Akatika's Legacy Page 19

  “I am more than willing to help you in this, you have paid me to find him and as part of that agreement, I will take you to him. The dangers in the forest at night should not be underestimated. I have shining stones that can make the journey much easier and safer.” Siliras explained.

  “Gabby, he makes a really good point.” Ivy said.

  “And any help he can provide will be welcome. There are wolves here. Not to mention the occasional griptef.” Tony added.

  Ivy shuttered at the thought of running across a griptef at night. “I don’t want to be bitten by one of those cat snake things. We’d be dead before anyone could get back to town and get help.”

  “Though I’m sure nothing like that will harass you on your way, I can make the journey much easier and safer. I have prepared some immobilization spells and a few offensive spells, just in case. You don’t want to be caught off guard.” Siliras offered.

  “Fine. Do you need to get anything before we go?” Gabby asked.

  “I expected that you would want to leave immediately and prepared everything I needed to be for I came.” Siliras said.

  “We have everything that we need right here in the packs, let’s head out.” Gabby said, moving to the door.

  The light moved awkwardly as the group moved into the forest. There was plenty of space between the trees to allow the group to walk, but the dense ground cover made the journey slow. What was worse was that the ferns covered roots that protruded up from the ground. Arrowhead vines also clung to the base of everything making a net which tangled feet easily.

  Gabby was too anxious to let obstacles stand in her way. He was leading the group toward the monastery at a breakneck pace. She was an adventurer on a righteous mission, and nothing would slow her down. Maerryth obviously approved of her quest and was guiding her feet.

  Something grabbed Gabby’s foot and she fell hard on her face into a barbed net. “Ahh, something’s got me.” She said flailing against the would-be captor.

  The group all tensed for a moment looking for the danger. Siliras’ moved his hands in a large circle in front of his chest, a look of pain on his face. A blue ethereal smoke began to rise off his hands, leaving a faint trail as they moved. Tony ran to where Gabby laid on the ground and produced a knife in each hand, ready to defend his friend.

  They saw the Gabby’s captor after a moment of hard searching. Gabby had stumbled into a blackberry patch, tripped and fell into the thorny brush. Once the tension started to subside Tony began to laugh.

  “Fear not my lady, for I have slain your mighty foe.” Tony said, slicing his way to her feet in the brambles.

  “Gabby don’t scare me like that. I almost peed.” Ivy whispered, visibly shaking as she held her walking stick up in the defensive position she had been taught.

  “I must agree, more caution would do us well. Perhaps a more moderate pace could prevent this in the future.” Siliras said as he lowered his hands.

  After being extracted from the vines, Gabby conceded to Siliras leading the way through the forest. It was definitely a blow to her pride, but she had to admit there was a lot less tripping and stopping while he led the way.

  The moon was overhead when they entered the clearing. The night fog had started to creep across the ground. The sight sent chills up Gabby’s spine; the effect of the moonlight combined with the fog provided an ethereal glow around the base of the monastery.

  A mixture of awe and fear was clearly present on Ivy’s face. Her mouth and eyes were both open as wide as she had ever seen them. Tony, on the other hand, looked excited. A small smirk crossed his lips and his eyes darted all over, taking in the structure. Neither of them had ever been to the monastery as far as Gabby knew and judging from the looks, they had on their face, she didn’t think she was wrong.

  Siliras, on the other hand, looked suspicious. At first, his face showed no sign of any emotion. This wasn’t alarming at first but after a few moments of watching the wizard, she noticed his jaw. He was waiting for something, ever so slightly he tightened and loosened his jaw. His eyes started to unsettle her; he was looking through the gate at something.

  Siliras noticed her looking at him and explained; “He is in there and there is someone with him. I don’t know what the other one wants but I was told not to tell you about him until we got here.”

  “Do you think it is dangerous?” Gabby asked.

  “That all depends on how we proceed. I feel that a peaceful resolution is possible. They talked to me before I came and got you. They don’t want people to know about them. After all, they did come back from the dead. Lots of people can form many different ideas about how that happened, not all of them are wholesome.” Siliras responded.

  “Should you and Gabby go in?” Ivy asked.

  “Ivy and I can stay out here and get help if you don’t come back.” Tony offered.

  “I really don’t think that is necessary. I believe you know both of them, the other goes by James.”

  “James Sauer?” Tony asked. “I doubt we have anything to worry about from the two of them.”

  Gabby led the way through the field of tall grass and ever-growing fog toward the monastery. Lafe was only a few moments away. Her heart was pounding, she could feel it in her ears. The closer she got to the gatehouse the louder the sound was until it was all that she could hear. So, when a hand grabbed her as she walked inside, she jumped and ran into the wall.

  Chapter 21

  Gabby knew this room, it had been a long time since she had seen it, but she knew where she was. She wasn’t tied up and that seemed a bit odd to her. Ivy was on her back still asleep on the other side of the room. It looked like she may have been propped up at one point but fell over. That was most likely the case, Gabby thought. Ivy did move a lot in her sleep. Tony, on the other hand, was face down on the floor hands tied behind him and their packs haphazardly thrown atop him.

