The spire rose above the cliffs that lined the shore like a widow watching the sea. Abandoned but whole, it stood a lonely testament to a past era. Whether out of superstition or respect, it was left untouched. Mostly.
"Do you think there are ghosts?" Caoimhe asked her brother, distracted from her task of collecting firewood by the silhouette of the tower.
Cai stopped chasing the crab he had cornered and looked up. He contemplated the question very seriously, considering the structure before confirming her suspicions. "Absolutely," he nodded. "Why else would everyone stay away?" He turned back to the sand, irritated that the crab had skittered away.
Caoimhe nodded her agreement. Still, it was beautiful. Curved and quiet. "I bet the view is amazing from up there," she said.
"Mm hmm," Cai agreed, scanning the sand for his crab.
"Kay," Caoimhe called as her older brother appeared over the dune, "will you go to the spire with me?"
"What?" Kalyn shook his head, confused. He followed her finger to the top of Windrunner Spire. His eyebrows rose, "Oh, no, I don't think so."
Cai was suddenly intrigued. "Why not?" he asked, then added in a very little brother way, "You're not scared are you?"
Kay stiffened and straitened his shoulders. "No," he said defensively. "It's just...you can't go there," he said, "It would be trespassing."
"But its empty," Caoimhe reasoned. "No one lives there." She continued to stare dreamily at the spire, imagining the family inside and full of life. Kalyn was shaking his head.
"No," he said, mostly to himself. "No, I don't think so."
Cai had wandered up behind his brother, the crab forgotten, the stick dragging a trail in the sand behind him. "I'll go with you, Caoi," he said.
Kalyn wheeled around. "Oh no you won't," he said.
Cai shrugged, "I'm not scared."
Kay's face started to turn red. "I'm not scared!" he insisted, he looked at his two younger siblings and then up at the spire. "Fine," he finally gave in, "we'll all go."
Cai smiled at Caoimhe, having won the small victory for her. She clapped her hands, dropped the small bundle of firewood, and started at a run toward the base of the tower, Cai close behind. Kalyn jogged after them, a little maudlin that he had been ignored but secretly curious as to what they might find. The closer he got to the tower, the more his imagination was flooded with possibilities.
Caoimhe and Cai stood at the rocky outcrop that made up the base of the tower, it looked immense from the bottom, they craned their necks to try and see the top from where they were.
"Can we get in from here?" Cai asked.
"I don't know," Caoimhe admitted, looking in either direction around the tower for a door or a window.
"It wouldn't be very defensible if it had a door at the bottom," Kalyn sniffed as he approached.
"That makes sense, I guess," Cai said, his eyes wandering to the nearest balcony ledge. "What about there?" he pointed to the row of windows under the balcony. The three stood, staring up, considering their options.
"Too bad we don't have a rope," Kalyn grumbled.
"We have sticks," Caoimhe offered.
"I don't think that will get us there," Cai shook his head.
Caoimhe started wandering down the rock beach. Kalyn frowned at her. "The rocks are slippery, Caoi, be careful," he watched back and forth between Caoimhe, who was wandering onto the rocks paying absolutely no attention to where she was going, her eyes glued to the tower, and Cai, who had started looking for roots to turn into rope. He saw a likely possibility and began to tug.
Kalyn rolled his eyes, "That isn't going to work."
"Come help me," Cai insisted, tugging without effect.
"That isn't going to work," he said, "it's too deep into the ground." He gauged the distance to the ledge, "besides, do you know how much you would need? and how strong is that anyway? you have no way of knowing."
Cai straitened from his efforts and smiled at his brother. "It's strong enough to hold up a tree."
"Over here!" Both boys turned toward her call. She had disappeared completely around the wide base of the rock. They looked at each other, then started at a run.
They didn't get far before they had to tread carefully over the uneven ground. The waves splashed up over the rocks, making it hard to keep their footing as they worked their way around. Caoimhe was standing on top of a larger outcrop. She was pointing triumphantly at an identical row of windows. with the same ledge around them, but the crumbled rock from above had slid so close to the windows, she could almost reach up and touch them.
"Outstanding!" Cai, exclaimed, scrambling up after her.
"I could reach that," Kalyn said, following.
It was a little farther, upon closer inspection, than it looked from below. Cai took an attempt at leaping for the window, came down on the rocks and almost toppled backward. Kalyn righted him. He looked up at the window, not far above him. He crossed his arms and rubbed his chin.
"Come here, Cai, I'll boost you up," he finally decided.
