The Dagger-Key and The Lost Treasures of Kebadon

by Daniel Ferguson

  * * *

  Soon after Dylc had sent a small group out to hunt land snakes, seabirds, and dragonflies, which seemed to be the only wildlife on the island, he also sent out another small group to gather fresh fruit, which fortunately were abundant. And as thunder and lighting again took over the sky, followed by a light shower, the rest of the group returned from the waterfall lake. Alil and a few others hurried inside the medic cabin with the new zuetia supply. While Washburrn, Kyhawn, and the rest went inside the sleeping cabin. They found Dylc being bombarded with more complaints and questions than he was able to handle. He gave Washburrn a nasty look and departed.

  Kyhawn grinned at Dylc’s retreating back, then went to his corner to study his dream notes. He struck a flint stick and lit a candle as he sat on his bedding, leaned against the wall, and read.

  At that very moment Arbra was also lighting a candle. She held it up to the strange indentation on the back of the cave wall, along with the eldest son’s candle. Careful not to upset the dragonflies hanging from the cave ceiling above them no one said a word. Gerit, after making some adjustments to the mysterious dagger-key, inserted it for the third time. He turned it to one side. The door opened. As they entered, they discovered what seemed to be a tomb as it contained a skeleton. Its ragged garments and cloak hung loosely from its bones. Also discovering the door didn’t want to stay open, they placed a large flat stone at the foot of the door.

  However, they soon found the dagger-key also opened a second door to another much larger cave chamber, which went even deeper into the mountainside. While Arbra stepped down into the second cave chamber, Gerit placed a large flat stone at the foot of the door to keep it from closing as well. He handed the dagger-key to his eldest son, telling him, “You two stay out here and keep watch.”

  The eldest son pleaded, “But Father, why can’t we come with you?”

  “Stay here—we won’t be long. And make sure this door doesn’t close.” Looking disappointed, they obeyed their father.

  Arbra looked back at Gerit. “There aren’t any bones in this chamber.” She glanced at the cave door. “What if that strange key opens other doors? There could very well be another door in this area somewhere. I’m going after that dagger-key.”

  Gerit’s eyes filled with delight. “Wait! Come here. We can look for another door later.” He crouched next to a large passageway and set the lantern on the ground. “Take a look at these stones. Magnificent!”

  She crouched beside him and picked up handfuls of them. Yet even more amazingly, when Arbra took hold of the lantern and held it in front of them, an entire passageway sparkled, reflecting the lantern’s light.

  A voice called out from the cave entrance above. “Hello—anyone in there?”

  “Someone’s calling for us, Dad,” the oldest son reported. Not thinking anything of it, Gerit told his sons to welcome whoever it was.

  “Take this candle and show them the way back,” the oldest son said to his little brother.

  The younger son drew near the entrance to find a crew-Zac standing at the first cave door. “Hello there,” the crew-Zac said as he slung back the hood of his dark blue cloak, entered, and then dragged his boots over a flat stone to clean the dragonfly droppings from his boots. “Aren’t you Gerit’s son?”

  “Sure am, sir. We’re in the back part of this cave. I’ll take you there.”

  The crew-Zac smiled as he flung the rest of the cloak back over his shoulders, his expression curious. “Lead the way, lad.”

  The child cupped one hand over the flame of his candle. “Watch out for this skeleton,” he said as they continued toward the second cave chamber.

  The crew-Zac followed close behind. “Lad, I think you need a glass chimney for your candleholder.”

  “It broke when the ship wrecked.”

  The crew-Zac nodded, “I see ....”

  After they reached the cave door leading into the second chamber, the crew-Zac whispered, “Why don’t you lads go in there with your dad?”

  “He told us to stay out here and keep watch,” the elder one told him.

  “I’m here now.” The crew-Zac pushed them toward the door. “You lads go on in and surprise your dad.”

  “Don’t move this flat stone,” the eldest son warned. “Or the door might close and we won’t be able to get out.”

  Hearing the voices, Gerit called out, “Who’s out there?”

  The crew-Zac grabbed the dagger-key and pushed the children down into the second chamber. They shouted for their dad as they hit the dirt floor. The crew-Zac quickly dragged the flat stone away from the door, letting it shut.

  Gerit yelled, “What’s going on?” They dashed for the door, pushing on it and shouting, but their efforts were in vain. The crew-Zac fled, kicking the skeleton exposing a small wooden box from under its cloak. Not paying any attention to the box, he went to the outer door and dragged yet another stone away from it. A mysterious cool breeze flowed passed him. The door closed. Shaken by the uncomfortable chill, he quickly went to the large outside entrance. Above him, overlapping tree roots draped the large flat stones that protruded from the landscape above like a front porch overhang. He stared at the dagger-key, satisfied it was indeed the one he’d read about in an ancient scroll—the one only he and a few others knew about.

