Chapter 23

Monte led Tom into a large cavern to their left and just before one of the huge ponds.

The two men headed towards the back and passed through a set of doors after Monte greeted the guard on duty. They then walked through several rooms filled with racks of bottled wine and large barrels on the stone shelves. Finally, they entered an empty passage that had a gated entrance.

“When I got here, this gate was unlocked. Kat later said that Quint wanted to look down here. She humoured him, and they went in as far as the next small cavern. We haven’t expanded the cellars as there has been no need, even with what we produce.”

“It was in here that he tried to rape her. She told me that she fought him off and then ran. She got turned around and headed down the other passage. It is a maze of tunnels, some man-made and some natural. She found a room not lit by the moss and hid for some time.”

“She spent nearly three days in here wandering around. Fortunately, she found water. Finally, I found her near the pool. She had crossed over her footprints a few times and was going around in circles. Incidentally, I found her not long after I found the magical box.”

“It may have helped you, as it seemed to want someone to claim it,” Tom surmised.

Monte nodded as he led Tom deeper into the mountain, “That could also explain why I found her tracks going back and forth past the room but not many going into it. I did mark some of the passageways.”

They spent some twenty minutes walking to the room and bypassed several side tunnels that only led into other storerooms. They added new markers on the walls. Monte’s old tracks were visible in the dust on the floor.

They came to one intersection, and Monte stopped to look at his tracks. He then turned left down an older passage. They both noticed that this passage wasn’t as well maintained as the others and had very little moss on the walls. It had several sections that didn’t have the walls smoothed.

They followed it around several twists and entered a natural cavern. “The tunnel on our right, near the little pool, twists around and comes back in as that tunnel to our rear,” Monte commented.

“That is odd, I wonder why it does that?” Tom commented as they entered the tunnel.

Monte just shrugged and led Tom down the tunnel. As they neared the dark room, Tom shivered. When they walked in, Monte shined the large miner’s lantern at where the box had been. They went over and this time looked more closely at the area.

“Hum,” Monte said as he shined the light around. “I think that pile is human ash. My people don’t maintain our form for very long after we die, unlike I read your people do. I wonder why he was in here with the box?”

Tom walked back to the doorway and ran his fingers down one side. “I think this door was once shielded.”

“Huh,” Monte grunted as he bent down and picked up a medallion on a chain from beside the ash. “Hey, Tom, this has four gems on it like my disc, but they are bigger and in a different order. I think Psychic was his primary discipline.”

“What’s the bet that he was the Lord who owned the box.”

Monte grinned, “He probably was, but why are he and the box here?”

“I’d say he was fortune-hunting and got lost down here. The box probably had a return spell on it in case his chauffeur died. Going by the fact the other pile that was perhaps his pack is so degraded, it happened a very long time ago.”

“So why is his magical medallion here?” Monte asked as he turned it over in his hands.

“If he had found it, then it had nowhere to return to. Gary told me that it was quite common for some items not to return to the wizard who made them if they didn’t give the item to the person who was wearing it. Finders-keepers, so put it on.”

Hesitantly, Monte went to lift the chain over his head but stopped. “Um, Tom, what if it links to the orb?”

Tom frowned and went over to Monte. “Show me your disc again.” Monte held out his hand, and Tom gently touched the disc and then the medallion.

“Interesting, the disc has strong compulsion spells on it, but no entity. The medallion, however, has an entity and it wants you to put it on.”

“Will it cancel the spells on the disc?” Monte asked, hopefully.

Tom shook his head. “No, you made a bargain with the entity in the orb. I believe you can only hand the disc on if someone is willing to take the job as the chauffeur from you.”

“Fuck!” exclaimed Monte.

Tom chuckled at Monte’s use of profanity. Apparently, he learnt more about Aussies than he realised. Tom had noticed Monte’s use of his vocabulary at times even though they mostly spoke what he knew was called Keltrian Trade Talk.

Tom rubbed Monte’s shoulder, “Put the medallion on, mate. At least you will have more powers to help your people. Better you than someone like that chick you called Montana. Plus, I don’t tend to go on holidays that often, so maybe it won’t be so bad.”

Monte sucked in a breath and dropped the chain over his head. He shuddered as the medallion slid down inside his tunic and touched his chest. He then gasped.

Tom was sure the grimace was actually a smile. It was hard to tell with the rock-like features of the man’s face.

Monte looked at Tom, “It is trying to boost my system. I get the impression that it can’t heal me without some more help.”

Tom nodded, “I had a feeling that would be the case. Even magicians can get sick and need potions to cure some illnesses. Especially if magic was used to cause the illness in the first place.”

“The good thing is that it should help slow the illness to give us a bit more time to find the cure. So, let’s see if we can find that crystal cavern.”

“Yes, Kat said we have a lot more people who are gravely ill,” Monte said grimly.

Tom and Monte continued their search.

They walked along the tunnel that curved around the room that had been hidden. They both trailed a hand along the walls looking for any hidden switches that would indicate that other places were still shielded by spells.

They were both disappointed when they reached the other end as neither had felt any indication that a doorway was hidden from them. “Where should we try next?” a dejected Monte asked Tom.

“Let’s get a drink from that pool and have a rest for a few minutes,” suggested Tom. He could see that Monte was flagging and he had been limping for some time.

Monte agreed, and they took the shorter path back past the room the magical objects had been found in. Tom trailed his hand along the wall on the opposite wall of the walkway to the one with the room in it. Just as they went to pass the doorway, Tom stopped.