Chapter Fifty Two – The Cleansing of Darnuth Keep by Kelly D. Tolman
Posted by admin on September 21, 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.
Pascalli woke me with a nudge, and I followed the direction of his pointing finger. A robed figure was moving north along the street, deeper into the occupied city.
We avoided the light of the mossy gardens as much as possible, and followed the creature. The dwellings had no windows, but they also lacked doors, each having but one opening to the street with no covering. Our greatest risk would be that we might be spotted as we passed on of these openings, but we had to match the pace of our quarry. Fortunately the chase did not last long. The main street ran in a straight line due north, and for some reason all of the locals were keeping indoors. The street ended in a wide courtyard featuring another small fountain and a wide lawn of glowing moss. The robed figure climbed a short set of stairs that made a porch before entering a large doorway.
Unlike other areas we had found so far, the courtyard was entirely lit due to the large spread of glowing moss and the large glowing mushrooms. We paused in the shadows just outside the courtyard. None of the surrounding buildings seemed to be a residence. Several creatures were talking around the fountain, or just inside the various buildings. All told, I counted twenty-one. To my surprise I saw that only two of them had visible weapons, they stood lazily guarding the entrance to the building we presumed to be the temple. The guards carried only the same shabby spears that we had encountered before. The rest of them appeared completely unconcerned about any kind of danger.
Crossing the courtyard would take several seconds at least. Pascalli pointed to my bow and then to the guards. I prepared an arrow carefully, taking my time, and set a second arrow close by where I could reach it instantly. Once the attack began we would have very little time. I loosed the second arrow while the first was still in flight, not waiting to watch my arrow pierce the left guard’s throat. We withdrew immediately to the shadows while confusion engulfed the courtyard. Two of them ran to check on the guards while the rest scattered to the cover of the other buildings.
I wasted no time killing the two that remained in the open, daring any of the others to venture out.
“Send a firestone ahead of us into the temple,” said Pascalli. “They already know where we are.”
I heated my stone as hot as I could, and sent it into the temple. When it reached the doorway Pascalli sprinted into the courtyard with me at his heels. We paused long enough to push the bodies out of the way, and followed the dim red glow of the stone inside.
For the first time I felt neither fear nor nerves as I entered a battle. I performed as ordered without hesitation. Either the winters of travel with Pascalli or the unrelenting days of strain in the darkness had edged cold calculation into my heart. I saw my movements clearly, as if watching another person.
The guards we had slain appeared to be all of the immediate fighting force. The temple itself must have originally been dedicated to Tylos, for its general construction and layout followed the pattern of all her temples, but it had long since been desecrated. The symbol of Delvor had been cut prominently into the back wall above the altar, and the place stank of rotting meat. Behind the altar I noticed a small pile of coins mixed with bones, but I was not hunting treasure or trophies. We saw two exits from the main hall, one directly at the back of the room, and a side door to our left.
“Which way?” I asked.
“You’re leading,” responded Pascalli sardonically.
“To the back then,” I replied. I hated when Pascalli chose moments like this to make me think. “What are we looking for anyway?”
“A way out,” said the wizard.
Pursuit could not be far behind, and they would certainly outnumber us. We hurried into the next room to find the priest waiting defiantly with his spear. As he hissed a warning, I sent the red-hot stone immediately to its eye, but he ducked at the last second. His movements proved futile, however, as I crossed the room in two quick steps and thrust my spear into its chest.
“Search the room for clues,” suggested Pascalli. “Go ahead and pocket any coins you find. We’ll need money to buy more supplies with when we return to the top.”
I turned up a handful of ancient coins, and a hidden lever in the back corner.
“Don’t just stand there,” commented Pascalli. “Pull the thing.”
It didn’t occur to me until much later that the lever might be trapped or guarded. In any event, we proved lucky, and a hidden staircase opened behind the back wall.
The lanterns that hung from the ceiling in this portion of the temple remained intact, a strong indication that the lizard creatures had not come here, at least not often. As we proceeded from place to place we lit each one. The ceilings and walls of this lower section were highly polished so that the light reflected much further than expected, giving the place an almost pleasant feeling after being in near total darkness for so long. I squinted dumbly into the new light for several moments, waiting for my eyes to adjust. Then I just stared dumbly as if I had forgotten light altogether.
“I almost forgot what light was,” said Pascalli lightly.
The main passageway split off after a very short while with a hall to the left and a hall to the right. Doors were visible only to the left.
“Left or right?” I asked. Pascalli simply shrugged, and I led us down the passage to the right.
The corridors and rooms beneath the temple of Delver were completely free of dust and debris. In the underground city almost everything left footprints or other sign as they passed through the fungus gardens that allowed us to track or be tracked. Here the place appeared locked in time. No sounds broke the silence, other than our soft steps and gentle breathing. I wanted to voice my opinion about these changes, but didn’t dare draw attention to us in the thick quiet.
The door we found, for the corridor ended quite suddenly, had been intricately inlaid with gold and silver lettering of the same kind found at the entrance to the cellars. I studied the writing silently, waiting for Pascalli to explain.
“It just says, study,” said the wizard. “Although it’s obvious this is a place of more importance than others we have visited.”
I studied the door a moment longer. “Do you think it’s safe?” I asked.
“No,” he replied firmly. “Especially not after the noise we’ve been making. But you’ve no choice. Open it and be prepared.”
I wanted to suggest that he open the door instead. I always seemed to be opening doors or charging in first, but I relented. To my surprise, it was locked or bolted.
“Definitely important, though it might be a trap,” said Pascalli. “Did Blackhand teach you how to pick a lock?”
“He explained it once,” I said. “I’ve never had a chance to practice, and I don’t have the tools he described.”
“I’ve the tools you need here,” replied the wizard. “I shall guide you. No time like the present to learn.”
As I took the tools, I wondered why Pascalli hadn’t taught me before.
“It takes a thief to catch one, or so the saying goes,” said Pascalli. “Or you can’t cheat an honest man, or something. At any rate, I’ve picked up a few tricks like this over the winters. Just remember that there are easier ways of getting rich than breaking into treasuries.”
“I’ve no intention of breaking into anything,” I replied. “As far as I can tell gold only brings trouble.”
Pascalli laughed long and hard, and a sudden comfort came over the both of us. His humor had brightened considerably in the light, and I began to feel as if we were finally nearing the end of that dark journey.
After several minute of painstaking effort and considerable noise, I managed to get the mechanism to move.
“Very good, Scratch,” said Pascalli when he heard the click. “Now hold onto that spear and let’s see what’s inside.”
Copyright 2008 Kelly David Tolman
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