Shepherd's Quest: The Broken Key #1 (25 page)

Just on the other side of the mountains from Crag Keep was the larger of the two lakes. It sat a little bit west and north of the Marketplace. From its northern shore a river extended northward to the smaller lake where they figured the rest of the key to be. Or at least some indication of where to look for it.

He frowned slightly when he saw that the area on the shore of the smaller lake showed nothing at all. The map on the key had indicated there was something there, yet here, nothing. “Maybe they don’t know about it,” he mumbled to himself.

“What?” asked Riyan.

He pointed to the two lakes and said, “That’s the area inscribed on the back of the key.”

Riyan and Chad both turned their gaze to see it. Riyan was about to pull forth the piece of the key to compare it when Bart stopped him. “Not here,” he advised. “I know that is it.” He committed the general area of the two lakes to memory, then indicated they should start to leave.

“What are you doing in here?” a voice asked.

Turning around in surprise, they saw a middle aged man in uniform. He was staring at them with a rather unpleasant expression.

“We, uh…” began Riyan then grew silent under the man’s stern gaze.

“We were trying to find the room where we were told we could acquire passes for our caravan to travel to the Marketplace in the morning,” Bart explained.

“Yeah,” added Chad. “We sort of lost our way.”

The soldier studied them for a moment then said, “Come this way.” He turned around and headed to a corridor that left the room behind him. After two steps he paused and glanced back to make sure they were following. When he saw that they were, he continued.

Riyan glanced to Bart and could see the worry he was feeling mirrored in his friend’s face. They followed the soldier as he worked his way through the keep. Along the way they passed several other soldiers moving about on various errands. The soldier finally came to a stop before a door.

“You can get your passes in here,” he told them. “Don’t let me catch you three wandering around again.”

“You won’t,” Bart assured him. “We promise.”

Giving them a nod, the soldier left them standing before the door as he returned back the way they came.

“Let’s get out of here,” urged Chad.

“Not yet,” replied Bart. Taking the handle of the door, he opened it and walked in.

They found it to be a rather small room with but a single desk covered in neat stacks of paper sitting before the door. Behind the desk was a soldier who had to be Sergeant Akers.

He looked up when the door opened and asked, “Can I help you?” Bart nodded and stepped up to the desk. Riyan and Chad followed him in. “We need to procure passes for the wagons our father will be bringing up tomorrow,” Bart explained.

“Sorry son,” Sergeant Akers said as he leaned back in his chair. “We don’t give out passes until we’ve had a chance to look the goods over. The guards out front should have explained that to you.”

“I just thought we could expedite things so father could head on up as soon as he arrived,” Bart stated.

“I hate to disappoint you, but the procedure is for your father, who is the master of the caravan, to apply for the passes,” the sergeant explained. “When he arrives you tell him to come see me.”

Bart put a despondent look on his face and said, “Very well. Sorry to have bothered you.”

“That’s okay,” Sergeant Akers assured him.

Bart turned around and ushered Riyan and Chad out ahead of him. Once out in the corridor, they turned and headed for the exit. They remained silent until they passed the two guards that were standing watch, returned to the inn, and were back in their room.

“Now, why did we have to go talk to that sergeant?” asked Chad. “And how did you know his name in the first place?”

Bart grinned. “When I went over to talk to those merchants before we went in, that’s when I found out his name. Once I found out why they were inside the keep, I wormed out the name of the man we were to see. It’s always easier to enter a place you aren’t supposed to be if it appears you know what’s going on and have been there before. Since I was convincing enough to make the guard out front believe that we were here last year, he was more inclined to allow us entry.”

“Weren’t you taking a risk?” Riyan asked.

Bart shrugged. “I suppose so, but the worst he would have done was denied us entry.

We would have been no worse off than we were before.”

“Okay, but what about going in and talking to Sergeant Akers?” Chad asked. “That seemed a total waste of time.”

Bart grinned and shook his head. “No it wasn’t.” He put his left hand in the right sleeve of his tunic and pulled out several pieces of paper. He held them up and grinned all the wider.

