Chapter 34|The Chamber
Shanis cried out in alarm as Allyn fell. Upside down, his legs still wrapped around the rope, he swung down toward the wall below Shanis. His rope ran out of slack, and he nearly lost his grip, the jolt causing him to slip almost to the end. Before he could recover, he hit the wall hard. His legs came free, and he flipped in midair. Somehow he managed to hold on.
“He’s like a cat,” Hierm marveled.
Allyn looked up at them, blood pouring down his face. “Pull me up,” he croaked. “I don’t know how long I can hold on.”
They immediately set to hauling at the rope, aided by Larris and Oskar. Allyn grunted as he banged against the rock. He used his feet to try and keep himself from the rock. Soon, he lay on his back, breathing heavily. Against his faint protests, Larris checked him for broken bones. When he was finished, he shook his head to indicate that he found none.
Shanis turned her attention away from Allyn and looked around. This side of the cleft was similar to that from which they had come. Another ledge ran along the stone wall to the glowing cave. From somewhere far away, she heard the faint call of a golorak. It was answered moments later by another, more distant than the first. Then another.
“This place is like a warren for those frost-blighted things,” Hierm muttered. He looked at the cave entrance, the blue light pulsing faintly. “What do you think we’ll find in there?” He turned to face her.
She was surprised to realize how much older he looked. So much had happened to them on this journey that she had not noticed the effect on her friend. He was leaner, more serious-looking. In fact, he looked like his father.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Just thinking about how far we’ve come,” she said. “We’ve been through so much, and now we’re about to…” She couldn’t say the words. It was beyond belief.
“I know,” he said. “I can’t believe it either.” His eyes clouded as he looked at their destination. “Whatever it is, I hope it will protect us from the goloraks.” He shook his head. “I never thought anything would frighten me more than an ice cat.”
“The gods willing, we won’t encounter any more of them,” Larris said, walking up next to them. Behind him, Allyn was on his feet, though he was visibly fatigued. “Allyn insists he’s ready to move on.” He shook his head to indicate that he did not agree with his friend’s assessment.
Shanis led the way across. Khalyndryn followed, with Hierm close behind. They were concerned that Khalyndryn was growing fatigued, but she was holding up well.
This time, the climb across the ledge was blessedly uneventful. She heard a few distant golorak calls, but nothing more. She was concerned about Allyn, but dared not steal a glance back until she reached the other end.
The ledge terminated on a broad shelf in front of a yawing cave. The blue light flickered with an eerie glow. She turned and offered her hand to Khalyndryn, who clasped it with cold, moist fingers. Stepping onto the shelf, she offered a thin smile of thanks before turning away.
The strain was wearing on her. She looked back to see Allyn making his way across. Blood still trickled from facial cuts he had sustained when he crashed into the rock. His face was a grim mask of determination. Larris was behind him, holding fast to the wall with his right hand. His left was on the small of Allyn’s back, steadying him. It was only then that Shanis noticed how wobbly Allyn’s legs were. She admired his resolve, and respected Larris for his concern for his friend. He is not so bad.
Oskar brought up the rear. His face was pale, and he gripped the wall so hard that his knuckles seemed to glow. His breath came in gasps.
“You’re almost there,” Shanis called to him. “Just a bit farther.”
Soon, they all were gathered in front of the tunnel. They stood in silence for a moment, looking from one face to another. The gravity of the moment rendered them speechless. She supposed that it was possible that this tunnel would lead them to another dead end, like the city up above, but somehow she knew that it would not. This was it. They had arrived.
Larris stood with his back to the others, gazing down the tunnel. She wondered if he was savoring the moment. Or perhaps he feared what he might find…or might not find. He turned to face them, smiling. He started to speak, but Shanis cut him off.
“You are not going to give us another one of your ‘Larris speeches’, are you?”
“Actually, yes I was.” He looked a touch abashed, but it lasted only a moment. “Instead, I’ll simply say, thank you for seeing this through with me… my friends.”
Shanis did not have time to feel guilty. Larris turned, drew his sword, and led the way down the passage. Blue light danced around him, and the edges of his form seemed to waver. Suppressing a wave of fear, she gripped her sword hilt and followed. Allyn took up his bow, which he had not unstrung since shooting the golorak, and fell in alongside her, with the others close behind.
She felt the mystical pull again, now almost irresistible. She felt like she should lean backward in order to keep from falling over forward.
