The Wizard's Chalice, page 14
part #2 of Gags & Pepper: Protection Agents Series
“There isn’t much left,” Honian said.
“Aren’t you going to mine more of the site?” Mexius asked.
Honian shook his head. “That is up to Terzian and his Horoosh, but most of the treasure has come from a cluster of tombs. We found a reference to them in an ancient scroll my brother found in the Basheer library.” Honian looked at Terzian. “There were three sites, but this was the only cluster that hadn’t been robbed. The Horoosh have almost made enough off of me to start a city from their exorbitant fees.”
“Indeed, we are. Honian’s project has been exciting, but my tribe doesn’t care for the riches as much as becoming a city tribe,” Terzian said. “We would rather earn our riches.”
“Enough said about that,” Honian said. “Is this similar to your find?”
Mexius peeked over the edge into the dark abyss below his feet. “Similar enough, but the opening in Peria is surrounded by iron, concrete, and rock. My partners tried to cut through; even magic didn’t help. We will have to use a different way at that site.” Mexius looked meaningfully at Honian.
Gags wondered what that look signified. There was information shared between Mexius and Honian at that dinner, which Gags would probably not like. It had to do with a treasure dig somewhere on Peria with a different set of partners. Gags wondered if Seppius Darkman was trying to get Mexius’s brother to admit where the Perian treasure was. Gags didn’t know if he wanted to learn more.
“Why don’t we send your little bodyguard down the well,” Honian said to Mexius. “We can bring up more goods since he’s so light. I can’t think of a better person.”
Gags stepped in front of his partner. “We are bodyguards, not treasure hunters.”
“He will be whatever I want him to be,” Mexius said. “For the right price, eh?”
The last phrase was asked of Pepper. “For the right price,” Pepper answered.
“Pepper doesn’t have any magic for a proper light,” Gags said.
“No matter. We have magic lanterns that are sufficient.” Honian raised his arm and waved across the compound. A few men ran over, carrying two iron lanterns at the end of three-foot-long iron rods and a coiled rope. A third used a crank to lower the cage to ground level.
“Lanterns for light and a safety rope for Pepper,” Honian said.
He wrapped the rope's end around Pepper’s waist and tied it securely. Pepper examined the knot and nodded.
“Tug on the rope when you are ready to be pulled up. Three strong pulls so we don’t drag you from wherever you are,” Honian said, opening the latches to the cage.
Gags checked the cage, and it seemed secure enough. The rope went through a slot at the top of the cage and was fed through a pulley on a railing close to the edge. Honian lit one lantern with a bit of magic, slipped it into a bracket on the cage and handed the other to Pepper.
“You’ll be lowered down to a corridor. Feel free to explore until you run out of rope. I’ll leave that part up to you. Your reward will be a pick of anything you find. Fill the cage up, and we will see if you wish to make another trip.”
“Same reward?” Pepper asked.
“No, but you won’t be disappointed,” Honian said.
Gags sat down on the edge of a rock and watched helplessly as his partner was lowered out of sight. At least Pepper had a chance of dying happy, surrounded by riches.
~
Chapter Sixteen
~
Pepper
~
A s the light from above began to dim, Pepper wondered if he had been too eager for the adventure. He had no idea what lay below and regretted asking some critical questions like had anyone died down in the burial cluster.
Pepper wasn’t an overly religious man, so he didn’t fear ghosts, but he feared not being able to tug on that rope three times to be hauled up. The lantern flickered, startling him. At least he had an extra, not to mention a tinder box in his pocket.
The trip to the bottom didn’t take as long as Pepper had feared. The sky’s light above was between a moon and the stars above him. If the cage’s light went out, there should be enough light in the total darkness of the subterranean passages for him to locate the cage.
He fumbled with the latch on the cage and made sure the rope was free before he looked around. He was close to a central area with open doors leading off in different directions. There was fallen rock behind him. Pepper guessed the fallen rock was a passageway back into the buried city.
