From darkness, the world slowly grew light. This cold world looked like it was on the verge of winter. The trees were barren, the grass and the ground a muddy brown.
The wizard, Cole, Etsel and the shadowcats broke the circle and looked around.
“Where are we?” Etsel asked Cole.
“I’m not exactly sure,” he said.
The wizard ignored their questions and packed up his brazier and the teleport deck. Cole never saw him carrying a satchel or anything so he was never sure where he kept all these things.
Even after Cole had stolen the Namriaan for the wizard, still he didn't trust Cole. The wizard had put the Brinnian bands back on, preventing all magic. The thought made Cole feel dismal, as did their current mission.
“This way,” said Brokk. The shadowcats followed, wordlessly. Cole sighed and walked after them.
Etsel followed last, guarded closely by one of the shadowcats.
"What about Rissa?" asked Cole quietly so that Etsel wouldn't overhear them. "I got the Namriaan. When will you let her go?"
"When our work is done," said the wizard.
Steal the Namriaan. Deliver the Namriaan. The list kept getting longer. Would the wizard really let his sister go?
They followed a path through the barren land up to a sheer cliff wall in which was a cave entrance.
Inside, the narrow cave was only dimly lit by the ambient light from the outside. The wizard did a quick spell to summon a bright, magical lantern. The cave looked partly lived in by some creature. Bones lay in the corners as well as small nests made of twigs and rags. The wizard only gave these things a cursory glance and continued to the end of the tunnel, where they came upon a stone doorway.
The two shadowcats rolled back the large, round stone door. They all went into this musty cavern and the cats shut the door again.
This semi-circular cavern looked almost natural but Cole was sure it had been carved out of black rock. The floor was fairly smooth and well worn in places. At the far end lay another door, this one of solid metal.
It was locked. The wizard used his wand, chanted a few words and it opened. This doorway led to a long stone corridor. It did look like it had been used in recent time.
The cat went first, then Cole and the wizard. Lastly came Etsel, followed by the shadowcat. As they moved forward, Cole slowed down.
“Cat!” he said.
The shadowcat stopped and turned to glare at him. Cole still couldn’t tell these creatures apart—or which was the male and which was the female, for that matter. Cole stepped in front of the cat and stared down at the stone floor. They looked odd and he realized there was an illusion over them.
“I think there’s a trap, here,” said Cole. “There’s an illusion cast on the floor.”
The wizard came forward and investigated. “Very good, Cole. You’re right. Keep to the right side,” said the wizard. They continued on, avoiding the trap.
If this place was lived in, it wasn’t well kept. These halls had been passed through but were not clean in a livable sense. Debris littered the place here and there.
“Who lives here?” asked Cole.
“I’m not sure anyone does,” said the wizard as they got to the end of the hall. A large grate prevented them from going further. There was no lever on this side of the door to open it. Through the grate, Cole could see a hallway with a large set of double doors on the other side.
With a wave of his hand, the wizard flipped the lever on the other side of the grate. Slowly the grate raised up so they could pass underneath.
"That's something I'm sure I could teach you to do," said the wizard, to Cole. "You have a knack for mental spells."
Cole didn’t share the wizard’s enthusiasm.
Spending eternity as the wizard’s pupil left Cole cold. The only reason he’d agreed to be Brokk’s apprentice was to save his sister, Rissa, whom the wizard had kidnapped. If Cole had his way, he’d prefer killing the wizard to serving him.
The wizard examined the double doors a moment. They were locked.
But Brokk didn’t bother opening them. “This way,” he said, and led them down the East corridor. Quickly it turned south and they followed it.
This hallway had small, dark alcoves on the west side. The light from Brokk’s lantern failed to illuminate these crevices.
All at once two figures jumped out in front of them. Immediately Cole heard an arrow shot behind them and realized that they were being attacked from behind. He pulled his dagger just as something jumped out from the alcove next to him.
Cole nearly lost his balance but managed to dodge the attack. His Brinnian bands were still on, so he couldn’t use magic against the cloaked creature. He slashed at it with his dagger, but the hall was dark and the man's black cloak made him nearly invisible. Cole wasn’t sure where to hit, exactly. So, his blow did no good.