“You stole those?” asked Riyan.

“Of course,” he replied. “How else were we to get passes?” He spread them out on the bed and they went through them. They were all passes allowing the bearer to proceed through the pass to the Marketplace. “Tomorrow morning we tag along with that caravan out there and we’re on our way.”

Riyan took out the key and laid it on the bed next to the passes. Pointing to a spot just south of the mountains, he said, “We’re here.” Then he moved his finger to the other side of the mountains. “We cross here and then we’re at the Marketplace. From there we skirt around this lake,” his finger moved around the southern edge of the lower lake to the other side. “Then we follow the river up to this other lake where hopefully we’ll find something that will lead us to the rest of the key.”

“I hope you both realize that once we leave the protection of the Marketplace that we’ll be in goblin territory,” Bart explained to them. “From what I’ve heard, they don’t take kindly to trespassers.”

Riyan nodded, “I know. We’ll simply have to make sure we avoid them.” Bart laughed. “Easier said than done,” he stated.

“I say the risks are worth the rewards,” Riyan insisted.

“The risks being our continued existence,” Chad clarified.

Riyan glanced from one to the other, “But what existence would we be losing? I already lost the one I love. Bart, you have a death mark on you. And Chad? Do you really want to spend the rest of your life as a miller?”

Chad shook his head, “Hardly.”

“Alright,” said Riyan with finality. “Either we succeed or we die trying.”

“You say that so easily now,” Bart said. “How are you going to feel when you are being skinned alive for some goblin’s roasting spit?” Riyan didn’t reply. This was the only way he could see for him to get Freya back. He had to take the risk!

Later that evening when Riyan and Chad were getting ready to fall asleep, Bart offered for them to share the bed. He said he didn’t mind the floor. They happily agreed and were soon lying side by side on the cramped little bed. Riyan could understand why Bart preferred the floor every time Chad’s elbow nailed him in the side. Despite the tight sleeping arrangements, Riyan was soon asleep.

At some point in the night he awoke and saw Bart sitting at the table. A candle burned next to him as he worked on something. Sleepily, Riyan started to ask, “What…” Bart turned his head toward him and said, “Go back to sleep Riyan.” Laying his head back on the pillow, Riyan quickly fell back to sleep and slept through the rest of the night.

In the morning when Riyan awoke, he saw Bart lying on the floor in front of the door with his head propped on top of his pack. In the bed next to him, Chad was stirring and he elbowed him to get him up. “It’s morning Bart,” Riyan hollered over to him.

Bart came awake quickly and asked, “It is?” Looking to the window he saw the light coming through. “Damn!” he exclaimed. Coming to his feet, he grabbed his boots and started to pull them on. “We’ve got to hurry.”

“Why?” Riyan asked as he got out of bed.

“After you two fell asleep, I went and talked with a couple of the guards who are escorting that caravan,” he explained. “They said they were pulling out early this morning. If we want to go with them we need to hurry.” He again looked to the light coming through the window as he pulled his last boot on. Getting to his feet, he said, “I’ll get the horses ready. You two get a move on.” With that he opened the door and left.

Riyan elbowed a still sleeping Chad a little harder this time and said, “Wake up!” Chad mumbled something and promptly fell back to sleep.

Exasperated with his friend, Riyan placed both hands on Chad’s back and shoved him off the bed.

Arms and legs went in all directions as he tumbled over the edge and hit the floor.

“We don’t have much time,” Riyan said as Chad sat up on the floor. He tried to hide the smile that was threatening to break out. “The caravan is pulling out early.”

“Oh,” he said and quickly pulled his boots on and grabbed his pack.

By the time they were ready and left the room, Bart had two of the horses saddled and was almost done with the third. Riyan saw the wagons that had been over to the side of the courtyard were already trundling their way towards the gate leading through the outer wall.

“About time you two showed up,” Bart said. When Riyan and Chad reached the horses, he cinched the last buckle then turned to them. “Here,” he said and handed each of them one of the passes he appropriated the night before.

