The Staff of Sakatha

by Tom Liberman

  “Good point,” said Jon, “and to be honest, I’m getting a little tired of getting shot at without doing anything. I’m going to roll down that way. Once they take a couple of shots you can follow me or head up the trail while they’re focused on me.”

  Proteus nodded, “Got it. Go whenever you’re ready.”

  With that Jon suddenly rolled to his right, pushed off the ground with his hands, and got to his feet in a flash. He dove forward and off the edge of the hillside onto a steep slope while Proteus immediately dashed forward before the ambushers fired at Jon but he did hear the whiz of two bolts behind him a moment later. He reached the advanced point without incident and then called out to Jon, “Are you all right?”

  “I’m good,” Jon shouted across the trail. “They’ll be moving into position to get at me in a second. I’ll tell you when I see them and you can make a dash.”

  “If they’re smart,” said Proteus, “one will move to position while the other keeps his eye on me. If there are only two of them.”

  A few moments passed without a sound as Proteus waited for word from Jon and the big gray knight watched a rock platform about fifty yards up the hill from his current position.

  “He should be there by now,” said Jon. “I’m going to make a dash. Do you hear anything?”

  Just as he spoke a harsh cry sounded from up ahead and Proteus immediately pulled his sword from its scabbard and charged up the hill. Jon, in an awkward position, needed to climb back onto the trail before he followed but, once up, quickly gained ground as his massive strides gobbled up the distance like a champion race horse in full flight.

  Proteus got to the ambush spot and found a heavyset orc in thick leather armor studded with metal face down on the ground blood spurting from a wound under its arm. A heavy wooden crossbow with two dozen bolts laid out neatly on the rock sat nearby. A moment later Sorus appeared around the corner and smiled at Proteus. “I got this one from behind but the other one saw me coming, dropped his gear, and ran up the hill. I got him in the leg and tossed his crossbow off the side of the mountain. He crawled off but there’s a cave right back that way. I passed it when I came around. I’m sure that’s where the snake creature and the skeleton thing went.”

  At that moment Jon suddenly appeared from around the corner his huge stone sword in one hand and a grin on his face. “Chattering away like ladies,” he said with a smile.

  “The work’s all done,” said Proteus and clapped Sorus on the back. “Our young Nightwalk managed to kill this one here and chased the other one off. We were just deciding if we wanted to pursue or look into the cave where our real foes went.”

  Jon looked up the trail for a moment, “The crossbowman doesn’t matter,” he said. “Where is this cave?”

  “I’ll catch up,” said Proteus as he turned and sprinted back down the trail.

  “Where’s he going?” said Sorus to Jon who watched the older knight dash around a corner and vanish from site.

  “He’s getting the saddle bags,” said Jon. “With our equipment in case we get stuck underground again. We should have thought of that.”

  Sorus nodded his head, “Especially because we just made that mistake a couple of days ago.”

  “Proteus will catch up,” said Jon with a nod and a smile, “Where is the cave?”

  “This way,” said Sorus and pointed up a little path that led away from the main trail. “I’m sorry it took so long,” he said as they walked. “I ran into a big bunch of scrub brush with thorns and had to go around. Then I got a little lost,” he admitted as he looked forward up the narrow trail. “I ended up too far up the trail and didn’t know if I was ahead of them or behind them so I went back around again.”

  “You did just fine,” said Jon. “It’s easy to lose direction in these hills and you came through in the end. Stabbing a fellow from behind is never easy either,” said the gray knight, his own massive strides easily keeping up with Sorus as they ascended the little game trail. “It doesn’t seem honorable but when it comes down to someone living and someone dying it needs doing at times.”

  Sorus looked back at the gray knight for a moment and smiled, “I didn’t think about it too much. I saw him there pointing his crossbow down towards the trail and just did it. Here, right up here is the cave. I didn’t get much of a chance to look at it but, like Proteus said, why else would they set up the ambush at this spot?” he said and pointed to a narrow crack in the cliff face.

  “There could be another opening further up,” said Jon, but Sorus shook his head.

