The Scrolls of Skava

The Ruby Keep - Part 3

     Arroc gave a start of alarm when he heard the door opening, and just had time to lie down on the couch and pretend to be asleep before one of the red eyed, red costumed men entered, carrying the wizard gently in his arms. He laid him down on an empty couch, arranged his arms by his sides and then left, closing the door behind him. The trog lay still for a while longer, to make sure the room was empty, and then went over to examine him.

     Thomas seemed to be in the same condition as the others, in a coma from which he could not be roused, but the trog’s sharp eyes seemed to detect some subtle change in the colour of his skin, as if he’d spent a few weeks in a dark dungeon. “What have they done ter you, lad?” he murmured thoughtfully. “What are they going ter do to all of us?”

     A moment later he heard a groan from behind him and spun around in alarm, reaching for his scimitar, but it was only Shaun, waking up at last. The others were stirring as well, blinking and rubbing their eyes sleepily and staring in wary curiosity at the room they were in. “What happened?” asked Naomi blearily. “Where are we?”

     “I don’t know,” replied Arroc, rushing to her side. “How do ye feel?”

     “I’m not sure,” replied the black girl, sitting up on the couch. “How long have we been asleep?”

     “Hours,” replied the trog. “Most of the day, I think.”

     “I ache all over,” said Thomas, getting up off the couch and making an attempt to stand. “Like a tribe of ogres’ve been using me for a punchbag.”

     “Were we attacked?” asked Shaun. "Are you okay?" he asked Diana, staring at her anxiously.

     "Fine," the cleric replied, smiling reassuringly.

     "Are you sure? Who knows what they might have done to you while..."

     "Shaun, I'm fine!"

     “If someone wanted to harm us, then why are we still alive?” said Dennis. “They could have killed us while we were asleep.”

     “That’s odd.” said Thomas, fingering the neckline of his shirt curiously.

     “What is?” asked Diana as she checked the others for injuries and other possible lasting effects of the sleep spell.

     “My shirt,” replied the wizard. “I had my top button undone, I’m sure of it, but now it’s done up. And my belt’s buckled on the wrong hole.”

     He lifted his jacket to show the others. It was a good quality leather belt he’d been wearing since leaving the University. "Look. The iron buckle's worn a groove just under the third hole, but since I've been travelling all over the continent I've lost a good deal of weight and I now buckle it on the fourth hole. Now, though, it's buckled on the third hole again. It's all loose around my waist." He pulled the belt tight and buckled it more comfortably.

     “I think we were undressed while we were asleep,” he concluded, his eyes wide with worry. "I think that, when they dressed me again they just did up my belt at the deepest of the two grooves."

     Shaun looked up sharply and stared at his sister in sudden fear. Diana and Teasel paled at the thought of their modesty being violated while they’d been asleep, and they all began checking their clothing, looking for similar clues.

     “No, lad,” said Arroc, however. “Not us, just you. They took you away for a long time and brought you back just before you woke up.”

     “How do you know that?” asked the wizard.

     “The sleep spell didn’t affect me,” replied the trog, “but I pretended ter be asleep, thinking there might be a chance to escape and maybe rescue the rest of you, but I saw them take you and I saw them bring you back.”