Cai excitedly stepped up. His brother knelt down and cupped his hands and in a move clearly practiced at the base of hundreds of trees, Kalyn hefted his smaller brother up until Cai was standing on his shoulders. Caoimhe clapped and jumped up and down. Cai reached up and out.
"A little closer," he said, stretching his fingertips until they just scraped the stone ledge, "almost."
Kalyn stood on his tip toes and lurched forward. Cai grabbed the ledge.
"Push me up! Push me up!" Kay took either of his feet and pushed as hard as he could up over his head. Cai hauled himself up onto the ledge.
"You did it! You did it! My turn!" Caoimhe cried out.
Kalyn looked from the ledge to his yet smaller sister. "Alright," he said, taking a deep breath. He cupped his hands again and whipped her up onto his shoulders. Cai lay on the ledge and reached down to pull her up. They sat on the ledge, catching their breath and staring down at Kalyn.
"Now what?" he asked, suddenly realizing that he had no way up.
Cai and Caoimhe looked at each other and then down at Kalyn. Together they flattened themselves and stretched out to grab him. Kalyn jumped and grabbed Cai's hand, pulling him down head first.
Caoimhe screamed and jumped for Cai's legs, trying to keep him from sliding off entirely. She grabbed his belt and started pulling in the opposite direction.
"Pull!" she yelled.
"Pull harder!" Kalyn commanded.
"Stop pulling!" Cai cried.
Kalyn let go and Caoimhe flew backward into the window behind her, breaking the stained glass and disappearing into the darkened tower. Cai smacked into the stone ledge as Kalyn wobbled to catch his balance on the rocks. Kalyn steadied his stance and stared up at the ledge, both of his hands clutching his head in dismay.
"Cai?" he asked, "are you ok?"
Cai leaned over the ledge, his hand over his mouth, blood dripping between his fingers. He nodded.
"You're bleeding!" Kalyn threw up his arms.
"Ibs juft my lib," he mumbled. "I bib my lib."
"Is Caoi ok?" he asked.
Cai disappeared, then poked his head back over, "She vell prew the bindow!" He disappeared again.
"Cai!" he called, "What is going on!"
Cai's head reemerged, "See said see's alwight."
Kalyn let out an audible sigh of relief. He looked around for options, then back up at the ledge.
"Cai," he said. There was no answer, "Cai!"
The room was dark and quiet and remarkably free of dust. Light streamed in through the broken window and glinted through the stained glass now that the heavy curtain had been torn down.
Caoimhe lay on her back staring up into the darkness wondering what just happened. "Caoi!" she heard her brother, but his voice sounded muffled. "Caoi? Ah you alwight?"
"Yes," she squeaked, unable to get enough air to be louder.
"Caoi-ba!" Cai called again, more insistent.
She pushed herself up on her elbows. "I'm alright!" she said as loud as she could. "Ow." She lifted up her arm and looked around at the shattered glass then up at the window.
"Cai? Cai I'm fine, are you there?" She picked herself up slowly, trying to avoid the glass shards. She had pulled what remained of the curtain down when she took out the lower window, but it kept her from hitting the stone floor.
"Caoi-ba," Cai's shadow fell on the floor. He looked around the window and pushed in some of the broken glass. "I'm coming in," he announced. He cleared the glass with his sleeve and climbed in. The windows were low to the floor, so it was not much of a drop. He looked around.
"Wow," he said. The room was larger than it had looked from the outside, and they realized the tower was cut into the side of the cliff. As their eyes adjusted to the light, the room emerged from the darkness. There was a settee and a small table next to a book shelf and across the room, a writing desk. Cai picked his way across the glass and pulled a book off the shelf.
"What are you doing?" she asked, looking around as if the room's occupants might walk in at any moment.
He smiled at her and wiped some of the blood from his chin. "Its ok," he said, finding it easier to talk as the bleeding slowed, "no one libes here anymore, remember?"
"Oh...oh yeah," she said, relaxing and giggling a little. "I forgot." she started to inspect the table and the writing desk. There were blank papers and blotters, she sat down slowly on the small chair. It creaked under her.
"How long do you think these things have been here?" she ran her hand over the desk, but it too was free of dust.
"I don't know," he said squinting to see the words on he page. "Since the Scourge came maybe?"
Kalyn's voice floated in from outside. Cai folded the book and went back to the window. "I don't think we can get him up," he said.
Caoimhe joined him at the window.
"We could throw down the curtain," she suggested.
