by Jeff Wilcox
*
“So he came at me with his mouth open this wide,” Wild said, spreading his arms vertically and stretching them as far as they could go. “I pulled out my dagger, but the blade just bounced off his fur. When he pounced on me, I thought it was all over, but then I remembered a trick my old gran used to talk about, and I flipped a silver piece into his mouth, killing him instantly.”
Finished with his tale, Wild looked at Caineye and Kaiyr. The group had met for dinner after spending the day on the town, then had convened in Kaiyr’s room to discuss their suspicions about the town behind a locked door.
The two taller folk just stared at the halfling as he stopped talking. Vinto gave an unimpressed yawn. “You… don’t quite buy it, huh?” the halfling suggested.
Caineye shook his head, a grin spreading across his face. “I believed you until you tossed the coin in his mouth. Plus, none of it explains the bump on the back of your head.”
Wild sighed melodramatically. “All right. He was a wuss with a heavy stick. Got me in the back of the head once pretty good, then I stuck a knife in his gizzard. But apparently, he hadn’t indoctrinated the acolyte there. Poor kid was shaking in his boots.”
Kaiyr spoke, his voice quiet and somewhat accusing. “You are wearing a new ring.”
Wild scowled. “How astute of you, Blademaster.” Ignoring the steely glare the elf sent his way, the halfling turned back to Caineye. “How about you? Find out anything interesting?”
The druid nodded and patted Vinto’s head. The wolf’s tongue lolled out of his mouth for a few moments. “I asked around about the black dragon, but nobody here seems to know anything about it. So I asked around about other strange occurrences. Apparently, the people here are concerned about a—rather enormous—pack of wolves in the forest. They’ve been attacking the town, becoming more aggressive since the west wall was destroyed.”
“What destroyed the wall?” Kaiyr asked, folding his arms into his voluminous sleeves.
Caineye shook his head. “Didn’t say. I looked into it, and the rumors weren’t just rumors. Vinto and I both picked up the trails of many of these creatures.”
“But?” Kaiyr replied, hearing the note of an unfinished statement hanging in the air.
“They didn’t smell like wolves,” the druid replied with a frown. “Or, I should say, they didn’t smell quite like wolves.”
“Worgs?” Wild asked, and Caineye just shook his head again. “Dire wolves? Winter wolves?”
“No, they didn’t smell like that, either. They smelled… cleaner.”
“Say, I’ve got a clean joke for you….”
Caineye ignored the halfling and turned to Kaiyr. “What about you, Master Kaiyr? You arrived late to dinner.”
Kaiyr nodded. “Yes, I did. I apologize, but I discovered I had business at the far end of town. I asked a historian at the temple of Arvanos Sinterian whether he knew of the artifact I seek.” He paused and shifted uncomfortably with the weight of growing suspicion. “I was most dismayed to discover he knew naught of it. However, he did mention that a treasure hunter owns a house here. He supposedly left for a trip and has not been seen in three weeks.”
Wild frowned. “What’s the matter?”
Kaiyr’s already tenebrous eyes grew darker. “I walked to the described house. I did not go inside, but judging by its appearance… no one has been there in years.”
Wild’s brow furrowed, and his lips pursed into a lemon-pout. “I don’t like this. Something fishy’s going on here.”
“I agree,” replied the blademaster gravely. “It would seem that our encounter in Viel and the monastery there may be related to Wild’s discoveries here. I wonder how deeply the religion of Alduros Hol has been infiltrated by such imposters.”
Caineye’s fist slammed into his palm, drawing the others’ attention. Vinto whuffled once, annoyed. “Sorry,” he apologized a moment later, realizing the other two were staring at him.
“Righteous anger is not shameful.” Kaiyr told him gently. He inhaled sharply and then blew the air out in a quick, thoughtful sigh. “We should rest this night and continue our search on the morrow. It may not be wise for us to act independently. I suspect that we have already made enemies who will no doubt find and disturb us.”
Wild snorted. “Disturb us? That’s quite the understatement.”
