Death Or Fortune (25 page)

    
Pare awoke to the smell of breakfast cooking.  Not wanting to miss out on
a meal he quickly dressed and headed for the kitchen.  He found Jasmin,
Windfall and a strange looking dwarf sitting around a table while Charles was
making breakfast. The dwarf was lean for one of his kind, bald head with a
close cut beard.  He was draped in chain armor with a crescent moon shaped
battle axe strapped to his back. Windfall introduced him as Ebbit. The halfling
put on his best smile and presented his hand to the dwarf.  With a voice
as deep as an old dry well he said "Is this the little thief you have been
talking about?" Pare looked at his hand wondering if there was something
horrible on it as the dwarf ignored him.
     "Aye my friend, he will be going back to the city
with me today. You and Mason will patrol outside the house and once it gets
dark you will be in here with Lady Jasmin and Charles." Pare pulled his
hand back seeing as how it wasn't going to be shaken and went to take a seat
next to Jasmin.
     "Why am I going back to the city? I thought I
would stay here with Jasmin." Pare asked
     "You know the city better than I do, you know how
to find things I do not and you know people. They might not want to listen to
or even help you but they will listen to me." The way Windfall spoke in a
matter of fact tone Pare figured asking any more questions would be pointless.
 Resigned to the fact that he would be back on the road again he ate his
breakfast quietly, only pausing to glance at his female friend.  She was
taking the entire thing so well, as if she had no fear of what was to come or
what could be coming.  It was then that he saw her fork, shaking ever so
slightly as she was putting the food in her mouth.  No, he said to no one
at all, she is scared and is just keeping it hidden.  Just before he got
up from the table he reached over to her leg and gave it a little squeeze,
smiling when she looked over to him.  With that he returned to his room
and started to collect his gear.

     Before
long the little halfling was into his armor, weapons at the ready and headed
out the door.  He found Windfall waiting for him with a pair of horses.
 Without a single word they mounted up and headed back towards the capital
city.  The ride back to town was a silent one and the half elf seemed to
be watching everything except for where he was going.  As they arrived
back in town the boredom Pare had started to feel went away. Windfall wasn't
one for small talk and Pare was very close to pulling his hair out for lack of
anything else to do along the way. Pare followed Windfall through the city,
wondering why he had to come after all. He seemed to know just where he was
going.  As they passed by Darmot’s house in the Lords district Pare wished
he could go inside and check his traps one more time. When they could see the
wall outside of the kings castle Pare asked just where they were going.

     
"First, we are going to see Captain Turk.  He is the leader of the
king’s guard and they are responsible for the Lords district.  You do not
rise to that position without knowing something of the underbelly of the city.
 Also, I want to get his permission to act here.  Once I am given his
blessing I will go to see the commander of the city watch, Captain Myers.
 I've spoken with him once but I want him to know that I did get full
sanction from Turk, as he suggested.  Once that is done we will head to an
inn, get something to eat and once it is dark, the real fun starts."
Windfall gave the halfling a large smile, it send chills down his spine.

     
"What do you mean by real fun?" he asked with a bit of a hitch in his
voice.

     
"You are going to show me where the thieves’ guild is hiding this week.
You are going to request an audience with the guild master. Once we are inside
I will start cutting deals with him. See if I can pay for any information that
will lead us to the one who wants Lady Kromwell's head. It will cost me a great
deal, very great but if he can point us in the right direction it will be worth
it."

     
"I can't do that! I will get black listed, I may not be a working stiff
any more but I can't betray the guild!" Pare was in a panic, his face went
from a pale white to a sickly shade of green.

     
"No, you will do just what I said little thief." The friendly tone in
his voice went away along with the smile on his face. "Darmot, my friend
and yours, is in danger of losing his wife. Who is also your friend and I will
not hear 'I can't' from you.  If you are not helping me, you are in my
way."

     
"You are right Windfall, I am sorry.  I would die if anything
happened to her. I will do whatever you ask of me." The two had come to a
stop in the middle of the street. Windfall seeming to have said all he had to
say on the subject just stared at the little halfling. Pare only stared back at
him, kicking himself for not thinking things through.  He didn't owe the
thieves’ guild a single thing. Where he did owe Darmot his life, a time or two
over.  Now he had upset the one person who was there to help.  He
shook his head for being so stupid, gave the half elf a faint smile and kicked
his mount.  He knew the way to Captain Turk’s office, he had been there a
hundred times. Yet even from behind, he could feel Windfall's eyes on his back.
 It was that or his guilt eating him up.

