by V C Sanford
Maxx used the broken section of the dangling bridge like a ladder, quickly joining his friends. The cocky Duaar wasn’t even winded from his efforts. He perched upon the stanchion beside the now impassable bridge, symbolically thumbing his nose at the remaining mercenaries. It had been so close…the thought brought a shiver to his spine.
“I hate to spoil your triumphant display, but we need to get moving. Just let it go---please.”
“Not that it matters, Maxx replied, but between the Narp trick and dropping most of his men into the gorge, I think we’ve made Castillo mad. A lesser man would give up and go back, but I somehow doubt it will even cross his mind. He’ll figure out a way across the river gorge, even if he kills every man in his command doing it.”
“And next time he won’t be so considerate.”
Chapter 23
“There’s an exit glyph nearby, along the way we are heading. I managed to get the door open, but I could tell it’s been a long time since it’s been used. The passage inside gradually slopes toward the surface, but it’s blocked by stone and dirt. It must not be a very big blockage, I could feel the air moving through it, but I didn’t want to spend too long trying to dig my way through.”
“So why do you sound so worried? Is something else bothering you?”
“The Wyvern… something about its expression… I don’t know…it was weird, almost macabre. There’s a feeling of death there. Perhaps it’s best that we continue onward past that door. I could scout ahead again.”
“We don’t have much of a choice,” Alex stated flatly. “We’re almost out of water and food, the girls may not make it to another exit. If there’s any way we can clear the blockage, we’re leaving this place now. Everyone digs, even Tweet. It’s about time that freeloader earned all the food he’s been scarfing down. We’ll wait a while before we try it, give you a chance to get some sleep. We all could use the extra rest. Besides, he said with a smile, with you carrying the packs we’re making better time.” Alex covered Nikiva with the blanket from her bedroll and then joined Rhianwen by the fire.
“Max is back. He found another wyvern sign. He thinks it’s a way out.” He walked away before she had a chance to reply. Rhianwen still didn’t fully trust him, but he knew he’d win the tiny Shii over eventually. She somehow managed to find an excuse to join them any time he tried to get Nikiva alone. Alex’s eyes darkened as he thought of the chestnut-haired woman. He was crazy about her, he was certain everyone could tell--- Rhianwen certainly could---everyone but Nikiva. But she was so young, fifteen, and a student at Rosemont. That meant money, her family would never allow it. The idea of her developing feelings for him was both wonderful and short lived. Any type of intimacy with an unfledged mage was forbidden. Despite the attraction, Nikiva probably considered him little more than a friend.
It wasn’t fair. Max scratched a bit harder as the Mir dragon shifted position, snuggling deeper into the blanket beside him. Alex and Nikiva are head over heels about each other, even though she hasn’t realized it yet. But Alex isn’t naïve enough to think Nikiva would give up magic, even for love. It’ll be years before she learns enough control to risk endangering anyone, especially Alex, with magic fueled by runaway passions. I’d love to have that kind of relationship. At least you love me … Maxx believed, as the soft rumbling purr of the contented Mir lulled him asleep.
********
The marked doorway was open and passable just as he’d described it, the rune inscribed over the door was identical to the one Nikiva had copied from the wall in the secret room. Even the detail on the wyvern was identical. So why did he feel so strange?
“Maybe it’s because it’s so gloomy.” Rhianwen pulled out a candle from her pack, but Maxx slapped the flint from her hand as she started to strike a spark.
“Wait--- can’t you smell that odor? That’s what was bugging me ---its gas--- methane. There’s got to be a natural pocket in the rocks, and it’s leaking. No open flames or we risk an explosion, we’ll have to clear it in the dark.”
“How can we move the rocks without making any kind of a spark?” she asked.
“You can’t, you’re not strong enough. But Alex and I can. We’ll dig out the rocks, and Tweet can dig away the dirt. It’ll take a while to clear this passage enough to squeeze through. Just stay out of the way so we can work.”