  “There could be,” he replied, “but why not start here?”

  Jon nodded. “We’ll have to wait for Proteus, I’m guessing he has flint to start a fire. I’ve got a light stone,” he continued and pulled out an egged-sized piece of crystalline rock of a strange purple color. “Stone of light, show the path!” he said in a quick mantra.

  “You can do magic,” said Sorus looking at Jon with wide-opened eyes.

  “Not really,” said Jon. “My brother Val made this for me and taught me the command words,” he continued as the rock began to glow with a dim light. “When we get into darkness it gets brighter. Let me go in first, you wait for Proteus. I’ll call out if there’s anyone waiting to say hello.”

  Sorus nodded as Jon, rock in one hand and thick gray sword in the other darted forward into the dark. He had to duck and turn his body sideways to enter the narrow crevasse but disappeared within it a moment later. Sorus stood at the entrance and looked first to the entrance and then down the trail and then back again to the cave. The seconds seemed to pass slowly as his heart beat heavily in his chest and he remembered his blade plunging into the back of the crossbowman and then the pursuit of the second. He didn’t feel any regret about doing, it but a strange sense of sadness overcame him as he pictured the dead orc in the rocks. When Proteus suddenly appeared it caught him by surprise and he jumped back.

  “Where’s Jon?” said the older knight, a saddlebag over his shoulder but sword still one hand.

  “In there,” said Sorus with a motion to the cave. “He went ahead and told me to stay and wait for you.”

  “Makes sense,” said Proteus and with that pulled a small stone from his pack, tapped it twice, and then waited a few seconds as it began to glow.

  “Does everyone have one of those except me?” said Sorus as he shook his head.

  Proteus pulled a second rock out of the bag and handed it to the young knight, “Tap it twice to activate it and then twice more to turn it off,” he said. “Now you have one of your own.”

  Sorus took the rock and copied the motions Proteus made and soon the little stone began to glow noticeably.

  “Come along,” said Proteus as he ducked into the narrow opening. “We can’t let Jon get all the glory.”

  Sorus watched him for a moment and then went in after, although he did not have to duck his head or turn sideways to enter. A moment later he found himself next to Proteus in a large chamber where sparkling lights seemed to glow in the rocks like stars. “Do you see him?”

  Proteus lifted the hand that held the stone and pointed to a little glowing light that came from below them and seemed to bounce along like a ball across the ground. “Don’t call out; the noise can carry a long way down here. Watch your feet,” he continued as he pointed to a rock-strewn path that led down towards the bottom of the large cavern. “It’s easy to trip in the dark and I don’t want you cracking open that skull of yours again.”

  “Right,” said Sorus with a smile as his hand started to go to his head, but the stone occupied one while his sword occupied the other, and he was unable to check on the bandages. “Forward then,” he finally said and started the treacherous descent. “We can’t let Jon get too far ahead, he’s a bit reckless that one,” he concluded.

  Proteus laughed, “You could say that, but when you’re seven foot tall with a sword like that who can blame him for a little overconfidence,” he said and followed Sorus gingerly down the narro
w pass. At a couple of spots rock overhangs seemed to show signs of work as if someone cleared the way just enough to allow passage but not enough to make it easy. After a few long minutes and a couple of near tumbles they arrived at the base of the cavern where long rock columns extended from the ceiling in glorius displays of orange and silver almost like a stone waterfall.

  “It’s beautiful,” said Sorus as he stopped for a moment to gaze up and around in all directions. “The other cave wasn’t like this.”

  Proteus nodded and pointed to a long walkway that lay in front of them. “Someone smoothed that out,” he said, “but keep cautious. These caves usually have centipedes so don’t just put your hand anywhere. They’re poisonous as can be.”

  Sorus nodded and went forward as his eyes scanned to the left and right before he peered ahead. Down below he couldn’t see Jon’s light bobbing ahead anymore since the wall of the cave bulged out and blocked off the view. “I don’t see Jon,” he said as he moved forward steadily and almost ran headlong into the young gray knight as he came from the other direction. Sorus jumped backwards and smashed into Proteus, knocking the light stone out of his hand to the floor, where it skittered into a narrow crevice and vanished.

