by John Booth
Down in the lockups, Jalia and Daniel were moving the last of the gold bars when they heard the sound of running men. They ran to the tunnel into the caverns and closed the door. The wall was already complete and Daniel wondered what Jalia planned to do with the remaining bars.
They lit a torch from one of many stored in the tunnel. Jalia led them down to the warm running stream at the bottom of the steps and then led Daniel along it.
“These tunnels are supposed to be filled with monsters,” Daniel reminded her in a whisper.
“I’m not planning to go very far, just leave a partial trail of gold bars. We can go out the way we came in when they give up looking for us.”
Daniel thought that an excellent plan and they dropped their gold bars at intervals along the stream before heading back to the tunnel steps.
Marcus led his men through to the stables and to the guards at the other end who swore that neither Daniel nor Jalia had come past them. They searched the stables top to bottom and found no one.
Marcus stood in the corridor of the lockups fuming and wondering how they managed to escape him. He leaned back against the door of his own lockup and fell to the floor when the door swung inward. It was the last room Daniel and Jalia had cleared of gold and they hadn’t had time to relock the door.
Marcus was dazed when he landed on the stone floor. One of the guards was trying to help him to his feet when he saw the room was empty. His first thought was that he must be in one of the spare rooms, but as soon as he stood up he realized it was his room.
“Break down the other doors!” Marcus screamed at the guards who thought he must have gone mad. “Before I gut you all,” he yelled, pulling out his sword.
It took them thirty minutes to smash the next door down. Nobody but the Mine Owners had a key to their own lockup so this was the only way that Marcus could be sure they had all been robbed. When he saw the second empty room, Marcus stopped his guards from smashing any more doors down.
Marcus al’Tren wasn’t a stupid man. He knew how much the gold weighed and how many journeys it took to bring it in the first place. It had not been removed on the backs of four donkeys and a few horses no matter how full the saddle bags had been packed. The gold had to be in the hotel unless there was a secret way out and even then it could not have been moved far.
Holding on to that thought, he ran back to the paneled room. If there was another way out it had to be in this room. He had personally inspected the stables and the lockups were surveyed by experts. This was the only place that a secret passage could be hidden.
To the amazement of his men, Marcus drew his sword and plunged it into the nearest panel. It took him several minutes to break through to the stone wall behind.
“All of you. Pick a panel and smash your way through,” Marcus yelled and his men reluctantly began blunting their swords on the hard wood, wondering if their boss had gone mad.
For Jalia and Daniel, the moment the heard Marcus begin to smash the first panel they knew they were in trouble.
“He’s worked it out,” Jalia whispered. “He’s smarter than I thought.”
“I told you he was a dangerous man,” Daniel said and sighed, “Collect the unlit torches will you?”
“We’re going caving, I take it?” Jalia said as she lifted the unused torches from their basket on the wall.
“Unless you would rather stay here and fight?”
“Do you want to go upstream or downstream?”
“Downstream, at least we know that comes out somewhere.”
As they walked down the steps to the stream, the guard smashing into the secret door managed to get his sword to pierce its wood. The blade sank several feet into the door and wouldn’t come out. Marcus saw the man had found something and went to the panel. With the help of his men, Marcus managed to pry the edges of the panel, forcing it open and revealing the secret door. All that was visible were steps leading down into darkness.
“Get some torches,” Marcus shouted, “And I want everybody not guarding the wall or gates down here to search. “Tell the guards on the wall and gates to kill the trader or his women if they see them.”
The guard was leaving when Marcus called him back, “Tell them to kill anybody trying to leave the city, anybody at all.”
8. Monsters
Daniel led, wading through the water with a torch held high while Jalia walked behind him carrying the unlit spares. The natural tunnel they were travelling in was widening and the amount of water running through it increasing. The extra water came from small fissures in the rock, sometimes cascading in from high up on the walls. The water was warm rather than hot, but it was still causing steam to rise around then. They were standing in six inches of fast flowing water as the tunnel descended deeper into the Earth.
They had been walking for at least two hours and Daniel suspected it must already be light outside. Both were tired as they had been up for close to twenty four hours.
“Why exactly are you in the front?” Jalia asked, irritated by the awkwardness of the load she carried and from staring at Daniel’s back.
“So that when a cave monster eats me, you’ll get to see it before you die.” Daniel turned his head towards her and gave her a radiant smile.
“I think I’d prefer to be eaten first.”
“That has always been true, certainly for as long as I have known you,” Daniel replied solemnly. The next few moments lost them two of their spares to the river as Jalia attempted to pummel Daniel to death. After a short, but loud argument, they switched places and Daniel took the job of carrying the unlit torches while Jalia stalked on ahead, lighting their way.
The noise in the tunnel had been steadily increasing. It sounded as though somewhere ahead there was an incredible amount of rushing or falling water. They followed the left hand wall of the tunnel and it had become difficult to see the right hand side, because the tunnel was so wide. Jalia slipped and only just caught herself on the wall.
