Bakkian Chronicles, Book I - The Prophecy

by Poole, Jeffrey

  “Now we find out if anyone is claustrophobic,” Rhenyon observed. “Before I forget. Lady Sarah, if ye please.”

  Startled to be addressed, Sarah stepped forward. “Yes?”

  “I need ye to vividly picture our last campsite in yer head. Can ye do that?”

  Sarah brought up a mental image of their former campsite, even picturing the stones they had sat on, the hearth they had made. Yes, she could see it quite clearly. “I can do that. Do you need to send something there?”

  “Hopefully not, but if the need arises, it is good to know that ye can.”

  Sarah blinked. That was a good idea. As they progressed down farther into the depths of the earth, she recalled each and every campsite that they had ever visited, figuring if she ever needed to attempt an emergency teleport jump, then she at least had several reference points.

  Steve silently fingered the leather pouches fastened to the nohrstaf harness. He had managed to charge three of the crystals and sincerely hoped he wouldn’t have to use them. Even with six torches providing light, the darkness still felt as though it was pressing in on him. It was so very tempting to simply ignite both hands and fire off a blast.

  After half an hour of traveling down the steep, narrow steps, they emerged into an immense cavern. A steady drip could be heard from somewhere in the distance as drops of groundwater cascaded down several stalactites and fell to the ground. Having become accustomed to their voices being muffled by the small confines of the tunnel they were just in, several soldiers whistled in amazement. Echoes of their whistles bounced around the cavern until finally returning back to them multiplied tenfold.

  Steve added his own whistle. “Look at the size of this place! It’s gotta be the size of Fedex Field!”

  “Fedicks field, sir Steve?”

  “Uh, it’s a really large, er, field where people in my land play, um, games with thousands and thousands of people watching from the sidelines.”

  “Where’s the light coming from?” Sarah asked, noting that there was just enough light to illuminate the closest cavern wall. “I figured it’d be pitch black down here.”

  “Something must be glowing,” Steve observed, inspecting the closest wall. “What that is, I can’t tell.”

  Sarah turned to Rhenyon.

  “Okay, so what’s the plan? What do we do now?”

  “We make contact with the dwarves, Lady Sarah,” Rhenyon answered.

  “How? How do we find them down here?”

  “Truth be told, I am not certain,” Rhenyon admitted. “I figured that they would have made contact by now. We are, after all, now in their realm.”

  In the flickering light provided by the torches, Rhenyon could see Pheron gazing around the cavern. At least one of them was able to see something.

  “What do ye see, lieutenant?”

  “On the far wall, directly opposite us,” Pheron reported,” are two openings that appear to be tunnels. There are numerous stalagmites scattered about, and quite a few stalactites that hang dangerously low.”

  “How low?”

  “Dwarves would be fine. But even Lady Sarah would be unable to pass beneath one without stooping.”

  “We make for the tunnels,” Rhenyon instructed. “Use caution. No wandering about here. Single file. Lieutenant Pheron, take lead.”

  Picking carefully amongst the large rock formations, they skirted about the circumference of the large cavern, moving towards the closest tunnel. When they finally peered into the small, dark opening, it was Kern who took lead. Holding his torch up high above his head, he entered the tunnel, continually casting looks behind him as if to verify that he wouldn’t be alone.

  “Problem, sir,” Kern called out moments later from the front of the line.

  “What is it?” Rhenyon called back.

  “Dead end.”

  “Alright, we backtrack. Try the other tunnel.”

  However, tunnel two also provided the same results. It angled downward for about fifty paces and then it, too, abruptly terminated. Rhenyon peered closely at the wall. Countless marks from hammers and chisels scarred the surface.

  “These tunnels are incomplete. Why would they leave unfinished work? Very undwarflike.” The captain snorted with disgust. Once again they were forced to reverse course, returning back to the great cavern.

  “They’re testing us,” Sarah whispered, barely audible. “They’re making certain we’re deemed worthy to enter their territory.”