  A moment later, two more crew-Zacs, Krow and Nelg, came up to him. Mekon showed them the dagger-key. They had a good laugh when he told them what he’d done to obtain it. Afterward they started back to the ruins where they’d found Emit alive and well.

  The cleaver, twenty-five year old Krow turned toward them and said sharply, “Emit can wait. We know where that fancy lady found this key. I say we go straight to the beach and recover that peg-lock chest from the waters. It must have sunk near the beach. We need to go now… before that Washburrn character gets the same idea. We’ll need the rest of those artifacts for our ceremony.”

  Mekon held the dagger-key out at them, and decided it was time they knew something about its true purpose. “This key won’t be needed in our ceremony, you uneducated lizards. I don’t know how it works, but I do know it possesses magical powers that can destroy our plans.”

  “Even after the spirit of Kebadon takes over?” Krow questioned with a look of disbelief. “And our empire has taken over all the lands?”

  “Parts of the ancient scroll had rotted away.” Mekon took out his sword. “No one knows for sure, but as long as we have this key, we needn’t worry about its powers. The artifacts have been buried for over a thousand years.” He paused. “Strange, this key, or dagger-key if you want to call it that, would show up at about the same time our artifacts in that chest are discovered.”

  Mekon thought for a while longer, then said confidently, “There’s no doubt in my mind—this key was also in that chest along with our artifacts … the tools we’ll need for the ceremonial sacrifice.” He grinned as he dropped it into the large pocket of his cloak, but because of its size he was unable to secure the flap.

  “Okay, so they buried it along with our ritual tools and the artifact.” Krow playfully slapped Mekon’s shoulder. “Big deal. It’s ours now. So why don’t we just destroy it? We destroy the key, and we destroy its powers.”

  “Yeah, let’s smash it into pieces with a rock,” Nelg suggested.

  “I don’t know why, but the ancient scrolls say it can’t be destroyed.” Mekon patted his pocket. “It’ll be safe with me.”

  They hurried through the trees and foliage, cutting through the vines and limbs growing wildly before them and making a path down to the beach.

  “I’ve seen a lot of keys in my day,” Krow said with greed in his eyes, “but never have I seen one such as this.”

  Nelg looked at them as if he’d had an inspiration. “The chest busted open during the storm. That’s why this key has washed ashore.”

  Krow gave his brainless comrade a pat on the shoulder. “We know.”

  Mekon slashed at a vi
ne in rage. “We’re the true owners of the ancient artifacts.” He paused, his face gloomy. “However, if those old documents are in there, we’re also going to need them.”

  “The rest of the artifacts are only a swim away.” Krow smiled as if he could taste the glory and power he hoped to claim.

  Mekon looked at Krow. “You foolish lizard, if those documents have been lying

  underwater for the past few days, those artifacts aren’t going to do us much good.”

  As they began to catch glimpses of the ocean though the foliage, Mekon became bothered. “Why haven’t we seen our ship anywhere?”

  “Don’t think I’m not also worried about it not being here, because I am,” Krow responded as they stepped onto the rocky white sand.

  The beach seemed deserted. They proceeded over a rocky patch. To their left, where the foot of the mountain began, beautiful natural arches protruded into the ocean. Near the small arch which was closest to them, the Sealander’s bow and number one mast reached for the heavens, seemingly asking for mercy while clinging to the rocks.

  As they crossed the stretch of rocky sand, then climbed over the backbone of the small arch, only white sand lay between them and their destination. They thought about the dreadful night of the shipwreck and the island shaking and taking her down.

  “What about those sea snakes?” Krow threw out.

  “Have no fear of them. They only attack when it’s raining, according to what I heard some of those snob passengers saying.” Mekon gestured all around. “The sun’s shining.”

  “Yeah.” Nelg kicked up some sand. “I heard they only attacked them aboard ship when we had that tremor, and it was raining then, or was it?”

  “That’s not what I heard,” Krow groaned.

  “Krow,” Mekon chuckled, “you’ve fired one too many cannons. I think it’s affected your ears. Don’t worry—those snakes most likely live deep beneath the surface. Probably the tremor woke them and forced them to the surface.”

  Nelg nodded, “Yeah, we’ll be long gone before they wake up again.”

