The Broken Key (02) - Hunter of the Horde (24 page)

Bart listened to the conversation for a minute and was slightly put out when his role in the affair wasn’t mentioned at all. Apparently, Kevik had dispatched the entire band on his own. Despite the fact he wasn’t mentioned, he couldn’t help but let a grin show. After all, Kevik had been knocked unconscious early in the battle. He hadn’t really done anything at all.

It didn’t take long before Chad entered the foyer. As his friend stood there in the doorway scanning the room for him, Bart stood up and gave a curt wave when Chad’s gaze turned in his direction. He sat back down again after Chad grinned and nodded that he saw him.

“Where’s Riyan?” Bart asked as Chad joined him.

“Up in the Archives, where else?” he said. “He and I hardly spend any time together these days it seems.”

Bart lowered his voice. “Find out anything?”

Chad leaned closer as he said, “Not exactly.” Glancing around at those sitting closest to them, he made sure they weren’t being overheard before saying, “But he thinks he may know where the information lies. There’s a doorway in the Archives all but hidden by a bookcase. He said it’s locked.”

“Old?” Bart asked.

Nodding, Chad replied, “He thinks so.” He glanced around again then leaned even closer towards Bart. “He wanted me to tell you that he’s going to need your help to get into it.”

Bart thought about that for a moment. He scanned the foyer and the exits leading from it going deeper into the Guild. There’s no way he could hope to enter the Guild and not be observed. “How am I to get in?”

“We have that worked out,” explained Chad. “Over on the other side of the Guild is the courtyard where we train. There’s a gate in the rear wall that opens onto a side street.

I checked it out last night and found the courtyard to be deserted after the evening meal.” Glancing around once more, he said, “I could let you in and then lead you to the Archives.”

Bart thought about Chad’s idea for just a moment before cursing himself for a simpleton as he remembered the Cloak of Concealment. It kept slipping his mind that he even had it. “That won’t be necessary,” he said. “Tell me where to meet you and when.” Chad looked at him in surprise. “How?”

“I’ll explain later,” he replied. “Where can we meet that I can easily find, yet be deserted?”

“That would still be the courtyard,” he explained. He pointed to one of the hallways leading from the foyer. “That will take you right to it.” Bart nodded. “What time should I meet you there?”

“Are you sure you can get there?” he asked.

“Oh yes,” he said. “Don’t worry about me.”

Chad eyed his friend a moment then shrugged. “Two hours from now would be perfect,” he told him.

“That will work,” stated Bart. “I need to return to Kevik’s estate before I meet you.”

“Speaking of Kevik’s estate…” Chad said.

“You heard?” Bart asked.

“We heard there was trouble out there and that he took them out single handed.” Chad could see the slight shake of Bart’s head. “I take it that wasn’t exactly what happened?”

“Not entirely, no.” Bart then launched into greater detail about what actually happened.

When he was finished, Chad grinned. “I didn’t think Kevik would have been able to do it by himself.”

“He couldn’t,” Bart agreed. “They were prepared with scrolls to counter any magic he tried to do.”

Chad’s eyebrows rose questioningly at that. He hadn’t heard that part of it.

Bart stood up. “We’ll talk more later,” he said. “If I’m going to meet you at the specified time, I better get going now.”

“I’ll go and tell Riyan what’s going on so he won’t leave the Archives early,” Chad told him.

Without another word, Bart turned and headed for the door. Chad stood there until he saw Bart pass through to the street outside. As he crossed the foyer on the way to tell Riyan what they planned to do, he wondered just how Bart was going to meet him in the courtyard.

Two hours later, Chad made his way to the courtyard and was dismayed to discover two sets of men fencing with their practice swords. He had seen the men from time to time out in the foyer and in the mess, but didn’t know who they were. From the way they were using the practice swords, their skill was greater than his.

He knew Bart was due here shortly, yet how was he going to meet him with this going on? Yes, he had known that Guild members did practice in the courtyard later in the evenings after the Recruit’s drills were finished for the day. But he hadn’t thought it would happen tonight. Now what was he to do?

