[SleepingDragon]: 268.The Staff of Illidon.Chapter Eight- Broken Stone

Chapter Eight- Broken Stone

A search of the sleeping chamber turned out to be fruitless. There was the bed, a lot of dilapidated furniture and some old weaponry that was far too corroded to be of any use. There were a few ancient trinkets in a bureau that may have been of interest to collectors, but none of the company wanted to risk touching them after the fiasco with the staff piece. They found nothing that resembled a crown, even remotely, and there were no staff pieces or stone blocks to be found anywhere in the chamber.

“Nothing.” William breathed, disappointed.

“Let’s get out of here.” Chad suggested. “Before more of Illidon’s friend’s show up.”

No one argued. The truth was that after viewing the spectre of King Illidon, the company felt very uneasy about the chamber. While the phantom had done them no physical harm, it had put a fear in them that was indefensible. None of them seemed to be able to shake the chill that the confrontation had left in them.

They followed the winding hall back to the top of the main staircases. There was no evidence of the large spiders, but William was not comfortable with the notion of returning to the lower floor yet.

“Let’s give them a little more time to return to their nest.” He suggested. “Perhaps a sweep of the left wing?”

Chad and Mari nodded in consent. They found an archway halfway around the balcony and beyond it a corridor that exactly resembled the one below it. They made a right, deciding to start from the back and work their way forward.

“Be wary.” William warned as they approached the last door on the left. “We are directly above the spiders’ nest.”
Chad had his broadsword at the ready and Mari a knife in each hand. William again held the torches as Chad turned the latch and kicked the door open with one foot. All was still within the room and they entered cautiously.

Nothing. The room was empty, except for the broken furniture that they already expected to find. While there were plenty of cobwebs, there was no evidence of spiders, large or small.

“The spiders apparently enter the palace from below.” William surmised. “Or they would be in this room as well. Any way out that ascends should be free of them.”

“That is good to know wizard.” Chad said sarcastically. “But how does that help us?”

“This is their feeding ground.” William said. “Or they would not be here. Something else has a way in and out or the spiders would not survive. And it’s not something that comes in the way we did. None but us have entered through that door in many years.”

“So there may be other creatures about?” Mari asked.

“Yes.” William confirmed. “Many others.”

After a quick check of the bureau drawers that turned up nothing, the company continued on to the next room. They again found nothing but old furniture. They then moved to the third and middle room of the corridor.

William was not surprised to find another of the stone blocks in the room, but he was rather taken aback by the fact that it was broken open. A long dead corpse lie on the floor beside it. A search of the room and the body soon proved that any staff piece he may have expected to find was missing.

“What happened here wizard? Chad asked.

“Someone forced their way into the stone block.” William informed him. “And it appears they paid the price of the old magic.”

“What of the staff piece?” Mari inquired.

“I believe we may already have it.” William surmised. “Perhaps this fellow had a comrade who took the piece after he died…or a later traveler discovered it. In any event, they found their own demise in the outer courtyard where we found the staff piece. This also tells us that whoever was here did not possess the crown. Its place of concealment may yet be undiscovered.”

“So now what?” Chad asked.

“Lunch.” William said. “As soon as we find a room without a corpse for decoration.”

The three companions filed out of the room and made their way to the next in the corridor. While it contained no corpse, or anything of use, they decided to put off eating until they had completed their sweep of the wing, having just a single room left. The last room again held nothing of interest, and the party sat upon the floor sharing cold rations and passing around a water skin.

“I think it is time we visited the throne room.” William announced. “After a short rest.”

“You think the crown will be found there?” Mari asked.

“If not, I would at least rule it out.” William told her. “I am fairly certain where we will find the other staff pieces, if they have not been taken from their stones. Also, if there is another passage out, it may be from behind the throne. Recall that there was only one door into the main structure from the courtyard. A king would not leave himself trapped so.”

“I’m all for finding another way out.” Chad said. “Whenever you are ready wizard.”

William took the time to cut another piece of his cloak and change the bandages on Mari’s arm. He performed another light cure spell on her as well as a spell of fortification. This he did at an expense, leaving himself somewhat weary and lightheaded, but he thought it more important for her to be as healthy as she could. If she could not fire an arrow, she would be vulnerable and they would all be less efficient as a team.

“My thanks, wizard.” She said after he had finished, flexing her arm to work the stiffness out of it.

“Thank me not.” He told her. “You have saved me more than once.”

They left the room then, backtracking to the balcony over the main hall. A quick scout of the immediate area showed no evidence of the spiders, and they slowly descended the stairway back to the lower floor. They found none of the arachnids here either and proceeded to a set of double doors that they presumed led to the throne room. The doors opened with minimal effort and the company stepped inside.

The torchlight cast a small circle of light upon the floor of the large chamber. They could see little beyond it. Within a few steps of the doorway, they became aware that there was much debris on the floor. There were piles of old armor, broken swords, jewelry and trinkets, old furniture as well as many corpses and piles of bones.

“I have a bad feeling about this wizard.” Chad said.

“Be silent.” Mari whispered. “We are not alone in this room.”

Mari was correct. As the company froze in its tracks, they could hear the sound of something moving through the piles of rubbish on the floor. There was much scraping as if something very large was beginning to move about. A massive guttural snort filled their ears as a sudden flash of orange flame illuminated half of the chamber to their left.

“Dragon!” Chad shouted. “Run!”

The company bolted for the door as the waking dragon lifted itself up upon all fours, stretching out clawed feet and raising its long scaly neck near the vaulted ceiling of the chamber. They dove through the arched doorway as flame burst again from the creature’s maw, singeing all of them.

Mari was the first to her feet and she began firing arrows back into the chamber at the beast. William had dropped the torches and scrambled to retrieve one.

“Get out of here!” Chad yelled, giving Mari a shove toward the door. The three companions ran as fast as they could out of the main structure and into the courtyard. Coming to the nearest pillar, they ducked behind it and looked back toward the palace. There was no sign of pursuit by the dragon. It had apparently stayed inside.

“Well,” William breathed. “This does make things difficult.”