  “What was that?” Steve didn’t quite catch what his wife had said. Something about a test?

  “This is a message from the dwarves.”

  “What is?” Steve looked around. “Where do you see a message?”

  “The tunnels. They are telling us to not take things for granted,” Sarah explained, raising her voice so that everyone could hear her. “The entrance is here. It’s hidden. We have to find it.”

  There was a collective groan as the soldiers looked around them. Stone stalactites dipped down low from the ceiling, at times joining with their ground dwelling brethren forming numerous mineral columns all throughout the cavern. Unusual rock formations met their eyes wherever they looked. Where do they start?

  “The entrance could be anywhere,” Steve complained. “How do we find it?”

  Rhenyon thought a moment. “If the entrance is truly here, then it will be concealed and more than likely disguised even better than the main entrance.”

  He started to pace.

  “Now, it took the two of ye to both open the entrance, therefore it stands to reason that it will take more than that to open this other passageway.”

  Sarah nodded. Makes sense. She looked at her companions. So, the question was, who had to be the ones to do it?

  “Let’s see if we can find the entrance, and then we’ll figure out how to open it.”

  Rhenyon was nodding, facing his troops. “As before, disperse. Look for anything out of the ordinary. Call out if ye see anything that stands out, understood?”

  There were choruses of “ayes” as the soldiers moved out, inspecting rock formations and tapping stone pillars. Sarah started to move off when Steve grabbed her arm.

  “What is it?”

  Steve nodded in the direction of the two incomplete tunnels. “What do you want to bet it’s in one of those things? You said it yourself. Don’t take anything for granted.”

  Sarah peered into the first tunnel they checked. “That almost makes sense. Wouldn’t that be the ultimate disguise? Waste hours and hours out here checking all these rock formations when what you were looking for would be right in there.”

  Together they moved into the first tunnel.

  “Can you give me a little light?”

  Two torches ignited instantly, casting their welcoming light around the confines of the rocky tunnel. Sarah eyed her husband’s flaming hands.

  “You really do come in useful around here, don’t you?”

  Steve grinned, giving his wife a small bow. “I do what I can, milady!”

  Together they inspected the entire surface of the tunnel. Nothing but chipped and scarred rock met their eyes.

  Not disgruntled in the slightest, Steve turned to his wife. “So we can’t see it. Not surprising. Time to try the jhoruns. Do what you did last time. Try to imagine you’re teleporting something from the other side.”

  Quietly, Sarah paced up and down the tunnel, running her hand along the curve of the walls. Nothing but lifeless masses of stone met her senses. Assuming she should expect a picture of some type to form in her mind, Sarah figured physical contact would be best. Therefore she skimmed her hand along the tunnel ceiling, and then the floor. Still nothing.

  “No luck?”

  “Not a bit. Let’s try the other one.”

  Moving to the second tunnel, she repeated the process, only to be met with the same results as before. Sighing with exasperation, she finally dropped her arms to her sides. Together, they walked back into the main cavern. On the far wall they watched Da
rius systematically tapping various rocks, while Kern opted for the slower, but more methodical visual inspections.

  “I guess we were wrong, honey.”

  Steve sighed. It was such a good guess. It would have made for a very clever ruse, hiding the actual entrance in one of the obvious tunnels. So why start two tunnels and not finish them, then? Wait. The ends of the tunnels… Did she check those?

  “Question for you. You checked the walls, ceilings, and floors. What about the ends?”

  Sarah froze, foot raised in mid-step. Of course she had, hadn’t she? Wouldn’t that have been the first part she would have checked? Problem was, she didn’t remember checking the ends due to her husband pointing out various spots to try first. She looked at Steve, who had a smile on his face. His head gave a small, quick jerk back to the first passageway. Gloat all you want, dear, she thought ruefully, but if you hadn’t distracted me, I would have checked those first. Plastering a smile on her face, she held out her hand, to which Steve snuffed out his to take it. They walked hand-in-hand back to the first tunnel they explored, not saying a word until they reached the end.