Cai looked at her brightly, "That's brilliant!" He leaned over the window, "Kay! We're going to throw down the curtain!"
Carefully, they lifted the curtain and let the broken glass fall to the floor. Then, with a warning call to Kalyn, they tossed the top of the curtain out the window and over the ledge. Cai wrapped his end around his waist and Caoimhe grabbed the curtain in front of him like a tug of war rope. She looked back at Cai, who nodded.
"We're ready!" she yelled.
Kalyn was doubtful that the curtain would hold him. They had done this with rope, he wasn't concerned that Cai and Caoimhe could hold him up, but he wasn't sure a hundred year old curtain would. He tugged at it, looked down at the water and rocks below him and tugged again.
"Come on!" he heard Cai's voice from inside.
"I don't think it will hold me!" he said.
"Come on!" Cai's voice was insisent.
Kalyn frowned and reached as high as he could. He planted one foot against the rock and started to pull himself up. The curtain stretched a little, and he felt the slide as Caoi and Cai tried to find purchase on the ancient stone floor. He got about three inches up when the curtain started to rip against the ledge. He let go and dropped to the rock. The curtain flew up as Cai and Caoimhe fell backward for lack of weight on the end of their line.
"Sorry," he called up to them. "But it won't hold me up."
Cai leaned carefully out the window. "There has to be a door," he reasoned. "Go around the outside, we'll go around the inside and we'll find a door to let you in."
Kalyn grumbled that is was likely the only option and set of around the base of the spire.
Cai turned back to Caoimhe. "I guess we're on our own for now," he grinned. "We need to find a way to let Kay in."
Caoimhe went to the doorway and peered in both directions, "It's very dark," she said. "We need a torch or a lantern or something."
"How about a candle?"
"Perfect!" she said, hurrying over to the desk where Cai was. They both stared at the candle in the little holder.
"Do you have a flint?" she asked.
"No," he said. "Maybe there's one in the desk."
He looked around in the same place he had found the candle.
"Here we are," he said producing a small flint from a shelf under the desk. He tried to get the candle to catch. After several minutes of trying, he gave up in frustration. "Ugh," he grunted, "It's too old." he declared, dropping it onto the desk and handing the candle to Caoimhe. "Maybe there's something else here," and he went to check the settee table to see what he could find.
Caoimhe picked up the flint and clicked it a few times. She couldn't tell if there was any tinder in the little holder to catch, she brought it close to her face to look. "There's no flint, Cai," she said clicking it a third time. As she did, the little candle leapt to life.
"Oh, brilliant," he cheered coming back over to her, "you got it." he took the candle carefully and started into the darkness.
Caoimhe stared at the candle, her eyes wide. "I...I didn't," she said, "there's no flint."
"Must have been just enough," he said.
The little candle did not break far into the darkness. Cai kept one hand on the wall as he moved down the passage. Caoimhe had her hand on his belt, looking back and forth and above them, taking in the still details of the once magnificent spire.
"Why do you think they left so much behind?" She asked.
Cai shrugged.
"Do you think they intended to come back?"
"Probably," he said as he tried the handle on the first door he came to.
"I don't think that goes outside," she said as he opened it.
"No," he said sticking the candle into the room, "These rooms are on the cliff side. We need to find a way up."
The room looked to be a bed chamber, simple and empty of any personal effects, but again, free of dust and signs of age.
Cai closed the door. "Kay will be livid if we he doesn't get in too," he said.
Caoimhe giggled at the thought of her brother red faced at the front door of the spire.
Kalyn climbed around the rocks, keeping as close to the tower as he could so as not to miss a possible entrance. As he had predicted, there were no entrances close enough to get to from the ground. Finally, his only option was to scale the cliff or go all the way around to the front. He looked at the sun in the sky and sighed. Justin and Tyrin would be wondering what happened to the three of them. They should be heading back with firewood soon. If they didn't he would never hear the end of it from the two of them. His brothers could be so unsympathetic to his situation. He looked up at the cliff face. He started to climb.
After about a half hour of wandering around the bottom level of the tower, inspecting the room with the windows on the far side of the tower, checking the nooks and crannies of the adjoining bedrooms, the little candle was a stub and they had found no way up.
"There has to be a way up," Cai said, leaning on the wall, "how did they get down here otherwise?"
"It must be a secret passage," Caoimhe said whispering, even though there was no one else to hear.
