by Noah Layton
Two left.
I took a few quick breaths like a diver ready to hold their breath underwater for a long time – or a man about to have his hand cut off – and turned through the final two clicks.
Is that it?
A barrage of clunking and whirring sounded within the vault. I withdrew my hand sharply, leaving the key down there.
I gripped my left hand with my right, cradling it against my head and closing my eyes.
If I got anymore carried away, I would have practically been making out with it.
I had never felt relief of this kind before.
The vault suddenly revealed a series of metallic seams, withdrawing into the ground level by rotating level. It was a cascading stack of metal sheets, each shifting aside until a final sheet slid aside, revealing a lockbox within.
I reached in, careful not to touch the sides, and retrieved the lockbox carefully.
No time to check this thing out now – I’ve got to get out of here.
I stood from the vault and turned, crossing quickly to the steps.
And then, just as I reached the bottom of the stairs, a dark-elf appeared from the final step and halted right before me.
I had been so elated about not losing my hand that I had forgotten to register my other senses.
The two of us locked eyes awkwardly. He looked as shocked as I was.
And he was about to call for help.
I couldn’t bring up my inventory to retrieve my sword or my dagger. It would take too long.
But I had my hands.
I immediately clasped my left palm over the dark-elf’s mouth, quelling a muffled shout that left his lungs not a second later.
The elf scrambled for his sword, but it was a poor tactical move. Using his hands to attack me would have been more effective in these cramped quarters.
With my other hand I grabbed his hair, pulled him towards me, then threw all of my weight and strength back against him, bouncing off my heel.
I slammed the dark-elf’s head into the stone wall. It was met with a heavy thud. The reverberations shuddered up my arm as the elf’s eyes clouded with painful shock.
I brought him back to me once more, my hand wrapped over one side of his face, and slammed him hard straight into the wall once more.
Crunch.
The sound of his skull concaving didn’t echo off the walls; it was too brief and too final.
The dark-elf’s body went limp. I let go and he slumped to the ground lifelessly.
I moved up the stairs quickly and peeked out into the blacksmiths’ workshop.
There were no other intruders.
I rushed to the door, scanned the surrounding area for movement, and quickly broke into a sprint for the border.
Full dark was all around now, only the moon giving some relief against it.
At any moment I expected an arrow to strike me in the spine.
When I reached the tree line, I kept running, not stopping until I found my group.
Chapter Five
Several hours later we made it to the hidden cave behind the waterfall where I had first been introduced to the ores of the world.
We made it through a gap between the crashing ice-cold water, seeking refuge in the hideaway. Together we lit a fire and set up a small camp, the thick current of water keeping us away from any prying eyes that might pass by.
After eating a dinner of taurem meat and vegetables, I produced the box from my inventory and set it down on a small blanket before the fire.
Onilsia and I weren’t the only ones interested; everybody was. Our whole group crowded around it in silence, examining the ornate crafting of the item.
It was made of copper, greened by the passage of time after so many years hidden down there.
Its surface was marked with three symbols from a language that I had never seen before.
‘Do you know what it says?’ I asked Onilsia.
‘My Old Dwarvish is nothing remarkable, but these are three common symbols. They read warrior, agility and mind.’
I pried the lid until it finally gave, opening an inch on its rusted hinge.
I tipped it open and looked within.
A single, ancient scrap of parchment sat inside. It was yellowed and tattered, so fragile that I hardly dared to pick it up.
‘Let me,’ Talia said. ‘My nails are sharp enough to handle it carefully. The dirt from others’ fingers may only tarnish its writings.’
I presented the box to Talia. She delicately lifted the parchment by her sharpened nails and unfolded it on both of its creases, then set it down carefully on the blanket.
The paper bore an image of a skull sat among the trees of the forest.
Above it the night sky was sketched, scattered with stars and the moon high in the sky at their center.
‘I am no starseer, but these look to be precise locations of stars,’ Onilsia said, pointing to the illustration of the sky above the skull. ‘Identifying these will lead us to the location.’
‘That will be difficult,’ Lara said. ‘There are very few starseers left in these lands. It is a dying area of study.’
‘Perhaps the writing here will shed some light on the situation.’
Beneath were words written in the same Old Dwarven hand that was ingrained into the lid.
Then, before my eyes, the ink began to swim on the page, changing into letters that I recognized.
‘Remarkable,’ Onilsia whispered, while several of my companions gasped in surprise.
‘I’m guessing this isn’t dwarven engineering too, huh?’ I asked.
‘Anything but,’ Onilsia replied. ‘This is magic. It changes into the mother tongue of the reader.’
I read the words that had appeared on the paper.
‘Beneath the stars lies the home of the warrior who values strength above all else. Here he meets his equal, the first of three. At the point where the living go to rest, you will confront the blade that bares your reckoning, for death surely awaits the warrior without strength.’
‘The first of three,’ I repeated, musing on the words before the sudden realization struck me. ‘This isn’t a map to the agrarium – this is a map to the first task of three. Three tasks that need to be completed in order to acquire the agrarium. Three tests… Warrior, agility and mind. It’s saying what skills are required in order to complete them.’