Holding the torch low to the water, she saw fronds of algae covering the uneven stones of the river bed. Daniel was holding onto the wall and as a consequence had been less affected than Jalia. The spare torches were strapped onto his back using his scabbard straps, so he had both hands free.
As Jalia stepped forward the river bed fell away and she began to fall. Daniel snatched at her and managed to grab her free hand while he desperately sought a handhold on the wall. Jalia was pulled down and away from him by the force of the water.
Jalia had accidently walked over the edge of a waterfall and large quantities of water washed over her. The water dragged the torch from her hand and they were plunged into darkness. As the torch hit the water below the waterfall they heard the sounds of thrashing in the water as something, or more likely several something’s, attacked it. Jalia’s desire to hold onto Daniel intensified as did his own to stay on his feet and not be dragged over the edge.
Daniel was being pulled closer to the edge by Jalia and his left hand slid along the wall finding nothing to hold onto. Just as he thought he was going over, his hand found a metal ring embedded into the wall. He held fast to it and managed to swing Jalia free of the water and over to his side.
Jalia found her feet on steps cut into the side of the wall of the cavern. She recovered her footing and Daniel was able to let her go.
“That was close,” Jalia said.
Daniel groaned with exhaustion. “I’m sure you’re putting on weight. I think I’ve pulled a muscle.”
“I am not putting on weight.”
Daniel was sure Jalia had her arms folded in annoyance. It was pitch black, but sometimes he didn’t need to see her to know how she was acting. She was probably pouting too. He tried to control his breathing as the ache in his arm became manageable.
It was some time before Daniel attempted to light another torch with his tinderbox. The air was damp and it took an interminable time before the torch lit, letting them see again.
They could still see almost nothing
by the light of the torch. Its light vanished into a vast darkness. The river they followed poured down a waterfall to a pool fifteen feet below. A set of steps were cut into the side of the wall leading down. Iron rings were cemented into the wall so people could traverse the wet steps without falling. There appeared to be a ledge cut in the wall about twelve feet down that looked as if it was designed to be walked along.
Daniel lit a second torch from the first and when it was burning brightly threw it out into the cavern as far and as high as he could.
The cavern was enormous and they only saw a small part of it before the torch hit the water. It was a place where drainage tunnels ended up. Each of them poured water into the deep dark lake. Before the torch hit the water, they saw long dark shapes in the water, gliding ominously towards the torch. After it hit the water there were sounds of vigorous thrashing, as if those shapes had attacked each other in their eagerness to get to their kill.
“I think we had better follow the steps down to that ledge and keep out of that lake,” Daniel observed dryly.
“Not quite yet though. Could you hold my hand again, as I need to lean out over the edge of the waterfall?” Jalia bounced up towards where Daniel stood.
“You want to have another go at falling in?”
“No silly. I just need to place my last gold bar where it will do most good.” Jalia had in her hands one of the gleaming gold bars from the vaults. “We don’t want our false trail to go cold before our pursuers reach the lake, do we?”
“Why have you been carrying that around all this time? No, never mind. Don’t tell me, I don’t want to know.”
Daniel helped Jalia lean out over the edge of the waterfall to place the heavy bar so anyone walking down the tunnel would see it gleaming in the water.
“That is possibly the most evil idea you’ve ever had, Jalia al’Dare,” Daniel scolded, but the touch of admiration in his voice rather spoiled the impact.
“Wild animals are an important part of our world. Daniel. They need to be fed too.”
Back at the hotel, Marcus had gathered his men. He ordered thirty of them to guard the city walls and gates as if their lives depended on it. Every other man was going to go into the caverns to locate the missing gold. They had all eaten a hasty breakfast and put on clothes suitable for the caverns.
One hundred and twenty two men gathered together in the paneled room and corridors beyond. It was still a tight squeeze as they were all carrying unlit torches.
“We split into two groups, one going up stream and the other down. When we find branching tunnels we will split the groups up evenly so we can follow every trail. If you reach a dead-end make your way back to the hotel and await instructions.”
Marcus paused, “If you find the trader or either of his bitches, kill them on sight. We know the gold can’t have gone far as they haven’t had the time to move it. If you find the gold, stay with it and send one of your team back to the hotel to report.”
Marcus realized he would need to leave someone back at the hotel to relay any messages. He pointed at two of the men near the back, “You two stay here and guard the gold as it comes back. Follow me, men, we have work to do.”
Marcus led sixty of his men downstream, the way that Jalia and Daniel had travelled, while the other half went upstream. Within the first half hour, they found the gold bars that Daniel and Jalia dropped to convince them the gold had been taken that way.
Those bars were taken back to the hotel. The men carrying the bars back were told to return to the tunnel as soon as they finished. Marcus expected to find the rest of the gold bars quickly and would need all his men to carry it. The gold was far too heavy to have been moved much further than they had gone. He laughed with pleasant thoughts of what he would do to Daniel and Jalia when he finally located them and the gold.
