by Victor Kloss
“I’m not moving house,” Angus said. He fixed the broomstick back onto the brush and idly started sweeping. It was a lost cause – the place was a wreck – but Angus had always been a bit of a neat freak.
“I don’t follow,” Michael said, frowning. “You plan on being homeless?”
“I plan on travelling,” Angus said. “I need somewhere to hide the breastplate. Somewhere secure, somewhere nobody would think of looking, with natural defences that are almost impossible to breach.”
“You have a place in mind?” Michael asked.
“I have an idea,” Angus said. “It is based on a whisper of a rumour, and I need to go there to confirm whether it might work. It is deep within the Unseen Kingdoms, and there are some very unfriendly, dangerous people there.” Angus stopped sweeping for a moment, and gave Michael a long look. “I may not make it back.”
“Surely there is somewhere less dangerous to hide the breastplate? Somewhere without people who might kill you?” Michael asked.
Angus gave a little smile. “Those are the very people I plan to use to help me guard the armour.”
Michael couldn’t contain his surprise. “How are you going to manage that? Even if you could convince them, could they be trusted with the breastplate?”
“If they are the people I believe they are, then yes,” Angus said. “I have seen first-hand how desperate the prince has become. And the breastplate…" Angus paused, considering his words. “Let’s just say the breastplate, more than any of the other pieces, would not be good for him. It would be very, very dangerous for the prince to get his hands on it.”
Having seen Angus wearing it, Michael believed him.
“I’m guessing you want to keep your proposed destination a secret?”
Angus nodded. “We all keep our hiding places a secret. But if my plan comes off, the prince will never get his hands on the breastplate.”
“And if you don’t?”
Angus looked right into Michael’s eyes. “Then you may have to come and find me.”
Michael stared long and hard at his old companion, and placed a hand on his shoulder. Of all the directors, Angus was his closest friend, closer even than Charlotte, the petite Director of Trade. They both came from humble beginnings, and they both had to face adversity from outside the Institute and within to get to the top. The thought of losing him made his stomach churn. He desperately wanted to change Angus’s mind, but knew it would be fruitless. Angus was a stubborn man.
“Good luck,” Michael said.
He couldn’t shake the feeling that, somehow, he would never see Angus again.
He was right.
— Chapter Two —
Chasing the Key
Present Day
Ben pumped his arms as he ran, his eyes focused on a tiny gleaming sparkle in the distance. The key – their one possible clue to the next piece of Elizabeth’s Armour – was getting away from them. It cut through the air, like a hawk on a mission.
“I’m losing it!” Ben said with increasing panic.
Natalie ran – or rather, glided – beside him, her feet flying over the grass.
“I can still see it,” she said, sounding more like she was taking a pleasant walk, rather than sprinting over the hillside.
Ben filed in behind her as they cut between small valleys and up gentle hills. Had he not been so focused on following the key, Ben might have admired the lush green countryside and the flowers that sprinkled the hills. There was a stiff breeze, which helped cool him down as he tried to keep up with Natalie.
“There it is!” Natalie said, pointing.
They stopped at the base of a hill so steep it was almost vertical.
“Well done, Nat,” Ben said, as he took several deep breaths to recover.
The key was half-buried into the grass on the hill, and only the ornate hilt could be seen.
Ben heard heavy footsteps and the sound of laboured breathing, and he turned. Charlie’s face was a bright tomato, but beneath the anguish of running was a look of triumph.
“I must be getting fitter,” Charlie said, when he got his breath back. “I managed to run almost five minutes without collapsing. Do you think I’m losing weight?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Ben and Natalie chimed in.
Charlie nodded happily, unaware of the pretence, and they turned to the key embedded in the hill.
“What’s so special about this hill?” Natalie wondered out loud.
Ben went up to the key and grabbed its handle. He gave it a shake.
“It’s stuck in a keyhole,” Ben said with suppressed excitement.
Charlie and Natalie stepped up to take a closer look.
“Can you turn it?” Charlie asked.
Ben applied pressure, and the key turned easily, giving a loud click. He pulled it open, using the key as a handle. A small door, covered in grass and mud, swung open. The bright sun revealed a narrow, dark passageway that descended downwards.
“Oh my word,” Charlie said, stepping back, and wafting his hand in front of his nose. “What is that smell?”
“It smells of…" Natalie’s voice faded, and her eyes widened.
“It smells of death,” Ben said.
They stared into the passageway with growing alarm. The smell was faint, but unmistakable.
“Are there any alternatives to going in?” Charlie asked.
“I can’t think of any,” Natalie said, glancing at Ben for confirmation.
Natalie was right. They had been given the key by Nigel Winkleforth, one of three Protectors responsible for safeguarding Elizabeth’s Helm. It made sense that Winkleforth might also have some connection to another piece of the armour. Or so Ben kept telling himself.
“This is our only lead,” Ben said.
Charlie frowned. “Doesn’t it seem like a rather large coincidence that the key happens to fly off and end up here? What were the chances of us being near this hill in the first place?”
“You’re right. Perhaps we got lucky or maybe there is another reason. But it doesn’t matter – this is where the key led us, and it’s our only lead.”
