Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

D espite Kormac and his men only whispering, the large beast lying on the other side of the collapsed wall lifted its head and appeared to stare right at them.

Definitely a dragon, reptilian in appearance with a long snout. The wings were a pale shade of blue while the hue of the body reminded him of ice because of the way it shimmered when the light caught it.

"Um, what do we do?" Lomar muttered.

The dragon stood.

"Don't die," was Kormac's advice.

His hand went to the hilt of his sword, but he didn't have to unsheathe it as the massive dragon, with a mighty leap, flung itself into the air, higher than should have been possible. Its wings unfurled when it cleared the mountain and caught a current of air. It flapped its way out of sight but he and Lomar watched in awed silence until the latter said, "Wonder what dragon meat tastes like?"

"Chicken," spoken by Kormac in a deadpan tone.

They chuckled, but the soldiers with them didn't. They stared fearfully at the sky. There would be no keeping what they'd seen quiet. Then again, his people should know. If they had a dragon now roaming the area, precautions should be taken and a hunt planned. Kormac wouldn't mind pitting his skills against such a formidable adversary.

Lomar nudged him and pointed. "Looks like the dragon has a lair."

With the dragon gone they could see an opening in the side of the mountain, by all indications recently uncovered. The clue being the rubble pushed away from the dark maw and the rawness of the revealed edges. Its appearance made him think of Ioan and the mention of secret caves. It also intrigued.

"Let's go check it out."

"You mean, I should go," Lomar corrected.

"We're both going," Kormac's firm command.

They found another rope dangling down but Kormac found it simpler to leap from boulder to rock until he reached the ground. Lomar joined him a few seconds later, alone.

"What happened to the soldiers?" Kormac asked.

"Thought it best if we checked out the cave first in case we find something we don't want them to blab about. I told them to give us warning if the dragon comes back," Lomar stated.

Kormac glanced back at the pile of rubble blocking the pass with the soldiers standing atop, eyeing the sky. "Probably a good idea." Fighting a dragon might sound like fun, but he'd want a spear at the very least for the attempt. The stories about them claimed their hard hide tended to deflect regular blades. "Shall we?" He swept a hand towards the cave.

"Think there's more dragons inside?" Lomar didn't hide his eagerness to find out.

"The doorway doesn't seem large enough, at least for the one that just left." Its bulk was easily twice the width.

"So not a dragon's lair?" Lomar didn't hide his disappointment.

"Probably not but I'd say we definitely found something." Kormac pointed. "Look at the wall around the opening. There are carvings in the stone."

Lomar approached the wall, which was slick with ice, and tapped some of it with his fist, cracking it off to reveal faded sigils. "Hunh. So, not a wild animal den. I can't read it, can you?"

Kormac shook his head and glanced at the stones littering the ground, pushed to the side. "These rocks were mortared in place."

"Why would someone brick up a cave?" Lomar mused aloud.

"There are only two reasons. Either to keep something out..."

"Or something in…" Lomar couldn't hide his excitement. "Let's see which it is."

They entered, and while the light didn't penetrate far, it provided enough for them to see the vague outlines of a decent-sized chamber. The ceiling was a few feet overhead, the room about twenty paces round, and empty.

Kormac scuffed the floor with his boot, disturbing some of the dust and dirt. "There's tile underfoot."

"Who would tile a cave?"

"Probably the same people who painted the frescoes." The walls appeared to have images, the colored paint faded, and yet he recognized the shape of a dragon, blue and silver in color, along with other beasts the likes he'd never heard of. A string of writing ran underneath the images, illegible to him.

"We need light," Lomar grumbled.

"I didn't bring a lantern, but I do have my flint. We just need something to burn."

"I left all my torches at home. Hold on, I have an idea. It won't last long, though," Lomar warned. He pulled a rag from his pouch, the one he used to clean his axe. He wrapped it around the head and Kormac lit it, the smoke from the soiled cloth unpleasant but the flames bright enough to illuminate the space and reveal a door at the far end of the rounded chamber. They could also see clear imprints of boots going to and from that door.

"Someone's been here," Kormac murmured. The garrison troops or someone else. The ropes going over the collapse seemed to indicate the former.

Lomar approached the door with his torch and gave it a light shove. The portal swung open silently and revealed a corridor, the stone smooth and also intricate, decorated in whorls and lines. Their makeshift light didn't extend enough for them to see how far back it went.

As they stepped into the hall, they startled as the ceiling illuminated, the light glow showing them the way.

Lomar stared suspiciously at the ceiling. "Is it magic?"

"I don't know." Not something Kormac liked to admit, but he had no other reply. Lights didn't just happen without fire and a source of fuel.

"Should I put out the torch on my axe?"

"Yes. Let's save the rag in case we need it again."

Lomar stomped out the flame and they continued down the long hall, the ceiling ahead lighting with every pace until they reached a massive door, outside which sat a satchel and a pair of actual torches.

Kormac crouched and used the tip of his dagger to lift the flap of the bag. "There's a notebook inside," he remarked, pulling it free. A flip of the cover showed the pages covered in drawings and notes. "It's Khaal's writing." Or so it seemed, the looping scrawl familiar.

"He found this place and didn't tell you?" Lomar didn't hide his disapproving tone.

"It appears Khaal kept many secrets." If the man had been coming to this cave, then he more than likely knew of the dragon too. "Let's see what's beyond this door."

Not much, as it turned out. A massive room, the ceiling vaulted at least twenty or more feet overhead. Braziers lining the perimeter ignited with a blue flame that burned with no heat. Kormac ran his hand over it and marveled at the strangeness of it.

