Shepherd's Quest: The Broken Key #1 (36 page)

“There’s still that one passage off that way,” Riyan said as he pointed down the way they went the first time, “that we have yet to explore.”

“Okay,” Bart said then headed off down the corridor. Starting at the junction with the arrow of coins, they continued down and turned right. Then a short ways further the passage ended at another running left and right. They saw one coin in the one they’re exiting and two coins to their left.

Turning left, they followed this passage to where it turned to the right, then continued forward until they came to another passage branching off to their left. Again, a single coin from the way they came. Two coins in the passage to their left, so they continued forward into the passage that had no coins. Thus they were entering uncharted territory.

Riyan placed three coins on the ground in the new passage to continue marking the order in which they took the passages.

The passage quickly turned right, then after a short way turned right again. A long passage, the longest single passage they’ve yet come across, then a turn to the left.

Another short passage before they again turned left, then another very long passage ending at a door.

“This must be it,” Riyan said. He was about to move forward when Bart stopped him.

“Haven’t you learned anything yet?” Bart asked. “Stand back and let me take a look.” Riyan looked sheepish but backed out of his way. He and the others remained ten feet back from the door as Bart moved forward to examine it.

Bart stepped carefully as he approached the door and made it safely all the way to it.

Before touching the handle he gave it and the lock a once over. Everything looked normal so he grabbed the handle and tried to pull the door open only to find it locked. Taking out his two picks, he set to work on the lock and felt it click open. Replacing the picks in the rolled leather, he put it back into his pack. Taking the handle, he pulled it open.

Whoosh!

Suddenly the door slammed open and a violent flow of water poured out. It picked him and the others up and carried them down the passage. The water extinguished the lantern and they were plunged into darkness. A bobbing light appeared just as the water washed them into a vertical shaft. They plummeted downward.

Riyan screamed as he knew his end had come. Then all of a sudden, something sticky grabbed hold of him and stopped his fall. He slammed into the side of the shaft but his downward fall had halted. A moment later the torrent of water subsided, then came to a halt.

He was quick to realize that the sticky object happened to be Kevik’s arm. He was encased in his own green goo spell and had Chad stuck to him as well. Hanging upside down, he was stuck to the side of the wall. Bart was nowhere to be seen.

“You okay?” Riyan asked Chad.

“Yeah,” he replied. “You?”

“A bit rattled but I’ll be okay.” Riyan then glanced to Kevik and saw his eyes moving. “You alright?”

A muffled reply came out from the goo and he took that as an affirmative.

“Bart!” Riyan cried out. He looked down the shaft but saw only darkness. “Bart!”

“What?” came the reply. Only it came from above not below.

“Man I thought you were a goner!” Riyan yelled up at him.

“Me too,” he said. “I managed to catch the lip and somehow held on while the water poured over me. Almost lost my grip a couple times.”

“Get us out of here,” Chad hollered up to him.

“Hang on,” he said. Then they heard him laugh to himself. “I guess you guys are kind of ‘stuck’ down there.” More laughter came as he began lowering the rope.

Riyan watched the rope descend and when it came within reach he and Chad both grabbed hold of it. The only problem was they were still stuck to the goo coating Kevik.

“Can you hold all three of us if the goo was gone?” he hollered.

“Maybe,” he said. “But there’s no way I could pull you up. Someone would have to climb the rope to the top and give me a hand.”

“Chad,” Riyan said. “How good are you at climbing a rope?”

“About like you,” he replied. “Lousy.”

“Yeah.” Neither one of them ever climbed a rope before. It wasn’t likely they’d be able to do it now.

“What are you guys doing down there?” Bart hollered down to them.

Riyan ignored him as a plan came to him. “Kevik, can you dispel the goo then recast it fast?” He could see his head nod slightly. “Alright,” he said to Chad, “this is what we’re going to do…”

Bart was waiting impatiently for them to do something but the rope remained slack.

“Bart!” he heard Riyan holler. “When you feel tension on the rope, haul Chad up.”

