by Hans Bezdek
“We treekin owe you a great service for saving our young prince,” said the king. Barky waved at us, and Cassandra gave him a small wave back. “We would be happy to help you leave the Willows, if that is your desire.”
“Actually, there’s something else we’d like your assistance with, if you wouldn’t mind,” said Cassandra.
The king nodded for her to continue.
“We are looking for a place called the Ruins of Le’Mar,” she said. “Could you bring us there?”
“Ruins of Le’Mar?” repeated the king, thinking it over in his head. “I’m not sure I know if it.”
There was some murmuring from the other treekin, but none of them seemed to be familiar with the place.
“It’s where the Shattered Sword is,” I chimed in.
“Shattered Sword?” said the king. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“Do you know what a sword is?” I asked.
The king shook his head.
“It’s a… never mind,” I said, trying to hide my annoyance. Explaining it wouldn’t help anything.
“We were told the Ruins were in the middle of the Willows,” explained Cassandra. “Does that help ring any bells?”
The king shook his head. Not sharing the same naming conventions was turning out to be quite a pain.
“I think she means the Stones of Death, Father,” said Barky.
The other treekin gasped, looking at Cassandra and me like we were crazy.
“Stones of Death,” I mumbled. “Of course that’s the name of a place we have to go to.”
“What are the Stones of Death?” asked Cassandra, voice shaking slightly.
“The Stones of Death are a place within our woods where stones are stacked on top of each other, forming a deep shelter for smaller creatures, such as yourselves,” said the king. “We have encountered a handful of travelers over the last two or so hundred years that have gone into this place. None that go in have ever come out. Our people used to wander in as well, but they would never come back either. It is a very evil place.”
Very evil place… great.
“You have no idea how much I hate to ask this,” I said. “But… could you lead us there?”
A few treekin stood up and approached the king, talking quietly with him as he deliberated. Cassandra and I shared a look as they discussed. She looked resolved to go and I was glad for it. We had gone through several death defying feats in order to get here, what was a few more?
The king cleared his throat and the area grew silent again.
“We can escort you up to the Stones, but will not enter them with you,” he said. “While I wish you wouldn’t go, if your wish is to die than so be it.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I think.”
Chapter 17
It was dark by the time we arrived at the Ruins of Le’Mar. The stars were out again, giving us some semblance of light. Cassandra and I had our hands on our weapons, but were otherwise relaxed. Three treekin had escorted us, along with Barky, and we figured they would spot something out of the ordinary faster than we would.
We came up to another clearing in the Willows, this time filled with broken down buildings from hundreds, if not thousands, of years ago. Most of the stones laid scattered across the clearing in random fashion. Only one structure remained in the middle. We couldn’t see much from where we were at, but it looked like there were steps leading down into the dark.
Lovely.
“Here are the Stones of Death,” said Barky, as he and the other treekin came to a stop. “This is as far as we can go, according to my father.”
“Thank you so much for your help,” smiled Cassandra.
“And thank you for yours,” nodded the little treekin. “We will wait for you until morning. If you haven’t returned by then…”
“Then we probably won’t,” I nodded. That seemed fair to me. No point in having the treekin wait around when we’ve been long dead. “We’ll be sure to hurry back the second we get what we’re looking for.”
“I am sad to watch you head off to your deaths, but best of luck!” said Barky.
“Uh… thanks,” I said, sharing a look with Cassandra.
The treekin waved goodbye, probably for the the last time, as we approached the main structure. The underground passage seemed to groan out as we approached, as if warning us to turn back now. We had nothing left to lose, though, and descended down the steps.
“Oh wow!” gasped Cassandra, putting a hand to her mouth.
The bottom of the stairs led to a long, narrow hallway. The build of the passage wasn’t anything special, but the dozens of bodies lining it were. Skeletal remains of humans, gnomes, trolls, goblins, and more hung from the sides, pierced through with long spikes that came out from the walls.
“Looks like this place is trapped,” I mumbled.
“I’ve robbed dozens of places, but never one that had this many deadly traps in the first room!” exclaimed Cassandra, looking back and forth in amazement.
“Wait,” I said, grabbing her before she could move forward. “You’ve robbed dozens of places?!”
The elf’s face turned a shade of pink. “Uh… yeah… I guess I haven’t mentioned that yet…”
“You’ve never shared how you got so good with daggers, or really anything of your background,” I said, watching her carefully. “You also never went into detail on why you want the Shattered Sword.”
“Is now really the best time to do this?” she laughed, trying to get us moving again.
“I’m not going forward until you tell me.”
Cassandra looked around anxiously. She sighed, crossing her arms together. “Okay. I haven’t been very upfront with you, even though you’ve shared a lot with me. I’m after the Shattered Sword because I’ve been banished from the land of Aelric.”
“Banished!?” I asked, jaw on the floor. Banishment from a land was rare, especially when the death sentence was easier to enforce. To be banished you had to perform a serious crime, while somehow getting a smidgen of sympathy from the people you committed the crime against.
“Yes,” she nodded. “I was caught stealing from the queen’s palace…”
“What?”
