Chapter 6: Dire Omens
The dog started barking wildly, licking at the fallen, masked man between pawing and butting his snout up against him. We all stood there, uncertain what to do next. Gabriel glared at Hu Li, “What?” Hu Li said. “I got him to stop his yammering!”
Lilian took a step forward, her hands outstretched toward the dog. It growled at her, bearing an ample row of teeth. She stopped.
“We don’t want to hurt you.” She said.
The dog melted into a spasm of infuriated barks. Rows of hair behind its head stood up. His eyes, wide and white with fury, flew passed each of us. Though a small creature, he was more than capable of intimidating his foes.
“Let me acid the mutt!” Growled Aesendal. “And his touched master!”
“No!” Commanded Shale.
The druid moved forward. He began muttering softly. The dog faced him, bent low on his haunches and continued his tirade of barks. The ground at Shale’s feet budded tiny, hair thin weeds. A soft wind caressed us like a mother’s hand.
The dog’s attention turned entirely on Shale. His barking only intensified, but he stopped pacing. The two were locked in some kind of conversation. Shale broke from it with a start.
“This is Jazzad!” He said, pointing to the fallen wild man. “And this hound is his animal companion.”
The dog finally stopped barking. He sat down next to his master and let out a pitiful sigh. Shale approached him and patted the dog on his forehead. The tail wagged mournfully.
Lilian gave a sigh. Hu Li harrumphed. Gabriel and Talon both stepped over to Shale. I stepped up to Lilian, while Aesendal stood back, still glaring at the dog.
“You found him.” I quietly said to her.
“But in such a state.” She answered, shaking her head. “He’s completely mad.”
“Yes!” purred Hu Li, an unnerving grin slicing across his cheeks. “As shall we all be if we stay here a moment longer! This place is cursed! Rampaging boars! Bedeviled rangers! What hope have we if this steward of the wilds falls prey to what avails this land! We must turn back now! Tell Menion of his friend’s fate, or else we shall all share in it!”
“Ails.” Talon said blankly. “Not avails.”
“YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!” Howled Hu Li, his face as flushed as an overripe pomegranate.
“Quiet!” roared Gabriel. “We’re not going to just leave him here. He’s sick. He needs our help.”
“Evora.” Talon called out. “Is there anything you can do?”
I looked at Lilian. She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head toward the rest of them.
Gabriel had bent over the man and removed the boar’s head mask. He, Talon and Aesendal gathered around, examining it. The dog stayed near Shale and Jazzad.
Hu Li skulked over to the two monks and the sorcerer.
“Let me see!” I heard him whine. “If that hollowed out head is in some way bewitched, only I, the Acolyte Hu Li will have the knowledge to counter its effects.”
I surveyed Jazzad’s slumbering body. Short of a few indigo bruises and small scabbed over cuts, he seemed in perfect health. He was completely nude, but his unmentionables were covered in thick clumps of dead leaf and grass laden mud. The color of his hair was uncertain, as it, too, was caked with mud and dirt.
“He appears to be in good physical health.” I said. “However, it is clear he has been living in this state for some time.”
“Perhaps he was bewitched by the same enigmatic source that has possessed the boars.” Shale said as he petted Jazzad’s dog. The dog’s tail wagged playfully.
Lilian knelt down beside me. She sighed. I could feel her warm breath tumble down my left shoulder.
“Can you help him?” She asked.
“I do not think so.” I shamefully replied. “We should keep him… bound, or sedated. For his own protection. Clearly he is not himself.”
Gabriel and Talon must have heard me, for a moment later, they were rolling Jazzad on his side, binding his wrists and ankles with their belts. I looked over to Aesendal and Hu Li just as the pale wizard was throwing down the hollowed out boar’s head he has been studiously studying.
“Nothing more than tanned hide.” He said in disgust. “I’m taking a walk.” He announced to no one in particular and stomped off. Aesendal watched him go, shaking his head. He moved over to help Talon and Gabriel secure the unconscious ranger.
Lilian, Shale and I all stood up and moved a few paces away to give them some room. “Are we to carry him all the way back to Goldfire Glen?” Shale asked.
