by D. M. Almond
Brok, who was the larger of the two, gritted his needle sharp fangs together and growled, “What are you saying, I don’t know what I’m talking about?”
Mulf eyed the angry cobold’s clenched fists. “We’ve been searching for an hour now and still nothing.”
“The fabric…”
“Could have been from anyone.” For once in his life, Mulf felt like standing his ground. He was so sick and tired of Brok bullying them all. Just because he was stronger than most cobolds did not mean he had a right to lead, and he was dumb as a box of rocks.
“How dare you interrupt me?” Brok hissed, pulling back his fist to strike.
Mulf winced and threw his arms up to deflect the blow. When none came, he opened his eyes to see Brok gawking at something over his shoulder. A wild boar had just come out of the alleyway and stood there, eyeing the cobolds, who had all stopped what they were doing to stare and point.
“Attack!” Brok screamed, shaking his bone cudgel in the air.
Inside the building, Bipp worked hard to stifle his laughter as the small crowd of cobolds chased after the boar.
When they were all out of sight, Logan clapped his hands. “You are just full of surprises these days,” he said.
Corbin’s eyes remained closed as he maintained Isaac’s spell, even embellishing it with his psionic bond over the rat’s positioning.
Isaac took his forearm, moving Corbin’s hand to rest on his shoulder. “I’ll keep him balanced, but we must move now, while they’re occupied.”
“But they went after that rat you guys changed into a boar,” Logan said, moving to the doorway. He snuck a look outside, checking both ways down the street before motioning for them to go.
“The boar is no more real than a painting,” Isaac said, stepping out into the street and guiding Corbin across to a nearby alley, heading the opposite direction of the cobolds.
Logan could still hear the shouts of the vicious little monsters chasing the boar. “So he needs to keep up the illusion otherwise they might come back?”
“Precisely,” Isaac said as they moved from that alleyway into another, quickly putting distance between themselves and the patrolling cobolds.
Bipp chuckled. “Well, I don’t want to be around when they realize they’ve been chasing a rat.”
“Corbin will lead them far away before that happens,” Isaac said.
“That’s going to tie him up for a while then, isn’t it?” Logan said.
“One would suspect that to be the case,” Isaac said as they came to the end of the alleyway.
Logan shifted past him and peered around the corner, scanning the area for cobolds. He nodded and moved to step into the street, but Nero’s hand jerked him back. “Wha—?”
Nero held a finger to his lips, directing Logan’s attention to an upper window across the street. A cobold crouched there, balancing himself with his bow and arrow and keeping watch to the west.
Logan nodded and motioned for them to fall back. When they were halfway back down the alleyway, he finally grunted. “This is going to take a hell of a lot longer without Corbin to scout the area for us.” He was agitated, and rightly so. The castle was right within their grasp, and yet their only ace card was temporarily disabled.
For the next hour they travelled in silence. The castle, which was only a mile’s walking distance away, might as well have been leagues away due to the circuitous route they were forced to take. Each time they gained ground, they would inevitably come to another group of cobolds blocking their access, forcing them to either reveal themselves or turn around and find a new path.
They stayed close to the buildings around them, circling alleyways, climbing through windows and using buildings as shortcuts, sometimes even climbing the buildings themselves to the rooftops. Corbin finally opened his eyes as they had the castle in sight, looming over the stone buildings in front of them.
“It’s over,” he said, rubbing his eyes. Logan threw him a questioning look. “The boar ran straight off the edge of Ul’kor,” he explained.
“Wish I could’ve seen their greedy little faces when they saw that,” Bipp sneered. “I almost feel bad for them. It must have been shocking to have something so tasty in your grasp just to lose it.”
“Two of them actually went over with it,” Corbin said. The thought of it clearly made him ill. “One jumped right off the edge reaching for the boar, and the other...I think one of the smaller cobolds pushed him over on purpose.”
“Crazy monsters,” Logan said. “So hey, now that we have you back…mind making this a little easier for us?”
