Their argument finally over, Narene activated a hidden button on the wall and a secret door slid open. Narene leaned out and looked left and then right. Satisfied the coast was clear, she gave Calista and Lefty a nod and walked casually out into the hallway. Calista followed behind Lefty.
“So, how exactly do we get into this guy’s lair?” Lefty asked.
“You’ll see. The only way to get in is to collect five different keys and then talk to a painting,” Narene replied.
Oh great, her again. Calista and Lefty exchanged glances. The last time they had talked to the cranky old noblewoman, she had chewed out Calista and threatened to send another Robert after them before finally giving them a few clues. Now, they would be encountering her for a second time, just like she had said they would.
“And just what do these keys look like?” Lefty asked.
“I haven’t actually seen them,” Narene admitted. “But Severin told me once that there are different colors like red and blue and green and once we have all of them we can go talk to the painting which will tell us how to activate the portal to Severin’s inner sanctum.”
“And so you haven’t done this before,” Lefty said.
“No,” Narene shook her head. “I was always allowed to just walk through the portal.”
The clamor of armored boots came from the hallway before them. Thinking quickly, Calista opened the nearest door and ushered the others inside. Then she held the door open just a crack as he watched a small troop of kobolds march past. Silently they waited. When the footsteps had faded down the hallway, Calista turned back to the others. “The whole dungeon has to be searching for us now.”
“The whole dungeon has been searching for you ever since you snagged that little sword,” Narene replied. “You don’t know what you have there.”
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
Calista turned to the little goblin. “You’re right, I don’t. So tell me.”
“I only know a little,” Narene explained. “I know he didn’t make it, which means he probably stole it from someone who had probably stolen it from someone else. I know there are more of them and that they’re all very, very powerful. I know they have something to do with the fate of the world, but I don’t know how. He said he planned to collect all of them so he could do something important, but he didn’t go into specifics.”
“That’s all very … vague,” Calista said.
Narene shrugged, “He had it here more for safekeeping than anything else and so he desperately wants it back. It wasn’t supposed to be part of the treasure for the dungeon, and so he was quite angry when he discovered you had taken it.”
“Well whatever it is, I’m keeping it.” Calista peered out into the hallway. It was empty now but for the torches burning along the wall, so she pushed the door open and stepped out.
“We should keep moving. Which way?”
“Left,” Narene replied. “The hallway should curve twice before it takes us to a wall with a bunch of faces on it.”
So left they went as they followed the hallway as it curved just as Narene had said. Thankfully, they found the remainder of their journey clear of guards. Then, shortly after the second curve, Calista spotted the first face on the wall. Made of bronze, the face had a crown upon his head and a beard braided with rings. Judging by his features, she guessed the face was dwarf, but it could just as easily have been a man. A few feet further down the wall, she saw another face, only this man held a scepter with no crown. Beyond him was another face, and then another, and then another, five in all.
“I’m guessing there’s some sort of riddle or puzzle here?” She asked Narene.
“Don’t worry,” the little goblin replied as she walked down to the middle face, grabbed it by the chin, and turned it around. The bronze face spun around to reveal the silver face of a woman with a hood over her head. “We’re doing this a little out of order since I know what to do. There’s a back story to this hallway that you’re supposed to unlock in the library. Blake walked me through it one night after we’d gone out for drinks. I was a little tipsy, but I think I still remember it.”
She then turned the second face, the man holding the scepter, and it too spun around to reveal the silver bust of a nun. “The lore of it is that there were five men who were friends with Olivander, the man who built this dungeon. Each of the men was in some position of power. So Olivander, who was a suspicious man, decided he would try to seduce the wives of each of the men in order to spy on them. He succeeded with three of the five women. However, after some years the other two wives found out about the affairs and then they informed their husbands who, in turn, informed the husbands of the women who were sleeping with Olivander. The five men then joined in alliance and the city was then roused against him. When the mob marched on his keep, they carried the lecherous man out and away to the gallows.”
Narene finally approached the fifth and furthest face, which was a man in a uniform holding a cudgel. “However, when the constables tried to lock up the keep, they unknowingly triggered a great trap that Olivander had set for any and all intruders. The keep disappeared, along with all who were inside it.”
“And I take this whole dungeon is supposed to be that keep?” Lefty asked.
“It is.” Narene then turned the face of the constable to reveal yet another silver faced woman. A moment later, a section of the wall slid open to reveal a hidden room.