Zion: Light of the New Moon Part 3, The Imperial Palace Ch 2
Zion - Light of the New Moon, Part 3 The Imperial Palace Ch 2
Dillan had used numerous escape tunnels in his lifetime. Some, he recalled, were rough cut and little more than rat holes leading away from whatever compromised structure that sourced it. Others, more to his liking, were finished and well-maintained, indistinguishable from a normal hallway save that they were only faintly lit, and usually much narrower. The tunnel that he traveled out of the chasm, however, was unlike any escape route he had ever before experienced-- it felt as if it were naturally made. Were he any less experienced in the ways of tactical evasion he would have doubted his initial guess that it was an escape tunnel at all. In the end, however, he was right.
"There's some kind of wall here." Jasper noted, running a paw across a stone brick wall.
"So there is." the ferret acknowledged, moving to the front of the group. He ran a paw across the mortar between the stones; it was ancient, "And it isn't fresh."
"So we have to go back?" Zeke questioned, gripping his necklace tightly; the fox obviously didn't like that idea.
"Maybe it's a fake wall." Narissa offered.
"No..." Dillan smirked, tapping his knuckles against it, "It's a real wall but it probably has some kind of spring mechanism to open it."
"What are we looking for then?" Jasper inquired.
"I have no idea." the ferret acknowledged, "And there's a chance that it only opens from the other side." he motioned with his head through the wall, "if that's the case they we're not going to have much luck."
The group continued searching for any kind of latch, switch, or lever, but to no avail.
* * * * * *
Despite Yearl's arguments otherwise, Thera joined him near the front of the group but, thankfully, she was willing to keep behind him. To one side of the lion Josh rode Sebastian. To Yearl's other side Haldyn took up position and the three of them moved forward. Directly behind them, Tolen accompanied Thera, and Allin the Blade Slave brought up the rear. Regardless of the danger of the situation, Yearl couldn't help but smile at the collection of four faiths gathered in the party and willing to work together. It filled him with pride... pride and hope.
"Where did your shadow-blade go?" Haldyn inquired, suddenly pulling Yearl out of his thoughts.
The Captain knew exactly what his son meant, "He's scouting ahead." Truthfully, Yearl had no idea where Kell was, but he knew it was wiser not to speak about it; the leopard-wolf had a way of showing up at the right time.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to go to the dungeon?" Tolen spoke up quietly, practically whispering his reservations to Yearl.
"If they have prisoners we will want to free them." Thera answered before Yearl could which, he realized, was her right. "And they shouldn't be caged."
The arctic fox fidgeted, "But if there's only one way out of the dungeon that means we'd be trapped."
"There's only one way out of the keep." Yearl reminded him, "And don't think of it as being trapped... we're 'invested in this action'."
"That doesn't really improve the situation." Haldyn objected, "No matter what you call shit it still stinks."
"The whole situation stinks, lad." Yearl grinned at his son, "Which is why we're trying to clean it up."
"Talking about it doesn't help much." Kell's unmistakable voice spoke from the shadows of a hallway crossing theirs.
Yearl came to a stop, "Find anything?" he asked casually, glancing back to Haldyn to confirm that the younger lion realized that he'd been right about Kell scouting.
"A sheath for each of my blades." the leopard-wolf acknowledged, "The dungeon was right where the empress said it would be."
Yearl was about to question further but Thera spoke up, "Of course it was. I grew up in this castle."
"I didn't think an empress spent much time in the dungeons." Josh pondered from atop Sebastian.
"Maybe she didn't behave." the gryphon commented; Yearl still found himself astounded, not only by the fact that Sebastian spoke, but also that he somehow managed to smile with a beak.
Although the question gave several party members a moment of pause, Thera took it in stride with a laugh, "Oh... I was threatened with it often enough, but no. My grandmother had a man locked up near the end of her life and I used to bring him his food."
"Isn't that what servants are for, your Highness?" Josh asked, glancing sideways at her.
Thera smiled warmly and reached over to pat him on the head, "No, Josh. The De'Aveen family all learn from a young age that we're as much servants to our people as our people are to us." she continued speaking as she walked, "The imperial line exits for the empire. We give of ourselves for the good of the land."
Yearl followed Kell; the assassin led the group into a small antechamber where two cult guards had fallen onto the floor in a pool of their own blood. Without even pausing, Kell proceeded to the stairway between the two corpses, "This way." he called over his shoulder. Wasting no time, Yearl followed.
