T. Lain - The Death Ray

"There's no handle," Regdar said. "How do we open it?"

"I've been working on that, Lord Constable," the half-elf replied, "but I can't find a catch or trigger or anything."

Regdar nodded and stepped back to survey the wall.

"We'll need more light," he said over his shoulder to the young sergeant waiting behind him. "Have lanterns brought in, and bring as many crowbars as you can find…and a pick and shovel."

The young sergeant nodded and hurried off.

"We're going to pry it open, my lord?" the half-elf asked.

Regdar shrugged and replied, "Unless you find a better way through before those crowbars get here."

The half-elf nodded, taking the hint, and went back to his close examination of the secret door. Regdar used the time to survey the hole in the ceiling, marveling at the fact that he could see clear up to the ceiling of the room he shared with Naull.

When the sergeant returned a short time later with a few more men and the necessary tools, Regdar looked at the half-elf with one eyebrow arched.

The half-elf shrugged, shook his head, and stepped aside. Regdar put out a hand and the sergeant set a crowbar across his palm.

"Three men with me," he said, quickly counting five watchmen in the basement, "the other two stand ready with weapons drawn."

One of the younger watchmen swallowed and drew his sword in a shaking hand.

"Do you…?" the young man asked. "Do you think it's still in there?"

Regdar found the hairline crack, set the end of his crowbar in it, and said, "No."

He heard at least three of the watchmen sigh with relief, heard a second blade drawn, and the sergeant and two of his men pressed their own crowbars into the skinny crack.

It took them several minutes just to chip away at the surrounding mortar enough to get their crowbars set. When the three watchmen nodded to Regdar in turn that they were ready, the lord constable gave the order and they pushed. Regdar didn't put all his strength into the first attempt, in case the crowbar wasn't as firmly set or the wall as well-mortared as he thought. The crowbar dug into the crack but the door didn't budge.

"Are you set well?" he asked the other three. They nodded and Regdar turned his head to address the two men with swords. "I'm sure it's long gone by now, men, but look alive just the same."

The two guards swallowed and nodded. They held their swords in a ready position, their feet set wide apart. Regdar turned back to the door and tightened his grip on the crowbar.

"On three, then," he said. "One…two…three!"

They pushed with all their might, and at first it seemed as if they were trying to move a mountain. When Regdar felt the crowbar move, he backed off, thinking it had slipped from the crack and not wanting to accidentally injure one of the other men.

"It's…opening," the sergeant grunted.

Regdar blinked at the crack. It was indeed wider than it had been when the half-elf first found it.

"Put your backs into it," he ordered, then did the same himself.

With considerable effort, the four of them worked their crowbars deeper into the space between the door and the wall. When Regdar thought it felt as if the door was going to come open, he stopped pushing and held up a hand. The others stopped and Regdar motioned for them to back up.

"It's almost there," he said, gesturing to two of the men. "You two, stand on either side, watch your toes, and push. Sergeant…"

The sergeant dropped his crowbar and stepped back, drawing his sword. Regdar let his own crowbar clatter to the flagstone floor and slipped his greatsword from its sheath on his back. When both he and the sergeant were matching the other two watchmen's stance, Regdar nodded to the men with crowbars.

They pressed their backs into it with impressive will and surprising strength. All the while, Regdar tried to trace the outline of the door and match its size and shape to the floor in front of him. When the section of brick wall came out, it was likely going to fall, and any toes that strayed under it would be lost for good.

"Careful, now," he cautioned, though both men had their feet well back.

The door came loose all at once, but seemed to hang in the air for a precarious second. The two men with crowbars leaped to either side as the section of brick started slowly, gently tipping into the room.

With both hands on his sword, Regdar couldn't hold his hands over his ears, though he knew he should. If he had, though, he wouldn't have heard the footsteps on the stairs behind him. Thinking at first that his men were deserting, Regdar spun to face the stairs while the secret door fell, revealing a dark space beyond.

Torn between the footsteps that were descending the stairs-his men were still standing ready-and the darkness beyond the secret door, Regdar wasn't sure where to turn, so he whipped his head back and forth trying to see both sides at once. This startled his men, who looked at him, then whipped their heads forward when the heavy section of brick wall hit the flagstones with a thunderous boom that shook the floor and sent up a cloud of dust and pebbles of brick and mortar.

The tall, skinny man who ran the inn slipped down the stairs at what appeared to be an all-out run. Recognizing him right away, Regdar put his full attention back to the yawning, black hole in the wall. His ears were ringing and the bottoms of his feet tingled from the vibration of the floor, but he was ready for anything.

He counted three fast heartbeats, and nothing came out of the darkness but a rotten, dank smell of decay.

"What is the meaning of this?" the tall man said, breaking the silence that had descended over Regdar and his men.

Regdar relaxed his stance and turned to the innkeeper slowly, keeping his sword at his side in an unthreatening manner.

"You're the innkeeper," he said.

The man sketched a shallow bow, his face flashing from anger to surprise to anger again, and back to surprise in the course of a second.

"I am Feargal Haelliuzh," the man said, "proprietor of the Thrush and the Jay, and I am at your service, Lord Constable."

Regdar didn't bother wondering how the innkeeper knew of his appointment.

"Did you know about this?" Regdar asked.

The innkeeper shook his head, his eyes wide, his hands turning palm up.

"The secret door," Regdar said. "Did you know this was here?"

"No," said Haelliuzh.

Regdar saw the half-elf kneel in front of the fallen door and examine its edges, but he turned his attention back to the innkeeper.

"We will need to seal off the basement as well," Regdar said.

"But, Lord Constable, I…" the innkeeper began.

Regdar tipped his head to one side and lifted an eyebrow, and the tall man bowed deeply.

"My most sincere apologies, Lord Constable," he said. "Of course, the Thrush and the Jay is forever at the duke's disposal."

"Thank you," Regdar said. "If your people need anything from down here, just have them ask one of the guards and he'll have it brought up."

"Most gracious of you," Haelliuzh replied. The innkeeper looked around one last time and said, "I will leave you to your work then."

Regdar nodded and the man was gone in a flash.

"Well," the half-elf said, fingering a twisted bit of metal sticking out of the side of the fallen door, "here's the catch."

Regdar barely glanced at the ruin of the elaborate hinge and spring-clasp left twisted and ruined by their crowbars. Instead, he stepped to the edge of the dark space and eased his head through the doorway. The opening led to a wide, dark shaft that plunged into the ground past the reach of the light filtering in from the basement. The shaft ran straight down into the sewers. Though Regdar couldn't see the bottom of the shaft, he knew a sewer when he smelled one.