  An uncountable number of tiny shining lights reflected off the coins that lay on the floor and on shelves. Dots of blue, green, purple, and red shown on the walls where the candlelight passed through gemstones. Everywhere she looked more coins than anyone in Gibron could ever hope to see, let alone earn in a lifetime. Gabby was sure that the bankers hadn’t even seen this much coin in one place.

  The view through the gate was altogether different than last she was in the monastery. Candles burned in sconces around the room, paths had been made through the debris, mounds now formed around the base of objects too large to move. The most alarming new development was the lid on the sarcophagus was missing.

  Someone was rebuilding the place. She peered at the ceiling through the bars and could see it was being restored. Wooden planks covered the hole in the ceiling. This did not look like the work of “Just Lafe and James”, there had to be more people here no matter what Siliras had said. Something bigger was going on and either Siliras didn’t know what it was, or he was part of it.

  She hoped Tony would be able to get them out before whoever knocked them out came back. She wasn’t entirely sure who that was, and she suspected it may have been Siliras. She hadn’t been hit over the head, choked, or made to drink something. Magic was the only other answer. One moment she was walking into the gatehouse the next she was waking up here.

  “Maerryth’s seven sons! I’m rich, Maerryth’s bloody seven forsaken sons, I’m rich!” Tony exclaimed as he looked around continuing his slew of curses mostly directed at one deity or another.

  Gabby’s eyes were wide, that was more cursing than she had ever heard in such a short amount of time. “Tony.” She said trying to get his attention.

  “Gabby?” Tony asked.

  “Yeah, and welcome to the treasure room we hired you to get us into.” Gabby said trying to sound unconcerned.

  “Mission accomplished, Ill just take my cut now. If you could be so kind as to unite me.” Tony said.

  Gabby crawled over to Tony and untied Tony’s hand. Together they stood and surveyed the room they were in. Tony walked t
o the shelves and inspected some of the bags.

  “Mother’s milk! A whole purse of Aluminum coins.” Tony said as he opened a small leather purse that sat on a shelf next to him. Absently he put it into his pocket as he looked over the other treasures. Smiling like a cat that caught a big rat he turned and noticed Gabby looking at him. “So, this is a great place to wake up in.”

  “Yes, it is. My question is; how do we get out of here?” Gabby said.

  “I am guessing the gate is locked.” Tony said reaching down for his pack.

  “Honestly I haven’t checked, I woke just before you.” Gabby explained.

  “Do you know how we got here?” Tony asked.

  “Not at all. I was grabbed after I got into the gatehouse. The next thing I know I’m here staring at the ceiling.” Gabby explained.

  “I tried running after you, but something hit me from behind. Not hard enough to knock me out because I remember starting to turn, then I woke up here.” Tony shared.

  “Can you open the door?” Gabby asked.

  “Well, I’ll need to look at it. Shouldn’t be an issue though.” Tony boasted. “I am assuming that this is a push-lock because of how old it is.”

  “I have no idea what that means.” Gabby said.

  “Well, we use warded locks in town. Much harder to get open. There are bits of metal in the lock where the key goes and if you have the right key it opens. If you don’t you have to open it with a toolset. Push-locks, on the other hand, are easy, they have a flange inside and if you squeeze it down enough you can open it. They have a hole you push a tube into to unlock it.” Tony explained as he squatted in front of the gate to examine it.

  “Which one is this?” Gabby asked.

  After a few moments of looking and probing the lock, Tony answered, “Neither, from what I can see or rather feel. It sort of feels like a warded lock but I can see a flange clearly. It is some sort of mix, and if I am right this slot at the top is for moving the lock up and away from the bar that holds the door shut. What’s more, is a spring is holding the lock downward. I’ve never seen anything like this before.”

  “Can you open it?” Gabby asked, concern evident on her face.

  “Of course, I may need a hand to move the lock upward when its time. Give me a bit of time with it, I’ll tell you when I need you.” Tony said.

  Tony busied himself with the lock while Gabby looked through the treasure. She had started separating all of the loose coins and gemstones into piles laying on the desk by the back wall. There was an old ornate scale that didn’t work anymore. Her father had one similar, though not as ornate, in his shop for when foreigners came in and insisted on using their nations coin. No matter what she sacked on this one it wouldn’t move. The years of dust and moisture must have rendered the pivot useless.

  Gabby found golden circlet and placed it on her head. There was a purple gemstone in the center of the front and smaller green ones leading all the way back to the comb. She thought the large one was an amethyst and the smaller were emeralds, but she had to admit she knew very little about gemstones.

  “You look like a princess.” Ivy said standing over Gabby’s shoulder.

  “Ivy, you’re awake!” Gabby exclaimed, she had been startled sitting at the desk and focused on piling up treasure.

