“They’re all after the Staff of Sakatha,” said Sorus as he finished with the ants. The young lad immediately flailed his arms and fell on his backside, “whoa.”
Jon walked over with two tremendous strides and knelt next to Sorus, “You’ve been lying down for six hours, Sorus. Take it easy,” he said and held the boy around the shoulders to steady him.
“They just left, a skeleton thing and a snake thing, they’re the leaders, we can catch them!” said Sorus and pointed off in the direction the two went only moments before. “But they’re not on the same side. I think there are like five or six sides and no one knows where the staff is hidden. They were talking about dreams and dragons and things. They need the children of dragons to interpret the dreams from some dragon that will tell them where the staff is hidden,” he blurted out all in a rush.
Proteus looked to Jon who looked back at the older knight and both men shrugged at the same moment. “Are you ready for a chase?” said Jon to Sorus as he turned back to the young man and released his hold.
Sorus put his hand to his sword hilt and rose unsteadily, “Of course I am. I… I just got a bit dizzy standing up so quickly. If we want to get that staff then we have to go right now.”
Jon nodded and smiled, “You’ve the warrior spirit all right Sorus, I’m pretty sure I’ve got it, and there is no doubt in my mind that Proteus there, Brokenshield or no, has the same. Now, the only question I have is; how do you kill a skeleton thing and a snake thing?” With that Jon started off down the path and then looked back to Sorus, “They did head this way, didn’t they?”
Sorus looked down the narrow trail and thought about it for a moment, “I guess, I mean the only other direction is back down the slope.”
“Good enough,” said Jon and dashed up the mountain trail.
“Follow him,” said Proteus as he busied himself with the saddle bags attached to the horses, “I’ll gather some supplies in case we end up gone overnight. Go on, Sorus, I’ll catch up.”
Sorus started to run after Jon but felt a sudden onset of nausea and slowed his pace for a moment, “Jon, slow down and wait for us!” he called out.
It took Proteus several minutes to get water, food, and other supplies from the horses and then he paused for a moment and stared at the beasts. “I’ll leave you free, head down the mountain if we’re not back in a day or so,” he said to the horses and shook his head. “I’m an old fool still talking to horses after all these years,” and with that went after Sorus and Jon. It only took him about five minutes to catch up with the two as they stood near a rocky overhang in animated discussion. They saw him coming and motioned him up with a wave of their hands.
“Goblins or orcs,” said Jon and pointed with his finger around the corner. “I sniffed out an ambush.”
“Well done, Jon,” said Proteus, “how did you spot them?”
Jon pointed to a crossbow bolt on the dirt trail just to their right, “I cleverly drew their fire,” replied the young warrior.
“It’s a good thing they didn’t wait until you were completely in the open,” said Proteus as he glanced at the wicked barb for a moment, “were you hit at all?”
Jon shook his head, “One shot went between my legs, and I think I heard the other whistle by my ear but no hits. Pretty poor shooting considering the size of the target.”
“So,” said Proteus with a look up towards the rock that sheltered them from the ambushers and then squinted at the afternoon sun in the opposite direction, “two of them and they’ve picked the wrong time of day for this location.”
“I only saw the two bolts,” said Sorus also who followed Proteus’s gaze at the position of the sun. “I don’t see any way they can work around to a firing position on us,” he continued and pointed to the large overhang above them. “They’ll just wait up there until we make our move unless they’ve got wizards to collapse the rocks on us.”
“I’d guess they are close to wherever the skeleton and snake thing went to ground,” said Proteus with a shrug. “It’s a terrible spot for ambush this time of day and the mountain has so many hidden spots it’s ridiculous that they chose this one.”
“They could just be stupid,” suggested Jon. “I don’t know about the goblins and orcs in this area but some of them around Tanelorn are fairly dim.”