“You got it!” he yelled back down. Bracing himself, he waited. Then all of a sudden, the rope jerked as Chad’s weight pulled at it. Bart began hauling him up until he appeared at the lip of the pit. From there Chad was able to use his free hand to help haul himself out while Bart continued to pull.

“Thanks man,” Chad said when he was fully back in the passage.

“You’re welcome,” Bart said. He then went to the lip and looked over the edge. It looked as if Riyan and Kevik were further down the shaft than they were before.

“Kevik dispelled the goo,” Chad explained. “Then he and Riyan fell past the end of the rope before recasting it again and sticking to the side of the shaft once more.” Bart nodded, “That was a good idea.” Then to those still in the shaft, “Here comes the rope.” He began lowering the rope. If they had fallen much further the rope wouldn’t have been long enough, but as it was, they had a foot to spare.

“You guys get this right,” Bart hollered. “We don’t have any more slack.”

“Don’t worry,” Riyan hollered back, “you and Chad just work on hauling us up when Kevik dispels the goo.”

He and Chad gripped the rope and braced themselves in the passage. “Okay!” Bart hollered. Then all of a sudden, the rope jerked in their hands and they almost lost their grip.

“Damn!” cursed Chad as the weight of Riyan and Kevik pulled on the rope.

“Okay, together,” said Bart through clinched teeth. It took great effort to maintain his hold on the rope, and even more to begin hauling it up. Hand over hand, they slowly drew their friends out of the depths.

When they reached about halfway up, Chad grunted, “I’m not going to be able to continue.”

“Yes you are!” asserted Bart. “It’s not much further.

Chad gritted his teeth and through sheer force of will, kept his protesting muscles moving as Riyan and Kevik drew ever closer to the top.

Finally, the top of Riyan’s head appeared over the top and the bobbing orb of Kevik’s appeared as it bobbed into view.

“Chad,” said Bart with great effort. “I’ll hold them. You help them up.” Chad let go of the rope with relief and moved to the edge while Bart held them all by himself. First Riyan, then Kevik came over the lip and onto the passage. When the rope was free again, Bart let go and collapsed to the ground. “Oh my arms,” he groaned.

“You okay?” Riyan asked as he came close.

“Just give me a minute,” he replied. “I think we need to take a break.” Riyan nodded, “That might not be a bad idea.”

The four of them settled against the walls and broke out some rations. It was a bit damp from the dousing of water. Riyan discovered that his lantern must be at the bottom of the pit. Fortunately Chad had a spare attached to his pack and soon light once more filled the passage.

“It would seem we need to have a bit more caution from here on out,” Chad said.

“Where did this shaft come from anyway?” Kevik asked. “It wasn’t there when we came through the first time.”

“Just part of the trap,” Bart explained. “I never even heard one like this before. But apparently when the door was opened, the trapdoor opened too. Then the water was to wash the intruder into the shaft and that would be that.” Riyan glanced to Kevik and grinned. “You earned your place with us after such quick thinking,” he said. “How did you ever think to use the goo spell in such a way?” He returned the grin and replied, “My master said that as a magic user, we were at the mercy of the spells we knew. He insisted that I be versatile in applying them, always thinking of different ways in which they could be used. In this case, the picture of how the goblin stuck to the side of your horse back when we first met came to mind and I acted.”

“A good thing you did too,” Chad praised. “Or it would have been the end of all three of us.”

“Just did what I had to,” he said. Inside he was beaming though he tried not to show it. His master would have been proud.

After they finished eating and everyone had rested, Bart explained to the others he planned to go and look at the room where the water came from. He told them to wait on this side of the pit until he returned. Taking the lantern from Chad, he jumped to the other side of the pit and began walking to the room. Behind him, the glow from Kevik’s bobbing light appeared.

There was still a trickle of water making its way down the passage from the room. He walked through the door and into the room. It was large, the light from the lantern failed to reach its uppermost reaches. In a couple areas there were steady trickles of water coming from the dark heights of the room. All but one of the trickles made their way down the sides of the room. The other one however fell freely and splashed on the floor.

