The Orb of Wrath

by Nic Weissman

  *******

  The paralysis of the brothers had ended at last. The group was battered but whole again. Though they had survived, they knew they didn't have much time. They had almost exhausted their ammunition and their magic, and there were at least three vampires that would return a few hours later. They had to finish the job and get out of there as soon as possible.

  Before restarting their search they had to eliminate the lord of the castle. Although a wooden stake into the heart kills a vampire, if removed, the monster comes back to life with intact abilities. They had to destroy the body. Erion opened the hatch in the roof of the laboratory, which gave access to the tower. He helped Ithelas carry the corpse and, between the two, climbed the spiral staircase. They pushed the body into the room, which was illuminated by daylight that entered directly through its four large windows. After leaving the body on the floor they immediately descended through the trapdoor, only poking their head in, observing impatiently. In a few moments the sun burned and destroyed the vampire's body, turning it into ashes. They returned to the group.

  They had to find the damn box and get out of there. They decided to explore the crypt first. The room adjacent to the crypt of the five vampires was undoubtedly the main vault where the lord of the castle lay. It was a huge sarcophagus, carved in stone. The work had great artistic merit; it was like a great sculpture, but it also was gloomy, with four huge gargoyles in each corner and the figure of a dragon on the lid. Huge chandeliers lit the room. In the back wall, a multicolored stained glass depicted the scene of a dragon flying over rugged mountains. One of the windows was broken and they saw that behind the window was only the castle's stone wall. The light effect must be maintained by magic. With great disappointment they could see that there was neither sign of the box nor any valuables.

  They entered the last crypt that was down the hall. It was similar in everything to the lord of the castle's crypt, and again had only one sarcophagus. The only difference was that this was somewhat smaller. They found no trace of what they sought for.

  Mithir looked in, illuminating with his stick the big room at the end of the hall where the army of the undead had come out of. The room was very large. There were traces of rotting meat, bones and even members lying on the ground in several places. The room had an indescribable odor. There were also animal remains in a corner. Possibly, they used the rotting bodies, after removing all the blood, to feed that gruesome troop. Mithir didn't have to look much to certify that the box was not there.

  The door of the narrow hallway was the only left they had yet to explore. Erion opened it without any issues. As he had suspected, it was noisy but that didn't matter anymore. The group ventured down the long corridor that spun at end to the left. It was a dark, damp and dirty corridor: a real dungeon. After the corner, the hall showed eleven doors, five on each side, and one at the end. They were all open and were basically dark dungeons with shackles on the wall and, in some cases, a cot of the worst quality. They found nothing, until they came to the last door on the right. A young woman was lying unconscious on the ground. Erion used his picks to open the bars. She was alive, but appeared malnourished and weak. She had wounds on her wrists which undoubtedly had been caused by the shackles. He looked at her face and hands. She was very beautiful. Erion felt pity for the sorry state of the young woman; he wanted to help her. He picked her up and left the dungeon.

  Meanwhile, Samar and Thost had explored the last room down the hall. It was essentially a torture chamber. There were traces of blood in various colors on the ground. Various instruments and tools appeared to have been used recently. There was no one there, nor did they find anything else. They left that horrendous basement area and returned to the main hall. They had checked all the doors and hadn't found what they were looking for.

  Erion led them to the elegant lounge of gloomy paintings. There was a comfortable couch where he placed the young woman. He asked Ithelas to do what he could for her. The cleric checked her and made some cures. Then he confirmed that she had no serious wound, at least in her body; she was just exhausted and malnourished. They could do more for her when they left that place.

  Erion instructed Samar and Thost to take down the paintings and, repeating the operation of the hall upstairs, they removed them from the frames, folded and stored them. Thost felt his forces partially recovered and returned to the room to pick up his shield and sword. He hadn't had enough energy to carry them until now.

  Erion left the room and returned to the hall, coming back moments later. He stood in the doorway, looking to one side and the other several times.

  “I think there might be another hidden room,” he said finally.

  “What?” Ithelas immediately responded, feeling more restless by the minute.

  “Here,” he said, pointing to a wall of the room. “There is a space ... let’s find a hidden door, we have nothing to lose. Let's check this wall of the room or perhaps the south wall of the corridor. In fact, I'll start there. It will be easier,” he added.

