The Broken Key (02) - Hunter of the Horde (56 page)

“Okay Riyan,” Bart said. “Pull me back up.” As they pulled him back to the floor of the passage, he kept an eye on the ramp. Once his weight was completely off, the goo coating it was able to prevent the ramp from rising back even with the passage.

“What are you thinking?” Riyan asked him when he helped him to his feet.

“Seth said there was a locked door below,” he replied. “It may be a way into the lower areas.” He untied the rope from around his waist.

“If it’s not, we might get stuck down there,” countered Chad.

“I’ll go down and check it out,” Bart said. “The rest of you stay up here.” Then to Kevik he said, “Make sure that ramp does not reset itself.”

“You can count on me,” he said.

Bart then took the rope and with one end securely held by Riyan, he threw the rest of it into the opening. Standing at the edge of the ramp, he hollered down to the twins,

“How far down does this extend?”

“Fifty feet or so,” came the reply. “The last twenty is an almost vertical drop.”

“I’m coming down,” Bart said.

“Are you sure that’s wise?” asked Soth.

“We’ll soon find out,” he replied. Taking hold of the rope, he sat on the edge of the passage and then scooted onto the ramp. Making sure not to come into contact with the goo, he began lowering himself into the dark opening.

“Be careful,” cautioned Riyan.

Bart nodded and then was soon into the opening and out of sight. Once past the ramp, the incline increased. The sides and floor of the chute in which he found himself were smooth. There were no handholds for the trap’s victims to use in halting their descent.

Just as Seth had said, about thirty feet after entering the opening, the chute turned into a vertical shaft.

Light could be seen coming from below once he was in the shaft. Glancing down, he saw where the twins stood beneath the opening looking up at him, one of them held a lit torch.

“The rope’s not going to reach,” Soth told him.

Continuing to descend the shaft, Bart asked, “How much is it short?”

“You’ll have to drop the last ten feet,” Seth said.

“Thanks for telling me,” replied Bart. When he reached the last several feet of the rope, his legs were dangling from the opening in the cell which held the twins. “I’m letting go,” he told them.

Backing up, they gave him room to land. When he saw that it was clear, he descended the last few feet down the rope and then let go. The twins came to him after he landed, Seth with a grin on his face.

“Man, I didn’t think you guys would ever find us,” Soth said.

Bart turned a less than happy face to him. “Would have served you right for going off on your own like that.”

“Aw, come on Bart,” Seth said. “No harm done.”

Bart just glared at him. Lifting his face to the opening in the ceiling, he hollered,

“Riyan, I’m down!”

“Great,” came the reply. “Should we come down too?” Bart glanced around the cell. It was about fifteen feet by twenty with stone walls and a single wooden door. “Better give me a minute,” he hollered up to him. “Also, you’ll need another ten feet of rope to make it all the way.”

“Okay,” said Riyan. Then he began pulling up the rope to secure additional length to it.

The interior of the cell was bare, just stone walls and door. Bart went over to the door and began inspecting it. There was a small, barred window set at eye level through which he tried looking out.

“As near as we could figure,” Seth said as he stood behind Bart, “there’s another passageway running outside the door.”

Bart couldn’t see much through the little window, but what Seth said made sense. A passage would enable someone to come and collect those who had succumbed to the trap.

They then could be interrogated and so forth.

The door itself looked to have been very strong and formidable in its heyday. There was no access to the locking mechanism from this side, which wasn’t too great a surprise.

He ran his hand over the wooden surface of the door, then took out his belt knife. Using as much force as he could muster, he struck the door with the knife.

An audible crack could be heard as the knife embedded itself to the hilt. From the other side Bart could hear something strike the floor, most likely a section of the door that had broken off from the blow. A small sliver broke free from this side when he withdrew his knife.

Turning back to the twins, he said, “Time has sapped the door’s strength. We should be able to break through to the other side in no time.”

