The Staff Of Naught Part 23

"My people live in caves below The Sands deep in the desert," said Sutekha.

"What's the sands?" asked Unerus his eyes wide and a blank look on his face.

"You know nothing of Tarlton?" said Sutekha and looked down at the boy. "You are uneducated?"

"I'm an orphan, I grew up on the streets of Iv's Folly, I don't even really know that much about Doria or the queen. It wasn't until I met up with Lousa and the others that I ever left the city."

"I see," said Sutekha. "Well, if you tell me about this Iv's Folly and these other people with whom you travel I will gladly tell you all you want to know about Tarlton, The Sands, the Golden Worm Nomads, or anything else you desire."

Unerus's face lost its blank expression and his eyes narrowed as he looked at the wizard, "You first."

Sutekha nodded his heads, "The orphans of The Sands are not much different than those of Doria," he finally said, his mouth in a wide smile. "They know what they need to survive and that is important knowledge. We shall trade if that meets with your approval," he went on, "I will start," concluded the wizard with a little bow. "But I'm afraid it will not be long before your warrior friend clears his eyes and my companions will brook no delay in setting out upon their quest."

Unerus nodded his head and said nothing.

"Tarlton is a great city built even before the Old Empire but abandoned during the years of plague that followed the destruction of the Old Empire. A warrior named Huroc the Might rebuilt it some six hundred years ago. Huroc was a nomad, as am I," said Sutekha with a smile, "although our lives were very different. Huroc was a Black Horseman. They are the fiercest of the nomadic warriors of the great desert known as the Sands. The nomads all have a legend of the Black Horseman who served as a captain in the armies of the Emperor and led the nomadic cavalry in conquest all over the world. It was long said that the Black Horseman would return and only then could the nomads reoccupy the City in the Sand. Huroc dreamed that this day was coming and he should take his followers to Tarlton and rebuild it. My people are the Nomads of the Golden Worm and we are not skilled hors.e.m.e.n. Our territory is a mostly rocky land with large caverns and thus we live away from the sun."

"Now, Unerus is your name?"

The boy nodded.

"Tell me about her," said the mage and looked at Lousa who still attended to Shamki. The half-orc warrior blinked his eyes and looked around apparently at least partially recovered.

Unerus smiled, "Lousa is nice. She works for the mayor of Iv's Folly but I don't know much else. Her mother was a slave of orcs; I guess that's why she likes Shamki so much."

"What is a mayor, some sort of government official," said Sutekha.

"Umm," said Unerus. "Yes, he makes all the decision in town. I think the queen appoints him but I'm not sure. He is kind of fat but smart; you have to be careful around him."

"How did you all come to be traveling with the staff?" said Sutekha.

"We're even now," said Unerus. "Maybe we can talk more later." Then the boy suddenly stopped and looked up at the wizard. "How come we can all talk to each other? Did you cast a spell or something, how long does it last?"

Sutekha shrugged his shoulders, "It was nothing, an easy spell taught to almost any wizard. I'll have to repeat it when we're all together in the morning but it should last the full day otherwise. But, you are correct, the half-orc, Shamki was his name, right?"

"That's right, Shamki," said Unerus.

"He appears to be able to see again and I imagine Seymour will be most insistent that we begin immediately. He is most eager to retrieve the staff."

"Why is that," said Unerus and grabbed the pale man by the sleeve.

"We'll talk later," he replied with a sly smile and thought to himself that the boy would make an excellent ally against Seymour. He was clever and clearly in it for himself although partially enamored of the elf-blooded beauty. Her charisma was such as to charm even preteen boys and that was something worth examining as well. He saw how Seymour looked at the woman although it was likely that Oliver was above such interest. Still, he thought to himself as he watched Seymour move over to the half-orc, it was something worth keeping an eye on. Indeed it was.

"You are able to track?" said Seymour and stood eye to eye with the orc. "We must follow those who took the staff as quickly as possible.

Shamki glanced back at the priest but most of his focus was on the warrior named Oliver and the plain cord that kept his sword around his waist. "Ready track," he said with a snarl and started to walk towards the priest who did not move out of his way and the two suddenly b.u.mped. The Priest of Ras slid back a step but refused to yield and Shamki thought about simply going right through him but one glance at Oliver, his hand on the hilt of his blade, convinced the half-orc warrior that now was not the time to start a fight and so he went around. He began to circle the small cemetery, sniffed loudly, and bent down to touch the gra.s.s now and again.