A wry smile briefly made its way onto the elf’s features before he returned the conversation to the matter at hand. “What shall we do tomorrow? I shall admit that I desire to pursue the artifact that is the object of my original mission, the reason I left my village. But if either of you believes that another course of action would be wiser, I am willing to put my own agenda aside to pursue more important matters.”
The group mulled over Kaiyr’s words in silence for a few minutes, Caineye idly scratching Vinto’s head, Wild staring at a ring he turned about in his fingers. At length, the druid shook his head. “No, I think we should go after this artifact of yours….”
“The Helm of Ministriel,” Kaiyr offered with a bow of his head.
“This Helm of Ministriel,” Caineye went on. “I have no leads other than the scents of dozens, if not hundreds, of wolf-like creatures. We do not know what these creatures truly are, nor how dangerous they may be. Pursuing them may only serve to write our epitaphs for us.” He glanced at Wild. “I think you would agree, as well, Wild, that your business with the temple here is concluded. Investigating the place again is likely to only attract the townsfolk’s suspicion.”
Wild nodded his agreement. “I can see why that wouldn’t be such a good idea. Let’s go after this helm, then.”
“It is settled,” Kaiyr said, rising and opening the door for the others. “Let us take rest for now and reconvene in the tavern room after sunrise.”
They all bid each other a good night, and Caineye, with Vinto, and Wild went to their respective rooms as Kaiyr locked his door once again and settled down cross-legged, preparing his mind before falling into a deep meditation.
XVI.
“All is not right,” Kaiyr muttered in Caineye’s ear as they crouched with Vinto in the underbrush near the treasure hunter’s purported dwelling. Just across the way, Wild knelt before the front door, meticulously searching the portal for traps; it seemed as though he had found one and was now working out how to disable it.
Caineye nodded. “You said the man supposedly left, what, two weeks ago? Those boards are ancient—and what kind of elf builds or suffers built a place such as this?” He waved his hand dismissively, then looked over at the blademaster. “There’s more, isn’t there?”
Kaiyr blinked solemnly in reply. “Indeed. These people give this place a wide berth. The town’s patrolmen come this way far less often than other areas. I know not what is more unsettling: that we may be walking into a trap, or that the trap may have already swallowed us.”
The druid shivered uncomfortably. “I suppose so. Still, I don’t like sitting here, just waiting for something to happen.”
At that moment, Wild must have figured out how to disarm the trap—through trial and, in particular, error. The magical device released with a loud whoosh, and a blast of fire engulfed him and the area around the door, scorching both halfling and ground before vanishing. Caineye gasped and started for his companion but was stopped by Kaiyr’s hand laid on his arm. The druid shot the elf a concerned look, but sure enough, Wild raised his arm a moment later, complete with a thumbs-up gesture, and both men in the bushes heard the halfling’s hoarse whisper of, “All clear.”
After administering to Wild’s wounds with a cure light wounds spell, the companions gingerly opened the surprisingly sturdy wooden door. Kaiyr led the way, but Wild stopped him with an outstretched hand. “Hold it, Blademaster. Even from here, I can see about six traps just waiting for you to step on them. Let me at least clear this end of the room first.” Kaiyr and Caineye said nothing and waited while Wild cleared space near the door. As soon as it was safe, the others filed inside, c
rowding together as they watched the halfling disarm tripwire after magical glyph. This time, he had notably more success than on the trapped door.
At last, the short fellow dusted his hands off and gave them the all-clear. Glancing around the room, Wild wrinkled his nose. “It’s… dusty.”
“This is not two weeks’ worth of dust,” Kaiyr agreed, lifting his sandaled feet and inspecting the marks he was making in the thick layer of sediments covering the creaky floorboards.
“More like two centuries,” Wild commented with a snort. “Well, let’s take a look around, shall we?”
Nodding, each of them began searching the room. Kaiyr and Wild used more conventional means to do so, while Caineye trusted in Vinto to sniff out anything suspicious.
“Trapdoor leading to the basement here,” Wild announced within minutes, throwing back a small rug and coughing from the dust his motion threw into the air. “There’s an obvious trail. Someone’s been this way recently. This dust might not be real.”