“Might have something that will help us with that,” Seth said. Setting his pack down, he reached in and pulled out a small mace. It was just over a foot in length, had a metal shaft and a small round head with many outward protrusions. “Found it in the hall when we were searching,” he explained. “Thought it looked interesting so I took it.” Bart nodded. “You two start working on the door,” he told them. Then turning about, he went to stand beneath the shaft’s opening.

“Riyan!” he hollered.

“Yeah?” came the reply.

“Have Kevik cast another of his goo spells to keep your end open,” he said. “Then start coming down one by one.”

“But there’s nothing to secure the rope to for the last person,” Riyan said.

“Whoever’s last is going to have to come down the hard way,” he explained. “Don’t worry, it’s not that bad.”

“If you say so,” he said.

“Not that bad he says,” Riyan said as he turned to the others standing in the passage on the floor above.

Chyfe came forward with the two ropes he had tied together to give them sufficient length to reach the bottom. “I’ll hold the rope while you three go down,” he told Riyan, Chad, and Kevik.

Riyan nodded. “Kevik, you first.”

“Here,” Kevik said and handed him his staff. Once Riyan held it, Kevik went to the edge of the ramp and grabbed the rope. Before beginning his descent, he recast his goo spell to keep the ramp from closing. “When I tell you I’m down, toss me my staff.”

“You got it,” Riyan said.

Then with Chyfe braced and holding tightly to the rope, Kevik began his descent. The first part wasn’t too difficult for him, but when he hit the vertical shaft, it was all he could do to keep hold of the rope while he continued his descent.

Bart was there waiting for him and helped him the last couple of feet until he stood in the room next to him. He hollered for Riyan to toss his staff. When it came plummeting out of the shaft opening, Bart caught it for him. “Thanks,” he said as he claimed his staff.

Bart just shrugged.

First Chad, then Riyan came through the opening. By the time Riyan was through and standing with the others, Seth had managed to batter away a large enough section of the door for them to pass through.

“Okay Chyfe,” Riyan hollered. “Your turn.”

A second later the rope started falling through the opening then they heard Chyfe yell,

“Here I come!”

“Should we catch him?” asked Kevik.

Bart shook his head. “The force of him hitting your arms would likely break them,” he explained.

So backing up several feet, they waited. First they heard him coming, then they saw him sail through the opening. He hit the ground with an ‘Oomph’ and rolled. Bart came to his side and lent him a hand up.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Think I bruised my hip,” Chyfe admitted. Once on his feet, he took a few tentative steps then nodded. “Nothing major.”

“Good,” Bart said.

Chad had untied and recoiled the ropes by the time Chyfe was off the floor. He put one in his pack and handed the other to Chyfe.

Over by the door, Riyan had Seth’s torch in hand and was peering through the opening the mace had made. “There is another passage out there,” he said. Glancing back, he made sure the others were ready then stepped through to the other side.

Riyan stepped through and found himself in another small passage leading away from the door. The torch’s light reached far enough to show where the small passage ended at an intersection. He stood just outside the door and waited until Bart came through. Then they went on to the intersection while the others continued to emerge from the room.

“You know, Kevik’s spell isn’t going to hold very much longer,” stated Riyan.

“When it ends, the trap will reset.”

Bart held the torch aloft as he entered the junction of passageways. “True,” he replied. “But I’m sure there’s another way out.” Indicating the passages leading to their right and left he added, “One of these will take us back to the surface.” Looking down the passage extending to their left, they saw where it came to a corner and disappeared to the right. The passage to their right continued straight until passing out of the torch’s light.

“Which way?” Bart asked.

“One’s as good as another,” replied Riyan. Glancing back to where the others were emerging from the cell, he saw the last of them making their way through the door.

Bart gathered everyone together at the junction. “From here on, we’ll need to proceed with caution,” he explained. Looking to Seth and Soth he added, “No more going off on your own. We stay together, understand?”

The twins nodded simultaneously.

He took Chad’s rope and secured it around his waist. Handing the rest of it back to him, he said, “Keep a firm grip on it, just in case.”