Cai thought about this. If the tower was both home and fortress, and the rooms they had come across were private, maybe the only way to get to them was a secret passage. His imagination started to race.
"Well," he said, "it would want to be on an inside room, I think." He started toward on of the doors on the inside wall.
"What are we looking for?" Caoimhe asked.
"I don't know," Cai grinned. "Where would you put a secret stair case."
Caoimhe thought about their small home. "Well," she said slowly, "it isn't going to be in a private chamber," she reasoned.
"That's good," Cai said. "so, a sitting room?"
"A ballroom?"
"A library!"
"Oo!" Caoimhe said excitedly heading back into the darkness, "there was a room with books."
"Caoi, stay by the light," Cai warned.
"Maybe we missed something," she said, feeling her hand down the hallway.
"Caoimhe, slow down, I can't see you," Cai said.
Caoimhe stopped and turned impatiently. "I can see just fine..." she stopped suddenly, taken aback by what looked like a host of angry elves clustered around Cai. She tried to suck in a breath but couldn't pull any air in. All she managed was a panicked squeak.
"What's wrong?" Cai took a step forward and the cluster moved with him.
Caoimhe took a shallow breath. "Nothing," she said, trying to connect the shadows with various points of light. She started to calm down, "Nothing, the shadows just looked...I'm fine." She turned back around and started feeling her way back down the hall.
Kalyn hefted himself over the last bit of the rise. He was covered in dirt and grass stains. He even had dirt in his hair. He brushed off and surveyed his position relative to the tower. His sour disposition brightened. He could easily get to the outside walk from his current position. From there, there must be a door or a window he could reach. He moved around to his best position, crouched, gauged his distance and with the mightiest leap he could muster, made a brilliant jump across the gap between the cliff and the outer walk. satisfied with himself, he looked around, but quickly remembered he was alone and no one would likely believe he had made such an impressive and graceful leap. He grumbled to himself about never having anyone around when he really needed them and started looking for a way in.
The walkway followed the curve around the spire. Thinking tactically, he felt his best bet for an entry was on the sea side of the structure. He nodded at his own idea and again thought it a shame that no one was present to agree when he found, on short order, a gracefully curved alcove and a stained glass double door. He stepped up to inspect it. The glass was covered with a layer of salt spray and gull droppings. He wrinkled his nose. Debris had blown in and it looked as if at least a few seasons of sea birds had hatched there. Kalyn thought it sad, such a proud structure, reduced to decay in such a short period of time. He pushed gently on the center of the double doors. They were remarkably solid. Perhaps not so decayed after all. He nodded his personal approval. Gently, he started tapping on the frame to find a weak spot.
Caoimhe stayed ahead of the light, she found it easier to see down the hall that way. She followed the curve and checked each archway, trying to find the one she thought might be the library. She was caught off guard by a soft knocking. "Cai," she whispered, waving frantically for him to catch up. He hurried to her side.
He stood expectantly.
"What?" he finally said.
"Did you hear that?" she asked.
"No," he said flatly, "What?"
"Knocking," she said, listening for the tapping again. "I heard someone knocking."
Cai frowned. "Not likely," he said sadly, "probably just mice."
"No," she insisted, "It was knocking, I swear." she tapped on the wall and listened. There was no response. "It was over this way," she said sliding a few feet forward. Her hand came across an archway. "Maybe in here?" Together with the candle, they leaned into the room.
"This isn't a library," Cai said.
"How can you tell, it's too hard to see with the candle in your face," Caoimhe said stepping out of the little ring of light. She was swallowed by the darkness.
"Caoimhe, stop it," Cai said, loosing her in the shadows.
"It's ok," she said from in front of him. The little flickers of dying candle light didn't do much to illuminate the room, but she could see a shape in front of her, curved and graceful. She reached back her hand. "Here, I can see a little," she said. "Hold my hand." she squinted at the shapes in the room.
Cai reached out and took her hand, the floor was smooth marble with red flecks in it, but unlike the rest of the rooms they had come across, the floor here seemed more warn, dulled, even dirty. He looked closer, leaning in with the candle.
"Are those foot prints?" he asked out loud as he leaned. It was then the little candle sputtered out.
Cai gasped. Caoimhe froze.
"Oops."
They stood in the darkness, unsure of what to do next.
"Alright, Caoimhe," he said more calmly than he felt, "We can just feel our way down the hall and climb back out the window we came in."
"But what about the stair?" she asked.
"We aren't sure there is a stair," he said, his voice starting to tense.
