“Dead bodies lying in front of an enchanted door probably means we should be running the other way,” Pacian whispered over his shoulder, startling Aiden, who hadn't heard his approach. “You actually think you're going to get through that with all your limbs still attached?”
“I can read most of it,” Aiden muttered irritably. “The runes I understand are the parts that summon fire to kill you, though. It's the section over here that I can't read that’ll have something to do with switching this off.”
“But if you can't read it,” Pacian slowly replied, “how are you going to figure it out?”
“Context, Pace, context,” Aiden instructed his friend. “I can see runes for 'passage' and 'authority' near the end, so the ones in between should be related.”
“If you say so mate,” Pacian shrugged. “But if I know locks, it's probably something simpler than that. Can't imagine dealing with all this every time I wanted to go in or out of my room, if you know what I mean.”
Aiden was fairly certain he'd skimmed over just about all the arcane runes ever written in the years he spent researching, and if he could just jog his memory, he might be able to recall exactly what they were. His frustration began to build as the answer eluded him, impairing his ability to concentrate. Finally, he threw up his hands in exasperation, unable to crack the puzzle.
“It doesn't make any sense,” he whispered to Pacian, who was fidgeting madly. “That rune is nonsense, as far as I can tell.”
“How do you know?” Pacian whispered back impatiently. “Maybe it's just something you've never seen before, though that's hard to believe with the amount of reading you did.”
“Runes are basically pictographs,” Aiden explained, “and each has to represent something, in some fashion. This squiggly rune represents fire, for example. But that one right there seems to be complete nonsense, it has no relation to anything else up there.” Pacian rubbed his chin stubble for a few moments, then before Aiden could stop him, reached forward and pushed the indecipherable rune.
Aiden recoiled reflexively, expecting a blast of arcane fire to incinerate them. To his surprise, the rune sank smoothly into the door frame and then stopped with a solid 'clunk'. The door opened just a crack and a slight gust of stale air swept past them. Aiden stared at it for a long moment, and then glared sharply at his friend.
“Told you it was simple,” Pacian shrugged. “Are you going in or what?”
“One of these days you're going to get your hand blown off,” Aiden growled softly, cautiously pushing the door inwards. He held the torch forward to shed some light inside the doorway, and saw a dusty room that seemed to serve equally as both living space and laboratory.
There were shelves on the wall to Aiden's right, and further along a large bookshelf was filled with crumbling tomes. He carefully examined the contents of both as he slowly limped past, seeing only normal household objects or jars of long-expired foods. A huge wooden desk was positioned next to the bookshelf, covered in an assortment of curiously shaped items covered in a thick layer of dust.
Aiden inhaled sharply as he spotted the desiccated corpse of a robed man slumped over the desk. He had clearly been dead for decades, but whether or not his passing occurred before or after the terrible events that befell the city was unknown.
Across the room, Pacian was rifling through a large chest he'd discovered at the foot of a once plush bed. Rotten old leather shoes and other articles of clothing flew across the room until he came across a pouch near the bottom of the chest.
“Finally, some worthwhile loot,” he breathed, hearing the sounds of coins jingling within. He seemed to be pleased with his find as he emptied the contents into his palm for inspection, so Aiden went back to scouring the place for anything of relevance. Gingerly pushing the poor dead chap back in his chair, Aiden looked at the desk closely, taking a deep breath and blowing away clouds of dust to reveal what lay beneath.
“Aiden? Where are you?” came Nellise' voice from down below, a little louder than he would have liked.
“If you're done over there, you should probably go tell them what we've found,” Aiden told Pacian.
“Yeah, I'm good,” Pacian answered, pocketing the coin pouch. “The sooner we get out of here the better, you know?”
“Well, that'll give you something to do while I finish up here,” Aiden responded absently.
There were a number of strange objects and papers on the desk, apparently having been under examination around the time this poor fellow was still alive. In the background, he could hear Pacian quietly informing the others of their find, just as an odd sound could be heard echoing off the stonework.
