Night Arrant

by Gary Gygax

  The place was chilly and damp. Strange runes and symbols covered the granite walls. Water dripped into a shallow pool that dominated the center of the place, and slight trickles ran down the walls and added to the dark liquid. Again the exit was obvious — a pair of rusted iron doors were set in the solid rock.

  "What now?" Gord asked the wizard.

  "Ignore those," Zig said, nodding toward the iron doors. The master of this place put many distractions and diversions throughout his playground. Look for a mark of some strange sort on the stone floor circling the pool," he commanded.

  Gord, Chert, and Zig circled the pool several times, each set of eyes intent on discovering some, sort of marking, though none of the three knew exactly what form that would take.

  "I'm getting dizzy," Chert said after his fifth lap around the pool.

  "Keep still, and keep looking!"

  Gord stopped, so suddenly that the clumsy barbarian, following close on his friend's heels, was not able to halt in time to avoid a collision. Gord, who was promptly knocked off his feet, donned a wry expression and stared up at a sheepish-looking Chert.

  "Geeesh, Gord! What're you doing down there?" the lumbering barbarian asked innocently.

  "I wanted to get a closer look. Chert." Gord said in a patronizing tone. He waved aside the hand Chert offered in assistance and pushed himself away from the ground. But halfway up the observant thief gave a low whistle and crouched back down. "I think I see what we're looking for," he said softly to the wizard, indicating a faint scribing on the stone floor.

  Brushing past the dumbfounded barbarian, Eneever Zig came to where Gord crouched. "Aha! That is the mark I sought," the spell-caster concurred when Gord pointed to the etchings on the ground. The wizard went immediately to the bare wall of the shaft and began searching there for a matching rune chiseled into the stone.

  Gord and Chert followed his lead, both of them amazed at the various signs, symbols and runes covering the wall.

  "It is here, just as I thought!" the wizard exclaimed excitedly. "Quickly now, both of you. Stand in the pool and I will join you momentarily."

  "Are you keeping track of all this, Gord?" Chert whispered to his friend.

  "Yeah, for what it's worth, I am. Chert, but you had better try to remember a few things, too."

  The wizard was casting some sort of spell. Gord was unable to fathom what the dweomer was, but after making several passes in the air and uttering some tongue-twisting syllables, Eneever Zig rapped the wall with a small silver rod, turned, and dashed into the pool, the spray from his hurried entry wetting both adventurers as they stood in the ankle-deep water.

  "ow! We're going to drown!" Chert cried as he noticed that the water had suddenly started to rise — rapidly! Or were they sinking? The water now covered his chest.

  "What's happening, Zig?" The young thief demanded hysterically as Chert continued to emit a few loud complaints of his own.

  "Quiet," the wizard hissed. "Don't distract me. We are merely sinking through stone. Hold your breath now," the fellow added hastily, for Gord's head was about to sink under the surface of the pool.

  The sensation was strange indeed. Gord felt as if he were standing on firm ground, and at the same time the pit of his stomach told him he was falling. The cold water touched his neck, moved upward to bathe his face, his head tingled, and then there was a brown-gray darkness all around. He kept holding his breath until his lungs felt as if they would burst. Suddenly the weird darkness was replaced by a normal blackness. Having his enchanted sword in hand, Gord was able to see in spite of the darkness. Chert and Eneever Zig were beside him, standing with their backs to a smooth granite wall, facing a chamber with several passages leading from it.

  "That wasn't so difficult," the wizard said under his breath, seemingly impressed with his own magical prowess. Eneever Zig calmly reached over and touched the lantern that Chert held in his left hand. It had been extinguished by their passage through water and stone, but as the wizard laid his hand upon the thing, flame sputtered and sprang to life from its plaited wick. "There, now we can all see," he said.

  "Now that we can see, there's something i'd like to hear. The big question is, pal, do you know how to reverse the dweomer so we can return when we want?" Gord's voice reflected his skepticism.

  "Good thinking, Gord. Just how do we leave this place?" Chert echoed his friend's question.

  "We'll worry about that later," Eneever Zig answered, obviously annoyed. "It will be merely a matter of discovering the route upward and taking it."