Most of the doors hung open, revealing empty chambers. Pepper stuck his head inside the first one. The walls once were painted plaster, but much of it had broken off and lay in piles along the edges. The only glints of gold came from fragments of gilded wood that had been broken. He examined the deep dust on the floor that had been swept into piles. Nothing remained but the rough stone floors.
The rest of the rooms were empty of treasure, too. Pepper came to the last door. This one was shut and locked. He moved the lantern closer and saw all the marks on the gilded door where Honian had tried and failed to break through. Wood had been chipped away, revealing an iron core. No wonder Honian said Pepper could take his pick of what he found.
After a few futile tries with the few tools strewn about, Pepper sat down on the floor and thought. There had to be a way to get into that chamber. He would show Honian that Tibbeus Pepper was a man of resources, just as much as Gags was. Pepper stared at the door. The hinges had to be on the inside so one couldn’t remove the door from the front. How could he get inside?
Pepper went into the two chambers on either side and ran his hands along the walls. He paced the rooms off and found that one side measured less. Perhaps that meant the wall might be thinner. Could it be thin enough to break through? Pepper stood in front of the wall and wondered if he could use one of the broken shovels left behind. He began to chip away at the wall, but the shovel’s nose began to crumple. The metal was too thin. He needed something heavy.
What would be heavy enough? He walked up closer to the wall, moved the lantern closer, and was inspired. Pepper ran to the cage and pulled out the other lantern. He dragged the bottom pole the lantern was on and left a trail back to the cage.
He tried to remove the lantern from the pole, but that wasn’t going to work, so he gripped the rod, ramming it into the hard dirt of the wall. The earth crumbled away satisfyingly. The rod was stronger than the dirt, and Pepper began to work. He removed the rope from his waist and his robe and shirt before he methodically worked on the wall. The shovel wasn’t destroyed enough that Pepper couldn’t use it to clear debris. He smiled at the thought of getting the first choice of whatever was on the other side.
On he labored. It had to be hours until he broke through. A fetid odor came from the hole and drove Pepper back. These were tombs, after all. This one was stinkier than the others, but perhaps all of them were as bad when they were first opened. He needed to get the hole big enough to slide through along with the lantern.
Pepper grabbed the waterskin and gulped all the water. After another long digging session, he was ready. He shoved the lantern into the hole in front of him before he wriggled his way through the foot-and-a-half wall and gasped.
Chapter Seventeen
~
Gags
~
N o one wanted to stand close to Gags as Pepper’s time down the hole increased. Gags leaned against the railing, alone, staring down into the abyss as the sun set. Pepper had been down for hours, and no one was watching for the three tugs on the rope.
Gags had his hand on the rope, waiting to pull his friend up at an instant’s notice, but there was no tug. However, he did sense movement from time to time, single jerks or periods of letting the rope go and then nothing for long moments. Pepper was doing something down in the treasure hole.
Honian brought some food over. Gags sniffed the curry and other spices he had learned were part of Gagareen cuisine.
“Lamb curry over rice,” Honian said. “We make it by the bucketful out here.”
Gags laughed. “I’ll take the bucket,” he said. “No tugs, but Pepper has been doing something. The rope hasn’t moved for a while. Is there enough air down there?”
Honian nodded. “There should be for a single person. We’ve had people sleep in the main corridor before. I’ve only been down once at the beginning.” Honian smiled. “I’m afraid your friend will come up empty.”
“But you said…”
“What I said was for Mexius’s ears. There is one more tomb to open, but we’ve never been able to get through the door. It is much easier to remove the other treasures.”
“So you promised Pepper the pick of what he retrieves, knowing there is nothing to retrieve?” Gags said.
Honian shrugged. “Patricia says he was a thief and that he is very smart. Perhaps he will find a way to break through the door. They were all made out of iron. Magic has been ineffective. Should we send down some food?”
“No,” Gags said. “Pepper isn’t motivated by that kind of thing—”
“Unlike you?”