     
Outside of Captain Turk’s office Pare jumped from the back of his mount and
headed straight for the door.  If not for the guard who stopped him he
would have walked right in. "Hey, what are you doing? Let me go, I am here
to see my buddy Turk. You know who I am."

     
"The Captain is not seeing visitors, do you have an appointment?" the
guard asked him all the while keeping his eyes locked onto the large half elf.
     "An appointment? Did I need an appointment to win
the war? Did I need an appointment to kill the evil wizard that was planning on
killing the city?  Did I need an appointment to kill a red dragon that was
eating lumber jacks up in the hills?  Did I need an appointment to save
the Kings life when he was attacked, in his own hall while we were eating
dinner?" By this point Pare was screaming out his questions to all that
could hear him.  Including a slightly amused Captain behind the door who
could be heard laughing, shouting for the guards to let the halfling in. The
guard opened the door and stood aside while the ranting halfling walked in.
"Geesh Turk, I go away for a couple months and everyone forgets what I did
for you guys." Once the door closed behind the half elf, the ranting
stopped. "Captain Turk, I would like to introduce you to a friend of mine,
Windfall."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     "No one ever told me being Bishop meant I was
going to spend all my time doing paper work" Hans said to no one at all.
While the idea of spending his remaining days hunched over his desk reading
scroll after scroll wasn't his idea of doing the good gods work. "Yet it
must be done, no one else will do it." he remind himself. While the work
he did as the new bishop kept him busy, he felt as though something was
missing. "Let's face it, there are no heads to bash that will solve the
temples problems.  It has suffered wounds that I cannot heal.  Only time
and hard work can do that.  Not that I mind hard work, anything to take my
mind off being stuck here while my friends are in mortal danger." Hans
mind slipped back to his small bedroom and the items he had stored away there.
 His armor and weapons were now retired, much like he was. "That is
unless the temple is attacked." As his mind started turning to trying to
budget in fortifications on the temple grounds a knock came at the door,
removing that thought from his mind all together. With an exasperated sigh he
told whoever it was to come in.
     "I am sorry Bishop, something has happened in the
lower vaults.  I think you should come see this." Hans could see the
young man looking around the room.  Looking for who the Bishop could have
been talking to.  Hans was often found talking to himself.  There
were rumors in the temple of a hidden spirit that he spoke with or perhaps he
held private chats with the god.  Not a single one of them assumed or
would even dare to imagine that he was only speaking to himself.