"Lets just see what's at the back of this room," she said, stepping forward, "Maybe there's a way out here." She reached out and started to pull him further into the room.
"Caoimhe stop it," he said tersely, resisting her efforts.
"Just a little further, Cai, then we'll go back," she pulled him a step further.
"Caoimhe stop!" he said, squeezing her hand and pulling her back. "I don't want to loose you."
Caoimhe stomped her foot and pulled her hand away from his. Instantly, she realized what a bad idea that was.
"Caoimhe, give me your hand," Cai said reaching out into the darkness ahead of him to find her.
"I'm right here, Cai," she said sliding her foot forward along the floor.
Cai leaned toward her, waving his arms to try to catch her.
"Stop tugging on me," she said, "I'm right here."
Cai froze, his arms still stretched out in front of him, his hands empty.
"I'm...I'm not tugging on you," he said.
He heard Caoimhe's breath come out in one short puff. A reddish glow loomed suddenly in front of him, he had to shut his eyes against it.
"Caoimhe," Cai said in a whisper, "Don't move. Just stay where you are."
He moved forward.
"Caoimhe?" There was no answer. "Caoi?"
Kalyn brushed the dust out of his eyes. he squinted at the narrow space where he estimated the latch would be then pulled a skinning knife from his belt. Carefully, he started to work the blade between the two doors. When the blade was in, he slid it up until it stopped. He could tell it hit metal, he angled the blade and worked it up, ignoring what the grinding must be doing to its edge. He felt it budge and pushed on the door. No luck, he tried again. The wind swept debris up into his face and he swore at the door. The latch budged a little more. He put his shoulder to the door, it cracked but stayed closed. In a fit of frustration he jammed his blade up. He felt the latch give way at the same time his slender hunting knife snapped. He cursed again, but at least when he tried the door, it swung open into the darkness.
Kalyn straitened his vest and brushed the dirt and wood shavings off his trouser legs. He looked once back down the outer ramp, and stepped inside.
The sunlight didn't fall deep into the room, but he found that the room was smaller than he would have thought. More like a sitting room, with benches built into the walls, their cushions faded and deteriorating. On the other side of the room, opposite the door, he could see through to another set of glass doors. He crept to the archway, but it did not lead across. Much like the buildings in Silvermoon, a balcony looked down into a room below. The curved stair hugged the wall and descended into black. Kalyn considered his options. There was probably enough light to see by, once he reached the bottom. With his hand on the wall to guide him, he started to inch his way down the ramp.
Caoimhe blinked against the sunlight. She could see through the open windows that she was above the ocean. She spun around to take it in. The room was lovely, even if the colors had faded in the sun. There were arches on either side that led into the more dark hallways. The walls under the tall windows where lined with benches and cushions, but unlike the rooms below, these had been toppled and ransacked. She righted a bench and knelt on it to look out over the coast. she looked to be about midway up the spire. She frowned. How had she ended up here? She crept cautiously to the archway.
"Cai?" she called into the darkness. She waited for a reply, but none came. Her heart started to beat faster. She looked around for anything that might seem helpful.
In the center of the room, on a small ornate table was a red globe. It was wrapped in gold and glowing faintly. She stepped towards it, staring at her reflection in the surface. The room distorted oddly in the curve, making the shadowy arches seem taller and the room wider and longer. Caoimhe couldn't help smile at her own warped reflection. She turned to see what else might be in the room when a movement behind her reflected shoulder caught her eye. It seemed vaguely elven in its shape.
"Cai?" she asked hopefully. She reached out and touched the reflection.
And then she was in the dark again.
Cai stood panicked in the darkness. The red glow pulsed slightly and started to fade.
"Caoimhe!" he whispered hoarsely. He listen for an answer, but his blood was pounding in his ears. Shadows moved in the dimming redness. He crouched, moved forward cautiously, toward where Caoimhe was last. He reached toward the floor, fanning out his arms in case she had fallen. He froze, thinking he heard a scraping from the hall behind him. He held his breath, but nothing followed the noise but his own pulse.
Her head throbbed. Her hands were outstretched as if they were touching the orb, but there was nothing in front of her, only a faint red glow from behind. She looked around.