  "Discovering? What makes you so certain that there is a way out of this pit? We could be trapped here forever!" Gord was becoming uneasy, to say the least.

  "Nonsense, thief! Haven't you learned to rely upon my ability yet? The same tome that enabled me to penetrate this place also mentioned a means of egress."

  "Tell us both now," Gord demanded, his tone menacing. "If something should befall you, wizard, we two would be left lost and helpless. Share your information immediately!"

  "Yeah, you wizzo weasel," Chert added, backing the magician into the cold granite wall. Tell us how to get out of here — now!"

  Eneever ignored the threat. He pointed at each of the exits in turn, counting from left to right. "Nine, as there should be. We must follow the passage beyond the fifth arch."

  Chert continued to press the wizard against the wall. "We're not going anywhere till you tell us how to get out of here!" he said, the words dripping with acid.

  "You two are here to assure my success. If I die you have failed, so you will then deserve to die too! No, thief and barbarian, you shall have no share of my information. Guard me well, or we will all die here beneath Castle Greyhawk!"

  "Shit! I figured something like this would happen. Grab the blaster, Gord, and I’ll make him tell us."

  Gord was tempted, for the huge barbarian just might be able to twist and pummel the information from Eneever Zig. Wisdom was there to prevent the action, however. "Wait, Chert! This isn't the time or place to squabble. What if Zig manages to attack us with magic? What if he won't tell us, no matter what we do to try to make him talk? Then we'll have an out-of-commission magic-user and still no means of escape. We're in a lose-lose situation."

  Then, turning to the gaunt wizard, Gord said, "You have us, as well you know. But hear this, you sorry sorcerer. Although we have no choice but to go along now, we are no longer your allies." Eneever Zig stared at the young adventurers for a moment, seeing the truth of Gord's words written on the faces of both men. "Oh. don't worry, Zig." Gord continued. "We're smart enough to be concerned about our own skins, which means we'll protect you to the full. But the moment we discover a means of egress, you are on your own!"

  "Unless I have the prize I seek, thief, you and your brawny comrade will desert me at risk! You agreed to serve for the duration of this quest," Eneever retorted, giving the barbarian a hefly shove and walking away from the two angry comrades.

  "Not so, old dweomercraefter," Chert growled, reaching out and grabbing the wizard as he attempted to walk away. The furious hillman slammed Eneever Zig hard against the wall and pressed his face into that of his captive. "We agreed to share, not serve, and sharing goes for information as well as treasure. Your refusal to tell us what you know about leaving this hole breaks our agreement." He loosened his hold on the spell-caster and backed off a pace.

  Zig smoothed the wrinkles out of his mussed-up robe and straightened his crooked hat. "Bah! Stop babbling and yawping about escape. I'll deal with you both if you try to back out, but that isn't likely to occur any time soon. If we stand here much longer, making such a racket, we are sure to bring unwanted and hungry visitors — and that's a certainty. Now proceed through that portal there."

  Gord motioned for his comrade to wait, and the young thief slipped silently ahead, disappearing into the dark tunnel with a wave to indicate the two should follow him. By his action, Gord was about forty or fifty feet ahead of the barbarian and the wizard. The pa
le light of the lantern behind did not interfere with the magical vision that his sword bestowed upon him, so Gord was now able to see well ahead into the corridor.

  It was a hewn passage about fifteen feet wide, vaulted above, with a smooth floor and downward slope. The young thief estimated that for every ten feet of its length, the tunnel slanted downward about a foot. Strange clumps of vegetable stuff grew here and there on the walls; his sight showed the growth in a pale, bluish radiation, light given off by the matter. Gord took care to avoid the strange growths as he stole ahead.

  After a time he picked up the pace. The passage ran on ahead, without turn, without adit. Gord decided that scouting well ahead was better, and, after informing Chert and Eneever as to his intentions, he left his two companions far behind. He had gone perhaps a quarter of a mile when he saw a cavern ahead. By lying flat on the floor of the passageway, Gord could peer along its downslope and see the strange place, if only in glimpses.

