not plain enough in my admonishment. Thantos, do not tell me how to run my affairs, do not critique my decisions; report to me the messages from your mistress and consider yourself privileged that I do not send you to the Deathlands myself.
Thantos scratched himself under the arm and sniffed at the finger for a moment before he returned to scratch a little more.
The tall skeletal figure shook his boney head and sighed, “You are certain that I cannot deal with Tenebrous anymore?”
“The shadow whose name shall not be spoken is not able to fulfill his duties at this time because he cannot follow orders. You will deal with me and only me if you wish to communicate with the lady of the Abyss, she who rules eternally,” said Thanotos. “Now, you will tell me your plan to gain the Staff of Sakatha from the lizards, should they manage to find the thing.”
“I will,” said Lord Whitebone as he made this statement seem more like a question.
“You will or you face the wrath of the mistress of the Abyss. She aided you up until now only because of your past loyalty but do not take her support for granted. She wants to have the Staff of Sakatha.”
“Of course she wants the staff,” said Whitebone with a shake of his head. “Everyone knows she wants it so that she can control Sakatha when he rises as a lich lord.”
Thantos bowed his head, “I cannot speak to my mistress’s desires,” he said and once again licked his impossibly long tongue over his teeth. “I can only convey messages from her to you, Lord Whitebone. She wants to know, specifically, what are you doing to acquire the staff?”
“I have explained to both you and Tenebrous before you,” said Whitebone, although Thantos grimaced at the name, “that I am doing everything in my power to gain the staff. There are a number of possible outcomes to the endeavor and success is uncertain. Your mistress will have to live with that.”
“She will not like it,” said Thantos. “She wants more concrete reports as to your plans. She learned through sources that you sent your dragon up to the surface to aid the darkling’s men and their allies and this has upset her. She wants to know what you are doing, specifically, to get her the staff.”
“I do not have time for this nonsense, Thantos,” said Whitebone his hands beating out a strange tempo at the bone arm of the throne. “I am trying to get the staff. If we do not get the staff then we cannot use the staff. I don’t know where the staff is currently located, your mistress doesn’t know where the staff is currently located, I don’t know where the remains of Sakatha are hidden or even how to use the staff to resurrect his deathly form. The first step in this process is to find the damn staff!” said the skeletal creature and for the first time raised his voice. “Now, the only one who knows where the thing is hidden is the toxic one and his dreams are unpredictable and certainly not available to the likes of you or me. So, we have to use his dreams as a conduit to someone we can control once they obtain the staff. Does this chain of logic stretch your ability to follow it?”
Thantos thought for a moment and began to scratch himself on one of his many open sores and then looked up at the tall skeletal figure, “So, you hope to use the dragon child to get the staff and then take it from him?”
Whitebone nodded his head almost wearily if that were possible for a living skeleton. “I’m so pleased you have grasped the nuances of the situation.”
“But what if the creature gains the staff and takes it back to the lizards?” said Thantos.
“There is nothing certain in life or in death,” said Whitebone. “That is a dilemma we will deal with when it comes. The first thing is to make sure that the staff is found. That being said, do you think it will be useful to have my pet dragon around when the staff is found?”
Thantos thought for long minutes as Whitebone stared at him, the deep red embers of his eyes glowing with muted heat, finally the ghoul scratched himself again. “I shall report your progress to the mistress of the Abyss, she who rules eternally, and, if you are lucky, she won’t summon you to her side. You are a creature beyond the curtain of life as am I, and you too are subject to her will, no matter that in your arrogance you might believe otherwise. Do not think to betray her Whitebone, or she will send you to the Deathlands. I understand you’ve never been?”
Whitebone stood up, turned away, walked down a narrow corridor, and left the ghoul to his own devices. The creature smiled deeply and revealed its long fangs yet again, “Run away little skeleton, run away,” he said in a low whisper, “the mistress will have you soon enough and, after she is tired of playing with you, you will be mine.”
