“I don’t like this traipsing about underground,” said Odellius looking up at the low ceiling only a few inches above his head as he put his hand on the rough cut stone wall.
“These mines are old,” said First Rider Vipsanius as he also put his hand on the stone. “No one’s cut here in centuries and the support beams are rotted to nothing. I suggest we move cautiously from here on out.”
Jon nodded his head, “It does seem dangerous in here, but those reptile men went before us and nothing looks caved in. Maybe it’s sturdier than it looks?”
“We move with caution,” said the First Rider again as he ran his hand over the rough wall. “The lizard creatures are even less used to underground travel than us and if they set off a cave-in, we might suffer the consequences.”
“Their trail is easy enough to follow,” said Odellius looking at a webbed footprint in a little muddy rivulet that emerged from the nearby wall. “They take no precautions and do not imagine they are followed.”
“Nor do we take precautions,” said Vipsanius and looked into the darkness; the glow stone in his hand penetrated just far enough ahead to see the narrow corridor sweep around to the right. “These caves are occupied by darklings I’d guess and they do not like visitors.”
“We killed a darkling,” said Sorus his eyes wide in the gloom. “They didn’t seem so tough,” he continued and put his hand to the blade at his side. It was difficult to believe that not many days ago Sir Germanius used it to fight the white dragon.
“They come in many shapes and sizes,” said Odellius and put his own huge hand on the thick blade at his side. “I’ve seen them eight feet tall and covered with black fur,” he continued, “and wizards and priests as well. The little ones come in waves and they pop out from any nook or cranny. Do not take them lightly. We defeat them easily enough on the surface as they cannot stand up against a cavalry charge but here, in their black lands, we are the strangers and our tactics a disadvantage.”
Vipsanius nodded, “Odellius is right, Sorus, never underestimate a foe in any case. That’s a certain way to die. I’ll take the lead; spread out a few feet between each man so we can keep watch and move slowly. Sorus, you come second, Jon third, and Odellius bring up the rear.”
The four immediately spread out in this order with the appropriate amount of space between them as each looked up to the ceiling and the many rocky protrusions that seemed to hang over them like dark clouds on a cold day. “They could be anywhere,” said Jon as he pulled out his huge gray sword and poked at a little hole in the wall.
“They’ll see us before we see them,” said the First Rider shining his light ahead. “Their eyes are light sensitive and they only use dark red and blue glow stones. Our bright lights will attract their attention long before we see them.”
“They’ll know about the reptile men too,” said Sorus with a grin, “and they’re in front of us.”
“That’s true,” said Vipsanius from up ahead, “but it doesn’t mean they won’t attack us. The reptiles might have an alliance with the creatures down here, something prearranged.” Suddenly the First Rider came to a complete halt and stared at the passageway that opened to his right.
“What is it,” said Sorus from directly behind.
“Look at this,” said the First Rider, his hand on the stone cut as he ran it back and forth. “It’s smooth, like glass, like a door frame.”
Jon and Odelluis came up to examine the wall and nodded their heads. “What does it mean?” said Jon, “I’m not much for caving.”
“I’ve read about cuts like this,” said the First Rider as his hand came to his chin, “but I’ve never seen the like. It might be a secret passageway just opened by the lizards,” he said and shone his light down the path. “Or someone just cut this pathway with significantly more precision than any we’ve yet found.”
“I don’t like the idea of coincidence,” said Odellius as he paused to take a look behind him just in the nick of time as a little darkling warrior stabbed at his back with a sharp knife. “Watch it,” he shouted, turned his body to the left, lifted his sword, and caught the creature under the chin with the hilt of his blade. The creature flew through the air, smashed into the wall behind them with a crash, and then crumpled to the floor.
More of the little creatures came out of nooks and crannies in the wall in a wave, and a huge, furry beast with four horns coming out of its head joined them from the open corridor ahead of the First Rider.
Jon, nearest to Odellius, flicked his huge stone blade at the first of the charging little creatures and connected, which immediately sent it to the floor with a crushed skull and one eyeball popped out of its socket. Odellius formed up with Jon, although the two of them barely fit side by side in the corridor, and faced off against the dozen or so creatures that came at them. One of the beasts, attached to the wall like a giant black spider, launched a dagger that sailed by Jon’s ear and hit the First Rider in the back of the shoulder, but luckily hilt first as it spun half a rotation too far.
Jon leaped at that foe, his long reach catching the creature by surprise, and chopped its arm off with a little flick of his wrist. Odellius reached up and grabbed a second creature that tried to drop from the rocks behind him and used it as a shield when a brace of daggers flew through the air. The young knight of gray raised his sword to swing again but the narrow confines of the cave knocked his swing off target and the little darkling he tried to hit dodged easily away and, with a riposte strike, nicked Jon’s arm just under his chain shirt.
