Chapter 9 - Outside the silver gate

A young woman clad in leather armor slowly emerged from behind a pile of boulders in the darkness, armed with a bow pointed at Auric’s chest. Racti stared at the woman, enamored with her beauty. She had a lean and strong figure with smooth and slender curves, which her tight leather armor contoured perfectly. Sandy-brown hair, tied into a ponytail, fell across her left shoulder. “What are you doing here?” she asked, approaching cautiously.

“Listen, lady, what we are doing here is no business of yours!” Tannyr stood and folded his arms across his chest, glaring at the woman.

“Calm yourself, Tannyr,” Auric sighed, turning to face the stranger. Holding his hands outward defensively, he stepped forward. “Pardon my companion here. We are here to solve the problem of the dragons. Apparently we are stuck here.”

The woman loosened her grip on the bow and returned the arrow to her quiver. “I am Teria the Huntress. My mission is the same as yours, but I have also failed to pass the door.”

“So,” quipped Racti, sliding toward the others and making it a point to stand nearest to Teria, “why shouldn’t we touch the door?”

“One of my companions, a warrior, boldly tried to force the door open. At the very touch, he disintegrated.” Teria pointed to a small pile of scorched bones and ashes near the door, which no one had noticed before. The image passed through the party’s minds, causing each one to shiver.

“My only companion still alive is Sartrem, a crippled thief who is fleeing his homeland.” Teria motioned toward the boulders. “Come, Sartrem,” she said in a voice like she was talking to a child, “they aren’t going to harm you.”

A short, hooded and masked figure rose from behind the boulders, a dagger in each of his hands. He sheathed his daggers and took a step forward. “I sense hope coming from this group.”

“Their quest is the same as ours.” Then, turning to Auric, Teria asked, “Where did you say you were from?”

“I am from the forest of Rhom, and my friends here are loyal companions who follow me on my journeys.”

Tannyr proudly stepped forward. “I am Tannyr, lord of the Lornehoeth clan.” The dwarf bowed slightly, causing Teria to smile. “The wizard to my left is Zengrath, and the young man who has been admiring you is Racti.”

Sartrem cleared his throat, and held his hands out in front of him. “Where is the leader? Let me speak to him.”

Auric assumed that Sartrem had bad vision, so he approached him so that he could be seen clearer. “I am the leader. My name is Auric Ravenhelm.”

“Ah, you are the half-breed that I have dreamt of meeting. In my dream, I was told that I’d meet a half-breed leader who will save us from the dragons.”

“Honestly that was not our original purpose.” Auric’s voice became grave. “We only happened to come upon this mess by chance.”

“I doubt that, my friend. But regardless, your journey has brought you this far, but you have the key to continue, do you? Without it, there is no way out.”

“But we do have the key!” Racti shouted. “Auric has the amulet with him now.”

“You fool! If these people are trying to steal the amulet, that’s the sure way to let them know we have it!” Tannyr whacked Racti on the back of the head. Racti zipped his lips and backed away.

“If we were trying to steal it, we would have done it in a more conventional manner.” Teria looked at Tannyr in discontent.

Auric took the amulet out of his pocket and held it out to Teria, fumbling it in his hands. “Yes, we do have this so-called ‘key,’ but now does it open the door?”

Sartrem approached the door, which seemed to hiss as he got nearer to it. He pointed to the relief in the door, making sure not to actually touch it. “If you insert the right sequence of sides into the space here, the seal will be broken.”

“I see — the Inquisition.” Zengrath whispered to Auric. “The symbols on the amulet represent the answers to the questions on the door.”

“I wonder if he knows the correct sequence,” Auric replied, also in a whisper. Glancing over at Sartrem, Auric could see that the man was staring at him and Zengrath.

Sartrem approached Auric. “So, you want to know the combination, do you?” He cleared his throat. “I may be crippled and have bad vision, but I’m not deaf. Actually, I have powers unknown to many.”

“Powers? Are you a mage?” Zengrath’s old gray eyes brightened. He hoped to be able to converse about magic with another of his profession. The last decent conversation he had had was with the Council of Mages a year before. He also know that mentioning the strange black rock would finally arouse some talk amongst the Council, which of late had been very silent.

Unfortunately, Zengrath did not receive the news he wanted to hear. “No, I’m not a mage, but my gifts are of magical origin. Previously I worked for a thief-wizard who gave me these powers to assist him in his thieving activities.”