Kell led the group down into the dungeon, a rather uninspiring room full of deep shadows and faint lighting. The party came to a complete stop and then spread out, quickly and systematically checking the cells.
"Which one was the man's?" Josh asked, walking beside Thera as Sebastian began sniffing out cells in the other direction.
"That one." she noted, motioning to a corner cell. Yearl glanced toward her as she and the cub went to it, "but that was YEARS ago..."
"What happened to him?" Josh questioned, looking in the empty cell.
Thera let out a sigh, "One day I came down here to bring him his food, and he was gone."
"Dead?" the young cub inquired.
"I don't know." the mouse admitted with a shrug, "I suppose so... he'd been in there for my entire life so I couldn't imagine him getting a pardon."
"Why was he locked up?" Haldyn asked, moving over to join them as they looked in the cell.
"I never found out." the mouse admitted, "We talked every time I visited, but he never told me why my grandmother put him here. His name was..." she paused in thought, "I don't remember his name..." her eyes gained a far-off gaze, "He never seemed dangerous."
Yearl rested a paw on her shoulder, "Some of the most dangerous men and women are those who don't reveal how dangerous they truly are."
"I know." Thera admitted, reaching up to wipe an errant tear from her cheek, "In some ways, I think he was more dangerous for me than anyone else." she turned back to regard the lion, "He was the reason I left Zion in the first place."
"And how did that work?" Sebastian asked trotting over, "Things got boring after you didn't have to play serving maid anymore?" he cocked his head to the side.
"No." Thera rolled her eyes, glancing at the gryphon, "The last time we spoke he asked me what I wanted to do with my life and I told him that it wasn't up to me."
"Why not?" Josh asked.
"As I said before," the mouse noted, "My family serves our people... we are supposed to do what we are supposed to do." her gaze took the far-off look to it again, "He told me that what I did with my life wasn't something that could be decided by anyone else."
"So you left." Yearl spoke softly.
"So I left." Thera nodded.
"Are you sure?" Josh questioned suddenly. Yearl turned to rebuke the cub, but realized that the question hadn't been directed at Thera. Josh continued as if he didn't see everyone staring at him. "I don't think it's a good idea right here." he spoke the comment seemingly at the blank wall.
"He talks to spirits." Sebastian spoke up, and received the gaze of everyone in the party, "Well... he does." the gryphon noted defensively.
"Hey... um... everyone?" Josh murmured, "I'm gonna let a friend of mine come out for a minute... he says that there's something in the cell we should know about." and, no sooner was it said, than an ethereal, glowing presence formed beside him. The vaguely humanoid shape grew more and more distinct as a pre-middle-aged coyote-wolf appeared, "This is Anor-Roc." the cub introduced his ghostly friend.
"No time for pleasantries." the coywolf spoke up immediately, his voice hollow but audible. He held his paws out to the gate blocking the cell's interior from the exterior. Turning his left paw clockwise, the spirit drew a metallic 'click' from the lock, and when he turned his right paw clockwise the door swung open. "There's a secret passage in the back." he explained.
"I told you he'd help!" Josh noted with the joy that only a youngster could exhibit.
"Indeed you did." Yearl acknowledged, and looked at the interior of the cell; the bars of the gate did little to inhibit his inspection even without the door open, and he saw nothing else spectacular about it. Josh had no such reservations about exploring the cell from the inside and moved fearlessly into it.
"Hey!" the young cub called attention to himself, "There's some kind of carvings here!" he noted, motioning to a large stone block creating a good third of the back wall, "They look like little pictures... this here is the moon symbol.. and all of the divine symbols... the sun... a leaf or something... this looks like an eye..." he continued mumbling to himself, speaking aloud, then jumped back when his finger brushed across a section of rock, "It moved!" he exclaimed.
"What moved?" Haldyn asked, moving to join the cub.
"This part of rock here." Josh explained, resting his fingers against it. Applying a little pressure, the cub slowly rotated a section of stone as if it were a dial, "Look!" he added, "the pictures on it are moving too."
Thera stepped beside Josh, watching him move, "Stop!" she suddenly noted, and the cub jumped back from it. The mouse peered closer, examining the engravings, "When the moon leaves the sky..." she murmured.
"What's that?" Yearl asked.