Gags smiled. “Unlike me.”
Honian left Gags with a generous helping of the curry. The sun had gone down long ago before a jerk on the rope woke him up. He jerked back, and then Pepper pulled on the rope thrice. Gags braced himself and brought Pepper to the surface.
“Did Honian tell you all the rooms but one were cleaned out?” Pepper said.
“He did. You found a way in, didn’t you?”
Pepper grinned. “I did.” He pulled a gem-encrusted sheath from his robe. “My prize.”
“What is the blade like?” Gags asked.
Pepper lifted his chin triumphantly as he drew the slim, shiny blade.
“Did you clean it up?” Gags asked.
Pepper shook his head. “It has got to be spelled.”
Gags held out his hand.
“Are you offering your hand because you want to see if it cuts well? It does.” Pepper showed them the clean end of the rope. “Like a butcher’s knife through butter.”
“I want to hold it,” Gags said drily.
Pepper placed the dagger on Gags’ hand.
“Magic, it is. I’m not familiar with a spell that preserves metal, but this was made thousands of years ago,” Gags said. “Even the shape of the blade and the sheath is like something I’ve never seen before. I would say it is priceless.”
Pepper gave Gags a smug smile. “I priced it the same. Shall we wake the others or bring up the cage and flee into the night.”
Gags sighed. “I’m trying to start a business. My business won’t do very well if I start as a thief.”
Pepper raised his eyebrows. “Just testing.”
Gags handed Pepper his wineskin. “You’ll like this better than water,” Gags said as he went to get others.
The cage rose from the floor of the complex. It took three men to bring it up. As the cage rose into sight, the gold reflected the light of many torches and lanterns.
“I couldn’t bring it all up,” Pepper said. “The room is full of this stuff. The door was bolted from the inside. I found the body of the person who probably did it. This stuff really stinks.”
Honian sent two men down as he examined the treasure that Pepper had collected. After getting the cataloging started, he pulled Gags and Pepper aside and out of earshot of anyone else.
“I assume you’ve already chosen your piece?” Honian asked Pepper.
The little man handed Honian the dagger. “I don’t need a gold-covered chest or throne or whatever. I figure this has enough worth for me.”
Honian pushed it back to him. “Hide it. The fewer people know you have that, the better. Pick something else when everything is up here, of much less value, of course, and if someone steals that, you will still have your prize.”
“You don’t trust your men?”
“I don’t trust Terzian,” Honian said. “If I knew you would succeed getting through that door, I wouldn’t have brought so many Horoosh into the fort.” Honian grinned and changed the subject. “I never thought to dig my way through from the side. Stupid, I know. It won’t be the first time I’ve missed something. I should have brought Patricia out here. She only came once and hated every minute of intruding on the resting place of long-dead people. She would have come up with a solution just as you did.”
Gags was impressed that Patricia thought that way. Perhaps that was a feminine sensibility, but knowing the woman during their travels, he knew she could set such things aside if she needed to.
“I need to observe the next part of the collection. It should be coming up soon,” Honian said.
Gags and Pepper watched Honian walk to the hole where the treasure was being organized on large cloths, off the dusty dirt of the courtyard.
“I chose the best I could get in the cage on my first trip. The rest of the treasure is still valuable, but it isn’t as unique,” Pepper said. “Should we be concerned that the other tribe will be cutting our throats?”
“Yes,” Gags said without even thinking about it. “Honian only brought two wagons, and those had supplies. He didn’t think he’d be transporting this much stuff. Stay vigilant.”
Pepper slipped the dagger into his boot and tucked his pants over the blade to hide its jeweled pommel before allowing Gags to walk back to the action now that the next load had reached the surface.
Gags looked at Terzian’s bright-eyed face. The treasure was undoubtedly resonating with the tribal chief. Perhaps he saw the means for a grand palace that he would build. Pepper was right. The best of the treasure was what Pepper had first brought up. Again, he was impressed that Pepper had a great eye for quality, and his skills were broader than appraising pottery.