The girls knew that Maxx was only being careful, but it still didn’t make them feel any better about not helping. Muttering between themselves they moved back down the passage until they could no longer smell the odor.
Long ago miners had opened-up a nine-foot-wide vertical channel to reach into the hidden highway but had soon abandoned it after no valuable minerals had been found. Apparently, an explosion had caught several delvers off guard and they had died in the blast. Now, the remains of several Duaars, bones long devoid of flesh and brittle with age were scatted among the rock and dirt blocking the pass. Maxx stopped digging long enough to say a quick prayer for the dead before pushing on with their task. We never bury our dead, we take them with us in our hearts, it’s the price of living. Slowly but surely, the pair worked to clear the rubble from the blocked tunnel.
Nikiva watched for a while but staring into the dark was giving her a headache, …she was feeling sleepy. I’m not tired, so why is it so hard to keep my eyes open. I should have paid more attention to Master Stolinn’s lesson on inert gasses. Maybe it would be better if I took a nap. She slipped to the ground and was promptly joined by Rhianwen.
“Did you feel that?” Maxx asked. He stopped digging and listened.
“What? The breeze? I’ve been feeling air moving for a while now.”
“Not air! There! Feel that shake? We need to move now! Get the girls, Hurry!”
The shaking was followed by a low moaning roar that built into a growing rumble. Maxx was swinging wildly at the last two or three rocks blocking the way. Either he cut a path now or the gas exploding would be the least of their problems.
Alex practically shoved the drowsy girls along the narrow passage. Suddenly there was a horrific crack and a cloud of choking dust billowed out of the tunnel behind them. Then tons of rock and dirt filled the area where the girls had been sleeping.
Maxx listened but he could not hear anything. If the debris from the fall was too thick for sound to travel through, it was probably too thick for anyone to dig their way out. Several tons of stone and dirt now blocked their return route. Their only option was to find another exit and soon before their supplies ran out. Thankfully it took very little time to reach the egress, a forty-foot vertical shaft with slick sides that offered little or no hand or footholds that had supplied air to the mine. To get outside, someone would have to free climb up the narrow shaft, then secure a line. The remaining members would then have to either climb up or be lifted one at a time using a rope and sling, through a partially collapsed niche that vented the mine shaft.
“I’ll climb it,” Alex offered. He dropped his pack and weapons near the wall, grasped the rope with both hands and then, hand over hand, began pulling himself up. He made it about halfway before he lost his grip and started sliding back down.
Maxx was astonished when Nikiva started helping Rhianwen remove her burka and robes. Her face was just as beautiful as he’d remembered, however ….
“Stop staring and help me brace the rope” Nikiva snapped. “Rhianwen, are you ready?”
She nodded.
“Wrap the rope around your arm and hang on,” she called up to Alex. “Try to find something you can brace your feet against. It will take the strain off your arms.” After tying the end of a second line around her waist, she started up the rope behind him. Instead of trying to use her arms to pull herself up the rope, she used her legs to brace against one side and slid her back up the opposite wall a little at a time. She worked herself upwards in a steady motion, using the rope more for safety than to climb it until she was directly below Alex’s position.
“Now for the tricky part,” s
he joked, smiling up at Alex. “I’m going to have to grab the rope above your head and swing my body over yours. Just hang on as tightly as you can.” She reached up and got a firm grip on the line, then pulled herself from beneath Alex until she was hanging directly beside him on the rock face. Maxx stood impatiently below, holding tightly to the rope, ready to catch her if she fell.
“What in the nine hells are you doing? Alex demanded indignantly. “You’re supposed to be waiting below, not crawling about like a spider!” Rhianwen gave him a wink, then continued to ascend until she could reach out and grab hold of the lip of the narrow opening. After securing the line, she tied the end of the rope she held into a loop, passing it around a rocky protrusion and then through a second loop she has fashioned into the length. With a twist of her wrist, she’d produced a slide knot, using the techniques her brothers had taught her while rock climbing as a child. Once she’d tied a second safety line to an outcropping, she lowered the slip harness back to Alex, still dangling below.