“I see no other alternative.” Answered Lilian. She lifted her eyes to the sun and let out a long sigh. “What is happening?”
“I do not know.” Shale said after a moment’s consideration of the question. “Some power is at work here. What it is and what it wants, however, remains unclear.”
Just then, Hu Li appeared huffing out of the tall grass. His head was hunched forward. His usual pale features appeared even chalkier. His eyes were wide and red with fear. When he spotted me looking at him, his features softened, he straightened in an unconvincing attempt to gather himself together. “Well, let’s be off then.” He said, having noticed that Jazzad was very well secured. “We have what we came for. No other reason to remain.”
“What did you see?” Asked Gabriel striding over the wizard.
“Grass. Rock. Mud. Water. A few gnats.” Hu Li answered, his voice breaking. No one believed him.
All eyes fell on Lilian, who was taking in Hu Li with a maternal gentleness. The wizard slightly shook.
“What has frightened you so, Hu Li?” She finally asked.
Hu Li dropped his jaw in feigned offense. Lilian lowered her chin and stepped up to him. He could not take his eyes off of her. His mouth closed and his lower lip began to tremble.
“What is out there?” She asked him again.
He lowered his eyes in defeat.
“I am sure it is nothing.” He whispered.
“Show us.” She gently ordered.
We followed Hu Li through the overgrowth for a few minutes. The ground was littered with small rocks that kept creeping up into my boots. I ignored the pain, trying to keep pace with the rest of them.
When the grass gave way, we found ourselves near the far end of the canyon. That strange outcropping of rock Hu Li saw at the cliff was now standing majestically ahead of us.
“It’s that!” he said, pointing a trembling finger at it.
“It’s just a big rock.” Said Aesendal.
“No.” snapped Hu Li. “Come closer.”
He beckoned us on. When we reached the shadow of the outcropping he stopped. I gasped. Everyone stopped and turned back toward me. I saw what had shaken the wizard.
The large outcropping was, in reality, an ancient, weathered statue. Much of the detail had been worn away by countless years of decay. The few discernable features that remained appeared to me almost melted, but what remained clear were the clawed fingers and toes of the being depicted.
There were six instead of five. I took in what remained of the face. It had once been handsome, but cruel. The eyes were smoothed away and the mouth and nose appeared to be shorn off. Two time-smoothed horns protruded from the forehead.
“Who is it?” Lilian asked me, her voice betraying a slight tremor.
“Not who. What.” I said. “Graz’zt. A demon lord.”
“Shhh!” said Hu Li, rushing over to me and covering my mouth. “To speak his name…” His voice trailed off. He let go of me and moved to Lilian. “So now you know what I saw. Now we may….”
“There’s some kind of entrance over here!” Shouted Talon, who had surged forward to the statue and began searching around.
“Oh, good.” Muttered Hu Li through clinched teeth. Lilian, Gabriel, Shale and Aesendal all joined Talon at the base of the statue.
Hu Li and I remained behind. He glared at the clump of them for a moment, then turned to me.
“Fools. One and all.” He said. “You know what this thing is. You know nothing good will come of snooping around here.”
I had no choice but to agree with Hu Li. I knew of Graz’zt. Those in his thrall were beautiful to behold, but they used their beauty to corrupt, seduce and manipulate others into doing their dark lord’s bidding. A statue of this demon lord, even a half destroyed one, was far from an omen of fair tidings. For all we knew, the opening Talon had uncovered lead into a temple dedicated to every form of decadence and profanity known and unknown. It may even still be in use.
I broke from Hu Li and hurried forward. Talon, Gabriel and Shale were digging at a clump of loosened earth that surrounded a narrow opening in the base on which the horrid statue stood.
“What do we hope to gain from disturbing this place?” I asked Lilian. Shale answered for her.
“A clue as to what is affecting the boars and Jazzad.”
I looked back to Hu Li, who was reluctantly inching his way closer to us. He had swallowed his lips and tightly clinched his jaw.
“Shale says we may…” I began.