“It’s too damn close in here,” shouted Odellius, dropping his sword and hurling the dagger-poked darkling past Jon. It smashed into two more of the beasts that hung from the wall. “Just smash ‘em.”
Jon instantly dropped his sword and plucked another creature from the wall, his massive grip catching it around the leg. He squeezed hard and a snap was followed by a high-pitched shriek. He tossed the creature at another up ahead; the second creature tried to dodge, and this allowed the huge gray knight to stride forward and punch it in the face shattering its nose and cheekbones. It seemed almost instantly that Odellius joined him, and their fists snapped the faces, ribs, arms, and legs of the two or three creatures that remained while the rest suddenly fled into little nooks and crannies in the walls.
At the front of the long corridor Vipsanius and Sorus stood side by side as a massive shaped loomed out of the darkness. It stood over seven feet tall, was covered by thick white fur, its pink eyes glared out at them, and it held a massive stone club in its hand. “Steady,” said the First Rider with a quick nod to Sorus as they pulled out their blades.
“I’ve got your left,” said the boy as his feet shuffled, and he moved a few inches backward unintentionally. The creature did not have room to swing its massive weapon in an arc so instead lunged forward more like a fencer with a rapier, and Sorus brought up his own sword to deflect the blade before Vipsansius could stop him. The weight of the stone smashed aside Sorus’s blade and his arm suddenly went numb as the club caught him between the elbow and the shoulder. The First Rider jabbed forward with his own blade, the tip embedding itself in the beast’s shoulder. It screamed in pain and whipped the club around towards Vipsanius, but the First Rider managed to bring up his shield and soften the blow although the force still knocked him against the wall with a thump.
A terrible splash of dark blood poured from the wound in the creature’s shoulder, which it stared at stupidly for a moment before it raised the club again and brought it down in a short arc against the shield of the First Rider. The metal shield rang out as the stone club hammered down and drove Vipsanius back, his head snapped against the wall with a loud thud. He saw little yellow stars twirling around his head for a moment as the creature reached forward with its free hand to grab him around the neck, but the First Rider managed a quick slash with this sword that severed the massive paw at the wrist and set a spurt of blood cascading in an arc across his eyes.
At that moment Sorus stabbed at the back of the creature with a small knife gripped in his left hand and plunged it deeply into the flesh of the beast. The thing roared, spun around with its fist into Sorus’s shoulder, sent the boy down and across the floor, but this gave the First Rider a momentary respite in which he gathered his wits.
When the beast turned to face Vipsanius the man lunged forward with his blade and buried it in the thing’s neck which killed it instantly. The beast’s legs immediately collapsed, it fell forward against the First Rider, and pinned him against the wall with a crash.
Jon and Odellius, just returned from their own battle, came up on the First Rider just like that when they returned to the doorway. Sorus lay on the floor in a heap and gave off a soft groan while the great furry creature lay, half upright, against the wall. It wasn’t until Vipsanius called out, “A little help here,” that they realized the location of the First Rider.
Odellius peered around the side of the beast and spotted Vipsanius pinned to the wall as he pushed mightily, but completely ineffectually, to remove the burden.
“Once, in my youth, I hired out a Bugbear whore but I’m guessing her embrace proved more pleasant than this one?” he said with a smile. “Jon, come here and lend us a strong shoulder, the First Rider’s gotten himself in a jam.”
Jon had gone over to Sorus and shook the boy’s shoulder to make sure of his health, “Are you all right, Sorus?” but turned to look back at the words of Odellius. “I’ll be right there.”
Sorus looked up at Jon, his eyes unfocused but immediately spotted the bloody area under his arm, “You’re wounded,” he said and reached forward immediately feeling a wave of nausea and slumping back down. “I think I hit my head.”
“You’ll be ok,” said Jon. “Just sit there and don’t move for a bit. I’ve got to help Odellius and Vipsanius,” he continued, stood, and headed back to where the other two members of the party awaited him. He arrived and looked over the situation for a few moments, “Can you breathe all right?” he said to the First Rider who nodded his head and grimaced.
“I can breathe mostly fine except for this big furry lump on my chest,” he said. “It’s bled all over me and I don’t suppose anybody packed a creek?”
“No,” said Odellius with a laugh as Jon moved under the thing with his left shoulder and braced himself against the wall. The rotund knight wrapped his arms around the blood-soaked creature and said, “One, two, and heave!”
Jon pushed, Odellius pulled, and for a moment it looked like nothing happened, but then the creature slumped over to one side and then crashed to the floor as more blood flowed from the open wound at its neck.
“Big fella,” said Jon as he looked down on the creature.
