Chapter Fourty Nine – The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep by Kelly D. Tolman

Posted by admin on August 31, 2009

The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep is a fantasy novel describing the adventures of Colter Halfspear as he becomes a man and an initiate of magical powers.

Beneath Darnuth Keep lies a vast maze of passages and chambers, each originally built with a purpose long forgotten. Long since, those passages were covered in darkness and lost to human memory. We found them still and quiet. Fear gripped the occupants as they battled a silent war for survival in a place with few resources. I recognized immediately that we would be short of water and food without luck.

“You will probably need to try to gather water from the air,” suggested Pascalli. “As for food, we have some and the rest will be luck.”

The absence of light was unimaginable. Though I had lived with the Veldmen, delved in their caverns and dwelt underground for a long period of time, I did not expect that darkness. The thick blackness surrounded, smothered, threatened to completely consume us. I had no idea that such dreadful horror existed. The feeble glow of our lantern did little to push back the shadows.

Our first encounter came upon us suddenly. Though my senses were sharpened from long summers of careful travel and study I was not prepared when an unseen attack suddenly hit our lantern and I found myself facing an unknown foe in complete darkness. Not only was I completely blind, but whatever danger waited ahead of us came silently.

True horror grasped me. I felt as helpless as a babe. At my side Pascalli made no move, no sound. With great care and a steady motion I brought my spear to bear. I gripped the shaft and as I did a calm fell over me, for I had trained many times blindfolded or with my eyes closed. In that moment I closed my eyes and shut off the world of sight. I took a deep breath, slowly. Quite suddenly I caught the scent of our attacker.
Though it feared our light and could hear our every move, after long winters of solitude the beast no longer recognized its own scent, which reminded me of the smoke from burning buffalo chips.

The attack on the lantern had been sudden and precise, but there was no immediate follow up. I surmised that it had thrown or shot something at the lantern, and therefore must move closer. I took a half step backwards and away from Pascalli, putting a little distance between us.

I concentrated for but a moment, to beg the air to make a slight breeze so that we might be upwind of our adversary. Almost instantly the air gently began moving past my face, and I caught that odor again. Also on that breeze I caught a faint whisper of breath, more nasally and louder than Pascalli. If I could hear the breathing it must be very close now.

With a prayer to Tylos I thrust my spear in the direction of the sound, hoping Pascalli would not be in the way. The wizard, who was more adept than myself at stumbling in the dark, had created even more space between us, and just as I thrust I heard the dull thump of his staff connecting with something. My spear caught flesh, but any damage done was hard to assess, as my enemy remained utterly silent.

“Make a light,” said Pascalli. “If they are any still alive they will know where we are anyway.”

“The lantern is broken,” I replied.

“Use your head boy,” retorted Pascalli. “Or better yet use magic and that silly rock of yours. Heat it up enough to glow.”

By now I was so used to Pascalli’s remarks that I didn’t waste any time on anger. Instead I heated the rock until it glowed a dull red, though I sent it to hover an arms length away from me in case anything should try to attack it the way they had struck down the lantern.

By the dim light of the stone I could tell that the lantern had been hit with a small rock, probably a piece of rubble from some fallen wall. I said as much to Pascalli, and he replied, “Petrified dung.”

I don’t know that he saw my incredulous look in the half-light, but I held my tongue. The attack destroyed the lantern beyond repair. Not far away lay the body of one attacker. Its body was covered with green scales, and the short, squat creature reminded me of the Barak-dun. But it did not bleed red, but rather a green slime oozed from its wounds, and its eyes reflected a pale yellow.

“There will be more,” said Pascalli. “This kind is capable of breeding.”

Naturally Pascalli was right. Whatever those creatures were, they had multiplied tremendously in the darkness, and at every turn for what seemed like an eternity we crept along step by step expecting yet another attack. They huddled in the shadows, afraid of any light we brought, and attacked without warning.

Although we found many lanterns hung along the walls or from the ceiling most of them had been broken long before. The lamps were supplied with oil by some intricate system of pipes, but without wicks or shades, most could not function. Those that we could use we lighted, leaving a dim trail behind us.
“It will take a long time to clear this area this way,” I complained at some point.

“We aren’t here to clear the cellars,” stated Pascalli. “We’ve much more important business at hand.”

“And what would that be?” I asked.

“There is a curse upon this place, which does not belong here. Surely you have felt it,” he replied.

I had felt something malevolent since we entered the darkness. The lamps we lit gave off far too little light, and I was becoming more discouraged with each step.

“How will we lift the curse,” I asked.

“How should I know,” laughed Pascalli. “I’ve never been here before.”

I’m certain he winked at me in the darkness. I only half believed him, but because I had never known him to lie, I decided we were in more trouble than I had first guessed.

A mixture of the scaly green-blooded creatures we had first encountered, and a more tame variety of twisted animals occupied the first rooms. At least one boarger had ventured into the darkness, and a few large cats. In general the animals left us alone so long as we did not bother them. We would have time to come back and trap them or hunt them if we needed to later.

I can but imagine the countless hours that must have been spent carving and building these vast corridors. By comparison, the castle above us was a relatively small dwelling. The complex of tunnels and rooms loomed nearly as large as the city above us. Here and there water had been channeled down to run into pleasant fountains. These were always closely guarded, and our brief moments of respite were hard won against those who protected their way of life.
Copyright 2008 Kelly David Tolman

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