Dark. Pain filled darkness greeted him as he regained consciousness. He tried to move and alleviate the pain but it only increased his agony tenfold when he attempted to move his left leg. It must be broken, he thought to himself.
Light suddenly filled the bottom of the shaft as his bobbing sphere blossomed to life. He looked in shock at his left leg. It wasn’t the fact that it was broken that was causing him such pain. Rather it was due to the fact that one of the many foot long spikes that were set into the floor had impaled its way through it from one side to the other. When he fell and hit the bottom, his leg must have struck it. The tip of the spike protruded two inches out of his skin.
Kevik did a quick check of the rest of him, and other than a few places that will likely form bruises, he was alright. Except for his leg.
“Riyan! Bart!” he called up to the top of the shaft. When no answer came, he cancelled his bobbing sphere of light to see if the light from their lantern could be seen at the top of the shaft. He grew despondent when all he could see was darkness. Realizing they were no longer there, he recast his bobbing sphere spell and light once more filled the bottom of the shaft.
First order of business was his leg. He didn’t think the bone was damaged, it felt like the spike had gone through the muscle. Before he attempted to remove his leg from the spike he looked around the bottom of the shaft to find his pack. There was still one healing potion left that his master had brought with them when they set out from Gilbeth, the town where his master had lived.
His eyes widened when he saw the skeleton lying in the midst of the spikes. Obviously here was another soul who had fallen to the traps of this place. There was not a speck of flesh left upon his bones and what clothes the person had been wearing are all but gone. After his cursory inspection of the skeleton, he returned to the more immediate matter of finding his pack and the healing potion.
He panicked at first when he couldn’t see it. Then he realized he was still wearing his pack and that it was underneath him. Shifting around as best he could without causing his leg any more pain than absolutely necessary, he worked the pack out from under him.
When he had it sitting next to him and opened, he was quite relieved to find the vial containing the healing potion to still be intact. He had feared that it might have suffered damage during the fall. Removing it, he placed it on the ground next to him then turned his attention back to his leg.
A pool of blood had collected at the base of the spike. Fortunately, the spike itself was ‘plugging the hole’ so to speak and kept his blood from flowing more freely. But once he pulled his leg off the spike, he wouldn’t have much time before blood loss was going to render him unconscious. He unstoppered the vial and then grabbed his leg.
The anticipation of the pain this was going to bring him almost made him vomit, but he steeled himself. After taking two deep breaths to calm his shaking nerves, he gripped his leg. Then in one fluid motion, he pulled it off the spike.
Pain erupted and a cry escaped his lips as his leg slid upward and came free of the spike. When his leg came free, blood flowed dangerously fast. Dots danced before his eyes and he feared the pain was going to cause him to pass out. He fought unconsciousness and reached for the vial. He brought it to his lips and quickly drank half of it then sat up as he poured the rest of the elixir into the wound. He didn’t drip it carefully into the wound as he had with Chad. Instead he upended it and dumped the rest of it out onto the wound. Once the last drop fell, he let go of the vial and laid his head back on the ground, panting.
He could feel the potion beginning to dull the pain as it worked to heal. A warm feeling began to radiate from the site of the injury as the muscles and flesh of his leg started to knit back together. He continued to lie there and fought off the onset of unconsciousness until the warmth began to subside.
There at the bottom of the shaft, he laid there for several more minutes as his body calmed down and the last vestiges of pain faded away. Then he moved to the wall of the shaft and sat against it while he inspected his leg. Pulling his trousers’ leg up, he inspected the wound. It had completely healed over and a jagged circle of pink flesh now covered where the spike had exited his leg. He’ll bear a scar there for the rest of his life, but at least he’ll now have the rest of his life.
If I can get out of here, he thought to himself.
For the first time he really gave the bottom of the shaft a good look. One of the walls held an opening. It looked as if it was a natural fissure that had been artificially widened at some point. Wide enough for a man to pass through, it looked to be his only hope in getting out of here.
His staff was lying on the other side of the pit. He worked his way over to it on his hands and knees, careful to avoid the spikes. When he had it in hand, he used it to help him to his feet. To his surprise, the leg that was injured bore him with strength. Still, he used his staff to support himself anyway as he didn’t wish to strain the newly formed muscles.
On the way back across the spiky bottom of the shaft to retrieve his pack, a glimmer caught his attention. He turned his attention towards it and realized it came from the skeleton. There was a ring upon the man’s right hand. Intrigued, Kevik moved closer for a closer look.
