*
Maybe the others are right, Ambori thought to himself as he reached the top of the chiseled staircase. Perhaps my outfits, though rather colorful and elegantly fashionable at the same time, are not the best of possible choices for approaching a potentially dangerous situation stealthily. Then he sighed. Oh, well...
Leaning back he motioned with his free hand that he'd reached the top without incident. He did not turn back to look however. The last thing that he needed right then was an eagle's eye look from thirty-thousand (give or take a few million, Ambori thought queasily) feet straight up. His stomach was lurching enough at the mere notion of being that far from the ground. Never mind how his heart seemed to burst every time a strong gust of wind blew by or whenever his hand or foot slipped a bit from it's ever so tentative and slippery perch.
And to think that some people actually do this for fun!
At the the peak of the Dragon's Tooth was exactly what they were told would be there. A rather oddly natural looking plateau that stretched at least a hundred meters in diameter. At the very center was ad immense temple that seemed to have been built out of the mountain itself. There was no seam between it and the peak proper. Atop the broad double doors of the temple jutted out the carved head of some large serpentine beast. It had wide eyes that sat a ways behind the long, pointed snout. The mouth was wide open, displaying an elegant set of very sharp teeth.
Tasha scooted up beside the bard and took the whole scene in with one quick glance. "Nice decor, eh?" he whispered to her.
She frowned darkly at Ambori, her hand twitching from it's spot on the top stair. "Don't you start with me too, bard-boy. I don't have the patience today." She scanned over the whole peak of the mountain before carefully sliding up off the staircase. After a moment's hesitation, Ambori did as well. Within seconds, all four members of the party were standing side by side in front of the temple.
Ambori winced at the dozen steps leading up to the double doors of the temple. "Not more stairs," he softly whined. Then he gaily dodged out of the way of Tasha's sharp, backhand swipe. He held both hands out in front of him, grinning slightly. "I know, I know... Neither the time, nor the place. Blah, blah, blah."
Tasha pointed a finger at him sternly. "Just make sure you remember that when it counts." Ambori promised that he would.
After waiting a length of time in front of the temple without anyone doing or saying anything at all, Ambori began to get concerned. "Are we just gonna stand here, or are we going to go in?" he asked.
Tasha shook her head. "It's not that simple... " she began but Skarlett politely cut her off.
"I beg your pardon," the wemic cleric began. "But why not? There is obviously no one waiting out here to attack us, and this is apparently the only way in."
"Yes, but... "
"And besides," he went on. "We have the very simple advantage that we know there's someone in there waiting for us. However, the longer that we wait out here, the less of an advantage we end up having.”
Tasha closed her mouth and seemed to think about the situation. needless to say, Ambori's nerves were just too high strung to withstand the lack of doing in this case. If we're going to get in a fight, let's just do it and get it over with!
"Milady," Hal said softly, offering his reassurance with a confident gaze. That seemed to bring Tasha out of her stupor and allowed her to think once again. Without a word, she strode towards the temple and up the stairs. Hal was right behind her while Ambori and Skarlett brought up the rear.
The double-doors were made out of the same stone as the rest of the building and were consequently incredibly heavy and difficult to move. After straining with it for a few moments, Tasha got very red in the face as she remembered who the powerhouse on the team was. "Hal, if you wouldn't mind... ?" she asked, gesturing towards the doors casually.
He nodded once and stepped forward, pressing against the stone door forcibly. When it didn't move, he frowned and pressed both hands (one on each door) and heaved against them. Again, they didn't budge one inch. On the third try, Hal strained to gather up every ounce of strength in his muscular frame and pushed with all of that might behind him. He did this until his face was a solid purple in color before Tasha and the others were forced to pull him away from the doors.
"Hal!" Tasha cried to him. "Calm down, there must be another way in!"
"Damned door," Hal muttered, sweat pouring down his face. Steam rising from his body due to the chill.
"Let me take a look," Skarlett asked. "Maybe there's something magical about it, some special way in..."
"Bloody, door..."
"That's a good idea Skarlett, you do that. Ambori, give me hand with Hal, here. See if there something we can do to calm him down. I've never seen him like this before."
"Has there ever been anything that he couldn't force open before?" Ambori asked.
Tasha shook her head. "Not to my knowledge."
