The first hour was quiet. Quiet as in nothing but the annoying whine of insects all too common in swamps. Areth chanted a prayer which kept them from biting the party and their horses, but it didn’t stop them from flying about, keeping their presence known. Gregor wasn’t sure if they were always the same group or if they merged into the next group down the road. Not that it mattered. The party had one place to go and one way to get there. After years of soldiering, he’d grown used to petty annoyances like insects.
The track was never far from the water and the Ebon Swamp became darker and blacker as they traveled. Sometimes the path lifted higher above the water on small, scattered islands. On one weedy hummock, Sa-sa, the Hawk’s thief, called out that he saw something. Pointing off to the trail’s right, he exclaimed, “That looks like a chest. An open one. And gold!”
Gold got everyone’s attention as they bunched up to where they could see it. Standing up in the wagon gave Gregor a view over the riders between him and what looked like a chest on an island some distance out in the swamp. Its broken lid was askew with the distinctive shimmer of gold inside and was lightly surrounded shining spots near the chest. Sa-sa’s eyes were sharp and if anyone could spot gold at that distance, he was the one.
“Priest. Is it an illusion?” Tanadon called out. Standing up in the wagon seat, the priest spun his beads again and chanted as he looked through them at the chest and the surrounding area. When his chant ended and the beads hung limply from his hand, he shook his head no. No illusion.
“Sir knight. What is a chest of gold doing sitting out there all by itself?”
“That is a good question. It has been there for many years and it always looks the same. Others have gone out to it. There is a way to it without having to wade through much of the water. I’ve seen men pick up handfuls of coins from the chest.”
“What happened to them? Why is it still there?”
“To answer that would be to help you, and I won’t do that. See for yourself or pass it by as others have done. You make your choice what to do or do not. This is your quest and adventure, not mine.”
Gregor could tell from where he sat, Tanadon wasn’t happy with that answer. Staring at the chest, with one hand’s tight grip on his horse’s reins, the other rhythmically hitting his thigh, he stared at what could be a worthwhile reward for the party without going further. “No. We leave it. If it’s been here, it will still be here when we return. We go on.”
There was some muttering coming from a few of the new people the Hawks had added to their party, but the front of the column started moving forward while others talked about the chest. Gregor looked back at the chest from time to time as he put his team into motion. He was now closer to the front, behind the Hawk’s wizard Walthor and their primary healer. Shantaro. Areth and Rolf were behind the wagon. The rest of the party were behind them.
As Gregor had almost reached the edge of the island, he heard cries from behind him. Rolf Redbeard screamed curses and called for someone to stop. Gregor pulled on his reins to stop his team and wagon. Then he stood and looked back. The line behind him had stopped. Pointing arms drew his gaze back to the chest. Two men were moving fast, hopping from one bit of ground to the next towards the chest.
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It was the hired thief who Gregor didn’t know, and a soldier he knew as Will, who stood out with his scarlet tunic. The wagon’s height let him see over some of the other riders. Gregor watched them. He knew going off on their own was a bad idea, but the lure of gold is hard to resist. Tanadon yelled at them, demanding that they come back, but they didn’t stop. Rolf started after them but stopped at the edge of the swamp. By then, they were almost at the chest.
We all watched to see what would happen. It felt like a trap to Gregor. It was too obvious a lure for greedy men. So far, nothing had happened. They both stopped short of the chest. Each of them looked around and the thief was examining everything in case there was a trap. “At least they had that much sense,” Gregor muttered aloud.
The fighter called back, “No traps we can find.” He drew his sword and crouched behind his shield while the thief poked at the chest with his dagger. Nothing happened. He poked it again in a few other spots. Everyone held their breath...and let it out again when nothing happened.
Gregor looked over at the knight. He was smiling. “Sir knight,” he called out.
Twisting in his saddle to look back, he replied, “Yes?”
“They’re dead, aren’t they?”
A nod. Again, he said, “Yes.”
Turning back, the knight watched with the others as at last the thief poked at the gold. The island shuddered and water splashed around it. Black, tentacle-like filaments whipped up from all around the island, searching out the two men and stuck fast when they encountered them. Despite their thin size, the filament’s strength was enough to haul both men into the water in an instant. Their screams echoed across the water until they were forever silenced as they disappeared below the black surface. Finding no other prey, the tentacles pulled back into the water and soon it was still again around the island with its chest of very trapped gold.
“Now you see what faces us,” Tanadon shouted. “Now you see why no one else has returned from the swamp. This was just the first of whatever is waiting for us before we find Raytheda. There may be more traps. He will be the hardest to defeat. Greed just cost us two men. No one goes off the track again unless I say so.” Tanadon shouted to the party. “Let those two fools be the last who die. This path may be safe to travel. Raytheda wouldn’t want his food to fall into a pit.” There was a little nervous laughter at that thought.
“Sir knight. Can that thing reach the path?” Tanadon asked.
The knight paused for thought for a moment, before answering, “Not that I’ve ever seen. It seems to be under the island, or maybe the island is part of it. It has attacked no one not on the island.”
“I thought as much. It was too simple and obvious a trap.” Glaring at the remaining members of the party, Tanadon added, “The next trap won’t be as simple or obvious. Touch nothing that looks tempting. Assume everything will try to kill you.”
Gregor was not watching Tanadon as he spoke. He was watching the knight smile that knowing smile of his. He knew what was coming and wouldn’t say what it was. “I wonder how many parties have turned on him and he killed? He said he won’t fight unless attacked. Maybe Okston can beat him. I’m certain most of the rest of us won’t stand a chance.” Gregor thought.
Tanadon raised his fist in the air and shouted, “Move! All of you! We need to find the tower before nightfall. No stopping for anything that doesn’t attack us. Real or illusion, we go faster if we don’t fight.”
Tanadon’s words caught Gregor’s attention. When he looked back at the knight, he saw his intense gaze looking back at him. Then the knight smiled, nodded and turned his horse to follow the Hawks.
Snapping the reins to get his team moving, Gregor frowned as he pondered why the knight would look at him, and then nod. “Why would he pay attention to me? What did that nod mean? He knows where and what the next trap will be. How many will it kill?” Gregor’s thoughts had been spinning like one of the Holy Spinners of Cokekk’ka. Shaking his head didn’t stop the thoughts, but at least they slowed down.
“Watch the knight. He may do something to tell us where the next trap is,” Gregor whispered to the priest, who looked in the knight’s direction and nodded. Even that acknowledgement didn’t stop what he was doing with his beads or the soft chant that almost never seemed to stop.