  First there was a sheet of reddish light playing throughout the place. Fire, he guessed. It winked out in an instant, only to be replaced by a deep green light that shimmered and wavered. What that was. he couldn't tell. That, too, was transformed momentarily, and billowing vapors of pearly gray took the place of the glowing green. Just as Gord was about to clamber up and go back to warn Chert and the wizard of what lay ahead, the opalescent whiteness vanished, and blackness seemed to cover the cavern. One last look, however, revealed that the blackness was striated by bands of gray, brown, and similar somber hues — ochre, umber, terra cotta, dun.

  "Now what in the Nine Hells is all that?" Gord asked aloud as he stood and ran back up the passage. As he did so, the yellow glow of the lantern shined ahead. Chert and Zig were approaching.

  "What brings you back at such a pace, thief?" the wizard asked, a worried frown playing across his face.

  "Chert, be ready! There's something strange ahead. I think it is dangerous too, wizard."

  At that the spell-worker immediately began digging into the front of his robe. He drew forth a small tube of parchment, unrolled it, and scanned the writing thereon for several seconds before he spoke. "This is the first of the challenges which we must overcome. I believe that it is a matter which I can handle well enough, but both of you be ready with your weapons just in case."

  "What nature is this so-called challenge, Zig?"

  Eneever Zig gave a harsh, chopped-short bark that might have been a laugh. "You are apt with your words, thief." Saying no more, the wizard brushed past the two adventurers and strode purposefully ahead, a crystal-tipped ivory wand in his left hand and his right hand thrust into a pouch attached to his girdle.

  Chert took several long strides and was even with the wizard. Shortening his step then, the giant hillman kept level with Zig on his right while Gord paced along at his left. Like it or not, they had to ward this man, for he was their only means of eventually leaving this strange underworld. Holding his huge axe in one hand. Chert swung it back and forth to loosen his muscles and prepare for possible combat. Brool's curved head glittered, and a buzzing sound issued from the weapon as it cut through the air. The barbarian grinned at that, for the hum reassured him. Gord, too, was prepared to fight, his dagger now in his left hand to serve as main gauche to the short sword he plied.

  That's what I like," Eneever Zig said without glancing aside at either of them. "Staunch henchmen ready to defend their master."

  "Bite it, Zig!" Chert said with a growl.

  Gord didn't bother to respond. Time enough later to settle accounts with this arrogant spellworker. There was a problem at hand that needed all of their attention. "Again, Zig, what lies ahead?"

  Before the wizard got around to replying, if he ever intended to do so, the three were at the mouth of the cavern. The fiery sheet of stuff that filled the great space was replaced by the translucent emerald shimmer. Now Gord could see that it appeared to be water. How it was held within the cavern and did not come rushing along the tunnel they stood in, the young adventurer had no idea. The green-hued liquid remained for a minute. Then it was replaced by swirling clouds and streaks of empty, clear blue space. This, too, persisted for but moments, and then it gave way to the gloom of earth-toned bands, just as Gord had witnessed earlier.

  Now the wizard spoke. "You see, you were aware of the challenge all along, thief. You asked and answered your own query, didn't you? The nature of this place is just that — the elements which combine to form Nature."

  "Do we burn, drown, fall, or suffocate?" Chert asked angrily as the flames again sprang into being before them.

  "Silence!" Eneever Zig watched the play of the fire, counting under his breath as he did so. As the burning wall of fire paled almost undetectably, the gaunt dweomercraefter acted. "Be subject to water!" he cried loudly. The deep green came into being instantly, "Be bound by air!" As the command rang out, the water disappeared and the cloudy, pearly hue replaced the green. "Be balanced by earth!" Now the darkly striated mass filled the cavern. Eneever Zig shouted more loudly still when the dark, earthlike stuff appeared. "Be combined with all!" he boomed.

  Suddenly, instead of a cavern buried hundreds of feet underground, the two startled young men saw a sweeping vista before them. Green hills stretched away into the distance. In their folds were copses of trees, a winding brook, and a large pond. The vault of the sky above was dotted with fluffy, white clouds. A small cottage stood in the center of a meadow before them, its chimney issuing a thin plume of bluish smoke. Insects hummed, birds sang, and what appeared to be wild cattle, aurochs, grazed on a distant ridge.

  "Now that's magic!" Chert exclaimed. "Let's get out of here and head for home!"

  Eneever Zig laughed his barking laugh, derisively. "We'll get out of this passageway, all right. And we'll visit the home before us, too. More than that, my hulking barbarian. I will not promise."