“You can count on me,” Chad replied.

To the faces watching him he added, “Walk where I walk and don’t touch anything.” Then turning, he began moving down the passage to the right. He didn’t get far before the rope grew taut. “Give me several feet of slack,” he said to Chad over his shoulder. Chad played out more of the rope until Bart was satisfied. With a nod, he continued on.

The passage continued to be unadorned except for the occasional torch sconce just as the ones above had been. Barely wide enough for two men to stand shoulder to shoulder, they followed Bart single file.

Bart held their only lit torch as he moved through the narrow passage. Behind him came the others basked in the glow from the light of Kevik’s staff.

After several minutes of making his way carefully through the passage, Bart saw another passage branching off to their right. It turned out to be a short passage that ended in a door remarkably similar to the one they had recently broken through. Bart had the others wait at the intersection while he went forward to investigate. Chad played out more of the rope as Bart moved away from them.

Just as in the previous door, this one too had a small, barred window at eye level.

Holding his torch behind his head, he tried to peer through to the other side. It was another of the cells.

Turning around, he rejoined the others. “Another cell like what Seth and Soth found,” he explained.

“They must have the passages above riddled with those slanting floor traps,” Chyfe said.

“Possibly,” Bart said. “They could also have been used to hold prisoners of one kind or another.” Moving out once again, he left the branching passageway behind and continued on.

They came across three more of the cells and had followed the passage around a sharp turn to the left before they saw something lying on the floor ahead. As Bart drew near, he saw that it was the remains of a door. A few feet further down on the left was the doorway it had barred.

“Did the attackers make it this far?” asked Seth.

Bart was joined by Chyfe and together they looked the area over. “Hard to tell,” replied Bart. “The door was knocked off its hinges though.” Chyfe nodded. “Would have expected more debris like what we saw earlier if they had fought here.”

On the other side of the opening where the door had at one time stood were stone steps leading down. Much cruder than the construction thus far encountered, these steps and the walls on either side didn’t have the ‘finished’ look of the previous passageways.

Bart again took the lead as he descended the steps.

“How far down does this go?” mused Soth.

“As far as it does and no further,” replied Seth jokingly. His brother gave him an annoyed look.

“Are we even sure this is the way to go?” Kevik asked.

“No,” replied Bart without slowing his pace. He kept his eyes on the steps before him as he went, giving each a quick scrutiny before placing his foot upon it. There were twenty three steps in all before ending at a room. The room wasn’t very large, barely thirty feet by fifteen. Just like the steps coming down, this room was crudely fashioned except for the wall to their right. It almost looked as if work on the room had been halted once that wall had been finished.

The entire wall was a beautiful mosaic fashioned of small pieces of colored marble.

Bart was awed by the skill that must have gone into it, and he wasn’t the only one as others gave awed exclamations when they saw it.

The scene was set on the banks of a lake, the lake being in the background. On the right side of the mosaic, rising from the shore of the lake was a gnarled old tree, atop which perched a two headed falcon. It was the spitting image of the one from the coat of arms. The left side of the mosaic showed a castle set atop a mountain with a dragon curled around the tallest spire. In the background beyond the castle crested mountain, was a smaller range of foothills. A river meandered its way through them until finally flowing into the lake. One head of the falcon was looking at the dragon atop the castle while the other was directing its gaze toward the river winding through the hills.

“Impressive,” commented Riyan. He had never seen anything like it. The detail was incredible, each piece had been masterfully crafted to seamlessly set against its neighbors. The overall affect was breathtaking.

“Riyan,” said Chad. When Riyan turned to glance at his friend, Chad said, “Isn’t that dragon the same as the one on your sword?”

Bart turned at that and nodded. “I was thinking the same thing,” he said.

With everyone watching, Riyan pulled his sword from its scabbard and looked at the coat of arms on the crosspiece. He stared at it a moment then compared it to the one in the mosaic. “I think it is,” he said.