Haven Keep (Book 1) (49 page)

“We must take some of this alloy back.”

Kaiden jumped. Von stood just behind him.

“What do you have there?” Von asked.

“I’ve been trying to tell you.  Look how well they are made.”

“They’re crafted from the alloy,” Von exclaimed.  “Soren take a bow.  A dagger too.”

“I have a bow,” Soren said.  The man probably  never owned a bow he didn’t make himself.

“Not like this you don’t”

Von turned to Yaris.  “Well, I said I would trust you.”  He handed him a bow and a dagger.  Yaris took them from Von almost ceremoniously.

“We wondered how we were going to get by the vyr.”  Von laughed out loud.

Kaiden wondered again if Von had been hit in the head. 

“With these I think we can.”

“With some fancy bows?”  Kaiden asked skeptically.

“Not just bows.  If they are what I think they are, we will have no problems.”

“And just what do you think they are?”

“Have you not been listening.  This alloy.” He held the stock in his hand and made a sweeping motion around the room. “This forge.  You thought the vyr were only fables.  We know they are not.  The Dragon Lords are not fables either.  Neither are the stories of their weapons.  I think your father knows that.  He must.  I believe that bow in your hand is deadlier than you might think or even dare believe.”

Kaiden was not convinced, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t true.  Part of him hoped it was.  Hoped maybe Von was right, after all he was trained as a blacksmith and from what was said back home he was a near master himself.  “If you say so Von.”

“I do say so!”  Von gathered the rest of the bows and the daggers.

Kaiden still wished they would have found a sword.  Maybe a spear, a halberd, something. 
Daggers?

“There’s a compartment on this wall,” Yaris announced. He was fumbling with something on the reverse side of the metal wall.

Kaiden rushed to his side, again hoping to discover something better than a dagger.  Yaris opened a small door.  Too small to hold anything that Kaiden was hoping to find.

“A book?” Kaiden asked.

“I believe so,” Yaris answered.  “Something important I would guess.” He carefully retrieved the leather bound volume and gently handed it to Kaiden.

Kaiden flipped through the pages, trying to find anything useful.  He couldn’t decipher the ancient markings.

“I think it is written with cleric runes,” Kaiden guessed.  It was filled with pictures, but even those didn’t make any sense.  “This page appears to be instructions on how to shoe a horse.  I can’t tell without being able to translate the margins.”  He rubbed his forehead, trying to clear his mind.  “Maybe you can make some sense of it,” he said and handed the tome to Von.

Von took hold of the book as if it was a winter festival gift, and began thumbing through the pages.

“We’re taking this with us.  I bet Corren or Wellen could read it, maybe even teach me how.”

“Maybe,” Kaiden said, trying to sound enthusiastic.  He slumped down to the floor, his back against the wall and watched the others continue to explore the room.

“Hey, look at this,” Von declared with excitement.   Kaiden grunted with the effort of standing and walked over to Von.   His friend stood on an iron trap door.

“I think we need the Key to open this,” Von said.

“I gave it too you,” Kaiden said looking around the room for it.  He wished Von would control his excitement and calm down a bit, take more time to assess the situation, not run around from corner to corner like a spooked jack rabbit.

“I left it in the door.”

“Here it is,” Yaris said.  He handed Von the oblong rod.

The Key worked perfectly.  Von grunted with effort, trying to open the door.  Kaiden and Yaris grabbed hold of the handle.  It wouldn’t budge.  They pulled hard, combining their efforts..  An air seal released.  The door flew open.  An updraft of noxious odor and gas blasted through the opening.  The release of heat and humidity caught Kaiden full in the face.   He shrank back, choking and gagging, sweating from the sudden increase in temperature.  Von and Yaris recoiled, sweat immediately beading across their foreheads.  Soren hung back covering his mouth and nose
with his hand.  Isk and Jen coughed and snorted, shying away from the square hole in the floor.