“You’re not talking about Karlan, are you?” Racti interrupted, a sneer crawling across his lips as he said the name. “That bastard forced his way to the top of the Thieves’ Guild in Silvanar!”

Sartrem faced the young thief. “Yes, unfortunately I am. He used his magic to give me the gifts of prophesy and extra-hearing. After three years of working for Karlan, I left him to his fate, and I haven’t seen him since.”

“Enough of Karlan,” Auric broke into their conversation. “Do you know the combination to the door?” He held up his hand, ceasing Racti from speaking.

“I might know it, but then again, I might not.” Sartrem laughed hoarsely, making Racti shiver.

An unusual anger raged within Auric; an anger that was uncharacteristic for one who was half elven. It was also uncommon for even a human to have such ire. His emerald green eyes grew dark as moss and became narrow and slanted. Auric’s heart beat fast hard, like rapid war-drums in the heat of battle. “Just tell me, do you know or not?”

Sartrem cringed backward, reaching for a dagger. “The half-breed grows impatient. Perhaps I was wrong about any hope in you.”

“What is wrong with Auric, Zen?” Racti looked at the wizard questioningly.

“The Silence has affected him now, as it had you and me.” Zengrath aimed his thoughts toward Auric’s mind like a spear. He hoped the spell would free Auric from the grasp the Silence had on him. The wizard mumbled ancient words of release, repeating each syllable with increased volume until the incantation was complete. A thunderous boom ripped through the air.

Auric shouted as the dark presence left his spirit, the pain causing him to fall to the floor. He rose, like a warrior who had received a mortal blow, catching his breath. “I’m fine now. It was like a thousand evil horses stampeded through my mind, and I was forced to subject to the Silence’s ill will.” Auric peered first at his companions, then at Sartrem and Teria, who all were staring at him as if to assure he was himself again. “I apologize for my outburst,” said the half-elf sincerely to Sartrem.

“There is no need. The Silence is strong, and it took advantage of the impatience inside of you.”

“What about the combination?” Tannyr spoke up.

“I’m afraid I do not directly know the combination.” As Sartrem said this, Tannyr tensed his muscles and started toward him, but was stopped by Auric. “These runes are of an ancient script.”

“My ancestors created the language for use only in their texts and for the protection of this door,” added Teria. “As their religion died off, the language was forgotten.”

Auric raised an eyebrow. “So you mean to say that you are a descendant of the clerics that started this whole mess?”

“Yes, but there always have been some of us who have opposed their beliefs, and we have tried many times to thwart their plans.”

“Well, obviously each time was a failure,” Racti mumbled, shrugging.

Teria pressed her fist against her breasts. “This time I will not fail. I’m sure we’ll find a way in.”

Suddenly Zengrath began to chuckle, which was unusual for the wizard. “How could I be so dense?” He reached into his robes and pulled out the book they found in the library.

“The book of Translation…” Auric’s eyes lit up.
“Maybe we can use it to read the runes on the door.” Zengrath opened the book and approached the door, but stopped. A puzzled look crossed the old man’s face. “These aren’t the same runes as those I read earlier.”

Auric, who stood directly behind Zengrath, glanced over the wizard’s shoulder at the book. Instead of the block-shaped runes that were written there before, the page was filled with swirl-shaped letters.

Auric examined the runes on the sides of the amulet. They were of the same style as the ones in the book. “There is still one problem,” the ranger commented, pointing to the page. “The columns of runes here are the same. It seems that book translates the runes to themselves.”

“That’s strange. I remember distinctly seeing translating into other languages.” Zengrath took another look at the book, his face twisted in confusion.

Sartrem made a quick glance at Teria before taking his turn to look at the object of everyone’s confusion. She and Racti had separated from the others, talking amongst themselves. “Let me see the book. You say it translated into other languages. Perhaps my native language is in there.” Sartrem snatched the tome from Auric’s hands.

“But…”

As Sartrem held the book, the runes on the pages started to glow a yellow color. Then the pages, now empty, began being written on by some invisible quill. Now the columns of runes differed; one was of the swirl-like runes that were there before, the other now a set of pictures and sketches.

“What happened?” laughed Racti, running over to see what caused the dazzling yellow glow.

“The book rewrote itself. Now it translates the runes into the written language of my people.”

“Then what do the runes on the amulet mean?” huffed Tannyr, shaking his stubby pointer finger in the direction of the amulet.