“Indeed,” said Odellius. “All we had to fight was a bunch of wee little one with daggers,” he went on as he looked over the First Rider carefully. “You don’t look wounded, just a lot of blood.”
“I’m fine,” said Vipsanius who now took the time to examine Jon and Odellius. “Sir Odellius, get some cloth bandages from my pack and attend to that wound under Jon’s arm. I’ll see to Sorus, he might have a broken arm.”
Jon sat down and let Odellius peel off first his outer jerkin and then the heavy chain shirt, “The dwarves of your land must have mined out an entire mountain to forge all these links,” he said as he eyed the massive thing and then dropped it to the ground with a clank. “You do have dwarves up north, and they do mine for ore?”
Jon nodded, “We do and they do. They were one of the first independent nations to join my father in the alliance of Tanelorn,” he said with a smile. “A dwarf named Sir Pedlow Fivefist from a place called Stav’rol, you might have heard of it, one of the great cities of the Old Empire.”
“I’ve heard of it, but know little. Now, this might hurt a bit,” he said, pulling out a small flask and dipping the clean cloth bandage in it. “But we don’t want that wound to get infected and we’re without a healing priest.” With that he slapped the bandage on Jon whose eyes grew wide but he did not cry out.
“That’s smarts a bit,” he said through teeth firmly clenched.
“Now, then, you’re a strong lad,” said Odellius, “a little pain is good for you now and again. It lets you know you’re alive.”
“True enough, mmmh,” said Jon as the big bellied knight began wrapping a dressing around the bandage and made sure to pull it snug.
Jon looked over to Sorus and the First Rider for a moment and then back to Odellius. “If Sorus’s arm is broken that makes things more difficult; do you train your fighters to work with both hands?”
“Some fighters do,” said Odellius, “but remember Sorus is a brewer by training, if he took any sword work at all it was on his own without supervision. I don’t think he’ll be of much use to us from here on, but he’s a brave lad and that’s good enough.”
Jon nodded, “True,” he finally said as Odellius finished his wrapping. “Besides with you, me, and the First Rider I’d imagine we’re a formidable force against any enemy.”
Odellius nodded, “Two men and two boys against the darkling hordes, it sounds like a good story indeed. I hope that was just a random party of the things and not a concerted attack.”
Jon looked at Odellius, “I hope you’re right, but I suspect it’s far more than that. The creatures worked with the white dragon Germanius slew, and they have to know about the Staff of Sakatha,” he said as he got to his feet. “I can’t imagine they want us walking around down here, and there are all those reptile men roaming about as well. It’s possible they stirred up the darklings and we just cleaned up the mess,” he finished.
Odellius stood and helped Jon put his armor and jerkin back on, “We should move as fast as possible then. The reptiles men are down to mainly priests and not warriors. If the darklings want to destroy them it won’t be particularly difficult and we need them to lead us to the staff.”
Suddenly the First Rider looked up from Sorus whose eyes now seemed steady and strong, “That’s it, of course,” he said and stood up with a snap of his fingers. “The reptile men know where the staff is and we’re all just following them, the darklings too!”
“He’s right,” said Sorus as he got to his feet. “Jon, that white dragon knew you! Its master, that skeletal thing, was working with the dragon children, and the reptile men, so far from Darag’dal, it does make sense.”
“Are we sure that Lord Whitebone was the dragon’s master?” said Jon, looking at Sorus and putting his hand on the hilt of his sword.
“Of course,” said Sorus, bobbing his head up and down. “That’s why it attacked as soon as you explained that we, that Sir Germanius, killed the thing. You saw how angry it got when we told the story. It was here to negotiate with the lizards or the dragon children for information about the Staff of Sakatha. Then we came along and ruined the plan.”
“That all my be true,” said the First Rider, “but if the thing suddenly reappeared now after who knows how many centuries, what is guiding them, and why?”
“I don’t know,” said Sorus.
“It doesn’t matter,” said Jon, “at least not at the moment. We need to find those reptiles as fast as possible,” and looked at the floor for signs of their passage.
“Over here,” said Odellius as he pointed to a little green splotch on the floor, “It’s a good thing they chew tobacco,” he said with a grin. “Remind me to liberate a few pouches after we kill them. I’ve had it only twice before when traders brought it from Darag’dal. They say the lizards grow the finest tobacco deep in their swamps.”
“You’ve had that filthy habit since you were six years old,” said the First Rider, shaking his head and looking at Odellius.
“Not true,” replied the rotund warrior, “it was my seventh birthday celebration when my uncle gave me my first pouch.”
Jon looked at Sorus and then to the two men giggling like young girls, “You’d think we weren’t on an important mission,” he said, and the young knight of Elekargul shrugged his shoulders.
