Spears of Redriver

Part Forty-Eight - Into the Darkness

Carthus crouched low to the ground on all fours and leaned close to the edge of the cliff. He peaked down into the deep valley, and even now in the dark, he could see figures aimlessly marching around. The dead were everywhere, their moans rising into the air as they echoed against the rock wall. The Maad shuddered and sat back.

"Anything?" Enlief walked over and peaked down.

"No, I can't see any cave or passage...just the dead," Carthus replied.

"We can try the main entrance of the tower..." Enlief said.

"Maybe Kithar recommended against it because he knew there were guards...and now that they are gone, we have a clear path forward" Tassos crouched by the cliff wall with them.

"It might be our only option; I do not see how we could climb down the wall even if there were a cave" Enlief shrugged.

"It is quite steep...and if the fall doesn't kill you, the dead will" Carthus agreed. He stood and turned to the tower, freezing in place as his eyes stopped on the faceless shadow. It stood in the doorway of the ruin; eyeless face turned to him with a slight tilt of the head.

"So through the tower?" Enlief asked.

"Through the tower..." Carthus said slowly and with a blink, the figure was gone. He noticed the goosebumps all over his arms and down his neck and took a deep breath.

"You alright?" the Nord asked.

"Yes, let's go!" Carthus nodded and took up a quick pace through the dirt. The other Spears followed at his heels. The Maad warrior stepped quickly to the base of the tower, climbing two short stairs to the open doorway. As he passed the threshold of the ruin, a chill swept across his body and he looked around, wondering if the faceless man had been somewhere inside. There were many shadows, none of which moved or starred back at him.

"Strangely cold in here," Enlief remarked in a hushed voice.

"You felt it too?" Carthus glanced over his shoulder and got a nod back.

"Same...maybe it is the effect of the magic wards?" Tassos asked.

"Eyes peeled" Carthus sighed and picked up his pace again, limping across the first empty hall. The pain in his leg had returned, or it had been there the entire day, he was not sure.

The first chamber was empty, aside from a few stone benches along the walls, and the darkness that shrouded everything else. Whatever light there had been before from the wards was now gone. Carthus led the way on through the next open doorway and stopped. It was too dark to continue.

"We need light, someone get a torch!" the commanded, listening into the shadows. The silence was deafening, and nothing moved as the short scrape of flint and steel repeatedly echoed from the walls. Before long, Tassos stood with a lit torch raised overhead, the bright light burning past Carthus into the room beyond. Where are these wards? Carthus thought as he eyed over the chamber.

It was empty, and what contents were there previously had been turned to ash. Charred markings covered the walls and the floor and the twelve-foot ceiling. Carthus spotted a few corpses lying in the distance, just across the room from him. Next to their still smoking bodies was a magic circle of runes drawn in red ink.

"That must be the ward...don't get too close" Carthus pointed to the circle.

"Look how far those bodies are...we can guess that is the distance it takes to activate the ward" Enleif added.

"But do we know for sure that it will fire up with us here? I mean the dwarves pass the wards daily...don't they?" Tassos asked.

"Maybe, and maybe there is a way to deactivate the ward for a moment," the Nord replied.

"Just move carefully, I will go first," Carthus commanded.

"Let me, Master Carthus," the young swordsman stepped forward.

"If I let you go forth and you die here, that is not honoring Theo's memory...I will go!" Carthus shook his head sternly, and without another word, stepped into the room. He edged closer and closer to the other side, trying to circle the magic runes to keep his distance. Nothing moved, nothing happened. The stench of burned flesh, however, grew in strength as Carthus drew closer to the bodies.