Shepherd's Quest: The Broken Key #1

by Brian S. Pratt

  The inn had very little in the way of amenities for its guests. The rooms were quite small, in fact they were forced to share a single room with one small bed. Still, it was better than sleeping outside on the ground.

  They had but two choices for dinner. One was the stew that the cook at the inn provided or they could choose the food they brought with them. Forget about entertainment. There was a very small spot where a bard of some kind could have entertained those eating there, but none made an appearance. Riyan commented to the others that he thought it unlikely a bard ever came this way.

  Once they finished eating, they stepped outside and tried to figure a way into the keep. The same two guards were still standing there to either side of the entrance. Any attempt at scaling the walls would be immediately seen. The prospect of gaining admittance seemed remote in the extreme.

  “We could still ask,” Riyan said.

  “I don’t think that would be such a good idea,” countered Bart. “Though if no other opportunity presents itself, we may be left with little choice.”

  For over an hour they wandered around the courtyard, all the while maintaining an eye on the keep while trying to appear like they weren’t. Finally, Bart noticed two men emerge between the two guards as they left the keep. They were dressed like merchants and were making their way over to where the five wagons sat.

  Bart watched them cross the courtyard and grew thoughtful. Riyan noticed him following the two men with his eyes and asked, “What?”

  “Those two men just came out of the keep,” he said. “I wonder what they were doing in there?”

  “Good question,” Chad said. “Maybe you should go over and ask them.”

  Bart turned to him and nodded. “I think I will,” he said. Before Bart or Chad could say anything he stepped out and hurried over to the caravan’s camp.

  “What does he think he’s doing?” asked Chad. He had been kidding when he suggested that he go talk with them.

  “I don’t know,” replied Riyan. Then he watched as Bart arrived at the wagons and begun talking with the two men. “I hope he doesn’t get us into trouble.”

  They remained where they were in the courtyard until whatever conversation Bart had been having came to an end. Then he turned around and began heading back to the inn. He indicated with a nod of his head that they should meet him there. They met up with him at the inn’s entrance where he came to a stop. “So?” asked Riyan.

  “Inside the keep is where you acquire your permit to travel across the pass to the Marketplace,” he explained.

  “You need a permit?” asked Chad.

  “So it would seem,” replied Bart. He grinned and said, “This is just what we needed.”

  “They’re not going to give us a permit,” Riyan stated. “We have no logical reason for going over there.”

  “We can use the same story you used to get us in here,” suggested Chad. “That we are waiting for our father’s caravan.”

  “But we can’t prove that,” objected Riyan.

  “Look,” said Bart. “If we can just get past the guards at the entrance, then it doesn’t matter if we get a pass or not. All we really need is to look at the map in the great hall.”

  Chad looked to Riyan and shrugged, “It’s worth a try.”

  “Alright,” he agreed. “The worst they could do is not let us in.”

  Bart gave him a grin and said, “That’s the spirit. Let’s go.”

  They left the front of the inn and made their way toward the entrance to the keep. Riyan felt his insides tighten up in nervousness that he prayed wasn’t mirrored on his face. As they approached the guards at the entrance, Bart took the lead.

  One of the guards stepped forward and held up a hand indicating they were to stop. “Sorry boys, but the keep is off limits,” he told them.

  “We were going to see about getting passes for our father’s wagons before they arrived in the morning,” Bart said in complete sincerity.

  “Passes?” the guard asked.

  “That’s right,” he replied. “Our father wants to see if the goblins would be willing to purchase some jewelry and trinkets that he recently acquired.”

  “Usually the passes aren’t given until the wagons are actually here,” explained the guard.

  “I know,” continued Bart. “Last year we were here with the wagons and it wasn’t a problem. Is Sergeant Akers still issuing the passes?”

  “Yes he is,” the guard replied. His manner seemed to relax just a little.

  “How is his little girl doing?” Bart asked. “Still giving him problems?”

  “Oh you know it,” the guard said with a grin. “She’s not so little anymore. She drives him crazy whenever he’s home on leave.”

  “Is he still in the same room as last year?” Bart asked.

  “Yes,” the guard said. “Down the hall, fourth door on the right.”