     "What
is the problem? Is anyone hurt?" he asked, thankful for the distraction
from his paperwork.
     "No Bishop, nothing like that at all. Some of the
boys were playing down there and well, you had best come see this for
yourself." Hans nodded to the young man and pointed out the door as he
started to walk.  He followed the young man down into the lower levels of
the temple. Remnants of what was here before, before the fall of the order of
Solarth.  Perhaps they were even hundreds of years old.  There was a
storage room for any goods the temple needed, off this room was a single door
that led to the crypt were clerics of days past were laid to rest.  Now
Hans could see part of a second door, one that had been covered with mortar.
     "The boys were horsing around down here and they
crashed into the wall. You can see the part that came lose. I was an accident,
I am sorry this is all my fault. I should have sent them outside instead of
letting them play down here." Hans could only wave his hand at the young
man, looking at the hole where there was once part of a wall. He walked forward
and put his hand against the exposed wood, it was cold to the touch, very cold.
     "We need to get you out of here, right now. I
want you to guard the entrance from upstairs. Allow no one other than myself to
enter, go now." Hans followed the young man up the stairs and closed the
door to the lower levels behind him. "You will guard this door with your
very life, do you understand me? The lives of everyone in this temple could be
in danger." With eyes as big as the moon the young man could only nod his
head.  Hans then went to his private room. Thinking only to himself as he
walked, he knew he was the only one that could deal with this.  He knew he
was the only one prepared for something like this. "I still pray to you
every day as if I am walking into battle, do not let me down now, not
here."  Hans stood before his wardrobe with his hands on the doors.
 As he opened the doors he saw it there, just as he had left it. His armor
was on its stand, polished and gleaming. Next to it, standing on its head was
his hammer. Removing his pristine white robes Hans reached inside and once
again prepared to do battle in the name of Solarth.
     The young man could hear the bishop before he could
see him.  Shield and weapon in his hands the bishop came to stand in front
of the young man, he could see the plate armor under the robes now. "Do
not allow any one down these stairs until I return, if I am not back by night fall
take everyone out of the temple. Everyone, leave no soul behind.  Once you
have done that send for the city watch, tell them to summon help to deal with
the undead in our vaults.  Do you understand me?"
     "Yes Bishop, I understand." Hans had his
doubts about the young man but he hoped that he was wrong. That he was worried
for nothing and that this would all be fine. Yet he could not shake the feeling
that this was a sign, a sign of bad things to come. As he stood in front of the
hole in the wall, looking at the hidden door he couldn't help but wonder if he
shouldn't just cover it back up, hide it away again.
     "No, there is a reason for this.  A reason
this happened now, I will not question it.  The god has placed me on my
path and this is where it has led me.  To this hidden door in the basement
of the temple I am sworn to protect.  Solarth wanted me to find this, if
he had to use a pair of children to do so I must not question it." Lacking
the tools to remove the rest of the wall Hans did the first thing that came to
his mind, he hit it with his hammer.  With each blow, bits of the wall
broke away and fell at his feet.  Soon he could see the whole door and
etched deep into the wood was the figure of a silver dragon.  Below that
was a round cut in the door, as if something was missing. "Or it is where
the key is used to open the door but what key, where would I find a key like
that." Hans hung his hammer back into the loop on his belt and started to
think. He then reached inside his robe and pulled out the first thing that came
to mind while looking at the rounded depression. "The medallion of
Solarth, it has to be." he said to himself as he placed it into the hole.
     Hans watched in horror as it appeared the door was
trying to eat his medallion.  As if the wood was growing over it. With
shaking hands he tried to remove it only to find it suck fast.  It was
then that he saw the faint blue light at the side of the door, the door that
was now open and moving under its own power.  Pulling his hammer out, Hans
stood and watched as the door opened completely.  A rush of air came out
of the opening, instead of the smell of death Hans was reminded of something
else. The door opened to a long haul way, at the other end of the hall Hans
could see a blue light coming from the room at the end.  Shield held high,
weapon in hand Hans started marching towards the room with the blue light.
 Stopping only for a moment to see if he could remove his medallion from
the door, it was still stuck there.
     As he moved down the hall he expected to feel half a
dozen things, dread being chief among them. Yet he did not, instead he felt
comfort and a cool breeze on his face.  As he entered the scroll room, he
then knew what it was that he could smell. The smell of old papers and books filled
the air.  Hundreds if not thousands of scrolls lined the shelves of the
walls, alongside those were book after book. At the far end of the room was a
bench, when Hans saw the figure sitting there he nearly lost his mind.  He
thought about calling out a challenge yet the words would not leave his mouth.
 As soon as the figure stood up Hans could clearly see the elven face, sad
and care worn.
     "Who are you that disturbs my rest? Answer now or
I will be forced to act."
     "I am Hans of North Hembers, Cleric of Solarth,
Bishop of this temple. Who are you, friend or fiend?" Hans asked the
question but did not feel any evil from this person.
     "I have been here for one hundred and seven
years. Since The Fall when Asmodai had his followers attack the order from the
inside. Destroying our order, burning our temples, killing the faith of not
only our followers but killing us to nearly a man. I sense no evil in you, I
sense that your words are the truth. You are a cleric of Solarth, you are
Bishop of this temple. Why are you just now coming to me, why are you just now
here?"
     "To be truthful, no one knew you were here."
Hans said with a bit of amazement in his voice.
     "I have been here, standing guard over the
collective teachings of Solarth.  In this room is a complete record of the
order from the foundation to The Fall.  I have been the guardian of all
our teachings and now I entrust you, Hans of North Hembers, Cleric of Solarth,
Bishop of this temple with the entire knowledge of our order.  I now stand
down. Stand proud and receive all that the good god has to offer you."
     "What do you mean? All of this? The scrolls and
books, I am a simple but dedicated priest. What am I supposed to do with all of
this?"