“… Again.”
“What!?”
“She has so many beautiful weapons just lying around,” complained Cassandra. “It’s a shame to just leave them all locked up, unable to draw blood. It’s not fair to them.”
“Even Tumblers would never try robbing royalty!” I said, blown away she would even attempt to do it, let alone twice. “How are you still alive?”
“Well… I was trained by the Aelric Royal Guard, and they thought it would look bad to execute a bodyguard of the queen.”
“You were the queen’s bodyguard?!”
“Yes. Well, one of them,” she shrugged. “To be honest, it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. The job didn’t pay very well, the hours are horrible, and it’s boring. No one ever tries to assassinate her. I started robbing some of the royal storehouses to supplement my income, and get a little excitement back in my life.”
“Well, it sounds like you got what you wanted,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. This whole time I was traveling with a thieving elf, trained by the prestigious Aelric Royal Guard. No wonder she was able to dispatch whole groups of Greeners. “Why the Shattered Sword, though? Getting banished wasn’t enough for you to try the honest life?”
“There’s a legend that the Shattered Sword was last held by the elves,” she explained. “I thought getting it back for my people would help bring me redemption. After being sentenced to banishment, I said goodbye to some friends. One of them mentioned hearing rumors of someone knowing something about the Sword in Trenton. The day I left Aelric was the day I ran into you, hung up in that vine. The rest, you know.”
“I had no idea,” I said, shaking my head. What a bad travel companion I made. Granted, she also didn’t know I was a half dragon…
“Can we keep m
oving now?” she asked. “We’re so close, I can feel it!”
I nodded, and the two of us passed through the hallway, careful not to set off any of the spikes again. The hallway took a hard left at the end, taking us into a square room. This one had another dozen or two bodies scattered around, but the door at the end of the room was open. We made it through without any issues, and entered yet another hallway with spiked bodies.
It looked like a large number of people had tried to get the Shattered Sword over the years. Most had failed to get very far at all, but at least they helped clear out the dungeon of any traps we might have found.
The hallway led us to another room off to the right. Scores of skeletons were on the floor here, more than any we had seen so far, only they didn’t show any signs of how they died. The door was open at the end of the room, so we assumed this place had been cleared of whatever killed them.
“It’s crazy to think so many people came all this way, managed to get through the Willows, only to come up short on the final stretch,” said Cassandra, looking down at the skeletons.
“Hopefully we won’t be another two of them,” I nodded. It was a rough ending, but they knew what they were getting into. Even though I wasn’t confident in the Sword’s existence, if such a thing did exist, it would of course be difficult to get.
Click.
“What was that?” I asked, looking around.
“Don’t move!” hissed Cassandra, staring down at my feet.
I glanced down and saw that my left foot was slightly lower than my right. The stone underneath my left had pressed down, and must have made the clicking noise. That wasn’t good…
“What should we do?” I asked, trying to remain calm. “Is one of the spikes coming for me now?”
“I doubt it,” she said, looking around and thinking up a solution. “If a spike was going to trigger from that, it would’ve already happened. Since you’re still alive, that means one of two things.”
“And those would be?”
“One, the trap is super old and no longer works. Two, when you release the pressure plate, it’ll trigger whatever the trap is.”
“I’ll take option one,” I mumbled.
“I would too,” she said, looking around at the floor and the various bodies. She bent down and started hacking at an orc’s skeleton.
“Is now really the time to take out your rage on a dead orc?” I asked.
“That’s not what I’m doing, idiot,” she mumbled, pulling the torso and head away from the rest. “I’m trying to get the pieces that might be heavy enough to keep pressure on it when you remove your foot.”
“What?! That never works!” I exclaimed. “And you’re the one calling me an idiot!”
“Do you have a better idea?” she shot back, letting go of the skeleton and staring at me.
I thought about it for a hard minute.
“Just… Just hurry it up, okay?” I said.
Cassandra dragged the orc’s skeleton over to me with a shake of her head. She tried to position it in a way that would keep the pressure plate down while letting my foot move, but also needed it to stay after I was gone and not topple over.
“Okay,” she said, wiping her hands nervously on her clothes. “Try now.”
As slow as I could, I moved my foot over, barely lifting it up to see if there was any change to the pressure plate. Nothing happened, so I risked moving it a little more. Then a little more.
Finally, my foot was off it completely, but the pressure plate stayed down.
“See?” smirked Cassandra, punching my arm. “I told you it would-”
The pressure plate shot up, pushing the orc skeleton off. The door leading in and the door leading out began to close, as cracks in the ceiling above us poured out a green gas.
“Why did you have to brag before we were out of the room!” I shouted, the two of us running for the door leading out.
“I’m sorry!” she shouted, picking up speed. Elves were the fastest of all the races on land. If this was a flying or swimming competition, though, she’d be in deep trouble.
The door was nearly closed as she dove for it, her feet disappearing as the door came crashing down to a complete close.
I wasn’t even close to making it in time.
