The Broken Key (02) - Hunter of the Horde (25 page)

“Look around,” Riyan said as he held the candle aloft. “We can’t stay in here too long.” He handed Bart the candle, then left the room as he went in search of more back in the Archives. A minute later he returned with one in each hand. Giving one to Chad, they lit them from the candle Bart held.

Once his candle was lit, Riyan went to the shelves of tomes and began searching carefully through them. “Bart,” he said as he picked up one of the ancient tomes, “think there could be a secret passage or something from here?”

“Maybe,” he said. “I’ll check.”

Chad stood in front of the weapons displayed on the wall and was admiring them. He glanced back to the others and saw Bart beginning to check the wall behind the suits of armor for hidden triggers and the like. Turning back to the weapons, he held his candle up so he could better see the various styles.

Some of the weapons were the normal sort; swords, daggers, axes,
etc.
But some he had never seen before. One was a dagger that had two smaller blades in place of the larger one you would normally associate with such a weapon. Another was a short sword with a curved blade. The outer edge was sharp while the inner side of the curve was dull.

He reached up and removed from the collection of weapons another that really intrigued him. It was about a foot long and was designed to be gripped in the center. At either end were curved blades, each curving in the opposite direction of the other. With it in his hand, he turned to the others and asked, “Ever seen anything like this before?”

“No,” replied Bart. Riyan just shook his head. “Might be ceremonial.” Chad nodded at that. “Could be,” he said. “Doesn’t feel like an actual weapon to me.” He tried waving it about, as if he was in battle. The balance was off and he didn’t like it.

Returning it to its place on the wall, he continued his inspection of the rest of the weapons.

From where he was standing by the shelves of tomes, Riyan was leafing carefully through one of the books when he asked Bart, “Find anything?”

“Not yet,” replied Bart. “You?”

“It’s hard to read,” he replied. “They’re written in a more archaic language that I’m not completely familiar with. I can make out most of it however.” Finished with the tome in his hands, he replaced it on the shelf and grabbed another.

“How long do you think we should stay here?” asked Chad.

“No more than we have to,” replied Bart. “Maybe another half hour at the most. We don’t want anyone coming up here looking for you two.”

“We can always come back tomorrow night,” added Riyan.

Then all of a sudden, Chad’s eye caught sight of an emblem engraved into the crosspiece of a dagger. “I think I found it!” he exclaimed. The other two rushed to his side as he pulled the dagger from off the wall. He held the dagger up so they could see the double-headed falcon that was part of one of the two coats of arms they were searching for. Just as in the coat of arms, it held a stick with a single leaf in its left claw and a downward pointing dagger in its right.

“You’re right,” nodded Riyan. Excitement welled up within him at the imminent prospect of learning what they came here to learn. His eyes turned to the unexplored tomes still remaining on the shelves. “The answer must be here!”

“Looks that way,” agreed Bart. “Let’s be quick.”

Each returned to their tasks. Chad replaced the dagger back on the wall and quickly scanned the rest of the weapons for similar markings but failed to find any. After inspecting the last of the weapons, he turned his attention away from the wall to find Riyan standing next to one of the tables with an open tome laid out before him. He was bent over as he read the words.

Moving to his side Chad asked, “Anything?”

“Maybe,” he replied. “This tome speaks of the early history of this region, at least I think it’s of this region. It’s hard to tell with the language being what it is and all.”

“What does it say?” Chad asked.

Bart stopped what he was doing when he heard them speaking and came over to join them.

“It doesn’t mention Gilbeth,” he explained. “I think it was written sometime prior to Gilbeth’s founding.”

“Does it mention the King’s coins?” asked Bart. “Or the two coats of arms?”

“I…” he started then grew quiet as he read more of the passages. “In a couple places it mentions ‘ancient ones’.” Looking up he said, “I get the feeling it’s talking about ruins from a long time ago.”

“Such as Algoth?” asked Chad.

Riyan nodded. “Possibly, but I’m not sure.”

“Anything specific?” asked Bart. “Names of cities, regions, anything that might point us in the right direction?”