  “If we feel any tremors when we’re out there, we’ll come topside and out of the water,” Mekon told them.

  Their greed for the ancient artifacts soon overpowered their fears, and before long they stood at the foot of the hillside next to the shallow cliffs.

  Nelg scratched his ankle, then his arm. “I don’t see any sandcastle.”

  Mekon and Krow looked at each other and shook their heads. “We’re not looking for sandcastles,” Krow reminded him.

  Mekon stretched his neck over the hillside to view the clearing, noticing two Zacs sitting under a large tree not far from the bonfire. He stared to his left. The ocean seemed calm enough. “There’s Zacs up there, so let’s keep our voices down.”

  Krow rubbed his hands together in anticipation of what they might find. “Go ahead—jump in.”

  Nelg took off his boots. “Wouldn’t it be faster if all three of us looked for the artifacts?” He unclipped his cloak and laid it on the rocks. “Sooner we have our hands on them, the better.” He took off his brown shirt and dark blue trousers. “The water feels nice and cool,” he said as he went to lay his garments next to his cloak. “Plus I thought we were in a hurry?”

  Krow laid his cloak on the hillside and looked at Mekon. “Shouldn’t one of us keep watch?”

  Mekon took off his boots, but stood on the edge of the water and turned to Krow. “You know I don’t swim too well.”

  Krow knew he was being truthful and respected his request. Moments later Krow’s uniform joined Nelg’s as they took deep breaths and dived into the murky water.

  A little over two minutes later, Krow surfaced for air. Nelg popped up beside him.

  Mekon stood at the water’s edge and asked softly, “Did you find anything?”

  Krow shook his head. “Kind of hard to see down there, but I seen something shiny. Not too deep either.” They took another deep breath and submerged again.

  Two minutes later, Mekon was staring speechless at the water. In the area where he had last seen Krow, it had turned blood red.

  Nelg surfaced, “Help! Help me, Mekon!”

  Mekon waded into the water and tried to reach him. “Give me your hand. Quickly!” Their fingers touched.

  A split second later an enormous snake-like creature sprang from underwater and reached for Mekon. Its mouth was open wide, and its long narrow tongue touched Mekon’s face. He stumbled backward into the shallower water, then turned and didn’t stop until he got to higher grounds.

  “Help me!” Nelg screamed repeatedly. “Help me!” His hands reached for Mekon as his screams became a whisper.

  The two Zacs from the bonfire were standing at the top of the hillside looking down in horror.

  Mekon stared at the snake-like creature, which stared back at him.

  A second large tentacle emerged without a face and coiled itself around Nelg. He struggled to escape its powerful hold, but it was too late; the creature’s hollow, finger-like claws on its underside plunged deep into his flesh. Seconds later all that remained was a pool of blood.

  Shocked by the sight, Mekon scrambled up near the trees. Unable to think straight, he shivered as he gazed at the bloodstained water washing ashore staining the white sand red.

  The Zacs on the hillside hurried down. Moments later Zacs cutting firewood nearby joined them. They found Mekon curled up like a child in dire need of comfort.

  Alil jumped down onto the beach in front of Mekon. She looked back and forth from the blood washing ashore and him. “My lord—what happened here?”

  Not saying a word, Mekon kept his head down. With one hand over his face, he pointed at the blood. Alil was getting nowhere with him.

  Shortly afterward Washburrn, Kyhawn, and a few others arrived. Washburrn spit out a zuetia leaf “What happened? Who’s out there?”

  Mekon dropped his arms to his side and plopped his legs down into the sand.

  Washburrn stood before him as if he were a general on a battlefield after a bad call had been made by a lesser officer. “We asked you what happened. Who’s out there?”

  “Krow, Nelg, and I … we were … bathing.” He stared at the red sand. “I was just starting to undress. Blood … then there was blood … everywhere blood.”

  Everyone stared at him in bafflement except for the two Zacs on bonfire duty. They quickly told everyone about the return of the strange snake-like creatures that had attacked the Sealander.

  Mekon explained. “He popped up. His arms waving, screaming for help.” Mekon’s blue eyes wept. “A gigantic snake grabbed Nelg. I don’t know what happened to Krow.” He shook his head with his hands over his face. “He’s been down there too long … to still be alive.” He stared at the blood. “I didn’t know … I didn’t know they were going to attack. There were these thorns all up and down its underside,” he moaned. “It wrapped around him. Then he was gone.” He leaned forward, his blond curly hair in his silverish-blue face, then flopped back onto the ground. Horrified, he stared through the leaves above at the sky.