Chapter 9
The wide, well lit staircase went down and down; somewhere past the two hundredth step Sorus lost exact count, and another hundred after that he no longer bothered to keep track. The evenly spaced lights made the passage of time and distance seem like a dream, and the young brewer wasn’t sure how far or how long they had traveled when he bumped into Germanius whose hand was up against the wall. “What is it?” asked the young brewer.
“It’s my knees,” said the old knight. “These stairs are too much, give me a moment to rest,” he finished and flexed first his left knee and then his right.
“Jon,” whispered Sorus, but the gray knight was already too many steps ahead to hear the voice. “Jon!” he said a little more loudly but even that voice seemed to die in the stairwell. “Wait here,” he said to Germanius with a pat on the old warrior’s shoulder. “I’ll get him and we’ll wait a bit. It’s been a long day and night, we all need to rest.” With that Sorus started off down the stairs in pursuit of Jon as he whispered out now and again, “Jon!” but he got no reply. He went down another hundred steps at a quickened pace and once stumbled as his toe caught an edge, and he almost fell head over heels but managed to catch himself with a quick hand on the wall and skittered to a stop, “Jon!” he whispered again, “Jon, wait, it’s Germanius!” But there was no reply. Sorus stood for a long moment and looked forward down the stairs and backwards towards Germanius and then sighed, “damn.” Then he began to trudge back up the stairs towards the old warrior. It took him longer than he thought but he found the man coming down towards him with hobbled little strides.
“Germanius,” he whispered as he came up to the old warrior. “Sit down, Jon’s gone ahead but he’ll realize he’s alone and come back for us soon enough,” although Sorus didn’t believe it even as the words came out of his mouth. After a month with young Jon Gray the brewer knew the boy’s habits too well and caution wasn’t one of his traits.
The knight of Elekargul looked at Sorus for a long moment as if he wanted say something caustic but then a pained expression came over his face and he winced badly. “Damn shooters, maybe you’re right, I’ll sit for a spell. That boy is headstrong but I can’t say I wasn’t the same when I was his age. He’s got a lot of responsibility for one so young.” With that the knight slowly lowered himself to a stair and, with Sorus’s help, came to the ground with only a small thump. “Ahhh, damn that hurts,” he said.
“It’s ok, Germanius,” said Sorus. “Now that I think about it, my knees hurt too and I’m exhausted. I’m a fifth your age. We’ve pushed too much. We should have stayed in that cave and waited until morning.”
“I should argue with you,” grunted Germanius, leaning against the wall and putting his legs out along the step, “but I’m too damn tired.”
“Here,” said Sorus and took off his heavy woolen jerkin, “use this as a pillow, it’s warm down here anyway,” he said and put it under the old knight’s head. “Get some sleep, Jon’ll be back eventually, he won’t just leave us.”
Germanius nodded his head and his eyes began to close even before he leaned back on the make-shift pillow. Within seconds his snores filled the stairwell and suddenly Sorus felt very sleepy as well. He knew he had to stay away to keep watch over the old knight but it wasn’t long before he dreamed as well. It seemed only a moment later that a rough sh
ake of his shoulder woke him up. “Good morning,” said Jon and smiled down at him. “Did you sleep well?”
“Huh,” said Sorus, looking around. He couldn’t remember where he was for a moment. “Where are we?”
“On the stairs into the darkling land,” said Jon. “I let you sleep for a few hours, Sir Germanius is still out, but I’m going to need some sleep as well. Can you take over the watch?”
Sorus nodded his head, “At least it’s warm,” he said and groaned as he tried to sit up.
“What is it?” said Jon.
“My back,” said Sorus, reaching behind and putting his palm to his spine. “This floor is a bit harder than my bed at home or even that cot at the Smooth Strider. I’ll be ok.”
“We should have thought all this through before we charged away,” said Jon with a shake of his head. “I’m worried about the horses as well. We left them hobbled back at the camp site and they won’t survive more than a couple of days without water. We need to finish up here and head back as soon as possible. If Jane finds out about this I’ll never hear the end of it. Now, keep watch and give me a few hours of sleep. If Sir Germanius is up for it in the morning I know where to go.”