“Not so far,” replied Riyan. “It speaks of them as if the reader should know what the writer is talking about.” While the others wait, he quickly scanned several more pages before coming to a stop. Pointing his finger to one of the passages in the tome, he said.

“Kartha.”

“Kartha?” asked Bart. “Is that a town or a person?”

“I think it’s a city,” he explained. “Built on the shores of a lake.”

“Could it be Algoth?” asked Bart. The Ruins of Algoth had been located on the shores of a lake.

Riyan shook his head. “No,” he said. “The lake in question has an island.” Chad looked to Bart. “I’ve never heard of a city named Kartha before.”

“Neither have I,” admitted Bart.

“Apparently this Kartha had been prospering for some time before much older ruins were discovered beneath it.” Moving his gaze from the tome to the others he added,

“Looks like they had constructed Kartha on the site of a long dead city.”

“Did they find anything?” Chad asked.

“Nothing of any importance,” he said. “This book only mentions the fact as part of the history.” He flipped through the next several pages but couldn’t find any further reference to the city Kartha. “Maybe another of the tomes will yield more information on Kartha.”

“I could take a few of these with me when we leave,” suggested Bart.

“No,” Riyan said. “I’ll not steal from the Guild.” He turned to look at Bart.

Bart nodded. “As you will, it was just a suggestion.”

“Kartha,” Chad said. “Something about that seems familiar.”

“In what way?” asked Riyan.

Chad shrugged, “Just seems familiar is all.”

They spent the next half hour searching through the bulk of the tomes and scrolls.

Some did mention ‘ancient ones’ but none divulged where to find them. There was also no further mention of this Kartha. When they decided they had spent more time here than they should, they left the room and returned to the Archives. Stryntner’s snore could still be heard and the door leading to the hallway remained closed.

They closed the door to the hidden room and Bart relocked it. After sliding the bookcase back to its original position before the door, they took a minute to remove all evidence of the bookcase having been moved.

“I better get back to Kevik,” Bart said. “After last night I don’t want to leave him alone.”

When Riyan started to ask him what happened, Chad cut him off by saying, “I’ll tell you later.”

“How are you going to get out of the Guild?” Riyan asked Bart.

With a grin, Bart put the hood of his cloak over his head and closed the front. He had the satisfaction of hearing Riyan gasp in surprise when he disappeared. “I’ll manage somehow,” he said. “Tomorrow I’ll see what I can find out about Kartha.” Reappearing again, he turned to Chad. “I’ll meet you in the foyer in two days.”

“Alright,” he said.

“Hopefully that will give me enough time to learn something,” said Bart.

“Maybe I’ll ask Stryntner about it when he gets up,” suggested Riyan.

“I wouldn’t do that,” replied Bart. When Riyan looked at him he said, “When they, and I mean Durik and his boys, come around asking questions, we don’t want them to find out that we’re interested in Kartha.”

Sighing, Riyan said, “You got a point.”

“We have some time,” Bart told the other two. “Things are in motion now but not so much so that we have to take chances. I’ll talk to you in two days.” With that he pulled his hood up again and disappeared.

“Good luck Bart,” Riyan said as the door to the Archives opened as if by itself.

“We better get some rest too,” said Chad. “Drills are hard enough as it is.” Riyan patted his friend on the back. “You got that right.” They blew out the candles and set them back on the table where Riyan transcribes. As they left, Stryntner’s snores followed them through the door and into the hallway.

Once he made it back to Kevik’s estate, he found light still coming from the tower’s third floor window. He quickly stabled his horse then went to the door of the tower and hollered for Kevik. A minute later the front door opened and Kevik let him in.

“Well?” Kevik asked as Bart walked in.

On the way up to the third floor, Bart explained what they had found in the room behind the door. He also related to Kevik what Riyan had discovered in the aged tome.

“‘Ancient ones’ sounds like what we’re after,” commented Kevik.

“That’s what we thought as well,” replied Bart. Then he turned his gaze full on Kevik. “Ever heard of a place called Kartha? Supposedly it’s sits on the shores of a lake with an island.”