Steam rose swiftly up and out the trap door.  Kaiden took a few steps back then looked closer at the hole.  There was a ladder leading down.  The ventilation that ensured fresh air circulated throughout the keep did not reach down that hole.  It smelled of burning sulphur and maybe something worse.

“Do we dare go down?”  Yaris asked.  He sounded a little nervous.

“I don’t see why not,” Von answered.  He shrugged and started down the ladder.

Yaris followed close behind his new master.  Kaiden hadn’t heard any screaming so assumed they must be okay.  He sighed and started down after Yaris.

The ladder led to a cavern of enormous proportions.  It reminded Kaiden of the vyr’s lair. 
The keep was safe, but was it still safe down here?
  An orange light beaconed from around the bend, burning and glowing from the hidden corners.   Von headed further in to investigate, with Yaris trailing close behind.  Kaiden shook his head, Von had thrown all caution to the wind.

The cavern was uncomfortably hot.  Kaiden loosened his cloak and undid his shirt.  He mopped sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, then hurried after Von.

Kaiden caught up quickly.  Von and Yaris had stopped just around the bend.  They stared at a small lake of molten rock.  The lava bubbled and spewed smoke and gas.  Kaiden could see a trail leading around it, see that the cavern continued much further. 
Who knew how much further?  Maybe as far as the Rift
.

“I don’t know if we should be here.”

Kaiden jumped again at a voice from behind.  This time it was Soren.  He needed to pay closer attention to who and what was sneaking up on him. 
Who could tell what kind of creatures lived down here?

“Do you recognize those bones?”

Kaiden scanned the cavern to find what Soren was talking about.  Then he saw it.  A massive skeleton on the other side of the lake of fire.  Great bones that were laid to rest probably a thousand years earlier. Maybe turned to rock from the heat of this place.  Its skull was enormous.  He’d only seen one like it before.  On a wall of bones.  A dragon skull.

“The vyr live in caves like these.”  Soren spoke candidly.  There was no fear in his voice.

If there were vyr down here it was more than enough to frighten Kaiden.

“I think there is a network of caves throughout the Iron Mountains,” Soren said.  “I would be surprised if they did not connect to the Rift.”

“I think you are right,” Kaiden agreed.  He hoped it wasn’t his fear talking.  He could not get the vyr out of his head and would probably have nightmares the rest of his life.  If he couldn’t learn to control his fear he would never be able to lead the North.

Kaiden called to Von.  “We should go.” 

Von stared down the cavern to where it disappeared into darkness.

“Von...Von?”

“What?  Oh sorry.  I was just...never mind.”  He started back the way they’d come.  “Maybe you are right.  We didn’t come here to explore caves.   We need to get back.”

They returned to the keep.  The temperature was much more comfortable inside the forge.  He stripped off his shirt, it was damp with sweat.  He needed a bath.

“I hope there are some good beds here,” Von said.

It wasn’t likely, Kaiden hadn’t seen any furniture yet, except for what was in the forge, and maybe they didn’t have time to sleep.  They needed to get to his father, to warn him.  “Maybe we should leave now, without spending the night.”

“I don’t think that’s the best idea,” Von reasoned.  “We should rest as much as we can.  We have a hard ride ahead and I don’t think any of us will want to be sleeping after tonight. We can leave in the morning.  Besides, we’ll travel faster if we’re rested.  The horses need rest too.”

Maybe Von was right, maybe it was best to get some sleep.  They needed rest if they were to travel fast.  He felt a stab of regret for not having time to explore the remainder of the keep, but the keep would always be here.  He could come back another time, he needed to come back, return to discover the additional secrets Haven Keep held.  Right now he needed a good meal and some long overdue sleep.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Ky’s words weighed heavily on Flenn. 
“Be careful on your way home,”
Ky had warned.  Flenn’s eyes studied the forest surrounding his small company of men.  He wanted to avoid walking into an ambush, but he didn’t know how.  This forest provided the perfect cover for hiding armed men.  He half expected Halfen men to come charging out from behind the trees at any moment.