There were two more loads, and then the coffin was brought up, wrapped in blankets. The body of the person who died in the room was bundled up as well. Gags thought it sad to see the desecration, but at least the servant who secured the door could be appropriately buried or whatever the Feybeer did with their dead out in the dry lands.
Dawn was breaking, and the last task was to open the casket. Gags would have thought it would be made out of solid gold, but Honian said the wood was hardwood from forests to the north. Some of the gilding had worn away with age and from the casket’s handling, bringing it to the surface.
Terzian asked to open the coffin, and as he did, his men pulled their weapons and began to strike down Honian’s men. Gags was ready with his iron staff, and Honian had been prepared with a weapon. Of Honian’s men, only Soxus remained alive. Gags, Pepper, Honian, Mexius, and Soxus were all that was left.
“You will lose much face in Basheer, Terzian,” Honian said.
Terzian stepped up and stopped the fight. “Perhaps I will need a good story,” he said with an evil grin. “I will give you a chance to survive, just the five of you. We will take you into the lands and let you go.”
Honian protested. “That is a death sentence!”
Terzian nodded. “Perhaps it is, but it’s that, or we take your lives on the spot.”
Terzian tore the water and wineskins from the five of them. “I will let you die with your weapons since it will look better when a tribe comes upon your corpses someday.”
Honian stared at the booty. “I am sad to lose the treasure, but worse is losing my men. That is the worse blow.”
“They are Gagareen,” Terzian said. “I feel bad that Feybeer blood had to be spilled, but the Horoosh will finally crawl out of the hole they have been in for centuries.”
Mexius said nothing. Gags thought the man had nothing to add. He was the only one passive during the entire time. After being bound, they were pushed into a wagon and left the compound.
Honian closed his eyes and stared at the weapons bundled up at the back of the wagon, out of reach. Gags could imagine what went through Honian’s mind. He thought everyone but Mexius felt the same. They would find some way to survive and tell the tale.
The sun rose in the sky while they traveled and the sun set before the wagon stopped in the middle of nowhere. The two tribesmen unhitched the horses and galloped away, leaving them bound but not weaponless.
“At least he gives us a noble ending,” Soxus said as he wiggled to the weapons and found a sharp enough edge to cut his bonds. Pepper was already helping the others remove the ropes when he was done. The golden-handled dagger barely reflected the starlight.
“You have a weapon?” Soxus asked.
“A souvenir from my night in a tomb,” Pepper said with a smirk. “We all have weapons now.” Pepper crawled over to the bundled weapons and helped Soxus get them distributed.
“It is his, Soxus,” Honian said, “and so far, he deserves it.”
“What do we do now?” Mexius said.
“Walk,” Gags said. “After we salvage what we can from this wagon.”
“What is there to use?” Honian asked.
“The wrapping from the weapons can be used as a blanket or ground cloth. The ropes that bound us, the leather straps and harnesses our captors left behind when they commandeered the horses, and there might be something else in the driver’s box that we can use,” Gags said. “I was a scout in the magicians army. We often improvised when we were out in the field.”
They found a light tarp in the driver’s box meant to cover a load. Gags and Soxus fashioned packs with leather straps to carry whatever they could. The wooden lever used for a wagon break was removed to give Mexius a staff for fighting or walking. He grudgingly accepted it.
“I suggest we walk for half the night,” Honian said, “covering up our tracks. Terzian might change his mind and give us quicker deaths.”
“Which way to Basheer?” Mexius asked.
“No,” Gags said.
Pepper grinned. “Which way to the closest city?”
Gags clapped Pepper on the shoulder. “You stole my idea,” Gags said.
“I am a thief,” Pepper said with a smirk.
Honian laughed and looked at Soxus. “Do you think Naneera is reachable?”
Soxus looked to the northeast. “I’ll know better in the morning, but if we walk in that direction, we might reach it in a few days. Basheer is sure to be more than a week away on foot.”