Her thoughts swam. What would it mean to find the Silver Serpent? What would it mean to them? To the world? Her mind was abuzz with possibilities. What if the power was so great that Larris could not control it? What if, in a moment of weakness, he used it for ill? Could they even take it? Could they touch it? Would it hurt them?
Her knees gave just a bit, and she caught herself. Performing her focusing exercise, she pushed the thoughts away, and steeled herself against whatever seemed to be dragging her forward.
Why is it only pulling me? Looking around at the others, she saw that only Oskar’s face showed evidence of strain, though they all looked serious.
“Do you feel that?” she whispered to Oskar, who nodded his head. She noted his pale, sweaty face.
“What is that?” Larris halted and turned to face them. His face was taut, whether with excitement or annoyance at the distraction, she could not tell.
“It’s pulling me,” she said. “It’s as if invisible arms are drawing me forward. It’s almost tangible. You don’t feel it?” She looked around, generalizing the question to all of her companions. All, save Oskar, shook their heads.
“I don’t feel anything but afraid,” Khalyndryn said.
Ordinarily that statement would have annoyed Shanis, but she had to admit she admired Khalyndryn, just a touch, for going on in the face of her fears, especially after the Golorak. Her attention moved to Oskar. Why would only the two of them feel it?
“Well,” Larris said, “whatever the reason you are feeling it, let us hope that it is drawing us toward something good.” He did not need to say what that something was. “I can’t believe otherwise.” He motioned for them to continue, and led the way.
Shanis took the final steps down the passageway as if she was walking naked in snow. Her body tingled, and she shivered. Numbness engulfed her and she heard a faint humming sound that grew louder with each step.
They reached an arched doorway. Carved into the stone all around it were serpents coiled around bolts of lightning. It looked powerful and deadly. Larris paused to look at the carvings before entering the room.
The humming burst into a crescendo as Shanis stepped over the threshold. Blue light flowed around her, rippling across her in soft waves of bright blue, almost white, and in troughs of a deep cerulean.
The chamber was round, arching up to a dome high above. A circle of columns carved like impossibly twisting serpents held up the ceiling in the room’s center. The walls, ceiling and floors were dark, polished stone.
Larris pointed toward the columns. Shanis followed the line of his finger and saw a dark figure kneeling among them. Moving closer, they saw that it was a statue.
It was a warrior clad in ancient armor. The figure was rendered in lifelike detail. Veins bulged in his powerful forearms, and his muscles seemed to ripple in the flowing light. His long, braided hair lay across his broad, powerful back. He was down
on one knee, his head bowed low. A stone sword lay on his upraised palms, as if it was an offering to the gods.
The sword, too, appeared breathtakingly real. Above the round pommel, a serpent coiled around the hilt, its gaping mouth and needle-like fangs formed the guard. As they drew closer, Shanis could make out another serpent, twin to the one carved in the cliff face above the city, etched into the blade.
“It looks razor sharp,” Hierm whispered. Oskar, who had been reaching out to touch the sword, snatched his hand back.
“This is the place,” Larris said. “We’ve found it.” He dropped to his knees before the stone figure, and gazed at its face, his expression unreadable. “We are here,” he whispered. “Reveal your secrets. Where is the serpent? What is it?” They waited as if they expected the stone to speak.
After a few moments, Oskar cleared his throat. “Perhaps the answer lies back there.”
Arrayed along the back wall, thirty paces away, six stone coffins lay in silent repose. Larris sprang to his feet and they hurried to the one in the center. They were surprised to discover that these were the source of the blue light.
“Seastone,” Larris said. “Father gave two of his finest stallions and a small chest of gold and jewels for a piece of stone that was only large enough to make Mother a ring and a set of earrings. I’ll wager there is not this much seastone in all of Gameryah combined.” He trailed his fingers across the surface, the stone rippling like water. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice them before.”
“What…who is in here?” Oskar asked. “I think I see some writing.”
“Yes,” Larris said, moving his hand toward the head. “You can just make it out. It is in Elevated. I know very few words, but this one,” he pointed to a word, “is ‘Cardith”. And this says ‘ruler’.” He ran his fingers over the ornate, curved text, that looked to Shanis more like a tangle of rope than writing. He paused, sucking in his breath. “Frostmarch.” The word sent a chill through the room. “I believe,” he said, straightening, “that this is the tomb of Sarala, who ruled Cardith during the Frostmarch.”
“But she fell in battle,” Oskar protested. “They carried her body home, and it lies in a crypt beneath the temple of Vesala.” Obviously, something he had read.
“Have you looked inside the crypt of late?” Allyn said.
Oskar scowled but did not reply.
