by Jenner, M
Solomon, who had been watching closely, groaned in disappointment. “Unlucky,” he said, quickly adding, “Good idea, though.”
Meanwhile, Ty’s attention had been captured by the ruby in the centre of the pillar; drawing his dagger, he stealthily began prying it out of its setting.
“What about bending the bars, or lifting the gate?” Galandrik suggested.
Nuran laid his two-handed sword on the floor and said, “Let me have a go.” He spat on his hands and had just grasped the bars, when suddenly a huge clanging noise reverberated throughout the chamber. The floor moved under their feet, and torches fell from their metal brackets on the wall. Dust and dirt sheeted down from the ceiling all around them, accompanied by the same vacuum noise they had heard earlier.
As one, Galandrik, Nuran, Solomon, and Kern spun around, hands flying to weapons, instantly ready to do battle with whatever new threat they faced.
Ty stood wide-eyed in the centre of the room, ruby in one hand and a dagger in the other. Dust sifted onto his shoulders from where it had fallen onto the hood of his cloak.
“What? What’d I do?” he said innocently.
Solomon grabbed the torch from Kern and ran up the stairs to look. After a few seconds they heard him say, “Damn!”
He walked back into the room. “When the ruby was removed, it must have locked the chair back into place above us. We’re trapped.”
Kern glared at Ty and turned back to the barred gate. Ty slipped the ruby into his pocket next to the medallion. Nuran spat on his hands again, and grabbing the bars with all his might, heaved and strained until, slowly, the bars began creaking and cracking. Gritting his teeth, Nuran strained again as Galandrik cheered him on with cries of “Go on, Nuran!” and what sounded like dwarvish battle cries.
After several more minutes of effort, Nuran sagged against the wall, resting his hands on his knees. “That’s all I can manage,” he said between laboured breaths. “I’m done in.”
Kern turned side-on to the bars and pressed his shoulder against them, trying to squeeze through.
“You won’t get through those bars, Kern,” Galandrik laughed. “Your shoulders are much too big.”
“You’re right, I won’t – but I know someone who will,” he replied, turning to look at Ty.
Ty took a quick step backwards. “Not a chance. No way. Not me. I am not going through those bars,” he said, waving both hands at Kern and shaking his head vigorously.
“It’s your fault we’re trapped in here!” Kern shouted across the room. “In fact, it’s your fault we ended up in that prison in the first place! We wouldn’t be here at all if not for you!”
Ty’s shoulders slumped in resignation; he shook his head sadly, then begrudgingly took off his equipment and armour, dropping it on the floor.
He walked past Kern, jostling him slightly as he passed. Slowly he stretched one leg through the bars, followed by his head and one arm. His limbs seemed to dislocate as he squeezed the other shoulder through the incredibly narrow gap between the bars.
“That doesn’t look possible,” Galandrik admired.
“I know. He definitely has a gift,” Kern replied. Holding the bars with one hand for balance, Ty placed the other on the floor; finally he lifted his other leg through. “Now pull that lever on the wall,” Kern said, pointing through the gate at the lever.
“Really? Who would have thought of that?” Ty grabbed the lever with both hands and used what little weight he had to pull it down. When it finally clicked into the downward position, the gate began to lift up. Kern quickly stepped back, retrieving his arm from between the bars.
Holding the torch out in front of him, Kern led the others down the corridor. On the walls were mounted torches, which the group lit as they passed, keeping the area well-illuminated.
As they approached the end of the corridor, they spotted another wooden door. Ty once more brought out his tools and picked the lock, then pushed the door open. It revealed another square room with a door on the far side. The door was positioned several feet off the ground, and the floor seemed to shimmer in the torch light.
Kern moved as if to step forward, but Solomon stopped him with a hand on his shoulder.
“Hang on, Kern,” Solomon said; he brought his staff forward and down onto the floor of the room. With a ripple, the end of his staff disappeared from view. “No floor – water,” Solomon said, turning to Kern.
“Don’t even think about it!” Ty said at once.