“Get into the harness and we’ll pull you up.”
The reclusive Shii girl seemed to be enjoying herself.
“Maxx, I’m dropping the other end back down to you. Once Alex is in the sling, you both pull. Once he’s on top, he can help me pull Nikiva to the top. Maybe between the three of us, we can lift you.”
Nervously, Alex looked up, keeping his good eye moving from side to side as he was being raised, mentally measuring how close his body came to scraping the walls of the tunnel. His hands were already blistered and sore from his slide down the rope, scraping his body against a sharp rock on the way up was something he could do without. This tunnel seems to be in good shape, much better than the one we’d entered through. Perhaps the connecting passage was an afterthought? Sooner than he expected he’d joined Rhianwen up on top and Nikiva was climbing into the harness down below.
“Who taught you how to climb that way?” he inquired. “I’ve never seen anyone do it like that before.”
“I’ve been climbing through caves for years. Back home, we did it for fun. The knot I used is for rappelling and climbing. It will enable us to lift much more weight than we normally could. It will also allow us to safely raise Nikiva to the top. It’ll take all three of us to lift Maxx’s weight. It seems as if we’re high above the floor of the shaft, but it’s not as far down as you think it is. I grew up in the mountains and have fallen much farther many times.”
“You ready down there”, Alex called to his reluctant partner. ‘You’ve got to get it over with sooner or later.”
Maxx delivered an impenetrable stare, but with no answer, he stepped into the harness.
********
The passage appeared to have been unused for ages. Dust covered most of the surfaces just as it had in the tunnel that collapsed. However, this had once been an operating mine, the tunnel was raw dirt and rock, not carved stone. The walls were lined with bracing posts and stacks of rough-cut timber were scattered along the sides. As grateful as Maxx was for the wood stacked around, it was the feel of the cool breeze against his face that brought the biggest grin to the young Duaars face.
Alex, walking close behind was also enjoying the change. The smell of the crisp clean air was intoxicating after breathing the stale underground air for so long. He increased his pace, racing Maxx toward the opening he knew was just ahead. Then finally a small glimmer of light broke through the darkness, a beacon of hope where there’d been none for so long.
“Light! There’s an exit about 100 feet ahead!” Maxx scurried up the slope, pulling himself hand over hand, and then paused listening … nothing. With the light from the sun shining fully on his face, he reached out for the lip of rock that would take them out of this hateful pit forever.
All Nikiva could think about was a hot bath. And soap, scented with lavender and camellia. She couldn’t wait to get back to Rosemont. Master Stolinn will never believe what they’d been thru. He’d be astounded by how much she’d changed in such a short time, basic spellcraft will be a breeze after fighting starving warrgs, avoiding the undead, and outsmarting a giant cave snake while traveling an ancient levasst. But it hadn’t been all bad. Dangerous or not, she had to admit this had been one of the best adventures of her young life. It was almost over! Maxx was standing at the mouth of the tunnel about five hundred feet away and she could see sunlight streaming around him. She could even make out a range of mountains in the far distance. They were safe, so why did he look so disappointed?
“I should have known, Maxx groaned as they joined him, looking down at the desolate landscape far below. “Where else would we be after escaping from Hel but smack in the middle of Azaar’s Bane.”
********
“Go now. Hurry!” Edgar, chief butler to Lord Torrin Baldric hated this part of his job. The young red-haired boy standing at his elbow nodded once, and then took off in a dead run. The remaining page, a slender blonde boy with an angelic face, shifted his weight nervously from side to side, peering anxiously at the heavy double doors. They get younger every day. I’ll have to send to Amenity to replace him, none of the locals would apply for the position. He sighed deeply and motioned to the trembling boy. Better to send him on an unnecessary task than risk damage to that face. He had the makings of a personal manservant in him, at least, if he could somehow prevent any serious damage to his appearance.