  “Thanks,” Bart said then moved forward to enter the keep. Behind him Chad and Riyan follow and to their astonishment, the guard stepped aside and allowed them to enter.

  Once they left the guards behind, they entered a large hall. At present no one was in sight. Riyan tried to ask him about how he knew so much about this Sergeant Akers but Bart waved him silent. “Later,” he said.

  At the far end of the hall was the corridor the guard had referred to. Another corridor left the hall to their right and two closed doors sat in the wall to their left. “Which way?” asked Chad.

  “You got me,” replied Bart. “Let’s hope we find it before they find us.” Moving quickly to the corridor on their right, he soon left the hall behind as he made his way deeper into the keep. Sconces bearing burning torches lined the walls, both in the hall and in the corridors extending from it.

  The great hall had to be in a prominent location, it would stand to reason that they would want it to be very accessible to visitors. So Bart moved down the corridor with the other two right behind, all three trying to be as quiet as possible.

  The corridor extended for over a hundred feet before ending at a closed door. Other doors had sat along either side of the corridor as they moved along it, some open and some closed. The closed ones they left closed, and paused only a moment to peer through the open ones. They were making sure that there was no one on the other side who might see them pass. Not to mention making sure the door didn’t open onto the main hall, though Bart doubted if any of theses doors would do that. They simply were not in what he felt was the right place.

  When they reached the door at the end, Bart listened at it for a moment until he was sure it was quiet on the other side. Then he opened the door slowly and peered around. There he found another corridor running perpendicular to the one they were in.

  Suddenly, footsteps were heard approaching down the corridor on the other side of the door. Bart closed it quickly and turned to the others. “Someone’s coming!” he said. They moved back quickly to the closest door to them and opened it. Fortunately it opened up onto a storage room and they hurried inside. No sooner did they get the door closed than they heard the door at the end of the corridor open. The footsteps began walking towards them down the corridor and they listened as they drew abreast of the door then continued on past. A second or two later they heard another door open and close.

  Bart cracked open the door to the storage room and looked out. The corridor was once again empty. “Come on,” he said to the other two. Opening the door wider, he left the storage room and made his way back to the door at the end of the corridor.

  This time when he peered out into the other corridor, there were no footsteps to be heard and both ways were deserted. Waving for the others to follow, he passed through the doorway and started following the corridor to the left.

  The corridor they found themselves in now was fairly similar to the one they just left. Voices could be heard coming from up ahead and Bart had them pause in a small alcove as they listened. A few seconds later they determined that the voices were neither approaching nor movi
ng away. So they returned to the corridor and resumed their progress.

  Thirty feet further down stood an open doorway and it was from there that the voices were originating. He motioned for Riyan and Chad to remain where they were as he continued forward to peer into the room. Creeping forward silently, he reached the edge of the open door and very slowly looked around to the other side.

  It turned out to be a room where several soldiers were taking their ease before a fireplace. The table they were sitting around had a pitcher of ale and several cups resting on top. One of the men was facing in such a way that the doorway was in his direct line of sight. However, in Bart’s opinion, the man appeared rather drunk and may not notice when they moved across the doorway quickly.

  Turning back to the others, he waved them forward. When they reached his side he said, “Need to be quick.” Once he received nods of understanding, he stepped out and very quickly, passed in front of the doorway. Riyan and Chad followed right behind him.

  Bart didn’t stop when they reached the other side. Instead, he kept leading them forward as he listened for anything that might indicate they were seen by the men in the room behind them. When nothing materialized, he breathed a sigh of relief and continued down the corridor.

  Several other corridors at times branched off, but Bart continued following the corridor they were in. Each time they came to a branching, they would slow down, check for anyone in the other corridor, then proceed when clear. It was the third such branching to the left when they saw what had to be the great hall opening up at the end of the new corridor.

  “I think that’s it,” he said as he turned them down it. When Riyan and Chad entered the corridor, they agreed with him. The corridor extended for about twenty feet before opening up on a large hall with many tables set in three neat rows running from one side to the other. A servant was seen passing through towards one of the exits on the far side.