“I heard.” He spat. “And if we do, what then? Are we equipped to better a true servant of this fiend?”
“It doesn’t appear anyone has been here for quite some time.” Shale said softly.
“Even better!” snapped Hu Li. “That means we’re not dealing with a someone, but a something! If this find is related to these current events, we may be after something far worse than a misguided thrall. We may uncover the Prime Material lair of an imp, or a vrock or a marilith, or worse.”
“I think we have cleared enough away.” Said Talon. Indeed, a good sized portion of dirt, some four or five feet’s worth, had been upended to make room for anyone willing to slide into the threshold.
The dark opening sank passed into the ground. Aesendal evoked a ball of light, bent down at the mouth of the opening and pushed his hand in. It lit a floor some ten feet below. Little more could be made out at our angle.
Aesendal turned his palm over and the ball of light bounced into the opening. I gave Aesendal a quizzical look.
“Why did you need a torch at the cliff?” I asked him.
“I didn’t want to waste a spell.” He said simply. “Besides, your donkey carries all the remaining torches. No one thought to bring any more along. And he’s still waiting for us by the cliff.”
“Another mistake.” I thought. Hu Li will surely hold that against Lilian as well. We’ll all hear about it the entire way back to Goldfire Glen, I was sure of it.
Gabriel was the first to slip into the opening. Lilian followed. Talon went next, followed closely by Shale and Aesendal. I looked back at Hu Li who despondently shrugged his shoulders, shook his head and dropped down past me. I was right behind him.
Lit by Aesendal’s glowing arcane sphere of light was a small chamber, no more than twenty feet by twenty feet. In its center was a great stone rectangular altar. Beside it stood a four foot pedestal topped with a flat plate about the size of a birdbath. Clearly this was a temple.
The others stood aside when I entered, given that I was a priest and was assumed to be the expert on such things.
“What is that pedestal for?” Lilian asked me. I moved up to it. The round plate was perfectly smooth and round. Crafted with great care, but not much flourish. I let out a sudden gasp. It was a pure reaction.
I spotted Hu Li jumping out of the corner of my eye.
“Don’t do that!” He hissed.
“What is it?” Shale asked. “What do you see?”
What startled me was a thin line of silver powder that rounded the entire rim of the plate. One small portion of the otherwise perfect circle of silver had been brushed away. I recalled from my unauthorized studies ways to cage extra-dimensional beings using such methods, but, as this find proved, the cages were fragile at best. A strong enough wind could break the bond.
I looked over at Hu Li who was pressed up against a wall. I barely had the heart to say what I must, as he was clearly distraught enough as it was, but they needed to know.
“Something was kept here.” I said. I could feel the sharp swallows and rising tensions of the group behind me. “Was. This line here is silver powder. It is used in a ritual to bar the path of creatures summoned or conjured from other planes. Devils and demons and their ilk. It can also be reversed as well, in order to encage said fiends, so long as the circle remains unbroken. However this circle has been… disturbed. Whatever was kept here has escaped.”
“So, we have some errant demon gallivanting about the country side!” Said Hu Li. “This day just keeps getting better and better!”
“The pedestal is rather small.” I said in a pitiful attempt to soothe nerves. “The creature was most likely an imp or a quasit or something like that. Perhaps a mephit. They are mostly harmless.”
“Mostly?” Snapped Hu Li. “What ratio of harmless would that be exactly, most learned priest?”
“Evora!” Shale called from the altar. “Do you know what this says?” I moved over to him. Carved into the stone of the altar were strange runes. They slashed and curled into the stone like great gashes. The letters were foreign to me.
“I do not know what language this is.” I told Shale.
“Hu Li!” Shale said. “Can you read this?”
Hu Li pressed himself further up against a wall. His eyes darted to the entrance and back to the altar.
“Hu Li.” Lilian commanded. “Help them. See if you can decipher that writing.”
The wizard’s stark features softened a wisp when his glare met Lilian’s. His shoulders slumped like a punished child and he detached himself from the wall and sauntered over to the altar. When his gaze met the writing he recoiled.
“It is draconic!” He said.