"Death here," he said pointing to the largest of the gravestones that stood ten feet tall, but the earth underneath it was apparently undisturbed unlike most of the other graves.

"I don't see anything," said Tanner who walked a circuitous route around the thing and carefully examined each part of it and even knocking on it with his hand several times.

"Knock it over," said Seymour to Oliver and the orc warrior walked over to the ma.s.sive stone and gave it a preliminary shove from several sides.

Then he put both hands to it on one side and began to exert force slowly. Before he could manage to budge the thing Shamki moved in beside him and added his weight as did Humbort whose stick-like arms seemed to possess a great deal of power.

"Throw a rope over it," said Lousa, and Tanner immediately went over to the wagon. By the time he got there Almara was ready with the rope and tossed it to him. "Tylan, wrap this around that other heavy stone while I make a slip-knot." The boy did as ordered while Tanner quickly tied a knot and threw it over the stone. The three men pus.h.i.+ng the ma.s.sive rock stopped their exertion for a moment until the rope was in place. Tanner, Tylan, and Unerus walked to the other side of the smaller stone and grabbed the rope ready to heave.

"One ... two ... three," counted off the merchant and the three of them began to pull on the rope while the large men attempted to push over the stone. For a long moment it looked as if nothing was going to happen but then the earth s.h.i.+fted under the stone and suddenly the thing was moving.

"Watch out!" shouted Almara and Lousa grabbed Shalalee by the arm and pulled her back and out of the way of the falling grave marker. It hit the ground with a dull thump that did not seem to do justice to the size of it but the ground was soft and still a little damp from the morning dew.

"There's a tunnel," Humbort stared wide eyed at the hole in the ground and the ancient stone steps leading down.

"How did they get to it?" said Almara.

"Incorporeal creatures maybe," said Tanner. "If they took the staff from the skeletons and then phased out they could have taken the staff with them, maybe."

"But how could the staff be incorporeal, wouldn't they just leave that behind?" said Shalalee.

Seymour looked at them for a moment before he shook his head. "It doesn't matter how it happened. It matters that the staff is down there," he said and pointed to the steps leading into the ground. "Oliver, you and Sutekha come with me and we'll put an end to this nonsense once and for all." With that he pulled out the Icon of Ras whose bright light immediately illuminated the pa.s.sage below.

Shamki looked to Lousa who nodded her head, "You go with them while we wait here."

Ariana immediately darted towards the stairwell after Seymour and the other two Tarltonites, ignoring the shout from Lousa. "Don't you fuss now," said Hazlebub who moved past Lousa. "I'll make sure the girl is all right and she has every right to go. I don't trust that Seymour fellow any further than I do a bear in the blueberry patch."

Lousa grabbed her by the arm. "Be careful Hazle; don't trust anyone down there except Shamki."

Hazlebub looked at the woman for a moment, "Not even Ariana?"

Lousa shook her head, "She wants to keep the staff, I see that now. I never should have let her carry it and now that voice in her head has given her ideas. Make sure that thing is destroyed one way or the other."

The witch nodded her head and darted down the pa.s.sageway just behind Humbort who had dawdled at the entrance for some time before he convinced himself to follow after Shamki. This left Tanner, Almara, Unerus, Lousa, and Shalalee on the surface to wait.

"Now, Shalalee," said Lousa and turned to the gangly girl. "We have to talk."

Chapter 30.

The dark stairs led down eighty-six steps according to Shamki's count and twisted around so that they faced south although the half-orc knew that this was merely an approximation and that a few more twists and turns and all sense of direction would be lost. They ended in a small square room with two stone doors on opposite sides and Oliver stood by one listening with his ear to it while Seymour and Sutekha watched from the middle of the room. A glance behind him a.s.sured the warrior that Ariana and Hazlebub were still there and he knew, from long adventures together, that Humbort lurked nearby.

"Which way?" demanded Seymour looking at Shamki.

The half-orc shrugged his shoulders. "Death smell all," he said.

"That one then," said Seymour and pointed to the door that Oliver examined carefully.

The big orc paladin pushed against it cautiously and it swung away to reveal a natural cavern perhaps twenty feet high and twice again as long. Inside sat dozens of stone sarcophagi laid out in a neat pattern on the floor.

