by Ben Cassidy
“I tried to warn you,” came Maklavir’s voice from somewhere to the left. There was a heavy sigh. “Not that you ever listen to me.”
Kendril started to sit up, feeling the pain in his head again. “The wolfrats--?”
Joseph put an arm out on Kendril’s shoulder. “Take it easy. A stone smashed into your head when the ceiling collapsed. You’re lucky you weren’t crushed to powder.”
“We all are,” said Maklavir.
Kendril reluctantly obeyed his friend. He lay back down on the cold floor. “Where’s Kara?”
“Right here,” came the young woman’s voice from further back in the darkened room. “A few bumps and bruises, but otherwise I’m fine.”
“I wouldn’t worry about the wolfrats, either,” Joseph added. “That explosion buried the entire stairway, plus about a third of this room. There has to be ten tons of rock between us and them, assuming any of them even survived.”
“Yes,” said Maklavir, “about that…I thought wolfrats were supposed to be extinct?”
A brief movement in the darkness from Joseph suggested a shrug. “They are. At least no one’s seen one and lived to tell about it for three hundred years.”
“Well these wolfrats were very much alive,” the diplomat pointed out.
“I know. That cavern Kendril and I found must connect to a whole labyrinth of underground caves and passages. Those wolfrats must have been living entirely underground in places unknown to anyone above for centuries. That’s the only way they could have survived so long without ever being seen.”
“Maybe one of those passages might lead to the surface,” suggested Kara hopefully.
Joseph gave a sigh in the dark. “Possibly, but it would take us months to dig through all the debris to get there. And we don’t have that long.”
“No,” said Kendril abruptly, “we don’t. So what are our other options?”
Joseph pointed up towards the ceiling above them.
Kendril saw the large hole still in place, letting in the faintest bit of gray light.
Joseph rubbed his side. “It isn’t blocked, praise Eru, but we’re still no closer to getting out than we were before. The lantern got busted up in the blast, too, so we don’t have much light to see by, either.”
“Not that there’s much to see,” Maklavir added.
Kendril closed his eyes. “Wonderful.” He set his teeth against another flash of pain. “So anyone want to tell me exactly what happened?”
There was a brief silence in the dark room. Finally Kara’s voice spoke up.
“Galla ran. I’m sorry, Kendril, I tried to stop him, but he got to the top first, then cut the rope.”
Kendril pushed himself to a half-sitting position and leaned his neck and shoulders against a nearby boulder. “That Baderan slime. When I catch up to him he’ll wish he’d never been born.”
Kara rubbed her face wearily in the darkness. “Well, no doubt he’s on his way to get his money right now.” She made a face. “I was so stupid.”
“It’s not your fault, Kara,” said Maklavir sympathetically. “How could we have possibly known that Galla was only interested in that pendant? He fooled all of us. Well, almost all of us,” he admitted, glancing over at Kendril’s darkened shape.
“Pendant?” Kendril’s voice turned suddenly cold and icy in a way that gave chills to everyone else in the room. “What pendant?”
Maklavir fumbled for a moment, taken aback by his companion’s sudden change. “The, uh, pendant. He—Galla, that is, he, well he--?”
“The stone box in the room downstairs,” Kara broke in. “Galla managed to get it open. There was a golden pendant inside, with some kind of red-jeweled pendant attached. Apparently he was after it the whole time.” She shivered at the sudden recollection. “Just before he kicked me back down the hole, he told me there were people who would pay him a king’s ransom for it.”
“You said a red jewel,” came Kendril’s voice once more. Every word seemed deliberate and frozen into space. “A ruby?”
Maklavir and Kara both paused in thought, their faces crinkling in the darkness.
“Well, now that you mention it,” Maklavir mused, “it didn’t exactly seem…I mean it didn’t look—”
“It was no ruby,” said Kara slowly. Goosebumps began inexplicably forming on her arms. “It wasn’t like any jewel I’ve ever seen before.”
“It…absorbed the light,” Maklavir said, recalling the details as he spoke “All of it. There was no reflection.”
