by V M Jones
Dr. Ryan had righted one of the overturned chairs and sat down to make some notes of his observations.
Suddenly the room temperature dropped drastically. “Does it always get this cold?” asked Father Fahey as he could see his breath.
“No,” said Dr. McNamara cautiously, “But it means we have company.”
Aine felt fear starting to fill her body. “Not again,” she thought to herself.
At the end of the hall the group could see a faint white glow moving around in the air. Dr. McNamara took out his K II meter. The needle began spiking.
“Something is here,” he said to the others.
The group focused their attention to the small floating lights.
“What is that?” asked Father Fahey in a soft voice.
“Those are orbs,” responded Dr. McNamara with a sigh of relief. “They are spirits of the soldiers who have not passed on. We encountered them last time. They aren’t a threat.”
Aine also let out a big sigh of relief. She began to feel a little better. She had hoped the drop in temperature was due to the orbs and not the creature.
“The orbs are moving towards us,” said Father Fahey fascinated with their appearance.
“They seem to be drawn to the living,” said Dr. McNamara. “They followed us last time too.”
A couple of the orbs floated over to Father Fahey and began to circle around him. Father Fahey looked curiously at the orbs.
“Looks like you have some friends,” said Dr. Ryan with a smile.
“The poor souls,” remarked Father Fahey as he contemplated what they were. He closed his eyes for a few minutes. He could feel the pain of the lost souls and their longing to move on.
When he opened his eyes he turned to the rest of the group and said, “These are definitely the spirits of the soldiers who had been killed in battle. Now they’re trapped in the castle and can’t move on. They’re watching over their skeletal remains.”
The group spent a few more minutes in the room.
“Should we try going through the two big doors on the left?” asked Dr. McNamara pointing to the doors.
“It won’t do us much good,” replied Dr. Ryan, “They lead to the buried courtyard.”
“Then I guess we can only go to the back of the room,” said Dr. McNamara gesturing to the door.
The team moved to the far end of the room to the door leading to the unknown.
Dr. Ryan pushed on the iron ring on the side of the old wooden door. The door stubbornly gave way to the pressure as a cloud of dust filled the air. He poked his head through and shone his light on the contents of this new room. He wedged himself into the doorway and pushed the door open a little more for the others to follow.
This room was different. It had a high ceiling with more of an echo. As they looked around the room they could see a large hearth on the wall to their right. In the center of the hearth were old cooking pots hanging on hooks. Around the hearth were large metal ladles and pokers. There were wooden tables and chairs which were all overturned. Just as they had seen in the room before, there were skeletal remains and weapons strewn about the room.
“This looks like the kitchen,” said Aine thinking out loud.
“Easy guess,” said Dr. McNamara with a laugh.
“Looks like a battle took place here as well,” commented Father Fahey somberly.
The group moved further into the room careful not to disturb the weapons and remains on the floor. To the group’s surprise, they notice the orbs had followed them into the room.
“The orbs seem to be as curious as we are,” reflected Father Fahey watching their movements.
As more orbs entered the room it became more frigid.
“I wish I had brought warmer clothing,” said Aine rubbing her arms.
“Sure seems that way,” agreed Dr. McNamara rubbing his hands together.
Aine moved to the center of the room and began recording.
Dr. McNamara walked around the room observing the skeletal remains, shields, and swords. Prince Nuallan’s army had the characteristic round shield with a green crystal in the center surrounded by the never ending shield knot. King Dubhshlaine’s army had the more familiar elongated shield with a crest of a dark dragon emblazoned on its face.
The skeletal remains were in various positions around the room. As he walked over to one of the skeletons, Dr. McNamara noticed something a little different. From the deteriorated armor and clothing, it was apparent that it was a soldier of King Dubhshlaine.
“Sean, you might want to have a look over here,” remarked Dr. McNamara with a hint of surprise in his voice.
Dr. Ryan made his way over to the area where Dr. McNamara was standing. He looked down and was also surprised at the position of the skeleton. The soldier was lying face down and had apparently been injured from behind.
“This soldier is holding a knife,” observed Dr. McNamara a little surprised.
“That’s odd,” said Dr. Ryan kneeling down to study the remains. “Why bring a knife to a sword fight?”
They observed that the skeleton was also holding a pouch with his other hand. Dr. Ryan carefully removed the pouch from the clutch of the skeleton.
“What have we here?” he said out loud.
The pouch was made of leather and about the size of a small paper bag. He carefully opened the pouch and attempted to empty the contents into his hand. Whatever was in the pouch wouldn’t fall out. It seemed to be attached to the leather. He shone his headlamp into the pouch. Suddenly his face contorted in horror.
“What’s wrong?” asked Aine with fear in her face.
“The pouch contains a shriveled up heart,” said Dr. Ryan solemnly.
He looked over to the remains of another skeleton nearby. This skeleton was lying on his back. He noticed the ribs over where the heart would have been had visible cuts into the bone.
“Liam, check out the marks on the rib bones on this skeleton,” said Dr. Ryan as he gestured to the soldier.