As he came closer, he reached down and pulled the ring from the skeletal finger. It was made of silver and had a red stone set in the top. There were markings inscribed on the inner side of the band but they were in a language he was unfamiliar with.
He thought about using his identification spell on it, but was just too tired. So he put it in his belt pouch and continued on to get his pack. Once he had it on his back again, he headed to the fissure in the side of the shaft.
At the opening he could see a narrow tunnel extending away from the shaft, past the edge of the bobbing sphere’s light. Ducking his head, he entered the opening and began making his way through the narrow tunnel.
It led him for perhaps twenty feet. Along the way, Kevik encountered two sections that bore marks where the tunnel had been widened to allow a man to pass. When he reached the end, it opened out onto a wider passage, actually it was more like a subterranean cave. There were rock formations such as stalactites and stalagmites, and along the side of the cavern to his right, a small flow of water cascaded down. Where it reached the floor of the cavern it formed a pool of water before overflowing into a rivulet that worked its way across the cavern’s floor.
The shadows of the cavern were in constant motion due to the bobbing of his sphere. He began to agree with Riyan about how annoying this form of illumination was. First opportunity he has, he’s going to learn a normal type of light spell. Now he understood why his master thought it amusing when he chose to learn this particular spell.
The rivulet flowed away from him down the cavern as it meandered from one side to the other. Kevik followed the water as he began working his way through the cavern. He kept his eyes open for any possible way out.
Not long after he began moving through the cavern, he started hearing a noise coming from further ahead. At first he thought what he was hearing came from the rivulet as it flowed through the cavern. But after another minute or so, he began to realize that the noise was coming from something else. He quickened his steps and soon realized the sound was that of an underground river.
The sound continued to grow the further he went. He soon came to where the cavern began tapering off until it became only a narrow passage a couple feet wide. The rivulet which he had been following flowed out of the cavern and through the narrow passage.
He didn’t relish the idea of stepping into the rivulet, he knew the water was bitterly cold from when he quenched his thirst earlier. But what choice had he? So bracing himself, he stepped into the cold water. It only went up to his ankles but the water soon began seeping into his shoes. Not for the first time since joining Riyan and his companions did he wish he wore boots.
The water sent a shiver through him as he squeezed his way to the other side of the opening. Th
e narrowness of it lasted for at least ten feet before ending at a ledge overlooking an underground river. Sitting a scant foot above the flowing river, the ledge was slippery from where spray would at times be thrown by the crashing water. The underground river itself wasn’t flowing all that fast, it was just the many rocks protruding out of the water that made the water a bit frothy.
The ledge was very uneven, slippery, and barely wide enough to enable him to sit upon it cross-legged. He looked out over the flowing water but couldn’t see the far side, the light from his bobbing sphere didn’t extend far enough. Then he turned his attention to the river itself. The thought of entering its dark, bitterly cold water made him shiver.
Kevik sank down on the ledge and did his best to avoid the water flowing from the opening behind him into the river. Despite his best efforts, he started to become soaked. Sitting there in the dark, he began to give into hopelessness. He knew that to remain on the ledge would be his death, if not now then when his food ran out and he starved. He leaned back against the cavern wall as he perched on his ledge and rested, knowing full well that at some point, he would have to brave the water if he was going to live.
Bart had begun the search of the treasure room at the dragon-sword coat of arms engraved in the wall. It simply seemed like the most logical place for a hidden door to be. The other walls all had chests lined against them so it was unlikely it would be there.
Now a half hour later, he was still examining the coat of arms. Riyan and Chad haven’t been idle during this time. They’ve been going over the other walls and the floors. They even climbed into the boat and looked in there but failed to find anything.
Bart checked the gems embedded in the coat of arms, as well as every possible nook and cranny it held. He came up with nothing.
“You know,” commented Riyan. “If you feel that coat of arms there on the wall has to be the way, wouldn’t that mean it isn’t?”
“What?” asked Bart.
“Look at it from the point of view of the ones who built this place,” he explained. Then he smiled, “I guess everything you’ve told us about thieves and thwarting them is rubbing off or something. Anyway, to have it there would be a bit obvious don’t you think?”
Bart thought about it for a second then shrugged, “Maybe. You could be right.”
“Doesn’t look as if you’re going to find anything there anyway,” Chad added.
Again Bart paused and grew still. He began thinking about what Chad and Riyan had said. It actually made a lot of sense. Coming back to the here and now, he glanced at the other two. “Alright.” Moving to the doorway, he passed into the passage then turned around as he began reenacting the lord’s escape. “Here I am, lord of this place, and I am being pursued by enemies seeking my death or capture. What do I do?”