“Old people are weird,” he said and then led the way down the corridor indicated by Odellius. The two older warriors managed to stifle their laughter long enough to follow Sorus and Jon.
Jon took the lead as the passageway opened up slightly, Sorus kept five feet behind him, while the two older knights followed along in line with the First Rider now in the rear and Odellius behind the young brewer. Jon watched the ground for signs of the green spittle-like substance that the reptile creatures spat out at regular intervals and this kept them along the right passage despite the many twists, turns, and side tunnels.
“Is anyone keeping track of how many turns we’re making,” said Sorus at one point as he looked backwards towards Odellius and his eyes darted back and forth. “I’m totally lost, I don’t know how deep we’ve gone, how long we’ve been here, or what direction we’re facing.”
“It’s easy to get turned around underground,” said Odellius, “but all we have to do is follow the spit trail back to the surface after we find the staff.”
“I guess that’s true,” said Sorus and started forward again his lip twitching nervously, his broken right arm in a sling fashioned by Vispsanius, and a small knife clenched in his left. “By the Black Horse I don’t like being down here at all. I yearn for the open plains of Elekargul, a fiery steed under my hand.”
“Since when do you have a fiery steed?” said Jon as he took a glance over his shoulder, “other than the one you borrowed from Sir Germanius, which, by the way, you’ll want to return to his family eventually.”
“It’s just a figure of speech,” said Sorus with a grin on his face and his lip stopped its twitching for a moment. “I’ve ridden a few ponies before you came along.”
“I’ll miss that trotter of mine if we don’t make it back to the surface alive,” said Jon as he looked again and shone his light down both ends of a double turn in the passage. “I’ll have to remember to stop in Tarlton and pick up some breeding stock to take back to Tanelorn. First Rider,” he continued, “I’m not sure which passage to take here, it goes two ways and I don’t see any stains on the floor down either corridor.”
The First Rider and Odellius came forward so that all four of them stood together in the passage, “One pick is as good as the next,” he said and peered down each passage. “Who feels lucky?”
Silence greeted this question.
“Fine then,” he said with a laugh. “I’ll choose.” With that he headed down the passage to his right with short but steady little strides.
Jon put his hand out palm up and looked at Sorus and Odellius, “Gentlemen, after you.”
Sorus followed the First Rider, Odellius went third, and Jon brought up the rear. They followed the passage for perhaps forty or fifty steps when the First Rider suddenly stopped and looked into a little corner where his light seemed unable to penetrate. He held up his hand and Sorus stopped a few feet behind him which brought both Odellius and Jon to a halt as well.
“Who’s there?” asked the First Rider as he squinted and tried to peer into the impenetrable darkness that suddenly seemed to coalesce into a vaguely humanoid form. Vipsanius immediately took a step back, almost bumped into Sorus, and raised his sword. “Who is it?”
The dark shadow slid forward over the ground as Sorus, Odellius, and Jon moved up to join the First Rider, “Watch behind us,” he said in a low voice and pointed backwards to Sorus who immediately turned to watch the passage to their rear.
“I am called Tenebrous,” said the dark shadow with a deep voice that seemed to come from nowhere and all around them at the same time. “I think I might be of help to you.”
“What manner of creature are you?” said Vipsanius as he looked it up and down and tried to see any sort of shape or form to the thing.
“I am a shadow escaped from the Deathlands and kept permanently in this condition by She who Rules the Abyss,” said Tenebrous, his form shifting subtly from one shape to the next.
“How can you help us?” said the First Rider as he kept his sword at the ready position and narrowed his gaze on the creature.
“The Staff of Sakatha is near,” said the shadowy creature as its form winnowed down and flowed backwards down the corridor. “Time is of the essence. You must follow me to the staff and take it. I will then lead you out of this region.”
“Don’t trust him,” said Sorus, “he’s a darkling creature of some kind.”
“He serves the Lady of the Abyss at the very least,” said Odellius who stepped forward and his massive bulk filled almost the entire corridor. “The Staff of Sakatha is a powerful relic of the Old Empire and something she no doubt desires.”
“I am bound to obey The Lady in all her orders,” said Tenebrous with a slow drawl, “but her commands do not cover every eventuality and with some creativity I am able to pursue my own agenda.”
The First Rider looked at the creature and again tried to discern any sort of form, but the billowy nature of the thing defeated his every attempt, “Why should I trust you?”
Tenebrous gave off a low laugh, “I can offer you no assurances, nor do I even know who you are. I assume you are here following the lizard creatures and want the Staff of Sakatha for yourself. I know the gray boy came to this region for that purpose, and you must be his allies.”
Jon stepped forward, “You know me as well?”
“My mistress told me of your presence in the region before I was relieved of my duties in this quest,” he said. “I’ve spoken with your brother Valarius Tarragonus about certain relics your father has acquired and one in particular that interests me.”
