Krondor_ The Assassins Part 20

"Even hanging by your fingers means a fall long enough for you to break your legs," said the captain. "You don't know what's down there."

James glanced at the rising moon. "Wait a few minutes."

As the moon climbed higher in the sky, the deep shadows cleared. After a few minutes, Treggar said, "It's a pathway!"

Below them, between two walls of stone, a narrow pa.s.sage to the ancient fortress ran alongside the larger pathway they had left.

James said, "William, lie down and lower me, then I'll drop. I'll catch you two."

Quickly the three men made their way down to the narrow pathway, and Treggar said, "I hope we don't have to retreat in a hurry."

"Retreat?" asked William.

"No room to fight, lieutenant," answered the older soldier.

William realized he was correct. Even with daggers, all a man could do in this narrow confine would be to hold an opponent at bay. The rocks on either side rose twelve feet above his head and he had scant inches of clearance to left or right.

"This way," said William, who found himself in the lead. Even if they had wanted a different order, there was no room, save to climb over one another. No one suggested it.

When the two moons were directly overhead, William whispered, "Look at the walls!"

James stopped and examined the rocks. "This is new work. You can see the chisel marks."

Treggar said, "Our friends, I guess."

James said, "That means the old entrance is almost certainly trapped." He was silent, then he said, "No horse could get through here, so they must either have a third way in or out, or they have a stable and forage hidden away close by."

"The latter, almost certainly," suggested Treggar.

As they moved along the pathway, it widened a little, until they reached what appeared to be a dead end. As William raised his hand toward the stone wall, James said, "Don't touch anything."

William withdrew his hand and James said, "Move back and let me squeeze by."

They did so and James stood motionless for a time, looking closely at the rock surface. He whispered, "I wish we could risk a light."

"We can't," answered Treggar.

"Quiet," instructed James.

He reached out to the wall on his right, then moved his fingers forward until they reached the junction with the wall in front of him. He touched the surface lightly, barely putting any pressure on it, then quickly withdrew his hand.

He repeated the examination with his other hand, starting from the left wall to the wall in front of him, and again quickly withdrew his fingers. Turning, he said, "It's trapped."

"How do you know?" asked Treggar.

James said, "I know."

"What kind of trap?" asked William.

"A very nasty one, I wager," said James, as he knelt. He examined the ground before the wall, again inspecting the intersection where they joined. "Stand back," he instructed.

They retreated a few feet. "If you want to know how I know, captain, spend half your life negotiating traps and you develop a sense for them. This one is pretty fair, but no natural rock formation has a continuous seam on both sides, from top to bottom, of almost exactly the same dimension. Someone cut this rock in front of us and put it here." James reached down and pushed slightly. The entire wall effortlessly tilted toward him for an instant, then swung back. He put his fingers under the lower edge of the hidden doorway and lifted up. Silently and without effort it rose until it was parallel to the ground, suspended on two hidden pivots. Looking over his shoulder he said, "They cut this door to match very closely the other rock around here, but it's not an exact match. Now, don't touch anything but the ground. In particular, don't touch the door as you crawl under it." Then he vanished into the darkness below the suspended door.

William and the captain followed.

The tunnel was pitch-dark, and James whispered, "Don't move."

A few painfully slow moments pa.s.sed, then a light flickered into existence, a tiny speck of flame ignited by James.

"How did you do that?" asked Treggar.

"I'll show you later," said James. He handed a tiny burning taper to William. "Move down the tunnel a little."

He then carefully put the door back as it had been, and turned, holding out his hand. William gave him back the taper. The tiny light did a remarkable job of illuminating the area around them, just enough for them to see where to step, but not casting light very far down the tunnel. They would be almost upon anyone before their light was detected.

Whispering, James said, "Now we must use all our senses. Be wary."

He set off. The tunnel inclined downward, leading them deeper into the earth.

After a long, silent walk, a light appeared in the distance. James extinguished the burning taper and put it away. Just before reaching the source of the light, they encountered a tunnel which crossed the one they were in. James turned right, away from the light, and motioned for William and Treggar to follow. When they were once again in the darkness, he relit the taper.

They moved down the corridor. It was clearly a manmade pa.s.sage, with close-fitted stone on both sides, and large paving stones beneath their feet.

William said softly, "I think this is the way the rat indicated."

"What rat?" asked Treggar.

"Probably means the kitchen or food storage isn't far from here," replied James, ignoring the question.

They heard the sound of someone moving a few yards ahead. James quickly extinguished the taper again. Moments later, they saw a light appear, as two men crossed before them, from right to left along a perpendicular tunnel. Neither spoke, and it was hard to tell what they wore, save their clothing was dark.

"What now?" whispered William.

"We follow," said James.

Treggar said, "Remember our way back. One of us has to reach the Prince and tell him of this place."

