G. Lippert - James Potter and the Curse of the Gatekeeper

Finally, just above the level of the surf, the stairway met a large cave. Merlin led the three into the dimness. He stopped and tapped his staff on the rocky floor, lighting it. Purplish light filled the space, making hard shadows in every crag and crack.

"Nice hiding place," James said, whistling.

"It sure is," Rose agreed, "considering it's underwater half the day. We're in the middle of low tide right now."

"Is that where you have your stuff hidden?" Ralph asked, pointing toward a large door-shaped hole in the rear of the cave wall. "There's writing over the door, but I can't read it."

Rose peered at it, stepping closer. "It's Welsh, isn't it?"

"It's an old form of what you'd call Welsh, I suppose," Merlin said, approaching the door. "Roughly translated, it reads, 'This is the cache of Merlinus Ambrosius; do not enter on pain of death.'"

Ralph squinted at the barely legible letters. "So much for secret riddles and magical passwords."

"I do not believe in toying with the lives of treasure seekers," Merlin replied. "The mention of my name was enough to repel most who came this far. Those that ventured further deserved fair warning."

"Isn't there some sort of key or something?" Rose asked.

"No, Miss Weasley. The trick is not to get in. In fact, quite the reverse. Which is why you and Mr. Deedle will wait out here."

Ralph brightened. "That's the first good news I've heard since we started this trip. But why?"

"Your wand is a fragment of my staff," Merlin smiled grimly. "Thus, it is the only other magical instrument on the earth that can reverse the doorway."

Ralph nodded, waving his hand. "Good enough for me. Just tell me what to do when the time comes. Happy pot-holing."

Rose asked, "What about me?"

Merlin produced something from the depths of his robes and handed it to her. It was a small mirror with an ornate golden frame. "Do you know how to make an Occido Beam?"

James saw Rose struggle not to roll her eyes. "I know how to reflect the sun with a mirror, yes."

Merlin nodded and looked at James. "Follow me, Mr. Potter, and stay close."

With that, he turned and stepped through the doorway. His staff lit the interior of the chamber with its purple glow. James glanced at Ralph and Rose, shrugged, and followed Merlin into the cavern.

Immediately, his footsteps crunched unpleasantly.

"Ugh!" he exclaimed. "Bones!"

The floor was covered thickly with tiny skeletons. The remains of birds, fish and rodents were piled several inches deep. Merlin didn't pay them any attention.

"An unfortunate cost," he said, moving deeper into the cavern. "The one-way stone is rather unforgiving. My rune-warnings are rather less effective now than they were a few centuries ago."

"You made warnings for the birds and rats?" James asked.

Merlin looked back at him. "Of course, Mr. Potter. The creatures do not enter to thieve, but merely for shelter and food. I embedded a Hex of Dread in the stone of this place. It told their small minds that there was no good thing to be found here, and to stay away. I underestimated the longevity of those hexes however. I am not happy to be responsible for the loss of these creatures. I will repay the earth for their sacrifice."

"What do you mean by 'one-way stone'?" James asked, but as he turned back toward the doorway, he saw for himself. The entry was gone, replaced by rough, seamless rock. By all appearances, James and Merlin were trapped inside a sealed cave. He shuddered and hugged himself, glancing around the dark, craggy space. Something caught his eye.

"Er," he said, trying to keep his voice calm, "that's not the bones of a bird or a rat, is it?"

Merlin followed James' gaze and saw the human skeleton leaning against a dark alcove. The skeleton was draped with the remains of rough armor. A rusted sword lay near the skeleton's hand.

"I wouldn't get too close, Mr. Potter," Merlin warned mildly as James took a step nearer the skeleton, morbidly fascinated.

"Wow," James breathed, "there are still rings on the fingers. And hair on the skull. Gah, there's the remains of a mustache! Who do you think—"

The skeleton suddenly lunged forward, throwing up its arms and waving the remains of the decrepit sword. James leapt backwards, tumbling into Merlin.

"Avaunt!" the skeleton cried, waving its arms and swiveling its head. "Reveal yourself lest I run you through for sport!"

"It's all right, James," Merlin said wryly, helping James get his feet under him. "Just stay back from it." Then, to the skeleton, he said, "You cannot see us because you have no eyes, Farrigan."

"Merlinus!" the skeleton cried. "Where are you, you devil's son? How dare you trap me?"

"How dare you breach my boundary and attempt to steal my cache, my old friend?"

"Friend, pah!" the skeleton spat. Its jawbone squeaked as it spoke. "You were quit of the world. Dead! What good was it to you?"

"You hoped I was dead, but you knew otherwise. My cache was bequeathed to no one but me, either way. Austramaddux made you well aware of that."

"Austramaddux is a mongrel cur," the skeleton of Farrigan growled. "I'll put his head on my wall for this trickery. And what mean you that I have no eyes? It is merely dark. Light your staff if you are Merlinus, curse you."

Merlin looked at James, his eyes hard. "He will be released from his bond to this world when we leave. It was part of the curse of anyone who dared breach this place that they should remain until my return. Now that that time is come, the curse will end. Can you bear to wait with him? He is quite harmless as long as you keep your distance."

James looked at the skeleton. It lolled against the wall, working to pull its leg bones together and make them work. It muttered squeakily to itself. James swallowed.

"Yeah, I guess. How long will you be?"

"Mere minutes," Merlin replied, then he raised his voice. "Miss Weasley, can you hear me?"

Rose's voice came through the invisible entrance clearly. "I'm right here. I'm looking right at you through the door. What's going on in there?"

"Nothing consequential. Can you direct the Occido Beam now? The waning sunlight should be finding its way through a large crack to the left of the cave mouth."

James heard Rose's footsteps as she walked away. A moment later, a narrow beam of sunlight speared the dusty air of the cavern, penetrating the one-way stone of the doorway.

"Very good, Miss Weasley," Merlin said. "Up just a bit, please."

The beam of sunlight pierced the depths of the cave. It bobbed and roamed as Merlin directed Rose, carefully aligning the beam. Finally, it lit upon a shiny burnished symbol embedded in a far distant wall. It flared brightly and suddenly, amazingly, a long golden cord dropped out of the beam of sunlight.

"Thank you, Miss Weasley," Merlin called, reaching to collect the end of the cord. "You have done exceptionally well. Whatever you or Mr. Deedle do from this point on, under no circumstances should you enter the cavern, regardless of what you hear."

James felt a chill as Merlin turned to him.

"Your duty is very simple, Mr. Potter, but absolutely essential. You must hold the end of this cord."

James took the cord in his hands as Merlin handed it to him. It was thin, finely woven from bright golden threads. "All I have to do is hold it?"

Merlin nodded, maintaining eye contact with James. "But be sure, James Potter, as long as you hold this cord, you hold my life in your hands. You cannot let go for any reason until I return. Do you understand?"

James frowned, puzzled. He nodded. Without another word, Merlin turned and walked into the dimmer recesses of the cave, holding his staff ahead of him. The cave was apparently rather deeper than James had initially believed. As the wizard strode slowly away, his staff illuminated a much larger cavern connected to the one James stood in. The floor was very dark, nearly black. Strangely, Merlin was walking on the golden cord, placing each foot carefully on its length. The cord stretched into the depths of the cavern, disappearing into darkness. With a start, James saw that the floor of the larger cavern was not simply dark, as he had initially thought. It wasn't there at all. Merlin was walking on the cord alone, suspended over an apparently bottomless abyss.