Without a word, Sartrem compared the runes on each of the four facets of the amulet with those on the page. “They represent the four elements.”

“Now to answer the questions,” Zengrath said, looking up at the runic writing of the Inquisition on the door. The mage’s wizened face appeared distant as he engulfed himself in reading the ancient script. He would look at the door and then down into the book, mumbling to a few words to himself. Auric couldn’t make out what Zengrath was saying, but he did manage to hear the words “battlefield” and “sword.”

“What is it Zengrath? What does it say?”

“The question is a riddle. It reads: A deadly weapon on the battlefields, or protection for a dragon’s hoard. It cannot be blocked by mortal shields, and is symbolized by a sword.” Zengrath paused for a moment. Auric could tell by the look on Zengrath’s face that the wizard did indeed know the answer, but had forgotten it.

“Fire,” Tannyr spurted out, approaching the pair. “In the old books of our clan, the symbol for fire resembled a sword. The answer is fire.”

Zengrath placed the amulet into the triangular slot in the center of the door, with the ‘fire’ side of the amulet facing outward.

A brilliant flash of light filled the room, causing everyone to jump back and shield their eyes. When the light dimmed, Zengrath noticed that the text for the first question had been lit up. Auric picked up the amulet, which had fallen to the floor.

“One down, three to go,” said Teria, who had been silent from the back of the group for several minutes. “At least we know the answers to the remaining three questions.”

Zengrath cleared his throat and began translating the next question of the Inquisition. “The breath of the earth, of which the trees are fond, without this we die, symbolized by a wand.” It didn’t take long for Zengrath to solve the riddle. “Air. Several circles of magic use the wand as the symbol for air.” Zengrath laughed, “and without air we couldn’t breathe, so we’d die.”

As Auric placed the amulet into the slot, showing the ‘air’ symbol, everyone prepared for the flash by closing or covering his or her eyes. Again the door glimmered brightly, and after it had dimmed the second question was lit.

“What should we expect after the door finally opens?” Auric asked.

“A raging horde of dragons,” Racti jested. “So we better watch out for ourselves.” He stood between Teria and the door, drawing his sword. “I’ll protect the girl.”

“I don’t think this ‘girl’ needs protecting, Racti,” replied Teria, plucking her bowstring. “But you are right about the dragons. They are probably very angry, and we should be careful when the door opens. We really don’t know what to expect.”

Zengrath tapped his staff on the ground several times until everyone’s attention was back on him. After a short pause, he began reading. “Blood of the ground, which we drink up, in oceans can be found, symbolized by a cup.”

“This is an easy one. The answer is ‘water’. It should have been the first question,” Sartrem shouted, wobbling his way toward the door. “Since we know the next answer is ‘earth’, let’s not waste any more time.”

Zengrath placed the amulet, ‘water’ side out, into the slot and quickly shut his eyes as the flash illuminated the room for a split second for dissipating again.

“Hurry,” Tannyr exclaimed, “let’s answer the last question and get out of here.” He picked the amulet and shoved it in the slot without reading the inscription on the door.

Nothing happened. There was no light, no movement of the door. Nothing.

“What’s wrong? Why isn’t the door opening?” Sartrem scooted up to the others and stepped even closer to the door. “Did you put the amulet right side out?”

“Yes, of course.”

“Wait a moment. I know why nothing happened.” Zengrath held the book in the air over his head, waving it about to get everyone’s attention. “The answer is wrong, at least to this question.”

“What?! How can that be?” Tannyr argued.

“If you had read the question first, Tannyr, you would have seen that the answer is not ‘earth’. It reads: ‘Dead mean eat this all the time; live men who eat this slowly die’.”

Tannyr thought for a moment, but said nothing.
A smile on Teria’s face suggested that she had a solution. “The answer should be ‘earth’. Dead men are buried, and they eat the ground all the time.”
“So you’re saying that if we eat dirt, we’ll die. Who would want to eat dirt?” Racti began laughing hysterically.

“No, no, no. It goes beyond that, Auric replied. “Dead men no longer eat, and if we no longer eat, we die. The answer is ‘nothing’.”

A round of smiles spread throughout the group. “Good thinking, Auric,” Zengrath commented, patting the ranger on the back. Auric said nothing. Zengrath removed the amulet from the door and repeated the question out loud. This time, however, he touched the door instead of placing the amulet in the slot.

The door hissed as it grinded open.