Corbin’s shoulders slumped. “Okay, but I’m bloody exhausted. Going to need to get some rest soon.”
“Already? We only just broke camp three hours ago,” Logan said. Corbin glowered at him, and Logan held up his hands up in surrender.
“What say you, Corbin?” Isaac asked. “Is there a safe route to the castle from this point?”
Corbin did not need to close his eyes, there was a whole party of cobolds gathered around a fire inside the building to their right. Each of their small, savage minds glowed like a red hot candle in the psychic aether. He quickly motioned for them to get away from the building and led them the opposite direction.
“We’re heading the wrong way,” Logan said.
“Don’t worry, I’ll get us there.”
And he did. Within twenty minutes they stood at an iron-gated side entrance to Castle Ul’kor. It was easily the largest structure in the whole city, towering over every other building. A wide berth of greenery and courtyards circled the castle, which was several stories high and laid out in more or less a rectangular formation with a rounded glass rooftop.
“They’re locked,” Corbin lamented, trying to pry the gates apart.
“Stand out of the way,” Logan said, shouldering past his brother with a smirk. “Nero, come give us a hand?” Logan grabbed one side of the swinging gates, motioning for Nero to get the other side. “On two, one…two,” he said.
Together they pulled at the gates, which groaned loudly. Bipp and Corbin winced, cringing at the loud noise.
“Once more. One…two.”
The veins in Logan’s arms bulged, and he grunted. There was a cracking sound and the smell of rusty metal. The gates whined open, and Logan released his grip, revealing a bent bar where his mechanical hand had been.
“There, you see?” he said, stepping aside and bowing for the others to enter first. “It wasn’t locked, just rusted shut.”
A couple steps over the weedy flagstones took them to a small wooden door built for a gnome. Corbin opened it and dipped his head down low to enter. Logan waited until they had all entered and then closed the iron gates behind him before stepping into the castle. Isaac had illuminated the area with the glowing light of his staff.
“It’s a kitchen?” Logan said.
“More like a pantry,” Bipp answered while looking around at the rows of tight cubbies that must have once housed herbs and root vegetables. Dozens of brass pots hung on hooks over a wide brick oven and rows of charring pits. “They must’ve taken in the deliveries there,” Bipp said, pointing at the open door, “and stored provisions in here.”
“But there’s a cooking pit and everything,” Logan said.
“Most likely just used for the household staff,” Bipp said, shaking his head. “But the real kitchen will be nearby, don’t you doubt it.”
Logan shrugged. He did not really care about abandoned kitchens anyhow. “Well? What’s our next move?”
“Now we figure out how to get past that seal,” Isaac said.
As the party followed him down the hall, Logan turned to close the door they had come in through. He wondered how long it would take before they found that old seal, hoping it would be sooner rather than later. He hated this place. Though he would never admit it in front of Bipp, it gave him the creeps.
From across the courtyard, beady eyes watched the human. As the door shut all the way, Mul
f crept from the shadows and ran to inform Burgoth that they had visitors.
Chapter 14
“Are you sure this is the way?” Isaac asked for what must have been the hundredth time. They had been wandering through the castle’s deserted halls for hours, ever since breaking for lunchfast, and his incessant questioning was beginning to get under Logan’s skin.
Logan found it strange, but not entirely bizarre, that none of the cobolds were to be found inside the castle. Last time he, Corbin, and Bipp had been here, they had traveled for long stretches of time without encountering the creatures as well. In fact, Logan believed it was only through sheer happenstance that they had stumbled across one at all. But now, with all of the humanoids on such vigilant alert, it felt off for them not to be flooding the place.
“I already told you,” Logan grumbled. “Last time we were here, we came in through the front entrance on the main floor. It’s too bad we couldn’t just do the same this trip. It would make the traveling easier.”
“Yes, yes, a clever plan if I’ve ever heard one,” Isaac said. “Let’s waltz right past the gang of cobolds camping in front of the main gates. Why don’t we drop in for a spot of tea while we’re at it?”