“My father has something you want?” said Jon as Odellius, Sorus, and Vipsanius looked at one another with quick glances.
“Sadly,” said the black cloud, “no. Your father is not aware of the location of the particular relic that I seek but he is a resourceful man and your brother a powerful mage. If I help you in this situation then I hope to garner goodwill should any information about the item I seek be unearthed.”
Jon looked to the First Rider and shrugged his shoulders, “Everything he says about my brother is true, but he is well-known in Tanelorn and the surrounding regions.”
“Why don’t you take the staff for yourself,” said Vipsanius as he lowered his sword slightly.
The creature suddenly reached his smoky hand forward towards the First Rider who flinched away even as the smoke passed through the man, “In my current condition it is not possible to grasp and hold things I might desire. Therefore, I find myself reduced to dependence upon others for aid in this regard. Now, Jon Gray and companions, I said time was of the essence and I did not lie. The dreams of Chusarausea the great green dragon guide the dragon children and they close in on the ancient location of the Staff of Sakatha. My colleague, a ghoul named Thantos, guided by darklings, follows and means to ambush them when they break into the final chamber.”
“How close are they?” said Vipsanius and suddenly stepped close to the creature and lowered his sword.
“I am uncertain,” said the dark cloud. “I know that the dreams of the dragon became unfettered recently and they are moving directly towards a location somewhere in the region. I assume it is one of the ancient white marble temples of the Old Empire but I do not know for certain. If we continue to stand here and debate, then Thantos will gain the staff and return it to the Lady of the Abyss.”
The First Rider looked to Odellius who nodded his head with one quick motion and then to Jon who smiled, “What do we have to lose?”
“Our lives,” said Sorus as he looked to the dark cloud.
“That goes without saying,” said the First Rider a grin on his face. “All right, Tenebrous,” he said. “I am First Rider Vipsanius Coppercoin and we will follow you to the Staff of Sakatha.”
The black cloud became silent and immediately began to flow down the corridor in the direction in which they were already headed.
“At least I picked the right direction,” said the First Rider with a shrug and a smile as his short little legs followed after the dark shadow. “Spread out and follow me.”
Sorus went second, Jon third, and Odellius brought up the rear. Tenebrous led them down a series of corridors and then suddenly halted in the middle of non-descript hallway.
“What’s wrong?” said Vipsanius as he came up behind the creature.
“I must calibrate myself to travel with fleshy creatures,” said the shadow and paused for a moment. “I can move through a certain thickness of solid material and did not consider that when leading you. We must go around.”
“How thick?” said Odellius as he came forward to where the duo stood.
The shadow said nothing and floated in front of the stone wall for a long moment.
“I said,” said Odellius moving to within a few inches of the thick cloud, “how thick is the wall?”
“Perhaps a foot,” said Tenebrous as his form wavered in the strange shadowy light cast by the stones.
“How long will it take us to go around?” continued Odellius as Jon moved forward and put his hand on the wall with a speculative touch.
“I’m not sure,” said Tenebrous the thick voice slowed down even more than usual. “I did not calculate your presence in my original plan.”
“Limestone,” said Jon with a nod of his head and a sudden kick at the wall that sent a small spray of rocks in all directions. “With picks and a sledges it’s a ten minute job at most but we’ll have to use our weapons. It could take some time.”
“Wait,” said the shadowy voice. “Back aways, there is an old storage area with digging equipment. No more than a hundred paces.”
Vipsanius looked to Sorus and Odellius, “Go with Tenebrous and bring what we need; Jon, you and I will start working.”
With that Tenebrous led Sorus and Odellius back the way they came and left Jon and Vipsanius alone. Jon began to kick at the wall which knocked off little showers of rock while the First Rider used the hilt of his sword to dig holes.
“Can we trust him?” said Jon, jamming his heel into an indentation in the rock as they worked at the stone wall.
“Of course not,” said Vipsanius as he dug a hunk of rock out of the wall, his short, powerful arms flexed at the effort, “but that isn’t going to stop us from following him.”
“We can’t fight a creature like that,” said Jon, “not without magic. If my brother was here, maybe, but I’m not sure. My blade has some effect against creatures of that nature and I’ll try if it comes to that,” he finished and then yelped in pain as he kicked a particularly thick part of the rock.
“Don’t hurt yourself, Jon,” said Vipsanius as he carefully cut out another hunk of the wall. “Just make small little indentations here so that the picks have a place to grab when Sorus and Odellius return.”
Jon nodded and began to work more carefully, “Have you decided what you’ll do if we manage to recover the staff?”
“Not yet,” said the First Rider as a little piece of the wall fell out at his feet, “but I’ll let you know when I do.”