“And?” said Aesendal. “That is the language of magic. Why the dramatics?”
Hu Li continued to read. He shook his head. His eyes slammed shut. He held his hands to his ears and went down on one knee.
“Oh, for Canaan’s sake!” said Gabriel. “What does it say?”
“We must leave!” Hu Li insisted. “Now. This place was not meant to be disturbed! We must leave, now!”
Hu Li ran for the entrance. He scurried up the short dirt hill and vanished beyond.
“Hey.” Said Talon. “I found a doorway over here.” He was standing in the small space between the pedestal and the altar. His hands were pressed up against the wall.
“I think I can manage to push it open, with some help.”
Outside, Hu Li was heard screaming.
Lilian was the first out. Gabriel and Shale were right behind her. Aesendal and I scampered through the entrance within seconds of each other. When I cleared the entrance I could make out what Hu Li was shouting.
“FOOLS! DO YOU ALL WANT TO DIE? WHY DO WE STAY? I TOLD YOU! WE ALL MUST LEAVE NOW! WHAT IS BURIED THERE WISHES TO REMAIN…”
He stopped and covered his mouth with both hands.
“Idiot, Hu Li. Idiot!” I heard him muttering.
Lilian, breathless, caught up to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Hu Li, please. What is there? What was that altar?”
He clamped his lips down under his teeth and shook his head.
“Just tell us.” Commanded Gabriel, who stood behind his sister. “I grow tired of your outbursts.”
We all gathered around him. He shot us each a terrified glare. Talon had emerged from the chamber and joined the rest of us.
Hu Li remained insistent.
“We must leave here now. I must return to my master. I must return to Balian. He will know what to make of this.”
“Tell us now! What was written on the altar, Jordan?” Gabriel shouted.
“That is the ACOLYTE HU LI!! And it was NO ALTAR! IT WAS A COFFIN!”
The shaken arcanist slapped his hands over his mouth again, shook his head and said no more. He swiftly stomped back in the direction of the now walking, but bound Jazzad.
The dog started barking wildly, licking at the fallen, masked man between pawing and butting his snout up against him. We all stood there, uncertain what to do next. Gabriel glared at Hu Li, “What?” Hu Li said. “I got him to stop his yammering!”
Lilian took a step forward, her hands outstretched toward the dog. It growled at her, bearing an ample row of teeth. She stopped.
“We don’t want to hurt you.” She said.
The dog melted into a spasm of infuriated barks. Rows of hair behind its head stood up. His eyes, wide and white with fury, flew passed each of us. Though a small creature, he was more than capable of intimidating his foes.
“Let me acid the mutt!” Growled Aesendal. “And his touched master!”
“No!” Commanded Shale.
The druid moved forward. He began muttering softly. The dog faced him, bent low on his haunches and continued his tirade of barks. The ground at Shale’s feet budded tiny, hair thin weeds. A soft wind caressed us like a mother’s hand.
The dog’s attention turned entirely on Shale. His barking only intensified, but he stopped pacing. The two were locked in some kind of conversation. Shale broke from it with a start.
“This is Jazzad!” He said, pointing to the fallen wild man. “And this hound is his animal companion.”
The dog finally stopped barking. He sat down next to his master and let out a pitiful sigh. Shale approached him and patted the dog on his forehead. The tail wagged mournfully.
Lilian gave a sigh. Hu Li harrumphed. Gabriel and Talon both stepped over to Shale. I stepped up to Lilian, while Aesendal stood back, still glaring at the dog.
“You found him.” I quietly said to her.
“But in such a state.” She answered, shaking her head. “He’s completely mad.”
“Yes!” purred Hu Li, an unnerving grin slicing across his cheeks. “As shall we all be if we stay here a moment longer! This place is cursed! Rampaging boars! Bedeviled rangers! What hope have we if this steward of the wilds falls prey to what avails this land! We must turn back now! Tell Menion of his friend’s fate, or else we shall all share in it!”
“Ails.” Talon said blankly. “Not avails.”
