Chapter 19: Stronghold’s Legacy
Steamed was the first to wake up, Xat was in the bed across from him, still out cold. There was another man lying on the third bed, he looked just as exhausted as Xatxil did – who he was, was a mystery to Steam. Chambers was still outside by the looks of it; he pushed his rifle to the side, swung his legs over the side of the bed, and got up. Steam groaned as muscles all over his body ached.
Moving to the door, the sniper almost tripped over a dog curled up next to it, it too was sleeping soundly. ‘What did I miss?’ thought Steam.
The lanky sharpshooter walked out into the fresh morning air. In the light he could see his surroundings much more clearly than the night before. The rest stop was off of a dirt road; on the other side was a vast lake. To the left there was a forest that the dirt path wound out of, to the right were hills leading into higher mountains. There was a dense fog over the lake, but where he was, the air was crisp, clear and sweet. Out in front of the hut, Chambers was crouched over a fire pit; it had meat roasting over it on a spit.
“Morning.” Said Steam
Chambers yawned, “Hey, see your new visitor?”
“Yeah, what’s his deal?”
“No idea, he came stumbling out of the forest with a dog by his side. When I got to him, he was knocked silly.”
“Weird, I suppose we’ll find out who he is when he wakes up.”
“Yeah,” said chambers taking the spit off the roaster, “Lucky you, you get first pick of vittles.”
“You take first,” Steam politely refused, “You’ve been up all night; you’re undoubtedly in need of nutrition more than I.”
Before the sentence was done, the huge man had already bitten into one chunk of meat, swallowed it down and was working on a second. He ravenously tore at the food, almost like he had been starving. He, without a word, handed one to Steam who lightly bit into it savoring the taste, it was good to have warm food. Hell, it was good to have food in general.
As Chambers gnawed at his meal he asked, “So what’s your story?”
“Steamed, specialist first class, Sanctum Proctor corps. Part time contract killer. I guess the last part caught up with me.”
“Illegal kill I assume?”
“Yeah, in Sanctum”
“Damn,” Said Chambers, “That sucks. What about your friend?”
“Xatxil? He came with Shen to bail me out of jail. I had never met him before, but she spoke of him once in a while. Seems like they were friends once.”
“Hmmm, who was this Shen character?”
“Shenorai, she was an artist and somewhat of a historian.”
“Reminds me of Aqu-“ Chambers coughed, “er, an old friend.”
Steam shrugged and continued to eat his meal.
* * * *
Carmeops was awake. The only thing he could remember from the night before was a dog and a really really big creeper. He was lying on a bed in a small wooden hut. Without even looking he could hear the breathing of a man and an animal of some sort. He soon found that there was another man, still sleeping, and a dog, also sleeping, near the door. Most importantly the man was clutching a beautiful dagger made of some blue metallic substance – soon, decided the thief, it would be his.
He got out of bed and instantly collapsed, he was still exhausted. The noise of him hitting the ground woke both the dog and the man in the other bed.
The man’s eyes opened, “What the..? Who the hell are you?”
“Nemo iam redire ad lectum” Said Carmeops smoothly
“Don’t just spew gibberish,” Said the man, “Give me a name or this is going into your face.” He held up the dagger
“Namdeus non nocuerunt mihi, nolo mori” his tone changing from sly to fearful
“Make sense man or I’m going to put you down like a dog.”
“Quomodo dicitis…not to die I want… no death please bring to me.”
“What the deuce?” Said the man shaking the dagger
“Forgive me…for speak the language of your poorly I do.”
The man paused, “I think I get it- what’s your name?”
Carmeops thought fast, this was one of the tightest situations he had ever been in. He was a wanted man with thousands of coins on his head; surely he couldn’t just give his name away. So he made on up, “Victor” he replied.
“Alright Victor, why don’t you step outside, while I follow you eh?” said the man
Carmeops again, began to think fast as he got up and made his way to the door. He turned the handle and opened it; he then held it open for the man, who stepped out, still pointing the dagger at Carm. With lightning like action, Carm slammed the door in the man’s face, knocking him back. And without a second thought he fled down the dirt path toward the main road.
