“I don’t think that will happen.”
“Are you willing to take that risk?”
Reneeke glanced over to where Lady Kate sat with Seward.
“Understand lad, that if the curse afflicts you, we have no more scrolls to counter it.”
“I know.” Then he shrugged. “But this is what a Springer does, right? Be the one to tempt fate?”
Jaikus was not happy about the course of action his friend was contemplating. Turning to their leader, he asked, “Isn’t there anything else we can try?”
“None that readily comes to mind,” replied Charka. “Your friend’s logic is sound.” Then he glanced to Reneeke. “But before you try, perhaps we could examine the walls of the room in greater detail. There may be a switch, or something else, that might open a hidden way.”
“Time thus spent would also allow Seward to further recuperate,” added Lady Kate from her position at Seward’s side.
“I’m not that bad off,” he objected.
Laying her hand upon his chest, she applied gentle pressure before saying, “Fine, then. Get up.”
He tried to rise, but the minimal pressure her hand exerted kept him down. Struggle though he may, Seward could not produce enough force to overcome her efforts. Finally giving up, he resigned himself to further rest.
She merely chuckled and took her hand from off his chest.
Charka led his two Springers to the nearest wall. Gesturing to their right, he said, “You two check that way. Be careful, and if you find something, let me know before doing anything.”
“Yes, sir,” replied Jaikus.
Over the course of the next half hour, the three of them combed the walls for any sign of another way to leave the room. During that time, Lady Kate’s detection spell ran its course, causing the blue glows throughout the room to vanish. When at last the three secret door seekers came together at the opposite side of the room, Charka was forced to admit that Reneeke’s idea about moving the statue’s arms would have to be attempted.
“I don’t like it,” he said, once he and his Springers had returned to where the other two waited. “Too many dire things could happen.”
There was silence for a moment before Reneeke asked, “Do you want me to do it?”
Charka glanced to Lady Kate. “Any suggestions?”
She shook her head. Then to Reneeke she said, “Good luck.”
“Thank you.”
Leaving the others, he made his way to the statue of the naked, golden man. First, he moved to the arm on the left, the one with the black stone. Very cautiously, he placed his hands against the underside of the statue’s forearm, and pushed. The arm moved a fraction of an inch, then came to a stop. He tried using more strength, but the arm simply would not budge any farther.
The thought that perhaps the other side had to be moved first prompted him to leave the left arm and crossed over to the right. This time, he grabbed the forearm and pulled down. Again, just like the left arm, it moved only a miniscule distance before coming to a halt. Reneeke even tried lifting his feet from the ground, causing his entire weight to hang from the arm, yet even that failed to accomplish anything. He finally let go.
“I can’t get them to move,” he hollered to the others.
“Maybe your theory was incorrect,” replied Charka.
Reneeke was certain that it wasn’t. Then an idea occurred to him. “Jaik, come here and give me a hand.”
Moving to his friend’s side, Jaikus asked, “What do you need?”
“It could be that the arms must move simultaneously. You push up on the left while I pull down on the right.”
Not looking very thrilled at being in such close proximity to the cursed item resting upon the statue’s palm, Jaikus moved to do as requested.
Reneeke grasped the arm once again. Once Jaikus was ready, he said, “Now.”
He pulled down, Jaikus pushed up, and the arms moved.
“It’s working,” he said and strained all the harder. Jaikus did the same. Together, they managed to move the arms twenty degrees before they would move no further. As Reneeke let go of the arm, he heard a grinding noise coming from behind him. A section of the wall was slowly sinking into the floor. They had found the way out.
Chapter Eleven
At Charka’s urging, Jaikus lent Seward a shoulder as they made ready to leave. Reneeke, with rope still secured about the middle, took lantern in hand and directed its light into the opening as he approached. Therin he discovered a tunnel extending outward at a slightly upward slant. Narrower by half than the previous passageways encountered, the tunnel continued past the reach of the lantern.
“Looks like an escape route,” commented Charka as he came to stand beside his Springer.
Reneeke nodded. “And unlikely to be trapped, wouldn’t you think?”
“Yes, I would. But then I wouldn’t trust my life to that assumption either. Be careful.”
Flashing him a half-grin, Reneeke stepped through the opening and began making his way through the tunnel.
Charka followed, all the while keeping a firm grip upon the rope, just in case Reneeke ran afoul of another trap. Behind him came Lady Kate, with Jaikus aiding the still much weakened Seward.
The tunnel continued its upward slant for a good hundred feet before coming to a dead end. Attached to the stone wall at the end was a sliding bar whose end was firmly ensconced within a receptacle cavity in the wall on the right.
Getting the go-ahead from Charka, Reneeke slid the bar free of the cavity, and pushed on the stone wall. It slid open several inches before coming to a stop. Sunlight filtered in through the newly formed opening.
“It is an escape route,” he concluded. For a moment, he stood with face upraised, reveling in the sun’s warmth.
With Charka lending his strength, he and his Springer managed to push the wall far enough to allow for their passage. They discovered that the secret exit had been built as part of a wall, less than thirty feet from where they originally began their exploration earlier in the day.
