Cole's bone plate armor grated as he walked. The whispering sounds of bone crepitus reminded him of the terrible spire he had faced not that long ago. The skeletons, in spite of the magic that held them together, had sounded much the same when they moved. He would never forget the sound of those monsters lurching forward, their fleshless joints scraping together… a soulless hunger that radiated out from them… A smile tickled at the edge of his mouth. A few hours ago, a reminder of that shameful experience would have made him surly.
The soles of his crocalyal boots clopped down the stone hall. Each step taken, each shift of their shoulders had a chance of altering their foe.
Cole and Katrina had discovered, after leaving the room they had found the bombs in, that the walls of the tunnels below the keep were designed to echo almost all sound forward. After their very quiet conversation, Katrina had stepped forward into the hall, and looked back at him and spoken. Cole hadn't heard a word. A few experiments later and they knew it was like that all the way down the hall.
If Cole was still the same man he had been when he emerged from his bedroll this morning, he would be angry about the sounds he was making and worried about whatever would hear them. Instead, he felt calm. He felt like he was radiating peace instead of ravaged by fear.
What he had not noticed, but Katrina had, was that he was in fact radiating light. It hadn't seemed that bright at first, she was now convinced he had started glowing in the previous room rather than when she had first noticed in the hall. However, as they walked, she had put away her moon rod because it was no longer necessary.
In the beginning, it had just been Cole's skin, a warm glow that seemed to give him more presence. At this point, his glow shone through his armor. Katrina wasn't that surprised by this turn of events, not after their conversation at least. Cole's deity was the god of the sun. Light is kinda his thing. She thought with a sideways glance at him.
She did however, fluxuate between being concerned about the light and being at peace with it. He was a walking torch that couldn't be dampened. That couldn't be a good thing when they tried to sneak up on orcs. But… his god should know that… she mused, He wouldn't try to get Cole killed on purpose… I hope. She knew it was unlikely, highly unlikely, that his god would try to get him killed. Far more likely was that his deity didn't consider the problems with a gift like that. I hope I'm wrong.
Cole held out his hand, stopping her. After what they had learned about sound, they had agreed not to talk. It seemed a little silly, not talking since Kegar and the others were most likely arguing, but they had both agreed that if their friends were going to be attacked, they would do what they could to make it less likely.
Cole pointed at the wall. The section was about five feet up, more than a foot about Finos' head. What he pointed at was the strangest thing. A section of the wall was glowing. The stone looked like ordinary stone, except that it was radiating a steady purple glow.
For a moment, Katrina thought about using hand signs to communicate her confusion, but then she remembered Cole had always refused to acknowledge Broden and her signing. With a mental shrug, she reached up and pushed on the wall. Hopefully, it won't blow up.
The wall slid backward before sliding to the left. The stone cheerfully grinding away as it did so. They cringed as they heard it.
Cole's eyes widened in shock. He opened his mouth to speak, but Katrina placed a gloved finger to his lips. She grabbed the ledge, about to lift herself up when he tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and saw him crouching slightly, ready to give her a boost.
Katrina frowned. Does he think I can't lift myself up? She considered not taking his help for a second, but then decided that her armor was heavy and she didn't need to show off. Least of all for him. She took the leg up before turning back to give him a hand up. The porous nature of their armor made it lighter than traditional metal platemail, but it still left them in forty pound armor. Armor that's nature was stiff and inflexible. Climbing in it would always be a pain.
The secret passage was cramped for the first twenty feet before the floor began to drop and level out to the same height as the hallway they had crept in from. Cole placed his hand on Katrina's shoulder stopping her. Curiosity spilled across his face, "Sounds aren't being carried in here like they were in the hall." His words barely reached her ears.
She nodded, she hadn't been certain until he mentioned it, but once he did she recognized the change in the way the air felt. Even the way their armor sounded as they moved was different. They crept forward cautiously until they began to hear muffled cries of pain.