Seymour strode forward, his Icon of Ras suddenly brilliant, and the room went from gloom to apparent daylight in an instant. A mad scramble of motion on the ceiling alerted them to hundreds of bats fleeing through small holes on either side of the chamber. There was a similar scrabble of motion on the floor as rats scurried for cover. Oliver drew his sword as he moved into the room.

Shamki moved in behind and they examined the stones for a few moments during which the noise slowly subsided into silence.

"Open them," said Seymour apparently unbothered by the taboo of grave robbing. Oliver flicked a quick glance at Shamki although the half-orc could garner no meaning from it and then walked over to the nearest stone and shoved against the top. It creaked for a moment as the orc's muscles bulged but then slowly slid aside revealing the skeletal remains of a dignitary who warranted such a final resting place.

In its skeletal grip was a leather scabbard rotted to a few pieces of string and an old iron sword badly rusted. The felt lining of the coffin had rotted away to nothing and the glint of coins or possibly gems glimmered for a moment as Seymour's light hovered over the coffin.

The high priest quickly turned to the next stone coffin as Oliver began to work its lid off.

"They'll be here for a while," said Hazlebub as she moved next to Shamki and spoke in a low whisper.

The half-orc nodded his head and backed out of the room towards the original entrance and the other door. "Ariana," he whispered to the witch and she turned around and spotted the girl in the corner of the big room eyes glued to Seymour and Oliver. Hazlebub made a little motion with her hand and caught Ariana's attention and she worked her way back towards them without making a sound.

When Shamki returned to the first room he found Humbort and Sutekha still there. The two men examined the other door and apparently did not see the half-orc come into the chamber. When Shamki walked between them and put his weight to the door both men gasped and stumbled aside although Humbort quickly moved back to the first door and kept lookout while Sutekha settled for watching Shamki, the witch, and the young girl who both joined them.

The door slid open easily and Shamki reached back with a hand motion and the wizard tried to figure out for what the warrior meant to convey. He didn't have to wait long as Humbort appeared and a put bright glow stone in the hand of the half-orc who immediately s.h.i.+ned it into the chamber beyond the door.

In this small chamber half a dozen small coffins, each vaguely shaped like a man, leaned up against the walls. Two of them had tightly closed lids while the others hung open to reveal empty interiors. Shamki moved into the room and took hold of the first of the closed coffins and swung it open to reveal a mummified creature. The violent movement pushed the coffin just enough to unbalance the thing and it fell to the floor with a clatter.

Shamki jumped back and Sutekha, at the doorway, reached into his robes looking for a small vial he knew would be useful in this situation.

"Mummifying is the Tarltonite way," said Hazlebub as she looked into the room while Shamki prodded the thing on the floor with a short kick. It did not seem to object to this indignity and simply lay there in silence.

"The lettering on the tombs is unfamiliar to me," said Sutekha. "Do hobgoblins bury their dead this way or perhaps it a relic of ancient times?"

"I don't know," said Hazlebub. "I don't trade with the hobgobbies often enough to know."

Meanwhile Shamki threw open the other closed lid and came face to face with a low pa.s.sageway leading further into the darkness. He s.h.i.+ned his light down the corridor, which stood only three feet tall and looked not even wide enough for him to pa.s.s through.

"I'll go," said Ariana suddenly and darted down the pa.s.sage.

"No!" shouted Hazlebub but her grab at the girl missed badly. Shamki was quicker to move and managed to catch a hold of her s.h.i.+rt sleeve, ragged to begin with, but it ripped off and left him with only a torn and wretched piece of cloth. He tried to jam his bulky body into the pa.s.sage but was unable make any progress.

"Let me try," said Hazlebub and moved forward while she ducked down. She managed to get inside the pa.s.sage but had to bend over so far that her knees immediately gave out underneath her and she shrieked loudly as a terrible pain prevented her from going on.

"Are you okay," said Humbort and helped haul her out from the pa.s.sage.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," said Hazlebub and let the simpleton help her limp slowly to the corner where she sat down with a thump. "I'm getting too old for this sort of thing."

Humbort patted her wrist and smiled with a kindly face, got a flask of water, and offered it to her. He then rummaged in his pack and found a small vial and held it up his face s.h.i.+ning happily, "Rub, rub oil, good for sore," he said and helped straighten her leg out on the floor.

"Really, Humbort, that won't, ohh, that is quite nice," she said as he began warm her leg with the oil. "What is that, it smells of almonds but perhaps not?"