“We made it!” exclaimed Jaikus jubilantly.
Charka glanced to the sun. “Still have several hours left.”
“You can’t be serious,” objected Lady Kate. “Seward is in no condition to continue rooting around through ancient buildings.”
Turning a questioning look toward his man, Charka asked, “How about it?”
Legs trembling, dots flashing before his eyes from the exertion of having traversed the tunnel on their way out, panting and feeling as if he was on the verge of passing out at any minute, Seward replied, “Sure. Let’s go.”
All it took was a glance and Charka could clearly tell by Seward’s pale countenance and the sweat dotting his brow that he was at his end. The welfare of his man outweighed the possibility of recovering further treasure. There was always next time. “You’re right, Kate. Let us return to camp.”
With the prospect of triggering traps now no longer a concern, Reneeke untied himself from the rope. Then after returning it back to Charka, went to lend his aid in supporting Seward.
“At least this trip wasn’t a total loss,” stated Charka as they left the site of the recently explored ruins. “We did recover a few items that will bring a coin or two.”
“Thanks to Reneeke,” added Lady Kate.
The Springer shrugged, or at least as well as he could with Seward’s arm draped across his shoulders. “It was nothing.”
“Nothing? I would hardly call gems, rings, and new sword for yourself, nothing.”
“I suppose. But those aren’t the treasures I’m glad to have brought out with us.”
“Oh?” she asked. “You have something else?”
“You know you are supposed to inform Charka of any treasure you find?” Seward’s voice was raspy from exhaustion.
Reneeke smiled. “I am referring to my life, and Jaikus’. Going in, it seemed one or both of us were doomed to not return.”
“You can thank Seward for that,”
Charka explained. “If not for his current condition, we would even now still be delving into the unknown.”
They found that their camp had remained undisturbed. Everything was exactly as they had left it.
“Master Hymal hasn’t returned?” observed Jaikus.
Lady Kate shook her head. “We won’t see him until just before dawn. That is when he normally returns.”
She directed the two Springers to bring Seward near the fire-ring and lay him down.
“I tell you, my strength is coming back,” Seward complained.
During the last half hour of their return, Seward had been blustering about how he no longer needed to be coddled, that he could walk on his own. It hadn’t been until they allowed him to make the attempt, and the ensuing crash to the ground, that he had finally ceased his squawking. Now however, his objections at having to rest were resurfacing.
Lady Kate knelt beside him. Then just as she had before, she placed her hand on his chest. “If you can get up, I’ll leave you alone.”
Time had rejuvenated his strength to the point where he managed to gain a sitting position against her efforts to keep him down. “Perhaps you are no longer in such a poor condition after all.”
Pale from the exertion, Seward was breathing a bit harder than he should have. As sweat once again began to form on his forehead, he said with some forced bravado, “See.”
She gave him a smile. “Just don’t go wandering off and collapse.”
He knocked her hand from where it still rested on his chest. “I’m not a baby that needs to be looked after.” Pulling his flask from out of his pack, he took a long drink.
Lady Kate glanced over to Charka. “I think he’ll live.”
“He better,” their leader replied. “I don’t fancy having to haul his carcass back through the Swamp.”
Draining the last of the water, Seward flashed him an annoyed look. “You won’t have to.”
“Good.” Charka had just settled down and begun breaking out some rations when the shadows of his two Springers fell upon him. Looking up, he glanced to Jaikus who was slightly more forward than Reneeke. “Yes?”
“We, uh,” Jaikus said before pausing a moment to clear his throat. “We were wondering if you wouldn’t mind if me and Reneeke did a little more exploring.”
“Haven’t you lads had enough for one day?”
“We thought to have a look through that building I investigated this morning.”
Acquiring a stern look, Charka’s glance passed from one Springer to the other, then he chuckled. “I suppose you can’t get into too much trouble, seeing as how we have already gone through there a couple of times. It should be safe.”
Jaikus’ eyes lit up. “Thank you, sir.”
Charka nodded. “Be back by sundown.”
“We will,” he assured their leader. Then indicating for Reneeke to follow, Jaikus said, “Come on, Rene.”
As they rushed off to explore on their own, Lady Kate moved to sit next to Charka. “Think they will find anything?”
“No. But I well understand the need compelling them.” He watched the pair disappear before starting in on a package of trail rations.
Before they entered through what Jaikus now understood to be a window, Reneeke insisted they secure themselves together with one of their ropes. When it looked as if Jaikus was about to object, Reneeke reminded him that the rope had already saved his life once. “Despite Charka’s assurance that this building is secure, I would feel better if we used the rope.”
Jaikus gave in and tied the rope around his middle.
Since the lantern had remained back at camp, they each lit one of their torches supplied by Bella. Then with Jaikus taking the lead, they entered the building and quickly passed through the room with the mural depicting a keep under siege. After that, he made a beeline for the darkened area that earlier he had figured to be a way down. He wasn’t disappointed. A spiral series of steps led to the unknown depths below.
“Isn’t this great?” he asked as he quickly began taking the steps down. The sheer ancientness of the place made him giddy with excitement.