Charlie loosened his spellshooter with a sigh, but the mystery the key presented eased his anxiety.
Ben took a deep breath, and stepped into the passageway. He was immediately plunged into near darkness. He fired a simple light spell, and a flare ignited from the tip of his barrel, illuminating the path.
The passage was wide enough only for single file, so he led, and Charlie brought up the rear, with Natalie in the middle. The passage was created as if the builders had been trying to make as much progress as possible without much attention to structure. The ceiling was uneven and only at the very centre could they stand up straight. Occasionally the passage would widen to fit two abreast, but then it would narrow so dramatically that they would have to sidestep to keep going.
They walked in silence for what seemed like an eternity, the only sound coming from their footsteps on the rough stone floor. The path wound left and right, but always maintained its gradual descent.
The smell started to get stronger. At first, it was faint enough to almost ignore, but gradually it became worse, until it seemed to clog the passage and seep into their pores.
“Is anyone else getting a bad feeling about this?” Charlie asked, breaking the silence. “I don’t want to alarm you, but this smell of decay is most likely going to come from dead bodies and, by the smell of it, lots of them.”
“Dead bodies can’t hurt you,” Natalie said.
“No, but what if there are some still living?” Charlie said.
Ben was about to reply when he noticed a faint glow in the distance. He stopped instinctively, and Natalie bumped into him.
“Looks like we’re about to get to wherever we’re going,” Ben said. “Make sure you have your spellshooters handy.”
He continued forwards slowly, his spellshooter held in front of hi
m. Now more than ever silence was required, but it was difficult with the smell, which was so overwhelming he had to stop himself gagging on several occasions. He took deep, calming breaths, but he could do nothing about his beating heart, which sounded like a bass drum, reverberating off the walls.
He stopped just before the end of the passageway, wiped his sweaty hands on his shirt, and stepped through, into the dim light.
Ben stared in horror at the sight.
Below them, dead bodies littered the floor of what looked like a great underground hall. Dwarves and dark elves lay sprawled everywhere, caked in blood, with weapons criss-crossing their bodies. There was barely room to walk between them all. The smell was clearly coming from the bodies, but unlike humans, there was almost no sign of decay, making it impossible to date the incident.
Ben wasn’t sure how long he stared at the carnage before he finally had the sense to scan the rest of the hall for danger.
Nothing moved. He cast his eye upwards to the vaulted ceiling, from which a dull light shone, illuminating the horrific scene below. Ben saw no movement there either. The place was a graveyard.
A gagging noise made Ben turn, and he saw Charlie vomiting on the floor, hands on knees. Natalie was coping marginally better, though her face had turned pale and she also looked ready to be sick.
“I can’t go down there,” Charlie said, pulling out a handkerchief and wiping his mouth.
For once, Ben had no witty, tongue-in-cheek response. He too had no stomach for walking through piles of dead bodies. Instead, they remained where they were, until the initial shock and horror started to wear off.
“What happened here?” Natalie asked, her voice a whisper.
“Looks like the dark elves attacked the dwarves,” Ben said.
Eventually they made their way down to the great hall, via a steep staircase, and they were soon walking among the bodies. Ben felt his stomach heave more than once, and tried averting his eyes from the carnage. Behind him, he heard Charlie attempt to empty his stomach again. Both he and Natalie looked ready to faint.
“You think this was the dwarves’ home, then?” Natalie asked.
Ben nodded. “I think so. We know dwarves are far more likely to live underground. The dark elves must have attacked them.”
“But why would they want to do that?”
“A more appropriate question might be – when?” Charlie said, finding his voice.
Ben forced himself to look at the dead bodies. They were pale and lifeless, the blood dry. Even close up there was no sign of decay, though it stank to high heaven.
“Can’t be more than a week or two, would be my guess,” Ben said.
“Who won the fight, do you think?” Natalie asked.
“The dark elves,” Ben said. “Those who survived must have left already. The dwarves wouldn’t have left their dead colleagues to rot.”
“Are you sure all the dark elves have gone?” Natalie asked, looking around furtively. There were several passageways leading out from the hall, but nobody felt inclined to search them.
“I think we’d know if any were left,” Ben said. “No, what I want to know is why did the dark elves come in the first place? And why did the key lead us here?”
“What’s that?”
Charlie’s voice echoed loudly in the hall, in sharp contrast to their hushed whispers and ruining their efforts at keeping a low profile. He was pointing and looking intently at the far corner of the room.
Ben couldn’t believe he hadn’t noticed it before. A small energy dome surrounded a dwarf sitting cross-legged on the floor. His eyes were closed, but he was clearly still alive.
They picked their way through the bodies. Charlie accidentally stepped on several heads and other dead body parts, but he barely noticed, so intent was he on their target. Nevertheless, Ben picked the path of fewest dead people, and it took them several minutes to reach the dwarf.
He was most definitely still living and looked completely unharmed. Ben extended his hand out, but, as he expected, it came up against the shimmering barrier protecting the dwarf.