The glow came from another globe, identical to the one in the sunny room overlooking the sea, just behind her. It did little to illuminate the room, however. Her eyes started to adjust and she could see, barely, and she searched for the source of the light. She looked up, the light seemed to come from two doors, one on either side of the wall above her. She was torn between curiosity and practicality. Cai was down, he had to be, but light meant out and maybe she could find Kay. Caoimhe blinked. The shadows around her started to swirl. she told herself it was her imagination. Her eyes were adjusting and she could see furnishings in the rounded chamber. More settees, lots of bookshelves. Mirrors? She jumped up and down a little. There was a library. She could see the curved ramps that led up to the doorways. She bit her lip, trying to decide which way to go. If she wanted to find Cai, she had to find another candle, or a lantern, or something. She felt her way across the room to a table against the wall. The mirror reflected the fading light from the orb. Caoimhe squinted at her reflection. Again, over her shoulder, she thought she saw someone. She gasped and spun around, toppling books and nicknack's off the table, but there was no one visible. she squinted into the darkness as her heart started to calm. whatever had fallen off the table rolled into her ankle and she jumped, panicked. A small ball rolled away from her feet. She reached down and grabbed it with both hands. Suddenly, a bright warm glow filled the room, emanating from the fist sized ball she held. Caoimhe marvelled. She had heard about such "lanterns", but had never seen one. She took a better look around the room. This room looked untouched, like the private rooms they had found below. Portraits hung on the walls. She looked at one across from her, then back at the mirror. She smiled. She must have seen the portrait in the mirror, over her shoulder. She walked toward it. The elf in the painting was graceful and proud. She didn't smile, but neither did she look grim. Her long hair was braided back at the sides and she wore green dyed skins and carried a longbow. A ferocious looking tiger crouched at her feet, prepared to pounce on anyone staring up at the portrait. It looked very lifelike. Caoimhe held the little light up to get a better look. As she stepped forward, she felt something under her foot. She looked down, putting the little light closer to see. On the pristine marble floor was a delicate pendant. Caoimhe looked around as if she expected to see who dropped it. She bent down to pick it up. as soon as she let go of the little light with one hand, the glow stopped and the room once again plunged into darkness.
Caoimhe gasped. She shoved the pendant into her pocket and grabbed the orb with both hands again. It started to glow, but not as bright this time. Caoimhe frowned. How long would the light last? A sudden banging from above her caused her to jump. She bit her lip and hoping the light would work again when she needed it, put it in her other pocket and backed up against the wall between the mirror and the bookshelf. she stared at the portrait, now lit only by the glow from the doors above. The lady in the portrait was looking at her. A shutter ran down Caoimhe's spine. Neither she nor her cat had moved, but in the dark, they seemed different. The cat prepared to pounce at the ramp. Maybe he was guarding the room? Caoimhe shook her head to clear it. A noise from above caught her attention. Someone was coming down the ramp.
Kalyn stopped about halfway down. The light from above didn't reach any farther and he hesitated. He closed his eyes to adjust his vision, a trick Dahanan had taught him. He took a few blind steps into the dark. When he felt the light off his face, he opened his eyes. He smiled pleasantly at how well his brother's tips worked and kept down the ramp into the room below. He noticed the book shelves and the couches and mirrors and glanced briefly at the portraits, but what interested him most was the centerpiece of the room. The orb swelled in gold looked familiar to him. He moved purposefully toward it.
"Kay!"
Kalyn yelped and jumped backward, brandishing his broken blade at his little sister as she attempted to tackle him from the darkness.
She stopped short, afraid he might actually stab her, but she smiled at him anyway.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
Kalyn took a deep breath and straitened himself.
"Nothing," he said. "You startled me." He put away his blade and stepped up to inspect her. "Are you alright?" he asked stiffly.
"I'm fine," she said hurriedly, "but.."
He looked around, "Where is Cai?"
"I don't know," she said, her face falling. "We were in the bottom, where we came in, and there was a room and the candle went out and something grabbed my shirt. I thought it was Cai, but it wasn't, I was just tangled and I tried to untangle myself and then I ended up in a room above the cliff and..."
Kalyn's head snapped back to her, "ended up" he asked, "What do you mean?"
Caoimhe shrugged. "I don't know," she said.
Kalyn looked from his sister to the orb on the table. He took her hand. "Come," he said. "We have to find Cai."
Kalyn was not entirely sure his hunch was correct. He had seen an orb like this before. He had been with Dahanan, in the Sunstrider palace. It sat guarded in a lonely room off the main chamber. It was much larger than this one, however. He had asked Dahanan about it when they were alone, and had been told it was used to move from place to place, magically. Why wouldn't the Windrunner's have had such devices? He was, of course, only guessing. He glanced sideways at Caoimhe, swallowed his doubt and placed both their hands on the orb.
