by Bill Albert
Gallif kneeled down and ran a quivering hand through the mud. She was relieved that they were gone, but worried that they had been so difficult for her to fight. It wasn’t just the problem with sharp edged weapons being unable to cause much damage to stone but her defensive moves had failed. She turned to congratulate Luvin on a job well done but Acrufix was standing between them. With his hands on his hips his armor covered arms made him quite an obstacle.
“My friend, that was some of the finest fighting I have ever seen,” Acrufix said. “You, my friend, saved our lives.”
“I was lucky I had a hammer instead of a sword or axe,” Luvin’s voice cracked as he spoke.
“No, no, no, don’t sell yourself short, my friend. Not only did you have the right weapon, but you knew how to use it.” Luvin glanced at the hammer still in his hand. He looked down and kicked some of the shattered stones aside and then gave Acrufix a broad smile. Acrufix patted him on the back and guided him away from the others. “Actually,” Acrufix continued, “I was thinking how, once we are back on the surface and finished here, I’d like you to travel with me.”
“With you?” he gasped trying not to shout out with excitement.
“Yes, I see great potential in you.”
Luvin’s heart was pounding so fast he thought his chest was about to explode. “I’ve never heard of you having traveling companions before,” he managed to stutter.
“Yes, I’m afraid there are some drawbacks travelling with me, usually I am the one people remember and talk about, but I have had companions. I think you would be different. Acrufix, the Eleven Killer, and Luvin, the Dragon Rider. They will be singing about us for ages.”
“Yes,” Luvin said with his eyes wide. “They would.”
Marassa was studying some of the map pieces she carried while Jakobus and Blinks were discussing the type of casting needed to create the golems. Jakobus looked at Gallif, then politely excused himself and walked to where she stood alone partially in a shadow.
“What’s the matter?” he asked.
“I’m all right,” she said, but her voice betrayed her. He looked her in the face, and she took her right hand away from her side and held it for him to see. She couldn’t hide that fact, even in the dim light, that it was shaking. “I’m not sure why, but this won’t stop.”
Had it been anyone else they would have believed it to be nerves or excitement from what was going on, but he knew better in this case. Gallif was too good of a fighter and even an encounter with a gwyllion should have worn off by now. Jakobus reached out to help steady her hand but she withdrew it from him and walked to where Marassa was studying her papers.
Marassa switched her stance several times looking at the cave around them, then the paper, then back at the cave from different directions. By the time they had all joined her she was shaking her head in silence.
“I thought this might be one of the places I’d heard about,” she said as she looked up at the ceiling. “I’m afraid it isn’t. There was a piece of a journal that had been found that described being attacked by guardians. This area isn’t near as big as it says.”
“What kind of guardians does it say?” Blinks asked. “Were they, well…? Them?” he asked pointing to the mud.
“It doesn’t say what they were, but there were only two.”
Gallif looked in both directions and then continued on. “Don’t get far behind.”
With Gallif’s flame sword and one of Jakobus’s torches in Marassa’s hand before them they travelled quite easily. Jakobus held a torch between himself and Blinks and they made sure that no one moved in on them from behind.
Gallif suddenly waved them to a stop and quickly looked ahead and behind them. Marassa started to ask her something but Gallif quieted her with a finger to her own lips. “Something’s coming,” Gallif finally informed them.
“What?” Luvin asked excitedly.
“From where?” Jakobus added.
Gallif rapidly looked in both directions desperately trying to understand what her natural senses were telling her. “Everywhere,” she whispered and sheathed both of her swords. “Quick, everyone, get against the walls and hold on. BRACE YOURSELF!” she cried. With a sudden burst of activity she grabbed Marassa by the shoulders and pushed her against the wall. She also flattened herself against the yellow wall, staying near her, but keeping some space between them. The rest did as she had ordered and jumped out of the center of the cave.