“It appears that the king’s soldiers were removing the hearts of the fallen soldiers of Prince Nuallan,” remarked Dr. McNamara.
“Why would they do that?” asked Aine showing her disgust.
Father Fahey had been deep in thought. He opened his eyes and said, “I think the removal of the hearts might be part of the reason these spirits can’t move on.”
Dr. McNamara nodded at hearing this theory and said, “That would explain why the orbs are hanging around.”
“It’s possible that whatever spell Faelan put on these poor souls has caused them to remain here until the spell is broken,” suggested Father Fahey as he glanced at the scattered remains.
“I’m not looking forward to meeting Faelan,” said Dr. McNamara, “But we have to stop her.”
“Agreed,” said Dr. Ryan as anger began to swell up inside him.
As they moved about the room, they noticed the orbs leaving and returning, sometimes a few and sometimes several to accompany the group. It also kept the temperature fluctuating.
“I think we have seen everything we need to see in this room,” said Dr. Ryan as he turned to leave. “Let’s continue on to the next one and see what else we can find.
He led the group to the far end of the kitchen. There was an archway into the next room but without a door separating the two rooms.
The room was a smaller room but also had a high ceiling. It enclosed the entrance to the northwest tower. It had old casks and broken bottles lined up against the walls. They noticed that there was a thin layer of water over the stone floor. The room turned left from the tower to two wooden doors with large iron rings on each door. Dr. Ryan noticed the wall to the left of the tower was a solid stone wall.
“This part of the castle is built right against the mountain stone face,” observed Dr. Ryan noticing its smooth, shiny surface.
A trough had been cut into the base of the stone wall. Water was trickling through some holes in the wall into a trough carved into the floor. The
trough led to a stone well about a meter in circumference in the center of the room. The floor of the room was slightly slanted from the stone wall to the center of the room which allowed the water to flow into the well. The well seemed to be full so the water was backing up and flowing onto the floor.
The well had a circular wall about a half meter high around it. It also had a wooden structure over the top to help draw the water. Over the trough on the floor were old wood planks built into the floor to cover the water trough.
“Watch your step around the well,” cautioned Dr. Ryan.
Both he and Dr. McNamara walked over to the well and shone their lamps into the well. The water was crystal clear.
“It looks to be about two meters deep,” observed Dr. McNamara.
Dr. Ryan moved over to the spring running from the stone face wall. Above the holes where the spring dripped from the wall was a metal symbol attached to the wall similar to the one removed by Declan.
“The friars took no chances,” said Dr. Ryan, “They even put a protective symbol above the spring.”
Dr. Ryan felt a small puff of air standing in front of the spring.
“You can feel the air flowing from the crack in the rock face which is connected to the cavern in the mountain,” said Dr. Ryan putting his hand over the crack. “This is where we are getting the air for the castle.”
Dr. Ryan turned his attention to the tower in the corner of the room. The thin layer of water on the floor was flowing into the stairway and down the stairs which kept the water from spilling into the kitchen area.
“This tower seems to have a lower level as well,” he said staring at the darkness below the steps. “My guess is the lower level may be a storage area for the kitchen.”
The others walked over to the tower entrance to get a look.
“Do you want to go down there next?” asked Dr. McNamara pointing down the steps.
“I think we need to finish exploring the rest of the castle first to get a better idea of its layout. After that we can come back to this tower,” responded Dr. Ryan.
“Brody, this is Liam. We’ve made it to the northwest tower,” reported Dr. McNamara into his radio.
“Sounds like you’re making good progress,” replied Brody.
The group moved to the left wall of the small room and stood in front of the two large wooden doors with the large iron rings. Dr. Ryan took hold of one and Dr. McNamara took hold of the other. They each pushed as hard as they could and were barely able to budge the doors. Father Fahey lunged forward between the two and pushed with his weight to force the two large doors apart.
As they made their way into the next room, they could see that it was a larger room with a very high ceiling. A large, long wooden table was located near the entrance where they stood. Along the back end of the wall towards the other end of the room was a large chair with smaller chairs along either side. Large, tattered tapestries lined the walls all around the room. Unlit torches hung on the side of the walls. It was apparent that this room was once very ornate. On the left wall of the large hall were two huge doors that appeared to be the main entrance to the hall. These doors would have led to the courtyard. In the middle of the wall, to their right, stood a giant fireplace and hearth.
In the middle of the room was hung a massive two-tier chandelier. It hung from a large rope extended from the high ceiling. The rope was tied to a hook on the wall so the chandelier could be lowered to allow the servants to light the candles.
Overturned chairs were scattered about the room. Just as they had seen in the previous rooms, there were weapons everywhere with several partially clothed skeletons. The right wall of the large hall seemed to be made of solid stone but carved and decorated.
“Welcome to the great hall,” said Dr. Ryan bowing to the others. “This is where the king entertained guests.”
“No wonder they call it the great hall,” commented Aine as she made her way to the center of it with the DRD.
Dr. Ryan closed his eyes and tried to imagine what it would have been like to have been here in its full glory. In all of his excavations, he enjoyed trying to envision in his mind what each room would have looked like in its original state. This helped him to become one of the best archeologists in his field. He enjoyed his work. His mind quickly turned to the main reason they were here. He pictured Tevan alone and scared.