Kevik sat back and thought about it. “My master once took me to a city three days to the east called Catha,” he said. “It sits on the northern shore of a lake.” He paused a moment as he tried to remember more details. “I do believe there was an island situated in the southern end of the lake.”

“Are you sure it was named Catha?” Bart asked.

“Oh yes,” replied Kevik. “I’m positive.” He saw the disappointed look that came over Bart. “It still could be the same place.”

“What do you mean?”

“As I understand it, Catha was one of the first cities ever settled in this region when our people first arrived from the east,” Kevik explained. “Also keep in mind that what Riyan was reading had been written a very long time ago. It is possible for a city’s name to change over time. Or the spelling was different then than it is now.” Bart looked with renewed hope at Kevik. “You think so?” Kevik shrugged. “There’s no way to know for sure,” he admitted. “Unless we go there.”

“There wouldn’t by chance be a map here at the estate would there?” Bart asked hopefully.

“Might be one in the library in the estate,” he replied. “I know there isn’t one below us in the tower’s library.” After the hours and weeks spent going over the tomes, books, and scrolls on the floor below, he knows for a fact there wasn’t.

Bart nodded. “I’ll check there in the morning.”

They sat there quietly as the fire crackled in the fireplace, each dwelling on their own thoughts. Finally, Kevik broke the silence. “I had a thought while you were gone.” Bart raised his eyebrows in question.

“I got to thinking about the rings that allow us to communicate over distance,” he said.

“Thought you didn’t want an errant thought of mine to disrupt you in the middle of working magic,” Bart said.

“I don’t,” he said. “But if you were to keep one of the rings on your finger at all times, then I could put mine on should the need arise. That way there wouldn’t be the risk of experiencing unpleasant effects from a backlash of magical energy when my concentration is broken.”

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Bart said. “I doubt if something would happen so quickly that you wouldn’t be able to put on the ring and contact me.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Kevik said. He then came to his feet and went into the other room. A moment later he returned with the two rings. After giving one to Bart, he set the other on the table near where his staff sat upon the stands.

Bart slipped the ring on his left hand and looked questioningly at where the other ring laid on the table.

“When you’re not here at the estate, I’ll be in the tower,” he explained then pointed to where the ring sat on the table. “If it’s there, it won’t get lost and will be close at hand.” Bart nodded then stood up. “I’m going to do a sweep of the grounds then go to bed,” he announced. “Are you planning on staying here in the tower?”

“Yes,” Kevik replied. “It’s not so cold now that the storm has passed.”

“Keep the door locked and shut tight,” Bart advised him. “If you should leave for any reason, put the ring on.”

“I will,” Kevik said as he escorted Bart to the ground floor to let him out. “Good night, Bart.”

“See you in the morning,” Bart told him. The door shut behind him as he began his sweep of the grounds. He didn’t really expect another attempt would be made so soon after the previous one had failed disastrously. But Bart wasn’t one to take any chances.

It took him an hour before he was sure no one was around. While he had been in the stable checking it out, he came to the conclusion that they wouldn’t be needing all the horses they had when they resume their search for the remaining segments of the key. In the morning he’ll take all but five into town and sell them. Some extra coins on their trip definitely wouldn’t hurt.

Back in his room, he built a fire in the fireplace before settling into bed. He glanced out the window overlooking Kevik’s tower and could see by the light coming from the window that Kevik was still awake. Lying his head down on his pillow Bart wondered if he ever went to sleep.

A yawn escaped him for the hundredth time yet he refused to give into the need for sleep. After Bart left, he had returned once again to the spell which would complete his staff. He was so close, only one more symbol to figure out and he could go to the Tower of the Magi.

He already had mastered five spells with which he could prove his skill, all he needed now was the staff. The staff itself was going to be imbued with three spells that could be called forth at need. The three spells were going to be ones which he figured to need on their quest for the Horde.

The first one will be his new light spell. The second will be one that will cause to glow anything with magical properties. The last was one he had recently come across during his search for the meaning of the unknown symbols. It was one which would create a spray of sparks to arc from the caster, or in this case the end of the staff. He figured it not so much as a weapon, but a way to start a fire in need. Memories of their time along the river beneath the Ruins of Algoth still haunted him.