While he walked the perimeter to the left, Lomar took the right. As Kormac strolled, he noticed the walls carved with more writing, the letters he couldn't understand running in a single band around the room. A room empty of everything.

Mostly.

Lomar stood at the far end of the chamber, staring at a glossy section of the wall. "There's something set inside the glass," he stated before running his fingers over the amber-hued surface.

"Why would they embed glass in stone?" Kormac asked. When he neared the odd feature, his arms tingled. He paused. Lomar didn't notice and kept running his fingers over the glass. Kormac took that moment of inattention to tug up his sleeve enough to see one of his bracers and the purple glow emanating from them.

What did it react to? He tugged his sleeve back down over it.

"There's a chip in a few spots," Lomar remarked before cursing. "Sharp. Be careful." He put his bleeding finger to his mouth.

Kormac neared but didn't touch, just looked. A shadowy outline appeared in the amber, and in the center of it, something that seemed to pulse.

His arms itched something fierce.

"I wonder if we can dig it out," Lomar stated.

"Don't." He tempered his sharp command with, "We should know more before we remove it."

"Know what? It's probably just a fancy rock."

"Someone wouldn't have walled off this cave without reason."

"Don't tell me you're starting to believe in magic."

"No." He said it quickly and yet… Something about this place discomfited. It didn't help that his bracers kept tingling his flesh.

A noise had them whipping around, weapons drawn, only to see Simon, one of the men they'd left guarding outside. "The dragon might be coming back. There's something in the sky to the north."

A good reason to leave.

Simon neared. "What's shining in the wall?" The soldier pressed his hands to the surface and leaned close.

"Still don't think we should bust it out?" Lomar asked.

Kormac shook his head. "Not if the dragon is coming back. We can always return tomorrow with something better than your axe to crack it."

As Simon pushed himself away from the glass, he yelped. "Ow." Like Lomar, he sucked on a bloody wound left by a jagged spot.

It led to Kormac eyeing the pristine floor. No glass shards littered it. Whoever chipped it had cleaned up.

They vacated the chamber, Kormac snaring the bag in passing for study back at camp. As they exited the cave, all eyes went to the empty sky.

"What's the situation?" Lomar yelled to Junno at the top of the rubble pile.

"I think it might have just been a bird. It's gone now."

"You want to go back inside for another gander?" Lomar asked Kormac.

He shook his head. "I think it's time we headed back to camp. It's getting late."

"More like you're hungry."

"Ah yes, because there's nothing like field rations to satiate a man's belly," Kormac drawled.

The banter continued all the way back to their camp.

Kormac didn't join his men for dinner, but he did accept the bowl of stew they offered. One of the soldier's checking the perimeter had snared some rabbits. While they sat around a fire and ate, Kormac cracked open the journal Khaal left and started reading.

While Kormac had believed Khaal had requested the remote posting to escape his grief, it turned out Khaal had intentionally asked to be posted at the garrison because he'd heard rumors of a cave with great riches. Son of a whore. He'd come here to treasure hunt.

Khaal went on to admit causing the avalanche with his exploring. He'd used angled mirrors and sunlight to weaken the ice shield coating the wall and the cave entrance. When the collapse proved larger than expected, Khaal conscripted soldiers to help him cross the mound of rubble and unblock the sealed entrance. No surprise, one of the men Khaal took was Ioan. According to Khaal, there'd been nothing to find, nothing but the object in the glass which he tried to chip free, to no avail. The glass proved tough and would require a pickaxe, which a merchant had promised to bring on his next pass through.

Despite his obsession with the stone, Khaal also studied the symbols on the wall. Even copied them in his journal in the hopes of finding someone able to decipher them.

The dragon was mentioned, too, with Khaal claiming it appeared not long after his discovery of the cave, a cave that disappointed because of its lack of riches. He'd been convinced there were more secret caverns but hadn't had any luck finding them.

The writing became harder to understand in the last few pages as Khaal began rambling about the voice in his head and his horrific dreams. Then nothing.

The journal ended and Kormac set it aside to lie on his bedroll. This trip had turned out to be strange. An entire garrison murdered by its commander. A dragon living in the Pass, and a mysterious cavern he'd never heard mention of.

What could it mean?

And why had his bracers not stopped tingling until he entered his tent? He'd had to endure the odd sensation the entire march back and couldn't understand why it finally stopped. Or even why it began in the first place.

Restless and in need of some air, he eyed his armor which he'd peeled off before his meal. There'd been no threat since their arrival, and yet, caution never hurt. He threw on his hauberk and strapped on his sword and dagger. His eye was caught by the medallion he'd taken off the soldier in the watchtower. He grabbed it and held it in front of his face. Why had the soldier been holding it? What did the symbol on it mean? Did the fact his bracers bore it mean something? His father never explained, or most likely didn't know when he passed them on. Kormac had never seen the pattern on it replicated on anything until now. Just another oddity. He tucked the medallion in a pouch at his waist and stepped from the tent.

Most of the camp had retired for the evening with the exception of the first watch. Six men, one at each corner of their camp, plus two others roaming. They would switch at intervals to ensure fresh eyes.

At the fire, one man sat slumped. Fallen asleep in his spot rather than making it to his bedroll. As Kormac neared, ready to nudge the soldier to get him to bed, the man fell over without a sound or even a reaction.

The tingling in his arms began but he ignored it to reach for the man, intending to roll him over. The bend saved his life.