  They waited until the servant had left the great hall before they entered. As they stepped from the corridor, Riyan glanced up at the vaulting ceiling that arched overhead “Wow,” he breathed in awe as the sheer size of the room overpowered him. He had never been in such a massive room before, other than what they found in The Crypt that is.

  “We don’t have time for gawking,” Bart admonished them. “Let’s find the map and get out of here.”

  They looked for the map and didn’t see it. From what Bart had said it should have been quite large and out in the open. Then Chad turned around and looked at the wall through which they just emerged. “I think I found it,” he said.

  The other two turned about and saw that most of the wall was painted with a map depicting a large portion of the Kingdom of Byrdlon, of which the lands of Duke Yoric were but a part. It also showed the mountains to the west that separated the goblin lands from theirs and beyond.

  “There’s Quillim!” exclaimed Chad.

  Riyan looked to where he pointed and saw a tiny dot with the name of their town upon it. “It isn’t that big,” he said.

  “No it isn’t,” said Bart as he backed away from the wall to get a better view. As much as he stared at the map on the piece of the key when he was lying in bed, he had the area depicted upon it memorized. His eyes scanned the map and came to an area that matched what was on the key.

  Just on the other side of the mountains from Crag Keep was the larger of the two lakes. It sat a little bit west and north of the Marketplace. From its northern shore a river extended northward to the smaller lake where they figured the rest of the key to be. Or at least some indication of where to look for it.

  He frowned slightly when he saw that the area on the shore of the smaller lake showed nothing at all. The map on the key had indicated there was something there, yet here, nothing. “Maybe they don’t know about it,” he mumbled to himself.

  “What?” asked Riyan.

  He pointed to the two lakes and said, “That’s the area inscribed on the back of the key.”

  Riyan and Chad both turned their gaze to see it. Riyan was about to pull forth the piece of the key to compare it when Bart stopped him. “Not here,” he advised. “I know that is it.” He committed the general area of the two lakes to memory, then indicated they should start to leave.

  “What are you doing in here?” a voice asked.

  Turning around in surprise, they saw a middle aged man in uniform. He was staring at them with a rather unpleasant expression.

  “We, uh…” began Riyan then grew silent under the man’s stern gaze.

  “We were trying to find the room where we were told we could acquire passes for our caravan to travel to the Marketplace in the morning,” Bart explained.

  “Yeah,” added Chad. “We sort of lost our way.”

  The soldier studied them for a moment then said, “Come this way.” He turned around and headed to a corridor that left the room behind him. After two steps he paused and glanced back to make sure they were following. When he saw that they were, he continued.

  Riyan glanced to Bart and could see the worry he was feeling mirrored in his friend’s face. They followed the soldier as he worked his way through the keep. Along the way they passed several other soldiers moving about on various errands. The soldier finally came to a stop before a door.

  “You can get your passes in here,” he told them. “Don’t let me catch you three wandering around again.”

  “You won’t,” Bart assured him. “We promise.”

  Giving them a nod, the soldier left them standing before the door as he returned back the way they came.

  “Let’s get out of here,” urged Chad.

  “Not yet,” replied Bart. Taking the handle of the door, he opened it and walked in. They found it to be a rather small room with but a single desk covered in neat stacks of paper sitting before the door. Behind the desk was a soldier who had to be Sergeant Akers.

  He looked up when the door opened and asked, “Can I help you?”

  Bart nodded and stepped up to the desk. Riyan and Chad followed him in. “We need to procure passes for the wagons our father will be bringing up tomorrow,” Bart explained.

  “Sorry son,” Sergeant Akers said as he leaned back in his chair. “We don’t give out passes until we’ve had a chance to look the goods over. The guards out front should have explained that to you.”

  “I just thought we could expedite things so father could head on up as soon as he arrived,” Bart stated.

  “I hate to disappoint you, but the procedure is for your father, who is the master of the caravan, to apply for the passes,” the sergeant explained. “When he arrives you tell him to come see me.”

  Bart put a despondent look on his face and said, “Very well. Sorry to have bothered you.”

  “That’s okay,” Sergeant Akers assured him.