He didn’t make it very far, for when he slammed the door in Xatxil’s face, Steamed was already in a full sprint. Flinging himself at the thief, he broadsided him, throwing him to the ground. Carm was barely able to get a yell out before he hit the hard packed dirt below him. Steamed promptly flipped him over and put his hands behind his back, and then reached for his nonexistent handcuffs.
He swore and kept pressure on the thief’s back. As a proctor, Steam was trained to recognize criminals, he knew Carmeops without seeing his face. He had instinctively tackled him and went to handcuff him. However, his handcuffs were back in Sanctum, where he had first fled from Apherdite.
“Agh,” the thief spat, “Get me manus tua!”
“Xatxil, are you all right?” Steam yelled, ignoring Carmeops
“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine, bastard got me good.” The traveler got up holding his nose, blood seeping from it.
By now, Chambers had made his way over to Steamed; he picked up Carmeops and held him, hands behind his back. Steam, thanking the big man, ran over to help Xatxil.
“Alright little man,” Said Chambers, his deep voice projecting clearly, “I take you in, kill of a zombie so you can live, and give you a place to stay, this isn’t a very good way to say thank you.”
“Aye, non valent quindecim milia denariorum.” spat the thief
“O rem? Itaque omni modo per ordinem fiant in vobis!” Replied Chambers
“You speak that garbage?” asked Xatxil, tending to his bleeding nose.
“Yeah, it’s an old dialect; I’m surprised this little fucker speaks it. Anyhow, he says he’s got a lot of money on his head.”
“Fifteen thousand to be exact.” Replied Steam, “That, is Carmeops, the infamous robber-thief of Sanctum.”
“Damn,” said Xatxil, “Live or dead to get the money?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Steam said back, “We’re wanted fugitives, so is he, we can’t turn him in without turning ourselves in.”
Chambers looked at Carmeops, “Lorem homunculus faciam tibi negotium. Si quis non dixerit ubi simus, nos non vidimus, ubi tu nemini dixeris.” Then he looked at Xatxil, “I told him that I’d make him a deal, if he keeps quiet about us, we’ll do the same for him.”
The sniper and the traveler nodded
Carmeops looked around – the dagger in Xatxil’s hand could be worth a fortune, he could pay off all his debts with it. He came up with another lie. “Quid faciam tibi sociare. Ceterum profugi non sumus? Nos omnes fines communes, et non est salutem in numeris, EH?”
Chambers translated, “He says, ‘Tell you what, I will join you. After all, we are fugitives are we not? We all have common goals, and there is safety in numbers, eh?’ I think you two could use a guy like him.”
“It’s possible.” Said Xatxil thoughtfully
“No,” Refused Steam, “He’ll take what little we have and flee before tomorrow, I guarantee it!”
“Or if he’s not fibbing, he can steal other people’s shit for us, eh?” Xatxil countered, rubbing his chin.
“No, no, no, I refuse! He’s going to rob out right!”
“Chambers, what do you think?”
“Do what you want; I’m not wanted by the law.” Replied the giant
“Well, we seem to be at a tie as far as votes go, we’re going to need an opinion form a third party.” Xatxil said, shrugging.
“I think you could use him, he’s defiantly got skill if he’s wanted for more than a small town.”
“Are you two stupid?” Asked Steam, borderline yelling, “He’s lying!”
“Alright, then,” Xatxil said, his tone turned hostile, “Then you’re welcome to leave, nothing is preventing you from getting up and going on your own path. Have fun fending for yourself!”
Steam took a deep breath, “Sorry, I just don’t trust him. After all, I was a proctor just yesterday.”
“Yeah, it’s understandable.” Said Xatxil, this time comfortingly, “Alright Chambers, let him go.”
The big guy nodded and released the thief, who brushed the dirt off his clothes and looked blankly at the other three. There was an awkward silence.
“Sooooooo…What do we do now?” asked Xatxil
“Well,” Steam started, “We need to find that damn key, there was defiantly something important about it, after all, why would Raetec have been carrying it in the first place?”