“I appreciate that,” said Jon with a smile just as Odellius and Sorus returned. The big knight of Elekargul carried two large picks and a heavy sledge hammer while Sorus managed to juggle two shovels tucked underneath his sling and held hard against his body. They dumped their bounty on the ground; the First Rider grabbed a pick in one hand, and began to hammer at the wall with quick, steady bursts that sent stone shards flying in all directions. One of them caught Jon in the brow and he spun around with a curse.
“Sorry about that,” said Vipsanius as he continued to pound away without pause. Odellius grabbed the sledge hammer and began to match swings with the much smaller First Rider. The little man with the powerful chest managed two knocks for every one of the rotund warrior and the rocks began to spray out of the wall in great showers. It took them less than five minutes of steady work to break through to the other side and another minute to clear enough of a hole for them all to pass. By then Odellius’s breath came in great gasps and sweat covered his brow. On the other hand the First Rider breathed normally and only a few smudges of dirt on his face indicated any work at all.
“Which way,” said Vipsanius to the dark shadow and the creature immediately flowed forward and took them deeper in the caves.
“Not much further ahead is where I last saw them,” said Tenebrous. “The darklings helped me up to this point but I suspect that we cannot count on them anymore.”
The group went forward a few hundred meters and then the shadowy form stopped again. “I must go forward alone for the moment,” it said with a deep voice. “I will return when I find the children of dragons.”
With that the creature moved ahead into the darkness and immediately vanished.
“What happens when we find them?” said Sorus and looked to the other three, his young eyes darting back and forth and his good hand twitching at his side.
“We should have a plan,” said Odellius with a gasp as he put his back to the wall and slumped to the ground.
“Sorus, you can’t fight,” said the First Rider as the boy started to object but Vipsanius raised a hand to halt him. “Sorus, you find where the staff is and try to grab it as soon as you can. The rest of us will try and create a distraction and defend you. Follow Tenebrous wherever he leads.”
“Do you think we can trust him?” said Sorus, shaking his head no.
“We have no choice,” said the First Rider. “It’s that or just go home and forget all this happened.”
“I’m not totally opposed to that,” said Odellius with a smile, his face covered with dirt and sweat.
“If you want to go back, I’d understand,” said Jon as he looked at Odellius. “This is my fight, not yours. I’ll go on alone.”
Odellius smiled and laughed out loud, “What do you think the chances of that are?”
Jon smiled back at the huge warrior, “None at all.”
“What kind of a distraction did you have in mind, Vipsanius?” said Odellius and turned to the First Rider, a wipe of his brow with the filthy sleeve of his jerkin only managing to spread the dirt around.
The First Rider tossed the pick in his hand aside and drew his sword, “Lay into them like knights of Elekargul,” he said with a smile. “Once Sorus grabs the staff we’ll cover his retreat as best we can and follow if possible.”
“What do I do with it if I get out of here and… and you’re not around?” said Sorus his face pale in the dim light of the stones.
“That is your decision to make if I’m not there,” said Vipsanius as the smile left his face and he looked at the boy with a steady gaze. “If you make it to the surface alive then take the thing to our warriors, or give it over to Jon, whichever you think is best. You’re a knight of Elekargul, a Nightwalker now, Sorus, but you have no commanding officer other than me.”
“Yes, First Rider Vipsanius,” said Sorus suddenly standing up straight and giving the salute of his people. “You can count on me.”
“I know,” said Vipsanius and patted the boy on the shoulder just as the dark shadow suddenly coalesced out of the darkness.
“It is up ahead,” said Tenebrous, “not more than five hundred paces. You should put away your light stones except for one and mask that. The reptiles have gathered for a ceremony. Thantos and some darklings observe them. I am uncertain as to the length of the ritual but it cannot be long. The region ahead is of white marble and the magic is extraordinarily potent. It disrupts me to some degree and my ability to aid you will be limited.”
“I’ve never seen a white marble ruin,” said Sorus with a look to the other three, who in turn looked to one another, their faces expressionless and their eyes hardened.
“You will know it when you see it,” said the First Rider with a glance to the boy. “Just remember what we talked about and do your duty as a knight of Elekargul,” he said and handed his light stone to Sorus. “You carry this for now but wrap it in cloth to dim the light. The reptiles are not underground creatures and need a light source, so we won’t need ours once we get there.”
Sorus took the stone in his good left hand and then looked down at his right arm in a sling, thought about it for a moment before he placed the stone in his right hand, and fished around under his jerkin to find something with which to wrap the stone and dim its light. After a few seconds he pulled out a small pouch filled with a leafy green material which he dumped out. He put the light stone inside and its glow was enough to penetrate the thin material of the bag, although made sight more than a few feet ahead all but impossible. “Good enough?” he said and began to walk forward behind the lead of Tenebrous, who all but vanished in the gloom.