Jalia and Daniel descended to the narrow ledge cut into the rock. It was three feet above the water and they saw more dark shapes moving in its depths, attracted by the light of their torch. They edged along the narrow ledge carefully and soon found themselves facing a torrent of water from above. The ledge had been cut to create a passageway under the waterfall, the waterfall itself having been undercut by whoever cut the ledge. As they edged their way under, the flow of water was only inches from their noses. It was difficult to inch their way across and keep the torch alight.
As they eased out from the far end of the waterfall, Jalia, who was ahead of Daniel, abruptly stopped, “Daniel there’s something with us on the ledge.”
Daniel leaned out to have a look, taking care not to fall. Just ahead of Jalia, sitting on the ledge was what looked like a boot.
“It’s somebody’s old boot, kick it in the water.”
“I will, but I recognize that boot as belonging to the bald guard we killed in the Gathering Pool, and what’s more Daniel…”
“What?”
“It still has what’s left of a man’s foot in it.”
Jalia kicked the boot into the water. Instantly, a swirling frenzy of action began with two reptilian saw toothed mouths gaping out of the water and missing Jalia’s legs in their sweep by inches. A second later, a scaled tail, at least eight feet long swept the edge of the ledge beyond them as the fight for the boot and the foot continued.
The waters churned for minutes as Daniel and Jalia clung to the wall and prayed the creatures would not venture out of the water. Eventually the churning stopped and the lake went still.
“Next time I ask you to kick something in the water, please tell me where to go.” Daniel whispered.
“I will, with considerable pleasure.”
They made their way along the ledge, taking care to be as quiet as they could.
The next waterfall they came too had steps cut into the wall beside it and Daniel and Jalia climbed them. Daniel looked into the darkness of yet another tunnel with a river running through it.
“Chances are it leads to another hidden entrance in the city, and I would like to point out we are running out of torches.”
“Lead on, Daniel. Anywhere is better than this lake.”
They started walking upstream in the hope it would lead them to a way out.
Marcus and his men filled the width of the tunnel as they marched along looking for gold. The men who had taken the first gold bars back to the hotel rejoined them. As the tunnel widened, the men spread out across it so that they could locate any gold or other tunnels. The moving wave of men was three men deep and twenty wide when one of them saw the gleam of gold in the river ahead. He shouted and everybody ran to get to the gold first.
The first man was falling over the edge of the waterfall in front of twenty of his companions before they realized what was happening. By the time they did, it was too late, and their momentum carried all sixty men over the falls and into the lake.
For a few moments nothing happened. Marcus was treading water in darkness wondering how they were going to find a torch when the screaming started.
The creatures in the lake had never had such a bountiful harvest. It was in their nature to kill without regard as to whether they had need or not and in the next ten minutes, all but one of the men were dead. Bits of their bodies floated in the pool as the creatures nibbled on the tastier bits and spat out the rest to eat later.
A lone survivor lay on the ledge on the wall and panted with exhaustion from his efforts. He had trodden on his men to climb to this spot, but then Marcus al’Tren was a born survivor.
At that moment, he recognized he had lost and would never see the gold again. The other members of the Association would lynch him when they found out what had happened. He had just lost half his men and suspected the other half would meet a similar fate in these damnable tunnels. In some ways, it was fortunate he was the only Mine Owner here as it would give him a chance to extract revenge on the people of Brinan who had helped the traders.
He had good evidence Karn a’Debal was involved with this trader and his bitches. He was going to go back down the
tunnel and make sure that Karn died nastily. But only after he saw his daughter raped and slain before his eyes. After that Marcus would go back to the hotel and take care of Patrus a’Bran and his family.
The thought of multiple rapes and bloody murder sustained Marcus as he dragged himself to his feet. His clothes were torn and he bled in a few places, but nothing mattered to him but to go and find someone to kill.
Marcus found the steps up to the tunnel by groping in the dark. He climbed them, and set off back up the tunnel. He was unaware how lucky it was that he had chosen the right tunnel. As far as he was concerned, many people were going to die horribly, and not one of the dead was going to be Marcus al’Tren.
By the time Marcus reached the hotel it was late afternoon. The two guards that remained behind were shocked by his appearance and the madness in his eyes. Neither chose to ask where the other men were. They knew that to ask Marcus what had happened would cost them their lives.
Marcus ordered them to follow him and set off towards Karn’s town house. In the house, the family had relaxed as the day had worn on. Sam was at the mansion and the city was unusually quiet. As far as they knew, Daniel, Jalia and Talla had met at their mansion and left the city. Karn’s daughters had taken over the lounge and were practicing unarmed combat, having given instructions to their father not to enter the room. They had decided to carry on with their practicing the way they had with Jalia and were naked.
Karn dozed in his office when he was woken by a loud knocking at the door. Mindful of Daniel’s warning, he looked out of his window and saw Marcus’s men standing outside. Karn was certain that if Marcus came against him he would be bring at least a squad with him, so he assumed these two guards were out on some errand. He didn’t see Marcus, who stood close to the door in his eagerness to begin.
As he began to open the door he was pushed aside as Marcus forced it open. Off balance, he fell heavily and before he could even think of drawing his sword, one of the two guards had a sword pressed against his throat.