The Broken Key (02) - Hunter of the Horde (57 page)

“Interesting,” stated Bart. Turning back to the mosaic, he pointed to the double headed falcon. “Here we have the falcon from the one coat of arms…” then he moved his hand to point to the dragon. “And here is the dragon from the other.”

“Perhaps they were allied in some way,” suggested Chyfe.

“I think all four of them were in alliance together,” stated Bart. “Though the other three may have been subordinate to the King.”

“Wouldn’t you think that something like this would have been built out in that large hall we passed through earlier?” questioned Seth. “I would think something of this beauty and obvious importance would have been placed somewhere else rather than…here.” Bart nodded and turned his attention back to the mosaic. “It is odd for it to have been placed here.”

“Could be that they didn’t have time to finish this room before the attack came,” offered Soth.

“Perhaps,” replied Bart, though the tone of his voice said he didn’t really believe that.

Running his hand across the marble of the mosaic, he said, “Kevik, bring your staff closer.” As Kevik came to stand next to him, Bart knelt down and extinguished the torch he had been carrying against the stone floor.

“Why did you do that?” asked Chyfe.

“Kevik’s light is better suited for what I’m about to do,” he replied.

“And that is?” Chyfe asked.

“Look for a secret passage,” Riyan told him.

Bart glanced back at him and said, “Two sources of light give off separate shadows.

Also, the torch’s flame flickers which hinders the search.” Turning back to the wall, he heard Chyfe say, “Oh.”

“Keep it just behind my shoulder,” he told Kevik. With Kevik’s staff now the only source of light, Bart began investigating the mosaic. He agreed with Seth in that such a work of art shouldn’t be in such an out of the way place, unless it was here for a specific purpose. He was convinced that purpose was to conceal the way to the segment. The dragon and double headed falcon which were on the mosaic led him to that conclusion more than anything else.

Everyone remained quiet while Bart began his investigation of the mosaic. His fingers would press and attempt to shift the various pieces comprising the mosaic in the hope of finding a loose one. He was certain that either pressing one, or several, would trigger the secret door’s opening.

After he had been at it for ten minutes and hadn’t found anything, the others sat down against the far wall. Breaking out some rations, they ate while watching Bart move from section to section. He had started with the two headed falcon, then had moved to the dragon. Once those had been fully inspected, he began in the center of the mosaic and began working his way outward in a spiraling pattern.

“You might be right,” Seth said to his brother when twenty minutes of searching failed to reveal anything. “Maybe they hadn’t had time to finish this room before the attack came.”

Bart stopped what he was doing and stretched. Turning away from the mosaic he crossed the room and joined the others. “I need a break,” he said.

“Here,” Riyan said as he offered him a strip of dried beef.

“Thanks,” he replied. Taking the meat, he ripped off a strip with his teeth.

Chyfe had been staring at the mosaic for several minutes when he asked, “What’s the other head looking at?”

“What?” asked Chad.

“The two headed falcon,” he clarified. Getting to his feet he crossed over to the mosaic and pointed to the head that was staring at the dragon. “This head is staring at the dragon. What’s the other one looking at?”

“The hills as near as I could tell,” Seth said. “I wondered about that too but there isn’t anything there.”

“Hmm,” murmured Chyfe. He gave the hilly area through which the river ran a closer look. After a minute or two of searching, he had to agree with Seth that there wasn’t anything there.

Then all of a sudden, Kevik’s light went out. “Don’t panic,” he said. “The spell simply ran its course.” A second later, the light flared back to life. “Sorry about that,” he said, “no spell lasts forever.”

Riyan was staring at the mosaic with a peculiar look on his face. “Kevik, cancel your light.”

Turning to Riyan he asked, “Why?”

“I think I saw something when the light was out,” he explained. Then with a more commanding voice he said, “Just do it.”

“As you wish,” replied Kevik and they were again plunged into pitch blackness.

“There!” Riyan exclaimed.

“I’ll be damned,” stated Bart. For there on the wall in the center of the mosaic, between the double headed falcon and the dragon, glowed the symbol of the king. “His symbol was here all along.”