“What are we to do with these?” Riyan asked. “They’re not even signed.”

“They are now,” replied Bart. “Quit talking and let’s get moving.” Riyan took a moment to open the paper. Sure enough, there at the bottom was a signature. He was about ready to ask Bart how this came to be when the memory of Bart working at the table last night returned to him. It was one thing to try to sneak through the pass, quite another to bear forged documents. He’s not entirely sure but the penalty for that would have to be severe.

Getting into the saddle, he and Chad followed Bart as he rode towards the wagons.

He made sure that the wagons were on the other side before catching up with them. One of the guards riding at the rear saw them coming and grinned. “Wasn’t sure if you were going to make it Bart,” the guard said.

Nodding to Riyan and Chad, Bart replied, “They overslept.” The guard laughed.

Another member of the caravan on a horse saw the guard talking with them and slowed down until they had caught up with him. “What’s this?” the man asked.

“Just a fellow I shared a fire with last night,” the guard replied. “He and his friends are trying to catch up with a caravan that has already reached the Marketplace.”

“Hmmm,” the man said. “Do you boys have passes?”

Bart held his up as did Riyan and Chad.

The man didn’t look entirely pleased with the situation but didn’t say anything.

Nudging his horse in the sides, he quickened his pace until he returned to where he was before moving back.

“Grumpy,” Bart commented to the guard.

“You could say that,” he replied with a grin. “I think he’s more upset that another caravan beat him there than that you are riding with us. Might be best if you and your friends were to drop back a bit.”

“Sure,” Bart said. He and the others slowed down until about thirty feet separated them and the rear guard of the caravan.

Up ahead, the canyon that Crag Keep sat in grew narrower. The river coursed its way through the opening over thunderous cataracts as it left the mountains. At the narrowest point, the road went through an area barely wide enough for two wagons side by side.

It was at that point a score of soldiers were stationed to be sure travelers heading across the pass had all the necessary documents. When the caravan drew near, one of the soldiers moved forward and began checking the passes of the guards and the drivers of the wagons. The master of the caravan remained with the soldier until he was satisfied that all was in order and waved the caravan on through.

Riyan’s heart beat rapidly when it was their turn to approach the soldier. “Good morning young sirs,” the soldier greeted them. “Need to see your passes before you can proceed.”

“No problem,” Bart said then handed his over to the guard. Riyan and Chad did the same.

Riyan was poised to flee as soon as the soldier discovered the passes were forgeries.

But to his amazement, the soldier handed the passes back and waved them on through.

He almost couldn’t believe they had pulled it off.

Once they were past and had put some distance between them and the soldiers, Riyan asked Bart how he had managed it.

Bart grinned. “Quite easy actually. Last night while you and Chad were sleeping, I left the room and went over to where a couple of the caravan guards were relaxing around a fire. One thing led to another and I was invited to share it with them. It was quite easy to lift their passes off of them and take them back to our room. Then I studied the signature and copied it onto ours. After that it was a simple matter to return the passes to their owners.”

“Something your father taught you?” Chad asked.

“Actually no,” he replied and offered no further explanation.

The trip through the pass took the better part of the day. They reached the western side an hour or so before sundown. From the pass to the Marketplace, humans were supposedly safe from any goblin attacks. The Marketplace was considered neutral ground as both sides desired the continued trade and prosperity the place brought.

As they descended out of the narrowness of the pass, they saw how the hills at the mountain’s base were thickly forested. The sparkle of water could be seen far off beyond the hills a little to the left of the pass. It had to be the larger of the two lakes depicted on the back of the key.

After leaving the pass, the road meandered its way through the lower hills until it finally reached a point where the Marketplace became visible. It was a large area with several permanent structures wherein the trading between the two races could take place.

Over a dozen wagons sat in a caravansary on the side closest to the pass, testament that other traders were already there. That wasn’t too surprising seeing as how trading goes on here shortly after the snows melt in the spring until the first snows come again in the fall.