‘To determine the worthy,’ Lara added.
‘That was why Kalgunri did this,’ Onilsia realized. ‘He didn’t want the agrarium to fall into the hands of just anybody. He had to know that whoever acquired it was worthy of its power.’
‘Looks like he was really concerned about it, whatever he found out,’ I frowned. ‘Whatever power this substance is capable of, we can’t let it get into the hands of Garrison.’
‘We won’t, will we?’ Talia said. ‘We have the map. He won’t be able to find us either way.’
‘But I left behind a body that I couldn’t get rid of, and once they find it they’ll find the open vault. It’s only a matter of time before they realize that somebody made it onto the land and took what they were looking for.
‘And if I know Garrison’s type, which I’m guessing I do, he’ll be like a jealous moron; the moment he finds out that somebody else has what he wants, he’ll direct all of his efforts into acquiring it.’
‘That’s the only reason he wanted me,’ Talia said. She ran a hand over her head as if to check that her furred ears were still there. ‘Something to add to his collection.’
‘And if this makes him more powerful, he will want it too. This isn’t just a collector’s item; it’s something that possessed properties so powerful that this dwarven blacksmith elder felt the need to hide it so it might never be found.’
***
After getting a safe night’s sleep in the cave behind the waterfall, we set out at first light and returned to the land.
I had never been so grateful for fire than when I closed the door behind myself and the
girls, entering my treehouse and pulling off my winter clothes.
‘How did it go?’ Santana said, quickly setting aside her book and crossing to me. She wrapped her arms around me tightly as I indulged in the heavy, pleasant scent of her hair. ‘What happened?’
‘A lot,’ I replied. ‘Where’s Elera?’
‘In the cave. The water is still quite warm down there.’
‘It is?’ Lara said, pulling off her bow and her jacket. ‘I may need to head there today. Maybe it would have been a little cheaper to move everybody to the caves to keep warm?’
‘Move fifty people into those caves?’ I said. ‘God, no. It’s hardly big enough for ten. And besides, that’s our spot.’
‘Very true, husband,’ Santana said.
‘I think I shall join you in the caves, Lara,’ Ariadne said.
My hunter and my foxgirl left the treehouse together, leaving me alone with Talia and Santana.
‘Still worried about me?’ I asked Santana with a smile.
‘He was incredible,’ Talia smiled, pulling off her wet clothes. ‘He dealt with our enemies swiftly and mercilessly.’
‘That is just one reason our husband is the man he is,’ Santana said. ‘Has he ever told you about the time he killed a whole tribe of wood-elves to save me and the leader of another tribe?’
‘A whole tribe of wood-elves?’ Talia exclaimed. ‘Surely not, husband. You are my protector, but no one man could so such a thing.’
‘Really, it wasn’t me,’ I said, taking off my jacket and my sword and setting them aside. ‘If it wasn’t for the help of my companions, I would have been killed.’
‘Modesty,’ Santana said, ‘he fought through fire and droves of savages.’
‘And you’re not so modest,’ I smiled at my red-haired wife.
While the caves sounded like a good idea, I instead elected to hang around at the treehouse, escaping the cold with Talia and Santana beneath the sheets.
‘So what really happened on the land of the wood-elves?’ Talia asked, propping herself up on her elbows on my chest. ‘Did you really kill a whole tribe to get one of your wives back, or is that just a tale you tell all of the women in your life?’
‘I didn’t kill a whole tribe of wood-elves,’ I smiled. ‘I killed a few of them… And their leader.’
‘No…’ Talia exclaimed. ‘You killed a tribe master? Why didn’t you claim their land?’
‘I did… On a different occasion. But the wood-elves were different. Their land was destroyed in the process.’
‘So you can destroy the land too?’ Talia said. ‘There’s so much I don’t know about you, husband, but I know the seed of a powerful man when I feel it… It only makes me want you more…’
She kissed me passionately on the lips and withdrew, resting on my chest.
‘I didn’t destroy the land,’ I said as Santana ran her hands gently through my hair. ‘But something else did; a demi-god called Zagor. The wood-elves had been making sacrifices to him to stop him from emerging onto the land.’
‘And I almost became one,’ Santana said. ‘Until Jack saved me.’
‘And what happened after?’ Talia asked.
‘Zagor emerged from beneath the land and practically destroyed it, taking the wood-elves with him. He flew off into the sky… And that was the last time that I saw him. Now he’s out there somewhere.’
‘Gods…’ Talia muttered, shaking her head in disbelief. ‘I would not wish to be the one to awaken a demi-god.’
‘It’s not like he knows where I live. He’s not going to come for revenge anytime soon… But there are others who could easily find out where we are. That’s why we need to stay one step ahead of them.’
Talia ran her hands over my chest, sliding her fingers over the countless healed injuries that I had sustained so far.
‘The marks of a true man,’ she smiled, running her hands over my body. ‘You possess so many…’
‘Comes with the job,’ I replied thoughtfully.
At that moment the door opened and the rest of my women appeared, returning from the caves.