  Kyhawn stared at the blood-red water staining the white sand.

  The others looked at one another, not sure what to think. At the same time, they couldn’t help but feel sorry for Krow and Nelg.

  “I need to get away from here.” Mekon staggered to his feet. “My cloak—and my boots.” He went to the hillside, leaned against the rocks, and put on his boots.

  “Let us take you to camp.” Crew-Zac Shya motioned to a passenger to give her a hand.

  Kyhawn handed Mekon his cloak while Tobben gave him a zuetia leave. “Eat this. Maybe it will clam you.”

  Mekon grabbed a handful of zuetia leaves and slung his cloak around his shoulders. Only then did he remember the dagger-key. He slipped his hand into his pocket to make sure it was safe, but found only sand. He went to where the other two cloaks lay, announcing, “This is not my cloak.” But when he searched them, except for a few dried spider legs, their pocke
ts were also empty. He grabbed the spider legs and tossed the cloaks aside and turned his own pocket inside out, but only sand fell out. Without saying another word, he allowed the others to escort him back to camp.

  Kyhawn had been watching Mekon closely, noting every odd move he had made. He felt a chill when Mekon glanced at him, as if Mekon were a wicked player in his dreams. The chill passed as Kyhawn watched them disappear into the foliage.

  “Sure is a lot of blood,” Dylc said. They all looked uncomfortable.

  “What kind of sea creatures are we dealing with?” Washburrn looked dumfounded, as if his bloodstained past were haunting him.

  “Look!” Kyhawn exclaimed. “A body!”

  Alil looked where Kyhawn was pointing. “Grab a long branch so we can drag it to shore without going in ourselves.”

  Kyhawn went up the hillside, then came back carrying a large branch.

  “I’ll take that.” Alil climbed the rocky hillside onto the shallow cliffs and knelt. She put one end of the branch in the water and began pulling the body ashore. While she was doing so, a second body surfaced.

  Once again Kyhawn ran up the hillside to get another branch. He quickly returned, but held back to give Alil enough room to maneuver the first body close enough in to reach.

  A large snake-like creature emerged and swung toward Alil.

  “Look out!” Dylc cried.

  The faceless creature slammed beside her. She swung the branch but missed, almost losing her balance. The monster sank into the water as the rest of them leaped back.

  Kyhawn pointed with the branch toward the water. “Out there—I don’t think they’re snakes at all. I just saw the creature’s head. It’s round with large eyes, like something… prehistoric.”

  Before most of them could see what he meant, it vanished.

  Washburrn grabbed the branch away from Kyhawn. “We still need to get a closer look at the bodies.” Clearly the scene reminded him of life prior to the Sealander.

  A large tentacle emerged and pulled the second body under. Alil jumped off the shallow cliffs onto the beach. “I don’t want to see that ever again.” She got to her feet and brushed off her trousers.

  “I don’t either.” Dylc twisted his mustache nervously, “but whose body is this one?”

  “Don’t know,” Washburrn said as he looked at Kyhawn. “Give me a hand, Kyhawn.”

  Kyhawn stared at Washburrn’s high-cut leather boots. The waves broke just below them. Despite his fear, he willingly helped out. In doing so, he managed to get hold of one leg while Washburrn held the other. The hip socket snapped loose from the body. Kyhawn stumbled and dropped the leg. He gagged at the thought of it breaking loose.

  Washburrn and Alil dragged the remains in a few feet farther. “You okay, Kyhawn?” Washburrn asked.

  Kyhawn shook his head. “What do you think? A leg just came off in my hands. No, I’m not okay.” He got up and went to the trees.

  Alil stood next to the body holding her arm up over the lower part of her face. “My lord, it’s bad enough being shipwreck, losing one-third of everyone aboard, losing the ship. Now this. There’s nothing left of him but skin and bones.”

  Washburrn approached the corpse, knelt, and slipped on his glasses. “Hundreds of small slits cover his entire body.” He studied them. “It seems his insides have been sucked out of him.”

  Dylc waved his hand back and forth. “It smells as though he’s been dead for weeks.” He turned to them. “This is too much,” he said as he went to the trees and took a seat on a log, with his arms pressed to his knees, his hands cupped together, he put his head in his lap, moaning. “This is too much for me.”

  “I’ve had enough,” Kyltic said, almost gagging at the sight. “Please, I don’t know how the lot of you can stand it.” Him and three others headed for camp while two returned to their bonfire duties.

  Alil turned away. “By golly,” she muttered, “some of us need to stay and take care of this mess.” She glanced at Dylc and got to her feet, “But Kyhawn, you can leave too if it bothers you.”