“Fascinating,” Charlie said. All anxiety had gone from him now, replaced with interest and curiosity.
This dwarf was clearly not like the others. He wore no armour and was dressed all in red, with a hood that partially covered his bright ginger hair. On his lap was a small staff with a glowing orb at its tip. The dwarf was frowning, and making occasional twitches of his lips, as if he were involved in a bad dream.
“Hello?” Ben said, waving his hand in front of the dwarf.
“He’s not going to hear you,” Charlie said softly, staring intently at the dwarf.
“How about if I go louder?” Ben suggested.
“It wouldn’t make a difference if you brought a full symphony orchestra down here,” Charlie said.
“Why not? Do you think he’s in some sort of trance?”
“Not quite,” Charlie said. He turned to Ben. “If I’m reading all the signs correctly, I think he’s gone into the void.”
Ben felt his stomach do funny things at the mention of the void. It was a strange other-worldly place that, from what he’d read, sounded like a nasty version of hell. While there in spirit, your body could not be harmed in the physical world. His parents had used it to protect themselves from the dark elf king, and it seemed the dwarf was doing the same.
“I bet his only way to stay alive was to flee into the void,” Charlie said.
“But why hasn’t he come back?” Natalie asked. “I would have thought he’d want to return as soon as it was safe.”
“I don’t know,” Charlie admitted. “Perhaps he doesn’t know it’s safe here, or perhaps he can’t return. I’ve read that it can be difficult to get back.”
“Why didn’t the dark elves follow him in?” Ben said. Glancing around, there was clearly no sign of anyone else having entered the void nearby.
“Oh, that’s obvious,” Charlie said, waving a hand. “The demons recognise the dark elves as a true threat to their domain, and always wipe out any that enter. It’s not that the dark elves couldn’t hold their own, but it would take a concerted effort, and I think they’d rather focus on conquering the Unseen Kingdoms.”
The three of them studied the dwarf from every angle, and tried poking at the dome at numerous different places, but to no avail. It was only when they finally stepped back to get a broader view that they noticed what they had been missing.
In a small crevice next to the dwarf, hidden from plain sight, was a symbol etched in blood on the wall and drawn so that it must have been at least two feet high. To Ben, who knew little of symbols, it looked like some sort of complicated Chinese character.
“That is dark elf lettering,” Natalie said, frowning. “I don’t know what it says, but I recognise the style.”
Ben ran a finger over the symbol. The blood was dry, and now firmly part of the rock. Eventually he stepped back, hands on hips, feeling a little frustrated.
“So, what do we have to go on? A dwarf mage in the void and a strange dark elf symbol etched in blood. I’ll be honest – I was hoping for a little more.”
To Ben’s surprise, Charlie was smiling.
“Don’t tell me you can understand this?”
“Of course not,” Charlie said, waving a chubby hand. “But don’t you see? This symbol is a clue! Up to now, we had nothing, even with the dwarf, as interesting as he was. But the symbol gives us something to go on.”
“It may not be easy deciphering a dark elf symbol,” Natalie said, still frowning at the wall.
“I bet we can work it out,” Charlie said. “I’ve seen several dark elf dictionaries in the Institute library.”
Ben felt his optimism returning. He turned and took another sweeping look at the hall, cringing once more at the sight of the dead bodies. “So, what do we make of this?”
Charlie was tapping his cheeks thoughtfully. “Th
is is what I think – and correct me if you think I’m horribly wrong. For some reason, the dark elves decided to attack these dwarves. We have no idea why, but, from history, the dark elves don’t really need a reason to cause mayhem. The dwarves were outnumbered, but, by the number of dead dark elves, gave a good account of themselves. The sole survivor was this dwarf mage, who saved himself by fleeing into the void.”
“And the symbol on the wall?” Natalie asked.
“I’m not totally sure,” Charlie admitted. “Perhaps the dark elves wanted to leave a message to those who came after or perhaps it’s some sort of signature.”
“I agree,” Ben said. “There’s not much more we can learn until we research this symbol.”
“What about the key?” Natalie asked. “Why do you think it led us down here? Do you think it was to speak to one of these dwarves, or could it be something else?”
Ben looked around the place again, rubbing his arms. He had been so engrossed in their discoveries that he hadn’t realised how cold and stale the air felt.
“That’s a good point,” he said. “We should search this place thoroughly to see if there is anything more we can learn.”
“What, even those dark, unpleasant-looking tunnels over there?” Charlie asked, losing some of his enthusiasm.
“It won’t take long,” Ben said, “and we’ll do it together.”
They spent the better part of an hour searching the many tunnels that spiralled off from the main tunnel. Many of them led back to the surface, but they found nothing but the occasional dead body within them. Even Charlie began to relax when it became obvious that this once thriving underground dwelling was truly deserted.
When they finally returned to the main hall, even Ben was eager to get going.
“So, I guess the symbol is our only real clue, then,” Natalie said, looking slightly downhearted. “I don’t know why, but I can’t imagine the key leading us here just for that.”
“I know what you mean,” Ben said, looking wistfully at the dwarf mage. “I get the feeling we were supposed to find something else.”