“No,” said Proteus, “they might not be the most intelligent but in military matters they know their business. The only reason they set up the ambush right there is because they had to do it. I think our friends are just up beyond the rise. Sadly, that doesn’t get us past the ambushers. The sun at our backs is probably what saved you, Jon,” he continued and looked back towards the slowly setting orb of light. “We can’t count on that for much longer.”
“You’re right, Proteus,” said Jon and nodded his head with a look back at the sun. “We need to find a way past them and right now,” the young knight of gray looked around and shrugged his shoulders. “If I had my heavy shield I could just charge them and hope for the best but I don’t like my odds in this chain. Those heavy bolts will just punch straight through.”
“There’s no sense talking about things we don’t have,” said Proteus his hand on his chin as he looked at the overhang. “How high up is the lip on that rock?” he said and took a step back which almost exposed him to the crossbow fire.
“Careful, Proteus,” said Sorus, putting his hand on the older man, and pulling him gently back into cover. “No sense in getting killed before we make a move.”
Proteus looked back and smiled, “I’ve been watering crops for too long Sorus, thank you. I figured that someone tall enough might give someone spry enough a boost, and they might get over that lip and come up on the ambushers from behind.”
Jon looked up and nodded his head, “I can get you most of the way there, Sorus but you’ll have to do some scrambling,” he paused, leaned backwards, and looked over the rocky outcropping. “Maybe right there by that little indentation that looks like a duck feather, you could grab ahold and haul yourself up?”
Sorus leaned back but shook his head, “I can’t see it Jon, but I trust you. Hoist me up and let’s get going!” he continued as he sheathed his sword and rubbed his hands together quickly.
Jon kneeled down, “Sit up on my shoulders, when I stand get on your feet, and we’ll see how close that gets you,” he said.
“Be careful not to move too far to the right, Sorus,” said Proteus, “you might expose yourself to fire from up the hill.”
Sorus climbed onto Jon’s shoulders like a young boy on his father and then Jon stood up pushing the newly made knight of Elkargul high into the air. Sorus then put his hand on the rock face and balanced as he climbed to his feet on Jon’s shoulders. “I’m about six inches short of a good handhold,” said Sorus and looked down over his left shoulder to Jon.
The big gray knight put his hands up by his shoulders, palms up, “Stand on my hands,” he said and tapped Sorus on the ankle. “I’ll boost you up further. I think we can manage that last little bit.”
Sorus did as instructed and Jon pushed up with his hands and lifted the one hundred sixty pound boy as if he were no more than a small child; Proteus watched with a shake of his head. Jon extended his arms straight up, which lifted Sorus the extra inches, the boy found a purchase, and scrambled up the rock face like a spider. Jon felt the weight leave his hands and turned to Proteus, “is he up?”
Proteus nodded his head, “Maybe we should have given him a rope to haul us up. He’s going to have to take those ambushers by himself.”
“Do you have a rope?” said Jon and turned to the older knight.
“I brought one from the horses when you and Sorus dashed off a second ago,” he said and pointed to the saddle bag that lay in the shade of the rocky outcropping. “We might be days underground looking for the staff.”
Jon shook his head and laughed, “You’re right,” he said with a wry smile. “Sorus and I just went through that without any supplies at all. I can’t believe I forgot again.”
“You do seem a bit headstrong, Jon,” said Proteus, “if you don’t mind me saying. You’re a powerful man and probably pretty used to having things go your way, right?”
Jon nodded, “I know what you’re going to say,” he said. “My father always tells me to stop and think before I leap. It’s not as easy to stop when something needs to get done. My father always says its men of action that get things done in the world, not philosophers.”
“That’s all true,” said Proteus as the two continued their conversation, although both of them thought about Sorus who even now worked his way to position behind the ambushers. “Maybe we should be men of action and give those fellows up the hill a target just to distract them?”
Jon nodded, “I was thinking the same thing Proteus. We could dash across the trail to that spot over there, the cover is not as good, but it might look like we’re trying to work our way up to their position.”