Reneeke nodded. “Yeah.” In the back of his mind, he knew they wouldn’t find anything as Charka and his crew had already covered this area. But there was still an element of thrill in the hunt.
They descended the steps to the next level, only to discover they continued still farther. “Let’s see how far down we can go,” suggested Jaikus.
Shrugging, Reneeke replied, “Sure.”
After giving the room on this new level only a cursory examination, Jaikus continued down the steps to the third level. Again, the steps continued down where they ended at the fourth and Jaikus pressed on.
“We’re quite a ways down now,” stated Reneeke as he left the steps and entered the fourth level. Jaikus simply nodded as he took a quick look around.
The room was of average size with a single doorway looming in one wall. Naught but dust and a carcass left behind by a long ago scavenger was to be found. Jaikus moved to the doorway and passed through into a hallway lined with doorways spaced every twenty feet or so.
Pausing at the first, he moved his torch within the room and saw where dirt had cascaded through a window from the outside to form a large mound on one side. A brief glance at the rest of the room revealed nothing of interest.
Moving on, he encountered further rooms that must have been located along the outer perimeter of the building as each bore windows and held similar mounds of earth. After the tenth such room, they encountered another series of steps down. Jaikus glanced to Reneeke who nodded for him to continue.
They descended deeper beneath the surface; making their way down to the fifth level, then the sixth, until finally coming out into a room on the seventh.
“Can you believe it, Rene? We’ve come down almost a hundred feet.”
“I wonder how much farther until we reach what would have been ground level in Sythal’s time?”
“I don’t know.”
Level seven was little different than the ones preceding it. The only real difference was that the passageway leading from the room was slightly wider. Such a change could possibly indicate that they were getting close to the original “ground level.”
Not far after leaving the room, they came upon a gaping hole where the floor should have been. The hole was roughly the same size as the trap that had attempted to drop Jaikus to his death. Moving to the edge, they peered down into the shadowy depths below.
“Think there could be treasure down there like last time?”
Reneeke shrugged. “Possibly.”
Jaikus laid his torch so the burning end extended past the lip of the opening. “Lower me down.”
Reneeke set his torch down as well, then grasped the rope. Once Jaikus had swung his lower half from the passageway and into the opening, Reneeke started lowering him down.
This trap’s shaft wasn’t nearly as deep as the other, merely fifteen feet. Aside from the two dozen, foot and a half barbed spikes set in the floor of the shaft to impale the unwary, there was naught to find but a single, human skull skewered by one of the spikes.
Disappointed, Jaikus hollered up to Reneeke, “Nothing here. Lift me back up.” As he neared the top, he heard Reneeke say, “Can’t expect to find treasure all the time.”
“No. But it would be nice to bring something away.”
“If you expect to do that, we first need to find an area Charka has yet to explore.” Reaching down, he took Jaikus’ hand and hauled him the rest of the way out.
“How do you propose we do that?”
Reneeke shrugged. “Haven’t a clue.”
Leaping across the opening, they continued down to the next doorway. There, they discovered another windowed room full of dirt. Only this time, the window was not completely clogged with earth. In the lower left corner, a small hole had been bored out by what may have been some small, burrowing animal, and not that long ago either. For beneath the hole, loose dir
t cascaded its way to the floor. Jaikus entered the room to give the hole a more thorough inspection.
He was no stranger to gophers, moles, and other burrowing animals, they were enemy number one when you lived on a farm. Though he couldn’t tell exactly which one had made the hole, he was certain that the hole couldn’t have been more than a day old.
Moving the torch so its light could pierce the hole’s dark interior in full measure, he peered down its length. Three feet in, something glittered in the torchlight. Excitement!
“There’s something in there!” Jaikus cried.
“What?” Stepping closer, Reneeke tried to see what had caused Jaikus to get all excited. When his friend moved aside to allow him to peer into the small tunnel, he saw where the glittering object was still buried within the earth filling the window. That only a very small portion was visible. However, that small portion glittered like gold.
Jaikus stuck the end of his torch in the pile of earth beneath the window. “Give me a hand,” he said as he grabbed a rock and began scrapping dirt from out of the window.
Picking up a flat rock suitable for excavation, Reneeke set to with gusto. “I bet Charka never knew this was here.”
“No way,” agreed Jaikus. Excited with the untold possibilities of what it could be, he scrapped with fevered enthusiasm.
Dirt flew and the pile beneath the window grew larger. The hole widened until they were finally able to excavate the dirt surrounding the glittering object. It was revealed to be a hand, a human hand.
As more dirt was removed, the hand turned into an arm. The arm in turn was attached to an upper torso. Removing still more dirt revealed a head attached to the torso.
“It’s a statue,” announced Reneeke. Covered in dirt, his dust-tinged face streaked with rivulets of sweat, he grinned. “I don’t think we’ll be able to carry it out, Jaik.”
“What do you mean?”
“A statue of that size, made entirely of gold, would weigh far too much for us to move, let alone haul it up eight flights of steps.”
Jaikus and Reneeke Join the Guild Page 15