"Damn, bloody door... "
"Hal will you calm down?" Tasha asked him angrily. "It's just a door!"
Ambori glanced away and watched as Skarlett stood directly in front of the doors and studied them carefully. His eyes began to glow the same color red as his hair while he peered at the structure. In the time that it had taken to do that, Hal had lurched away from Tasha and had jumped down the steps to the temple.
"Hal, what are you doing?" Tasha screeched.
Ambori watched in amazement as Hal took a very deep breath, held it for as long as he could and then slowly let it out. Then the big man took one step back, bouncing slightly on the balls of his feet. He took another deep breath, held it for as long as he could and then let it out as well. Then he stepped back once more. A third time he repeated this before crouching down slightly. On the fourth breath Hal he charged forward.
"Skarlett! Move!" Ambori cried as Hal barreled forward like a stampeding bison. The wemic started out of his daze and frantically padded aside as the enraged Hal flew past him.
The instant before he touched the stone of the doors, the big man bellowed out in some semblance of a battle cry: "OPEN!"
The stone doors snapped wide open in that instant with a loud crash as they struck the inner walls. Hal barreled through and fell solidly on his face as his head of steam reached a sudden lack of impact and threw him completely off balance.
Ambori watched in amazement as Hal's large frame slid across the smooth stone floor to the base of a thirty-foot tower. The tower overlooked what appeared to be a circular pool of water approximately fifteen feet in diameter. On either side of the staircase leading up to the tower were two ten-foot statues of what looked like men with lion's heads and a tail to match. At the top of the tower was a landing. Atop the landing was a remarkably plain but functional stone altar.
Resting upon the altar was a wooden stand holding a leather-bound tome, all of which was encased within a solid glass container.
Standing before the altar was Braxin Balinvain.
The former Court Wizard stared in amazement at the sight of Hal and the others as they followed the big man into the the room. "Balinvain!" Tasha cried out in surprise.
Skarlett snarled bestially and pulled out his mace, brandishing it at the mouse-like man. "Stay away from the Book! It was not meant for the likes of you!"
Balinvain sneered. "That is hardly for you to say, cleric. And besides," he raised one hand and held it before him, the fingers shaped like claws. "I'm aware that I cannot take the book. The warding spell upon it prevents me from doing so. However, I can make sure that none of you will ever be able to take it!"
Hearing the slight scrape of a boot on stone behind him, Ambori moved without conscious thought. He dove away from Tasha and Skarlett, tucking into a shoulder roll. Sliding up to one knee, Ambori deftly plucked a dagger from the left sleeve of his billowy shirt and hurled it directly behind him.
The deadly piece of sharpened steel flickered end over end in the dim torchlight and passed harmlessly over the heads of the six m
en standing with weapons drawn directly behind him.
There was an embarrassing moment in which all six of them stared at him and his friends with grim looks upon their mostly ugly faces.
That was when his dagger struck the far wall with a loud clatter. Ambori placed one hand over his eyes and sighed. "That was not a good start," he muttered.
Balinvain laughed harshly. "Sunraiders," he cried out to the men. "Earn your pay!" As one they saluted the wizard with their weapons and charged forward with a yell.
Skarlett shoved Tasha towards Balinvain. "Get the Book," he shouted. "The bard and I will deal with these ruffians!" Wordlessly Tasha nodded and headed for the staircase to the tower.
Balinvain sneered and shifted his aim directly towards Tasha.
Suddenly enraged, Ambori snatched a second dagger from a hidden sheathe and hurled it at the mage as hard as he could. Unfortunately, one of the Sunraiders struck him from behind as he was doing so. The blade whipped right past the wizard, causing him absolutely no damage.
But Balinvain was startled by the sudden appearance of a sharpened metallic object flying by him at a great velocity. So startled that he apparently forget the spell that he was working on and jumped back in surprise. The wizard stumbled back and bumped into the glass case covering the Book of Korum, knocking it off it's pedestal and shattering it into little bits.
At that moment, the eyes on the two statues at the base of the tower began to glow a bright blue in color.
Ambori spun away from the man attacking him and called out to the cleric. "Hey Skarlett! I can handle these morons. Go help the big guy, it looks like Hal's going to need it before I will!"