Katrina's heart lurched. It's them. It could only be her friends. But if I rush forward… there is no telling what is ahead. With just the two of us, we need to proceed with caution if we are to be of any help.
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The rounded a corner and found themselves looking down yet another hall. However, as Cole's light approached some of
the flag stones began to glow red in their sight. The stones seemed to glow in no pattern he had ever seen. Red light filled his vision in a haphazard manner that appeared so random, it had to have been carefully planned. A sense of dread filled Cole when he looked at the stones. Whatever those red stones do, I clearly don't want to step on them. Cole pointed to the stones and then began to step around them.
Katrina followed, trying to focus more on avoiding the red stones than moving quickly. After he earlier blunder in the tunnel, she didn't want to take any chances.
They moved down the hall in virtual silence, both focused on the task at hand, both fighting the urge to run toward the growing screams and shouts. Sweat glistened across their brows. Neither of them had made acrobatics a point of study. Something Katrina, at least, was finding to be a serious flaw in her training.
I'm definitely going to have to talk to Percival about helping me. Katrina thought, once again only narrowly catching herself as she stumbled. Lurching off balance, she hopped over a red stone and landed on one foot. Her right foot followed the left down, but she was able to hold it in the air, a hair above the stone. There was only enough room for her left boot, and that was with her heel lifted.
She gasped, straining to hold herself completely still. Somehow she would have to reach her right foot far ahead of her without overbalancing herself… she had tried to follow Cole's steps at first, but his legs were so much longer than her own, she couldn't reach the easy path.
Cole glanced over his shoulder at Katrina. She moves so fluidly. He blushed, pulling his eyes away. Such grace… He tried not to think about where else she was graceful in her movements, but seeing her dance across the stones brought a rush of fantasies to his mind.
Cole arrived at the end of the hall first. After securing his spot, he reached back his hand so she could jump the last bit. It was an awkward jump, but he managed to catch her, their chest pieces grinding together from the impact and then again as he set her down on solid stone. His eyes followed her down, but her mind was already moving ahead.
Together, they turned the corner and found themselves at an open room. Five ugly, stubby swamp brown orcs stood with their short bows notched. Their total attention focused on their individual slits in the wall.
Twang.
The orcs released their arrows. Cole and Katrina could clearly hear Mary's tearful cries over the sounds of steel ringing on steel. The heartbreak in her voice told them everything they needed.
"Strozazand!" His name was choked by tears.
Cole, sword having virtually materialized in his hand, rushed forward. His blade began to glow with the fires of the sun. His blade licked through the first orc's neck, lopping the head off before the creature could turn in surprise. The spurt of blood blinded the second orc, who had begun to turn at the sound of Cole's footsteps.
The orc clawed at its eyes, staggering like a drunk. Its howl fouled the air, letting the orcs on the other side of the wall know something had gone wrong. The third orc dropped its bow and started to draw its short sword, but as Cole finished his sword stroke, he leveled his blade at the third orc and shouted a word of power. The flaming light that had ensorcelled his blade shot at the third orc, reducing it to ash.
Katrina had not been idle while Cole was busy. She had placed her feet solidly on the stone and began to pray to her goddess, her hands lifted above her head. Electricity leapt from her fingers, racing across her body, her parted lips looked hellishly stitched together as the tiny bolts zipped back and forth. She brought her hands down slowly before pointing a finger at the orc furthest from her, "YOU!" she spoke, her voice booming with thunder.
The lightning arced from one orc to the next. It hit the last three remaining orcs before jumping through the slits in the wall. The smell of electricity was soon overpowered by the stink of burning orc meat and molten iron.
As Cole approached the wall with the arrow slits, a section glowed purple. The two strode as one to the door, their armors and eyes burned with the holy power of their deities. The gentle light that had been emanating from Cole's skin blazed, slaying even the thought of shadow from the room. Lightning arced off Katrina, swirling around her hands, and pooling in her eyes. They threw open the door, looking like avenging gods rather than the gentle healers their friends had come to know them as.