Chad crossed the courtyard to the gate, as he was sure this would be the place where Bart would attempt to make his entrance. Once there, he leaned against the wall and watched the two dueling pairs. He was impressed by their skill and was soon lost in their technique.

Parry, slash, thrust, hack. Back and forth the two pairs would go, occasionally one would breach his opponent’s defense and land a blow. But that didn’t happen too often.

“Chad,” a voice said just as he felt a hand touch his shoulder.

Jumping two inches off the ground in startled shock, Chad looked around for the source of the voice but didn’t see anyone.

“It’s Bart,” the voice said.

“Bart?” he whispered as he searched for where his friend was.

“That’s right,” the voice replied. “Let’s go somewhere a little quieter and I’ll explain.”

“But…?” Chad began when he felt a gentle push to get him going.

“We don’t have all night,” Bart said.

“Okay,” Chad whispered then began to cross the courtyard to the doorway that led towards the Archives. When he reached the doorway, he paused and glanced backward.

“Keep going,” Bart told him. “I’m still here.”

Nodding, Chad entered the hallway and proceeded down to the stairs that led up.

“Chad!”

As he passed by a side hallway, he was greeted by Seth who appeared from the hallway with Soth right behind him. “What are you two up to?” Chad asked, slowing only slightly.

“Just thinking about heading out to the foyer,” replied Soth. “Want to join us?”

“Maybe later,” he said. “I’m going up to see how Riyan’s making out.”

“Don’t see what he finds so interesting up there,” Seth wondered. “Just a bunch of musty old books.”

Chad grinned and shrugged. “I guess he likes them.”

“Maybe he should take old Stryntner’s place when he dies,” suggested Seth.

“Who knows?” replied Chad. “I’ll see you two later.”

“Alright,” said Soth.

“See ya,” added Seth. Together the twins crossed the corridor Chad and Bart had been traveling through and continued on their way to the foyer.

As soon as his fellow Recruits started moving away, Chad hurried down another twenty feet to where the stairs leading up to the third floor sat. Under his breath he whispered to Bart, “The Archives are on the third floor.”

“Lead on,” came the reply.

It continued to bother him that he couldn’t see Bart. He wondered if it might be some spell of Kevik’s, but thought such a spell should be beyond his abilities at the present. He figured he’ll find out soon enough.

They followed the steps past the second floor landing and left the stairwell when they came to the third. The hallway leading from the stairwell to the Archives was dimly lit by one candle midway down. It looked deserted.

“Riyan says hardly anyone comes up here,” Chad told him quietly. “In fact he’s never seen anyone but himself and Stryntner up here, except the time when Tad helped him out in some way.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a shimmer. Then when he turned his head he saw Bart standing there with a grin. He wore a cloak, its hood was cast back off his head and the front was opened.

“It conceals my presence,” Bart explained as he indicated the cloak. “Watch.” Pulling the hood back over his head, he then closed the front and vanished.

“Wow,” exclaimed Chad. “Isn’t that the one we found in Algoth?” A second later Bart reappeared. “Yeah, it does come in handy,” he said. “Now, where’s Riyan?”

Chad gestured down the hallway to a door near the lit candle. “There,” he said. “Let me go in first. Riyan wasn’t sure if Stryntner would be back by the time we got here or not.” When he saw Bart nod, he left him standing in the hallway and headed down to the Archives’ door. Once there he knocked and it was soon opened by Riyan.

“Is he here?” Riyan asked when he didn’t see Bart with Chad.

“He’s waiting down the hallway,” his friend explained and waved for Bart to join them. “Is Stryntner here?”

Riyan nodded. “He’s asleep in his room,” he told him.

“Is that going to be a problem?” Bart asked as he joined them.

“It shouldn’t,” Riyan said. “He sleeps pretty heavy most of the time.” Glancing back over his shoulder towards where the Keeper’s room lies, he heard a snore. Relieved that he was still asleep, Riyan opened the door wider and waved them in. Then he closed the door once they were inside.

“It’s this way,” he said. Leading them through the Archives, he took them to the door hidden by the bookcase. Indicating the bookcase before the door he said, “I can’t budge it.”