“YOU KNOW WHAT I MEANT!” Howled Hu Li, his face as flushed as an overripe pomegranate.
“Quiet!” roared Gabriel. “We’re not going to just leave him here. He’s sick. He needs our help.”
“Evora.” Talon called out. “Is there anything you can do?”
I looked at Lilian. She raised an eyebrow and tilted her head toward the rest of them.
Gabriel had bent over the man and removed the boar’s head mask. He, Talon and Aesendal gathered around, examining it. The dog stayed near Shale and Jazzad.
Hu Li skulked over to the two monks and the sorcerer.
“Let me see!” I heard him whine. “If that hollowed out head is in some way bewitched, only I, the Acolyte Hu Li will have the knowledge to counter its effects.”
I surveyed Jazzad’s slumbering body. Short of a few indigo bruises and small scabbed over cuts, he seemed in perfect health. He was completely nude, but his unmentionables were covered in thick clumps of dead leaf and grass laden mud. The color of his hair was uncertain, as it, too, was caked with mud and dirt.
“He appears to be in good physical health.” I said. “However, it is clear he has been living in this state for some time.”
“Perhaps he was bewitched by the same enigmatic source that has possessed the boars.” Shale said as he petted Jazzad’s dog. The dog’s tail wagged playfully.
Lilian knelt down beside me. She sighed. I could feel her warm breath tumble down my left shoulder.
“Can you help him?” She asked.
“I do not think so.” I shamefully replied. “We should keep him… bound, or sedated. For his own protection. Clearly he is not himself.”
Gabriel and Talon must have heard me, for a moment later, they were rolling Jazzad on his side, binding his wrists and ankles with their belts. I looked over to Aesendal and Hu Li just as the pale wizard was throwing down the hollowed out boar’s head he has been studiously studying.
“Nothing more than tanned hide.” He said in disgust. “I’m taking a walk.” He announced to no one in particular and stomped off. Aesendal watched him go, shaking his head. He moved over to help Talon and Gabriel secure the unconscious ranger.
Lilian, Shale and I all stood up and moved a few paces away to give them some room. “Are we to carry him all the way back to Goldfire Glen?” Shale asked.
“I see no other alternative.” Answered Lilian. She lifted her eyes to the sun and let out a long sigh. “What is happening?”
“I do not know.” Shale said after a moment’s consideration of the question. “Some power is at work here. What it is and what it wants, however, remains unclear.”
Just then, Hu Li appeared huffing out of the tall grass. His head was hunched forward. His usual pale features appeared even chalkier. His eyes were wide and red with fear. When he spotted me looking at him, his features softened, he straightened in an unconvincing attempt to gather himself together. “Well, let’s be off then.” He said, having noticed that Jazzad was very well secured. “We have what we came for. No other reason to remain.”
“What did you see?” Asked Gabriel striding over the wizard.
“Grass. Rock. Mud. Water. A few gnats.” Hu Li answered, his voice breaking. No one believed him.
All eyes fell on Lilian, who was taking in Hu Li with a maternal gentleness. The wizard slightly shook.
“What has frightened you so, Hu Li?” She finally asked.
Hu Li dropped his jaw in feigned offense. Lilian lowered her chin and stepped up to him. He could not take his eyes off of her. His mouth closed and his lower lip began to tremble.
“What is out there?” She asked him again.
He lowered his eyes in defeat.
“I am sure it is nothing.” He whispered.
“Show us.” She gently ordered.
We followed Hu Li through the overgrowth for a few minutes. The ground was littered with small rocks that kept creeping up into my boots. I ignored the pain, trying to keep pace with the rest of them.
When the grass gave way, we found ourselves near the far end of the canyon. That strange outcropping of rock Hu Li saw at the cliff was now standing majestically ahead of us.
“It’s that!” he said, pointing a trembling finger at it.
“It’s just a big rock.” Said Aesendal.
“No.” snapped Hu Li. “Come closer.”
He beckoned us on. When we reached the shadow of the outcropping he stopped. I gasped. Everyone stopped and turned back toward me. I saw what had shaken the wizard.