  “Okay, do your thing.”

  Sarah ran her hands over the scuffs and scrapes of the unfinished tunnel wall. She once again tried to imagine there was something she wanted on the other side, waiting for an image to form. Nothing. Shaking her head, she turned to Steve.

  “Sorry, nothing here.”

  “Let’s check out the other one.”

  Retracing their steps to the second tunnel, Sarah again ran her hands over the rough surface of the stone. This time, though, she hesitated. A picture was starting to form.

  “I knew it!” Steve was ecstatic. “What do you see?”

  Sarah concentrated, willing the swirling images in her mind to focus. Every time she tried, the fuzzy shapes kept erratically jumping about.

  “I can’t get an image to focus. Something starts to form, but stays fuzzy. I don’t know what else to do. It’s like I’m not strong enough to - wait a minute. Give me your hand.”

  Steve snuffed out his hand once more to take his wife’s. The images in her mind had sharpened somewhat, but only marginally so. It hadn’t been enough, however, for her to figure out what she was supposed to do.

  “That helped, it really did. Only the picture is still fuzzy. I don’t think we’re strong enough. We need more people!”

  “We need the others!”

  “Rhenyon! Pheron! Anyone out there?” Steve called. “We have something!”

  There was a clamoring out in the great cavern as a soldier poked his head into the tunnel. “What is it, sir Steve?”

  “Darius, get the others. We found something!”

  Within moments all the soldiers were crowding around husband and wife as Sarah explained what they had found.

  “They hid the entrance to their domain in an unfinished tunnel. Genius.” Rhenyon shook his head. “I would not have thought to look in here.” He slapped Steve heartily on the back. “What do ye need of us?”

  Steve held his and Sarah’s clasped hands out before them. “Sarah can start to visualize something, but before she can see a clear picture, apparently the level of jhorun needs to be increased. I took her hand and it started to focus, but not enough. Everyone grab on.”

  Leaning in from every direction, the soldiers laid their right hand over the two joined hands, looking for all the world like a group of athletes ready to take on the opposing team.

  Sarah closed her eyes and concentrated again. Yes! The images were coming into focus, giving her a clear picture of the entryway on the other side. Once again she saw stone steps angling down. She directed her jhorun to investigate, seeking out the mechanism to open the tunnel. However, try as she might, no additional images formed. Sarah sighed.

  “What is it?”

  “I’ve got a perfect view of the tunnel,” Sarah explained, “but it’s not giving me anything else to go off of. I have no idea what to do to open the door.”

  “If there are no locks,” Rhenyon asked, “then that would suggest that there is nothing but a wall of stone between us and the entrance down, correct?”

  Sarah nodded. “I have just one image. A very clear one, actually. The extra jhorun really helped.”

  “There’s just a wall of stone preventing us from getting through to the other side?” Steve asked, eyeing the uneven stone wall.

  “Yes, why?”

  Steve held up one of his gauntlets. “Betcha I can get through that.”

  “I do not believe that is a good idea, sir Steve,” Rhenyon advised, running his hands along the uneven surface. He knew of the Nohrin’s enchanted gauntlets. “The dwarves would have found a way to prevent forced entry to their realm.”

  “Couldn’t hurt to try, right?”

  Sharing a quick glance with Sarah, Rhenyon smiled, holding out an arm in invitation.

  Confident he would be able to punch his way through, Steve cocked his arm.

  “Ready?”

  Sarah shook her head. “Are you?”

  Steve snorted, then punched forward. Figuring he wouldn’t have to hit it that hard after witnessing Quisen’s demonstration, Steve gave the wall a solid smack. Nothing happened. Annoyed, he struck harder. A dull, muted whump sounded.

  “That didn’t even sound right,” Steve complained, ready to strike the wall again.

  “As I told ye, sir Steve,” Rhenyon explained, moving to prevent the fire thrower from throwing any more needless punches, “there are measures in place to prevent this very thing from happening.”

  “Then how do we get in?”