Proteus nodded, “That should work, but keep your head down once we get there, don’t even try and take a look. I’ve seen men hit in the eye looking around a corner.”
Jon nodded and moved to the edge of the little outcropping, “Ready?”
Proteus nodded.
“One, two, three!” said Jon sprinting across the trail in a dash with Proteus right behind. A pair of crossbow bolts flew behind them after they took cover and then another one splattered the rock behind which they hid. The crack of the bolt against the rock caused both men to duck as they lay on the ground with their heads down. Jon’s foot stuck out just enough and another bolt hit the earth near it which caused him to curl up in a position like a little baby.
“Stop hogging all the cover,” said Proteus as another crossbow bolt skittered past them and down the trail.
“There’s more of me to cover,” said Jon with a laugh as Proteus put an elbow in the midsection of the young knight. “Stop poking me!”
Proteus laughed as two more bolts flew over their heads. One ricocheted off the rocks behind them, and landed on his leg. He picked it up with his right hand and brought it to his face for close examination. “Decent quality on this bolt,” he said as he turned it over. “It looks like orc manufacture from Adas Jdar beyond the mountains,” he concluded. “Do you see the two different metals here at the back?”
Jon scrunched his body to look at the bolt as he raised his head slightly, although he carefully kept it behind their cover, “That little bulge?”
“Right,” said Proteus. “You’ve been trained with weapons haven’t you?”
“Swords, lances, and a little bow work but nothing with a crossbow,” said Jon as he ducked instinctively when another bolt buzzed through the air over their heads. “Do you suppose Sorus could hurry up?”
“He might have to go a long way around,” said Proteus, “to get behind them. You should learn as much about all weaponry as possible even if you’re not going to use it. The more you know the better tactics you can devise against it. Now, these bolts use iron for the main body but with lead at the back to even out the weight. That’s typical of orcs across the mountain in Adas Jdar. We like to just thicken the entire bolt with a single material here in Elekargul because it makes the structure stronger.”
“Why even the weight?” said Jon as a particularly well-aimed bolt dug into the ground a few inches from his foot.
“Arrows tend to rise in flight because of the feathers in their tails so you have to weight them heavier at the front. Heavy tips do this naturally and add more penetrating power. When you apply the same principals to bolts they tend to sink too fast so you have to make them more evenly weighted for true flight,” said Proteus as another bolt skittered off the rock and sent a small cloud of pebbles down on the two.
“They seem to be getting the range pretty well,” said Jon and spat some dust out of his mouth. “Should we make a dash for that spot up the hill?”
“They’ll expect that,” said Proteus. “Why not roll off the face and down the hillside over there,” he said and motioned with his chin. “That will give you more cover and you can advance up the side of the hill.”
“True,” said Jon, “but they’ll be able to maneuver around and fire at me from a good angle.”
“If they change their position that might give Sorus the opportunity he needs to jump them,” said Proteus.
“Good point,” said Jon, “and to be honest, I’m getting a little tired of getting shot at without doing anything. I’m going to roll down that way. Once they take a couple of shots you can follow me or head up the trail while they’re focused on me.”
Proteus nodded, “Got it. Go whenever you’re ready.”
With that Jon suddenly rolled to his right, pushed off the ground with his hands, and got to his feet in a flash. He dove forward and off the edge of the hillside onto a steep slope while Proteus immediately dashed forward before the ambushers fired at Jon but he did hear the whiz of two bolts behind him a moment later. He reached the advanced point without incident and then called out to Jon, “Are you all right?”
“I’m good,” Jon shouted across the trail. “They’ll be moving into position to get at me in a second. I’ll tell you when I see them and you can make a dash.”
“If they’re smart,” said Proteus, “one will move to position while the other keeps his eye on me. If there are only two of them.”
A few moments passed without a sound as Proteus waited for word from Jon and the big gray knight watched a rock platform about fifty yards up the hill from his current position.
“He should be there by now,” said Jon. “I’m going to make a dash. Do you hear anything?”