The large outcropping was, in reality, an ancient, weathered statue. Much of the detail had been worn away by countless years of decay. The few discernable features that remained appeared to me almost melted, but what remained clear were the clawed fingers and toes of the being depicted.
There were six instead of five. I took in what remained of the face. It had once been handsome, but cruel. The eyes were smoothed away and the mouth and nose appeared to be shorn off. Two time-smoothed horns protruded from the forehead.
“Who is it?” Lilian asked me, her voice betraying a slight tremor.
“Not who. What.” I said. “Graz’zt. A demon lord.”
“Shhh!” said Hu Li, rushing over to me and covering my mouth. “To speak his name…” His voice trailed off. He let go of me and moved to Lilian. “So now you know what I saw. Now we may….”
“There’s some kind of entrance over here!” Shouted Talon, who had surged forward to the statue and began searching around.
“Oh, good.” Muttered Hu Li through clinched teeth. Lilian, Gabriel, Shale and Aesendal all joined Talon at the base of the statue.
Hu Li and I remained behind. He glared at the clump of them for a moment, then turned to me.
“Fools. One and all.” He said. “You know what this thing is. You know nothing good will come of snooping around here.”
I had no choice but to agree with Hu Li. I knew of Graz’zt. Those in his thrall were beautiful to behold, but they used their beauty to corrupt, seduce and manipulate others into doing their dark lord’s bidding. A statue of this demon lord, even a half destroyed one, was far from an omen of fair tidings. For all we knew, the opening Talon had uncovered lead into a temple dedicated to every form of decadence and profanity known and unknown. It may even still be in use.
I broke from Hu Li and hurried forward. Talon, Gabriel and Shale were digging at a clump of loosened earth that surrounded a narrow opening in the base on which the horrid statue stood.
“What do we hope to gain from disturbing this place?” I asked Lilian. Shale answered for her.
“A clue as to what is affecting the boars and Jazzad.”
I looked back to Hu Li, who was reluctantly inching his way closer to us. He had swallowed his lips and tightly clinched his jaw.
“Shale says we may…” I began.
“I heard.” He spat. “And if we do, what then? Are we equipped to better a true servant of this fiend?”
“It doesn’t appear anyone has been here for quite some time.” Shale said softly.
“Even better!” snapped Hu Li. “That means we’re not dealing with a someone, but a something! If this find is related to these current events, we may be after something far worse than a misguided thrall. We may uncover the Prime Material lair of an imp, or a vrock or a marilith, or worse.”
“I think we have cleared enough away.” Said Talon. Indeed, a good sized portion of dirt, some four or five feet’s worth, had been upended to make room for anyone willing to slide into the threshold.
The dark opening sank passed into the ground. Aesendal evoked a ball of light, bent down at the mouth of the opening and pushed his hand in. It lit a floor some ten feet below. Little more could be made out at our angle.
Aesendal turned his palm over and the ball of light bounced into the opening. I gave Aesendal a quizzical look.
“Why did you need a torch at the cliff?” I asked him.
“I didn’t want to waste a spell.” He said simply. “Besides, your donkey carries all the remaining torches. No one thought to bring any more along. And he’s still waiting for us by the cliff.”
“Another mistake.” I thought. Hu Li will surely hold that against Lilian as well. We’ll all hear about it the entire way back to Goldfire Glen, I was sure of it.
Gabriel was the first to slip into the opening. Lilian followed. Talon went next, followed closely by Shale and Aesendal. I looked back at Hu Li who despondently shrugged his shoulders, shook his head and dropped down past me. I was right behind him.
Lit by Aesendal’s glowing arcane sphere of light was a small chamber, no more than twenty feet by twenty feet. In its center was a great stone rectangular altar. Beside it stood a four foot pedestal topped with a flat plate about the size of a birdbath. Clearly this was a temple.
The others stood aside when I entered, given that I was a priest and was assumed to be the expert on such things.
“What is that pedestal for?” Lilian asked me. I moved up to it. The round plate was perfectly smooth and round. Crafted with great care, but not much flourish. I let out a sudden gasp. It was a pure reaction.
