and cleaving left and right. Rytlock
joined her and together they wore
down their opponents.
The sound of the battle was a
cacophony of clanks, bangs, and
screams of agony. Out of the corner
of her eye, Maggie could see Harry
firing arrow after arrow into the
fray, miraculously hitting only
ghosts and gravelings. At her feet
she saw what could only have been
Harry’s pet kitten, surprisingly
powerful with a loud roaring cry,
slashing and biting anything that
she could reach. The Necro was
controlling his minions, all the
while mumbling spell after spell to
drain the life from their enemies.
And suddenly, it was finished, and
the room became quiet.
Mellen began the task of setting
the ghosts free of the king’s control
and they watched their spirits
drift away into nothingness. Harry
was in the corner vomiting up his
morning’s meal. Maggie guessed
he was hung over. The kitten
was brushing against her leg and
mewing quietly as if to say, “Did I
do good?”
Maggie reached down stroking
the sleek, soft fur, and said, “Yes
little one, you did good.”
“His name’s Precious,” stated
Harry as he wiped his snout with
his sleeve. “He was a present from
my mother.”
“Hey, look what I found,” shouted
Doc, as he held up a large brown
coat with metal rings covering
the outside. “This is a nice coat. I
wonder if it’s enchanted.”
Terri felt the lining, closed her
eyes and said, “Yes, it’s enchanted.
It’s got a fire spell. I don’t know if
that means you’ll burn up if you
wear it, or if you’ll have the power
of fire to use.”
Before she could complete her
warning, Doc put on the jacket and
said, “I don’t feel a thing.”
44
Mellen joined the conversation,
saying, “Use your hammer on that
door, we need to get through”
Doc drew his hammer and
suddenly it burst into flame. He
nearly dropped it in surprise but
realized he felt no heat on his hands.
Walking to the door he began to
pound on the wood. Soon the heavy
wooden door burst into flame. The
sudden heat pushed them back
from the door. As it burned away,
the party was hopeful that it would
allow them through. But soon it
became evident that beneath the
wood was cold, hard, steel.
Rytlock walked over to the door
and examined it closely. “There’s
an inscription here that says one of
these caskets holds a key.”
The group spread out and looked
in and around each of the open
caskets only to come up empty
handed. There were a handful of
unopened caskets, and Harry began
opening one of them, when Maggie
shouted, “Wait! Don’t open a whole
bunch of them. Just one at a time,
okay?”
“Sure thing little one,” said Doc,
his huge imposing frame towering
over her.
“Back off Norn, or I’ll cut out your
tongue and feed it to Precious.”
At that moment, Harry opened
the casket and another ghost
appeared. The group jumped
immediately into action, and soon
dispatched this ghost. One by one
they opened each casket, killing the
ghost that appeared, until suddenly,
the sound of metal hitting the stone
floor grabbed everyone’s attention.
They all dived at the same time for
the key. All except for Mellen, who
just stood there laughing at the
pile of adventurers. “Asurans are
never this disorganized. This is why
you will never defeat the dragons
without us.”
Maggie’s temper began to rise
again, until Terri gently stroked her
cheek and said, “It’s okay sweetie,
everyone knows he’s a jerk. But
everyone also knows, he’s really
good at his job. We need him. I
don’t think he really means it, he’s
got short guy syndrome. This is just
his way of trying to look tall.”
Taking a deep breath, Maggie
stood up and walked to the door.
She had been the fastest and had
grabbed the key before everyone
else landed on top of her. She put
it into the lock, and the door slowly
opened to show the stairs leading
down into the darkness. It got very
quiet as each of them peered into
the darkness. Suddenly, Maggie
heard barking. Doc came running
to the door. “That’s Garm, I’d know
that voice anywhere. Come on,
we’ve got to find her!”
“Wait,” cried Maggie.
Unheeding, the Norn ran down
the stairs. The others followed
more slowly. Suddenly, Maggie
heard him scream, “Aaarrrghh, Be
careful, Spike traps! Aaarrrgh, my
legs!”
Putting her hand up to halt the
group, Maggie began to descend the
stairs, searching ever so carefully
for traps. Behind her, she could
hear the rest of her party muttering
about the stupidity of the Norn.
Mellen shook his head as he cast a
beam of light into the void, “Norns,
always they run before they think.”
Harry interrupted, “I know how
to find the traps, if you’ll let me
have a moment.”
“How?” Maggie asked.
“I’m a ranger, I can see them. It’s
hard to explain.”
Maggie waited for the ranger
to catch up and go ahead of her.
He stood a few steps below her
and looked around. After a few
moments, he turned back to her and
said, “There aren’t any on the steps,
they’re all on the floor below.”