God-Kissed: Book 1 (The Apprentices)

by Clark Bolton

“Can you do more than yourself?” Berdtom asked.

  “No, I only have the one scroll. Sorry but I can only keep so many in my head at once.”

  “Understood O’t.”

  “When you want that enchant sword spell cast?” Haspeth asked Murac as Berdtom and Autbek headed back down the trail a short distance.

  “How long does it last you figure?”

  “Few hours.”

  “Best wait until we get inside then.”

  The wait was long and cold since they dared not light a fire though they could see firelight from the compound. No signs of trouble could they hear and so around midnight they became anxious to hear from Castor. Finally after casting his spell and waiting for two or three hours Autbek could see the two approaching.

  “Here they come, just the two of them.” He whispered back toward the rest of the party.

  Murac approached cautiously, obviously not able to see as well as Autbek. “Hail them when they get close.” He whispered.

  “Castor!” Autbek whispered to the boy when he was about twenty paces away. It was clear he and Lita could not see him.

  “Yea.” Castor whispered back as he followed Autbek’s voice.

  “How’s it look?” Berdtom asked from the rear.

  “We got in and out of the cellar ok. It’s locked but not well.” Castor replied. “Not much there but piles of urns and junk. We did not go far in though.”

  “Good.” Replied Murac.

  The party then followed Autbek who led them as far as the temple gates where there was a lantern lit and hanging from the wall. Here he let Castor take over. The kid still had on his illusion.

  Castor led them up the steps into the temple and over to a small door. He opened the door and ushered everyone through. Haspeth had to duck a bit to get through the door. Closing the door they used cantrips to light some of the torches that were stockpiled there.

  There was now just a metal grate separating them from the catacombs. Murac helped Castor slide it to the side and then he descended the narrow steps first. The steps were not many and soon they emerged into a corridor packed on both sides with small and large urns.

  “No need to search here much.” Murac announced in a normal tone of voice as he headed onward.

  Autbek cast a detect magic cantrip anyway just to be certain they did not pass something up. Haspeth did the same after he saw Autbek doing it.

  “Hey, what about that enchant a sword spell?” Haspeth asked.

  “Ok, do it now!” Murac told him as he set the spear he had been carrying aside for a moment. He then drew his short sword and handed it to Haspeth hilt first.

  Haspeth let Autbek hold the sword while he cast the spell upon it. When the sword started to glow softly they all signed in amazement. Here in the soft torch light they found the glow impressive.

  “Great, now can you do this spear tip also?” Murac asked.

  “Yes.” Haspeth replied.

  “Careful, Haspeth, don’t spend too much of your energy just yet.”

  “If I don’t I think I will explode.”

  “That would be something to see!” Castor put in from the rear. He had removed his illusion spell and so was back to looking like a young teenager.

  There was a bunch of twists and turns with several dead end passages until they came to a stone wall that looked to have been built to block the corridor. Murac tapped it with his spear to see how sound it was.

  “Here is where it gets interesting boys!” Murac announced.

  “This the only way you think?” Autbek asked.

  “Anybody else see any other way?” Murac asked. Nobody said they had. “Well best get digging then!” Murac then set his spear down and produced a metal spike about as long as his foot and a short hammer.

  “Will they not hear this above, Murac?” Berdtom said with concern.

  “Maybe, but not likely. Anyway unless you mages got a trick there ain’t no other way.”

  “I have a spell for shaping stone!” Autbek announced. “It will turn part of this to soft clay that we can then mold as we like, but it will soon turn back to stone.”

  “There will be signs we were here then?” Berdtom asked.

  “Yea, however we mold it is how it will stay after the spell ends.”

  “Not much better than the hammer and chisel then, though I guess they won’t hear us.” Haspeth said.

  “I have another though it’s a more difficult spell. It creates a temporary corridor through rock and earth and when the spell ends the corridor ends also.”

  “We’ve never tried it!” Haspeth warned the others.

