“I can take care of everyone to avoid infections and bleeding out,” she looked around the anguished company.
They all agreed this was the right choice, so DaMatta stepped closer to Larianna, and pressed the round and sacred symbol to her forehead. Murmuring words, he began his prayer to the god of battle and bravery. A few moments later, the witch could feel the magical power of his prayer. Her wounds were rapidly healing and the scars on her ribs and head disappeared completely.
“I have some good news captain. We have the original map with the full scripture,” the sorcerer showed him the old yellowish scroll.
“This is excellent news Al Sarran!” Corwen replied with a painful face.
He rolled it out and examined it, as the beautiful girl was taking care of the others’ injuries. She got out her bandages, herbs and lotions out of her sack and began working quickly to aid her wounded mates. They could not thank her enough for the help. The life of the elf was literally in her hands, as his wounds were the most serious. She managed to stop the bleeding in time and stitch the scars. It took around two hours to bandage and solder everybody up.
“What’s next captain?” the priest/knight asked, smoothing his messy hair.
“Al Sarran, what did you get out of the ancient writing on the map?” Corwen turned to the panther man.
“I can understand more of it than from the copy, it has some new information we did not know. Listen, I will read it out”
Where the Great Moorland is and the town of Xarion stands, there lies the great warrior, Orender Teroldo, who defeated the demon armies, with the power of the relics, whose power is feared by the lords of outer dimensions. The crypt with the sign on it hides the entrance, to the key that shows the way to Fire and Ice. The power of the weapons can only be obtained by real champions. In the room with the marble coffin, search for the demon eye, that will open the path towards the key.
“It has a bit more information on it, but there is still a lot of mystery left. So the grave does not hide the weapon, only the key leading to it. And there are not one, but two weapons. Fire and ice?” the captain was thinking aloud.
“Yes, according to the scripture, this is how we have to interpret it,” the panther man replied with the scroll in his hand.
“We have to find the eye of the demon, which will show us the way,” the thief girl said. “It could be hidden in one of the embossments, let’s look around,” the olive skinned girl suggested.
“Good idea. Let’s start it. Everybody should choose one, there are quite a lot and sign if you see something unusual,” the captain said and he stepped to one of the embossment.
Everybody started staring at the walls, decorated with skillfully carved figures. There were humans and other creatures fighting with the immense demon army on them. There was one depicting Orender Teroldo, with two swords in his hands, fighting with a giant, four armed and winged monster. It got Lowarien’s attention and his sharp eyesight came handy again. It looked like the eye of the demonic beast, could be pushed in.
“My friends, I think I see something interesting. Come here!” he called the others.
Everly rushed there and examined the embossment. She knocked it with a huge iron lock pick and put her ear on the artistic piece.
“Yes, there could be a mechanic structure here, but we have to be careful. It could be a trap too. Step back, leave it to the expert,” the thief girl was bragging.
They backed from the sculpture, Everly touching its surface, cautiously pushing in the demon eye. They heard a loud clicking sound as the structure started working. The marble tomb in the middle sank into the floor and transformed into stairs leading into the deep.
“The road is open ahead of, just after you,” the almond-eyed girl rolled her daggers in her hands proudly.
“Nice job Everly!” the captain praised the girl.
“Who knows what is waiting for us down there,” the panther man said.
“Let’s find out, I will go first to see, what is at the end of the stairs,” Corwen said as he grabbed a burning torch from the wall.
The spider web covered stairs lead to a low and ten feet wide aisle with stone walls. The large orc almost hit his head into the ceiling. The place was damp and musty. The swamp provided enough water for the whole area, so the stones were all covered in mould. They swiped away the spider webs as they went along the straight, aisle that soon turned left and ended in a double steel door. In the middle there were two dragon like snakes rolled around each other and letters in a dead language were written under it.
“Can you read this Al Sarran?” the captain asked with the torch in his hand.
“I will try, let’s see,” he leaned closer to the strange signs.
Say aloud, how they are called and enter, wanderer!
“This is what it says, word to word,” the panther man explained.
“This is a riddle we have to solve,” the priest/knight shared his views.
The orc grimaced and scratched his head, but he had no idea what the answer could be.
“What did the map say? The crypt with the sign on it hides the entrance to the key that shows the way to Fire and Ice. Something like that right?” the witch asked.
“You are right dear Larianna,” the rour confirmed.
“How do you say Fire and Ice in the dead language?” the witch asked curiously.
“Fiere urd Norgeld” the rour replied.
Suddenly the two dragon–like snakes on the steel door slipped apart and the immense and massive door slowly opened before them.
“You are smart my darling” the captain kissed her.
“Do I get a kiss for every riddle I solve?” Everly asked cheekily.
“As much as you would like beautiful,” Corwen replied joyfully.
“Enough of the flirting lovebirds. Move forward. I don’t like this place!” the orc was urging his mates.
The aisle led straight forward and after a few steps in turned right, slightly inclining. They found another carved scripture on the wall, in ancient Ferron language. Al Sarran read it aloud again.