A tremor struck the area they were in. It came so fast and flooded around them so completely it appeared as if the entire world was shaking. The walls shuddered and cracked, and dozens of rocks of various sizes came loose from the ceiling. Gallif held her arms up to cover her head and hoped that she was close enough to the wall to be missed by some of the larger ones. She tried to look at Marassa and the rest of them but the odd mixture of light from her swords, the torches, and the shadows from the showering stones blurred everything like a kaleidoscope. She heard a scream but wasn’t sure who it was from. The noise was so deafening and the shaking so intense she wasn’t sure if it had actually come from her. Just as abruptly as it started the tremor stopped.
Gallif was the first on her feet brushing the dust from her red hair and wiping her green eyes clean. “Where is everyone?”
She found Marassa nearby and was surprised that the caster’s colorful robe was clear even though her bushy hair was not. A glimmer caught her attention and she turned to see Jakobus also getting to his feet. His metallic armor had been tattered and faded and he shook to try and clean the yellow dirt. Acrufix and Luvin were helping each other stand and Gallif passed them as she hurried to the still body of Blinks. He was face down on the ground and covered with dust which she clumsily brushed way. She called out his name and he suddenly rolled over and smiled.
“Oh, that was fun,” he shook with excitement blinking his eyes clear.
Gallif was first angry with him for his silliness, but his smile was so disarming she could only shake her head as a smile crept across her face. She stood and he held a hand for her to hold to help him rise. She was about to grab him with her own but suddenly switched so he could steady himself on the red tinted sleeve of her armor. He stood and followed her until they were all together again.
“You sensed something before, didn’t you?” Blinks asked to Gallif and Jakobus. “Before we left the barracks back there. Was this the same thing?”
“I don’t know,” Jakobus admitted and looked at Gallif hoping she could answer.
“Not completely,” Gallif said. “It felt stronger and steadier before, like a giant waterfall. This was more like a small stream,” she said, and her voice trailed off. She looked up the tunnel in the direction that they were headed and added, “Not at all like what’s coming now. Marassa, get behind me and stay close. Jakobus, hold your torch in front of you, wave it, and keep moving in circles around Blinks. Luvin, do the same with another torch and keep him behind you,” she barked to them all.
They had no idea what was coming but they had no urge to argue with her and did what she said. They could each hear the squeaking and scratching of something coming toward them.
Gallif started waving the swords in circle in front of her. They were twisting so fast the orange color from the flame sword and the white from the frost sword quickly blurred together. Marassa stood behind her and kept her hands on Gallif’s backpack. Jakobus was doing the same with his torch and the intense cast light almost appeared as one solid bar. Luvin was using both his hands to keep his torch moving and Acrufix stood behind him with sword in hand.
The squeaking and scratching were getting louder and Jakobus cursed as he realized what was about to descend on them.
Tarsiers were small, carnivorous, little beasts with six-inch tails and foot long rat-like bodies. Their heads were shaped like owl heads including giant orange eyes that allowed them to see excellently in the dark. Their legs were very strong, and they could leap several dozen times their length in distance and tr
avelled in packs of thousands.
The first wave came out of the dark and Gallif increased the speed of her swords. Blinded in the light the pack split before it reached them and flowed around. Marassa had never seen them before and couldn’t hide her fear. She tried to grab Gallif by the waist and pull herself closer but Gallif snapped at her to stay back.
Jakobus and Blinks jumped on to a stone to help avoid the flow as Jakobus started swinging his torch low. Blinks’ eyes fluttered as he jumped back and forth and once he got into a pattern there was a slight smile on his face as he danced around the furry mass. Jakobus lost his composure for a brief moment as one of the tarsiers fell from above and landed hard on his shoulder. He let out a short cry and jabbed at it with the torch. The white-hot cast light hit his shoulder and warmed the metal quickly. It dissipated quickly but it was enough for the tarsier to jump away and keep running.
Luvin was concentrating hard to keep the torch moving in front of him and his fear inside. Acrufix stayed behind him and matched every move Luvin made. Several times he struck some of the tarsiers as they passed him running away.