  Gabby lifted a net of silvery metal wire with tiny gems of every color and placed it over Ivy’s head. The threads were so fine that it gave Gabby a small cut as she placed it on Ivy. “If I look like a princess then you are a Kerolian queen.”

  Gabby reconsidered a moment later and grabbed a handful of gold rings with gemstones of every color and hastily fitted them on each of Ivy’s fingers. “Now you look like a queen.”

  Ivy looked down, her bright red face contrasting against her blonde hair, clearly embarrassed. Talking about her race wasn’t welcomed at home, so it always made her self-conscious when someone mentioned it. No matter if it was the slight point to her ears or the timelessness of her face, it always made her uncomfortable.

  Ivy cleared her throat, “Tony working on getting us out?”

  “The wards move to new spots each time I try to open it. I’ve never seen anything like it.” Tony interjected.

  “How did we get here?” Ivy asked.

  “I have no idea, I walked in the gatehouse, someone grabbed me from behind and I woke up here. You and Tony were still sleeping.” Gabby said. “Do you remember anything?”

  “You ran up to the gatehouse. Tony started to follow you but Siliras stopped me. Some woman jumped from the top of the wall. Siliras yelled something and I woke up here.”

  “Got it! Quick come and lift it.” Tony exclaimed.

  The lock made a grinding sound as they lifted it out of the housing. Ivy helped by sliding the bar back into the frame and they were free of the treasure room. Tony moved to the packs and started to scoop coins, gems, and all manner of treasure into them.

  “We need to find Lafe first, then we can worry about getting the treasure.” Gabby scolded.

  “Ugh, fine.” Tony replied as he stuffed a handful of coins in his pocket.

  Tony peered out the gate of the vault, checking from side to side. Once sure that no one was watching for them he led the team out of the makeshift prison cell. Seemingly from out of nowhere, someone jumped out of from around the corner.

  Tony crashed to the ground and rolled with the attacker across the floor. Once the momentum stopped the attacker stood, the torchlight dancing across her face. In any other circumstance, she would have been considered a true beauty, her dark skin and olive colored eyes, went perfectly with the purples or her skirt and the blues in the corset and elbow-high gloves she wore. Her dark brown hair was cut short in the back and left long in the front, almost hiding her face. No matter how beautiful she was her face was still the face of an enemy.

  “You must think you are so clever.” The attacker said in her rich accent.

  “I have my moments.” Tony quipped, winking at the woman. “Is that a Hivinanese accent I hear?”

  Ivy and Gabby took up flanking positions behind her.

  It was three against one, and the advantage of surprise was no longer hers, Gabby thought. No one had any weapons, that she could see. Their captors must have left the staves outside and taken Tony’s sword. They all had trained, she had even taken out some foot pads, and Tony was a guard. The fight was clearly in their favor.

  Gabby snapped back to attention, they were talking, and the woman seemed to be at ease now. It was Tony’s way she had to admit, if it was female, he could charm it. If Maerryth herself came down to challenge him, she suspected they would walk away together and share a drink at the nearest tavern.

  “No, no, don’t get me wrong, southern women are fine. Gabby here is a southerner and she is pretty enough. My tastes lean toward something a little different, you know not your average southerner. Ivy and I are together, and she is Kerolian.” Tony said.

  “You’d be a waste of my time little boy. You’re not even a hundred years old.” The woman retorted.

  “Why are you here…uh, sorry didn’t catch your name?” Gabby asked, drawing her attention.

  “Jessica and I’m the second in command. I was told to make you an offer. You are granted the blessing of joining with Akatika, servant of Narsharsha, for eternity. Will you accept?” Jessica asked.

  “Narsharsha, the goddess of death and the unliving.” Ivy said, sounding confused.

  “Your undead, aren’t you? Vampire or Lich?” Tony asked, setting his feet in a defensive posture.

  Jessica smiled showing her sharp pointed canine teeth.

  “I’m going to have to pass.” Gabby said as she squared her feet and bringing her fists up in front of her.

  Ivy looked disgusted and took up a defensive posture.

  “Suit yourself.” Jessica said lunging toward Ivy and Gabby.

  Jessica’s fist slammed into Gabby hard, knocking the wind out of her. Tears forced their way to Gabby’s eyes as she gas
ped and scrambled to counter the unnaturally fast movements of her opponent.

  Lights flashed in Gabby’s vision as another fist met with her head. Her hands fumbled to grab ahold of a cloth covered arm. She needed to at least try to do something before she died, Gabby thought.

  “Die undead abomination!” Ivy screeched punching Jessica in the throat. Gabby had never seen this kind of frenzy in Ivy. Her eyes were wild and filled with fire, the net of gems seemed to glow, more than the torchlight should have been able to achieve.

  Jessica gagged and let out a small cough. She tried to swing her hand at Ivy, but Gabby was still clinging to it.

  Tony reached the fight and slammed his booted foot into Jessica’s kidney. A small amount of satisfaction crept onto his face as he was rewarded with a groan of pain.