“You get the heck out of here as fast as possible,” replied Chad.
“Exactly!” stated Bart. Moving into the room, he said, “There needs to be something here that can be quickly activated on my way to wherever the secret exit lies.”
Getting into the spirit of the reenactment, Riyan jumps from the boat. “If as you say the secret exit is behind the coat of arms, then wouldn’t the trigger have to be before the coat of arms? That way it would begin to open before you arrived, thus enabling you to escape that much quicker?”
“Yes,” Bart said. Moving further into the room, he turned and headed towards the coat of arms. His path took him to within a foot of the boat resting in the middle of the room. “The boat maybe?” he asked.
“But we already looked it over,” said Chad.
“Hmm.” Bart turned his attention to the side of the boat facing him. “If our suppositions are accurate, the trigger would have to be here…” he said then turned to face the wall on the other side of him, “Or there.” Pointing to the wall, he paused as his eyes quickly searched its surface.
“Maybe it’s on the floor?” suggested Riyan.
Bart shook his head. “No. A trigger for a trap maybe, but not a secret exit. The lord couldn’t afford to have his enemies stumbling upon it by accident.”
Riyan grinned, “You’ve got a point.”
Moving to the side of the boat, Bart began pushing and pulling its various planks and knotholes. After a thorough search, still nothing.
“That just leaves the wall?” asked Chad.
“Looks that way,” he replied.
The wall in question looked the same as all the others. Stones placed in staggered formation, a torch sconce where a torch could be burnt to light the room, and an all but faded tapestry.
His eyes went to the torch sconce. “No,” he said to himself, shaking his head. “It couldn’t be that easy.”
“What?” asked Riyan.
Bart pointed to the torch sconce. “That is the oldest trick in the book,” he explained. “A movable torch sconce that will open a secret door.”
“You going to try it?” asked Chad. “This place is pretty old, maybe this is where they came up with that ploy.”
“I don’t think I’ve seen you even try a torch sconce in all the times you’ve hunted for secret doors,” Riyan added. “Not even when we were down in the Crypt.”
“That’s because it’s never used anymore,” he explained.
“So try it,” Riyan suggested. “What do you have to lose?”
Shrugging, Bart went to the torch sconce and pulled it down. At first it didn’t move then Riyan told him to try harder. So he gripped it with both hands and jumped up a little and came down hard. To his utter surprise, it moved downward several inches. Then a grinding noise could be heard as the wall bearing the coat of arms began rising into the ceiling.
“I’ll be damned,” he said. “Someone who could afford to build a place like this and all he could come up with was a torch sconce.” Smiling to himself, he turned to the others and shrugged. “Let’s go.”
He grabbed his pack and the lantern before hurrying towards the gradually rising wall. On the other side was a short passage similar to the ones they’ve traveled along since coming down here. It extended forward ten feet before turning to their right. Around the corner was a flight of steps descending down into darkness.
Bart took the lead again as they went down the steps quickly. Riyan counted and there were a total of forty steps before they ended at a massive underground cavern. The cavern began rather narrow as it moved away from the foot of the stair, but quickly grew wider and taller. Light from the lantern reflected off crystals in the walls which created a dazzling display.
“Nice,” commented Riyan.
Chad took out his belt knife and pried a three inch long piece of crystal from the wall. Holding it up, he watched as it refracted the lantern’s light. “This is truly unbelievable.”
“I take it you two have never seen crystal before?” asked Bart.
Riyan shook his head and Chad said, “No.”
They worked their way through the cavern, soon the upper reaches were no longer visible as it rose above the range of the lantern’s light. About this time, the cavern began curving toward the right and they came to a stream. Over time the water had formed a channel over four feet deep and five feet across that it now flowed through.
With a running jump, they were able to clear the channel and make it to the other side. The stream exited through the cavern’s right wall not far from where they crossed the channel. The sound of it cascading down like a waterfall came from the other side of the opening it flowed through.
They continued down the cavern another hundred feet and found where the stream entered the cavern through the wall on the left side. Shortly after leaving the stream behind, the cavern began to narrow once again. At the far end where the sides of the cavern finally converged again, was a large pile of boulders. It looked like at some time in the past the side of the cavern might have caved in.
At first worried that the cave-in might have blocked their way, they were soon to realize that on the far side of the boulders, the exit
was still accessible. It was clearly manmade, nothing of nature could make such even lines.