  Soon they were standing before the door of the cottage. From its dim interior stepped a tall, muscular man. His white garments, staff, and adornments showed him to be a druid of some sort, Gord thought. The man looked at them with his bright, commanding brown eyes. "What seek you here?"

  "The Element Master," Eneever Zig said with a tinge of uncertainty discernible in his voice.

  "You have found him, little wizard. Now what do you wish of me?"

  "I... we ... will pass through your domain!"

  "Will you face the heat of my fire then?"

  "No! We demand another challenge."

  "Very well," the tall man said smoothly, "water it shall be."

  "No!"

  Now the Element Master frowned as if he were annoyed at this second contradiction. "You are a difficult one, bushy-brows. Nevertheless, I offer the trial of air to you and your associates."

  Eneever Zig had regained his full confidence. "Not so! We decline air as well!"

  Scowling at them, the white-garbed Element Master called back. Then only earth is left to you."

  "Do not deceive us, Master of the Elements," the wizard countered yet again. "We decline earth, for I am aware there is a fifth challenge, one you are not required to mention — we call for Nature!"

  This caused the tall man to shake his fist angrily at Eneever Zig. "For one so limited in the arts, wizard, you are well-versed in certain lore. Bah! Take that niggling trial then, rather than the heroic ones I presented."

  "We accept!" cried the spell-binder.

  The Element Master gestured, and a huge bull aurochs came thundering toward them. The burly hillman must best the bull!"

  A second wave, and a monstrous reptile slithered forth from a clump of brush nearby. The quick little thief must best this snake!" Finally, a third pass, and a dark shadow covered them. "Wizard, you will defeat the roc that plummets upon you even now, or your bones will nourish my soil!" As he concluded, the Element Master turned as if to walk away but then swung to face the trio. "Oh, one minor detail I forgot to add." A broad grin played across his face as he continued. "One of you may not help a companion until yo
u have defeated your own challenge. Then and only then may you come to the aid of a comrade. If this rule is broken, all three of you will die instantly!" The Element Master issued a loud, cruel laugh, and he and his cottage vanished.

  The terrain seemed to shift and flow, and all three men found themselves within a large bowl, a natural amphitheater with cliffs forming a barrier around its half-mile diameter.

  "Let's get this over with!" Chert exclaimed excitedly as he turned to face his opponent. Axe raised high, the hillman shouted a battle cry and ran forward to meet the bull's charge.

  Chert thought the battle with the wild aurochs would be a fairly easy matter until he saw the true size of the bull. From a distance it had appeared to be of normal size, but close up there was no question that the beast was monstrous. The creature was fully as tall at the shoulder as the barbarian and its head was armed with wickedly pointed horns that appeared to be at least four feet long.

  "If this is 'niggling' i'd hate to see the other challenges we were offered!" the disheartened barbarian marveled.

  Meanwhile, Gord did his best to avoid the snake that threatened him. It was a giant cobra, its hood spread and its fangs dripping venom. The monster reared back, its head poised for a fraction of a second, then it shot forward. The young thief detected the attack at about the same instant it occurred and quickly did a back-flip to avoid the strike. The glob of poison the cobra spat barely missed its mark, a fact that Gord found somewhat disconcerting, to say the least. Circling, the two opponents began a game of cat and mouse, although it wasn't apparent who or what was which, since the snake was not eager to expose itself to the young man's two blades.

  If Chert and Gord thought they were having a difficult time of it, they should have been in Eneever Zig's robes! The wizard was beginning to wonder if he would live to see the completion of this challenge, let alone the completion of his quest. The great bird had him pinned to the ground with a single, mighty talon. The horny claws of one foot caged the wizard as the roc sought to use its deadly beak to snap him in two. Eneever darted and flapped, too busy avoiding talons and snapping beak to cast a spell, but able to send forth a dart of energy now and again from his small wand. The crackling streak of power that issued forth from the crystal-tipped wand was aimed always at the terrible roc's massive beak. Each time the creature was struck by a little bolt of energy, it squawked in pain. The sound was earsplitting because of the bird's massive size, and the effect seemed to make the roc redouble its efforts to devour the wizard.