“Where?” said Sorus as he suddenly came fully awake and the pain in his spine vanished.
But Jon already lay on the stone step his eyes closed and his breath in an even rhythm.
It seemed to Sorus that each minute took an hour as he watched the two sleep that long, long night, but eventually Germanius stirred, groaned loudly, and opened his eyes. It took the old warrior a few seconds to focus in on Sorus and then Jon, still gently in slumber, but then he grimaced and began slowly to rise.
“Arrahgh,” he said. “That smarts,” and he grabbed at his back exactly the way Sorus did earlier. “How long did you let me sleep?”
“I’m not sure, how do you keep track of time underground?” said Sorus.
“You don’t,” said Germanius. “You pretty much eat when your belly tells you and sleep when you’re tired. I was underground once for almost a week chasing darklings back in the year Romius Openpalm was First Rider. We never caught them and we only found out how long we were underground later when we got back up. It’s a strange thing being underground.” All the while the old knight stretched and turned first his legs, then his arms, and finally his back. “I haven’t warmed up like this in years,” said the old knight, “but you should do it. It keeps the body limber.”
“I’m not too bad,” said Sorus, smiling and stretching his arms to the sky.
“I know that, because you’re young,” said Germanius. “But, you should learn to stretch everyday proper like and when you get older you won’t have as many troubles.”
“So, how do I do it?” asked the young knight and watched Germanius. The two went through a long series of small movements and by the end Sorus had to admit that he did feel a bit better. When they finished they saw Jon Gray watching them with a twinkle in his eye.
“I’ve seen morning salutations like that before,” he said. “In Tanelorn we’re allies with the elves of Alianus and they practice that sort of thing. One of my father’s friends, a dwarf named Sir Pedlow Fivefist has a son that married an elf girl and she tried to teach them to me.”
“A dwarf married to an elf?” said Germanius, “That must be some place, your Tanelorn. She must be an ugly elf.”
“It’s a long story but ugly isn’t the word I’d use for Appolonia,” said Jon and got up and started a routine similar but different from the one Germanius used.
“It’ll take me a wee bit longer to be ready,” said the old knight with a smile as he flexed his leg. “Why don’t you go ahead and tell it. I’m sure the boy wants to know,” he continued with a look towards Sorus. “Yes, even though you’re a knight now, I can still call you a boy,” he said which shut the objection that was on Sorus’s lips before it could emerge.
“About five years ago, I was just a kid then,” started Jon, “a group of orc kingdoms called the Five Nations attacked an elf nation called Alianus. My father has pledged never to lead a war of aggression and we only defend ourselves, but to get to Alianus the orcs either had to go through a gnoll kingdom called Grelm or Tanelorn. My father and many of the knights wouldn’t let the orcs pass so we got involved in the fight. One of the dwarves was the son of Sir Pedlow, a fellow by the name of Sir Strombolt Fivefist, and he went up to the elf lands for something or another. I can never remember the story, but he ended up saving the life of one of the elf princes, Halavar Evenday, but took a terrible wound doing it. Halavar took Strombolt back to his home in Alianus and his sister, Appolonia, nursed Strombolt back to health. Well, you can guess the rest. They’ve got a little girl now but I can’t remember her name. She bit me though, I remember that, when I tried to pinch her.”
“Maybe if I get wounded,” said Sorus, and Jon and Germanius looked at the boy with smiles on their faces.
“It’s a good strategy for finding a wife, that’s true,” said the old warrior and chucked Sorus on the chin, “but it comes with its own dangers.”
“The wounds or the wife?” said Jon.
“You’ll find a girl that steals your heart one day,” said Germanius to the young gray knight. “I know you’re happy to sow your wild oats in whatever pretty lass happens by the farm, but one day you’ll find someone and then you’ll see. Yes you will.”
“I already found the one I want,” said Sorus, and neither the old man or the young knight chose to contradict him.