“Vesuna’s blood,” Kendril cursed. “And now he has it.” He took a sharp intake of breath. “I’ve been a fool.”
Joseph scratched the end of his beard thoughtfully. “Do you know something about this, Kendril?” he asked quietly. “Something you’re not sharing with us?”
The Ghostwalker didn’t answer. He looked up instead at the hole in the ceiling. “What I know,” he said quietly, “is that we have to get out of here.”
“Well,” said Maklavir amiably, “I would say that’s a given.”
“And then,” Kendril said, “we find Galla.”
The dagger hit the floor with a low thud, the rope trailing forlornly behind it.
Joseph stepped up to it before the dust had settled and snatched it off the ground. “We’ve been trying this for two hours now. It’s not working.”
“That dagger doesn’t exactly make a great grappling hook,” Maklavir observed. “Perhaps we could use something else?”
“Like what?” Kendril said, the irritation rising in his voice. He stepped away from the wall where he had been standing. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but we’re kind of limited in terms of supplies down here.”
“The dagger isn’t the problem,” said Kara quietly. She was sitting off to one side on one of the fallen statues. “It’s the room above. There’s nothing up there for the dagger to catch on. Even a real grappling hook wouldn’t help.”
“Then what exactly do you suggest we do?” Joseph gave the dagger a frustrated look, shaking some of the dirt off.
Kara folded her hands in front of her. “I could climb up.”
All three heads turned in her direction.
“Forgive me for stating the obvious,” said Maklavir carefully, “but wouldn’t you need a rope?”
Kara pursed her lips, inspecting the hole carefully. “Not if I did it freehand.”
“Freehand?” Joseph gave her a quizzical look. “Kara, that hole is almost fifteen feet off the ground. And there’s at least twenty feet more before the top.”
The young woman tilted her head. “I know, Joseph. I saw it all on the way down.” She gave a wisp of a smile. “Both times.”
Kendril looked hard at the redhead. “You think you can do it?”
Joseph dropped the dagger to the ground. “Absolutely not. It’s too far.”
Kara faced Kendril, pretending she hadn’t heard the Joseph’s remark. “Maybe. The walls of the hole aren’t entirely smooth. There are small crevices, divets, enough for handholds and footholds. Whether they would get me to the top or not is another matter.”
Joseph stepped forward, his face anxious. “But if you fell, Kara—”
“I won’t fall,” she said smoothly. “If it gets too hard to go on I’ll just climb back down.”
Maklavir stretched his arms. He gave the hole above them a doubtful look. “I don’t know, Kara. I saw the walls on the way down, too, and—”
“Back in New Marlin,” Kara interrupted, “my brother Torin and I had to steal for a living. Many of the finer mansions had gates, and sometimes guards. Often the only way in was to actually climb down the chimney.” She paused, as if remembering. “Since I was the smallest and fairly nimble, I got the fun job of going down. It was dark and filthy work. I usually couldn’t see my hand in front of my face, and could barely breathe. I had to feel my way down the bricks by hand.” Kara looked up at her three companions. “It’s a miracle I wasn’t killed, now that I think back on it.” She glanced
up at the hole in the ceiling. “This should be easy by comparison.”
Joseph shook his head emphatically. “I don’t like this. There has to be some other way.”
“Such as?” Kendril crossed his arms.
Joseph gaped at his friend. “You can’t seriously be thinking of sending her up there?”
Kara’s face blanched. “No one’s sending me anywhere. I’m volunteering to go.”
Joseph looked quickly over to Maklavir.
The diplomat gave a helpless shrug. “It might be the only chance we have, Joseph.”
“I can’t believe this,” said Joseph. He looked back over at the young woman. “Kara, please, you don’t have to do this.”
“We have to get out of here,” said Kara. “If I can make it up there, then I have to try.” She leaned back. “Otherwise we just wait around to die.”
Joseph looked away, his hands tightening into fists. “I don’t like this.”