Kaiyr had his ear pressed tightly against the wall opposite the front door. “I hear something behind this wall,” he said, “and the building is too long for this to be the outside wall.” With his fine-fingered hands, he felt around the wall, seeking—and finding—a latch hidden inside a knothole. A secret door swung open, revealing a new, dusty room, and all of them now heard low growls and grunts emanating from somewhere within. Specifically, they heard bestial sounds coming from another trapdoor—this one heavily chained and padlocked.
“Honestly, are these guys that uncreative? They send us here to lure us to our deaths?” Wild complained, tapping the cast-iron door with one knuckle. The door was so thick that it did not resonate when he knocked. Fitting all three of them in the back room was no easy task, and Vinto had to wait in the main room. Already, his fur was thick with dust.
Kaiyr brushed his hands off on each other. “Whatever the case may be, it would not be wise to open this door. Perhaps the other one has answers.”
“Whoops,” Wild lied as the lock clicked open noisily. Kaiyr stared down at him, expressionless, while Caineye suppressed a chuckle. “It wasn’t me, I swear. The lock totally opened all on its own. I have no idea how it happened.”
Pursing his lips, Kaiyr indicated the door. “Let us see, then, the fate in store for us.” Together, the three of them hauled open the door. The growling only became louder, accented with the occasional, feral bark.
“Got a light?” Wild whispered to Caineye, who nodded and pulled a pebble from a small pouch at his waist. Murmuring a prayer over it, the druid opened his palm to reveal the pebble, now glowing as bright as a torch. He tossed it in, and the three companions leaned forward, peering into the cellar. The chaotic barking paused momentarily as the shining pebble dropped into the midst of… “More werewolves?” Wild complained just before one of the creatures let loose a fearsome snarl and leaped for the opening.
The group fell backwards in surprise, and Kaiyr manifested the hilt of his soulblade and brought it crashing down upon the head of the creature, which let out a pained yelp before dropping back into the hole. They all hesitated for a moment, staring at the hole in the floor. Recovering first, Kaiyr leaped to his feet and began lifting the door. “Help me close this!” he told them, half-shouting and half-grunting as he struggled with the heavy door.
Jumping up, the other two helped haul the door around on its hinges to slam back down into place. Wild hurriedly wove the chains across the door and through the iron rungs next to it before finally clicking the lock back into place.
Kaiyr eyed the halfling with a mixture of chagrin and amusement. “Let us hope that lock does not ‘open on its own’ again.”
“I’ll second that,” Caineye replied, straightening. “What about that other door? Do we really want to see what’s beneath that one?”
Kaiyr considered it as they all piled out of the tiny room and back into the dust-filled kitchen area. “This one is not locked,” he mused, “nor is it made of steel, nor have we heard any motion from it.” He paused, listening. “I still do not. Perhaps we should find out what is here, what secret these people are either hiding or are waiting for us to discover.”
The other two nodded. “I’ll stay up here and keep an eye out for trouble,” Caineye offered. “We’ve made quite an amount of commotion already. Besides, Vinto can’t join us downstairs.” He enspelled another stone with light and tossed it to the blademaster, who caught it and returned a grateful look.
“Sound reasoning, Master Caineye,” Kaiyr replied, pulling open the trapdoor with his foot. “Master Wild, follow me.” Dropping the pebble, he waited for it to hit the floor ten feet below before following it with soulblade in hand.
The cellar—the real cellar—held nothing threatening. Kaiyr glanced around, taking it in. It was large, as cellars went, being almost thirty feet long and nearly that wide. It was empty except for a table on a slightly raised dais.
“Is it safe?” Wild called down.
Kaiyr did not answer immediately, staring at the table. It was surrounded by a slightly luminescent barrier of some sort; not being familiar with magic, he could not tell what it might do, were one to attempt to cross it. More importantly, resting on the table were three pieces of what the elven blademaster recognized as belonging to Ministriel’s Regalia. The Helm was not among them, but both bracers and the shield lay there. All were rustred and utterly nondescript.