The attacker’s hand, wielding a knife, came swiftly from under the cloak and hit Cole in the stomach, sinking into the skin. Cole brought his own dagger down on the figure’s arm. This brought a shriek and the arm retreated, taking the knife with it. The sudden move jarred the hood back and Cole saw that this man was human and not much older than himself.
“What?” said Cole.
Behind him, Etsel screamed. “Put me down!” Cole turned to see one of the cloaked figures had Etsel over his shoulder. With his attention distracted the man in front of him got in another blow, this time to Cole’s shoulder. Angry, Cole struck with the dagger and missed.
The cat saved him, killing the man with a single blow from behind.
“Thanks,” said Cole, turning back to Etsel. The cloaked figure was carrying her, as she objected profusely, down a hall to the East.
Cole ran after them. “Stop!” he yelled.
“Cole, not that way,” said the wizard. “It’s a trap!”
But this didn’t stop Cole. What was he going to do? Let them take Etsel? He didn’t think so. As he closed the gap, Cole tackled the man, sending Etsel and the stranger to the ground, with Cole on top of them. Six or seven more people jumped out of doors in the hallway, to confront Cole.
“Cole,” scolded Etsel, on whom Cole had landed. “Get off!”
Cole tried but wasn’t fast enough.
Something passed through the hallway. Some kind of magic. Cole tried to stay conscious but failed and the world went black.
***
When Cole awoke, he came up fighting. Someone grabbed his hand and he struggled, looking for his dagger which was no longer in his hands.
“Cole!” came the wizard’s voice. “Stop it!” Cole stopped and sat up, his eyes slow to open. He sat in the same hallway which was now littered with the bodies of their attackers. One of the shadowcats bent down over Cole, to help him to his feet.
Etsel lay unconscious beside him.
“Sorry,” apologized Cole. The cat helped him up silently. Cole brushed himself off.
“Is Etsel … all right?” She appeared to be asleep.
“She’s sleeping,” said the wizard. “Help us move these bodies.”
“You killed them?” asked Cole, impressed.
“No, they’re sleeping too. We just need to tie them up and keep them out of our way.”
“Who are they?”
“Thieves, I imagine. I haven’t seen them before in here.”
Cole nodded. Together, they put the thieves in a room nearby that seemed to be their den, tying them together with their own ropes. “That’ll teach them,” said Cole. The wizard, of course, didn’t participate in this manual labor, leaving it to Cole and the shadowcats.
When they finished, the shadowcats stood there staring at Cole.
“What?” he asked, sensing they wanted something.
“This is a temple of Chaos,” said one. His ears flicked a little, showing his disquiet. “We should not be here.”
“Chaos?” asked Cole. He’d never heard anything about this. This morning, the wizard had said they were taking the Namriaan to trade it for something that they needed, though he gave Cole no details. Neither Etsel nor the cats knew that they had obtained the Namriaan, nor that Cole had stolen it from another, much more beautiful temple the previous day.
“No sane creature can have dealings with the Gods of Chaos,” said the second cat. “This must not be.”
They both stared at him in earnest. Cole had no idea what to say. He wasn’t in charge, nor did he know what was going on.
“Tell the wizard,” said Cole.
They shook their heads. “He will not listen.”
Cole still didn’t know what they were asking him to do. “The Chaos Masters are altogether evil,” said the first cat.
And this, coming from a paid assassin mercenary. “Okay,” said Cole. “That’s good to know, but I’m not calling the shots here.”
The cats exchanged glances and went back into the hallway. Cole followed. Cole sat by Etsel until she woke, steadying her as she struggled at first.
“It’s okay,” said Cole. “You’re safe.”
She glared at him. “Hmph.” Perhaps his definition of safe didn’t match hers. She sat up with some effort.
“The wizard put them all to sleep.”
“Where are we going?” demanded Etsel. “What is this place?”
“I don’t know,” Cole lied. But he was sure she wouldn’t like the idea of visiting a temple of Chaos, not if the cats where unhappy about it.
“I don’t like this place,” she muttered.
Cole shrugged. He had to obey the wizard, now the Brokk had her sister as a prisoner. If he could just finish this task involving the Namriaan, then Brokk had promised to release Rissa and let her go back home to Earth. But the cats talk of the Gods of Chaos did worry Cole. What was the wizard up to? Cole was sure he hadn’t told him everything.
