The Broken Key (02) - Hunter of the Horde

by Brian S. Pratt

  With the others following close behind, Bart moved steadily, yet cautiously, down the hallway. Doors lined both sides of the hallway at staggered intervals. It soon became evident that the attackers had breached this area. The first room they came to showed signs of the long lost battle. A table had been tipped on its side, the top facing the door.

  “They may have tried to use it as a shield,” observed Chyfe.

  “Don’t think it worked though,” responded Soth.

  At the next room they found two swords and a breastplate, all had been mercilessly eaten away by rust. Upon seeing the breastplate, Bart entered the room and moved over to inspect it. Kevik came closer with his light. Despite the advanced state of rust the breastplate was in, they could clearly see the double headed falcon emblazoned on the front.

  Bart glanced to the others who were at the doorway watching. “The double headed falcon,” he said, indicating the front of the breastplate.

  Riyan nodded then stepped aside as Bart left the room and again took the lead with Kevik right behind.

  Other rooms they passed showed similar signs of the battle that had raged here long ago. One room that must have been a library showed scorch marks on the walls, remnants of a long dead fire. The only reason they knew it had been a library were the scraps of deteriorated parchment still left on the floor, and the partial remnant of a bookcase the fire failed to consume.

  Upon seeing the parchment, Kevik moved into the room. His eye caught sight of a page that had only been lightly singed. Excited, he crossed the room, all the while being careful not to step on any of the others. His excitement rose when he saw there were words written on it. The language was completely unfamiliar to him but that didn’t alter his excitement at finding it. Very carefully, he reached down to pick it up. But when his fingers touched it, it disintegrated.

  “Damn!” he cursed. He had hoped to have been able to take it with him.

  “Come on Kevik,” Bart urged from the doorway. “It’s all too old. You’ll not find anything there.”

  Kevik ignored Bart’s urging to leave. Standing up, he looked around at the fire ravaged room. Sadness took him at the loss of the knowledge this room must have contained. Imagine the wisdom these people must have had.

  “Kevik, let’s go,” Riyan said.

  Turning back toward the doorway where the others waited, Kevik was about to leave when his eye caught sight of an irregularity in the scorch marks scarring the walls.

  Turning toward it, he realized it wasn’t so much the irregularity, but uniformity of it that had caught his eye. There was a straight line where none should be. Again ignoring the pleas coming from the doorway, he crossed over to give it a closer look.

  “I think I found something,” he said. Bart was the first to his side. When he showed him the line, he saw Bart nod in agreement.

  “I think a compartment was hidden here,” Bart said. “The fire must have caused it to crack open.” He took out his lockpicks and removed the long, straight pick. To Kevik he said, “Hold your staff close.”

  Kevik nodded and moved it to just behind Bart’s shoulder.

  Bart closely inspected the straight line and could see that it was indeed the outer door of a hidden compartment. Inserting the tip of his pick into it, he gently began trying to pry it open. He worked at it for several seconds before it suddenly popped open.

  “Ahhh,” Kevik said as he saw what was nestled within the compartment. It was a scroll container. He made to reach in to get it when Bart stopped him.

  “You better let me remove it,” he said.

  Kevik gazed at him a second as memories of other traps came to mind. Then he nodded and lowered his hand.

  Bart grabbed the end of Kevik’s staff and pulled it closer. Using its light, he inspected the interior of the compartment. When he failed to see any sign of traps, he reached in and slowly removed the case. He then handed it to Kevik who immediately took it.

  It looked to be ivory and had magical symbols inscribed over its entirety. From the feel of it, Kevik was sure it held something.

  “Open it,” urged Chyfe.

  “Yes, let’s see what’s in there,” said Seth.