"It was an old rhyme the man used to say to himself..." she explained, and intoned again, "When the moon leaves the sky but before the sun has chance to try..." she looked at the dial Josh had moved, "This is a picture clock... look." and she twisted it until the symbol for sun stood at the top, "Mid day..." and she turned it around 180 degrees until the moon occupied that position, "Midnight..." she turned it so that neither the sun nor the moon were in the viewable area, "When the moon leaves the sky but before the sun has chance to try..."
"What was the rest of it?" Haldyn asked, his ears perked.
"You rub the spot above my eye." Thera spoke. Haldyn reached out immediately to press his paw against the section of stone above the engraved eye... and the entire wall shook. Those in the cell quickly fell back as the bricks sunk into the ground. " and then you'll find a way to fly." the mouse murmured, but the words were cut short the moment she realized that a small group of people stood in shock on the other side of the opening.
"Hello." the ferret among them smiled pleasantly.
"They don't LOOK like cultists." the fox near the rear of their group spoke up.
"And it's a good thing you don't either." Kell noted quietly.
"Haldyn Rakken of the Glass Hall." Haldyn spoke, paw on the hilt of his sword, "And you? Are you Friend or foe?"
"If you're not a cultist then you're probably not a foe." the rat among them spoke up, "But 'friend' is a little too casual without knowing what you're doing here."
"This is my family's castle." Thera announced, much to Yearl's chagrin; he would have to talk with her about the importance of tact.
"Empress?" the tigress of the tunnel-bound group spoke up.
"You're Narissa Hearthsinger..." Haldyn announced his recognition of her.
"Guilty as charged." she smiled pleasantly.
"As am I." Thera acknowledged to the bard.
"I take it that means we're friends." the ferret spoke up, "Dillan Flynn, Merchant King and Savior of Zion."
"Savior of Zion?" Haldyn questioned pointedly.
"I'm trying the title on for size." Dillan responded with a grin.
"A little premature." Yearl interjected.
"Call me an optimist." the ferret countered with a wink, leading his party out into the cell.
"Very premature." Kell spoke up suddenly, calling the party's attention to the sound of feet coming down the stairway.
Haldyn glanced to the ferret, "I hope you fight as well as you brag."
| Zion - Light of the New Moon, Part 3 The Imperial Palace Ch 2
Dillan had used numerous escape tunnels in his lifetime. Some, he recalled, were rough cut and little more than rat holes leading away from whatever compromised structure that sourced it. Others, more to his liking, were finished and well-maintained, indistinguishable from a normal hallway save that they were only faintly lit, and usually much narrower. The tunnel that he traveled out of the chasm, however, was unlike any escape route he had ever before experienced-- it felt as if it were naturally made. Were he any less experienced in the ways of tactical evasion he would have doubted his initial guess that it was an escape tunnel at all. In the end, however, he was right.
"There's some kind of wall here." Jasper noted, running a paw across a stone brick wall.
"So there is." the ferret acknowledged, moving to the front of the group. He ran a paw across the mortar between the stones; it was ancient, "And it isn't fresh."
"So we have to go back?" Zeke questioned, gripping his necklace tightly; the fox obviously didn't like that idea.
"Maybe it's a fake wall." Narissa offered.
"No..." Dillan smirked, tapping his knuckles against it, "It's a real wall but it probably has some kind of spring mechanism to open it."
"What are we looking for then?" Jasper inquired.
"I have no idea." the ferret acknowledged, "And there's a chance that it only opens from the other side." he motioned with his head through the wall, "if that's the case they we're not going to have much luck."
The group continued searching for any kind of latch, switch, or lever, but to no avail.
* * * * * *
Despite Yearl's arguments otherwise, Thera joined him near the front of the group but, thankfully, she was willing to keep behind him. To one side of the lion Josh rode Sebastian. To Yearl's other side Haldyn took up position and the three of them moved forward. Directly behind them, Tolen accompanied Thera, and Allin the Blade Slave brought up the rear. Regardless of the danger of the situation, Yearl couldn't help but smile at the collection of four faiths gathered in the party and willing to work together. It filled him with pride... pride and hope.
"Where did your shadow-blade go?" Haldyn inquired, suddenly pulling Yearl out of his thoughts.