Kern handed his torch to Galandrik and took off his backpack, armour, and clothes.
“Stand still a moment,” Solomon said, then extended his staff and started to chant something. A shimmering light flowed forward to surround Kern, then disappeared just as quickly.
“What was that?” Kern asked.
“Just some light for you to see by, when you’re under that water.”
“Thanks,” Kern said, sitting on the threshold’s edge with his feet dangling in the water. “Water’s freezing; I’d better be quick,” he said. Bracing on his arms, he twisted and dropped his lower body into the water. Taking a deep breath, he lifted himself up so the water was at his waist, then dropped down into the darkness and up again. Shivering, he hoisted himself out and sat on the edge with his legs still dangling in the water. “Pass me the rope, Nuran.” As he tied the rope around his middle, he continued, “If I’m not up in five minutes, or if I give two quick tugs on the rope, pull me out,” Kern said.
Nuran held the rope as Kern dropped back into the water.
“Good luck. Take this,” Ty said nonchalantly, handing down a dagger. Kern took it silently but gratefully. He lifted himself up out of the water, taking in one last deep breath, then disappeared under.
Holding the dagger between his teeth, Kern swam close to the wall, following it deeper and deeper, until he eventually came to the floor. He was pleased to find that the spell Solomon had cast upon him was working well, and he could see all around. On the north wall there was another portcullis with a lever next to it; no other notable features could be seen on the walls or floor.
Aware that he couldn’t hold his breath much longer, he pulled down on the lever. With a clunking, sliding noise, the iron gate began to rise. Kern looked beyond the gate and saw that it led further down another watery corridor. He squatted down, then pushed himself off and up, back to the surface.
“What do you think is down there?” Ty asked Galandrik.
“I don’t want to hazard a guess,” Galandrik answered.
“One thing’s for sure, I wouldn’t want to be down there. He is one brave man,” Solomon said, looking into the water’s darkness, which was broken only by a few small bubbles popping on the surface now and again.
“There’s a thin line between bravery and stupidity,” Ty quipped.
“Where does cowardly come into it, then?” Galandrik said, shooting a dark look at Ty.
Ty was spared answering by Kern splashing up through the surface of the water. As he lifted himself up onto the edge, Solomon tossed him a blanket.
“It’s about fifteen feet deep, and there’s a portcullis at the bottom. There’s a lever to open it, but it heads on down another corridor. There’s no way I could hold my breath for that long,” Kern said, shivering.
“What about weighing you down so you get down quicker?” Ty suggested.
“Weigh him down with what, exactly?” Galandrik asked.
“What about… you!” Ty spat back.
“Leave it, you two, it’s not helping matters,” Nuran lectured.
“What I need, Sol, is a massive bubble!” Kern said, smiling at Solomon.
“Hang on!” Ty said, swinging his backpack off his shoulder. He reached in and pulled out the wooden box from the bottom, then opened it and handed the blue potion bottle to Kern. “You want bubbles? You got ’em,” he said, feeling rather smug and proud of himself.
Kern examined the potion bottle and saw the bubbles etched on the side. “Certainly looks like potion of waterbreathi
ng. What do you think, Sol?” Kern asked, handing him the bottle.
“It looks like it, but I don’t make the bottles, so I can’t say for sure.” Shrugging, he handed the bottle back.
“There’s only one way to find out.” Kern uncorked the bottle and swallowed the liquid down. “Ew, that’s disgusting,” he said with a grimace. He handed the blanket back to Solomon and turned around, saying, “See you all in a bit,” before taking a deep breath and lowering himself back into the water.
He swam down to the open gate and looked down the corridor with trepidation. The potion seemed to be working, so he swam along until he felt the rope go tight. He knew he had reached the end of his tether, and there was no length left. After a moment’s hesitation only, he untied the rope, then watched as it floated to the roof of the corridor before he resumed his exploration.