  “I think I have it.”

  Steve looked at his wife. “What? What do we have to do?”

  “The image I got before you tried to bash the wall down? It was much clearer than the picture I received on the surface when we were trying to open the entrance.”

  “So?”

  “I think I know how to get us in.”

  “You do? How? Tell us!”

  “The key to get through,” she said slowly, “is me. I can do it. I think.”

  Understanding, Rhenyon smiled. “Ye have to teleport us through, Lady Sarah.”

  “Only problem is I’ve only teleported one person before, and that was by accident. I don’t know exactly what I have to do. So you’d better give me a minute.”

  Steve hesitated. It did make sense. She had kept mentioning that the image she was seeing was very clear. And in order for her to teleport anything, then she had to clearly see the locations involved. He was silent, motioning the others to be quiet as well.

  Sarah closed her eyes, focusing all her inner strength on the task she was about to undergo. With the image of the first step of the stairs leading down clearly pictured in her head, Sarah ordered her jhorun to move her physical body from here to there.

  She gave a yelp of surprise as she was wrenched away from the tunnel. Her world tilted sideways as all her senses short-circuited, causing her to stumble. She fell solidly on her butt.

  “Ouch!”

  Scrambling to her feet, rubbing her delicate hind end, Sarah blinked and looked around. Complete darkness met her eyes. She couldn’t see a thing! Didn’t it work? Where was she? Taking several deep breaths, Sarah finally slowed her breathing down to take stock of her situation. If she was truly on the other side of the wall, then the first step down should be right about… She cast about with her right foot, searching for the step. There it was! She did it! She actually made it! No wonder it was dark. There weren’t any torches on this side. She definitely needed Steve.

  Back on the other side of the wall, Steve had watched with amazement as Sarah literally vanished right before his eyes. He didn’t have any doubts that she’d be able to teleport herself to the other side. Apparently her jhorun worked very well the better you could imagine the locations involved. And, he knew Sarah had an excellent memory. What about coming back? She’d just have to picture the area she just left so… So in order to return back here, th
at meant nobody should move, lest they move into the space that she had just frequently vacated.

  “That is amazing,” Pheron remarked, starting to move forward. “I would love to have –”

  “No! Wait!” Steve flung out his arm, thumping the soldier on his chest.

  Pheron froze. “What is it?”

  “Sarah has to make it back. Chances are she’ll move back to the exact spot she vacated, so everyone must be in the exact same place when she comes back. No one moves until she appears.”

  Rhenyon was nodding. “Aye, makes sense. We wait for Lady Sarah’s return. No one moves,” the captain ordered.

  From the other side of the wall, Sarah steadied herself, taking several deep breaths. Okay, here we go. Trying to calm her queasy stomach, she addressed her jhorun, giving them yet another command: move me back to where I was.

  Another gut wrenching jolt and she stumbled into Rhenyon, who whirled to catch her before she received a nasty blow from the stone wall.

  Steve caught her other arm and pulled her in for a hug. “You did it, babe! Nice job!” He then saw his wife’s ashen complexion and took her by the shoulders. “Are you okay? You’re all pale.”

  Sarah put a hand on her stomach. “I know what I need to work on. There has to be an easier way to do that.”

  “What happened? Did you make it to the other side?”

  Sarah nodded, still rubbing her queasy stomach. “Yes, I made it. I couldn’t see much. No light. But that’s not the part that concerns me.”

  Steve waited, not wanting to grill his wife, but desperately wanting more details.

  After a moment of battling nausea, Sarah continued. “Imagine putting yourself in the pouch of a big slingshot, and then you’re launched into the air. Now, once you’re sailing through the air, imagine stopping rather abruptly, like you’re flung into a large catcher’s mitt. It feels rather like that.”

  “What is a ‘sling-shot’, Lady Sarah?” Kern asked.

  “A device that loosely resembles a catapult in design,” Steve offered.

  The soldiers nervously eyed each other. They had to be shot out of a catapult?