“We’re on the right track,” Riyan said.
“Wonder how much further this goes?” asked Chad.
“As far as it does and no further,” replied Bart.
“What?” Chad asked, confused by the answer.
“Nothing,” Bart said with a grin. “Just something my father use to say to me when I would ask a question like that.”
“Oh,” replied Chad.
Once past the exit, they were again in a passage carved out of the rock. A bit narrower than what they were use to up above, but serviceable. It wound through the rock until it turned sharply to the right. Around the corner they found the top of another set of stairs leading down. These were narrow and the steps crudely formed.
Bart again took the lead as they began descending the stairs. These went down for quite a ways, and they were forced to step extra carefully as the steps were quite slippery. They hadn’t gone down many steps before the sound of flowing water could be heard coming up from the bottom.
“It’s a river,” Bart stated after the sound grew clearer.
“Maybe it’s the same one that I heard when you were hauling me up from the pit trap?” asked Chad.
“Most likely,” agreed Riyan.
At the bottom of the steps they encountered a rickety old pier that had been built over the flowing water a very long time ago. The wooden planks were still together but they were not sure how well they would hold up under their weight.
“End of the trail,” announced Bart.
Riyan looked at the river in dismay. Then he had an idea. “Could we use the boat that was in the treasure room?”
Bart shook his head. “That thing must have weighed five hundred pounds,” he said. “No way would we three be able to carry it down here.”
“Then what can we do?” he asked.
“Swim?” asked Chad. “The river’s not flowing all that fast.”
“You’ve got to be crazy,” Bart exclaimed. “Do you have any idea how cold that water is? Besides, we don’t know what to expect further down. There could be a waterfall for all we know.”
“I don’t think there would be one of those,” countered Riyan. “They never would have built a pier here and made this their escape route if there were.” He glanced at the pier itself and saw how the planks were still fairly connected. “Maybe we could make a raft out of this.”
“Yeah!” agreed Chad. “Float down on top of a few boards.”
Riyan glanced at Bart. “What do you think? Worth a try?”
Bart didn’t look all that enthused about the prospect of trusting his life to the rickety old pier. “I don’t know…” he said.
“Piece of cake,” Riyan said. He pointed to a section that was still fairly intact. “All we have to do is separate that section from the rest and off we go.”
“Just like that?” asked Bart skeptically.
“Just like that,” affirmed Riyan.
“I say we try it,” Chad joined in.
Bart glanced from one to the other and could tell their minds were made up. “Very well,” he said. He set the lantern down on the landing as they began trying to figure out the best way to do this.
The section they wanted to use was literally a third of the old wooden platform. In order to disengage it from the rest of the dock, they would have to either break it away or pry up a number of the planks connecting it to the rest.
Riyan set his pack on the stone landing. “I’ll go out and start separating it,” he told the other two. “Bart, you get your rope ready in case we need it to secure some of the planks together.”
Bart nodded and began readying the rope.
“Be careful,” Chad said to Riyan.
Riyan turned his head towards him and grinned. “Don’t worry. I don’t plan to be anything else.” Turning back, he gauged the planks of the pier before him. They looked sturdy enough to support him. Stepping out, he gingerly placed a foot on the first one.
There were nine planks between where he stood and the far side. Once there, he had to somehow separate the section they wanted from the rest. He lifted his other foot off the stone landing and moved it towards the second plank. When it rested on the second plank, his entire weight was now on the pier. Glancing down, he could see where the water ran beneath the planks beginning with the second one.
“Take it easy,” cautioned Bart.
Riyan glanced behind him and saw Bart and Chad standing together watching his progress. Bart had the rope coiled in his hand, waiting. Turning back to the matter at hand, he lifted his foot off the first plank and brought it forward to the third. As soon as he began putting his weight on the third plank, an audible cracking noise could be heard coming from the wood.
“Riyan!” Chad hollered as he heard the noise too.
Riyan lifted his foot off the third plank and held it in the air. He was beginning to think that this may not have been one of his better ideas. The fourth plank was a bit further than he was willing to stretch. Once he put his foot on it, he would be hard pressed in lifting it back off gently should it be unable to hold his weight too.
“I’m coming back,” he hollered to the other two.
“Good,” Bart said. “I never thought…”
Before he had the chance to finish his sentence, the second board cracked and gave way beneath him. Riyan fell forward into the boards, smashing through planks three through seven. He hit the river and the coldness of the water took his breath away as the current began dragging him from the pier. When his head cleared the surface, he gasped for air and turned to look in the direction of the lantern’s light.
