Kevik, he said in his mind.
After a moment, he heard Kevik’s questioning thought. Bart, are you okay?
For the moment, he replied. I’m not sure where I am. Then he sent a mental picture of himself crawling through the crevice.
We’re by the castle’s gates, Kevik told him.
Be careful, warned Bart.
We are, assured Kevik. There was a pause for a moment then Kevik said, Riyan wants to know how we can help you?
You can’t, he replied. I’m going to try to make my way from the castle once night has fallen. Go back to the inn and wait for me there. If trouble develops, get out of town as best you can.
What about you? Kevik asked.
Bart thought a moment then replied, I’ve got the Cloak.
Alright, Kevik said. Good luck.
You too, Bart said. Once the connection between him and Kevik was severed, he reached up and took another handhold as he continued to climb.
“Well?” asked the man with the air of command.
“He’s alive,” the magic user stated. With the purplish ball spitting micro bursts of lightning, he moved rapidly along the hallway. Then all of a sudden, what he had been detecting suddenly disappeared.
Coming to a stop, he turned to his lord and said, “I lost it.”
“Do you know where he is?” asked the lord.
“Somewhere below us,” the magic user replied.
The River Man nodded. Turning to the captain of his personal guard, he said, “I want men posted in every corridor.”
“I’ll have to draw on the city guard to do it,” his captain told him.
“Then do it,” he commanded.
His captain bowed then turned and hurried down the corridor to carry out his lord’s command.
“Is there anyway you can locate him?” the River Man asked.
“If he again makes use of magic, I can find him,” assured the magic user.
The Warlord of the Orack Tribe turned to the magic user who had served his father before him. “See that you do,” he said. “Circumstances are at a delicate balance now. We cannot afford to have anything come to pass which might unravel all we have worked for.”
Looking grimly at his lord, the magic user nodded.
The crevice had narrowed to such an extent, that Bart had been forced to remove his pack in order to continue. Now it dangled below him from a strap secured to his left ankle. If the crevice narrowed any further, he would have to return back the way he had come. That was a prospect he didn’t even want to contemplate.
Having set a foothold, he straightened his leg and raised himself another few inches in the crevice. A sharp jutting edge of rock scraped his back as he moved. His chest was pressed against the side of the crevice as well and he thought that he may have come as far as he was able.
Bart tried repositioning himself and managed to move his back from off the rock. Reaching up for another handhold, his hand moved along the side of the crevice searching for one that would support his weight. Then all of a sudden, the rock wall ended and his hand was in open air.
Elated that he may have come to the end of the crevice, he felt around the open area and found a flat surface running perpendicular to the opening. In his mind he pictured the crevice opening out onto a floor.
It was still completely dark, not even a vague shadow that might hint at the possibility of light. Moving with renewed determination, he took hold of the opening’s edge and pulled himself up.
One side of the floor extended outward a foot before ending at a wall. The opposite side extended further than he could reach. The water that had been dripping down through the crevice was coming from where it flowed down the wall and across the short distance to the opening. The rest of the floor on the opposite side was relatively dry.
After Bart climbed his way though the opening, he pulled up his pack by the strap attached to his ankle and set it next to him. He then laid on the floor for a moment to rest, glad that he was out of the crevice. Scanning the darkness for any tell-tale sign of light, he failed to locate any.
His breathing echoed faintly along with the drip, drip, drip of water. Despite the risk of being seen, now that he was out of the crevice he had to know where he was. So taking his pack, he pulled out one of his candles and his flint.
Kneeling down close to the floor, he scraped his flint along its surface to produce sparks. It took him a couple tries before one fell upon the candle’s wick. Then blowing ever so softly, he managed to encourage it to ignite the wick.
The budding flame revealed that he was in a small room, barely ten feet by twenty. The area around the crevice opening was riddled with cracks, as well as the wall down which the water ran. He held aloft the candle and saw a hole in the ceiling at the top of the wall which was the source of the water. Where it might lead would forever remain a mystery as the hole was far too small for him to pass.
What the purpose of the room had at one time been, he couldn’t guess. It was bare and empty with no markings on the wall. A layer of dust covered the floor, marred only with the tracks of rats. Glancing around the small room, he found a single doorway that looked to be the only way out.
Before exploring where the doorway led, he did his best to wring out the water from his pack, and the Cloak. The clothes he had on were damp, but no longer soaked. They had dried somewhat during his climb through the crevice.
He removed his tube lantern and an extra candle before returning the Cloak to his pack. The extra candle he placed in a pocket for easy access, and the candle which was already lit, he placed within his tube lantern. Then with pack again across his back, and tube lantern in hand, he stood up and walked to the doorway.
Shining his light through the doorway revealed a narrow, dust filled hallway extending away into darkness. A secret passage maybe? The amount of undisturbed dust on the floor would suggest this area hadn’t seen traffic in quite some time. He started to move into the passage then came to a stop.
He took a moment to remove a white cloth from out of his pack and place it over the end of the tube lantern. Now only a soft glow pervaded the darkness. This had a twofold benefit. One, he could still see while not overtly advertising his presence. And two, if this was in fact a secret passage, then the chance of seeing light coming though a hidden opening or spyhole was greatly improved. The only drawback was that the distance he could see down the passage was minimal. Resuming his forward motion, he entered the passage.
The narrowness of it barely afforded him enough room to walk without scraping shoulders on the walls to either side. The glow from the cloth shrouded tube showed them to be plain stone, unadorned except for the occasional patch of cobwebs stretching from one side to the other.
He followed the passage for a brief moment before coming to a junction. Another narrow passage joined the one he was in from the right. After trying to ascertain which would be the better way to go in the glow of the cloth covered lantern, he removed the cloth to provide better lighting. Unfortunately the added light failed to reveal any difference between the two passages. Both continued past the reach of the tube lantern’s light, and the floors of each held an identical layer of undisturbed dust. Deciding to continue straight, he replaced the cloth at the end of the lantern and resumed his progress.
After going no more than five feet, he saw the glint of something metallic ahead on the floor. When he came to it he discovered the glint to be a reflection of the lantern’s light coming from a silver coin. Bart recognized the coin as one having been widely used for decades. Picking it up, he put it in his pouch and continued on.
The passage continued for a while before another intersected his again. This time, the passage came from the right, and a moment of removing the cloth and shining the tube lantern’s light down it revealed stone steps going up. Ten feet from where he stood, the stone steps ascended up out of sight. Deciding his best chance of escape lay that way, he replaced the cloth over the lantern and turned down the new passage toward the steps.