Ariana wasn't exactly sure why she darted down the tunnel. No matter how much she tried to summon up the voice it did not come and she now believed that the voice was unable to communicate with her if she did not have the staff in hand or nearby. The pa.s.sageway was a tight squeeze even for her but she made her way through stooped slightly and turned sidewise. On a couple occasions she b.u.mped the stone wall with her head and she learned to slow down after the second such incident. At one point she looked back hoping to see Shamki and his little magic light but realized that the pa.s.sageway must have made several twists and turns and it was pitched black. She stopped as her heart raced wildly.

"Go on," said the old man's voice.

"You're back!" she cried perhaps too loudly because the sound of it seemed to echo back and forth in the small chamber. She waited for further instruction but none came. Ariana found that if she closed her eyes it somehow didn't seem as dark and so she did as she felt her way forward through the narrow pa.s.sage. At one point she felt a strange tingle run throughout her body and stopped to look around but the darkness of the corridor was no different than if she kept eyes shut, so she continued to creep forward with the hope that the voice would guide her.

After what seemed like hours of slow progress but what she probably knew was no more than five minutes the walls seemed to fade away on either side and a dank breeze that bore the stench of death came to her nostrils.

A sickly sweet voice, not the one she hoped for, spoke, "You can open your eyes, little darling."

Ariana paused for a moment her eyes still squeezed tightly shut but then opened them by the narrowest crack and saw the large chamber around her. On a large throne made of bones sat a woman with dull green hair with the skimpiest of silken robes barely covering her lush body.

"And who," she said smiling in the most unrea.s.suringly way Ariana ever saw, "are you?"

"Ariana," said Ariana as she looked around the room and spotted ghoulish forms moving about in the background. They had bodies like men but with no skin and their eyes bulged in a most disturbing way. Later those eyes haunted Ariana's dreams more than anything else did.

"Well, Ariana," said the voice. "Did you bring it to me?"

Ariana shook her head no. "I ... who are you?"

The sweetly demeanor cracked noticeably, "I get to ask questions here," she said but then tried her awful smile on for size one more time. "Where is the staff? I can see by your aura that you once held it. I opened the portal so that my minions might more easily bring it to me but I see they have failed again," with this last comment she threw a look over her right shoulder at a tall creature whose skin was mostly intact except for a completely skeletal skull and eyeb.a.l.l.s that moved uneasily inside its sockets. "Has anyone seen Tenebrous?"

Ariana paused for a moment and then spoke, "I have."

"You have?" said the woman.

Ariana nodded. "He talked to us not long ago."

"What did he say," said the woman and stood up, her dull green eyes flas.h.i.+ng violently. Ariana noted that the woman's hair, figure and coloring was not too dissimilar from Lousa and yet the total effect could not have been more different. Yes, they were both beautiful but Lousa shone like a star and this woman seemed to bring darkness with just a glance.

"What will you give me if I tell you?" said Ariana and stuck out her little chin.

The woman's eyes suddenly seemed to grow twice as large and her face twisted into a snarl that revealed rows of fanged teeth. "You dare disobey me in my own demesne? I am the G.o.ddess of Death and I can strike ..." she started but Ariana interrupted her.

"There are no G.o.ds!"

If the woman was angry before, this p.r.o.nouncement seemed to send her over the edge into madness. Her hands came to her face and she actually clawed at herself and became so agitated she nearly slipped on the stone floor but managed to catch herself, took three quick strides, and grabbed the girl by the collar and lifted her off the ground.

"What do you say?" she shrieked, her high pitched voice so loud as to hurt Ariana's ears more than the claws that dug into her collarbone.

"She proclaims there are no G.o.ds," said a deep voice and for a moment Ariana thought that her friend was back but the intonation was different.

The G.o.ddess of the Abyss spun on her heels, the centrifugal movement sent Ariana in a spin that proved more than the material of her collar could take and with a rip she flew free of the woman's grasp, skittered across the floor, and came to a rest in a heap not far from where a strange purplish door s.h.i.+mmered.

Ariana realized this was the way she came into the chamber in the first place but couldn't stop herself as she turned back to face the woman and the dark voice which she suddenly realized was Tenebrous the Shade.

"Tenebrous," said the G.o.ddess of the Abyss once again with the sickly sweet voice as she moved slowly with an exaggerated sway to her hips back to her throne. "So good of you to return after all this time. I would think that you were up to no good if I didn't know better."

"The girl is influenced by s.h.i.+namar the Loathsome," said Tenebrous.