  “Damn,” said Proteus.

  “Sorry,” said Sorus.

  “Quiet,” said Jon. “There are some guards posted ahead. Strange creatures, darklings I think.”

  Proteus looked up to the tall lad and spotted a heavy smudge of dirt on his cheek, a bruise already apparent above his eye, and a scratch on his cheek that didn’t bleed but looked painful. “What happened to you?” he said and reached forward with his now free hand to brush back the long sandy locks.

  “I tripped coming down that passage,” said Jon as he pointed back towards the narrow entrance. “It’s trickier than it looks.”

  Sorus smiled and almost laughed out loud but managed to stifle the impulse. “You youngsters always leap without looking,” he said and reached up to touch Jon on the shoulder.

  Jon’s eyes flashed a momentary fierceness that caused Sorus to take a step back but then softened as his mouth opened in a wide smile, “Right you are, Sorus,” he whispered, “I could take lessons from a mature old knight like you.”

  “What kind of creatures are they?” said Proteus, “how many, and how well armed.”

  “I’ve never seen the like before,” said Jon, “I got lucky to see their light before they saw mine. It’s dim and red but I managed to get a pretty good look at them after I tucked my light under my cloak. They’re about fifty yards that way,” he continued in a low tone. “They look like bears mostly I suppose, great furry things, they have stone clubs. I saw two of them but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more.”

  “Any chance of sneaking up on them without them seeing us,” said Proteus using Jon’s whispered tone.

  Jon shook his head, “Not that I saw. It’s a pretty straight shot to a low arch where they’re waiting. I’d guess that beyond that is darkling land but who can say? Our best chance is to just charge forward and kill them. The pass opens up a little and there’s room for two of us to get at them at the same time.”

  “Sorus,” said Proteus, “any suggestions?”

  The young knight of Elekargul shook his head, “I don’t see anything else to do.”

  “Agreed,” said Proteus. “Sorus, you had your glory up at the ambush point, do you mind if Jon and I take this one?”

  Sorus frowned, “Well, if you put it that way, I suppose not. I’ll be right behind you.”

  “Try to be as quiet as possible about it,” said Proteus to Jon. “If there are more of them back there we don’t want the whole tribe coming down on us. Sorus, when we get close try and shine the light stone in their eyes, darkling creatures don’t like it bright.”

  Sorus nodded and then Jon looked at Proteus, “Ready?”

  Proteus nodded and Jon turned and walked quickly around the corner with the older knight right behind. Sorus brought up the rear as they moved down the corridor to a narrow spot where Jon stopped for a moment and held up his hand. The young knight of gray looked back to Proteus and Sorus and nodded his head as he pointed around the corner. “A dozen strides maybe,” he said in a whisper and put his light stone in his pocket, “One, two, three,” he finished and suddenly darted out and around the corner. Proteus was right on his heels and Sorus, the light stone held high, dashed around last.

  Coming around the corner the former brewer spotted the creatures right away. Just as Jon described, there were two of them under a natural rock archway beyond which a red glow emanated. Dark fur covered both creatures although the dim red light muted any hope of discernment of their true color. They stood about as tall as a man stands and wore only light cloth pants and a leather vest that gave them little protection. Both looked up at the approach of Jon, their eyes suddenly hugely wide as they grabbed heavy stone clubs that leaned against the archway to either side of them.