“Kay?” asked Carmeops.
The two fugitives filled the thief in on what had happened in the past day, what had happened with Raetec, how they had to flee from DagothAgahnim,a nd how they had ended up where they were now. Carmeops simply nodded, it was an impressive feat. It was also at that point that Carmeops decided that the two men he had seen in the tunnels were in fact the two standing before him.
Carmeops’s lack of fascination suppressed both Xatxil and Steam, however, Chambers’s eyes widened, something about the story obviously intrigued him. He inquired, “Now, I don’t want to bud in, but I really have nowhere to go, would you three mind if I join up with you? I can handle myself in a fight, I might come in handy.”
Steam shrugged, “The more the merrier I guess…”
Xatxil smiled, “You’ve been kind to us so far, you can tag along. Just keep in mind that we’re all wanted by the authorities, you could be arrested for assisting criminals.”
Chambers shrugged, “I’ve spent my fair time in jail. I’ll be ok.”
“Alright,” Steam said, “We may not want to stay in one spot to long, we have to move, it’s already late morning. Anyone know of a place to stay?”
Chambers spoke up, “I know of a spot, it’s not much, poor living conditions, but its out of the way, I can show you the way.”
“By all means,” Said the sharpshooter, “Let’s go.”
The four set off down the road being led only by the words of a man whom they had just met.
* * * *
Raetec threw up again. Dore stood over him, weaving his healing magic over the dying man who sputtered and coughed; vomit leaking from his mouth when suddenly his eyes opened.
“What the hell? Where am I?”
Dore knelt by him and held up his hand, two fingers sticking up, “How many fingers?”
“Two.”
“Good, name?”
“Raetec.”
“Good, city?”
“Dore, why are you asking me these questions?”
“Standard medical procedure, you seem fine now, the poison seems to have dissipated.”
“Poison?” asked Raetec, “Last thing I remember I was jumped by some big guy at the Oracle and he plunged a dagger into my shoulder. Why am I covered in puke?”
“You disappeared for a few days, gave a note to TheTXlibra and ran off; you were found by a roamer yesterday. You were really fucked up.”
Raetec’s eyes widened, “Oh shit, now I remember, I need to talk to Kainzo right now, it’s of utmost importance!” he tried to get out of bed, but fell to the floor, wincing in pain.
Dore helped him back onto the cot and explained everything that had had happened, Kain and Libra’s disappearance, the Deamon activity confirmation from Brutal, HolyRane’s escape, and so on. Raetec was dumbfounded.
“Damn, I wanted to prevent this!”
“You knew?” asked Dore, in complete awe
“Yeah, let me explain…”
* * * *
The four were now deep in the mountains. Chambers had led them through many winding paths that were, for the most part, hidden. They wound up mountains, across bridges and up to a cliff face. The sun was right above their head as they all stopped. It was a flat cliff that they were up against, on either side of them was a steep drop down, the only way to go was back.
“Lost we be?” asked Carmeops
“Nah,” replied Chambers, “Convincing isn’t it?”
“Is what convincing?” asked Steam, “there is nothing here.”
“That’s what they want you to think,” Chambers replied as he dug his hands into the cliff face. With a huge grunt of effort a circular stone door began to roll aside revealing a passageway into the cliff.
“Holy balls,” exclaimed Xatxil, “A secret passage!”
“Yeah,” Chambers replied, almost happily, “I’ve been living here for a while now, come on in, and I’ll close it up behind us. The other three slid by the big man into the passage, it was cool and dark, a little damp too. Chambers slid the doors closed; it emitted a loud grinding noise as is slid back into position. They were left in complete darkness, but then a red light began emitting from Xatxil’s body.
“You can glow?” asked Chambers in disbelief
“Not up until recently.” He replied
“Damn, you found it?”
Steam interjected, “Found what?”
The big man rubbed his chin in the red light, “Follow me and I’ll explain.”