Just as he spoke a harsh cry sounded from up ahead and Proteus immediately pulled his sword from its scabbard and charged up the hill. Jon, in an awkward position, needed to climb back onto the trail before he followed but, once up, quickly gained ground as his massive strides gobbled up the distance like a champion race horse in full flight.
Proteus got to the ambush spot and found a heavyset orc in thick leather armor studded with metal face down on the ground blood spurting from a wound under its arm. A heavy wooden crossbow with two dozen bolts laid out neatly on the rock sat nearby. A moment later Sorus appeared around the corner and smiled at Proteus. “I got this one from behind but the other one saw me coming, dropped his gear, and ran up the hill. I got him in the leg and tossed his crossbow off the side of the mountain. He crawled off but there’s a cave right back that way. I passed it when I came around. I’m sure that’s where the snake creature and the skeleton thing went.”
At that moment Jon suddenly appeared from around the corner his huge stone sword in one hand and a grin on his face. “Chattering away like ladies,” he said with a smile.
“The work’s all done,” said Proteus and clapped Sorus on the back. “Our young Nightwalk managed to kill this one here and chased the other one off. We were just deciding if we wanted to pursue or look into the cave where our real foes went.”
Jon looked up the trail for a moment, “The crossbowman doesn’t matter,” he said. “Where is this cave?”
“I’ll catch up,” said Proteus as he turned and sprinted back down the trail.
“Where’s he going?” said Sorus to Jon who watched the older knight dash around a corner and vanish from site.
“He’s getting the saddle bags,” said Jon. “With our equipment in case we get stuck underground again. We should have thought of that.”
Sorus nodded his head, “Especially because we just made that mistake a couple of days ago.”
“Proteus will catch up,” said Jon with a nod and a smile, “Where is the cave?”
“This way,” said Sorus and pointed up a little path that led away from the main trail. “I’m sorry it took so long,” he said as they walked. “I ran into a big bunch of scrub brush with thorns and had to go around. Then I got a little lost,” he admitted as he looked forward up the narrow trail. “I ended up too far up the trail and didn’t know if I was ahead of them or behind them so I went back around again.”
“You did just fine,” said Jon. “It’s easy to lose direction in these hills and you came through in the end. Stabbing a fellow from behind is never easy either,” said the gray knight, his own massive strides easily keeping up with Sorus as they ascended the little game trail. “It doesn’t seem honorable but when it comes down to someone living and someone dying it needs doing at times.”
Sorus looked back at the gray knight for a moment and smiled, “I didn’t think about it too much. I saw him there pointing his crossbow down towards the trail and just did it. Here, right up here is the cave. I didn’t get much of a chance to look at it but, like Proteus said, why else would they set up the ambush at this spot?” he said and pointed to a narrow crack in the cliff face.
“There could be another opening further up,” said Jon, but Sorus shook his head.
“There could be,” he replied, “but why not start here?”
Jon nodded. “We’ll have to wait for Proteus, I’m guessing he has flint to start a fire. I’ve got a light stone,” he continued and pulled out an egged-sized piece of crystalline rock of a strange purple color. “Stone of light, show the path!” he said in a quick mantra.
“You can do magic,” said Sorus looking at Jon with wide-opened eyes.
“Not really,” said Jon. “My brother Val made this for me and taught me the command words,” he continued as the rock began to glow with a dim light. “When we get into darkness it gets brighter. Let me go in first, you wait for Proteus. I’ll call out if there’s anyone waiting to say hello.”
Sorus nodded as Jon, rock in one hand and thick gray sword in the other darted forward into the dark. He had to duck and turn his body sideways to enter the narrow crevasse but disappeared within it a moment later. Sorus stood at the entrance and looked first to the entrance and then down the trail and then back again to the cave. The seconds seemed to pass slowly as his heart beat heavily in his chest and he remembered his blade plunging into the back of the crossbowman and then the pursuit of the second. He didn’t feel any regret about doing, it but a strange sense of sadness overcame him as he pictured the dead orc in the rocks. When Proteus suddenly appeared it caught him by surprise and he jumped back.