It was a deep sound, little more than a vibration really, and was powerful enough to cause a few of the glass objects in the room to shake. Somewhat alarmed, Aiden tilted his head to try and discern where it had come from. He was fairly certain it was echoing up from below, so at least it wasn't something he'd unleashed by opening up this room.
“Aiden! Something's not right. We want to get moving, hurry up,” came Pacian's call from just outside the door, all pretence at stealth thrown to the wind.
“Just another minute and I'll be done here,” he called back, unable to pull himself away from the wealth of information he could sense laid out before him. If ever there was an answer to the questions he had, it would be found right here and he wasn't leaving without it.
He quickly took off his backpack and pulled out a waterproof oil-sack, and started carefully placing object after object from the table into it for later examination. His concentration was broken a moment later as a woman's scream could be heard from down below, only to be cut off by a deafening roar from some unimaginable creature.
Pacian swore loudly, and Aiden dropped the sack in shock, limping outside as fast as he could manage to join his startled friend at the edge of the large hole to look down at the most terrifying sight he had ever seen.
Emerging from the water below was a massive serpentine head, easily ten feet long, with a long, sleek body that disappeared into the depths. Glistening water dripped from the dark, scaled skin of the creature’s head, as it extended from a breach in the floor and closed in on their companions. Sayana was scrambling over the rubble, trying to get away from the approaching monster, while Colt and Nellise were moving through the water as fast as they could.
The massive head moved with uncanny speed, heading straight for Colt's back, but the big man must have sensed its approach for he turned around in the water, sword drawn, and looked straight down into the mouth of hell. Aiden clutched onto the edge of the stone hole with white-knuckled tension as he watched the scene unfolding below.
“Pace, you could jump down onto the back of that thing and stab its eyes out,” Aiden exclaimed, seeing the exposed back of the snake extending out only six or seven feet beneath their position.
“Are you crazy? I'm not jumping down there, that thing is huge!” Pacian shot back, clearly as afraid as Aiden was.
“I'd do it, but my leg won't take the fall.”
“Bugger that,” Pacian retorted, refusing to budge. The giant serpent had clearly tired of poking at Colt, who was swinging his sword back and forth to keep the giant fanged mouth at bay, and instead lunged at Nellise, who was stumbling through the knee-deep waters nearby.
She didn't even see it coming, so intent on escaping as she was, and was snatched up in the massive jaws of the serpent as they clamped down on her torso and lifted her from the ground. As she screamed a sudden change came over Pacian.
“Son of a bitch!” he yelled, drawing his two daggers and courageously leapt from the hole, falling through the air to land squarely on the beast's back. Its head was too far from where he landed to permit any eye-gouging, but that didn't stop Pacian driving both blades deep into its hide, causing it to emit an ear-shattering roar as it spat Nellise out. Her staff was flung from her hands as she fell, landing on a nearby pile of detritus but still shedding enough light to see by.
; Colt seized the opportunity to move forward and lunge at the distracted beast with his greatsword, finally facing a foe that the oversized weapon was ideal to fight. With two sweeps of the weapon, Colt cut deep slashing wounds along the sides of the creature's underbelly, spilling its blood into the foul waters around them.
The giant serpent was thrashing about, trying to dislodge Pacian who was stabbing it over and over again. Despite his best efforts however, he just couldn't maintain his grip on the slippery hide of the beast and was thrown into the shallow water nearby.
Aiden wracked his brains, trying to figure out a way of hurting the beast. Looking around frantically, he spied a large chunk of rock. Grasping it with his gloved hands, Aiden heaved with all the strength he could muster, slowly moving the massive chunk of stone towards the large hole, spurred on by the terrified shouts of his friends below.
Aiden eventually managed to get the rock into position, teetering on the edge of the hole. Looking down, he could see that Pacian and Colt were playing a desperate game of cat-and-mouse, each flanking the massive neck of the serpent as it warily tried to pick them off one by one.