After a minute or so, he reached an open doorway. He saw no obstacles, so he continued into another open room with another lever on the far wall. Hoping to find an air pocket, he swam up to the ceiling, but water filled the chamber entirely. He swam back down and placed his feet against the wall for leverage and pulled down on the lever. It was stiff and moved slowly, but after a slight struggle Kern heard a clunking noise as if from far away. The noise was distorted as it travelled through the water, and it seemed to echo ominously in his mind.
Glancing at the floor, he noticed holes beginning to appear, about the size of dinner plates. Not waiting to see what might live inside, he swam upwards and out to the corridor, towards the rope.
“I wonder what this place is all about,” Galandrik said into the silence.
“What do you mean?” Ty replied, frowning as he tossed a pebble into the water, watching the ripples expand and disappear.
“Well, being a dwarf, we are always building places underground – but we either live in them or we mine them. We wouldn’t do it otherwise. This place seems to have no actual reason for being.”
“I don’t know, really – I have heard stories about wizards setting elaborate traps and things to stop grave robbers and adventurers stealing their gold.”
“All seems a lot of hassle to me,” Galandrik said, mimicking Ty and kicking a little stone into the water.
“I guess the potion of waterbreathing is working,” Solomon interrupted. Just then the group heard a grinding noise and watched as wooden blocks began to protrude from the east wall. Twelve of them jutted out, each about two feet long and a foot wide, making a stepping-stone route around the room and up to the door on the opposite wall.
“Bravo! Kern must have done it!” Nuran celebrated.
“I’ll go check out the lock,” Ty said excitedly.
“Shouldn’t we wait for Kern?” Solomon said in a discouraging tone.
“I’m only going to look, I won’t open it,” Ty said, leaping onto the first step.
Suddenly, Nuran shouted, “Help!” He stumbled forward, nearly falling into the water. He only just kept his footing, and the rope was nearly pulled from his grasp. “Help me! It’s Kern!” he shouted again, pulling the rope up as fast as he could, trying to stop the moist hemp from slipping through his grip. The others gathered behind Nuran and grabbed the rope where they could, working together to pull Kern to the surface. “Pull!” Nuran yelled, “Pull harder!”
As Kern swam down the corridor towards the rope, he felt a sharp pain in his calf muscle. He looked down to see a dragonfish locked on to his leg, blood seeping out into the water.
An adult dragonfish could measure up to a meter in length, with wings like a dragon, a yellow lion-like mane, and big black eyes set in a completely red body. They looked nasty, and more than lived up to their look.
Kern reached down and grabbed the dragonfish’s head, squeezing it as hard as he could. The fish released his leg and swam off, retreating from his grasp. Kern swam backwards, watching the water billow red, his blood swirling like crimson smoke.
He saw the fish regain itself; it came towards him with lightning speed and attacked again, this time aiming straight for his face. Kern seized the devil fish with both hands, holding it at bay as it twisted and snapped in frustration. Its multiple rows of razor-sharp teeth were a mere six inches away from Kern’s nose, and its incredible strength was already overtaxing his arms. With his right hand, Kern grabbed the dragonfish by the mane, struggling to keep it clear of his face. It thrashed about, snapping jaws coming ever closer to Kern’s face. He pulled the dagger from between his teeth and stabbed at the dragonfish’s body, and the creature thrashed even more wildly. Still holding it by its mane, Kern stabbed again and again until the thrashing stopped and the creature’s black blood began filling the corridor. Kern let go of the mane and watched the dragonfish sink slowly to the bottom, giving only the odd twitch as it went.
In a daze, he looked at the still-bleeding wound on his leg and knew that only the coldness of the water was keeping the pain at bay. Slowly he swam up towards where the rope floated, resting against the ceiling; catching a flash of movement from the corner of his eye, he turned to look back down the corridor.
A school of dragonfish was swimming down the corridor towards him.
Kern pulled on the rope as hard as he could, but it hung slack in the water. He pulled himself along until the rope finally went tight, then tugged twice. Not wanting to wait around for his rescue, he began hauling himself along the length of the rope until he felt the rope being pulled from above.