“Aren’t you going to mine more of the site?” Mexius asked.
Honian shook his head. “That is up to Terzian and his Horoosh, but most of the treasure has come from a cluster of tombs. We found a reference to them in an ancient scroll my brother found in the Basheer library.” Honian looked at Terzian. “There were three sites, but this was the only cluster that hadn’t been robbed. The Horoosh have almost made enough off of me to start a city from their exorbitant fees.”
“Indeed, we are. Honian’s project has been exciting, but my tribe doesn’t care for the riches as much as becoming a city tribe,” Terzian said. “We would rather earn our riches.”
“Enough said about that,” Honian said. “Is this similar to your find?”
Mexius peeked over the edge into the dark abyss below his feet. “Similar enough, but the opening in Peria is surrounded by iron, concrete, and rock. My partners tried to cut through; even magic didn’t help. We will have to use a different way at that site.” Mexius looked meaningfully at Honian.
Gags wondered what that look signified. There was information shared between Mexius and Honian at that dinner, which Gags would probably not like. It had to do with a treasure dig somewhere on Peria with a different set of partners. Gags wondered if Seppius Darkman was trying to get Mexius’s brother to admit where the Perian treasure was. Gags didn’t know if he wanted to learn more.
“Why don’t we send your little bodyguard down the well,” Honian said to Mexius. “We can bring up more goods since he’s so light. I can’t think of a better person.”
Gags stepped in front of his partner. “We are bodyguards, not treasure hunters.”
“He will be whatever I want him to be,” Mexius said. “For the right price, eh?”
The last phrase was asked of Pepper. “For the right price,” Pepper answered.
“Pepper doesn’t have any magic for a proper light,” Gags said.
“No matter. We have magic lanterns that are sufficient.” Honian raised his arm and waved across the compound. A few men ran over, carrying two iron lanterns at the end of three-foot-long iron rods and a coiled rope. A third used a crank to lower the cage to ground level.
“Lanterns for light and a safety rope for Pepper,” Honian said.
He wrapped the rope's end around Pepper’s waist and tied it securely. Pepper examined the knot and nodded.
“Tug on the rope when you are ready to be pulled up. Three strong pulls so we don’t drag you from wherever you are,” Honian said, opening the latches to the cage.
Gags checked the cage, and it seemed secure enough. The rope went through a slot at the top of the cage and was fed through a pulley on a railing close to the edge. Honian lit one lantern with a bit of magic, slipped it into a bracket on the cage and handed the other to Pepper.
“You’ll be lowered down to a corridor. Feel free to explore until you run out of rope. I’ll leave that part up to you. Your reward will be a pick of anything you find. Fill the cage up, and we will see if you wish to make another trip.”
“Same reward?” Pepper asked.
“No, but you won’t be disappointed,” Honian said.
Gags sat down on the edge of a rock and watched helplessly as his partner was lowered out of sight. At least Pepper had a chance of dying happy, surrounded by riches.
~
Chapter Sixteen
~
Pepper
~
A s the light from above began to dim, Pepper wondered if he had been too eager for the adventure. He had no idea what lay below and regretted asking some critical questions like had anyone died down in the burial cluster.
Pepper wasn’t an overly religious man, so he didn’t fear ghosts, but he feared not being able to tug on that rope three times to be hauled up. The lantern flickered, startling him. At least he had an extra, not to mention a tinder box in his pocket.
The trip to the bottom didn’t take as long as Pepper had feared. The sky’s light above was between a moon and the stars above him. If the cage’s light went out, there should be enough light in the total darkness of the subterranean passages for him to locate the cage.
He fumbled with the latch on the cage and made sure the rope was free before he looked around. He was close to a central area with open doors leading off in different directions. There was fallen rock behind him. Pepper guessed the fallen rock was a passageway back into the buried city.