‘Husband…’ Elera smiled warmly, collapsing onto the bed atop me and kissing me on the lips. ‘Ariadne and Lara tell me that you were successful.’
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘And successful at acquiring a few more problems. I need a bath.’
‘You still haven’t bathed?’ Ariadne exclaimed.
‘So he smells like a real man,’ Talia said, biting her lip.
I laid my head back on the bed for a moment, having precisely zero desire to move from being surrounded by my wonderful wives.
But warm water was calling.
After ten minutes of comfort I managed to drag myself from the bed and head outside into the snow. I fetched some hefty pales of water from the well and heated them over the fire, then poured myself a generous bath and sank into the steaming water.
‘God, that feels good,’ I moaned, resting my head against the edge of the tub. ‘How were things while I was away?’
‘Everything is running smoothly,’ Santana said. ‘Truth be told, we were just worried about you.’
‘You never need to worry about me,’ I said. ‘Even if I almost lost my hand last night…’
‘You almost lost your hand?’ Elera repeated. ‘Were you thinking of putting it somewhere else?’
Ariadne and Santana both frowned at her before bursting out laughing.
‘What did I say?’ My nymph asked in confusion. ‘Something funny?’
I recounted the details of what had happened at the land of the dwarves, the vault and the trap it contained, and our discovery of the map.
‘So now we’re looking for a starseer,’ I said. ‘But apparently they’re pretty hard to come by. Not many tribes still study the stars anymore. Know if we could find any books about it, Santana?’
‘I’m afraid not, husband,’ she replied with disappointment. ‘Books are a costly item as it is in this world, and those about the stars are rarer than most. I doubt we would even find any at Ichabod’s Cove.’
‘Damn,’ I muttered. ‘And if we can’t find a book it’s going to be even harder to find a person who knows how to read the sky.’
Elera suddenly yawned, rolling over on the bed and looking around.
‘Oh, I’m sorry,’ she smiled. ‘I must have drifted off. Those warm baths are turning me into such a sloth. Why have we not always had these furnaces?’
‘Because it’s always been warm before now,’ I laughed.
‘What were you talking about?’
‘The stars,’ Ariadne smiled, squeezing a sponge out over my chest. ‘And all the mysteries that they hold.’
‘The stars hold no mysteries,’ Elera shrugged, leaving the bed in her naked state and crossing to the fireside where she knelt and rubbed her hands together, much like she had done back when I had first met her in her cave beneath the Black Patch. ‘Not if you know how to read them.’
I briefly closed my eyes as I let my head tilt back over the bathtub, feeling Ariadne’s soft hands rubbing across my chest.
What Elera had said only truly registered several seconds later.
‘Wait… What did you just say?’
‘If you know how to read the stars they hold no secrets. My sister-nymphs taught me everything they knew about the skies and their movements back when I resided in the woods with them.’
‘Wait,’ I jolted up from the bath, gripping the edge of the tub. ‘Are you saying you’re a starseer?’
‘I don’t know what that is, husband,’ she shrugged. ‘But I know the stars. I slept beneath them every night of my life before that damned storm forced me below ground with those feral monsters.’
I scrambled from the bathtub like a man possessed and dried off my hands roughly before producing the copper box from my inventory and setting it down on its blanket.
‘Here,’ I said, ushering Elera over and carefully producing the map – not as well as Talia, but well enough. ‘Do you know wh
at these constellations are?’
Elera scanned the dots and whispered quietly to herself.
‘Romula and Canary. This is the Willowtow – if the moon is directly above us, these constellations lie to the west. So all you would need to do is wait till the moon is directly overhead, then go west from a certain spot. I just don’t know which spot that would be.’
‘At the point where the living go to rest, you will confront the blade that bears your reckoning… The starting point must be the land of the dwarves, and if we’re travelling west, then that means… A graveyard west of the land of the dwarves, directly towards this constellation. Holy shit, Elera, you’re a genius!’
‘Well, I would not say such a thing, husband, but-’
I wrapped my arms around her and kissed her passionately.
‘Hm…’ She indulged, shaking her head and shivering. ‘It has been too long since I had you, husband… Is this bath going to waste?’
Before I could even answer Elera crossed to the bath and dropped into the water by the warm light of the fire, practically stealing it from me.
Thankfully it was me who was still holding the map.
My home was peaceful and filled with orange light; I could have stayed here forever in its warmth and in the company of my women, but the prospect of the agrarium resting out there was calling, and I had to be the first one to it.
Chapter Six
Travelling to the land of the dwarves during daylight had been generally risk-free, even if we had to travel off the beaten track to get there.
The problem was the presence of the dark-elves upon the land. Waiting till dark was the only logical way to approach it.
We knew now that we would need to travel close to the dwarven land before following the map west in order to precisely make our trail through the wilds.
But I wanted to spend as little time in the dark as we needed to. The moment the stars presented themselves, we would need to get moving.
I spent the rest of the afternoon poring over the map and considering the words that were scrawled upon it.
Beneath the stars lies the home of the warrior who values strength above all else. Here he meets his equal, the first of three. At the point where the living go to rest, you will confront the blade that bares your reckoning, for death surely awaits the warrior without strength.