He glided through the water; as he neared the doorway of the room, Kern realized that the rope would be running tight along the roof before heading up to the ledge where his friends were standing. He gritted his teeth and felt his knuckles rub against the rough stone of the roof as he passed into the open room. As he let out a watery scream, he looked down to see that the dragonfish had nearly caught him up, so he drew his knees up to his chest and began swinging the dagger as wildly as the water would let him. Fortunately for him, many of the dragonfish stopped to feast on their dead friend, gaining an easy meal. Kern struck one as it bit into his foot, then another as they began swarming all over him.
When he broke the surface of the water, Solomon and Galandrik pulled him clear and onto the stone floor, a dragonfish still attached to his leg and flapping madly. Ty forced his dagger into the creature’s head until it stopped moving, all but a flinch now and again.
Kern sprawled out on the stone floor, trying to recover his breath. Blood oozed from his wounds; because of the blood-tinged water puddling around him, it looked much worse than it really was. Solomon grabbed the blanket and, with Ty’s help, sat Kern upright. They wrapped the blanket around him. Solomon began bandaging the wounds on Kern’s leg and right hand, where the scrape along the wall had removed most of the skin.
“What the hell happened?” Nuran asked after Kern finally got his breath back. Kern told the story while getting back into his dry clothes and they, in turn, told him about the wooden blocks that had appeared out of the wall. All agreed that the appearance of the blocks must have tied in with the cranking noise Kern had heard.
While they talked, Solomon dished out some meat jerky and bread. They ate and dozed in the first room; after a few hours, Kern was dry and warm again.
Ty stood and stretched. “Shall we head on then?”
The others agreed, so Kern, standing up, stretched his aching leg and walked a few paces back and forth, trying to hide the limp as best he could. “Just a scratch,” he muttered.
They made their way back to the wooden “steps” and Ty skipped from block to block, finally kneeling next to the door above the water. He unwrapped his tools and plied his trade until the lock clicked open. Gently, mindful now of the risk of hostile creatures on the other side, he pushed the door open to reveal another square room. There were no other doors in the walls of this room, and in the middle was another pedestal, this one with a telescope on top. They climbed up the blocks and entered the room. The far wall was covered with scribbles of coloured chalk; amongst them sat a diamond, embed
ded into the wall.
“Can you read that, Sol?” asked Ty. Neither Solomon nor any of the others could make out what the scribbles said. Kern aimed the telescope at the wall and peered through; the writing was magnified, but he still couldn’t make any sense of the manic scribbles.
“What you think, Solomon?” Kern asked.
“Still no idea,” Solomon answered, examining the telescope as Ty walked around the edges of the room in a search for hidden doors.
“Don’t touch the diamond this time, Ty! Last time the door locked behind us,” Nuran said, looking down at the gem in the wall. Ty shot Nuran a dark look and carried on searching.
“There’s something missing from this telescope. It looks like there should be a lens on the end,” Solomon said.
Galandrik and Nuran both looked around, as if the lost lens might be lying on the floor.
“What would it look like?” Kern asked.
“Well, the one in Conn’s study had a golden rim with three clear gems in the middle: green, red, and blue, if I remember rightly,” Solomon replied.
Upon hearing Solomon’s words, Ty spun around. “How big are we talking?”
“Sized to fit the end of the telescope,” Solomon chuckled. “They all vary.”
Turning away from Sol and Kern, Ty reached into his jerkin and pulled out the giant’s medallion. Turning back with his hand open, he asked, “Like this?” The medallion sat in the centre of his palm.
“Where in Hades did you get that?” Solomon asked, astonished.
Nuran and Galandrik stopped their searching at this commotion. Solomon took the medallion from Ty and fitted it onto the end of the telescope, where it clicked into place perfectly.
“You little belter!” Nuran said with delight.
“He’s full of surprises,” Kern agreed.
“But where did you get it?” Solomon asked again.
“I just… found it, and thought it might be worth something,” Ty mumbled.
“It’s worthless. They are just glass eyes embedded in a metal shell, and coated in gold leaf to match the telescopes, that all,” Solomon said, to Ty’s disappointment.