  Bart turned around and ushered Riyan and Chad out ahead of him. Once out in the corridor, they turned and headed for the exit. They remained silent until they passed the two guards that were standing watch, returned to the inn, and were back in their room.

  “Now, why did we have to go talk to that sergeant?” asked Chad. “And how did you know his name in the first place?”

  Bart grinned. “When I went over to talk to those merchants before we went in, that’s when I found out his name. Once I found out why they were inside the keep, I wormed out the name of the man we were to see. It’s always easier to enter a place you aren’t supposed to be if it appears you know what’s going on and have been there before. Since I was convincing enough to make the guard out front believe that we were here last year, he was more inclined to allow us entry.”

  “Weren’t you taking a risk?” Riyan asked.

  Bart shrugged. “I suppose so, but the worst he would have done was denied us entry. We would have been no worse off than we were before.”

  “Okay, but what about going in and talking to Sergeant Akers?” Chad asked. “That seemed a total waste of time.”

  Bart grinned and shook his head. “No it
wasn’t.” He put his left hand in the right sleeve of his tunic and pulled out several pieces of paper. He held them up and grinned all the wider.

  “You stole those?” asked Riyan.

  “Of course,” he replied. “How else were we to get passes?” He spread them out on the bed and they went through them. They were all passes allowing the bearer to proceed through the pass to the Marketplace. “Tomorrow morning we tag along with that caravan out there and we’re on our way.”

  Riyan took out the key and laid it on the bed next to the passes. Pointing to a spot just south of the mountains, he said, “We’re here.” Then he moved his finger to the other side of the mountains. “We cross here and then we’re at the Marketplace. From there we skirt around this lake,” his finger moved around the southern edge of the lower lake to the other side. “Then we follow the river up to this other lake where hopefully we’ll find something that will lead us to the rest of the key.”

  “I hope you both realize that once we leave the protection of the Marketplace that we’ll be in goblin territory,” Bart explained to them. “From what I’ve heard, they don’t take kindly to trespassers.”

  Riyan nodded, “I know. We’ll simply have to make sure we avoid them.”

  Bart laughed. “Easier said than done,” he stated.

  “I say the risks are worth the rewards,” Riyan insisted.

  “The risks being our continued existence,” Chad clarified.

  Riyan glanced from one to the other, “But what existence would we be losing? I already lost the one I love. Bart, you have a death mark on you. And Chad? Do you really want to spend the rest of your life as a miller?”

  Chad shook his head, “Hardly.”

  “Alright,” said Riyan with finality. “Either we succeed or we die trying.”

  “You say that so easily now,” Bart said. “How are you going to feel when you are being skinned alive for some goblin’s roasting spit?”

  Riyan didn’t reply. This was the only way he could see for him to get Freya back. He had to take the risk!

  Later that evening when Riyan and Chad were getting ready to fall asleep, Bart offered for them to share the bed. He said he didn’t mind the floor. They happily agreed and were soon lying side by side on the cramped little bed. Riyan could understand why Bart preferred the floor every time Chad’s elbow nailed him in the side. Despite the tight sleeping arrangements, Riyan was soon asleep.

  At some point in the night he awoke and saw Bart sitting at the table. A candle burned next to him as he worked on something. Sleepily, Riyan started to ask, “What…”

  Bart turned his head toward him and said, “Go back to sleep Riyan.”

  Laying his head back on the pillow, Riyan quickly fell back to sleep and slept through the rest of the night.

  In the morning when Riyan awoke, he saw Bart lying on the floor in front of the door with his head propped on top of his pack. In the bed next to him, Chad was stirring and he elbowed him to get him up. “It’s morning Bart,” Riyan hollered over to him.

  Bart came awake quickly and asked, “It is?” Looking to the window he saw the light coming through. “Damn!” he exclaimed. Coming to his feet, he grabbed his boots and started to pull them on. “We’ve got to hurry.”

  “Why?” Riyan asked as he got out of bed.

  “After you two fell asleep, I went and talked with a couple of the guards who are escorting that caravan,” he explained. “They said they were pulling out early this morning. If we want to go with them we need to hurry.” He again looked to the light coming through the window as he pulled his last boot on. Getting to his feet, he said, “I’ll get the horses ready. You two get a move on.” With that he opened the door and left.