  They discussed and argued for a few minutes the best approach until Berdtom made the decision. “I think it would be best that we leave no signs for the priests to find that we have ever been here.”

  Murac nodded his head in agreement and then proceeded to get out of Autbek’s way. Taking the scroll from his small pack Autbek stepped up and as Haspeth held a torch for him to read by, he prepared to cast the spell.

  It was one of the most difficult ones he had ever cast and he could not be sure of doing it right. Also he worried that the library contained perhaps only one more copy of it. Putting this now from his mind he began the casting.

  Immediately the wall began to transform as if alive. With only the slight grating of rock on rock the stones seemed to shift to either side leaving a narrow corridor for them to pass.

  The wall turned out not to be thick so clearly Murac would have been able to chisel through it had he worked hard enough. The party quickly passed through, finding themselves in a similar corridor on the other side.

  “Please tell me this will last a while!” Castor asked of Autbek as he passed him to follow Berdtom.

  “Few hours I think!” Autbek replied. Though he now found himself sweating in the damp air at the thought of the spell ending before their return trip.

  “Great, bones!” Haspeth hissed softly as they began walking by shelves in the walls, a few of which contained human bones.

  “Hmm, this looks plundered already!” Murac announced as he continued slowly with a torch in one hand and the glowing spear thrust out in front of him in the other. “You check for magic?”

  “Yea!” Autbek replied.

  Again there were twists and turns, and many dead ends. The only things besides bones they found were miniscule bits of petrified leather and a few buttons, apparently the remains of clothing.

  “Nothing!” Autbek announced as they reached what looked to be the final dead end.

  “Don’t give up yet boys.” Murac said as he squatted to look about into some of the lower shelves. “We will have to backtrack and check each of the lower ones for passages.”

  No one objected and so they began searching earnestly for some way to proceed. Castor found the first tunnel that turned out to lead only about twenty paces into a small low chamber that even he had to duck to get in, but it lead nowhere from there.

  After finding three more small tunnels, including one with puddles of water in it they concluded they had found them all. Castor checked each except the one with water.

  “Your turn.” He said to Haspeth as the party converged on the last one.

  “No way am I going in there.” Haspeth announced.

  Murac pushed people aside and then lay prone in front of the square tunnel. Putting one hand into the shallow water he stretched his neck into the small passage and then thrust his torch in as far as he could.

  “Goes on for a ways it looks like.” Murac said with optimism.

  “Let me cast some lights down there.” Castor said. He then lay down by Murac and cast an illusionary light spell that caused sifting colored lights to dance about around him. Then with a motion of his hand the soft lights moved on over the water and down the tunnel.

  “Looks to go up after about thirty or forty paces.” Murac announced.

  “Great.” Haspeth muttered, clearly not thrilled about crawling through water.

  Autbek wo
ndered who was going to be sent first but then Murac made the decision. The seemingly fearless man proceeded to crawl into the tunnel with his spear now mostly submerged and his torch carefully held aloft. It took him a few minutes to crawl the distance.

  “Yea!” He called back. “I can stand here and the corridor continues.”

  Autbek looked to the others then seeing no volunteers got down beside Castor and proceed to crawl. The water was the worst as it was very cold, but then one also had to keep a torch out of the water. About halfway he gave up and let the torch go out in the water figuring he could light it again at the other side.

  Murac helped him climb up a few steps out of the water and then Murac proceeded a short distance. Autbek noticed a change in architecture here, as the stones appeared to be of different sizes and the corridor was maybe a little larger.

  After everyone had made the uncomfortable crossing they proceeded to the next intersection. Here the shelves for the dead were deeper and flatter, with no depressions like they had seen in the previous area.

  “Tesslodken runes!” Berdtom announced as he pointed out runes written above each of the shelves.

  “Yea, but it’s been plundered also!” Murac said as he pointed to piles of bones on the floor.

  “Tshhhh!”