Seizing the opportunity, Aiden gave the rock one last heave and pushed it over the edge, then grasped the side of the hole to watch the results. His aim was a little off, and the rock only managed to clip the side of the giant serpent's body, but it still must have caused it a good deal of pain at the very least, judging by its reaction.
The head pulled back from harassing Colt, then tilted upwards, looking Aiden straight in the eye. Panicking, he scuttled back from the edge as quickly as he could, just narrowly avoiding the head as it thrust straight up through the hole, slamming into the rock above it with deafening force. A number of huge stones came loose, pummelling the monster's head.
The torch Pacian had left with him was starting to die, its meagre fuel having been used up, but it was enough for Aiden to see that the immense maw before him was filled with razor sharp teeth.
Aiden lunged towards the doorway at full speed, only to have his wounded leg give way just as he hit the door. Pain surged up his body as he tumbled into the room just in time to avoid the serpent's head which slammed into the wall behind him. It was too big to fit through the doorway, but gnashed its teeth and bellowed loudly trying to break through, leaving Aiden trapped unless his friends could get its attention once more.
Again and again the giant serpent slammed into the doorway, the sound of stone cracking from the impact becoming louder with each hit. If only the door’s trap was still active, it'd probably blast the head off it. An idea flashed into Aiden's mind – if the man who had lived here had a mechanism to quickly switch off the trap to allow safe passage, there was probably a way to switch it back on, from the inside.
He limped painfully over to the edge of the doorway, making sure to stay out of the monster’s reach. By the dying light of his torch, he could see the same incomprehensible rune Pacian had recognised as the secret switch. He jumped back in fear as the serpent slammed into the stone, roaring so loudly Aiden thought he’d be deafened, then he rushed back in and pushed the rune.
The door closed by itself. Whatever cunning mechanism that the dwarves had designed was still working after a century of neglect, and as soon as it closed fully, the unique crackle of arcane power being unleashed could be heard, along with the agonised roar of the serpent. Intensely bright light suddenly shone from under a crack in the door and the sound of the serpent, still howling madly, could be heard withdrawing until it vanished altogether.
Aiden slumped against the door, breathing hard and shaking like a leaf. He sat there for the better part of a minute and gathering his courage. He leaned over pressed the button to open the door once more.
The smell of smoked fish wafted in as the door swung open. He could hear his friends below calling out for him, no doubt unaware that he was still alive, after a fashion.
“I'm okay,” he called back, picking himself up while being careful to keep his weight off his injured leg. While not broken it was certainly fractured, and wouldn't be much use to him until they had a chance for Nellise to rest. They would most likely have to escape from this infernal city first.
“We have to get moving, now!” Colt bellowed impatiently. “Drop whatever it is you're doing and get down here - Clavis thinks he's found us a way out.” Aiden picked up the sack and swept the rest of the material into it.
Satisfied he had everything of value, Aiden said a quick farewell to the remains of the wizard whose trap had just saved his life, then limped outside, closing the door behind him so that the remains would continue to go undisturbed. He secured the sack over his shoulder, tying it in place so as not to lose it, then hurried over towards the hole.
Before he could make it several spears were thrust through the gap in the wall, coming close to impaling Aiden’s chest. The rocky ceiling above had been heavily damaged by the serpent, and it was only a matter of time before the dwarves managed to find out that they could get through to the level below that way.
Aiden tossed the sputtering torch down onto the pile of detritus below, made sure that he was about to drop onto the closest part of the pile, then lowered himself over the side and let go. He landed heavily on his good leg and looked around to gauge the situation. The others had been using this pile as the centre of their defensive efforts, for even though it was an uneven mound of rocky debris, it was still easier to move around on it, than in the water.
They were gathered around Nellise, who had begun to heal them. Her battered breastplate had been cast aside – the serpent’s great teeth had left gouges all around the armour, to the point of rendering it beyond repair, but it had saved her life.