Cai didn't want to leave the room where he lost Caoimhe. He couldn't see anything, but he was sure she had to be there somewhere. He remembered the question that had brought them to the spire to begin with and swallowed hard. "Do you think its haunted?" Caoimhe had asked.
Maybe she had found their trapdoor, or a hidden staircase. He started to crawl along the floor, first finding the wall. He stood up and started to feel his way forward, deeper into the room. He came to an alcove, bumped into a pedestal, sending its contents to the floor. It crashed deafeningly in the silence. Cai winced and stood completely still for what felt like an eternity. He took a few cautious steps, crunching through the broken marble.
"Caoimhe?" he kept whispering into the darkness.
He worked his way around the many alcoves, careful of the remaining pedestals. He caught gauzy curtains, tripped over a low bench, fell into a bookshelf, and finally came back to where he had started, the archway they had entered through, but no sign of a stair case, no trap door, and no sister. Desperate and frightened and suddenly thinking perhaps Kalyn had been right, Cai sat on the floor and started to cry.
Kalyn was surprised at how easy it was. He had been expecting some sort of disorientation, or dizziness, but really, all that happened was a large flash of light and suddenly he was in the dark, still holding Caoimhe's hand.
"Caoimhe," he asked, "is this where you came from before?"
"Kay!"
"Cai!" Caoimhe let go of Kalyn's hand and grabbed the little ball in her pocket. The room was suddenly illuminated, if dimly.
Kay and Cai both looked shocked, Caoimhe smiled at them and ran up to Cai as if she would throw her arms around him, but remembered to carefully keep both hands on the ball.
Cai dried his face with his sleeve. Kalyn looked at his brother and pretended not to notice the tears. "Where did you get that?" he asked.
Caoimhe held up the ball. "This?" she asked, "I found it. In the room with the portraits."
Kalyn frowned, he caught sight of the other orb in the middle of the room. "Well," he said, "we can use the orb again and then go out the way I came in," he sized up the two of them, judging whether or not they could make the leap back to the cliff.
"But this isn't the room I came from," Caoimhe said.
Kalyn looked confused. "It isn't?"
Caoimhe shook her head.
"But you were here," he looked from her to Cai.
She nodded. "Did you use this orb?" he asked.
Caoimhe looked sheepish. "Not on purpose."
Kalyn sighed. "Well, we haven't got anything to loose, really." He grabbed Cai's hand and went to grab Caoimhe's, but she stepped backward.
He looked at her crossly. "Now see here," he growled, "I told you to begin with we shouldn't have come here, now I'm going to get us out and..."
Caoimhe held the little orb up. "The light will go out," she said simply.
"What?" Kalyn snapped, unhappy to have been interrupter.
"If I let go, the light will go out," she explained. "That's what happened last time."
Kalyn furrowed his brow, "Oh." He huffed. He took a breath. "Alright," he said. "Cai, hold onto Caoimhe's hand and both of you touch the orb. Caoi, just keep hold of the light. I will go around to the other side." He wasn't sure it would work. "Alright? alright, on three then. One, two, three."
The light was blinding compared to the darkened chamber below. Caoimhe let go of the globe to rub her eyes and blinked a few times before she recognized the room over the sea.
"This is it," she said running to the window and pointing out at the water. "This is where I was before." She turned back to the darkened archway, "but I thought I saw something in the orb, reflected in the orb," she explained quickly, "and I touched the orb and then..." she shrugged. "Then I ended up where you where."
Kalyn had walked to the window, leaned his head against the thick glass and craned his neck up. "I think," he said mostly to himself, "I think I was further up the tower."
Cai was staring into the dark in the passage beyond. "Caoimhe," he asked, "what did you see?"
"In the reflection? I don't know what it was," she said, "at first, I thought it was you."
Cai's face had turned ashen.
"It wasn't me," he said in a whisper, "I think it was them."
Caoimhe and Kalyn turned sharply to the darkened arch. In the shadows, hunched and shuffling, something was moving. They were vaguely elf shaped, but they hung close to the ground like hunting animals. Cai backed toward his brother.
"Cai," Kalyn whispered, "use the orb, it leads to the door out."
A sickly gray face appeared. They could clearly see two creatures. They seemed to be sizing up the trio, their mouths open and their eyes hungry. Kalyn slid carefully between his siblings and the creatures. "Go on," he said harshly. "Go!"