“I know, Joseph.” The softness in Kara’s voice surprised everyone in the room. “But it’s our only chance.”
Joseph glanced down at the ground, then gave a resigned nod of his head.
Kendril took a step forward, peering up through the hole. “So how do we get you up there?”
She smiled, patting the fallen statue she was perched on.
“I was thinking we could use this.”
The statue was stone, and very heavy. It took over an hour of tugging, cursing, and pulling to drag the statue over to a position beneath the hole. The rope finally proved useful for tilting the pagan idol to an upright position.
When it was finally done, the three men stood back to admire their handiwork in the flickering light of a matchcord, still panting and sweating.
“So,” said Maklavir between breaths, “did the pagans purposefully make everything as heavy as possible?”
“Trust me,” said Kara from the other side of the room, “you guys had the easy part.” She finished pulling her red hair back, tying it deftly into a ponytail.
Joseph wiped some sweat from the back of his neck. “I’m still not sure about this, Kara. What if—”
The thief loosened her vest and shrugged it off her shoulders. “We’ve been over that already, Joseph. Will that statue hold my weight?”
“We’ll support it,” said Kendril. He rubbed delicately at the purple bruise on the side of his face. “It should get you up to the hole. The rest is all up to you.”
Kara smiled, rolling both her shirt sleeves up to the elbows. “That’s all I need.” She kicked off her boots, yanking the stockings off as well, then started rolling up her trouser legs to the knees.
“What I don’t get,” Joseph began, glancing down at her, “is what—” He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes falling on Kara’s exposed leg. He quickly averted his eyes, his face budding bright crimson.
“Is…what you—” he fumbled, lost for words. “I mean—”
Kara glanced up at her hapless friend, then beamed at him. “No time to be modest, Joseph. I promise I’ll cover them up again when I’m done.”
Maklavir gave Kara’s shapely calves an admiring look. “No need to hurry on our account, of course.”
The pretty redhead gave him a sarcastic smile, then walked up to Joseph, who was still doing his best to look away. She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.
Surprised, the scout looked over at her.
“At least there’s one gentleman in this bunch,” she said, turning back to the statue.
Blushing even more, Joseph mumbled something incoherent, then looked away again.
“Alright,” said Kendril, grabbing the statue from one side. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Joseph and Maklavir took places along the statue as well, supporting it as firmly as they could.
Kara took a deep breath, stretching her arms and legs. She snatched the rope and tied it securely around her waist.
“Do you need the light?” Kendril indicated the sputtering matchcord with a nod of his head.
“No. I don’t want the smoke getting in my eyes. Besides, there’s a little bit of daylight coming down. It should be enough to see by.”
Kara took one more stretch, then, as nimbly as a cat, she climbed up the statue. She poked her head up into the hole, examining it for a moment, then reached up one hand, then the other. The next moment, her whole body slid up out of view.
The three men down below watched in silent amazement as Kara moved slowly upwards, the rope trailing behind her.
Joseph stared up after her, a strange expression on his face.
Kendril gave him a jesting smile. “Don’t enjoy the view too much, Joseph.”
“What?” said Joseph, his concentration suddenly broken. He looked quickly down. “I wasn’t—I mean I didn’t—”
“Relax,” said the Ghostwalker with a chuckle. “I wasn’t being serious.”
Maklavir tilted his head appreciatively, still looking upwards at Kara’s disappearing form. “You know, she really is terribly talented. I had no idea she climb freehand like that.”
“I don’t think any of us did,” said Joseph. He glanced over at Kendril. “So tell me, what’s so important about that pendant Galla took?”
Kendril stepped back from the statue as well.
“I don’t know. When Kara described it I thought…” he paused, shaking his head.
“Thought what?” asked Maklavir curiously.
“Nothing,” said Kendril in a voice to end the conversation. “Either way, though, we need to find Galla. I still have some questions for him.”
“About that,” said Joseph uncomfortably, “you…were right about him all along. If we had listened to you we would never have gotten ourselves in this situation.”