Even the bravest regret their sins, so be careful!
The scripture on the wall said shortly and briefly.
“What could this mean?” Lowarien asked the others pensively.
“I don’t know. What if we just go forward?” the captain turned to the others.
“Let me go first, I will look around!” the young thief girl made her way to the front.
With a torch in her hand, she examined the floor and the walls carefully. A few minutes later, she found what she was looking for. A narrow, half inch wide and long gap on both sides of the wall, around waist height.
“This will be a trap, be careful with moving forward!” she warned the others.
“A repentant man always bows before his god to pray for his forgiveness.” DaMatta said.
“That’s it, we have to get on our knees and climb under it,” the almond eyes girl snapped her fingers.
“Ladies first.” The captain pointed forward and looked at the girls.
“Sure, so we can walk into the trap first!” Larianna put her hands on her waist.
“I don’t think so ginger, we understood it well, I will go in the front, just follow me, it will be fine,” the thief girl replied confidently.
She got down to her knees and began crawling. Her thin body can easily go through the wall under the gaps. The witch waved a hand resignedly and followed the almond-eyed girl, together with the captain and the others.
“Do you like staring at my ass from so close?” Larianna asked the captain cheekily.
“You always think about sex woman! Wait until we are done with this, you will get some staring!” the captain replied, smiling.
The others were just shaking their heads, hearing the flirtatious couple. The orc was the last, as he really had to pull himself together to stay low. He was in the last yard, when he accidentally touched the top with his shoulder. The structure was immediately
in motion and two giant, jagged disks jumped out of the wall. They were spinning menacingly, heading fast towards the mold green warrior. The captain was cautious and grabbed his huge mate, dragging him out, with the power of his magical ring. The mortal disks just missed them. Tusk wiped off his forehead and lapped the shoulder of the captain.
“This was close, friend. If it wasn’t for you, I would be minced meat,” he thanked the captain.
“You’re welcome, be more careful next time! I don’t want anybody to die, before we reach our destination. Let’s move on,” he recommended to the others.
“Wait Corwen, don’t I deserve a kiss?” the small girl was joking around.
“Fine Everly, I have to admit that you are a great help for us and it was a good decision to listen to the others, when I wanted to send you away,” he admitted.
The aisle soon widened. The thousand years old torches should have had turned into dust by now, but they lit up thanks to an alchemist potion, or magic and they lit the small hall. The floor was covered in foot-sized stone blocks. All of them had a letter in the middle in the ancient dead language. There was another board on the wall, with a new riddle. The text went as the following:
Be careful where you enter stranger, only the name of the great man can keep you safe! Anything else will be the last mistake of your life!
“Oh no, this again,” the captain sighed.
“Who is great man?” the orc asked, looking around the room.
“Luckily it is not that hard. I would guess the heroic Orender Teroldo,” Al Sarran replied.
“Well, let’s see if we can spell his name with the letters on the floor.”
Frowning and mumbling, he began to count as he pointed at the stones. His eyes lit up soon.
“I have a solution. Hopefully I am right.” He looked around the group.
“Only step on the stones I do.”
The sorcerer commanded the others and he carefully pushed in the stone with the first “O” letter.
Nothing happened, so he courageously stepped on it and slowly moved forward, followed by his mates. They were stepping from stone to stone, very carefully, but unfortunately, the heel of the priest/knight slipped and one of the stones sank, but he could regain balance in time and stepped back. Everybody froze for a moment.
“Wow, it was close my friends, I am sorry! I promise to be more careful in the future,” he swore to the others.
Finally, they all reached the other side where the aisle continued. After a sharp turn to the right, they reached another double steel door, at the end of the damp and musty aisle. They saw two burnt corpses in front of it. The door was a skillfully carved masterpiece. It had two dragon heads on it above their head, looking down on them threateningly, with open mouths. Below them, there were three wieldy mechanic rolls, with one word in the dead language on each and an activating handle on their right. Above it, there was a little board with the following scripture.
What characterizes a real hero from the following words? Think about your answer carefully, if you don’t want the dragons to bear down on you!
The corpses must have been several hundred years old, only their burnt skeletons were left there for the future.
“How sad, they could get here after so many trials and they died right here,” the elf said regretfully.
“This is why we have to be more careful,” the captain said.
“What is the writing on the rolls Al Sarran?” Larianna asked.
“Wait! Let me examine the structure first to see how it works,” the olive skinned thief girl stepped forward.
She was humming as she examined the machine and after a while, she said the following.
“I believe it only starts working if all three rolls are turned and the handle is pulled. We can read the possibilities, there will be no trouble,” she informed the others.
The sorcerer read the words on the rolls aloud, turning the first one, word by word.
“The first roll has the following words: clever, brave and crafty. The second says strong, obedient and persistent. The third has fearless, careful and honest on it. There are no other possibilities,” he said loudly.
“I think we should vote which ones to choose and the possibilities with the most votes will win,” the priest/knight recommended.
“This is a good idea my friend. I agree,” Corwen replied.
“So let’s vote! I vote for brave!” the sorcerer said.