  Everyone froze as they heard the sound. To Autbek it sounded like something had just fallen or been moved some distance away.

  After a pause Haspeth whispered, “Where did that come from?”

  Murac glanced at him then pointed down the corridor on their right with his glowing spear. “Could use some light down there Castor!” He announced.

  Castor walked up and then sent his lights down the corridor. The lights swirled and danced slowly proceeding. The first thing they noticed was dust in the air starting at about fifteen paces.

  Murac glanced back at Autbek and Haspeth who both were hurriedly paging through parchment. “Make it quick … Berdtom watch the other directions!” Murac commanded.

  “Got it!” Autbek announced as he pulled forth a scroll. He then cast the spell with a surprisingly loud utterance of arcane-script.

  “What is it O’t!” Berdtom asked, referring to the spell.

  “Protection spell, it goes out about three paces.”

  “Stand behind me mage!” Murac barked as he watched a figure approach.

  “What is it?” Autbek exclaimed in horror. He found himself glancing back toward the way they had come to judge how long it would take them all to scurry back through the water. He did not want to look at the thing.

  “STOP!” Murac commanded the form as it came within about five paces. “You’ll feel this spear in your gut if you proceed!”

  It was a man, or had been a man, Autbek guessed. It had the remains of clothing on it and bits of petrified skin clung to its bones. But mostly it was just bone and as it took a few more steps he could see that its head was only a skull.

  “Murac, should we fall back!” Berdtom yelled.

  “No, stand your ground … its way too late for that!” Murac told them.

  The skeleton approached a few more steps then rebounded a step as if struck. It was apparent to Autbek that his protection spell was having an effect. “Should I push it back, though it could break the spell if I push too hard!”

  “Push it back where!” Murac cried as he suddenly strode forward to strike the creature a vicious thrust to its outstretched hand. The enchanted spear tip sliced the skeletons upper arm bone clear through.

  “PSSST”

  A tiny burst of light zipped by Autbek and Murac to strike the creature dead center in the forehead. It was Haspeth; he had cast one of his offensive spells he had been mastering at Berdtom’s urging.

  The creature staggered now. It had only one arm and half a skull now and looked to be going down, but before it could Murac sliced his spear through its spine just below its rib cage.

  “Tuuussshh”

  The creature collapsed in a pile of bones. The remaining intact bones never so much as quivered as the party stared at them.

  Murac calmly stepped up and scattered the larger pieces of bones away from the others with his spear, and then smashed the remains of the skull.

  After a few moments of silence Murac announced, “Let’s start searching!”

  “Gods!” Haspeth said as he blinked rapidly and searched around for signs that there were others. “What was that skeleton thing?”

  “Does it matter now?” Murac replied as he slowly walked in the direction the creature had come. “Good shot though, battle-mage!”

  The rest of the party looked at the man in amazement. Here they were under a possibly hostile temple, soaking wet and nearly scared to death by something that could have killed them, and he seemed totally un-rattled by it.

  “You're a braver man than I, Murac.” Berdtom said as he encouraged the others to follow Murac.

  “God-kissed, remember!” Murac replied as he followed Castor’s lights with his spear tip once again leading the way.

  “What does he mean when he says that?” Autbek muttered to Berdtom, remembering hearing it from Murac at least once before.

  “I’ll tell you later.”

  The party found the spot where it looked like the creature had emerged from a shelf. There was nothing special about it that they could discover. Moving on they carefully checked for magic along the way.

  “I think this has been plundered too.” Autbek said as he bent down to peer into a low shelf of stone. Bones and odd pieces of metal were strewn about rather than orderly laid out as he would expect priests to have left them.

  “O’t!” Haspeth suddenly yelled. “Magic … here … somewhere.” Haspeth was standing at a stone shelf about chest high above the floor. The only obvious thing left in it was the remains of a ribcage. Even the skull was gone but Haspeth could see the glow of magic within the bones.