The Captain knew exactly what his son meant, "He's scouting ahead." Truthfully, Yearl had no idea where Kell was, but he knew it was wiser not to speak about it; the leopard-wolf had a way of showing up at the right time.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to go to the dungeon?" Tolen spoke up quietly, practically whispering his reservations to Yearl.
"If they have prisoners we will want to free them." Thera answered before Yearl could which, he realized, was her right. "And they shouldn't be caged."
The arctic fox fidgeted, "But if there's only one way out of the dungeon that means we'd be trapped."
"There's only one way out of the keep." Yearl reminded him, "And don't think of it as being trapped... we're 'invested in this action'."
"That doesn't really improve the situation." Haldyn objected, "No matter what you call shit it still stinks."
"The whole situation stinks, lad." Yearl grinned at his son, "Which is why we're trying to clean it up."
"Talking about it doesn't help much." Kell's unmistakable voice spoke from the shadows of a hallway crossing theirs.
Yearl came to a stop, "Find anything?" he asked casually, glancing back to Haldyn to confirm that the younger lion realized that he'd been right about Kell scouting.
"A sheath for each of my blades." the leopard-wolf acknowledged, "The dungeon was right where the empress said it would be."
Yearl was about to question further but Thera spoke up, "Of course it was. I grew up in this castle."
"I didn't think an empress spent much time in the dungeons." Josh pondered from atop Sebastian.
"Maybe she didn't behave." the gryphon commented; Yearl still found himself astounded, not only by the fact that Sebastian spoke, but also that he somehow managed to smile with a beak.
Although the question gave several party members a moment of pause, Thera took it in stride with a laugh, "Oh... I was threatened with it often enough, but no. My grandmother had a man locked up near the end of her life and I used to bring him his food."
"Isn't that what servants are for, your Highness?" Josh asked, glancing sideways at her.
Thera smiled warmly and reached over to pat him on the head, "No, Josh. The De'Aveen family all learn from a young age that we're as much servants to our people as our people are to us." she continued speaking as she walked, "The imperial line exits for the empire. We give of ourselves for the good of the land."
Yearl followed Kell; the assassin led the group into a small antechamber where two cult guards had fallen onto the floor in a pool of their own blood. Without even pausing, Kell proceeded to the stairway between the two corpses, "This way." he called over his shoulder. Wasting no time, Yearl followed.
Kell led the group down into the dungeon, a rather uninspiring room full of deep shadows and faint lighting. The party came to a complete stop and then spread out, quickly and systematically checking the cells.
"Which one was the man's?" Josh asked, walking beside Thera as Sebastian began sniffing out cells in the other direction.
"That one." she noted, motioning to a corner cell. Yearl glanced toward her as she and the cub went to it, "but that was YEARS ago..."
"What happened to him?" Josh questioned, looking in the empty cell.
Thera let out a sigh, "One day I came down here to bring him his food, and he was gone."
"Dead?" the young cub inquired.
"I don't know." the mouse admitted with a shrug, "I suppose so... he'd been in there for my entire life so I couldn't imagine him getting a pardon."
"Why was he locked up?" Haldyn asked, moving over to join them as they looked in the cell.
"I never found out." the mouse admitted, "We talked every time I visited, but he never told me why my grandmother put him here. His name was..." she paused in thought, "I don't remember his name..." her eyes gained a far-off gaze, "He never seemed dangerous."
Yearl rested a paw on her shoulder, "Some of the most dangerous men and women are those who don't reveal how dangerous they truly are."
"I know." Thera admitted, reaching up to wipe an errant tear from her cheek, "In some ways, I think he was more dangerous for me than anyone else." she turned back to regard the lion, "He was the reason I left Zion in the first place."
"And how did that work?" Sebastian asked trotting over, "Things got boring after you didn't have to play serving maid anymore?" he cocked his head to the side.
"No." Thera rolled her eyes, glancing at the gryphon, "The last time we spoke he asked me what I wanted to do with my life and I told him that it wasn't up to me."
"Why not?" Josh asked.
"As I said before," the mouse noted, "My family serves our people... we are supposed to do what we are supposed to do." her gaze took the far-off look to it again, "He told me that what I did with my life wasn't something that could be decided by anyone else."
"So you left." Yearl spoke softly.
"So I left." Thera nodded.
"Are you sure?" Josh questioned suddenly. Yearl turned to rebuke the cub, but realized that the question hadn't been directed at Thera. Josh continued as if he didn't see everyone staring at him. "I don't think it's a good idea right here." he spoke the comment seemingly at the blank wall.
