Miranda kept close to Calis’s side, since she had the ability to see that came close to Calis’s. The rest of the party were forced to move as best they could, using the light of a single torch carried at the center of the column. Erik knew from experience that those closest to the middle of the line were nearly blind when looking away from the torch, while those at either end stood a chance of seeing something beyond the faint fall of illumination.
The signal word was passed that something or someone dangerous was ahead. Each man in line quietly readied his weapons, while Bobby de Loungville came forward from his position half the distance between the torch and Boldar. A step behind him came Praji and Vaja. Erik wished the old mercenaries had not come along, but two old men on horseback alone in the mountains would have stood little chance of getting back to what passed for civilization in this harsh land.
Erik moved forward and felt a slight breeze against his cheek. As he reached the Captain’s position, Calis whispered, “Something’s moving down there.”
“Down there” was the deep circular well that served as the vertical “highway” from this, the topmost level, down into the bowels of the mountain. Erik and the survivors of Calis’s company had trudged up the spiral ramp that hugged the inside of this vast well over two years before, and now they were getting ready to descend into it. Erik listened, but as was often the case, the Captain’s hearing was far more sensitive than Erik’s.
Then faintly, a sound.
It resembled nothing so much as a hand brushing stone. A few seconds later, it repeated. Then silence.
They stood motionless for a full five minutes before Calis signaled for the first five men to accompany him. Erik glanced around and selected the four soldiers at the head of the column, and pulled his own sword.
A covered lantern was lit, and the shutters closed so that only a faint single line of light showed, allowing the men to see slightly, while, it was hoped, not being seen in return.
The six moved out and Erik carried the lantern. They moved down the tunnel, which was heading slightly downward, as it had been for miles, and then found themselves stepping into the vast well. As was the case at most tunnel intersections, the lip of the road that spiraled inside the well flared out, providing extra room for those entering and leaving the roadway to negotiate around one another. They paused and listened, and again they heard the faint scraping, coming from below.
They moved slowly down the ramp, pausing at each quarter turn of the road around the well, until they again heard the sound. Finally the sound ceased, and they continued on.
Erik judged that each full revolution around the well dropped them about twenty feet. They were three full turns around from where they had entered the well when they found the corpse.
Calis signaled to be alert, and the four men accompanying Erik and Calis turned their backs to the light, two facing up-trail and two facing down. By not looking at the light they wouldn’t blind themselves to anything approaching out of the darkness.
The figure was covered in a robe, and when Calis pulled back its hood, Erik couldn’t help but audibly gasp. It was a Pantathian.
Erik had never been this close to the enemy. He had seen them once from a distance, in these very tunnels, and another time from a ridge at the great rendezvous when one had come by inspecting troops.
“Turn him over,” whispered Calis, and Erik reached down and moved the body so that it was on its back. A great gaping wound had half-eviscerated the creature and a large portion of intestine protruded through its shredded robes.
Calis pointed toward an object in the creature’s hands, and said, “Remove that.”
Erik did so and as soon as he touched the object, he wished he hadn’t. An odd energy swept up his arms and made his skin crawl. He suddenly wished he could strip off his clothing and scrub himself until his skin bled and his hair fell out.
Calis seemed to react strongly to the object, even though Erik was the one touching it. Erik turned the thing in his hands and realized it was a helm. It was halfway toward his head when Calis said, “Don’t.”
Erik stopped, realizing that he had been about to don the helm, and said, “What do I do?”
“Put it down,” said Calis. Turning to another soldier, he ordered, “Bring the others here.”
The soldier took the lamp and vanished, leaving Erik to endure a very strange few moments in the darkness. While he stood there, strange images came to him of dark men in alien armor, women of incredible beauty, but none were human. He shook his head, and by the time he’d rid himself of these images, the column arrived.
Miranda came and said, “What is it?”
Calis pointed. Miranda knelt and examined both the corpse and the helm. She picked it up, and if she was affected by it, she gave no outward sign. Finally she said, “I need a bag.”
One of the soldiers nearby produced a cloth bag and she put the helm inside. To Boldar she said, “You carry this. Of everyone here, this should give you the least amount of discomfort.”
The odd mercenary shrugged, took the bag, and stuck it inside a large rucksack he carried on his hip.
Miranda looked at the corpse and after a moment said, “There seems to be an unexpected turn of events here.”