Lord Baldric was having a discussion with another of the mysterious messengers that periodically appeared at the keeps back door. The shattered crystal was only the beginning of a gradual increase in anger that could only be satisfied by blood, first the unlucky messenger, and then whoever came within reach. After burying several victims of his lordships displeasure, the household servants began to contrive fictitious chores requiring extended absences from the manor. To avoid complete anarchy, Edgar had come up with a simple but elegant lottery system. The young page would be sent to fetch the “lucky winner” to clear away the debris from the masters’ latest flare-up. He would not be found and would probably never be seen again, but it would take the boy out of harm’s way.
The elderly manservant pulled the silken bell cord multiple times, signaling for assistance, and received no response. Sound carried easily throughout the ancient building, any servant with seniority had managed to slip silently away as soon as the shouting began. As usual, the lower level servants had vanished along with the first discordant crash of crystal goblets shattering against the back of the fireplace.
Hands shaking, he ran his fingers through his course white hair to smooth it into some sense of order, and then with a resigned sigh, he settled next to the closed door to wait. A tear ran down his cheek as he remembered that tomorrow was his youngest grandsons birthing day. From the volume of this latest tirade, the crystal would not be all that didn’t survive the evening.
********
“I gave you one simple task and you failed again. You’ve made me look like a fool. Over twenty of my men and a dozen mercenary fighters and they still managed to get away? Tell me why I shouldn’t drive this dagger through your deceitful throat and still your lying tongue forever?”
“It’s true that Castillo failed me again,” Izabal replied calmly, her sanguine voice smoothly drawing Lord Torrin’s attention away from the source of his anger. “Although some of the blame must be placed on your shoulders. It would all be redundant if we knew where they were going. No doubt the secret died with your brother. Perhaps if you had brought his body to me, instead of setting fire to the remains, I might possibly have been able to retrieve the information from his shade. That’s unfortunately, something we’ll never have the opportunity to discern. I can’t resurrect ashes.”
“Castillo’s failure is all yours, do as you will with him. His connection to Samsara hasn’t produced the benefits you promised, my investment is little more than a few gold coins.” His eyed darkened cruelly. “We have need of each other for now witch, don’t mistake my ambition for envy. I have paid dearly for my brother’s bad ch
oices, his life was mine to take.”
“Castillo will locate them again, but it will take time. That trick with the oil on the bridge, that had to be the Duaar. This would not be happening if your men had dispatched him as you ordered, my spell worked perfectly. No one could tell that old scow wasn’t the sea wyvern.”
“Whether it’s blind luck or the favor of the Gods, they’ve stumbled into Azaar’s Bane. It’s time for you to get personally involved and ensure nothing else goes wrong. The temple is the only building remaining…that must be their destination. If the heart is there, it should be simple for such a great sorceress to locate it. Everything we’ve been working for depends on your success.”
“Your optimism is endearing, Izabal replied, but foolish.” She made a few quick hand gestures, uttered one sharply spoken command word, and then with a bright flash of light she was gone.
Lord Orrin finished his wine in one long swallow, picked up the bell on his desk, rang once then waited. In a remarkably short time, his call was answered, by Edgar…, instead of the usual half-grown imbecile he’d often physically shoved through the doorway. “The witch thinks she controls me,” he muttered. “Hah! No one controls me, I am Lord of this keep…about time she started earning some of the gold she throws around so easily.” He sighed, then poured himself a second glass of wine and stared into the swirl of colors for a moment.
Edgar, certain that for the moment Lord Baldric did not expect an answer, continued to examine the ground beside his feet as he waited.
“No one is to disturb me for the rest of the day. I am unavailable to all callers.” He downed the second goblet of wine in one quaff and then surprised the elderly servant by calmly placing it on a silver tray. Edger bowed once, retrieved the tray and left quickly, his heart pounding. He secured the heavy door to the study before collapsing on the bench placed just outside, unsure exactly what had happened but grateful for the opportunity to live to clean up after the recalcitrant noble another day.