by Joseph Lallo
Determined to clean as much of the door as possible, Tristofer began jumping in place and sweeping the brush in wide arcs. Leaving the scholar to hop about, Breslin and the others studied the sealed door that was before them.
“It’s a security door,” Breslin thoughtfully mused. “It has to be. Look at the size of that thing!”
Venk touched his shoulder and pointed at the direct center of the four interlocking circles. A dusty gem winked back at them.
“There’s your way inside. It’s another gem!”
Overhearing the news about the existence of the jewel, Tristofer abandoned his attempts to clean the door. Leaning up on his tiptoes so could better reach the large ruby set in the stone, he pulled out a rag from somewhere within his jacket and polished the jewel until it sparkled. He looked up at Breslin.
“Would you do the honors?”
Breslin nodded. He presented his hammer to the door. For several tense seconds nothing happened.
“I don’t think this door likes you,” Athos commented with a chuckle.
Breslin lowered the hammer uncertainly. Now what were they supposed to do? Bash their way in? He hefted the hammer and readied a swing. Tristofer grabbed his arm.
“Wait! Put the hammer back. The gem had started to glow just before you lowered the hammer. Give it a little more time.”
Breslin presented the hammer to the door a second time, holding it directly in front of the door’s jewel. Ten seconds later, the door’s gem began to glow. Two minutes later the gem was still glowing, but the door remained closed.
“What do I do now?” Breslin asked, looking at Tristofer as he did so. “Keep waiting?”
Tristofer nodded. “Let’s give it a few minutes. This could be some form of Narian security, or perhaps it could be that centuries of disuse have rusted the mechanics of the door and it’s unable to open? Either way, we should wait a little longer.”
Breslin shrugged. The weight of his own arm was putting more stress on his body than the weight of the activated power hammer, so he was certain he could maintain the hammer’s position for a while longer. Nevertheless, he switched hands several times while holding the glowing gem next to the door.
Nearly ten minutes later they heard several loud metallic clicks, followed by a horrible grating sound as one piece of metal scraped over another.
The giant door inched forward. The dwarves waited with baited breaths. Was that as far as it would open? Breslin leaned into the door and shoved.
The door didn’t move, although it did rock forward a millimeter or two before settling back to its slightly ajar position. Breslin nodded. It was up to them to push the door open far enough so they could gain entry. With the collective effort of all five of the group, the enormous door was shoved forward a few feet. Not enough for a human to squeeze through, but more than adequate for a dwarf.
“Is this the main gate?” Venk asked Tristofer as he pulled himself through. His gut had come uncomfortably close to denying him entry into the city. He silently vowed to exercise more and eat less once he and Lukas were safely home.
“I believe so,” Tristofer answered. “The size of the door alone suggests that this has to be it.”
“Think it’s been opened since the time of their departure?” Venk wondered.
The scholar shook his head no.
“Look how long it took for us to get in. Did you hear that awful racket the door made when it opened? No, that’s the sound of a mechanical apparatus that needs to be serviced. Quite frankly I’m surprised it opened enough for all of us to pass.”
“It didn’t,” Athos reminded him. “We had to force the door open, remember?”
Tristofer had already disregarded Athos’ remark as they took in the sights of the abandoned city.
Like the children’s book had depicted, the city was situated in a large, domed cavern where they could see that the large stalactites had been removed from the roof of the cavern, but over time, had started to reclaim the cavern’s domed ceiling. Soft golden light illuminated street after street of vacant, deteriorating buildings. Streets that were once paved just like the main tunnel entering the city were seen everywhere, but unfortunately, the conditions were far worse.
Pavers had been pried loose and cast aside. Several streets looked as though they had buckled, suggesting some type of seismic activity had befallen them. Wherever they looked they could see damaged buildings, regardless if they were huge gathering places or the smallest of residences.
“Something bad has happened here,” Breslin remarked, looking around. His voice had dropped to a whisper. “If I were to venture a guess, I’d say a massive terra tremor is to blame for their downfall.”
“Agreed,” Tristofer whispered.
Venk nudged Tristofer in his ribs. Once the scholar turned around, Venk pointed at the distant buildings.
“What’s the source of the yellow light? It’s not that bright, but enough to see where we’re going.”
“Do you remember that decorative golden border on the main door?” Tristofer asked him. “I think that’s their light source. It’s probably part of their technology. Look around! That gold chain is everywhere. That’s why we can see the buildings. It’s because they are all laced with that border. Quite ingenious, if you ask me.”
“Is it me or is it getting brighter in here?” Athos asked, looking up at the overhead ceiling then back at the city. He had only been able to make out several of the streets when they first beheld the city, but now he was easily able to see that the city had three or four dozen streets and at least several dozen buildings per street. Had it always been like that?
“It’s your imagination,” his brother told him as he steered Lukas around another broken paver.
“No, he’s right,” Breslin announced. “Look. I can see the extent of the damage Nar has undergone. Looks like the eastern part of the city was hit hardest. Tristofer, any idea what’s going on with the light?”