But the symbol was not all that glowed. Beneath it was an arc of a circle that was a match for a key segment. Bart immediately recognized it. “Riyan,” he said. “Give me one of the keys.”

“Which one?” he asked.

“I don’t think it matters,” he replied. “Maybe the one we found in Algoth.”

“Alright,” Riyan said. In a second the sound of his pack being placed on the floor was shortly followed by the rustle of him digging through it. “Got ‘em,” he said. Coming to his feet, he brought them to Bart and handed him one. “Not sure if this one is from Algoth,” he explained. In the faint glow of the King’s symbol, it was hard to tell.

Bart took the offered segment and said, “We’ll find out in a second.” Then very carefully he aligned the segment to perfectly match the glowing area on the mosaic. The glow gave off sufficient light for everyone to see the segment as it was brought toward the wall.

“It’s exactly the same size,” observed Seth, voice full of wonder.

Ever so slowly, Bart moved the segment closer until it came into contact with the glowing area on the wall. As soon as contact was made, the King’s symbol pulsed almost imperceptibly for a split second. Then, a rumbling sound could be heard.

“Kevik,” Bart said, all the while keeping the segment in contact with the mosaic,

“your light.”

Suddenly, light filled the room and on the side of the room opposite the steps, they saw a section of the floor begin to fall away. As it fell, sections halted to form steps leading down. When it stopped, Kevik and the others moved to the top and looked down.

“The steps go about ten feet,” Riyan said to Bart. Then he turned to look at his friend still pressing the segment to the wall. “Go ahead and let go,” he told him.

Bart nodded and took the segment away. To his relief the floor did not rise back to its previous position. He moved to join the others and handed the segment back to Riyan.

“We’re close,” he said.

Riyan put the segments back into his pack. When he slung the pack over his shoulder, he had a grin on his face. “Man you know it!” he replied with enthusiasm.

The others had equally excited looks. “What do you suppose is down there?” asked Chyfe. “Treasure?”

“Only one way to find out,” Riyan said. Then to Bart he added, “After you?” Bart gave him a nod and grinned. “Let’s go.” With that he moved to the steps and began descending to the passage below. At the end of the stairs, the passage proceeded fifteen feet before opening up onto a circular room.

The room was fifty feet from one side to the other with a domed ceiling above. When Kevik entered the room, the light from his staff revealed a ten foot wide circular area in the middle of the floor. Constructed of black marble, the circular area was a stark contrast for what was inlaid in silver upon it. The King’s symbol.

The circular wall of the room was composed of black marble as well. Set within the wall across the room where they stood was the dragon-sword coat of arms. Upon the wall to their left was the two headed falcon coat of arms, and the plain coat of arms with the stripe was to their right. The ceiling above sparkled like a million stars, the light from Kevik’s staff was being reflected back by a multitude of crystals.

“Wow,” breathed Riyan. He made to move further into the room but was stopped by Bart.

“I would advise caution here,” Bart said.

“I agree,” said Kevik. When the others glanced to him he added, “This room resonates with magic.”

“Evil?” asked Chyfe.

Kevik shook his head. “I don’t sense that,” he replied. “But it’s strong.” After another pause he said, “Back at the Tower of the Magi, one could always feel the magic of the place. But what I feel here makes the Tower seem impotent in comparison.”

“What should we do then?” asked Seth.

Bart didn’t answer. Instead he scanned the room from where he stood for another of the segments. But other than the King’s symbol on the floor, and the three coats of arms on the walls, the room was empty.

“I wouldn’t think this place would be set up to kill intruders,” Riyan said. “After all, whoever built it had made it so this room would only be accessible by someone bearing one of the key segments.”

“Or the magic Kevik feels could be the final, deadly trap for a thief who had already stolen another of the segments,” suggested Soth. “Such as us.” Bart turned to Kevik. “What do you propose?” he asked.

“Hey, I’m just an Apprentice,” objected Kevik.

“Practitioner,” corrected Chad.

“Right, Practitioner,” replied Kevik, a little embarrassed at his mistake.

“You’re still the most experienced one here when it comes to things magical,” argued Bart. “Now, how do you think we should proceed?”

Kevik felt panic rising at the thought that his inexperience was being relied upon to lead the way. Who do they think I am? I’m just a Practitioner, and a new one at that! He gazed into the expectant eyes of his comrades and took a settling breath.