  Kevik looked at the end one would remove to open it. The crease between it and the main body of the case was sealed in a dark red wax. He handed Bart his staff and made to open the case when his eyes fell upon the disintegrated pieces of the parchment on the floor that he had destroyed a moment ago. Shaking his head, he said, “Not here. What’s inside may be too fragile to survive if the magic preserving it is removed.” He could see the disappointment in the other’s eyes. “I’ll take it back to the Guild where with their help, whatever is inside won’t be lost.”

  “As you will,” Riyan said. He gazed at Kevik and realized that the magic user didn’t have much confidence in himself or his abilities. First the magic items that were sitting in his pack that had yet to be identified, now the scroll. Riyan liked Kevik well enough, he just wished he would be more of a risk taker. But then, in his line of work, it was probably a good idea to be cautious. Still, it would be nice to have the use of whatever power those items possessed.

  Bart patted Kevik on the back. “Can we go now?” he asked.

  Kevik glanced to him and nodded.

  Handing him back his staff, Bart headed for the door. The others followed and they continued down the passage.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  _______________________

  Once back in the passage outside the room, Bart moved quickly. With only a quick glance through the doorways they passed, he soon reached the end. Debris choked this end of the passage: tables, benches, chairs, anything that the defenders were able to utilize to slow the advance of their attackers. The fact that the barricade lay in shattered remains was testament that it hadn’t held for long. Beyond the debris was the beginning of a flight of steps that wound its way downward.

  “We go down?” asked Chad.

  Bart nodded. “We go down.” Making his way through the debris, he reached the top of the steps. With the others following, he began descending the winding steps. As near as he could figure it, the steps spiraled around twice before ending at another debris choked passage. Just as they had found at the top of the stairs, the defender’s barricade had been shattered.

  Leaving the stairwell, they found themselves in a passage that was about a third narrower than those they had passed through thus far. It retained the same height as those on the floors above as well as the same level of construction. Debris choked the passage for quite a ways, it looked like the defenders had used everything they had in an attempt to block the advance of the attackers.

  “They must have been desperate,” commented Chad.

  “By the time they had fallen back here,” Chyfe announced, “they would have known their cause was hopeless. If they couldn’t hold them above, they wouldn’t have been able to do so here.”

  Stepping through the debris, they made their way through the passage. It ran in a straight line with neither door nor opening for fifty feet before coming to a gate fashioned of iron bars. The gate itself was lying on the passage five feet this side of where it would have sealed off the area beyond.

  “They pulled it off,” observed Bart. He knelt next to the wall and pointed to a part of the wall where the gate’s hinges would have been attached. “You can see how the edge of the holes facing this side were scraped as the gate was pulled free.”

  “How do you suppose they did that?” asked Seth.

  “Magic most likely,” replied Kevik. “They would have had to have been incredibly strong to have done it by hand.”

  Bart stood up and gazed through the ruined gate area to the darkness beyond. “We have to be getting close.”

  “Why do you say that?” Soth asked.

  Bart gestured to the gate. “The presence of the gate would indicate that not everyone was allowed in this area.”

  “Could have been used to keep people in as well,” Riyan said. �
�Like a prison.” Nodding, Bart said, “Let’s go find out. Be extra careful from here on.” Stepping through the few bars remaining from the side of the gate, he continued down.

  Not very far past the gate they came to a large room with two other exits. What the room had been used for could no longer be told as it was all but empty. Only a lone table sitting on its side lay over to one side. One of the exits was the beginning of another narrow passage while the other held a door that had been split down the middle. Only half of the door was left, the other half was nowhere to be seen.

  Bart went to the exit with the partial door and had Kevik shine his light through.

  Beyond was a small room that had to have been used as a storage area. Scattered about the floor was a layer of all but disintegrated boxes and crates. He glanced at Kevik who shrugged before going over to the passage.

  “Hey, look at this,” Chyfe said. He and the twins were over by the table. Turning back to the others, Chyfe held up a weapon. “Never seen anything like this before.” It was about a foot long and was designed to be gripped in the center. At either end were curved blades, each curving in the opposite direction of the other.