Suddenly, the room exploded in motion and sound. The first creature lunged for Kalyn, who, despite his best effort to sound brave, fell back at the ferocity of the attack. The second jumped past him to reach Cai. Cai grabbed Caoimhe's hand and hurtled her toward the orb, which he was afraid would shatter at the force of the two of them practically falling on top of it.
"Kay!" Caoimhe screamed just before she and Cai found themselves in the dim room with the portraits.
Kalyn heard Caoimhe's cry cut short and feared the second attacker had gotten past him. He had drawn his only weapon, his broken hunting knife and stabbed down at the lunging thing as it charged him, trying to jump to the side as if he were sparing with an unruly hawkstrider. He dodged the first swipe, but the second attacker, having lost sight of Cai, turned around and grabbed Kalyn by the back of his vest. He yelped and twisted and with a desperate kick backward, reached forward to get both hands on the orb.
Caoimhe knew where she was, and knew how to get out. The lady on the wall stared down at them as she grabbed Cai's hand and started pulling him in the direction of the ramp, the light, and the way out. The sun had risen, but the doorway was clear above them.
"Wait!" Cai said as they reached to top, "Where's Kay?"
They stopped and stared down into the empty darkness as the orbs glow faded to black.
"How do we go back?" Caoimhe asked.
Cai didn't get to answer, an arm had come down over his head.
Caoimhe screamed as someone hoisted her into the air. She kicked furiously. She couldn't see her attacker, but whoever it was wore gloves and was very solid. She threw her head back in an attempt to crack her foe in the face.
Cai couldn't see clearly, there was something over his head and arms, like he was wrapped in a web, or a sheet, or a...curtain?
"Ow!" he heard someone yell, Caoimhe let out a yelp as she fell to the floor.
Suddenly, and surprisingly, Cai saw yet another figure leap from the darkness over him and fall with a fierce cry into the fray.
"By the Light!" he heard a familiar voice swear.
"Kay! What's wrong with you?"
Cai shrugged off the curtain that had been thrown over his head.
"Kay, Kay, its us, calm down," Justyn was standing with his hands out to a crazed looking Kalyn, his broken knife bloodied in his hand. Tyrin stood holding his arm, bleeding from the wound Kalyn had just inflicted. Caoimhe sat on the ground wide eyed staring at Tyrin.
"It was a joke, Kay," Tyrin said. "We were just playing."
Cai watched Kalyn's face change as recognition took hold and he composed himself. He stood and took note of the blood on his knife. He stared from Justyn to Tyrin and without apology, wiped his blade on his torn vest. In a very grim voice he declared, "We have to get out of here. Now." He stormed past his older brothers, pulled Caoimhe up off the floor and headed out the way he came in.
On the way back to the camp, Kay walked ahead of them, picking up firewood as he went, but speaking to none of them. Tyrin's "wound" was not much more than a deep scratch, he wound a cloth around it and quietly assisted with the gathering of firewood, largely out of guilt. Justyn put Caoimhe on his shoulders and she told them of the events in the spire as they wound their way through the woods.
"Are you certain you were attacked?" Tyrin asked Cai.
Both Cai and Caoimhe frowned at him. Justyn interceded.
"What did they look like?" he asked.
"Horrible!" Caoimhe declared.
"Big and grey, like," Cai tried to think of what they might compare to. "Like Quel'dori but...deadish."
"That...doesn't happen to Quel'dori, Cai," Justyn said quietly.
"Well something happened to them," Caoimhe said.
"Are you sure they weren't trolls?" Tyrin asked.
Cai kicked at a rock. "I know what trolls look like."
"They weren't trolls," Kalyn said as he started to build a fire. Justyn and Tyrin exchanged worried glances, but the conversation ended there.
Later, as Justyn went to bury the fish bones and the youngest had crawled into their bedrolls for the night, Tyrin sat down next to kalyn as he poked angrily at the dying coals. He stared at the embers, shifting uncomfortably, unsure what to say.
"We should probably tell Father," he finally said. Kalyn frowned. "If...if some...thing is living in the tower, we should tell someone." When Kaylin didn't speak he continued, "Justyn and I, we will tell him we went to the tower."
Tyrin didn't look, but he could tell his brother's face had turned to look at him.
"But he'll be angry," Kalyn stated what seemed obvious.
Tyrin nodded, a small smile on his lips. "Yes, but he won't be angry at you."
They were quiet for a few minutes.
"Thank you," Kaylin finally said.
Tyrin nodded and they sat in silence until the fire died out.