Tristofer shook his head and shrugged.
Lukas tugged on his father’s sleeve and pointed at the ground. “Father, look! More footprints!”
Venk, Athos, and Breslin all squatted down to inspect the damaged street. Several sets of tracks were visible in the heavy dust, heading in every direction, approaching every structure. The closest was a large two story building that had housed two different tenants. None of the footsteps entered either shop.
Breslin walked up to the larger shop’s open door and leaned in. He waved his torch around the room.
“I see at least three circular ovens. Broken crockery is everywhere.” Breslin bent to retrieve a palm-sized piece of pottery. “This has a gold pattern running through it, too. What it’s trying to depict, I cannot say. Any ideas what this shop might have been used for?”
“A bakery?” Venk suggested as he looked into the adjoining second shop. This one was much smaller than its neighbor, having a simple corner work table and a few shelves.
Venk knelt on the hard stone floor and picked up a tiny chisel. A closer examination revealed a hammer, a second chisel, a pair of tweezers, and something that had a hook on one end and a pick on the other.
Brushing aside some of the dust on the floor revealed a glint of color coming from under the primary workspace. It was a tiny curl of gold, generating the tiniest bit of light. With his back protesting loudly, Venk straightened and inspected the tiny shaving of gold. Where had it come from? How long had it been on the floor? Why was it… The curl stopped glowing. Venk’s eyes narrowed. Why had the gold shaving gone dark?
Ignoring the stab of pain his back was sending him, Venk knelt back on the ground and held the curl down low. It began to glow again. Eagerly brushing aside several inches of dirt and dust revealed a number of other pieces of gold, all discarded as though they were the wood shavings. All the gold pieces glowed until Venk straightened back up.
Athos poked his head in the room. “What do you have there?” He leaned over Venk�
��s hand and eyed the gold shavings. “Not much there, if you ask me. Still, it’s a good start.”
“Forget the gold for a moment,” Venk told his brother. “It’ll glow if I hold it down to the floor. It stops once I move it away. Bizarre, huh?”
“It must be part of the gold border found on all the buildings.”
Venk nodded in agreement. “Exactly what I was thinking.”
He gave the shavings to Tristofer and explained what he had learned about its behavior. The scholar nodded in appreciation and dropped the gold shavings into a vial which promptly disappeared into his jacket.
“From the looks of this one,” Venk told the others as he came out of the smaller shop, “I’d say that they vacated the premises very quickly. I found tools and several gold ingots sitting in a small room at the back of the building. I doubt they would have left the gold willingly.”
“Correlates with the first,” Breslin reported. “Broken pottery everywhere. There were a few intact pots sitting on shelves and even a large ceramic bin in the back which I presume held flour. Wait. You found gold? I wouldn’t think they would have left that behind.”
Venk grunted. “Right. I just said that. Why would they leave the gold?”
Breslin shook his head. He pointed at the ground. “No, I mean, why would these people have left the gold? According to the tracks, they didn’t even bother going in to this building. What were they searching for?”
“Let’s find a building in which they did go into,” Athos suggested. “Maybe then we’ll figure out what they were doing.”
Venk held up a hand.
“Wait a moment. Son, come here. Let me see the mark.”
Lukas approached and lifted his shirt. The mark was still there.
“Thanks, just checking.”
“What’d you do that for?” Athos asked, curious.
“Clearly we have to do something now that we’re here,” Venk explained. “If not, then the mark would have disappeared as soon as we stepped foot into Nar. Now that we’re here, and the mark is still there, we know our quest isn’t done.”
“Over here!” Breslin called out from up front. He was pointing to a large, single story structure that was easily twice as large as the first building they entered. “I found a building that they had entered.”
Tristofer nodded. “Let me guess. You’re going to find a forge in there.”
Breslin ducked through the open door and then reappeared moments later. He nodded.
“Aye, there is. How’d you know that?”
“Isn’t it obvious?” the scholar asked. “It’s a blacksmith shop. I’m willing to wager every blacksmith here in Nar has been thoroughly searched.”
Understanding, Breslin tapped his cuirass.
“Armor.”
Tristofer nodded. “Exactly. Nar is known for their armor. It’s coveted by everyone and fetches a high price whenever a piece is put up for sale. The intruders, as I’ll start calling them, obviously value armor more than gold. Why else would they leave those ingots behind?”
“They left them behind because they didn’t know they were there,” Athos argued. “I think if they would have found them then they would have taken them.”
Tristofer shrugged. “Possibly. But the fact that they didn’t even bother suggests they thought it wasn’t worth their time and effort.”
Unwilling to argue the point any further, Athos grunted and returned to his examination of the neighboring buildings. Catching sight of a structure across the street that had a set of tracks leading into it, Athos nudged Breslin and pointed it out. A quick glance at the surrounding shops revealed one other structure had also been visited by the intruders.
Splitting into two teams, as they had two torches between them, Athos and Breslin explored the second shop while Venk, Lukas, and Tristofer took the third. Both teams reported the same thing: a blacksmith had set up their foundry there. As with the first, the two blacksmith shops had been picked clean.