Kendril gave a good-natured shrug. “We’d still be broke, too.” He smiled. “Don’t worry about it, Joseph. Believe it or not, I’ve been wrong before once or twice myself.”
“What galls me,” said Maklavir, “is that he lied to us. Twice. And we bought it both times.”
“He won’t lie to us again,” said Kendril coldly. “I’ll make sure of that.”
They stood around in silence for several more tense minutes, until the rope suddenly pulled up, then fell limp. A few seconds later there was a sharp tug from above.
Joseph walked up and gave the rope a light pull, then a harder one.
“Well I’ll be a Guild eunuch,” he said in wonder.
“Hey guys,” called a familiar voice from above. “Come on up.”
It was snowing again by the time they made it back to camp. In the east the sun was sinking low on the horizon, shading the sky in deep purple and red.
“At least he left the animals,” said Joseph in relief. He walked over to the fire pit, and glanced down at the cold embers. “Doesn’t look like anyone’s been here since last night.”
“He probably headed straight for Stefgarten,” said Kendril bitterly. “There was no need for him to stop by here. He had everything he needed.” He walked up to Simon, and gave the mule an amiable pat on the nose.
The beast gave an angry snort.
“Sorry boy,” the Ghostwalker said with a smile. “Didn’t intend to be away that long.”
Kara brushed some snow off a nearby log and sat down. She glanced down at her sleeve. It was smeared with dirt. “Oh, well,” she said cheerfully. “Better than soot.”
Maklavir carefully inspected Veritas, patting the horse reassuringly on the flank. “I still can’t believe you did that.” He looked back at the young woman. “If you had spoken up sooner we could have saved ourselves a few hours of frustration.”
“Well,” Kara replied nonchalantly, “I wanted to make sure the dagger really wouldn’t work. After all, there was a good chance that I could have fallen.”
Joseph shot her a quick look.
“Yes, I know,” said Kara. She gave a little laugh. “You’re very sweet to look out for me, Joseph.”
“Oh,” said Kendril, firing a covert wink in Makla
vir’s direction, “You know Joseph. He worries about everyone.”
Joseph glared at Kendril.
Maklavir pretended to examine a saddlebag, hiding a smile.
“Well,” said Kara with a glance up at the sky, “it looks like it’ll be dark soon.”
“Yes,” said Joseph, grateful for the change of subject. “We might as well bed down here for the night. I’ll scout around for some more firewood.”
“Bed down?” Kendril’s face lost all traces of humor. “Galla already has a full day’s march on us.”
“I know,” said Joseph. He rubbed his nose, red from the cold. “We’ll have to take up the chase in the morning.”
“Not if we chase him through the night,” the Ghostwalker replied. “We might be able to catch him before dawn.”
Joseph checked the rapier at his side. “I don’t know if you noticed, but we’re in the middle of nowhere. It’s going to be very, very dark tonight.”
“You’re a pathfinder, aren’t you?” said Kendril sharply. “So find us a path.”
Joseph looked over at his friend, snowflakes swirling all around him. “Kendril, I know you want to catch up to Galla. But we’re exhausted, and you’re injured.”
Kendril made a dismissive gesture towards the bruise on his face. “It’s just a bump on the head, Joseph.”
“You need to rest, Kendril. We all do. Stumbling around in the black of night won’t do us any good.”
The Ghostwalker scowled and turned away.
“He’s right, you know.” Maklavir breathed into his hands, rubbing them together against the chill. “If we rest up tonight we’ll be in a much better place to track Galla down tomorrow.”
“Besides,” said Kara, undoing her ponytail and shaking her hair free, “Galla probably thinks we’re still trapped in that cave. We have time on our side.”
Kendril brushed some of the snow off his shoulders. “Alright,” he said at last. “Let’s build a fire.”
The shavings flew off the small piece of wood, scattering over the snow.
Joseph blew again, harder, and the last few shreds tossed away into the darkness. He held the piece of whittling up in his hands, analyzing it in the firelight. The shape of a bird was clearly discernible now, soaring freely on an imaginary breeze.