Most of the doors hung open, revealing empty chambers. Pepper stuck his head inside the first one. The walls once were painted plaster, but much of it had broken off and lay in piles along the edges. The only glints of gold came from fragments of gilded wood that had been broken. He examined the deep dust on the floor that had been swept into piles. Nothing remained but the rough stone floors.
The rest of the rooms were empty of treasure, too. Pepper came to the last door. This one was shut and locked. He moved the lantern closer and saw all the marks on the gilded door where Honian had tried and failed to break through. Wood had been chipped away, revealing an iron core. No wonder Honian said Pepper could take his pick of what he found.
After a few futile tries with the few tools strewn about, Pepper sat down on the floor and thought. There had to be a way to get into that chamber. He would show Honian that Tibbeus Pepper was a man of resources, just as much as Gags was. Pepper stared at the door. The hinges had to be on the inside so one couldn’t remove the door from the front. How could he get inside?
Pepper went into the two chambers on either side and ran his hands along the walls. He paced the rooms off and found that one side measured less. Perhaps that meant the wall might be thinner. Could it be thin enough to break through? Pepper stood in front of the wall and wondered if he could use one of the broken shovels left behind. He began to chip away at the wall, but the shovel’s nose began to crumple. The metal was too thin. He needed something heavy.
What would be heavy enough? He walked up closer to the wall, moved the lantern closer, and was inspired. Pepper ran to the cage and pulled out the other lantern. He dragged the bottom pole the lantern was on and left a trail back to the cage.
He tried to remove the lantern from the pole, but that wasn’t going to work, so he gripped the rod, ramming it into the hard dirt of the wall. The earth crumbled away satisfyingly. The rod was stronger than the dirt, and Pepper began to work. He removed the rope from his waist and his robe and shirt before he methodically worked on the wall. The shovel wasn’t destroyed enough that Pepper couldn’t use it to clear debris. He smiled at the thought of getting the first choice of whatever was on the other side.
On he labored. It had to be hours until he broke through. A fetid odor came from the hole and drove Pepper back. These were tombs, after all. This one was stinkier than the others, but perhaps all of them were as bad when they were first opened. He needed to get the hole big enough to slide through along with the lantern.
Pepper grabbed the waterskin and gulped all the water. After another long digging session, he was ready. He shoved the lantern into the hole in front of him before he wriggled his way through the foot-and-a-half wall and gasped.
Chapter Seventeen
~
Gags
~
N o one wanted to stand close to Gags as Pepper’s time down the hole increased. Gags leaned against the railing, alone, staring down into the abyss as the sun set. Pepper had been down for hours, and no one was watching for the three tugs on the rope.
Gags had his hand on the rope, waiting to pull his friend up at an instant’s notice, but there was no tug. However, he did sense movement from time to time, single jerks or periods of letting the rope go and then nothing for long moments. Pepper was doing something down in the treasure hole.
Honian brought some food over. Gags sniffed the curry and other spices he had learned were part of Gagareen cuisine.
“Lamb curry over rice,” Honian said. “We make it by the bucketful out here.”
Gags laughed. “I’ll take the bucket,” he said. “No tugs, but Pepper has been doing something. The rope hasn’t moved for a while. Is there enough air down there?”
Honian nodded. “There should be for a single person. We’ve had people sleep in the main corridor before. I’ve only been down once at the beginning.” Honian smiled. “I’m afraid your friend will come up empty.”
“But you said…”
“What I said was for Mexius’s ears. There is one more tomb to open, but we’ve never been able to get through the door. It is much easier to remove the other treasures.”
“So you promised Pepper the pick of what he retrieves, knowing there is nothing to retrieve?” Gags said.
Honian shrugged. “Patricia says he was a thief and that he is very smart. Perhaps he will find a way to break through the door. They were all made out of iron. Magic has been ineffective. Should we send down some food?”
“No,” Gags said. “Pepper isn’t motivated by that kind of thing—”
“Unlike you?”
Gags smiled. “Unlike me.”