Most of his mates chose the same, except Everly, who voted for clever. The majority chose strong from the second roll, but the witch and the priest/knight voted for persistent. There was a tie between fearless and honest on the third roll so the decision was Dergo’s, who was sitting quietly on the shoulder of the sorcerer.
“I think a hero should rather be fearless, than hones, because many can take advantage of honesty,” the little dragon said judiciously.
“Is it decided then? I will pull the handle, if we made a mistake you will still have a chance to try again,” the captain said while looking at the group.
Larianna’s eyes were glowing of concern.
“Step back so you cannot get hurt.”
He blew out the air from his lungs and pulled down the handle with determination. They heard the gears creaking and the door suddenly opened in front of the adventurers.
Chapter Twelve
The thousand years old torches, blazed up around the walls of the room, lighting up the semicircle shaped hall. Opposite them there were skillfully carved columns lined up in a semicircle, surrounding a marble coffin with a glass top. On the two sides, there were crafted weapons and armors ranged.
The group entered the room and walked closer to the coffin. Inside there was a skeleton in enamel blue and golden embroidered silk clothes, typically made for noblemen with a wide buckled belt on its waist. Its arms were crossed and under them, it was clenching a masterfully crafted dragonhead shaped crystal jewelry. It was the size of a fist and its eyes were made of carved rubies.
On the side of the marble coffin, there was a scripture, written in the ancient Ferron language. The sorcerer interpreted the text for the others.
Here lies Orender Teroldo, savior of humanity and all intelligent races. Hero of the battle of Geldron Valley, destroyer of the demon lords. Glory to his descendants!
“Wow, this is the great hero the scriptures talked about?” the thief girl asked, putting her hands on the glass cover.
“Most definitely, dear Everly,” the knight priest replied and murmured a quick prayer.
“Is that the key in his hands we’ve been searching for?” the captain pointed at the dragonhead.
“I sense powerful magic from it, it has to be it!” the sorcerer replied firmly.
“What are you waiting for mate, open and take it! We come for this right?” the huge orc was encouraging him.
Corwen’s eyes wandered to the almond-eyed girl.
“Everly, could you check if there are any traps?”
“Sure, give me a few minutes and I will find out,” she replied gleefully.
“I sense powerful magic from the objects lying on the wall in the holders,” the panther man warned them.
Stepping closer they examined the objects, leaving the thief girl to do her job.
“These weapons are older than me, they must be very rare,” the elf examined them.
The captain noticed a silvery armor on a mount. It was a segmented armor, similar to his, but it was even more flexible than the one he was wearing.
“What kind of metal can this be?” he asked, scratching his chin.
“It seems like a dwarf’s work to me, it was probably made of luniar, although I have never seen it in this color,” the elf was examining the armor.
“Luniar is a very precious metal, it is valued all over the continent,” the rour explained.
The orc noticed a moon gray, giant scale mail, he immediately tried on and it fit him perfectly.
The elf chose a dainty saber, with a wave shap
ed cross guard and its handle ended in a skillfully crafted wolf head. Its blade was also made of luniar, the valuable metal of the dwarves. He swished it in the air and nodded appreciatively, the weapon fit into his hand, as if it was the extension of his arm.
The priest/knight was staring at a silvery full plate armor, why obviously astonished him. The armor must have been made by the best craftsmen and was perfect in all its details. The grids of the helmet formed an angry face, with crested ears on two sides. It was also made of the rare metal of the dwarves. He began to take off his current armor, to put on this masterpiece.
Larianna chose a dainty dagger for herself, with a handle ending in an emerald gemstone. Meanwhile, she found a little crossbow-like object, with rune signs around it and it did not have the traditional elements of a crossbow, only an aiming gear on the top. The thief girl will like it, she thought.
“Look what I found for you Everly, you will definitely have good use of it!” she walked to the girl, who was almost done examining the coffin.
“What an interesting structure, it is light, but easy to aim with,” she looked into its crosshair.
She aimed at one of the corners of the room and pulled the trigger. Then a flash of lightning struck out of the weapon, hitting the wall and burning its surface with loud crackling.
“Wow, what a nice weapon!” the almond-eyed girl was astonished.
“Be careful! These objects all carry the knowledge of ancient magicians! They created dangerous weapons, that could successfully defeat even the demons,” the rour warned them.
“I will be more careful next time Al Sarran, anyway, I examined the coffin and I didn’t find any hidden mechanisms. I believe it is safe to open the glass cover,” she replied confidently.
“Then there is nothing left, but to have a closer look of that dragon head shaped jewelry,” the captain stepped closer in his new armor, which he felt comfortable in.
Everybody assembled around the coffin as Corwen carefully opened it, but nothing happened. He slowly took out the skillfully crafted object from the skeleton’s hands and lifted it for everybody to see.
The light mysteriously glinted on the almost completely transparent crystal. Then suddenly the ruby eyes flashed and the captain’s body tightened up, his eyes rolled back and a series of visions exchanged each other in his mind.
Legend of Fire and Ice Page 14