  “Careful!” Autbek cautioned as he quickly came over to look. Reaching in gently he moved the ribcage which then promptly fell apart. “Ah!” He then recovered himself to find a ring on a silver chain.

  “Gods! It’s a ring … a bloody magic ring!” Haspeth cried in joy. “We can get out now … out of this place … yes!”

  “Not so fast!” Autbek told him as he examined the ring, and then changed his tone. “By the gods, Haspeth. This looks like the ring Neustus wears!”

  “It does!” Haspeth exclaimed as he looked closely at it.

  “Looks like the man was wearing this around his neck when he was buried here.” Autbek suggested. “Then it fell down under his breast bone and no one noticed it until now.”

  “You sure it’s an Ausic ring?” Castor asked as he gently took it from Autbek.

  “Nope, don’t really know what one looks like.”

  “Let me see it.” Berdtom asked. Taking the ring from Castor he held it up in the torch light for a few moments. “I expect we’ll know when we hear back from Eifled. He had heard the name before he claimed but needed time to send off some letters to colleagues to learn more.”

  “It was part of the name for his society! Didn’t Eifled tell you that?”

  Berdtom shook his head. “No he didn’t but I thought I knew the name of the society and don’t recall ‘Ausic’ being part of it.”

  Autbek shrugged, “Shall we get out of here?” He ventured as his friend handed the ring back. As far as he was concerned they had accomplished what they had set out to do.

  “In a moment, but first let’s have a look again at that leather binding.”

  The whole party, with Murac now in the rear, followed Berdtom back the way they had come. Several turns and countless shelves later he stopped at the place where he had pointed it out before.

  “The pages are long gone, cut out maybe, I suspect. No doubt the thief thought leaving the cover would placate the spirits.” Berdtom said as he held the huge leather bookbinding in his hands. There were still the remains of a brass spine in it but nowhere was there even the smallest trace of the
pages it must have once held.

  “Tesslodken you think, Tom?” Berdtom asked as he took a shot at reading the faded runes on the leather.

  “I think it could be, and if it’s one of the Tesslodken Sta … well then it would be the first to have seen the light of day in this age.”

  “Not familiar with them.” Autbek mentioned as he turned to give a questioning glance at Murac to see if the man was ready to lead them out.

  “The term ‘Sta’ means book or tome, and it would be quite a find.” Berdtom said quietly but no one seemed to listen much as they started filing past him, with Murac again in the lead.

  “Let’s hope your corridor is still open.” Murac said, as he prepared to crawl back through the small tunnel.

  “Looks colder than before!” Haspeth muttered as his turn to enter the water approached.

  It took them awhile to get everyone back through but spirits were high now that safety seemed not so far away. Mission accomplished did seem to make things more bearable for everyone.

  As Lita emerged from the water Autbek could see that she was shivering heavily, so he cast a rinsing cantrip on her clothes. The result was a sudden shower of water that puddled about her feet. The girl beamed a smile at him as her cloak began to warm her.

  “I don’t know that one, O’t, so why don’t you teach it to me … like now!” Haspeth begged.

  “Sure!” Autbek said as he cast the cantrip again. Then he moved to each member of the party to repeat the process. He kept Berdtom and himself last as their enchanted cloaks kept them warm despite being soaked.

  “Enough, we don’t want to spend the night here!” Murac scolded as he came into sight of the magical corridor Autbek had created. “Come! It’s still open.”

  Autbek hurried through after Murac then stepped to the side to let the others pass as he pondered what would happen if it were to close while someone was in it. Fortunately that did not happen.

  “Best send Castor and Lit’ ahead now.” Berdtom decided as they came to the grate. They could see no sign of light coming from the door that led directly into the temple’s main chamber, so he figured it was still dark.

  Castor cast an illusion spell on himself and then proceeded to the door. When he and Lita were ready they signaled the others to extinguish their torches, which Autbek did with a wave of his hand. Passing through the two walked to the open entrance to the building and seeing no one they returned.