Honian left Gags with a generous helping of the curry. The sun had gone down long ago before a jerk on the rope woke him up. He jerked back, and then Pepper pulled on the rope thrice. Gags braced himself and brought Pepper to the surface.
“Did Honian tell you all the rooms but one were cleaned out?” Pepper said.
“He did. You found a way in, didn’t you?”
Pepper grinned. “I did.” He pulled a gem-encrusted sheath from his robe. “My prize.”
“What is the blade like?” Gags asked.
Pepper lifted his chin triumphantly as he drew the slim, shiny blade.
“Did you clean it up?” Gags asked.
Pepper shook his head. “It has got to be spelled.”
Gags held out his hand.
“Are you offering your hand because you want to see if it cuts well? It does.” Pepper showed them the clean end of the rope. “Like a butcher’s knife through butter.”
“I want to hold it,” Gags said drily.
Pepper placed the dagger on Gags’ hand.
“Magic, it is. I’m not familiar with a spell that preserves metal, but this was made thousands of years ago,” Gags said. “Even the shape of the blade and the sheath is like something I’ve never seen before. I would say it is priceless.”
Pepper gave Gags a smug smile. “I priced it the same. Shall we wake the others or bring up the cage and flee into the night.”
Gags sighed. “I’m trying to start a business. My business won’t do very well if I start as a thief.”
Pepper raised his eyebrows. “Just testing.”
Gags handed Pepper his wineskin. “You’ll like this better than water,” Gags said as he went to get others.
The cage rose from the floor of the complex. It took three men to bring it up. As the cage rose into sight, the gold reflected the light of many torches and lanterns.
“I couldn’t bring it all up,” Pepper said. “The room is full of this stuff. The door was bolted from the inside. I found the body of the person who probably did it. This stuff really stinks.”
Honian sent two men down as he examined the treasure that Pepper had collected. After getting the cataloging started, he pulled Gags and Pepper aside and out of earshot of anyone else.
“I assume you’ve already chosen your piece?” Honian asked Pepper.
The little man handed Honian the dagger. “I don’t need a gold-covered chest or throne or whatever. I figure this has enough worth for me.”
Honian pushed it back to him. “Hide it. The fewer people know you have that, the better. Pick something else when everything is up here, of much less value, of course, and if someone steals that, you will still have your prize.”
“You don’t trust your men?”
“I don’t trust Terzian,” Honian said. “If I knew you would succeed getting through that door, I wouldn’t have brought so many Horoosh into the fort.” Honian grinned and changed the subject. “I never thought to dig my way through from the side. Stupid, I know. It won’t be the first time I’ve missed something. I should have brought Patricia out here. She only came once and hated every minute of intruding on the resting place of long-dead people. She would have come up with a solution just as you did.”
Gags was impressed that Patricia thought that way. Perhaps that was a feminine sensibility, but knowing the woman during their travels, he knew she could set such things aside if she needed to.
“I need to observe the next part of the collection. It should be coming up soon,” Honian said.
Gags and Pepper watched Honian walk to the hole where the treasure was being organized on large cloths, off the dusty dirt of the courtyard.
“I chose the best I could get in the cage on my first trip. The rest of the treasure is still valuable, but it isn’t as unique,” Pepper said. “Should we be concerned that the other tribe will be cutting our throats?”
“Yes,” Gags said without even thinking about it. “Honian only brought two wagons, and those had supplies. He didn’t think he’d be transporting this much stuff. Stay vigilant.”
Pepper slipped the dagger into his boot and tucked his pants over the blade to hide its jeweled pommel before allowing Gags to walk back to the action now that the next load had reached the surface.
Gags looked at Terzian’s bright-eyed face. The treasure was undoubtedly resonating with the tribal chief. Perhaps he saw the means for a grand palace that he would build. Pepper was right. The best of the treasure was what Pepper had first brought up. Again, he was impressed that Pepper had a great eye for quality, and his skills were broader than appraising pottery.