  Riyan elbowed a still sleeping Chad a little harder this time and said, “Wake up!”

  Chad mumbled something and promptly fell back to sleep.

  Exasperated with his friend, Riyan placed both hands on Chad’s back and shoved him off the bed.

  Arms and legs went in all directions as he tumbled over the edge and hit the floor. “We don’t have much time,” Riyan said as Chad sat up on the floor. He tried to hide the smile that was threatening to break out. “The caravan is pulling out early.”

  “Oh,” he said and quickly pulled his boots on and grabbed his pack.

  By the time they were ready and left the room, Bart had two of the horses saddled and was almost done with the third. Riyan saw the wagons that had been over to the side of the courtyard were already trundling their way towards the gate leading through the outer wall.

  “About time you two showed up,” Bart said. When Riyan and Chad reached the horses, he cinched the last buckle then turned to them. “Here,” he said and handed each of them one of the passes he appropriated the night before.

  “What are we to do with these?” Riyan asked. “They’re not even signed.”

  “They are now,” replied Bart. “Quit talking and let’s get moving.”

  Riyan took a moment to open the paper. Sure enough, there at the bottom was a signature. He was about ready to ask Bart how this came to be when the memory of Bart working at the table last night returned to him. It was one thing to try to sneak through the pass, quite another to bear forged documents. He’s not entirely sure but the penalty for that would have to be severe.

  Getting into the saddle, he and Chad followed Bart as he rode towards the wagons. He made sure that the wagons were on the other side before catching up with them. One of the guards riding at the rear saw them coming and grinned. “Wasn’t sure if you were going to make it Bart,” the guard said.

  Nodding to Riyan and Chad, Bart replied, “They overslept.”

  The guard laughed.

  Another member of the caravan on a horse saw the guard talking with them and slowed down until they had caught up with him. “What’s this?” the man asked.

  “Just a fellow I shared a fire with last night,” the guard replied. “He and his friends are trying to catch up with a caravan that has already reached the Marketplace.”

  “Hmmm,” the man said. “Do you boys have passes?”

  Bart held his up as did Riyan and Chad.

  The man didn’t look entirely pleased with the situation but didn’t say anything. Nudging his horse in the sides, he quickened his pace until he returned to where he was before moving back.

  “Grumpy,” Bart commented to the guard.

  “You could say that,” he replied with a grin. “I think he’s more upset that another caravan beat him there than that you are riding with us. Might be best if you and your friends were to drop back a bit.”

  “Sure,” Bart said. He and the others slowed down until about thirty feet separated them and the rear guard of the caravan.

  Up ahead, the canyon that Crag Keep sat in grew narrower. The river coursed its way through the opening over thunderous cataracts as it left the mountains. At the narrowest point, the road went through an area barely wide enough for two wagons side by side.

  It was at that point a score of soldiers were stationed to be sure travelers heading across the pass had all the necessary documents. When the caravan drew near, one of the soldiers moved forward and began checking the passes of the guards and the drivers of the wagons. The master of the caravan remained with the soldier until he was satisfied that all was in order and waved the caravan on through.

  Riyan’s heart beat rapidly when it was their turn to approach the soldier. “Good morning young sirs,” the soldier greeted them. “Need to see your passes before you can proceed.”

  “No problem,” Bart said then handed his over to the guard. Riyan and Chad did the same.

  Riyan was poised to flee as soon as the soldier discovered the passes were forgeries. But to his amazement, the soldier handed the passes back and waved them on through. He almost couldn’t believe they had pulled it off.

  Once they were past and had put some distance between them and the soldiers, Riyan asked Bart how he had managed it.

 
Bart grinned. “Quite easy actually. Last night while you and Chad were sleeping, I left the room and went over to where a couple of the caravan guards were relaxing around a fire. One thing led to another and I was invited to share it with them. It was quite easy to lift their passes off of them and take them back to our room. Then I studied the signature and copied it onto ours. After that it was a simple matter to return the passes to their owners.”

  “Something your father taught you?” Chad asked.

  “Actually no,” he replied and offered no further explanation.

  Chapter Sixteen

  _______________________