“Where’s Jon?” said the older knight, a saddlebag over his shoulder but sword still one hand.
“In there,” said Sorus with a motion to the cave. “He went ahead and told me to stay and wait for you.”
“Makes sense,” said Proteus and with that pulled a small stone from his pack, tapped it twice, and then waited a few seconds as it began to glow.
“Does everyone have one of those except me?” said Sorus as he shook his head.
Proteus pulled a second rock out of the bag and handed it to the young knight, “Tap it twice to activate it and then twice more to turn it off,” he said. “Now you have one of your own.”
Sorus took the rock and copied the motions Proteus made and soon the little stone began to glow noticeably.
“Come along,” said Proteus as he ducked into the narrow opening. “We can’t let Jon get all the glory.”
Sorus watched him for a moment and then went in after, although he did not have to duck his head or turn sideways to enter. A moment later he found himself next to Proteus in a large chamber where sparkling lights seemed to glow in the rocks like stars. “Do you see him?”
Proteus lifted the hand that held the stone and pointed to a little glowing light that came from below them and seemed to bounce along like a ball across the ground. “Don’t call out; the noise can carry a long way down here. Watch your feet,” he continued as he pointed to a rock-strewn path that led down towards the bottom of the large cavern. “It’s easy to trip in the dark and I don’t want you cracking open that skull of yours again.”
“Right,” said Sorus with a smile as his hand started to go to his head, but the stone occupied one while his sword occupied the other, and he was unable to check on the bandages. “Forward then,” he finally said and started the treacherous descent. “We can’t let Jon get too far ahead, he’s a bit reckless that one,” he concluded.
Proteus laughed, “You could say that, but when you’re seven foot tall with a sword like that who can blame him for a little overconfidence,” he said and followed Sorus gingerly down the narrow pass. At a couple of spots rock overhangs seemed to show signs of work as if someone cleared the way just enough to allow passage but not enough to make it easy. After a few long minutes and a couple of near tumbles they arrived at the base of the cavern where long rock columns extended from the ceiling in glorius displays of orange and silver almost like a stone waterfall.
“It’s beautiful,” said Sorus as he stopped for a moment to gaze up and around in all directions. “The other cave wasn’t like this.”
Proteus nodded and pointed to a long walkway that lay in front of them. “Someone smoothed that out,” he said, “but keep cautious. These caves usually have centipedes so don’t just put your hand anywhere. They’re poisonous as can be.”
Sorus nodded and went forward as his eyes scanned to the left and right before he peered ahead. Down below he couldn’t see Jon’s light bobbing ahead anymore since the wall of the cave bulged out and blocked off the view. “I don’t see Jon,” he said as he moved forward steadily and almost ran headlong into the young gray knight as he came from the other direction. Sorus jumped backwards and smashed into Proteus, knocking the light stone out of his hand to the floor, where it skittered into a narrow crevice and vanished.
“Damn,” said Proteus.
“Sorry,” said Sorus.
“Quiet,” said Jon. “There are some guards posted ahead. Strange creatures, darklings I think.”
Proteus looked up to the tall lad and spotted a heavy smudge of dirt on his cheek, a bruise already apparent above his eye, and a scratch on his cheek that didn’t bleed but looked painful. “What happened to you?” he said and reached forward with his now free hand to brush back the long sandy locks.
“I tripped coming down that passage,” said Jon as he pointed back towards the narrow entrance. “It’s trickier than it looks.”
Sorus smiled and almost laughed out loud but managed to stifle the impulse. “You youngsters always leap without looking,” he said and reached up to touch Jon on the shoulder.
Jon’s eyes flashed a momentary fierceness that caused Sorus to take a step back but then softened as his mouth opened in a wide smile, “Right you are, Sorus,” he whispered, “I could take lessons from a mature old knight like you.”