  Jon was upon them even as they growled, a strange rumble sort of sound that seemed to reverberate through Sorus’s body, and moved forward to meet the young knight of Tanelorn. Proteus moved ahead also, and suddenly blocked Sorus’s view of events, which seemed somehow slowed down to a crawl, and he only managed to catch a flash of movment ahead before the Brokenshield moved out of the way. Sorus saw one of the bear creatures stagger forward to his knees as a gush of blood jetted from a wound along its neck. The second creature swung its heavy stone club at Jon who moved forward and was hit by only the very narrowest part of its shaft on the ribs although he gave off a great low grunt in any case. Jon lowered his arm swiftly and trapped the creature’s weapon under it as Proteus moved forwards as his own blade swung down towards the head of the beast. The creature looked at the descending blade and its eyes grew even wider as it tried to tug away. Finally, it simply let go of the club and raised its hand in a defensive motion. Proteus’s blade chopped the blocking arm off at the elbow and buried deeply in the forehead of the creature between the eyes. The beast plunged backwards with a convulsive movement and fell to the ground with a thump where it twitched a couple of times although it never uttered a word.

  The second creature’s hand covered the wound on its throat, which did little to quench the spurts of blood, and watched open-eyed for a moment until Jon walked over and almost casually crushed its skull with a flick of his wrist as the flat side of his massive blade crashed down with terrible force.

  The crack of the blow seemed to wake Sorus and events suddenly seemed to resume at their normal speed.

  “Nicely done, Jon,” said Proteus and moved up next to the young knight. “Are your ribs all right?”

  Jon lifted his arm and the club slipped out although Proteus reached forward with a hand, grabbed it before it hit the floor, and then lowered it gently to the ground. Jon stretched his left side over and pursed his lips, “I’m good,” he said, “it only hit me with the handle, hurt a bit at the moment though.”

  “Quiet,” said Proteus and put his finger to his lips. “Keep the light stones away, we can see well enough. I’m going ahead for a second to see what’s there, you two wait for me and see if those creatures have anything valuable on them,” he finished and pointed to the two dead-bear like darklings on the floor.

  Jon leaned over, gave off a little grunt of pain, reached into a satchel around the waist of one of the creatures and pulled out a flask, a small clam shell of some kind, and a beaker of some sort of liquid. He opened the flask, brought it to his nose carefully, and smiled, “alcohol.”

  Sorus went to the second creature who wore a similar satchel around its waist and detached it with a quick motion. Inside was another flask much like the one Jon took, a small pouch that chinked when Sorus touched it, and another bag filled with something soft that smelled musky when the young knight brought it to his nose. “There are some coins here,” he said and looked up at Jon with a smile, “and more of that whiskey I’d guess.”

  At that moment Proteus appeared at the
entrance to the natural cavern, a strange look on his face. His eyes were open wide to see in the darkness, his teeth clenched, and his jaw tight as his eyes darted back and forth between Jon and Sorus.

  “What is it, Proteus,” asked Sorus while Jon continued to examine the items found on the strange bear creatures.

  “It’s like you said, Sorus,” said the knight with a nod of his head. “It’s a skeleton of some sorts, wearing robes, and a creature that looks like a human snake. They’re down the passage a bit. It’s darkling made for certain. The natural cavern ends not far past the archway here,” he continued and pointed to the natural formation above their heads. “I couldn’t hear them but they seemed to be arguing about something. There are more exits from where they’re at so if we want to attack them, now’s the time.”

  “If,” said Jon and looked at Proteus with raised eyebrows.

  “They look …,” started the older knight with a shrug his shoulders, “they look like they are perfectly capable of defending themselves. The skeleton wears a sword but the snake is a wizard or a priest I’d bet.”

  “We could just follow them,” said Sorus as he looked back and forth to the two men. “They don’t know where the staff is either but they might lead us to it eventually.”

  “Down here, among the darkings,” said Jon with a shake of his head. “It’s too dangerous, we’ll be spotted soon enough and have them down on us like a hoard of grasshoppers. We take them out now and see if we can get information from them after that.”

  “I agree,” said Proteus the strange look still in his eyes, “Do you mind if I say a prayer to the Black Horse first, Jon?” he continued and knelt to the floor.

  Jon watched him silently for a moment. Soon Sorus joined Proteus on his knees.

  “May my steed be swift, my blade be true, my heart be strong, and my seat steady,” said Proteus from his knees and Sorus said the same. “There,” said Proteus and stood back with a smile at Jon. “My fate is my own.”