Flenn explained to Oded what occurred inside Stone Abbey.  Oded listened without giving any reaction.   His stone cold expression gave no hint weather or not he feared Ky’s threat.  Still, Flenn noticed Oded watched the forest as carefully as anyone else.  Maybe more carefully.  Oded had survived the better part of a  decade watching for enemies at every turn.  Flenn was grateful to have the experience of Oded to draw upon.  The Halfen would not find it easy to surprise this little band with Oded around.

Flenn could remember when he thought this forest was peaceful.  He recalled his last time through these woods, when he was able to admire the beauty of his natural surroundings. 
Was that only a few days ago?

Now he found himself suspicions of every shadow, every tree or hill that might conceal an enemy behind it.  The forest was thick and the road narrow.  Flenn wondered if he could really consider it a road, it was closer to a dirt track, muddied by the melting snow and nearly consumed by the overgrown forest floor.  There could be anything out there, and he would never see it.

Flenn did not wish to encounter a group of Halfen men before he reached the safety of home, especially not in these surroundings.  He needed to get this small fighting force back to Azmark unscathed.  The walls of the city could keep a large force outside if the defenses were in place, but they would need every fighting man available.   The Halfen could never overwhelm Azmark with the might of the Kailfen clan safely within the city.   Unless Ky somehow managed to marshal over half his forces already, or if the military might of the other clans were now joined to him.  Flenn found that hard to imagine.  Then again, he never believed it plausible the other clans would sway so easily to the Halfen side. 
Did they fear the Horde so much?  Or had the Horde reached the other chiefs with promises as well?

Flenn again counted the men around him.  Twenty-nine.  Not a large fighting force, especially since many of their number were young and inexperienced, barely more than boys, but they all rode with their bows ready and their swords close at hand.  He wished he would have insisted on them all bringing spears.  A strong charge from calvary could easily route a force of superior numbers.  Not that these boys could mount a charge.  Flenn doubted they would know how.   That was not fair.  They volunteered for this, knowing the dangers.  It was not fair to call them boys any longer either.  Before long they would see more fighting than their fathers and grandfathers ever had.  If they lived that long.

The forest was quiet.  Too quiet.  Flenn scanned the tree line, wishing he could suppress the uneasy feeling that ate at him.  This time of year there should have been a variety of birds singing to each other, chipmunks and squirrels chattering away.  He heard none.  Not even a woodpecker drilling for grubs, which were normally common.  It was as if the animals of the forest sensed what was coming and fled.  That was a foolish notion.  They could not know what was coming any more than Flenn could have guessed the treachery of the clans before traveling to Stone Abbey.  Still it was unnatural, as if men had invaded the creatures domain and chased them off.  It made Flenn unsettled, and told him there were probably men out there.  Waiting.

“A rider approaches from the east,” Oded spoke quietly, quiet enough so only Flenn and Berkler heard him.

“Halfen?”  Flenn asked.

Oded shook his head.  He had only spoken when necessary since leaving Stone Abbey.  Flenn tried to take his lead and told the men to remain quiet also.  No point in announcing to the world they were coming when they wanted to remain hidden.

Flenn couldn’t see anyone through the tangle of foliage.  He wondered how Oded knew someone was out there.  Flenn couldn’t see or hear anything.  He peered through the thick branches and shadows, searching for a sign Oded was speaking the truth.  Maybe Oded was mistaken.

Then Flenn saw the rider.  He would never have noticed the man if Oded hadn’t first alerted him to the rider’s presence.  Whoever it was, he was not making an effort to remain hidden, though he continued to be obscured by the forest.  No one else gave any sign they’d yet seen him.  A fact that reminded Flenn of how susceptible they were to an attack.

The man continued to ride closer, but still within the cover of the trees.  Flenn finally recognized the rider.  A moment later he was seen by some of the younger men.

“Who’s that?” someone called.

Flenn couldn’t tell who cried out.  Some of the younger men jumped in surprise and bows rose into firing position.

“Put your bows down,” Flenn ordered.  “He’s friendly.”