“Magic only operates when certain sets of circumstances occur,” he began and then licked his lips as they had suddenly grown dry. “The magic could be here to protect the room, or to aid in the acquisition of the segment.” He inwardly relaxed when he saw Riyan nod his head.

“So how can you tell which it is?” asked Riyan.

“Maybe a more experienced magic user could better ascertain its properties, but I don’t have that ability as yet.”

“What are we to do then?” asked Bart. “The segment isn’t in this room. But I would bet my life on the fact that wherever it is, you get to it from here.”

“That would make sense,” agreed Chad.

“Maybe cancel your light again,” suggested Chyfe. “It worked in the room above.”

“Yeah,” said Kevik, “I’ll try that.” In a second the light went out.

The myriad crystals above still gave off light and to Riyan it looked like the night sky. The King’s symbol, as well as the three coats of arms, glowed subtly. If they had been expecting another glowing spot in the shape of a segment to be there, they were sadly mistaken.

A minute passed by, then two. Finally Bart said, “Go ahead and bring the light back,” which Kevik did. Turning to the others he said, “The rest of you stay here. If something bad is going to happen, it would be best if it didn’t take us all out.” As he turned back to move into the room, Riyan placed his hand on his shoulder.

“Be very careful,” he advised.

Bart chuckled. “Such is the life of a thief.” Moving into the room, he worked his way to the edge of the circular area bearing the King’s symbol.

“Any change in the magic yet?” Riyan asked Kevik.

“It would take a sizable fluctuation for me to be able to feel it,” he said. “But no, I haven’t felt anything change.”

Riyan and the others watched Bart as he moved to the edge of the circular area. He paused there for a brief moment, then worked his way to the area of the wall bearing the double headed falcon coat of arms. From there he followed the wall to the dragon-sword coat of arms, then finally over to the one with the stripe.

At each, he briefly inspected them visually before moving on. The thought of coming into physical contact with them made him nervous, he wasn’t sure why. When his inspection of the last one was concluded, he returned to the others.

“They don’t seem unusual,” he told them.

Then suddenly, a coin sailed from their group and landed in the circular area. Ping!

The coin hit the center, bounced once, then rolled out of the circular area before coming to a stop.

All eyes turned to Seth who shrugged and said, “It was worth a try.” Bart was livid. “Are you trying to get the rest of us killed?” he yelled. Rounding on Seth, he planted himself in front of him. “You’re told there’s magic here and you have to go and play! If you have a death wish, go somewhere else to act it out!”

“Relax Bart,” Riyan said.

“I’ll not relax when the actions of a fool could get me killed!” exclaimed Bart.

Seth bristled at being called a fool and had a hot retort on his lips when Soth grasped him by the shoulder. “Now isn’t the time to lose your temper,” he cautioned. “Let it go.” Between Riyan and Soth, they managed to get the two of them calmed down. Neither apologized to the other. Rather, they glared at each other until Riyan stepped between them. “What about the room?” he asked.

Bart turned his gaze to Riyan and nodded. “You’re right,” he said. Casting one last meaningful look to Seth, he said, “I think we can enter without fear of immediate destruction.”

Kevik nodded in agreement and then they fanned out into the room. Riyan went to check out the double headed falcon coat of arms, Chyfe went with him.

“Do you really think there’s a segment here?” Chyfe asked.

“Yes,” replied Riyan. “I agree with Bart about that. There has to be some way in which to gain access to it.” Pointing to the passage from which they had just exited he said, “You don’t put in a secret door such as that just for kicks.” He glanced over to where Bart had knelt down next to the circular area in the middle of the floor. The others were studying the other two coats of arms.

Turning back to the double headed falcon before him, he hesitated a moment, then reached out and touched it. “Incredible workmanship,” he said.

“They had masterful craftsmen, that’s for sure,” agreed Chyfe.

Behind him he heard Kevik say, “That might not be a good idea.” Glancing back to the middle of the room, he saw Kevik standing at the outer edge of the circular area. He was staring at Bart who had stepped onto the black marble. Riyan moved to join them with Chyfe following right behind.