“What kind of creatures are they?” said Proteus, “how many, and how well armed.”
“I’ve never seen the like before,” said Jon, “I got lucky to see their light before they saw mine. It’s dim and red but I managed to get a pretty good look at them after I tucked my light under my cloak. They’re about fifty yards that way,” he continued in a low tone. “They look like bears mostly I suppose, great furry things, they have stone clubs. I saw two of them but that doesn’t mean there aren’t more.”
“Any chance of sneaking up on them without them seeing us,” said Proteus using Jon’s whispered tone.
Jon shook his head, “Not that I saw. It’s a pretty straight shot to a low arch where they’re waiting. I’d guess that beyond that is darkling land but who can say? Our best chance is to just charge forward and kill them. The pass opens up a little and there’s room for two of us to get at them at the same time.”
“Sorus,” said Proteus, “any suggestions?”
The young knight of Elekargul shook his head, “I don’t see anything else to do.”
“Agreed,” said Proteus. “Sorus, you had your glory up at the ambush point, do you mind if Jon and I take this one?”
Sorus frowned, “Well, if you put it that way, I suppose not. I’ll be right behind you.”
“Try to be as quiet as possible about it,” said Proteus to Jon. “If there are more of them back there we don’t want the whole tribe coming down on us. Sorus, when we get close try and shine the light stone in their eyes, darkling creatures don’t like it bright.”
Sorus nodded and then Jon looked at Proteus, “Ready?”
Proteus nodded and Jon turned and walked quickly around the corner with the older knight right behind. Sorus brought up the rear as they moved down the corridor to a narrow spot where Jon stopped for a moment and held up his hand. The young knight of gray looked back to Proteus and Sorus and nodded his head as he pointed around the corner. “A dozen strides maybe,” he said in a whisper and put his light stone in his pocket, “One, two, three,” he finished and suddenly darted out and around the corner. Proteus was right on his heels and Sorus, the light stone held high, dashed around last.
Coming around the corner the former brewer spotted the creatures right away. Just as Jon described, there were two of them under a natural rock archway beyond which a red glow emanated. Dark fur covered both creatures although the dim red light muted any hope of discernment of their true color. They stood about as tall as a man stands and wore only light cloth pants and a leather vest that gave them little protection. Both looked up at the approach of Jon, their eyes suddenly hugely wide as they grabbed heavy stone clubs that leaned against the archway to either side of them.
Jon was upon them even as they growled, a strange rumble sort of sound that seemed to reverberate through Sorus’s body, and moved forward to meet the young knight of Tanelorn. Proteus moved ahead also, and suddenly blocked Sorus’s view of events, which seemed somehow slowed down to a crawl, and he only managed to catch a flash of movment ahead before the Brokenshield moved out of the way. Sorus saw one of the bear creatures stagger forward to his knees as a gush of blood jetted from a wound along its neck. The second creature swung its heavy stone club at Jon who moved forward and was hit by only the very narrowest part of its shaft on the ribs although he gave off a great low grunt in any case. Jon lowered his arm swiftly and trapped the creature’s weapon under it as Proteus moved forwards as his own blade swung down towards the head of the beast. The creature looked at the descending blade and its eyes grew even wider as it tried to tug away. Finally, it simply let go of the club and raised its hand in a defensive motion. Proteus’s blade chopped the blocking arm off at the elbow and buried deeply in the forehead of the creature between the eyes. The beast plunged backwards with a convulsive movement and fell to the ground with a thump where it twitched a couple of times although it never uttered a word.
The second creature’s hand covered the wound on its throat, which did little to quench the spurts of blood, and watched open-eyed for a moment until Jon walked over and almost casually crushed its skull with a flick of his wrist as the flat side of his massive blade crashed down with terrible force.
The crack of the blow seemed to wake Sorus and events suddenly seemed to resume at their normal speed.
“Nicely done, Jon,” said Proteus and moved up next to the young knight. “Are your ribs all right?”