Breslin’s eyes were drawn down to the ground. Athos approached on his right while Venk approached on his left. They, too, looked down. Several fresh sets of tracks, as though they had been made just yesterday, were seen heading off into the city.
“Has anyone been walking around out here?”
There was a chorus of ‘no’s. Breslin motioned for everyone to huddle close.
“Those tracks are fresh. I’d say no more than a couple of days old. Not only is it safe to say that someone has been pillaging Nar of its treasures, but also whoever is responsible appears to have returned recently. We must be on our guard regardless of whether or not that person is still lurking about. Master Venk, keep Lukas close. Tristofer, stay close to Athos. If whoever made those marks happens to still be here, I’d just as soon not let them know we’re here, too.”
“You’re really worried about that?” Athos demanded.
Breslin frowned. “And you aren’t?”
Athos pointed back towards the main entrance. “At this point I’d say trying to sneak around is pointless. If there’s someone here, they’re going to know we’re here, too. Not only did we create quite a ruckus just to gain entry, we…”
“We don’t know if that could have been heard in here,” Breslin argued.
“There’s a layer of dust in there that clearly shows footprints,” Athos continued, “as we’re following a set right now.”
“Maybe they won’t know who made the tracks?” Venk suggested.
“And finally, the city is becoming brighter by the hour. Look around! Give it an hour or so and we won’t need the torches.”
“I’ve noticed that.” Breslin turned to face the scholar. “The longer we’re here the brighter it’s getting.”
“I believe the city is reacting to our presence,” Tristofer hypothesized. “How remarkable!”
“There is a chance that someone else may be lurking about,” Breslin conceded to Athos. “However, we can’t worry about that now. We’re here for a reason and we need to find out what that reason is. For now, we investigate. Everyone ready? Good. Let’s see where these tracks lead.”
Breslin pulled Mythryd from his back and silently followed the fresh footprints through the city. Twisting and turning, the prints lead them down wide, worn, paved streets as well as narrow, dark alleys running between large buildings. Moving further west through the city, they noticed that the damage to the buildings here was much less severe. A few streets showed some slight damage, but otherwise the western section of the city was damage-free. Only one in five buildings showed any signs of damage and of the structures that were, only a few large cracks could be seen running up the walls.
“How could an earthquake destroy one half of a city without harming the other?” Breslin wondered aloud as they all stopped to rest.
They were standing in a small plaza with vacant shops all around them. Doors hung open. Counters were strewn with various items necessary for that shop’s business. Tracks had approached these shops, too, but hadn’t entered any. Most of the tracks were almost filled back in, suggesting that whoever had made them did so many years ago. The tracks they were presently following were still fresh, but none of the others were.
Resuming their trek through the somber city, the footprints finally dead-ended at another of the city’s sealed doors, only this one wasn’t sealed shut. The stone door was just barely ajar and moments later they saw why: an old, dented shield had been jammed between the door and its frame.
“Get a load of that,” Athos commented as he squatted down next to the shield. He looked at the others. “I could pull it out and let the door close. Then they’ll never make it back in here.”
Breslin was silent as he considered.
“Better not. To do so would announce our presence.”
“You don’t think the rising levels of light in there have done that for us?”
“Alright, point taken,” Breslin grumbled. He tapped the door and nodded towards
the other side. “Where do you think that goes?”
“To another hidden entrance,” Tristofer answered. “Whether on the same mountain or a different one remains to be seen. But I’ll bet Bykram lies in that direction.”
“So we found where the intruder has been entering the city. Thanks to the amount of dust on the streets we should be able to tell where he went on his last trip here.”
Athos groaned. “You mean –”
Breslin nodded. “Right. Back to where we started out from. I want to see where these tracks go.”
Retracing their steps back through the city, Breslin and the others kept a close eye on the fresh tracks in the thick dust. Breslin looked behind them to see the numerous tracks now leading towards the propped open gate and then back again and could only hope that whoever had just recently visited wouldn’t be back for a while. The last thing he needed to worry about was someone getting the drop on them that may or may not possess Narian tools and weapons.
The set of tracks they were following veered to the right so that it ran directly in front of a row of buildings. More shops, Breslin guessed. He surmised that the intruder was studying the buildings and was looking for more blacksmiths. It wasn’t until they had ventured further east, past the point of their earlier arrival, when the footprints stopped in front of a non-descript structure, approached a window, then headed straight towards the door. Breslin and Athos both stuck their heads through the door long enough to verify that this building once housed a blacksmith.
They could see footprints everywhere as the intruder searched every square inch of the structure. Exiting the ancient workshop, Breslin pointed east and trudged off as they followed the prints to another blacksmith. And another. And another.
“Do you get the impression that this person is getting desperate?” Breslin suddenly asked, breaking the monotony of the stifling silence.
“I do,” Venk agreed. “Think he’s running out of armor?”
“The thought had crossed my mind,” Breslin admitted.