  Erion, Mithir and Samar went into the hallway and checked every inch of the wall that the young man had mentioned. Ithelas stayed in the lounge caring for the young captive with his father. Erion and the others returned a while later with no breakthroughs. Then, they began to check the room. They first moved all the furniture against the wall that Erion wanted to check, to facilitate the job. They also took down the wall decorations.

  “Here's something,” gestured Mithir excitedly.

  The magician had just removed a disturbing mask that hung on the wall halfway up. It represented something like a skull, but still had some meat on one side of the face. Mithir found it quite disgusting and distasteful. He went to take it down when he felt a kind of hidden lever behind it.

  Erion came running and checked the mechanism. It was simple, didn't seem to have any traps connected to it; they had practically done nothing to hide it. The young man flipped the spring and a door opened in the middle of the wall where there was nothing before. Probably the vampire had thought it was not necessary to hide something that was in the basement very well, considering how well protected the place was. This would also allow him to get in and out of that hidden room easily and effortlessly, without having to disable any trap or remove protective spells. That convenience of their host had saved them time and effort.

  Erion walked into the room, which was very dark. He lit a torch and then was stunned. The room was packed to the brim with hundreds of objects. Three large chests full of gold coins were the first thing that caught the young man's attention. There was also a cabinet containing a complete dinnerware and silverware which also had a fine engraving work. Several statues of similar style to the ones they had seen in the library were piled in a corner. There was also a large drawer where they had saved a lot of paintings. Two large display cases, hanging on a wall, showed an incredible collection of jewelry in all their glory. Another cabinet stored in its upper shelves several large jars with red liquid and several much smaller ones of many colors on the bottom shelf. Erion checked one of the large jars and found that it was some sort of blood. The small bottles seemed to be magic potions. In the background there were two closed chests as well.

  The young man led the group to the room asking them to not even approach the two closed chests. Everyone gasped. That treasure could rival that of a King of a small state or a baron of a wealthy territory. Unfortunately, even if they had two huge trucks loaded to the brim, they couldn't take everything. They all looked at different things that interested them and then returned to the room to discuss.

  “We can't take everything,” Ithelas resumed.

  “Neither this, nor the fifth part of all of this,” Mithir added.

  “We'll have to choose. In addition, we still have to find the box, and that's the most important thing,” Samar said.

  “Listen to me. The first thing is opening the two closed chests. I sense that there may be some difficulty in the process, but that they would a
lso contain more valuable treasures. If I am right, we must look at everything before choosing what we want to take. Fingers crossed that the box is in one of them,” Erion said.

  “Wait. What if we open the portal right here and go back and forth multiple times? We could take everything,” Thost said, thinking for a moment in his plan to recover his name.

  “We can't be sure that such a thing is possible. Many portals are unidirectional; they only allow the flow to a destination,” Mithir gestured.

  “Besides, there is the problem of the enemies that are still around, especially the vampires. We had agreed to open the portal in the valley, to prevent any of those monsters following us back to Bor. I would not want to be responsible for bringing home such a monster,” Ithelas said.

  “I know. I know. We had already spoken about it. I just wanted to dream for a moment. A fortune like this would change our lives forever,” the knight said.

  They paused and each imagined himself for a moment, back at home and with that wealth in hand. Erion asked them to wait there and headed back to the room. He had to check those chests. As he walked into the room he was hopeful that the box was in one of them. But what if the box wasn't in those chests? It was a scenario that he didn't want to even contemplate. The first thought that someone might have is that the riches they could get in the mansion were even higher than the reward they had been offered. Therefore, some might consider it best to focus on accumulating and transporting everything they could and forget the mission. But Erion knew this would be a serious mistake. If they dismiss a contract like that, leaving the client without what he needed, but returning laden with riches, with certainty that client would never, ever hire them again. This would prevent them from having other opportunities to gain new funds in other future jobs with him. Without the information, and the teleport scrolls that his client had given them, it would have been very difficult for them to be alone in a situation like that.