I pounded on the heavy door, as I arrived at it, trying to figure out what I could do. The green gas was pouring in faster and faster, and there was no way out. It looked like this was probably going to be the end for me. At least Cassandra would get to continue on to the Shattered Sword. Hopefully there weren’t too many other traps, and she’d manage to get there okay.
Sitting down, I leaned back against the door. I looked down at the skeletons all around me, knowing that I was about to join them. It was a good run, but it looked like my time had finally come. I’d probably be lost in this mass grave, where eventually someone would cut up my dead body and try to use it on a pressure plate.
Before I could worry anymore, the door began to raise.
I got to my feet, watching as the gas stopped pouring out from the ceiling. The gas still inside disappeared through various other cracks as the door rose.
After it got half way, I realized this was all thanks to Cassandra. On the other side of the door was a wheel, which raised the door as she turned it.
“Good job,” I said, ducking under as she continued to raise the door. “I don’t think we’d have made it past without you diving under the door like that.”
“Probably not,” she smirked, getting the door raised all the way before she stopped. Now it would be easier for us to leave, assuming that time came. “Maybe work a bit more on your cardio in the future.”
“Even the fastest humans can’t outrun an average elf!”
“Sounds like your problem, not mine,” she said, turning and heading down the hallway.
The next hallway had no bodies in it, which both thrilled and concerned us. This meant that no one had probably made it this far before, but it also meant that we would be the first to trigger any potential traps. We inched our way through as slow as possible, spending nearly half an hour making it to the other side. It was worth it, though, since we didn’t have spikes sticking out of our chests.
We now entered into a large, circular room. Moonlight shone down in several spots through several large openings in the ceiling, highlighting the detail and level of craftsmanship of the ceramic tiles lining the floor. Torches were pressed up against the wall, each flickering with a large blue flame. There was no exit to this room, signaling that we had come to the end of the labyrinth.
In the center of the room was a raised platform with a block of stone in the middle. The stone rose up a couple of feet further, where a ring of purple rocks surrounded something sticking straight up.
The Shattered Sword.
“It’s real,” I mumbled, feeling numb as I stared at what I always assumed to be a myth. The blade radiated a dim blue aura, just like the stories said. “I can’t believe it’s re-”
“Reimar!” screamed Cassandra.
I spun around, pulling out my dagger. Before I could get my balance, an arrow shot out, knocking the dagger from my hand and sending it out of reach.
Looking up from my now empty hand, I saw the ugly mug responsible for Cassandra’s scream.
“Hello, old friend,” smiled Galdric.
Chapter 18
The two orcs we had seen back in Trenton had Cassandra by her arms, ignoring her attempts to break free of them. The rest of Galdric’s crew filled the room now. A gnome with a crossbow, the spell casting elf, and two other humans.
“Fancy meeting you here, Galdric,” I smiled.
“Not going to lie to you, it was quite a pain getting here,” chuckled the man. “We’ll be sure to take out our frustrations on you and your elf hooker.”
“If you wouldn’t mind, I’m incredibly curious how you managed to find me, let alone managed to get through the Willows of Wander.”
“Why, that part was easy,” h
e shrugged, pulling out a small piece of glass. A magic blue dot blinked in the middle of the glass, noting my position in relation to Galdric.
“A seeing slate?” I asked. There was no point hiding my surprise. “You never laid a finger on me, though. How could I have a tracking crystal on me?”
“Oh, I wasn’t the one to do it,” he smirked. “I have some contacts in the other organizations across Yaerna. I believe a certain dwarf in The Guild is the one that put it on you while you were in Kra’Gar. At least, that’s when the slate picked up the tracking.”
“Anders… that stupid dwarf,” I groaned, shaking my head. He must have noticed me from the bounty pictures as he was walking out of the Devil’s Keep tent. He pushed me down in order to place the crystal on me. I should’ve been on the lookout for tracking crystals.
“That’s his name,” nodded Galdric. “He sent a bird my way two days ago as we were on our way. I’ll be sure he gets a cut for tipping us off.”
“Get the Sword!” shouted Cassandra, breaking me from my thoughts.
Now, that wasn’t a bad idea.
Summoning a wall of water between me and the Tumblers to distort their view, I spun back around and ran for the middle of the room. I heard the gnome’s crossbow activate, followed by a bubbling noise. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the bolt slowly float down in the water.
“You’ve got to get past the water, fools!” cried Galdric.
His group hesitated, looking at the water with concern. Their elf let out a sigh, calmly walking through it. He had probably seen that spell before and knew it wasn’t deadly. It didn’t matter, the wall had lasted long enough as a distraction for me.
I jumped up to the platform in the middle, looking down at the jewel encrusted hilt of the Shattered Sword. If just one or two of the stories were true, I’d probably be able to wreck these guys without a problem. I reached out with my right arm, wrapping my fingers gently around the hilt.
“AAAAA!” I shouted, dropping to my knees and letting go of the Shattered Sword as extreme pain shot into my palm. I held my hand up and saw a burned outline of the hilt in my palm over the cuts I received from my dagger during the Stalrik fight. This didn’t make any sense. Why couldn’t I grab the hilt?