”We will take a small break now”, Ranesora announced.
Hellrien collapsed on the ground, leaning her back on a grassy knoll, panting frenetically and wiping sweat from her eyes. Red mist swam in her vision, her ears were humming and if she had had anything to drink or eat she would have thrown it all up. Her tongue was so dry it glued against her palate and there was a sour taste of blood in her mouth.
She had been drilled into tip-top shape in the months she had spent in training in the stronghold, but nothing could have prepared her for this much physical punishment! Judging by the position of the sun they must have been gaining ground for five or six hours now, most of it by jogging or running along the hilly, mountaineous terrain of the Lone-lands. And Ranesora was hardly even breaking sweat! How could anyone be in such a good condition? He was twice her age, damn him!
Aaverie sat down on the grass next to Hellrien while Ranesora remained standing up, as if the grueling march had been just a refreshing morning jog to him. Hellrien's vision started to clear up, but to her discomfort the swamp and the moist grassland surrounding it remained red as blood. She rubbed her eyes, but the vision didn't change. She wondered if she should mention this to Ranesora, but decided against it. Ranesora would have thought she was whining, and he had no patience for whiners.
”You can drink a little. Eat a little. Don't overdo it or you will regret it later. When we continue, do not go near the water. Don't even look at it.”
”Why is the water red?” Hellrien asked.
Ranesora turned around and cast a long, hard look at her. ”It's red to create an illusion of blood. Don't go near it. Don't look at it.”
After a short break Ranesora commanded them to get up and started running towards some ancient ruins north of the red swamp. Hellrien was getting used to seeing these old abandoned keeps, the Lone-lands were full of them. She groaned in protest, but forced herself back up to her feet and begun jogging after Ranesora and Aaverie.
Inside the ruins there were more pools of blood. Hellrien could see ghastly, grotesque creatures clumsily fading in them. They were too far away for her to see them clearly, but from this distance they looked like naked, bloated human corpses. Even the air itself seemed to have an eerie red hue to it. Ranesora stopped them all with a wave of his hand.
”Dorvairse really is good”, he said, shaking his head in admiration. ”I can't understand how he managed to hide it here.”
”This place gives me the creeps”, Hellrien muttered.
”It is the darkness you are sensing.”
”What are those... things?”
”Whatever you do, don't touch any of them. Unless you want to become one yourself.”
”I don't even want to go near them!”
”And yet you must”, was Ranesora's relentless answer.
”Don't say he buried it in one of those puddles”, Hellrien groaned, suddenly convinced that Ranesora would make her dive in that crap.
”If he did”, Ranesora said with a tinge of amusement in his voice, ”he is now part of a puddle himself. Let's move on! Aaverie, you come by my side. Hellrien, stay behind us, stay close and observe.”
Hellrien followed Aaverie and Ranesora deeper into the ancient fortress. Ranesora made a gesture that everybody should keep their mouths shut and make as little noise as possible. Hellrien soon understood the reason for it. There were people inside these tunnels and catacombs. Every now and then they stopped by an entrance of a gate or a tunnel and froze, awaiting for a patrol of guards walking past them. These were not the bloated, ghastly undead of the red pools, but very much living and breathing men, though what kind of men would choose to dwell in this grisly place went beyond Hellrien's comprehension. They were tall and robust men, bearded and red-haired, clad luxuriously in red and gold uniforms, armed with either a bow or a sword.
Soon they were standing in a narrow corridor, leaning their backs flat against the wall. On the opposite side there was another wall with a gateway in it. There were two guards standing by both sides of the gate. Ranesora nodded to Aaverie, who slipped into shadows, quietly approaching one of the guards while Ranesora nocked his bow and took an aim at the other one. There was a horrible crunching sound and one collapsed against the wall, his head crushed like a rotten apple. A well-aimed arrow to the throat dropped the other simultaneously. Ranesora gestured at Hellrien to follow as he slipped into the corridor, taking a place on one side of the gateway. Aaverie waited on the other side, her terrifying wooden mallet at the ready.
”Two incoming”, Ranesora whispered at Hellrien, switching his bow into a sword. ”Young novice and a senior officer. Observe!”
Two men walked out of the gateway. It was the last thing they ever did. There was a faint whirring sound, followed by a nauseating sound of crushing bone. On the other side of the gate cold steel sank into soft flesh, and two more corpses sprawled on the stone floor, dead before they knew it.
”Hellrien, peep through the gate and describe what you see.”
Hellrien did as she was told.
”There is a tower or a pyramid-like structure ahead, maybe fifty yards from the gate. Stairs leading up to a platform and two guards standing up there, one to the left and one two the right side of the platform. Guarding another stairway going further up.”
”Swords or bows?”
