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Once again Emiel dismounted and crossed the stream, but this time he jumped from boulder to boulder and then onto the far bank. In the underbrush among the trees he reached down, pulled something free, then disappeared from view as if the oerth had swallowed him whole.
It seemed only a few, short moments before the brambles to their right, along the steep slope, parted. A wide, double-doored gateway opened beside the narrow path, the heavy brambles and vines adhering somehow to their outer-face. Emiel stood within the dark entranceway.
"Come in." he said to Ragnar. "Better loosen your axe. Something is very wrong here indeed."
"Welcome to the Rat's Nest!" Ted exclaimed and gave Ragnar a slap on the back.
* * *
It was very dark. The corridor beyond the entranceway was wide and tall, carved from blocks of a black veined rock. The light seemed to struggle to illuminate it and gave up the task only a short way inside.
Emiel was a few paces ahead of Ragnar. One moment he was a vague shape, the next, he vanished as he stepped beyond the diminishing rays of sunshine. Ragnar halted.
"Emiel." Ragnar hissed. Ted nearly collided with him as he came up from behind.
"Rao's Teeth!" Ted cursed, "Watch it. Why'd you stop?"
"You two might have aelven eyes. I need a light to see in the dark." Ragnar answered back.
"You're right. I just know this place well" Emiel said. "I have a lantern and some torches with my pack. Let's go bring the horses inside and close the front gate."
* * *
The horses gave them no trouble. They led them inside single file and removed the packs that Talberth had provided. In Emiel's pack they found not only a lantern and a small supply of oil, but Ted showed them a small, dimly glowing stone wrapped in cloth.
"I found this back at the hideout when I unpacked the saddlebags." he explained unwrapping the stone carefully. He did not remove all the cloth but just enough to show the powerful beam it cast. Holding it in his hand it turned his skin translucent, showing a shadow of bones. He placed it within the lantern, clamping it where the glass flue would have been, and dropped its shutter. With a twist he turned the metal screen and a wide beam of light shot out. "Saves us the oil."
"A lightstone, good thinking." Emiel said.
"The skalds at home use such. My Uncle Hardraada has them set throughout his hall." Ragnar boasted.
"How nice for him." Ted said sarcasticly.
"There is a chamber ahead which we use to stable horses." Emiel changed the subject.
"Ha!" Ted snorted. "The last horse we had here, we ate. Remember that winter Emiel."
"Shut-up Thaddeus." Emiel commanded with a touch of annoyance. "We have serious business ahead. I found signs of intruders...bodies, some of them our own people."
Ted's mouth snapped shut, his flippant reply died on his tongue.
* * *
With a wire cord, brought to trap small game, Ted secured the lantern to the haft of his spear. It wavered above his head but still lit a good deal of the corridor beyond them. Emiel still led them but Ragnar was at his shoulder, his axe in hand. He held it by the metal sheath near the bladehead, ready to strike out in a lunge with the steel topspike or slash with the curved axe-blade.
They came to a large door which blocked the corridor. It was ajar. Its face showing the effects of a battering that had splintered the iron lock and dislodged its hinges.
Ragnar stopped to examine it, but Emiel put his shoulder against the wood first and attempted to push it open a bit more. "Give me a hand." he said to Ragnar. "We need to make it wide enough for the horses to pass."
The two strained against the twisted metal of the hinges. The door sat slightly at an angle and its bottom edge dragged across the stone floor with a screech. Suddenly there was a loud pop as the hinges broke into pieces, the bottom of the door hit the ground and the top swung back against the wall. Emiel and Ragnar both jumped away, saving their boot tips and their toes from being crushed beneath the door's ragged edge.
"Between that noise, and all this light, we've got as much chance as a fire dragon in the middle of a market to pass undetected." Ted said with exasperation.
* * *
(To Be Continued)