“Aine, take a few extra minutes in here. You may need to take recordings at both ends of a room this size. We want to be sure it gets recorded in its entirety,” said Dr. Ryan as he surveyed the large room.
Aine nodded and took a few extra minutes as directed.
Suddenly the temperature in the room dropped noticeably. The orbs had seemed to multiply as many now floated around the room.
“It seems that even the spirits of the king’s soldiers that died have not moved on yet,” said Father Fahey surprised at the number of orbs. “There seem to be too many to be just Prince Nuallan’s fallen soldiers. Somehow I think Faelan cursed them too.”
“We need to keep moving,” Dr. Ryan said as he moved to the end of the hall. “We still have a lot to explore.”
The group made their way to the other end of the big room. On the left side of the end wall was a smaller door. They pushed through the door and into the next room.
The room opened up into a smaller hallway with three small rooms off to the right.
They quickly inspected the bedrooms and let Aine record each one.
They followed Dr. McNamara to the end of the hallway where he pushed on the wooden door until it stubbornly opened.
Dr. Ryan poked his head into the room and observed that it opened up to a small room that led to the tower stairway. He walked past the arch of the stairway and entered the lower tower room. It was a circular room with a four post bed, a chest, tables, and chairs.
“This was a bedroom for guests of the castle,” commented Dr. Ryan motioning for the others to enter.
Aine made her way into the room and made her usual recording. Dr. McNamara and Father Fahey joined the others in the tower room.
“Welcome to the southwest tower,” commented Dr. Ryan.
“This isn’t a bad bedroom,” commented Aine admiring its shape. “A bit cold and drab but nice.”
The group stood in the room for a few minutes.
“Just two more sections until we get to the gatehouse,” said Dr. Ryan with a hint of excitement.
Dr. McNamara checked in with Brody on the radio to report their progress.
“Are we going to check out the rest of the tower?” asked Aine as she turned to go upstairs.
“No, I want to get an idea of the layout and size of the castle before we go up to the other levels,” replied Dr. Ryan.
“This way team,” said Dr. Ryan as he exited the tower room and headed to the next adjoining room.
The small room outside of the tower stairs turned left with a single wooden door on the left wall. Dr. McNamara put his shoulder to the door and pushed it open. Dr. Ryan slid past the door. The group followed Dr. Ryan into the room.
The room was about six meters by six meters. It appeared to be some kind of waiting room. It was rather stark except for a few chairs and a table in the center of the south wall. Above the table was a faded tapestry hung on the wall with the king’s crest of a dragon head. The tapestry seemed to have a faint cross burned into it. From the ceiling hung a small chandelier.
“This is a strange room,” commented Dr. McNamara glancing around the room.
“I think this is where the chapel should be,” responded Dr. Ryan making his best guess.
“It is the chapel,” said Father Fahey confidently. “Look!” he told the others as he walked over to the tapestry.
He pointed to the outline of a faint cross burned into the tapestry of the dragon crest. He pulled back the tapestry from the wall. Behind it was a large burnt wooden cross attached to the wall. The outline of the burnt cross matched the cross it was concealing perfectly.
; “Evil has no need for religious symbols,” added Father Fahey trying to hide his anger.
“They tried to conceal it but without success,” said Dr. Ryan as he put his hand on the priest’s shoulder.
After recording the room, the group moved to the door on the east wall.
“Any guess as to what’s behind this door?” asked Dr. Ryan standing in front of the door.
“Surprise us,” replied Aine with a smile.
Dr. McNamara pushed the door open for Dr. Ryan to enter. Dr. Ryan’s light revealed a much larger room. There were several cots lined up in rows against each wall. Under the cots were old wooden chests. In the corners were old wooden buckets. Some of the cots had been overturned. There was debris scattered around.
“Looks like they were in a hurry to get out of bed,” said Dr. McNamara as he entered the room.
“You would be too if an army showed up,” said Aine with a grin as she followed.
“Barracks?” asked Father Fahey looking at Dr. Ryan.
“Aye, barracks,” replied Dr. Ryan.
They carefully made their way around the debris. Aine finished her recording and leaned against the wall while she watched the others inspect the room.
“Let’s keep moving,” said Dr. Ryan as he moved to the end of the room.
The next room seemed to be a small open storage area that encased the southeast tower and stairway.
“Let’s bypass this tower for now and get to the south end of the gatehouse,” suggested Dr. Ryan as he turned to move on.
They walked around the tower stairway to the far wall and over to the wooden door. Dr. McNamara and Father Fahey both pushed on the old wooden door expecting to feel the same resistance they had from the previous doors. It gave way easily and both Father Fahey and Dr. McNamara fell to the ground.
“You guys don’t know your own strength,” said Aine giggling at the two.
“No time for resting you two, let’s get moving,” said Dr. Ryan with a smile.
Father Fahey and Dr. McNamara looked up at Dr. Ryan and gave him a stern look before breaking out into a smile. Dr. Ryan offered each of them a hand and helped pull them up.