They waited while Larris made a brief inspection of the other tombs. “This is amazing,” he said, stepping away from the last one. “The rulers of the six nations at the time of the Frostmarch are entombed here.”
“So the Serpent lies with one of them?” Allyn asked.
“We shall find out,” he said. “Help me with this.” Allyn, Hierm and Oskar helped him lift the lid from the sarcophagus farthest to the left. “It’s quite light,” he said as they laid it to the side with care.
Shanis sidled up to Hierm, who stood with the others peering into the coffin. Khalyndryn joined them after a brief hesitation. The contents of the vault were illuminated in the blue glow.
A dry, brittle skeleton, its rib cage collapsed under the weight of tarnished chain mail, lay grinning up at them. A gold circlet with an onyx raven set in its center hung askew across its forehead. Its hands were folded across its chest, and it held a short sword, its blade worn and the leather wrappings around the hilt crumbling from dry rot.
“Adar, King of Kyrin,” Larris announced. “But I don’t see anything here that could possibly be the Silver Serpent.”
Disappointed, they replaced the lid and moved on to the next crypt. Riljin, King of Halvala, wore a moldy bearskin over his chain mail, and was buried with his battle axe, Wulfbane. Mardid of Lothan wore a leather jerkin over his cross-hatched clan garb, and was laid to rest with his round, bronze shield and a broken sword.
“It was broken in the battle of Storlom,” Larris explained. “He fought on with only the hilt and the hands-length of blade you see there. He slew the commander of the forces of ice, a shifter named Crattas, but he suffered a mortal blow in the fight.”
Hollac of Riza was buried with his war hammer. Oskar commented on the man’s stature, having read that Hollac was a mountain of a man. His remains, however, proved him to be unremarkable in both height and breadth.
Sarala, and Damenn, Primor of the Council of Diyonus, were buried without weapons, neither being warriors. Sarala wore the crown of Cardith and a silken dress. Damenn was outfitted in the traditional Diyonan robe and tabard. Around his neck hung the thick golden chains that indicated his station as the head of the Diyonan council.
When the last coffin was sealed, they stood in silence. It put Shanis in the mind of a mourning circle back home. Somehow, it seemed wrong to speak at this moment. After what seemed to her to be a suitable length of time, she spoke up.
“Where is it?” There was no need to say what it was. “There was neither silver nor anything that looked like a serpent in any of these.” She gestured toward the coffins.
“It is here,” Larris said. “Is that feeling of yours telling you anything?”
Shanis shook her head. “It is so powerful that it seems to be everywhere. All I can say is that it is centered on this room.”
“Everyone spread out,” Larris said, obviously disappointed. “Look everywhere. It must be something so obvious that we missed it.”
Shanis moved to the wall behind the crypts. Running her fingers across the smooth stone, she felt for…she didn’t know what. A door, a hidden switch like in the stories. Something caught her eye. A crack, no, a tiny seam, running on a perfectly plumb line down to the floor. She followed it with her fingers. The stones were fitted together so perfectly that she could scarcely feel it. Just overhead, it cut across horizontally for two arms lengths, then back down to the floor.
A doorway! She had turned to announce her find to the others, when Larris cried out.
“Right under our feet! I’ve found it!” He stood staring at the floor just outside the columns that encircled the kneeling warrior.
The others hurried to his side. Beneath their feet, a serpent, rendered in silver tile, coiled around the columns. Everyone dropped to the floor and began running their fingers across it.
“It appears to be only a design,” Shanis said, the doorway temporarily forgotten, “just a pattern in the tile.”
“We were so distracted by the statue and the crypts that we walked right over it,” Larris said, ignoring her. “I told you it would be something obvious. Didn’t I?” He was on his hands and knees, following the glittering scales with his hands.
“Larris, this is perfectly smooth,” Allyn protested. “It’s naught but a picture.”
“There must be something,” Larris muttered. “Here. The eyes are slightly recessed. Remember the eye of the serpent at the well? It was the key to opening up the passage.”
The eyes were two perfect circles of glittering green stone. From her vantage point, they looked like part of the tile to Shanis.
“Perhaps if I just…” Larris placed his index and middle fingers on the eyes and pressed.
Green light flared and a loud hiss filled the room. Larris leapt to his feet and drew his sword. The others backed away, drawing their weapons as well. Khalyndryn moved behind Oskar, the person closest to her, who was fumbling with his staff, which he wore strapped across his back.