"He talks to spirits." Sebastian spoke up, and received the gaze of everyone in the party, "Well... he does." the gryphon noted defensively.
"Hey... um... everyone?" Josh murmured, "I'm gonna let a friend of mine come out for a minute... he says that there's something in the cell we should know about." and, no sooner was it said, than an ethereal, glowing presence formed beside him. The vaguely humanoid shape grew more and more distinct as a pre-middle-aged coyote-wolf appeared, "This is Anor-Roc." the cub introduced his ghostly friend.
"No time for pleasantries." the coywolf spoke up immediately, his voice hollow but audible. He held his paws out to the gate blocking the cell's interior from the exterior. Turning his left paw clockwise, the spirit drew a metallic 'click' from the lock, and when he turned his right paw clockwise the door swung open. "There's a secret passage in the back." he explained.
"I told you he'd help!" Josh noted with the joy that only a youngster could exhibit.
"Indeed you did." Yearl acknowledged, and looked at the interior of the cell; the bars of the gate did little to inhibit his inspection even without the door open, and he saw nothing else spectacular about it. Josh had no such reservations about exploring the cell from the inside and moved fearlessly into it.
"Hey!" the young cub called attention to himself, "There's some kind of carvings here!" he noted, motioning to a large stone block creating a good third of the back wall, "They look like little pictures... this here is the moon symbol.. and all of the divine symbols... the sun... a leaf or something... this looks like an eye..." he continued mumbling to himself, speaking aloud, then jumped back when his finger brushed across a section of rock, "It moved!" he exclaimed.
"What moved?" Haldyn asked, moving to join the cub.
"This part of rock here." Josh explained, resting his fingers against it. Applying a little pressure, the cub slowly rotated a section of stone as if it were a dial, "Look!" he added, "the pictures on it are moving too."
Thera stepped beside Josh, watching him move, "Stop!" she suddenly noted, and the cub jumped back from it. The mouse peered closer, examining the engravings, "When the moon leaves the sky..." she murmured.
"What's that?" Yearl asked.
"It was an old rhyme the man used to say to himself..." she explained, and intoned again, "When the moon leaves the sky but before the sun has chance to try..." she looked at the dial Josh had moved, "This is a picture clock... look." and she twisted it until the symbol for sun stood at the top, "Mid day..." and she turned it around 180 degrees until the moon occupied that position, "Midnight..." she turned it so that neither the sun nor the moon were in the viewable area, "When the moon leaves the sky but before the sun has chance to try..."
"What was the rest of it?" Haldyn asked, his ears perked.
"You rub the spot above my eye." Thera spoke. Haldyn reached out immediately to press his paw against the section of stone above the engraved eye... and the entire wall shook. Those in the cell quickly fell back as the bricks sunk into the ground. " and then you'll find a way to fly." the mouse murmured, but the words were cut short the moment she realized that a small group of people stood in shock on the other side of the opening.
"Hello." the ferret among them smiled pleasantly.
"They don't LOOK like cultists." the fox near the rear of their group spoke up.
"And it's a good thing you don't either." Kell noted quietly.
"Haldyn Rakken of the Glass Hall." Haldyn spoke, paw on the hilt of his sword, "And you? Are you Friend or foe?"
"If you're not a cultist then you're probably not a foe." the rat among them spoke up, "But 'friend' is a little too casual without knowing what you're doing here."
"This is my family's castle." Thera announced, much to Yearl's chagrin; he would have to talk with her about the importance of tact.
"Empress?" the tigress of the tunnel-bound group spoke up.
"You're Narissa Hearthsinger..." Haldyn announced his recognition of her.
"Guilty as charged." she smiled pleasantly.
"As am I." Thera acknowledged to the bard.
"I take it that means we're friends." the ferret spoke up, "Dillan Flynn, Merchant King and Savior of Zion."
"Savior of Zion?" Haldyn questioned pointedly.
"I'm trying the title on for size." Dillan responded with a grin.
"A little premature." Yearl interjected.
"Call me an optimist." the ferret countered with a wink, leading his party out into the cell.
"Very premature." Kell spoke up suddenly, calling the party's attention to the sound of feet coming down the stairway.
Haldyn glanced to the ferret, "I hope you fight as well as you brag." |