“Careful,” said Odellius as Jon bumped into him from behind.
“It’s too dark, I can’t even see a giant bulk like Odellius,” said the young knight of gray with a chuckle, “and Tenebrous is completely gone.”
“Be quiet,” ordered the First Rider without a look back as he stayed right behind Sorus and the light. The boy continued to do his best to follow the black shadow but in the diminished light the creature was all but invisible.
“Tenebrous,” he hissed when they reached a fork in the narrow passage, “I can’t see you. Which way did you go?”
The deep voice intoned from nowhere and everywhere, “Over here.”
“That doesn’t help,” said Sorus and looked down both passages with no clear idea from where the voice emanated.
The three men following closely behind all chuckled and even the deep black voice seemed to laugh albeit in an ominous fashion. A dark tendril of smoke came out from the passage to Sorus’s right, licked over the boy, which caused him to jump back and straight into the First Rider with a crash. “Don’t do that!” he said in a loud voice as his body shuddered. “That is creepy.”
“This way,” said Tenebrous, barely visible in the gloomy cave with the limited light source, and gave sort of a waving motion to the boy. “It’s not much further. You should be able to dim your light soon.”
Sorus looked ahead and could make out a faint glow from up ahead and beyond a curve in the passage. “We’re close,” he whispered back to the others, “try to be quiet.”
Jon looked at Odellius and Odellius looked at Jon and then they both looked to their heavy chain armor and massive feet and barely managed to avoid a laugh. “Good luck,” they whispered to each other at the same moment.
The First Rider looked back at them, shook his head but smiled, and brought his finger up to his lips, “Shhhh.”
With that all four, and the black shape of Tenebrous, moved forwards towards the light. As they rounded the corner Sorus first glimpsed the white marble temple of the Old Empire and stopped dead in his tracks.
After miles of dank cave walls the dazzling white of this area blinded him for a moment, and he shut his eyes and put his hand in front of face. Murmurs and chants of a strange language emanated from somewhere up ahead although its exact location remained elusive. The cave was not a particularly massive chamber with a ceiling only ten to fifteen feet high with a great stone circle at its center. Each stone was of perfectly cut white marble and stood six feet tall, about three feet wide, and another foot in depth. There were perhaps a hundred of them in all and they cut off Sorus’s vision of the interior of the circle, but that was undoubtedly from where the sound came.
As his eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness he spotted a group of the small darkling creatures at another entrance to the chamber, with their swords pulled out as they watched the stone circle intently. Sorus pulled back with a start. “There are darklings up there,” he whispered back to Vipsanius, “in a passageway to our right. I can’t tell how many.”
The First Rider nodded his head as his body tensed and he quietly drew his sword from its scabbard. “We’ll wait until Tenebrous tells us or the darklings make their move,” he whispered to Sorus and then looked back at Jon and Odellius to make sure they heard.
“I don’t see Tenebrous,” said Sorus in a low voice and peered back around the corner. “It’s awful bright in there with those white marble pillars. I can hear chanting or something but I can’t see anyone, there are too many stones in the way.”
“Just keep an eye on the darklings,” said Vipsanius. “They are waiting for the lizards to get the staff and then they’ll move.”
Sorus nodded his head and went back to peer around the corner. At that moment the sinuous black form of Tenebrous materialized behind Odellius at the rear, although it took them a few moments to realize the creature’s presence.
“I cannot get close enough to see what is transpiring,” said the deep voice. “The region is too well illuminated and I will be seen.”
“What about the darklings,” said Vipsanius as he looked over his shoulder quickly but then turned to watch Sorus. He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder, “You’re doing fine. Just keep watching and don’t worry about anything else.”
“I cannot approach the darklings either,” said Tenebrous. “Thantos is with them and he would recognize my presence immediately. I cannot tell you their precise numbers.”
“So you can’t tell us much of anything then,” said the First Rider in a low whisper.
“I’m afraid that is an accurate assessment,” said the shadowy shape. “It should be apparent when the dragon children complete their ceremony and gain the Staff of Sakatha. That is when Thantos and the darklings will strike. Once that happens you must act.”
“I understand as much,” said the First Rider, his hand still on Sorus’s back. “We’re going to send Sorus forward to grab the thing while the rest of us distract or disable the others. You lead him back to the surface and my people,” he went on and suddenly turned and gazed intently at Tenebrous, “if you do not safely guide this boy I’ll want a personal explanation as to why not. Is that understood, Tenebrous?”
The black cloud coalesced for a moment into a humanoid shape something like a man with two great horns on its head and massive wings sprouting from its back. “I understand, Vipsanius, First Rider of the people of Elekargul. I pledge that I will honor my part of the agreement.”