“Well?” Wild asked testily.
Kaiyr turned around to find the halfling already on the stone floor behind him, fists on his hips. “My apologies, Master Wild,” he said distractedly, turning back to the altar. “I know not what I expected to find, but it was not this.”
Wild strode forward, and Kaiyr joined him. They both stopped two strides away from the glowing barrier. “What is it?” asked the shorter man.
“Do you remember the Helm of Ministriel, Master Wild? I mentioned it last evening. It and what you see before us belonged to Ministriel, an elven hero of old who defeated a great evil,” Kaiyr said solemnly. “It was so long ago that the stories were lost generations past, even to my people. But the weapons he wielded and the armor he wore survive to this day and are artifacts of incredible power.” He stepped forward, looking at but not touching the barrier. “I suspect this is here to keep us out.”
Caineye’s light-pebble flew by the blademaster’s nose and soared through the barrier, clacking against the altar and coming to a stop on the dais. Kaiyr turned back to glower at the halfling, who shrugged. “I was curious.”
Kaiyr said nothing, but Caineye’s face and voice appeared at the entrance to the cellar. “Time to go, you two. Soldiers are marching this way. We’ve got maybe a minute to clear out and find a place to hide.”
Without delay, Kaiyr picked up Wild and unceremoniously tossed the halfling back the way he’d come. Then, with a hop, the blademaster hauled himself out of the cellar. “We shall have to leave the light and hope it is not discovered,” he said, gently closing the trapdoor and tossing the throw rug back on top of it.
“Out the front,” Caineye said, cracking open the door and peering outside. Vinto sat across the street, seeming rather unconcerned. “It’s the only way to go. Now.”
Together, they all scurried over to where Vinto was hiding in the bushes. Not half a minute later, a patrol of two dozen elven soldiers swarmed into the area.
“Team one, go secure the sides and back of the house. Team two, you head inside,” ordered one who was obviously the leader. His men hurried to make sure all escape routes were blocked, and twelve others kicked open the door and filtered into the building.
Caineye whispered to Kaiyr and Wild, “That’s the constable I met yesterday.” The other two replied with barely perceptible nods.
“Looks like they’ve run into a little trouble,” said another of the soldiers, chuckling at the blasted ground around the door. Wild scowled but didn’t say anything.
As the companions watched, one of the soldiers eme
rged, saluted, and gave his report. “No sign of them still inside, sir. But they found both cellars. One of them used a magical pebble of light in each of them.”
“And the… purpose in directing them here?” the constable asked impatiently.
The soldier sighed and shook his head. “No signs that they crossed the barrier. It looks like only the stone was tossed across. I think they cleared out in a hurry. Maybe they heard us coming. They can’t have gone far.”
The constable waved his hand. “No matter now. We can’t force them to cross or they’ll know what we’re up to. But we can’t get to those things without them, or at least without people like them. Our master will be… very displeased by this.”
The soldier paled at his commander’s words. “I… see,” he said, swallowing hard. “What are your orders, sir? Should I send men after them?”
“Kaiyr,” Caineye breathed, drawing the blademaster’s attention away from the conversation in the street. “Look.”
Kaiyr followed Caineye’s gaze to a small clearing nearby, where a large wolf stood in the open, illuminated by sunlight. The creature was taller than most wolves, and it stared at them with an intense intelligence unlike any wolf any of them had ever met. Then, in an oddly human gesture, it raised a paw and swiped it in the air toward itself, beckoning to them.
“Go, Vinto,” Caineye said, and his animal companion sneaked away from the rest of the group to meet the new wolf. The newcomer sat primly, allowing Vinto to sniff him. Then, when Vinto sat down next to the other wolf, tongue lolling, Caineye looked back to the other two. “Let’s go. I’ve a feeling it’s trying to help us get out of here.”
With one last glance back at the regrouping soldiers, Kaiyr hustled quietly through the underbrush with Wild, following the druid to meet the wolf. To the surprise of all involved, the tall wolf opened its mouth and spoke. “Come with me. All of you are in great danger.”