“Geesh,” Bipp said, “nobody is saying we should do that, old man.”
Before Isaac’s eyes could explode from his head, Corbin stopped and held up his hands. “Let’s everybody calm down. We’re clearly all tired. Sneaking around the ruins for a couple days nonstop has put us on edge and it’s obviously wearing on everyone’s nerves.”
Bipp backed down and Isaac tried to look innocent, straightening out his robes.
Logan, on the other hand, shot his brother a disarming smile. “As I was saying, we never came through these halls, and even if we had, it’d be hard to tell because they all look the same.”
“Well, not to me,” Bipp said. “I know we’ve never been this way before. But it shouldn’t matter. If we continue heading east, we’ll eventually cross into familiar territory.”
Corbin nodded and picked up his pace. “Speak of the devil,” he said, rounding a corner to a familiar sight.
Logan laughed. “No way.”
Down the hall was a familiar series of rolling stone dials set in the wall.
“What is that?” Nero asked.
“That is the locking mechanism that opens the stone gates to the King’s Hall itself.” Bipp whistled, running down the hall.
“Bipp, wait!” Logan and Corbin cried out in unison.
Last time they had approached the King’s Hall, they had to get past a series of floor triggers that released iron spears at unwary intruders, a clever gnome defense system should the castle walls be breached.
The gnome spun about. “For what? There’s not going to be any traps this way. Do you think the king wanted to kill his own men?”
Logan digested the practical observation. His brother stood in silence, holding his finger up in the air as if he had something to say. “Yeah, Corbin,” Logan said, slapping his brother in the chest and strutting past to join Bipp.
“I’m not sure we have time to go sight-seeing in the King’s Hall,” Isaac said. “According to your account, the seal is located at the far end of the castle.”
“Ah.” Bipp held up a finger, mocking Corbin’s earlier pose. “But you forget, the entrance to the access tunnels we used to get there is located just past these…doors...” Bipp’s voice trailed off as he took in the entrance to the King’s Hall.
One of the massive doors stood ajar, barely hanging on hinges that were bent and broken. Claw marks raked up and down both of the wooden portals from when the cobolds had swarmed to get inside, alerted by the ever-devious Baetylus.
“Wow, they really did a number on this door,” Logan said, sucking in his belly to squeeze through the crooked gap between doors.
Isaac gathered his robes close and seemed to shrink in size, slipping through swift as a draft. When he released the fabric and straightened, it seemed as if he grew back to his normal height. Logan rubbed his swollen eyes, wondering if the mage had just used magic or if he just needed some rest.
The King’s Hall was grand enough to fit a small army. The domed ceiling was constructed of masterfully set stained glass, built using ancient knowledge which had long since been forgotten. A hulking rock pierced it, bending the glass inward, though it did not crack or splinter. Shards of the broken material littered the marble floor, and the entire room was illuminated by the remnants of glowing moss far overhead on the cavern ceiling outside. Across the room, an empty, ornately carved throne of gold with dusty, red satin cushions sat at the top of a short flight of stairs with a smaller twin beside it.
Isaac surveyed the room solemnly. When he spoke, his voice was deep and etched with sorrow. “This was once such a magnificent place, a center for light in our world. To see it fallen so….” He shook his head, unable to continue.
Corbin stood lost in thought, staring up at the carved reliefs lining the room that depicted the creation of Baetylus.
“It really does look like Elder Zacharia, doesn’t it?” Logan said, referring to the depiction of a white-bearded man and a council of twelve making a pact with the gnomes. Over their heads floated a crystal.
Corbin only dimly heard his brother. He could still hear the echoes of his own screaming as Baetylus revealed itself in this very room six months ago. He looked at the large stain on the floor, where his already dead body had struck the floor. He winced and turned away, feeling the contents of his stomach threatening to rise up. The room felt like it was spinning, and Corbin pressed a hand against the wall to steady himself.
“We’ll make him pay for it,” Logan said, grabbing the back of Corbin’s neck and giving it a reassuring squeeze.