“Come along now,” said Jon. “Sir Germanius, I’ve found that dragon for you and it’s not a small one either. I wouldn’t call it an earth shaker but a good twenty feet long to the tail, white as snow, with a pair of horns about as long my dick and twice as thick!”
The old knight suddenly stood up straight and nodded his head, a gleam of anticipation in his eyes. “You’ll let me strike the first blow, boy,” he said more as an order than a request and Jon nodded his head.
“Of course, old man, a promise is a promise,” he replied and put a huge hand on the knight’s shoulder. “It’s about five hundred steps down and then along a corridor into a cave. It’s with another of those dragon children and a darkling elf. I couldn’t get close enough to hear what they were saying, but I think it might have something to do with my little quest as well. I think they’re waiting for our friends upstairs and I doubt they’ll wait much longer.”
“Then why do you stand there and yak away,” said Germanius, looking up at Jon, and putting his hand to the hilt of his sword. “Let’s be about it. If this is my last day alive I’d prefer it to be shorter than the second to last. My knees can’t handle much more. I feel like it’s bone rubbing bone down there, can’t you hear the grinding?” he said and squatted down and then rose again.
Jon and Sorus listened for a moment but the old man suddenly broke into a large grin, “Stop your foolishness boys, I wasn’t serious. There’s a dragon to kill and I’m just the old knight to do it.”
With that the three made their way down the stairs, although Sir Germanius moved with care and his limp became pronouncedly worse as the journey went on.
“Only 500 steps you say,” said Germanius with a grimace as his right knee almost collapsed under him.
“Here, put an arm around my shoulder,” said Jon and leaned down and put his own arm around the waist of the old knight. “You need to save up strength so you can kill that white beast down there.”
“Ahh, that I do,” said the old knight as he slipped his arm around Jon, who walked hunched over to help Sir Germanius, as they slowly made their way down the staircase.
It seemed like hours to Sorus as he watched the old knight and Jon Gray limp down the stairs, and the long journey gave him too much time to think, “Maybe I should whittle,” he said quietly to himself and then laughed. This brought about a glance from Jon and Germanius but neither said anything as they continued their trip. “It’s well and good for Sir Germanius to want to die in glory
at the end of his life, but fighting a dragon I could die as well, and for what, so that Jon can find this thing his father just wants to lock away so no one can ever get to it?” he thought to himself as the journey continued. “If it’s that powerful who’s to say I couldn’t use it and become a great knight, the First Rider, and then Shia will marry me.”
Every time his thoughts drifted down this path he pulled himself up short and tried to think more nobly, like a knight should, but it didn’t take him long to realize that being Sir Sorus didn’t change him more than his thirteenth birthday changed him into being a man. “I’m the same person no matter what,” he finally admitted to himself. “I want the same things I wanted before. I promised Sir Germanius I’d stay with Jon and I guess that’s what I’ll do.”
He just came to that decision when they reached the bottom of the seemingly endless stairwell. “Who could have built these stairs?” he asked out loud and looked back up to the endless string of light stones that stretched behind them.
“Darklings,” said Jon, but Germanius shook his head. “This was built by the Old Empire, nobody builds a set of stairs like this unless they’re marching armies. When the emperor finished conquering the world he started conquering the darklings and this was one of the roads that made it possible.”
“You can’t know that,” said Jon with a skeptical look at the old man. “It could be darkling construction just as easily.”
“No,” said Germanius, “I’ve seen plenty of darkling tunnels to the surface and they’re not anything like this. This is a road for an army and the darkling’s don’t invade the surface, they can’t stand the light. Besides, they see well enough in the dark, what do ya think those light stones in the walls are doing?”
“That’s true,” said Sorus and Jon nodded his head.
“You’re probably right, Germanius but that was so long ago. My father, he thinks the Old Empire … that things are turning circle, that creatures buried during the reign of the Usurper before the fall of everything are coming back, that the world is … well, I don’t even really know, he mostly talks to Val about that stuff.”