  Riyan, Chad, and Bart had though. A weapon such as this had been among those displayed in the hidden room of the Archives. “Is the balance off?” asked Chad.

  Chyfe waved the weapon about as if he was using it in battle. When he stopped, he nodded. “Yeah,” he replied. “It feels off.” Then he looked to Chad. “How did you know?”

  “I’ve seen one of them before,” he replied. “In the Archives back at the Guild.”

  “What is it?” he asked.

  Chad shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  Chyfe gazed at the weapon then tossed it back to the ground.

  “A weapon of the attackers perhaps?” suggested Seth.

  “Who knows?” replied Bart. Then he got a thoughtful look on his face as he turned to Kevik. “Could you find out?”

  “What?” Kevik asked. “You mean identify it?”

  Bart nodded.

  “I suppose,” he said.

  “Great,” Bart said. Then to Seth and Soth he said, “Set that table upright then place the weapon on it for him.”

  The twins nodded and together righted the table, then Chyfe picked up the weapon from off the floor and placed it on top. Everyone gathered close as Kevik made ready to cast his identification spell.

  First though, he cast the spell to detect if it held any magical properties. When the glow didn’t materialize, he relaxed. No glow meant there was no possibility of a trap.

  “Alright,” he said. “Here we go.”

  Readying himself, he emptied his mind then cast the spell. As soon as the weapon began to glow blue, the vision formed in his mind.

  Redness. A hazy redness obscured the vision. Through the haze he could see two blades being attached to the central handle of the weapon…Pain flared in his mind and he knew something was not right.

  “It always turns blue when he identifies something,” explained Riyan. Then from beside him he heard Kevik take a sharp intake of breath. Glancing to the magic user, he saw that his eyes were shut tight, almost as if he was trying to keep out a very bright light.

  The vision blurred then came into hazy focus once again. When it did, the pain in his head increased tenfold. It was gripped in a hand, that much he could tell.

  “Kevik?” Riyan asked just as every muscle in Kevik’s body spasmed. “Kevik!” he cried out.

  “Another trap?” asked Chad.

  “I don’t know, but we have to do something,” Riyan said. He glanced to Seth then pointed to the weapon on the table. “Get that out of here!” Seth nodded and grabbed the weapon. Running to the mouth of the passage they had just emerged from, he tossed the weapon as far down it as he could. He heard the weapon strike the wall and then the floor before coming to rest.

  Riyan took Kevik by the shoulders and shook him but that did nothing to break the spell he was in. He struck him hard across the face in an attempt to shatter his concentration. But that too had no affect. He turned to Bart, “We’ve got to do something.” Sweat was beading Kevik’s face as a gasp was torn from him.

  Bart stood there not knowing what to do. Then his eyes caught the glint of gold on Kevik’s hand. The Rings! Not even considering the possible outcomes of what he was about to do, he gripped the ring he wore, concentrated hard on Kevik, and mentally shouted, “Kevik!”

  As soon as the connection was made, the pain assaulting Kevik passed through the rings and hit Bart like a hammer. The unexpectedness of it forced a cry out of him and brought him to his knees.

  Chyfe stood there watching as the events unfolded. When Bart cried out and fell, he knew that Bart and Kevik were in serious trouble. One thing that all the sagas about magic users were in complete agreement upon, was that if you knocked one out, it would end whatever spell the magic user was casting. So with that in mind, he removed his knife and stepped towards Kevik.

  “What are you doing?” Riyan shouted a second before the pommel of Chyfe’s knife struck the back of Kevik’s head. The blow dropped Kevik like a rag doll, then the light from his staff went out. The only source of light was from the torches that the twins were still carrying from their earlier search back in the hall.

  Riyan managed to catch him before he hit the floor. A split second later, Bart let out with a groan and sagged the rest of the way to the floor. He wasn’t unconscious, just unable to remain on his knees. Lying on the floor holding his head, he groaned.