The silver tile rippled and bubbled as the serpent took form. Silver scales coalesced on a body as thick as Shanis’ thigh. The tail pulled loose from the floor, then the head. Green light danced in its eyes, and turned and fixed its gaze on her. With another loud hiss, it opened its mouth, baring crystal fangs. It struck.
She spun to the side and heard the jaws snap closed just inches from her heart. She swung her sword, but the serpent dodged the awkward stroke. She backpedaled, and ran squarely into one of the coffins.
Its body now fully free of the floor, the serpent pursued her, fangs bared. An arrow bounced harmlessly off the glittering scales of its
head. It paused to turn its head and hiss at Allyn.
She resisted the urge to hide behind the coffin. I need room to move. She danced to her right as the creature struck again. She heard the seastone shatter and Larris cry out. She turned to see him attack the serpent from behind. With a shout of rage, he brought his blade down hard across its neck. Green sparks flew, but the serpent was unfazed. With a whip of its tail, it caught Larris in the side, sending him crashing into the wall, where he fell hard, his sword clattering to the floor.
Allyn loosed two more arrows in quick succession. Both caught the snake in the head, but had as little effect as the first. It turned its attention to him for only a moment, before turning back toward Shanis. It hurtled toward her, its metallic scales clicking on the stone floor.
Shanis raised her sword again, and when the serpent struck, she beat its attack to the side and danced away.
Hierm joined the fray, hacking at the tail. It spared him not so much as a glance. Larris, having regained his feet and sword, joined him in his desperate rear assault. The serpent whipped its tail at them, but they were ready. They dodged it and resumed hacking. Now the serpent spun and darted toward them. They moved apart, and the beast went for Larris.
“Go for its tail!” Allyn shouted, dashing in to attack again. “I think I knocked a scale loose!”
Shanis saw a flash of green light, and aimed her sword at it. This time, she could swear she felt the blade bite into the scales. She danced away as the snake came about, and she saw a sliver of green light shining through the silver skin.
“It can be hurt!” Larris shouted.
But would it be enough?
“The door is closing!” Khalyndryn screamed.
Shanis turned to see a wall of stone slide into place, sealing off the tunnel from which they had come. Khalyndryn was trying in vain to raise the stone. Next to her, Oskar stood stock-still, staring at the serpent. He was holding his staff out in front of him, and moving his lips. What was he doing? Silver light flashed in the corner of her eye, and she looked back to see glittering fangs lash out at her. She fended off the attack with her sword and danced away.
Her arms burned, and her step was slowing. The long day of climbing had worn her down, and now the fight was sapping the last of her strength. Another arrow found its mark, this time on the injured tail. Green sparks flew, and its venomous hiss burned their ears. It reared to strike at her again.
Larris and Hierm moved in from either side, this time attacking the creature’s middle. It was waiting for them. A whip of its tail caught Hierm across the temple and he crumpled to the floor. With lightning speed it struck back at Larris, who could not move fast enough. Shanis saw a rip in his sleeve and blood running down his arm, purple in the blue light.
There was no time to ask if he was all right. The serpent came after her, striking with fury, driving her backward. No swordsman had ever kept her on such a defensive. She was fighting off its attack, but just barely. Allyn loosed another arrow, but the serpent was ignoring them, its full attention on her. It struck again, this time low, and she jumped back. She came down on something soft, and tumbled to her backside, her sword flying free from her grasp.
She had stumbled over Hierm’s unconscious form. She scrambled backward on hands and feet, the serpent’s gaping jaws seemingly right above her. Before it could strike, Larris struck it with a broad, reckless swing, his wounded left arm hanging limp at his side. The blow must have done some damage, because the snake now directed all its fury at the young prince. It caught Larris’ ankles with its tail, sending him stumbling backward. It struck, its jaws clamping down on his sword, shattering the blade. Before Shanis could get to her feet, it had Larris in its coils, crushing the life from him.
Allyn came sprinting from the corner of her vision. He leapt onto the back of the beast, wrapping an arm around its neck, and tried to gouge its eyes with his hunting knife. The serpent shook free of him, and he fell winded to the ground.
Everything seemed to slow. She heard Khalyndryn screaming. She saw Oskar, crying out in fright, beating at the beast with his staff. She saw Hierm and Allyn lying on the floor, the latter struggling to get to his feet. She saw Larris, his face purple, pummeling the snake with his fists. What she did not see was her sword,
I need a weapon. She turned and her eyes fell on the statue in the center of the room, and the stone sword lying across his upraised palms. Three steps and she was there. She heard Larris cry out as her hand closed around the hilt.