He inspected the door and the frame. He discovered how once the door was shut, it would create a tight seal with the doorjamb. This would allow the water trickling down to begin filling the room for the next intruder. He admired the work that must have gone into putting this particular trap into effect.

After a quick search to make sure there was no other exit, he left the room and made his way back to the others. He left the door open so the water could escape.

“That was a pretty clever trap,” he told the others upon his return. Hopping over the pit, he saw they were ready to continue the exploration.

“Clever enough to almost get us killed,” Riyan said.

“I know,” replied Bart with a grin. “Impressive.”

He set out back the way they had come with the others following along behind. From that point they began the systematic search of what they’ve begun to call the Labyrinth.

They called it that because of the many turns and branching passages.

Every time they would come to a junction, the first thing they checked for was the presence of copper coins. If some were present, they would take the passage that didn’t have any as yet. Each time they crossed through the junction, they would add a coin. So if they came to one they already had gone through, there would be two passages marked with coins. One passage would be marked with one coin, which would indicate from which direction they had originally entered the intersection. There would also be a two coin passage indicating the direction they had gone that first time. Then when they took a third way, they would set three coins down, and then four if they happened to pass through a junction where four ways to go were possible.

Their search led them down one passage after another. Truly this place deserved the name, Labyrinth. Finally, they came to a room at the end of one of the smaller, branching passages. It held two chests sitting across from each other at either end of the room.

“Stay out in the hallway,” Bart said to the others as he made to enter the room.

Carrying the lantern with him, he moved slowly and carefully to the chest on the right.

“Be careful,” offered Kevik.

“Don’t plan to be otherwise,” replied Bart. He worked his way closer to the chest and stopped five feet away. The memory of the last time when the floor opened up was still vivid in his mind.

Taking his pack which was still tied to the rope, he began tossing it onto the floor in front of the chest. When that failed to produce a reaction, he tried the area next to the chest and then finally began hitting the chest itself. Still, nothing happened.

“Maybe this one doesn’t have a trap,” suggested Chad.

“I wouldn’t bet on it,” Bart replied.

“We’ve come across others before that failed to go off,” said Riyan. “Maybe it’s the same thing here.”

“That might be,” nodded Bart. He set the lantern on the floor so the light shone brightly upon the face of the key hole, then he took small steps toward the chest. The face of the chest was nondescript, it looked like all the others. He checked near the keyhole for any markings that the chest maker might have put there to indicate a trap was present, but it was clear.

He thought to himself that this chest might actually be safe. After removing his two picks, he knelt down before the lock and began working on it. As he worked, he took his time and finally the lock clicked open. Breathing a sigh of relief, he replaced the picks back in the rolled leather and put it in his shirt before lifting the lid.

Bracing himself, he lifted the lid. Again, nothing happened. Inside he found a small book with red bindings centered in the bottom of the chest. He turned his head to where the others were waiting and said, “There’s a book in here.” He reached inside to pick it up. Just as his fingers touched it Kevik asked, “Are there any markings on it?”

That questioned may have saved him from being blinded. He turned his head towards Kevik to reply as he lifted the book from the bottom. He said, “No, there isn’t…” then a spray of liquid shot from the back side of the chest and hit him in the side of the head just behind the ear. When the liquid hit him, he cried out and jumped backwards.

“Bart!” exclaimed Riyan as he came close. The smell of smoldering hair permeated the room. He quickly got his water bottle and began pouring it over the affected area.

When the last drop was poured, Bart’s hair in that area looked singed. The skin was a bit red underneath and the top of his ear sported a blister, but other than that there was nothing serious.

“If that had hit your face…” Chad began.

“It would have blinded me,” replied Bart. He felt the affected area and then allowed Riyan to inspect it.

“I think you’ll survive,” Riyan told him. “It doesn’t look as if anything permanent was done.”