  Soth immediately went to Bart to make sure he was okay.

  “What happened?” Chyfe asked. Glancing first at Kevik then to Bart, he couldn’t understand why Bart had reacted in the way he had.

  Riyan laid Kevik down on the floor and knelt next to his head. “Kevik?” he asked.

  Patting his friend on the check, he tried to bring him back to consciousness. When he failed to respond Riyan glanced up to Chyfe and said, “You hit him kind of hard didn’t you?”

  “I didn’t know what else to do,” he replied.

  Soth realized Bart was trying to get up to a seated position and lent him a hand. “You okay?” he asked him.

  Bart still held his head as he propped his back against the wall. “Feels like the mother of all hangovers,” he replied. “I’ll live.” Then he nodded over to Kevik. “Him?” Riyan heard the question and replied, “Alive, but unresponsive.” Bart closed his eyes in an attempt to ease the throbbing in his head. Laying his head back against the wall, he asked, “Was this what happened that time he encountered the trap when he was identifying the items?”

  “Something like it, yeah,” replied Chad.

  “I now can see why he’s hesitant about identifying things,” he said. The ache in his head was beginning to subside, having his eyes closed plus the coolness of the wall against the back of his head was helping to ease it.

  “Riyan,” Bart said after a moment.

  “Yeah?” Riyan replied. He had stopped trying to awaken Kevik as all his attempts have met with failure.

  “Kevik has a red gem that heals,” Bart said. “See if it’s in his pouch.”

  “That’s right,” Chad said. “I saw him use it once.” Riyan immediately began searching through the pouches on Kevik’s belt.

  Soth handed Bart his water bottle and waited while Bart drained it. After handing it back to Soth, Bart said, “Thanks.”

  “No problem,” he replied.

  Bart cracked open an eye. When the pain didn’t flare up again, he opened the other.

  “Might be a good idea to set up camp here for a few hours,” he said. “Neither Kevik nor myself are going to feel up to going much further right now.” Chad nodded and then proceeded to removed rations from his pack. “Anyone else want some?” he asked as he began handing out portions.

  “Found it!” Riyan said. Pulling the red gem out of Kevik’s belt pouch, he looked at it.

  Not sure how to activate its magical energies, he placed
it against Kevik’s forehead.

  ‘Come on, heal!’ he said to himself when nothing appeared to be happening. Then all of a sudden, the gem gave off with a small flash.

  Riyan couldn’t tell if it was working, but he held the gem against Kevik’s forehead just in case.

  “Here,” Chad said.

  Looking up, Riyan took the offered piece of dried beef with his free hand. “Thanks,” he said.

  Chad sat down next to him and looked at the unconscious form of Kevik. “Think he’ll be alright?” he asked.

  Bart shrugged. “Hope so.”

  “It was the rings!” Bart said rather loudly and a bit irritated. The two friends turned to look at Bart who was talking with Chyfe. He had the hand which bore the ring held up before him.

  “When I activated it to break his concentration, whatever was happening to him used it as a conduit and hit me like a brick wall,” he continued. “My mind is still reeling from the blow.” In fact, his vision was a bit blurry and he felt that he might need to throw up.

  If Chyfe didn’t leave him alone about what had happened, he might spray in his direction should the need become overpowering.

  “Let him rest,” Seth said. Chyfe nodded and backed off. He went over and joined the twins.

  Riyan was chewing the rather tough piece of meat while he kept the gem in contact with Kevik’s forehead. Suddenly, Kevik’s eyes flew open and he sat up quickly. The movement knocked the gem from Riyan’s hand and sent it rolling across the floor. Riyan was quick to retrieve it.

  Kevik looked around and it took him a moment to realize where he was.

  “How are you doing?” Riyan asked. The others stopped what conversations they were having when Kevik sat up.

  Wincing from pain, Kevik brought his hand to the back of his head and felt a lump.

  “Sorry about that,” Chyfe said, coming over to him.