“When Pacian loots something, he's at least quick about it,” Colt growled as Aiden made his way towards them.
“Sorry, but I found a few things that might turn out to be important. Is everyone okay?”
“Yeah, but only because we got lucky. That damn snake was too cautious attacking us. Probably been stung in fights with the dwarves in the past, 'cause I saw a lot of scars along its hide. But you burned its face real good Aiden, it'll either swim back to its mother, or come back and attack us with everything it’s got.”
“Ahoy thar!” Clavis called from nearby, interrupting their train of thought as he stood right at the outer edge of their light, holding something in his right hand. “I found me King's axe!” he roared, holding the shining weapon above his head in triumph. “I'm freezing me arse off, but I've other good news too – I found that breach ya thought might be there, Aiden, and it's a beautiful sight! Leads up into an old lake, mostly drained now 'o course, but I felt a breeze on me face. Say, what the hell happened here?”
“We'll tell you later,” Nellise said with a tremulous voice, popping her crystal back into its pouch and slowly getting to her feet. “That's all the healing I can do for now, my friends. Any more and I won't have the strength to swim out of here.”
“We'll manage,” Pacian remarked hastily. “Clavis, can you lead us over to this breach you found?” The dwarf was about to answer when the water between them erupted and the serpent's head plunged towards them once more. In the brief, terrifying second before it struck, Aiden could see its face was hideously scarred from the explosion above. Its left eye was milky white, having been blinded from the blast.
It targeted Pacian who managed to leap aside just as the massive jaws clamped shut on the air where he’d been standing. Nellise and Sayana backed away from it, wading through the water as fast as they could.
“What happened to my crossbow?” Nellise exclaimed, grabbing the space behind her back where it normally hung, frantically searching for the missing weapon.
“Never found it!” Colt barked back, manoeuvring for position against the immense creature. Aiden drew his sword and spoke the command word to bring his shield into being, but nothing happened. Whatever magic had been in the glove's crystal was now gone.
Pacian moved quickly around to th
e blind side of the serpent and prepared to strike, while Colt took a frontal approach, his exceptional sword giving him the confidence to take on this giant monster. But the beast wasn't waiting to see what happened this time - it struck the big ranger, slamming him back into the debris pile on which they stood, and then attempted to bite his head off.
The remains of his leathers weren’t enough to thwart the serpent’s attempt to dig in its huge fangs, but while it was busy doing that, Pacian and Aiden managed to get a couple of vicious stabs in on its blind side. In a surprise move, the serpent heaved its massive bulk to the left, knocking Pacian from his feet, and then began to swing back in Aiden's direction.
With his wounded leg, he couldn't move out of the way fast enough and was crushed up against the pile of debris behind him. Aiden felt his breastplate crack and gasped in pain, but fortunately the giant serpent did not keep up the crushing attack as it focused on Colt.
Gasping for breath, Aiden glanced to his left and noticed that Clavis still hadn't joined the fight. The dwarf stood there, not twenty yards away, clutching his new-found prize and watching the battle unfold before him.
“Clavis, help us!” Aiden called, picking himself up and clutching at his side with his free hand. The dwarf continued to hesitate and then made up his mind, sinking down into the water and disappearing from view. Stunned, Aiden hurled a vile curse after him and limped back into the fray, taking a futile swing at the long body of the serpent as it continued to press the attack.
“You wanna eat something? Eat me, you hell-spawned bastard!” Colt yelled out in challenge to the giant serpent, swinging his weapon wildly at the monster. Pacian resorted to throwing his few remaining knives, trying to keep it distracted so that the others could attack it, but the giant serpent seemed beyond such minor annoyances.
Colt almost lost his footing on the treacherous surface as he moved in for a swing at the beast. Though it only took a second to flash through his mind, the sense that they were finally beaten took the remaining strength from Aiden’ resolve.
Nature Abhors a Vacuum (The Aielund Saga Book 1) Page 21