There were two more loads, and then the coffin was brought up, wrapped in blankets. The body of the person who died in the room was bundled up as well. Gags thought it sad to see the desecration, but at least the servant who secured the door could be appropriately buried or whatever the Feybeer did with their dead out in the dry lands.
Dawn was breaking, and the last task was to open the casket. Gags would have thought it would be made out of solid gold, but Honian said the wood was hardwood from forests to the north. Some of the gilding had worn away with age and from the casket’s handling, bringing it to the surface.
Terzian asked to open the coffin, and as he did, his men pulled their weapons and began to strike down Honian’s men. Gags was ready with his iron staff, and Honian had been prepared with a weapon. Of Honian’s men, only Soxus remained alive. Gags, Pepper, Honian, Mexius, and Soxus were all that was left.
“You will lose much face in Basheer, Terzian,” Honian said.
Terzian stepped up and stopped the fight. “Perhaps I will need a good story,” he said with an evil grin. “I will give you a chance to survive, just the five of you. We will take you into the lands and let you go.”
Honian protested. “That is a death sentence!”
Terzian nodded. “Perhaps it is, but it’s that, or we take your lives on the spot.”
Terzian tore the water and wineskins from the five of them. “I will let you die with your weapons since it will look better when a tribe comes upon your corpses someday.”
Honian stared at the booty. “I am sad to lose the treasure, but worse is losing my men. That is the worse blow.”
“They are Gagareen,” Terzian said. “I feel bad that Feybeer blood had to be spilled, but the Horoosh will finally crawl out of the hole they have been in for centuries.”
Mexius said nothing. Gags thought the man had nothing to add. He was the only one passive during the entire time. After being bound, they were pushed into a wagon and left the compound.
Honian closed his eyes and stared at the weapons bundled up at the back of the wagon, out of reach. Gags could imagine what went through Honian’s mind. He thought everyone but Mexius felt the same. They would find some way to survive and tell the tale.
The sun rose in the sky while they traveled and the sun set before the wagon stopped in the middle of nowhere. The two tribesmen unhitched the horses and galloped away, leaving them bound but not weaponless.
“At least he gives us a noble ending,” Soxus said as he wiggled to the weapons and found a sharp enough edge to cut his bonds. Pepper was already helping the others remove the ropes when he was done. The golden-handled dagger barely reflected the starlight.
“You have a weapon?” Soxus asked.
“A souvenir from my night in a tomb,” Pepper said with a smirk. “We all have weapons now.” Pepper crawled over to the bundled weapons and helped Soxus get them distributed.
“It is his, Soxus,” Honian said, “and so far, he deserves it.”
“What do we do now?” Mexius said.
“Walk,” Gags said. “After we salvage what we can from this wagon.”
“What is there to use?” Honian asked.
“The wrapping from the weapons can be used as a blanket or ground cloth. The ropes that bound us, the leather straps and harnesses our captors left behind when they commandeered the horses, and there might be something else in the driver’s box that we can use,” Gags said. “I was a scout in the magicians army. We often improvised when we were out in the field.”
They found a light tarp in the driver’s box meant to cover a load. Gags and Soxus fashioned packs with leather straps to carry whatever they could. The wooden lever used for a wagon break was removed to give Mexius a staff for fighting or walking. He grudgingly accepted it.
“I suggest we walk for half the night,” Honian said, “covering up our tracks. Terzian might change his mind and give us quicker deaths.”
“Which way to Basheer?” Mexius asked.
“No,” Gags said.
Pepper grinned. “Which way to the closest city?”
Gags clapped Pepper on the shoulder. “You stole my idea,” Gags said.
“I am a thief,” Pepper said with a smirk.
Honian laughed and looked at Soxus. “Do you think Naneera is reachable?”
Soxus looked to the northeast. “I’ll know better in the morning, but if we walk in that direction, we might reach it in a few days. Basheer is sure to be more than a week away on foot.”