“I think they’re moving,” said Sorus as he noted several of the little darkling creatures move into the open. They were followed by a massive furred beast of the same variety he fought earlier. One of the little creatures got his foot under the large creature’s clumsy gait and shouted out in pain.
“What was that?” said Vipsanius and leaned forward and over Sorus’s shoulder.
“Clumsy,” whispered Sorus back to the First Rider. “I think, yes, the lizards heard it as well. I think there’s going to be a fight. Should we go?”
“Wait and see what happens,” said Vipsanius. “Maybe they’ll battle themselves out and we can strike from behind.”
“What if they take the staff out some other entrance?” said Jon from the rear.
Vipsanius looked to the dark cloud of Tenebrous, “Tenebrous?”
“It is possible the dragon children know another exit from here,” he said, his form darkening. “They have full access to the dreams of the Toxic One and I do not.”
Sorus watched as a darkling horde spilled out of the side passage with two more of the great furry creatures as well as half a dozen ghoulish monstrosities, their flesh rotting and decayed. Soon the sounds of battle echoed throughout the chamber for all to hear.
Odellius moved up next to the First Rider, “I do not like to stand and wait for the stronger side to emerge.”
“I agree,” said the First Rider, “but we’ve no sign of the staff.”
“The reptile men are coming out from the center of the circle and I can’t hear chanting anymore,” said Sorus in a normal tone of voice. A sudden explosion sounded from past the corner and the boy turned to look.
“Enough waiting,” said Vipsanius. “Odellius, Jon, with me; Sorus follow. We’ll head toward the stones and try and get to the middle.”
With that Odellius, Jon, and the First Rider burst out from their hiding place and immediately shuttered their eyes as the brilliance of the white marble reflected even the dim light a thousand fold. It took them a few seconds to adjust to the brightness; fortunately, the creatures embroiled in conflict were either too busy to notice them or did see them but were unable to react.
A dozen darklings lay scattered on their ground, their bodies burnt by some fiery spell while one of the big furry creatures lay on its side, a great blackened mass of flesh that emanated smoke. Near the closest of the white marble pillars three reptile men lay on the ground either dead or near death while half a dozen more, all in priestly robes, fought on against twice their number in ghouls and darklings.
Jon Gray’s massive strides took him toward the rear of the darkling creatures, although Vispanius kept up with his own little legs churning like spokes in a wagon wheel and Odellius quickly fell behind, his rolling gate no match for the other two. With one sweep of his massive stone sword Jon sent three of the creatures straight to oblivion, and the First Rider cut into another two with precise sword strokes through their necks.
Odellius, who brought up the rear, attacked the second of the huge furry beasts and drove his blade into the thing’s lower back at an upward angle, and his forward momentum caused him to crash into the creature. The sword burst out of the thing’s chest as it sprawled forward on top of a reptile man with upraised arms and crushed him to the floor with a terrible splat.
The arrival of the third force changed the dynamics of the situation immediately as the darklings turned to face their new foes, while the last of the furry creatures grabbed a reptile man and tore off his arm with a seemingly nonchalant motion. One of the priest’s eyes opened wide and a smile began to form on his lips as he assumed the First Rider and his friends were allies. Jon disavowed him of this notion with a flick of his wrist; his massive stone sword came down on the head of the creature, crushed it and sprayed a wide splatter of skull and brain matter in all directions.
Jon, Vipsanius, and Odellius blew straight through the combatants and into the maze of giant white stones while Sorus moved behind them. The reptile men and darklings stood in stunned silence for a moment, their weapons and spell-casting paraphernalia held high. The third, and final, great furry beast recovered first and took a swipe at a priest of Sakatha, severing his head cleanly, after which the battle resumed in full force.
The First Rider strode through the white stones, running headlong into a spectacularly bedecked priest and shoving him against a pillar with a thrust of his short but powerful arms. The reptile man cracked his skull against the stone, slumped to the ground, and left a trail of blood on the otherwise bright white surface. Within seconds all four of them stood near the center of the stone circle where a huge green stone made of jade, or some like substance, glowed with an internal light, and three reptile men stood around it, their arms raised and their chants at some sort of a crescendo.
Vipsanius raised his hand and the others stopped immediately as they took in the sight. One of the reptiles spotted the group from the corner of its eye, and the chant faltered for a moment, but a glance from the leader of the group returned them to their duties. The leader then raised a hand towards the First Rider, Jon, Odellius, and Sorus and a greenish gas engulfed them. All four scattered away from the miasma and coughs racked their lungs, although the First Rider went towards the priest at the center of the circle with his sword upraised.
At that moment the chants hit a crescendo and a tremendous flash of intensely bright green light, focused on the stone in the center of the room, exploded into the chamber.