Hellrien squinted her eyes. It was difficult to see clearly in the macabre, gloomy half-light.
”The one to the right... I think I can see the shape of a longbow against the wall? The one on the left... I can't see... I guess... a sword?”
”Anything else?”
Hellrien pulled her head back and looked at Ranesora. ”Nothing! Only the two of them.”
”Then look again!” Ranesora grumbled. ”There is always a patrol.”
Hellrien peeked in from behind the gate again. A minute or two passed by while nothing happened. Then she saw a group of uniformed men emerging from behind a corner to the left side of the platform, advancing to walk past the two guards.
”I can see them! Walking past the guards... now they turned the corner and disappeared again!”
”This is our moment! Quickly!”
Ranesora stormed through the gate, his bow at the ready. He dropped the one to the right, reloaded while running, and another fell down to the ground. They sprinted across the stone yard as fast as they could, ran up the stairs to the platform, then up another set of stairs, entering a small alcove. There was a wooden chest against the opposite wall. A human skeleton was lying in front of the chest and two tall lamps stood on the left and right side of the alcove.
”This must be the place. We must hurry. Hellrien, open the chest. Aaverie, keep watch for the guards.”
”Could it be booby trapped?” Hellrien asked, reluctant to touch the chest.
”Good point”, Ranesora admitted, looking around in the room. ”Hrm. Go over to that lamp and see if you can move the shaft.”
Hellrien did as she was told. ”It moves!” She turned it half a circle counter-clockwise until it made a click and locked into a position. Nothing else happened.
”Now go do the same with the other lamp.”
When the other lamp had been locked as well Ranesora crouched down over the skeleton, pushed aside some bones and found a knob under it. He twisted it.. There was a rumbling sound coming from the wall and the chest started moving. Hellrien winced, half expecting something nasty to happen. The chest rolled aside revealing eight small holes on the wall behind it and something that looked like a loose tile below the holes.
”Good thinking, Hellrien”, Ranesora congratulated. ”If you had touched the lock of the chest, you would be dead now from eight poisoned darts. Now go pick up the artefact, it's behind that tile.”
”Gee, sir, thanks”, Hellrien responded cheekily. ”I feel so much safer now. Are you sure it's safe to touch that tile?”
”Yes. Do it now! We have to run!”
There was a sound of alarm, and both Ranesora and Aaverie stormed outside. Soon the air was filled with shouts, croaks, screams and something that sounded very much like a growling bear.
”Great! Just great”, Hellrien mumbled and crouched down behind the chest. She ground her teeth together, steeling herself against a painful death she was sure would follow, removed the tile and pushed her hand into the hole. There was something there. She pulled it out, holding a flat half-disk made of stone in her hand. Strange runes were carved upon the surface. This had to be the artefact they were looking for. One down, two to go. If they made it out of this cursed place alive.
Hellrien shoved the disk inside her vest and ran out to the yard, where she was confronted by a disheartening sight. There were corpses in red and gold uniforms sprawled on the platform and more on the stairs below. On the root of the structure Ranesora and a gargantuan brown bear were fighting to clear a route through a cohort of enemies that were blocking their exit. Ranesora's sword swung like death's scythe, leaving behind a trail of red droplets of blood. The bear's enormous paw swung from right to left, one enemy lost his face while another was crushed between powerful jaws.
Hellrien loaded her bow and shot an arrow straight in the middle of a grimacing mouth. Like a panther she stormed down the stairs and joined the mayhem. Arrows buzzed past her head. Two guards fell down as Hellrien's greatsword cut them both at the same time.
”Come! We must run!” Ranesora bellowed, pointing out a way that had suddenly opened up. More guards were coming - they had no chance if they didn't get out fast! Ranesora sprinted towards the wall, Hellrien right on his heels. Arrows snapped broke when they hit the wall in front of her, splinters stinging Hellrien's face. They reached the gate.
”Aaverie!” Ranesora roared. ”Move it!”
The bear turned it's head from the carnage to look at them, spat out the remains of one unfortunate guard, pawed at another, then turned and ran towards them, faster than any human could. Ranesora grunted and turned away and then they were running through the corridors again, shouts and thumping of boots ringing in their ears.
Hellrien lost all sense of direction and time as she followed at the heels of her companions. Afterwards she had only vague recollections of the long run through the ruins and the red swamp, dodging puddles of red water and strange creatures that lurked there. When Ranesora finally called them to halt, Hellrien dropped down to the ground, almost passing out from the exertion.
”We're safe now”, Ranesora grunted and turned to look at Hellrien. ”Well done, all. Did you get the artefact? Good. We can take a small break now, but don't get too comfortable. Another little jog awaits. Let's see if we can reach the marshes of Harloeg before sundown!”
Hellrien groaned.