“…the rope!” he heard Bart say as the rope flew through the air towards him. It hit the water several feet upstream from him and he began swimming furiously against the current to reach it. Inch by inch the rope floated towards him until he was able to grab onto it. “He’s got it!” he heard Bart say when his weight pulled the tension of the rope tight.
Crack!
“Get back!” Chad yelled.
Riyan looked towards them and saw the section of the pier they wanted to use began breaking away from the rest of it. Wood splintered and more cracking of planks was heard as the current began pulling it away from the landing. It didn’t take long for Riyan to realize that the current was bringing it straight toward him.
“Riyan!” Chad hollered when he realized his friend’s danger. “Get out of the way!”
But Riyan had other plans. While Bart and Chad were hauling him in, he wound the rope around his left arm as many times as he could. Then, when the pier section came near, he snagged it with his right arm. The current continued dragging it downstream until it was on the other side of him, then came to an abrupt halt. The jolt almost pulled Riyan’s arm from its socket, but he refused to let it go.
Chad and Bart had stopped pulling him in when they saw him grab the section of the pier. “Keep going!” he yelled at them. “I’ve got it.”
“Hang on Riyan,” Chad yelled.
Then he began feeling the rope once again pulling against his arm as they drew him closer to the landing. Every time they hauled in the rope, pain coursed through his arms. Between the river trying to drag the section of the pier away, and them pulling on the rope, he’s surprised that his arms were even still attached. A thought came to him that after this, he’ll have a better appreciation of how people feel when they’re being stretched on the rack.
It seemed an eternity before they managed to pull him back to the landing. When he came within arm’s reach, Chad grabbed his arm while Bart snagged the pier section. Riyan was more than glad to let go and leave it to Bart.
Using the rope he had, Bart tied one end around a large brace that ran beneath the planks. Then once the rope was on and secure, he hauled the pier section as close to the landing as he could.
“Thanks,” Riyan said as his teeth chattered. “You have no idea how good it feels to be ou
t of that water.”
“I think we’ll have a good idea when we ride this down the river,” said Bart indicating the pier section. “It’s riding right on the water and we’re going to get soaked.”
“Give me a minute to warm up some before we leave,” Riyan told them.
“You bet,” Chad said.
Bart continued to hold the rope and kept their ‘raft’ from floating away. He still wasn’t too enthused about trusting this raft with their lives, but was willing to give it a try.
Riyan sat there shivering a solid ten minutes before realizing that only a fire would warm him again. He stood up and came to where Bart still held the rope.
“Ready?” Bart asked.
“No time like the present,” he replied.
“Alright. Take off your packs and set them down here in front of me,” Bart told them.
When they had done that, he said, “I want you two to come here and grab hold of our raft. I’m going to use the rope to tie the packs together so we won’t lose them if things go wrong.”
As Chad leaned over towards the raft and grabbed hold, he asked, “What about the lantern?”
“We’ll have to hold that,” he said. “Can’t afford to let any water get in with the oil.” Once the other two had a good hold of their raft, he untied the rope from it and threaded the end through their pack straps. Then he tied them together tightly.
“Now, we have to get on,” he said. “I think Riyan showed us that this wood isn’t going to withstand a whole lot of weight. So we need to board it by crawling on our hands and knees to better distribute the weight.” He glanced to Chad. “You first. Once you’re out there, grab hold of that.” He pointed to a thick wooden piling up from the water to which the pier had originally been attached.
Chad began crawling out upon the boards of the raft and when the water hit him for the first time cried out, “It’s cold!”
“Didn’t I tell you it was cold?” asked Riyan. Once Chad had made it out and was lying spread out upon the planks to better distribute his weight, he reached out and took hold of the piling.
“Okay Riyan, you’re next,” Bart said as he grabbed the raft to steady it.
Riyan crawled out onto the boards next to Chad. When he was in position, Bart said, “Here.” Turning around, he saw Bart handing him the three packs that were tied together. He took them and placed them near the center of the raft next to him. Then he took the lantern and held it close.
“Chad,” Bart said, “hold it steady. I’m coming on.” When he let go, the raft began drifting away from the landing despite Chad’s best effort.
“Hurry up man,” Chad said as he began losing his grip.
Bart quickly scrambled aboard just as the current yanked the raft and pulled Chad’s hands off the piling.
Chapter Twenty-Six
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Shepherd's Quest: The Broken Key #1 Page 25