Neither James or William answered.

They moved carefully to the intersection, then turned to the left to follow the two men.

A hundred yards down the corridor, they could hear voices murmuring. As they neared the light, they saw men standing before the entrance to a large, well-lit gallery. Their backs were to the three invaders.

James glanced around and then pointed to a portal with stairs leading upward. He moved quickly up the stairs and the others followed.

They found themselves in a circular chamber, up in what might have been a small servants' sleeping area, overlooking what must originally have been an armory. Ancient forges lay unused against the far wall.

Clearly they had found the location of the ancient Keshian fortress, and were in bas.e.m.e.nts that had been hollowed out of the rock upon which it had once stood. The murmur of voices from below masked James's words as he whispered, "Those servants who worked in the armory must have slept up in this loft."

"What's going on down there?" asked William softly.

James hazarded a peep over the edge then quickly pulled back.

Even in the indirect light from the chamber below, William and Treggar could see James go pale. "Take a breath before you look," he whispered.

William peered over and saw at least a hundred men, all wearing black robes or cloaks, all watching a ceremony directly across from where the three of them hid. The ancient armory was now a temple, and the brown stains upon the wall clearly showed it was a temple dedicated to dark powers.

Four men who were obviously priests were in the midst of a sacrifice, and that sacrifice lay bent backwards across a large stone, hands and feet held tightly by four black-robed men.

Upon the wall behind the priests was a mask, larger than a tall man, a hideous creature from a demented nightmare. Roughly the same shape as a horse's head, the creature's snout was pointed, like a fox's, but two long tusks protruded downward. Twisted horns, like a goat's, rose from behind pointed ears. And where the eyes should be, two flames burned.

The lead priest began to chant and the a.s.sembled men responded as one.

"What language is that?" asked Treggar.

"Sounds Keshian," said William, "but no dialect I'm familiar with."

Suddenly a drum boomed and a horn blew, and the men below shouted a name. James felt a chill pa.s.s through him.

The priests' chanting grew louder and one opened a large tome, then moved to the side of the victim. Another priest retrieved a golden bowl from a man standing nearby. He moved to the victim's head and knelt beside him.

The chanting never stopped.

The three standing priests picked up the pace of the incantation, and the witnesses answered. The a.s.sembled voices rose and the chanting grew louder, more insistent.

With a flourish, the chief priest revealed a black knife, which he held before the eyes of the victim. The man was naked save for a loincloth, and unable to move, but his eyes widened at the sight of the knife.

Then with a deft move, the blade sliced the man's neck, and blood fountained from the wound. The bowl was lifted to receive the blood, and as the first drops were caught, James felt a deeper cold pa.s.s through him.

William spoke softly, though his voice wouldn't be heard over the chanting by the men below. "Did you feel that chill?"

"I did," said Treggar.

William said, "Magic. And it's big."

Suddenly the room seemed to darken, though the torches in the wall-sconces burned no less brightly. A black cloud coalesced and took shape behind the altar upon which lay the now-twitching victim.

"Back!" said William as the black cloud grew more solid by the second, and the voices of the priests rose in unison.

Retreating to the back of the small servants' loft, James said, "What was that?"

"A demon," said William. "I'm almost certain. Keep low. The priests might not notice us in the shadows, but that demon might." They ran along in a crouch, and started back down the stairs.

Screams sounded from the makeshift temple and Treggar said, "What was that?"

"The blood was only used to bring the thing here," suggested William. "Now it's feeding from among the faithful."

Treggar's battle-hardened expression couldn't hide the fact that the blood had drained from his face. Through tight lips he said, "They willingly stand and die?"

"Fanatics," said James. "We've seen them before, captain. Murmandamus?"

Treggar nodded. "The Black Slayers."

"We must warn Arutha," said William. "He's got the men to crush this company, but not if they have a demon serving them. The Prince has no magicians or priests in his company."

Remembering an attack upon the Prince at the Abbey of Sarth, James said, "It won't be the first time Arutha's faced a demon."

More screams sounded. "Come on," said Treggar. "We have to start back. They're distracted now, but for how long?"

James nodded and led the way.

Quickly they made their way down the steps and retraced their way up the corridor, heading toward the secret entrance. The entire way the sounds of men dying followed them. More than once they thought the murders had stopped, but just as quiet descended it was shattered by another scream.

When they re-entered the darkened portion of the tunnels, James relit his taper.

William said, "That man on the stone never cried out."

Treggar said, "He wouldn't. That was one of our Pathfinders."

James said nothing.

They reached the exit and James motioned for them to halt and handed the light to William.

After a long moment of inspection, James put his hand against the hidden door and pushed to open it.

Nothing happened.

THIRTEEN - Concealment

James pushed again.

Nothing happened, again.

"What's wrong?" asked Treggar.