Finally, the last wave came through and just as quickly as they had arrived the horde moved on. They all waited silently listening until the squeaking and scratching was completely gone.
Gallif’s shoulders relaxed but she kept her swords in hand and quickly stepped away from Marassa’s grip. Her hands were steady, and she was feeling much better and in her element.
“Oh, my Goddess,” Blinks shouted as he jumped from the stone. He was so excited he kept bouncing back and forth as if he were avoiding the tarsiers. “Those things were so…? What’s the word I’m looking for? WAIT! I got it! Those things were so icky! YUCK!”
Gallif bit back a smile and only shook her head. She noticed Marassa was giggling and Luvin harmlessly rolled his eyes.
“What were they doing here?” Jakobus asked with a seriousness that brought them all to a stop. “Tarsiers have only been found in swamps,” he said as he shivered and brushed his shoulder clean again.
“As far as we know,” Luvin said and all of their attention shifted to him. “We know so little about what happens inside these caves. We just have to start thinking differently. That there may be things we don’t know.”
Jakobus stared at him for a few seconds and then brushed his armored shoulder clean again. Gallif sheathed her frost sword and they walked without saying a word for some time. They stopped again when they came across stone carvings in the yellow rock walls on each side of the cave.
“I’ve seen these before,” Marassa said and quickly produced more of the sketches she kept packed under her robe. “There was a journal that was found. They talked about this but couldn’t figure out what it meant.”
“I know what they mean,” Gallif said calmly. There were two identical yellow carvings about three feet from each other on each side of the cave. The carvings each had an upside down five-pointed star in the center. Around the star was a dark circle carved at angles to make it look dark. Around that was another circle nearly twice as big. “These are dragon eyes.”
Marassa caught her breath and then looked at the carvings again. Jakobus did not react but believed in what she was saying. Blinks’ eyes were flapping so fast it looked like he was about to lose consciousness. Acrufix looked at them unmoving.
Gallif stepped forward and ran the tips of her fingers along one of the carvings.
Luvin quietly joined her and ran his fingers along the carved lines as well. “Almost like a dragon’s eye,” he said. “Why is the star upside down?”
“In some religions upside down symbols like that represent death,” Jakobus said. “Some dwarven gods used eyes pointing up as life and eyes pointing down as death. Perhaps the dragon gods were not so different.”
“Sounds to me,” Blinks said with surprising calmness, “like something you would put near a dragon graveyard.”
THIRTEEN: CLACKING BONES
Gallif couldn’t deny that Blinks was probably right with his thoughts. She decided not to comment and to try and keep them focused and get them back in line.
The cave soon narrowed, and they were forced to travel in single file. Gallif came to a stop and waved the flame sword back and forth several times holding it out in front of her and watched the way the shadows changed their focus on the walls.
“Look how smooth these walls are,” Gallif said just loud enough for them to hear. “Very smooth and circular,” she added as she took a few steps forward and waved the sword again. She held the sword above her head and tried to cast as much light on the area as possible. “These are skeletons.”
They closed in but even with Jakobus kneeling there was only room for him, Marassa and Blinks to see what she was looking at.
Four human sized skeletal remains were flat against each wall as if they were trying to emerge from the stone. The meld was so complete and smooth it was difficult to tell where the bones ended, and the stones began. The bones were dry and faded and the color easily blended with the natural rock veins. The nearest skeleton on the right had several broken bones and the skull was cracked open. She looked inside the cavity, ran her fingers along the thin surface and removed any doubt that the bones were real.
“Could they be those living bone things?” Blinks asked. He leaned over to get a closer look and continued, “You know what I mean? The bone things? Like the stone golems from before, but with bones instead. Oh! Bone golems! That’s it.”
Jakobus stood up quickly to get a better view. He didn’t realize that Blinks, in his own eagerness, had leaned over until he was directly above him. Blinks howled when Jakobus’ head collided with his jaw. Jakobus flinched, barely managed to choke down several dwarven curses, and turned to give the annoyance a warning. He decided to take some comfort in the fact the Blinks’ jaw was worse off than his own thick head and turned back to Gallif.
