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Back to Empire on the HPe3000
... and ...
Harold walked over to the wall and began to search for handholds
to pull himself up. "You couldn't cast a spell and help me to the top?"
he asked the mage.
"I could Harold, but I have had no time to rest and gather my
strength to cast such spells again. What strength I have left I am
conserving. Do you need my help?" Telenstil asked the thief.
"No, no, I'll just hang from my toes." Harold complained.
"Really." said Ivo. "This I want to see."
Harold grumbled but did not reply. The stones were old and damp
but rough. Deep grooves separated block from block and Harold climbed
these like a ladder. Quickly he ascended to the arch over the gate and
found an opening above the bars. The thief secured himself with spikes
which magically whirred into the space between the blocks, then took
a stone enchanted to glow with light, one side painted black, from
a thick pocket on his belt. The bars had come down a long narrow shaft,
a metal plate ran across the top and each bar was slotted through a hole
along its length. Harold saw the metal chains which were bolted tight,
his small hand and arm fitted through the narrow gap between plate
and wall, he reached up and touched the metal links.
It took him a few minutes to take out the magic spikes and climb
back down the wall. The two wizards watched him expectantly, they had been
joined by Gytha and the old ranger, the two scouts had wandered off while
the others waited for Harold to descend.
"It's fantastic the way he can climb those walls." said Gytha
"I don't know, I've seen some fat little squirrels that can do the
same." the ranger told her.
"What did you find Harold?" Telenstil asked.
"This gate is on a chain, it can be raised somehow, but I could
not see very far up into the shaft." Harold pointed to the arch high
above.
"Could it be in the other room?" asked Ivo looking toward the
filthy pen where the manticore bodies lay.
"It could," said Harold, "it was impossible to tell."
"Telenstil, I will pray to the Saint for guidance." offered Gytha.
"Please do." said Telenstil. "Harald," he spoke to the ranger.
"Can you go collect Talberth and that chain?"
"Sure, I'll go get him now." Harald replied and ran off.
Across the room the two scouts, Edouard and Derue, eyed the piled
treasure that lay untouched. A coffer was overturned, its glistening
contents spread out over the floor. One large gem, its facets throwing off
a rainbow of light, was thrown further than the rest. Derue reached out to
nudge it with his foot.
Gytha cleared her mind and removed a small pouch from her side.
She took out a set of sticks, the barkless twigs of a hornwood tree,
each cut a different length, and cast them on the ground. "By a heart
that is true, Cuthbert grant me this boon and guide my way."
The sticks struck the ground and fell into an arrows shape that
pointed to a blank space on the eastern wall.
The gem rolled beneath Derue's foot, he dragged it away and
reached down and picked it up. There was a flash, so brief that it was
just a streak of white faded to purple in the scouts eyes. A thrumming
sound began and a loud click.
The sticks suddenly began to swivel and turned about, no longer
pointing east but south. There was the sound of clinking chains and a hum
from above the gate. The metal bars rose up quick, a manticore was dragged
up, then fell before the startled thief.
Harold jumped back, the black charred body suddenly animate, he
threw his hands before his eyes and gave a scream.
* * *
(To Be Continued)