Bart sized up the heavy, wooden bookcase and nodded. “It’s going to take all three of us if we don’t want to disturb the tomes on the shelves.” Then he turned his attention to the door’s lock. “This is old.”

“How old?” Riyan asked.

Bart shrugged. “I’m not sure. When was this place built?”

“Centuries ago,” he replies. “Stryntner once told me that Gilbeth was first settled over five hundred years ago and that this part of the Guild was built shortly afterward.” Taking out the rolled leather containing his lockpicks, Bart nodded. “That sounds about right. The fact that this lock is still here tells me that it wasn’t used very often. As in all things, locks too must be replaced over time if they’re used frequently.” From off in the distance the snores of Stryntner could still be heard as Bart settled down in front of the lock. Inserting his two general purpose picks, he began working on it.

Chad and Riyan in the meantime gave the bookcase a once over. Dozens of scrolls, books, and sheaves of paper lined the shelves. All were coated in a layer of dust which if disturbed would leave signs of them having been disturbed. “We’re going to have to be extra careful when we move this,” Riyan whispered to his friend. “Can’t afford to have anyone know we moved it.”

“I can see that,” replied Chad.

“Got it,” Bart said as he began returning his two picks to their place within the rolled leather. Once the rolled leather was tucked within his shirt, he stood up and turned to the other two. Nodding to the bookcase he said, “Now for this.”

“We have to move it slow and careful,” Riyan told him.

“Best if we grip it closer to the bottom then,” he suggested. “Less chance of it tipping.”

“Good idea,” said Chad.

Together, they gripped the bookcase as close to the bottom that they could and still have ample leverage to move it. Then Riyan said, “On three. One…two…three.” As one, they pushed and pulled the edge of the bookcase in an attempt to move it away from the door.

They strained and at first it wouldn’t budge. Then it slid an inch. It did so rather abruptly and Riyan looked to the tomes on its shelves to see if any had been dislodged.

With relief he saw they remained as they had.

“Need another foot to get the door open enough for us to squeeze through,” Bart said.

“One more time.” They got into position and again on three, moved the bookshelf another two inches. Three more times and they had the bookshelf far enough away from the door so they could open it and pass through to the other side.

As Riyan stood up, he noticed that the Archives was quiet, too quiet. He stood there motionless for a second listening.

“What?” asked Chad.

“No snores,” he said with a glance towards Stryntner’s room. He got a panicked look on his face. What would he say if they were discovered?

“Better check it out,” suggested Bart.

Riyan nodded and headed towards Stryntner’s room. Grabbing a candle off his work table, he moved quietly to the back of the Archives. When the light from the candle illuminated Stryntner’s room, he saw the Keeper lying on his side, still asleep. Riyan almost sighed audibly before he caught himself. Returning to the others he explained that the old man had simply rolled onto his side.

“Now,” he said with eagerness, “let’s open that door.” Ever since he had found the door, he had thought about little else than what may lie on the other side. Assuredly, there must be information within about the two coats of arms that they were searching for.

Moving to the fore, Riyan handed the candle he was holding to Chad. Then he grabbed the handle and pulled. It took some effort to overcome the years of disuse before the door cracked open. He glanced at the other two before getting another grip on the handle and yanking it open further. The hinges protested quite loudly as the door swung open still further. A waft of stale air came from the other side.

Everyone froze as they listened for any indication the Keeper had heard the squealing hinges. When no sound was forthcoming, Riyan took the candle back from Chad and led the way through the door.

The room on the other side of the door looked like it hadn’t been disturbed for centuries. Not nearly the size of the Archives, it was much smaller. Still, shelves of tomes lined the wall directly across from the doorway. Against the wall to their right were four suits of armor prominently displayed on stands. The wall to their left held over a score of weapons, each one a different style. There were also three tables spaced evenly in the middle of the room.

“Incredible,” breathed Chad as the light from the candle Riyan held illuminated the room.

“I would guess we’re the first ones to step in here for a very long time,” offered Riyan. Intrigued by the suits of armor, he crossed the room hoping that the coats of arms they bore would be the ones they wanted. He was disappointed.

“They withstood the passage of time well,” Bart said as he ran his fingers across one of them.