Gallif stepped ahead to the nearest skeleton with an intact skull and looked at it closely. In most casting cases the word used to initiate or recall the golems was formed on to their skulls and she was relieved to find no command word present.
She relaxed and lowered the sword underneath the skull face. There was a screech and a burst of chaos as the blister beetles that had been nesting inside the skull erupted and scattered in all different directions. The blister beetles, ugly, furry little bugs with brightly colored blue, red or green wing cases carried natural poison pouches under each of their six legs. The poison protected them from birds and other larger predators but was harmless to larger animals. Their sudden appearance, odd colors, and the clacking of their wings, however, had an effect. Gallif screamed in anger and threw herself back against the opposing skeleton swinging the flame sword to warn them away. Jakobus covered his face with his hands and ducked away while Blinks let out a scream that matched Gallif’s. Marassa ran her fingers through her hair to make sure none of the beetles had landed there and Luvin was glad he was far away from the nest. Only Acrufix showed no reaction to the surprise.
Breathing heavily Gallif regained her composure and continued on. Before following her, Blinks readjusted himself and took a deep sniff of the air around him. “Thank Goddess,” he said in relief. “One more scare like that and I might have to clean my armor.”
Luvin started to laugh but swallowed hard instead when he saw Acrufix shaking his head.
They continued up the narrow passage for a brief distance before Gallif came to a stop. “Luvin, come up here,” she ordered.
Luvin immediately worked his way up from the rear of the group to join her.
Ahead of them the cave widened abruptly but directly in front of them a thick wooden door with a metal frame and thick, bulky hinges was built into the floor. A handle, and three large bolt locks, were on their side.
“I need Luvin Five Fingers,” she said honestly.
The reminder of the nickname he had given himself, and very few had known, felt good to him and he nodded back at her warmly.
&nb
sp; To get to the door they had to change positions and she pushed herself against the wall as close as she could. He slowly slid past her face to face and he could see how tense she was when they briefly touched. He felt his heart skip when he saw the look of discomfort on her face. Confused, he bent down and looked at the door.
At first, he just stared at it blankly thinking about Gallif’s odd behavior and reaction to him. He felt sweat starting to form on his forehead as he desperately wanted things to be right again. He struggled with his emotions and tried to clear them when he sensed the shuffling of her boot next to him. He took a deep breath and looked at the door again.
He examined it carefully as he pulled a very thin, three-inch-long needle, from the seam in his sleeve. An instructor at the school, Flavell, had taught them how to sew hidden folds into their clothes too hide tools. He remembered how good it had felt when she gave him extra points for doing such a good job.
Smiling he examined the first lock and found it safe, so he was able to quickly release it. The second lock was also safe, but it was a more complicated lock and took longer to break. The third unlocked easily and he looked for irregularities along the edge of the door. Finding none he looked up at Gallif smiling and told her it was safe.
He slid to give her room to move. She looked at them all to make sure they were out of the way and she bent over and boldly pulled up the door and let it fall completely open on the other side. She glanced at Jakobus and Luvin after she looked inside. She remembered being attacked inside Starpoint Mountain and feared that opening the door so quickly may have been a mistake. When nothing reached out after her, she relaxed some and took another look.
On the other side of the door there was nothing. There was no light, no sounds, no smell, nothing. It was so dark, even more so against the yellow dirt frame, it was impossible to tell if there was a floor, walls, or ceiling on the other side.
Careful not to dip her flame sword below the edge Gallif lowered it to the frame hoping to cast light in any direction. There was nothing she could see as the light gave no reflection inside the door. She jumped to the bottom end of the frame and waved the flame sword again but there was no change. Blinks, who was taller, took a wide step and joined her while Marassa and Jakobus jumped to the top end of the frame while Acrufix and Luvin stayed in the smaller cave.