Corbin let out a long sigh, feeling grounded in his brother’s words. He forced himself to look back up at the carvings. “It is uncanny,” he said. He quickly looked back down and steadied his gaze at Logan. “No good can come of this. Either Zacharia was here, which means he must know of the crystal’s truth, or he was not, and the fates have somehow worked to reincarnate the man who was.”
Logan snorted. He forgot how fanatical his brother could become. When they were chasing after Kyra’s cause, he had told himself Corbin was just throwing his all into the fight, but the reality was Corbin seemed to always be searching for something to believe in. “Corbin…that’s crazy talk, man. Either way, we’ll handle it when we get back to New Fal.”
“So this is the barrier?” Isaac said, pressing a palm to the invisible wall that cut them off from the throne side of the room. Logan did not recognize the tone his voice had taken. It was almost as if the mage was amused.
“That’s her,” Bipp said, walking over to rap on the open air. Except where nothing should have been, his knuckles connected. The sound of it echoed hollowly on the other side.
Logan had already retraced his steps to the access point for the maintenance tunnels and pressed the circular Engineer’s guild symbol, popping open the locking mechanism. “And this is the way to the stone seal we found,” he said over his shoulder.
He found Isaac’s laugh mildly disturbing. Logan stopped what he was doing and turned to see what was so funny.
“Why do you suddenly look like a wolf who has found a flock of sheep?” Corbin asked, letting his paranoia get the better of him. The last time he had heard laughter in this room, he was laid out dead moments later.
Isaac laughed all the harder and leaned forward on his ivory staff. “Because, dear lad, I’ve just discovered that we don’t need to find the seal to get inside.”
Logan did not like that look. “How’s that?” he asked. This magic stuff was way over his head, but he had a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach.
Isaac pointed up at the stained-glass ceiling. “Before you say another word, before you move another inch, allow me this—a moment of indulgence that I might explain. Do you see that stalagtite? The one that has breached the glass?” He paused f
or proper dramatic flair, making sure they all nodded before he went on. “That there marks what we would call a fault line.”
“What’s that?” Corbin asked.
“Think of it as a crack in a wall. Long ago something happened to knock loose this mighty mass of limestone, the weight of which should have destroyed the ceiling as gravity took hold. Why, if this barrier had not been here,” he said with a flourish of his arms at the empty air before the throne, “then the whole room would have been obliterated. But it wasn’t. This powerful magical shield kept it at bay. Now, you can’t see this—well, perhaps Corbin could if he tried—but there’s a tear in the barrier up top, just where the stone is poking through the glass. When it first happened, it was probably just a little rip, a smidge in the unyielding construct. However, over time, the weight of that stone has been pressing against the rip in the shield, ever weakening its hold.”
“Óðinn ’s shadow, Isaac,” Logan snapped, “would you just get to the point already?”
Isaac did not let Logan’s impatience ruin his happy mood. “Don’t you understand? This whole area is weak, most likely far weaker than the center of the seal that you found.”
“Are you saying you think you can take this down?” Bipp asked.
“I’m saying that’s what I’ve been working on for the last ten minutes,” Isaac said.
They shared a puzzled look, and then Logan noticed Isaac’s robes bend unnaturally. The mage became translucent, and behind him, sitting cross legged in front of the invisible barrier, was another Isaac. This one was rocking back and forth with eyes closed, moving his fingers through the air as if playing a harp. Logan did not know how he had not noticed the mage sitting there before and had already forgotten about his illusion, which had faded away. His eyes were transfixed by the intricate glyph forming in the air where Isaac’s fingers worked.
The magical lines glowed a vibrant yellow and looked like some ancient language that Bipp would get all hot and bothered to decipher. It was mesmerizing. So much so that Logan had not even noticed the air around him beginning to whip about like hot winds. As he stared at the glyph, materializing out of nowhere, Isaac’s voice built in crescendo. Soon it was as loud as if the mage were shouting through the lungs of a hill giant.