The Staff of Sakatha (37 page)

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.”