I spotted Hu Li jumping out of the corner of my eye.
“Don’t do that!” He hissed.
“What is it?” Shale asked. “What do you see?”
What startled me was a thin line of silver powder that rounded the entire rim of the plate. One small portion of the otherwise perfect circle of silver had been brushed away. I recalled from my unauthorized studies ways to cage extra-dimensional beings using such methods, but, as this find proved, the cages were fragile at best. A strong enough wind could break the bond.
I looked over at Hu Li who was pressed up against a wall. I barely had the heart to say what I must, as he was clearly distraught enough as it was, but they needed to know.
“Something was kept here.” I said. I could feel the sharp swallows and rising tensions of the group behind me. “Was. This line here is silver powder. It is used in a ritual to bar the path of creatures summoned or conjured from other planes. Devils and demons and their ilk. It can also be reversed as well, in order to encage said fiends, so long as the circle remains unbroken. However this circle has been… disturbed. Whatever was kept here has escaped.”
“So, we have some errant demon gallivanting about the country side!” Said Hu Li. “This day just keeps getting better and better!”
“The pedestal is rather small.” I said in a pitiful attempt to soothe nerves. “The creature was most likely an imp or a quasit or something like that. Perhaps a mephit. They are mostly harmless.”
“Mostly?” Snapped Hu Li. “What ratio of harmless would that be exactly, most learned priest?”
“Evora!” Shale called from the altar. “Do you know what this says?” I moved over to him. Carved into the stone of the altar were strange runes. They slashed and curled into the stone like great gashes. The letters were foreign to me.
“I do not know what language this is.” I told Shale.
“Hu Li!” Shale said. “Can you read this?”
Hu Li pressed himself further up against a wall. His eyes darted to the entrance and back to the altar.
“Hu Li.” Lilian commanded. “Help them. See if you can decipher that writing.”
The wizard’s stark features softened a wisp when his glare met Lilian’s. His shoulders slumped like a punished child and he detached himself from the wall and sauntered over to the altar. When his gaze met the writing he recoiled.
“It is draconic!” He said.
“And?” said Aesendal. “That is the language of magic. Why the dramatics?”
Hu Li continued to read. He shook his head. His eyes slammed shut. He held his hands to his ears and went down on one knee.
“Oh, for Canaan’s sake!” said Gabriel. “What does it say?”
“We must leave!” Hu Li insisted. “Now. This place was not meant to be disturbed! We must leave, now!”
Hu Li ran for the entrance. He scurried up the short dirt hill and vanished beyond.
“Hey.” Said Talon. “I found a doorway over here.” He was standing in the small space between the pedestal and the altar. His hands were pressed up against the wall.
“I think I can manage to push it open, with some help.”
Outside, Hu Li was heard screaming.
Lilian was the first out. Gabriel and Shale were right behind her. Aesendal and I scampered through the entrance within seconds of each other. When I cleared the entrance I could make out what Hu Li was shouting.
“FOOLS! DO YOU ALL WANT TO DIE? WHY DO WE STAY? I TOLD YOU! WE ALL MUST LEAVE NOW! WHAT IS BURIED THERE WISHES TO REMAIN…”
He stopped and covered his mouth with both hands.
“Idiot, Hu Li. Idiot!” I heard him muttering.
Lilian, breathless, caught up to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder.
“Hu Li, please. What is there? What was that altar?”
He clamped his lips down under his teeth and shook his head.
“Just tell us.” Commanded Gabriel, who stood behind his sister. “I grow tired of your outbursts.”
We all gathered around him. He shot us each a terrified glare. Talon had emerged from the chamber and joined the rest of us.
Hu Li remained insistent.
“We must leave here now. I must return to my master. I must return to Balian. He will know what to make of this.”
“Tell us now! What was written on the altar, Jordan?” Gabriel shouted.
“That is the ACOLYTE HU LI!! And it was NO ALTAR! IT WAS A COFFIN!”
The shaken arcanist slapped his hands over his mouth again, shook his head and said no more. He swiftly stomped back in the direction of the now walking, but bound Jazzad.