T Lain - Return of the Damned

Tasca picked up the torch and scanned the walls. “It’s possible they teleported out of here so that we’d just come to a dead end. This is the last openly accessible room on this level.”

Clemf agreed. “Even if we do find a hidden stairway or a secret door, this whole thing is probably some elaborate trap.” He walked up and helped Regdar get back to his feet. “Besides, pardon me for being honest, but your woman didn’t exactly seem thrilled to see you.”

Regdar gritted his teeth and glared at Clemf. “That wasn’t Naull.” His expression softened. “It looked like Naull, but it must have been an illusion or a doppelganger or… or I don’t know what, but it wasn’t Naull.”

“Okay. All right.” Clemf held up his hands in front of him, showing his palms to Regdar in a sign of nonaggression. “Just calm down and think about this for a minute. If it wasn’t Naull, then what are we doing here?”

“If you hadn’t noticed,” replied Regdar, feeling rather indignant, “the black-armored men we fought in the entry hall were outfitted and uniformed exactly like the ones who attacked the duke’s keep.”

“Really?” said Clemf. “I thought black was just a fashionable color for evil minions, whatever the season.” The tattooed man shook his head. “Didn’t we cover this before?”

Regdar ignored the jibe. “It’s likely that blackguard, Lindroos, is the person behind the attack at the keep. She’s certainly in charge of the soldiers here, and if they’re all on the same side, then by staying here and defeating them we’re defending New Koratia.” He straightened himself up. “Besides, Naull or not, that blackguard is the last person I saw alive with her, so she knows what happened.” He looked Clemf right in the eye. “I intend to find out the truth.”

Tasca finished searching and returned to the other two. “Personally, Regdar, you know I’m always up for a fight” He shrugged. “But in this case, I’ve got to side with Clemf. If the blackguard is behind the attack on the duke’s keep, and if there’s more to her plan, then we should go back and alert the duke.” He looked Regdar in the eye. “We can come back with the rest of the army”

Regdar put his hands to his temples, massaging the wrinkles in his forehead. “We can’t go back,” he said.

Clemf laughed. “Of course we can go back. It’s just a few days walk…”

Regdar shook his head.

Tasca narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, ‘we can’t go back’?”

Regdar threw his hands in the air. “We can’t go back, okay!” he shouted. He turned around and began pacing. “The duke, he…”

“The duke what?” Clemf took a step forward, his fists clenched.

Regdar looked at him and shrugged. “The duke…the duke told me I couldn’t leave. He never gave his permission. In fact, he said that if I came out here looking for Naull, then I could never return to New Koratia.” His eyes shifted from Clemf to Tasca and back again. “I resigned my commission.”

Clemf took another step forward. “You told us we had the duke’s blessing.” He grabbed Regdar by the collar. “We came out here with you as a favor, risked our lives for you, and you lied to us!” The tattooed human shook the big fighter, nearly lifting him off his feet. Clemf’s face turned red, and spittle flew from the corners of his lips. “The duke thinks we abandoned our posts, Regdar.” He shook the big fighter again, spraying saliva in his face as he talked. “Our careers as soldiers are over.” Regdar’s armor clattered louder as Clemf became more violent. “We left our homes, and now we can’t even go back—and for what? To chase a dead woman!” Clemf’s lips curled up in a sneer, and he thrust Regdar backward, pushing him hard to the ground. “You lying—” Clemf fished around for the right words. “We trusted you with our lives.” He took a menacing step forward.

Tasca stepped up and put his hand on the man’s tattooed arm, but Clemf pulled away, continuing to menace the fallen fighter.

Regdar just looked up from the ground, not bothering to even try to get up.

“You’re right,” said Regdar. “You’re right.”

Clemf pulled his fist back, winding up to punch Regdar in the face.

“As much as I’d like to do that myself,” said Whitman, now leaning in the doorway, “there’s not much we can do about it now. The only way we’ll ever get back into New Koratia and clear our good names with the duke is if we stop this blackguard before she completes whatever wicked scheme she’s concocted.” He pushed off the door, hefting his hammer onto his shoulder. “If we bring Duke Ramas her head on a pike, he’ll let us back in.” The dwarf turned and headed back down the passage. “Come on,” he said over his shoulder. “I found a stairway.”

Regdar got up from the ground and dusted himself off. He headed out the door, avoiding Clemf’s stare.

Whitman led the group to a spot on the unbroken northern wall of the passageway. He stopped, looked back at the other three men, then put his hand on the stone.

It passed right through.

“Illusion,” said Regdar.

Whitman’s hand, disguised by the illusionary wall up to the wrist, came back into view, and he waved Regdar forward.

The big fighter nodded and stepped into the imaginary stone. He felt his hand slip effortlessly through, then speckled black brick filled his vision, and for a split second, everything went dark. When his eyes emerged from the illusion, he had to squint to protect them from the bright light.

On the other side, a worked-stone arch marked the opening to a hallway. Torches lined the walls every few steps. Though it was bright, the illusion had blocked the light from illuminating the outer hallway. A stairway led up at the end of the hidden passage, rising so steeply that from where he stood, Regdar couldn’t see the top.

The others came through the illusionary wall, and as a group the four men headed up the stairs with Regdar in the lead. Moving carefully onto the first step, the big fighter rose. Above him, the stairs climbed higher, the angle of the ceiling still preventing him from seeing where the stairway ended.

“I don’t like this,” he whispered, and he drew his sword.

The others followed suit.

For several tense moments, Regdar climbed, craning his neck as he did, trying as best he could to get a glimpse of what was up ahead. Silence enveloped the stairwell, broken only by the sounds of the flickering torches and the scuffling of four large men ascending the rough stone stairs.

Finally Regdar caught sight of the top. Five steps away, he could see darkness spread out over the last step. What lay beyond, he hadn’t a clue. He stopped and turned back toward the others.

“I can see the top,” he whispered into Whitman’s ear. “Good place for an ambush.”

Whitman nodded.

“We go up fast. They know we’re here. No sense in trying to surprise them. Let’s just minimize the danger to us.” Regdar looked Whitman in the eyes then pointed to Tasca, standing one step below the dwarf.

Whitman nodded again and turned to the elf, repeating the message in his ear.

Tasca responded in kind, relaying the information to Clemf behind him.

When all three nodded to Regdar, he turned back toward the top step, took a deep breath, gripped his sword tightly in one hand, and charged.

His armor made a tremendous clank as he ascended two steps at a time. As his head breached the level of the landing, his right foot struck the second to last step with a loud click. Looking down the well-lit corridor, Regdar saw nothing but more hallway.

A moment later, stairs beneath the fighters’ feet collapsed, turning into a steep, smooth chute, and Regdar tumbled backward.