Jon lifted his arm and the club slipped out although Proteus reached forward with a hand, grabbed it before it hit the floor, and then lowered it gently to the ground. Jon stretched his left side over and pursed his lips, “I’m good,” he said, “it only hit me with the handle, hurt a bit at the moment though.”
“Quiet,” said Proteus and put his finger to his lips. “Keep the light stones away, we can see well enough. I’m going ahead for a second to see what’s there, you two wait for me and see if those creatures have anything valuable on them,” he finished and pointed to the two dead-bear like darklings on the floor.
Jon leaned over, gave off a little grunt of pain, reached into a satchel around the waist of one of the creatures and pulled out a flask, a small clam shell of some kind, and a beaker of some sort of liquid. He opened the flask, brought it to his nose carefully, and smiled, “alcohol.”
Sorus went to the second creature who wore a similar satchel around its waist and detached it with a quick motion. Inside was another flask much like the one Jon took, a small pouch that chinked when Sorus touched it, and another bag filled with something soft that smelled musky when the young knight brought it to his nose. “There are some coins here,” he said and looked up at Jon with a smile, “and more of that whiskey I’d guess.”
At that moment Proteus appeared at the entrance to the natural cavern, a strange look on his face. His eyes were open wide to see in the darkness, his teeth clenched, and his jaw tight as his eyes darted back and forth between Jon and Sorus.
“What is it, Proteus,” asked Sorus while Jon continued to examine the items found on the strange bear creatures.
“It’s like you said, Sorus,” said the knight with a nod of his head. “It’s a skeleton of some sorts, wearing robes, and a creature that looks like a human snake. They’re down the passage a bit. It’s darkling made for certain. The natural cavern ends not far past the archway here,” he continued and pointed to the natural formation above their heads. “I couldn’t hear them but they seemed to be arguing about something. There are more exits from where they’re at so if we want to attack them, now’s the time.”
“If,” said Jon and looked at Proteus with raised eyebrows.
“They look…,” started the older knight with a shrug his shoulders, “they look like they are perfectly capable of defending themselves. The skeleton wears a sword but the snake is a wizard or a priest I’d bet.”
“We could just follow them,” said Sorus as he looked back and forth to the two men. “They don’t know where the staff is either but they might lead us to it eventually.”
“Down here, among the darkings,” said Jon with a shake of his head. “It’s too dangerous, we’ll be spotted soon enough and have them down on us like a hoard of grasshoppers. We take them out now and see if we can get information from them after that.”
“I agree,” said Proteus the strange look still in his eyes, “Do you mind if I say a prayer to the Black Horse first, Jon?” he continued and knelt to the floor.
Jon watched him silently for a moment. Soon Sorus joined Proteus on his knees.
“May my steed be swift, my blade be true, my heart be strong, and my seat steady,” said Proteus from his knees and Sorus said the same. “There,” said Proteus and stood back with a smile at Jon. “My fate is my own.”
Jon nodded, “Lead the way, Proteus; Sorus and I will follow.”
Proteus took his sword in hand and walked steadily past the tall archway and into the red glow beyond. Jon went next and Sorus followed behind in the rear. Jon’s huge body blocked his view for the most part and the young knight of Elekargul strained his eyes in the dim red light to see further ahead. The natural cavern quickly gave way to shaped stone walls and a smooth floor worked to perfection by skilled hands. The red glow came from stones embedded in the walls and Sorus did not notice when Jon suddenly stopped in front of him and he banged into the young knight and bounced backwards a step. Jon didn’t chastise him but simply looked at Proteus, who stood with his hand raised just ahead.
“Right around this bend,” he said in a whisper and lifted his sword. “Now!” he suddenly shouted and dashed around the corner. Jon went next and was instantly out of view of Sorus who charged after. When he turned the corner he saw Proteus already halfway across a narrow chamber where the skeletal creature stood in mid turn and the snake thing still had its back to their approach.