  Kyhawn placed his hand over his nose and said uneasily, “I’ll be fine.”

  Alil pulled her uniform scarf over the lower portion of her face and crouched next to Washburrn.

  Kyhawn drew near; one hand over his nose. “How can you stand that smell?”

  Washburrn looked up at him. “Well, you get used to it,” he raised an eyebrow, “or you get out of the business.”

  Alil stared at the skin hanging loosely from the skull. “At first I thought this was Nelg. But the hair isn’t right.”

  Washburrn pushed his glasses to his nose, “This one’s Krow.”

  Kyhawn got down beside them. “They said they were bathing, but why do it out here? No one bathes out here. Everyone either takes a shower in camp, or goes to that waterfall lake.”

  Dylc stood with a look of anger. “I told everyone there was no swimming in the ocean. They disobeyed a direct order!” He stepped down onto the sand, as if trying to build up the courage to draw near.

  As all eyes were on Dylc in that moment of silence; no one disagreed.

  Washburrn rose and spoke with respect. “We realize they disobeyed your order, but Kyhawn has brought up a good question. And not to mention they knew about the giant sea snakes, or whatever those creatures are out in the water.”

  Dylc slowly nodded, not saying a word as he placed his scarf over the lower half of his face and drew closer. Two more of the crew had died. At that moment this was all he could think about.

  Kyhawn eased back and pointed to Krow’s remains. “Look, he’s wearing a necklace like the one I found.”

  Alil looked at them angrily. “These two have literally been eaten alive—and you Zacs are chatting about why they decided to bathe here? And so what if he’s wearing a necklace? What’s going on between you two? Explain yourselves, please.”

  Dylc slowly crouched across from Washburrn, next to Kyhawn. He glanced at Alil then looked at Washburrn. “Yes. Explain yourselves.”

  Washburrn spoke softly. “Maybe they were looking for something.”

  Kyhawn got to his feet. “Like a chest perhaps. Why else would they go into the water when they knew the sea creatures might be about?” He brushed the sand off his trousers. “The answer is the peg-lock chest.”

  Dylc frowned and slowly nodded. “Maybe … if they thought it sank when the ship went down.”

  They looked at each other, wondering whether Mekon could have been lying. Zeal, Treb, and Bekim came up, each carrying a large leaves to wrap the body. As they exchanged words, Zeal confirmed that Mekon had last been seen at camp.

  Washburrn, Kyhawn, Alil and Dylc made haste. On their way to camp Washburrn confronted Dylc. “I was told you let Krow and Mekon and some of the passengers leave camp alone. I call that leaving them unsupervised. What were you thinking?”

  Dylc tensed. “You’re not in charge here—I am. The other ones who went with them made it back safely.”

  Kyhawn shook his head. “Thank Goducess they did.” Dylc gave Kyhawn an annoyed glance.

  “All we can do now is hope Mekon’s still in camp?” Washburrn groaned.

  Alil turned to Washburrn. “All of us have been through a lot.” She placed her arm around Washburrn, and they walked the remainder of the way in silence.

  When they arrived at camp, they searched high and low for Mekon, but he was not in the camp or anywhere nearby. Soon after they buried Krow’s remains, a search party was sent out the look for Mekon.

  During this time Washburrn, Kyhawn, Dylc, and Alil gathered around Washburrn’s sleeping space.

  And before the conversation ended, they’d concluded that Emit had most likely murdered Turnar and Korts, along with Nelg, whom Kyhawn had witnessed in the room they were murdered in. Kyhawn felt by the words Nelg was speaking to himself, that in fact, he was mostly likely in there for reasons other then retrieving Alil’s scarf. And the fact that they had found Mekon, along with Krow and Nelg on the beach,
bathing in sea monster infested waters, which didn’t make any sense. With all of this in mind, plus the fact that shortly after the deaths of Krow and Nelg, Mekon had vanished, they concluded that all four of them had committed the appalling crime as a team. Nevertheless Dylc couldn’t understand how a fine gentle Zac such as Mekon had gotten tangled up in a web of murder.

  Though they felt some satisfaction having figured out who the killers might be, they also felt the Zacs had been in the water for another reason besides getting clean. The thought baffled them. Kyhawn looked at each of them. “Unless, like we talked about earlier, they thought the chest did sink.”

  Alil nodded. “But why look over there, near the clearing?”

  “Good question.” Washburrn raised an eyebrow. “The Sealander went to rest over a hundred yards away.”