  Additionally, contractors talked among themselves. It would be only a matter of time for all the other clients to have news about their behavior and would eliminate any other option to get lucrative contracts in the future. They would become outlaw adventurers. Although the treasure was important, it did not fulfill all the aspirations that they could have. For example, Mithir wanted to build a wizard tower and a large laboratory, and this could cost clearly more than ten thousand gold coins. Even if they had the option of taking everything, it was possible that Mithir's part wouldn't reach that figure, although certainly it would be close. If they couldn't embark on more adventures, they would also need money to support themselves for life, and this was not cheap in a kingdom such as Bor; only the nobles with vassals, who regularly pay their taxes, had automatically ensured sustenance; and yet, they had to administer their money well and not spend foolishly or otherwise, even they wouldn't have sufficient income. The conclusion was clear: first priority, the box; second priority, what they could take, but without compromising their security on their return home.

  Erion stood in front of the first chest. He began to carefully review the lock with his picks, but was careful not to try to open it. He confirmed his suspicions: the chest had a trap, a spring that would be activated if he tried to open it without the key. He tried to find a way to release the mechanism, but the chest was very well built. It was virtually impossible to access the spring without opening the chest first. This only left one way out. He'd have to open the lock with the picks first; he'd have to do it in a way so that the mechanism wouldn't be forced at all, as if he had the key itself in hand.

  The lock was average sized. He estimated that a straight five pick would be the best option to exercise primary pressure. He complemented this election with a medium angled crowbar; he had several of those, but decided to use his lucky pick. He had it for a very long time. He slowly introduced the two tools, seeking foothold in the tooth guard. He pressed lightly until he heard the first clack of the spring. Now only the last step was left, the hardest. With the pick in an angle, he pushed slightly to the right and then ... he heard a clack again, this time the pivot guard. The lock was open, and he had managed to avoid the trap.

  He opened the lid and saw within six potions of different colors. It was a big chest to only hold those flasks; maybe at another time it held different things. He pocketed the bottles and headed to the last chest. After checking the lock, he concluded that it was not dangerous. However, it would not be easy to open. It was of great quality and quite old. He counted no less than five twist springs, which were wonderfully structured in multiple directions, which would make it very difficult to open; difficult, but not impossible.

  He took his lucky pick again. He had to work thoroughly. It took nearly fifteen minutes, but he finally got it. The chest was open. That lock had brought him to the very limit of his abilities. If I had been a little older, or rustier he would have failed; also if the lock would have had a sixth spring. In any case, he felt very satisfied; few could pick a lock like that.

  He opened the lid of the chest and, within it, there were several objects: a shield, a cape and armbands. Finally, in the bottom of the chest, there was also a beautiful wooden box. He recognized the namal by the hard and tough texture and the slightly yellowish brown color. The box had a very thin silver plate covering the lid and two sides. The plate had a fine engraved job representing a hill with some dwarves that climbed to the top, loading picks in one hand and torches in the other. On the sides, a large shield with a dragon in the middle covered most of the space. The box was closed. There was no doubt that this was what they were looking for.

  Erion took the box and all the other objects, returned to the room and put everything on a table. Everyone in the group was excited to finally have found what they were looking for. They gave a quick look at the other objects and distributed them among the pouches. Erion explained the discovery of the other potions and they all agreed that he should keep them. With everything they had taken, there was hardly space in anyone's bag.

  “Mithir, I think it's time to use your bag,” Erion said, while his brother nodded. “Take what you can from the first chest.”

  They all followed Mithir curiously, who had just taken out a small bag with patches from one of the pockets of his robe. It looked quite old. They did not understand what they could do with it. Probably they would not have room to store more than two hundred gold coins. The magician stood in front of the first chest and began to take large handfuls of coins and put them in the sack. For some reason the sack never seemed full. The jingle of coins left no doubt that, really, the magician was depositing them in the small bundle. A while later the chest was already less than half full ... and Mithir's bag still wasn't completely filled. It was unheard of.

  “How is this possible?” Ithelas asked, curious.

  “Yes, please tell us,” Thost pleaded.

  The magician smiled but said nothing. They didn't know whether because his hands were busy picking coins up or because he really didn't want to answer them.

  “It's a container bag,” Samar explained suddenly.

  “A what?” the cleric said.

  “A container bag. You can put a lot more in than its physical condition can hold. Besides, its weight hardly varies. I think it has to do with most of the content actually transferring to another plane of existence. I've already seen one,” the elf added.