Holding Etsel’s hand, he helped her up. He wished he could help her escape somehow, but if he did, surely the wizard would know. He’d look inside Cole’s mind and find out the truth easily enough. Still, an alliance with Brokk made him uncomfortable. He'd proved over and over again that he wasn't worthy of trust.
Still, perhaps Cole could outwit him somehow. Pretend to go along until Rissa was safely away. Then he could escape and maybe even take Etsel with him. He took a deep breath, just wanting to get the Namriaan to wherever it needed to go. Then his part would be done.
The wizard returned and they continued south through the corridor, after healing their wounds and bandaging them.
The hall took a few more turns to the West and ended at a door. This was not unlocked and they found themselves in a rectangular room about 20 feet by 60 feet. A door led off to the north and east. Another door near them led south. And an ornate set of double doors lay set in the middle of the south wall.
The closed doors were carved with hellish figures and with many magical symbols. The pictures gave Cole a shiver and the cats looked uncomfortable.
“Where are we?” demanded Etsel.
“All in good time,“ said the wizard. He took a few moments to examine these doors.
“We’ll need to go in here,” said the wizard. But instead of opening the doors with a spell, as they were locked, he sat down. “We should rest first.”
The others made no objections.
The wizard took out his wand and conjured another bland meal for them and extra rations of water. After everyone had finished eating, the wizard conjured an extra magical lantern and set it near the shadowcats.
“Time to go,” said the wizard. To the shadowcats, he said, “I want you to stay out here and guard the doors. See that nothing disturbs us. This could take awhile.”
“What could take awhile?” demanded Etsel of the wizard. He ignored her. She turned her taciturn stare on Cole.
“I don’t know,” he shrugged, but he was lying. He had an inkling of what the wizard wanted to do. He was trading the Namriaan for something and because they were in a temple of Chaos, he imagined he would be trading it to the Gods of Chaos.
Easily enough the wizard unlocked the large metal doors to the temple and they entered. Etsel lingered behind. “I’m not going in there,” she said.
The wizard turned to her. “Shall I charm you again, then?” he asked.
“For crying out loud,” said Cole, going over to Etsel. “Just come.” The last thing he wanted was to see her turned back into the mindless obedient slave she’d been for the few days she’d been charmed. He took her arm and pulled her into the hallway. Ahead of them was a small room.
Behind them, the doors fell shut and locked. Etsel looked frightened. They moved forward into the antechamber. It was larger than the corridor they’d rested in, being a square room maybe 25 feet wide. On the walls were painted murals depicting frightening beasts in flames. Some of them had an Egyptian look, inhuman creatures all circling a large flaming eye, in the center of which was a pupil that had eight arrows coming out of it all in opposite directions. Cole felt certain he’d seen that symbol before.
Etsel gasped at the mural. “This is a Chaos temple!” she accused the wizard. She turned to Cole. He simply stared back at her. “You knew?” she demanded.
“There’s nothing we can do,” he assured her, pulling her forward through the large double doors that Brokk had just opened.
The temple room was rectangle, maybe 40 feet by 60 feet. On one side was a pentacle on the floor, a teleport point, as Cole was now becoming familiar with them.
“What are we doing here?” asked Etsel.
In each corner stood a stone statue depicting a different hideous creature from the mural in the antechamber. In the center was an alter.
“Cole?” she demanded.
He remained silent, knowing he couldn’t answer her in front of the wizard. She looked truly frightened. The wizard went over to the pentacle circle. Cole followed, drawing Etsel with him.
“This isn’t our destination,” said the wizard, stepping into the teleport circle. Cole and Etsel followed. The wizard set up his brazier and prepared for teleport.
The room faded to darkness and passed through a strange, harrowing red field until they re-emerged into a rectangular room that also had a pentacle circle on the floor. On the north was a large metal portcullis that was shut. On the south was an archway leading to another, larger room. Torches burned on the wall.
Etsel gasped.
On the other side of the room, stood two guards: humanoid creatures with long, wolf heads and flaming eyes, wearing golden armor.
They had arrived at the Temple of Chaos.
(More is coming; stay tuned.)