They made their way down the passage which led to a flight of stairs that curved up and to the left. The four climbed the stairs up to another door; it had a small hole in it. Chambers took a key from his pocket and inserted the key. He turned it with what seemed like a lot of effort and swung the door open.
They entered into a massive room hollowed into the mountain. Lit by torches, the room was rimmed in ebony steel and ash wood; hundreds of bookcases were spread through the room, all of them jammed with tomes. The floor was made of hard oak wood cut into tiles. For a moment, one could forget they were inside of a mountain.
“This… must have taken ages to make.” Muttered Steam
“Grand say I it is,” Said Carmeops
“Welcome to Stronghold’s Library.” Said Chambers as he led them through the cases toward the front of the room, “This was created by Strongholdx years ago, as far as I know, he was the only one who knew where it was. I found it one day while I was lost amongst these mountains – I’ve been trying to uncover its secrets ever since.”
“Secrets?” asked Carmeops, obviously intrigued.
“Yeah, follow me.” Chambers led them to a lift that operated on a pulley system. They boarded it and it brought them to a second floor, but kept going and made its way to a third. It was a small room, well lit. The only thing in it was a staircase that led outside.
After they had hit the top of the stairs they found themselves near the peak of the mountain. They could see for miles, Sanctum towered in the distance, Fiore to their Northeast, and they could barely see Newerth to the south. There was a small path that lead to the peak of the mountain, they ascended to the top.
The wind howled as they stood before a small cave entrance blocked by a set of doors. The doors were carved with ornate symbols of some long dead language. The four stared in awe at them. They seemed to give off some otherworldly aura.
Chambers pushed the doors open and led the three others into a crypt. There was a coffin in the center of the room; at its foot was a chest. Two torches cast lonely shadows amongst the chamber.
“What is this?” asked Xatxil, totally captivated
“This is the tomb of the great hero, Lance.”
“Hero?!” asked Carmeops
“Etiam homunculus heros.” Replied Chambers, then he spoke to Xatxil, “Hero means demigod in the language Carmeops speaks, however Lance was not a god.”
“What was he?” asked Steam, not just as interested as the other two
“He was a being of great power, a Hero. Ones you may know of are Kainzo our emperor, Al-Aloun the desert archer, and Raptor the swords master.”
“Yeah, I know Kain, but the other two don’t ring a bell.” Xatxil replied
“Heroes are beings of immense power, they cannot be killed by mortal beings, and they may only be slain by other heroes. Time does not wither them away, wounds do not hinder them, and they often possess great magical or physical strength. By some great power, whenever one dies, the area they fall in becomes their tomb, here it seems, Lance died upon this mountain.”
“Fascinating! What does this tomb have to do with the library?” Steam asked, wide eyed
“Stronghold was a master of lore, history, and things past. He found nearly every tomb and took their most powerful objects, leaving the rest for other to find.”
“Most powerful weapons? The chest over there looks untouched; the lock is still even on it.” Steam said, puzzled
“I did not say weapons; in each tomb the hero’s gear is stored in a chest by the foot of the coffin. That is for anyone who stumbles upon the tomb, they may wield that hero’s power. I can see you are a smart man, but Stronghold was something wiser, he took something more powerful from the tombs than the weapons of armor.”
“And that is?” Xatxil asked
“The knowledge.”
The other three echoed him, “Knowledge?”
“Yes, look closely at the walls, what do you see?”
At first none of them could see anything, but as their eyes adjusted to the dim light they could see on the walls were thousands of characters carved into the cave. They were of what seemed to be the same dead language on the doors.
“What they be?” asked Carmeops, raising an eyebrow
“They tell the story of Lance, each tomb has something like this, their life storied inscribed on the walls. Stronghold found each one, decoded each story and recorded them here in the library below us, for years now I have been reading and attempting to understand what they tell me. It is much harder than it sounds.”
“Was Stronghold a hero?” asked Steam
“That will never be known, he was slain by Dagith-Narr in the battle for Sanctum in the Uprising.”
“I didn’t know that.” asked Xatxil
“Yes,” said Chambers closing his eyes, “let me tell you how it happened…”