  Mithir was getting more and more coins in the bag when he finally stopped.

  “It's full,” he said by gestures, as he put the bag in his pouch.

  The magician had virtually emptied an entire chest. Meanwhile, Erion had opened the display cases and had put in a couple of cloths all jewelry that they had, and had saved them in the two outer pockets of his pouch. Finally, he went to the corner of the room where there was a large box with more paintings. He checked them one by one and chose three of them. With his knife he quickly removed them from their frames, rolled them up and also put them in his bag.

  They returned to the
room. Erion glanced at all the pouches and concluded that there wouldn't be room for anything else. He then addressed Ithelas and asked about the status of the young woman.

  “She's weak. But she's not in danger,” the cleric said.

  “You think we can wake her?” Erion asked.

  “I don't think we can or, frankly, we shouldn't wake her now,” Ithelas said.

  They made a mental review of all they had managed to take and concluded that they couldn't do much better. It was time to escape from that lost place from the hand of Oris. Although it would have been optimal for Thost to carry the young woman, his weakened state made it impossible. He could barely stand the weight he carried, even though they had placed in his bag the lighter objects. Erion placed the young woman on his shoulders with Ithelas' help. Fortunately, she was a thin girl. Still, walking represented a considerable effort for him.

  It was time to go. They left the basement, rising gently from the spiral staircase and, as they had discussed, they continued up and went straight to the tower. When they got there, an arrow whistled past their ears and reached Mithir, who fell to the ground enfeebled.

  “Take cover!” Ithelas asked, pointing to the east window.

  That window faced the other tower. The guardsmen had to be shooting from there. Everyone ran for cover. Erion briefly looked out the other window to observe the situation and then came back to the group. The cleric withdrew the arrow from Mithir's side and made some quick cures. The wound was still oozing blood. Unfortunately Ithelas had exhausted all his magical power and could not heal, so he had to apply two doses of healing ointment on the wound and then a bandage on it.

  “This will make you feel better, but, to the possible extent, you should avoid heavy physical exertion in the coming hours,” the cleric said.

  Soon they realized that the whole regiment of soldiers was on alert and were surrounding them and pointing from different angles of the parapet, the exterior of the castle and the other tower. With all the noise they had to do in the basement to fight off skeletons and zombies, it was impossible that the soldiers hadn't noticed their presence; they could even be considered fortunate that the castle area in which they were was hidden and was inaccessible from the area where the soldiers were. It would be extremely difficult and risky to get out of there. Then Mithir saw it clearly; this was the moment for which they had prepared.

  “Listen to me. I can get you out of here in one piece. But it will be difficult,” he said.

  “How are you going to do it?” Samar asked directly.

  “With magic, of course,” clarified Mithir. “But you're going to have to entrust your life to me. If anyone doubts and stays behind, I can’t do anything for that person.”

  The young magician paused and looked all of the group members as if trying to assess what was the degree of confidence that he had managed to establish with each of them.

  “We need to jump out the south window; jump high and out. And we must do it very close together, almost simultaneously. While we fall we must cover our flanks with Thost and Ithelas' shields. It is possible that during the first moments the soldiers may shoot at us,” he explained.

  “But what are you saying? Have you gone mad?” Ithelas said.

  “No, not at all. He knows his stuff. He can take us to the valley below, in one piece. But you're going to have to blindly trust him,” Erion said.

  After a brief but intense debate and the fear of losing more time in that place finished convincing everyone to follow Mithir's plan. They had taken too long to find the box. If they took longer the vampires would return, and with almost their entire magical potential exhausted and their strongest warrior in poor condition, they would have no chance of survival.

  They stood close together, just as the magician asked. Erion was in the front, with the girl on his shoulders. The huge glassless window let them feel the cold breeze coming from the valley. He could see, about twelve steps below, the base of the cliff where several soldiers were waiting for them with their weapons ready. The ledge between the castle wall and emptiness was particularly narrow at that point; it was no more than two or three steps wide. They also saw their destination far below, the valley. Between the height of the ridge and the height of the tower where they were, there could be fifty to sixty steps. This was far more than any human being could survive under normal conditions. Erion instantly turned and looked at his brother's eyes. Then he smiled, ran to the window and jumped into the void.

  CHAPTER 10: LEAP INTO THE VOID