CHAPTER FIVE: THE DOOR

Alhandra knew that with Regdar on the far side of the chasm and Tordek probably burned and fallen to his death, she was the only one with the strength to go toe-to-toe with the chimera. She didn't expect to come out alive. The magical beast landed beside her with a thump, snarling and pawing at the ground. Smoke still curled from the nostrils of its dragon-head. It folded its wings and came at her on foot.

The paladin raised her shield and blocked a swipe of its feline paw. The claws scraped across the metal of her shield. She ducked to one side as the chimera tried to ram her with its goat-head. She peered out over the top of her shield. She thrust, quickly, with her sword, biting deep into the neck of the dragon's head. She didn't know how soon the chimera would be able to use its breath weapon again, but after seeing what it had done to Tordek on the bridge, Alhandra wanted to make sure the dragon head, at least, was put out of action.

The chimera roared at the wound she'd inflicted, and snarled, too. More quickly than she'd expected, it lowered its goat-head and charged. The horns rammed into her shield, knocking the wind out of her and driving her back a few steps. The chimera saw an opening and swiped at her right side with one of its lionine forelegs. The strong claws ripped through her metal armor and opened three bloody gashes in Alhandra's stomach. It was like a great cat playing with a mouse.

Already, Alhandra was beginning to stagger, and she could barely keep her feet under her. Her vision swam. Bravely, she called on the aid of her patron diety and attacked again. This time, she scored a hit. Her sword sliced through the neck of the chimera's dragon-head, not quite severing it, but biting deep. Blood sprayed from the wound, dousing the paladin's helm and shield. The dragon-head flopped to one side, its forked tongue lolled out and its eyes dark and glazed.

The beast roared in horrific agony at the loss of one of its heads. It swatted at Alhandra with a paw, knocking her to the ground, senseless. Then, the chimera leapt on top of her with its full bulk. The goat-head kept watch over Jozan and the others while the lion-head snarled and moved to pick up the stunned paladin in its jaws.

"No!" Jozan yelled and ran towards the chimera, shield raised and mace ready. He landed a solid blow on the goat-head, smashing bone and horn. But the lion-head was so intent on making a meal of Alhandra that the chimera stayed where it was, and Jozan survived. Instead of retreating, the priest weighed in with another blow against the goat head, bashing it again. "That should get your attention, I think!"

The two elves saw that things were indeed going badly. Alhandra was inches away from being torn to shreds by the fangs of the lion, and Jozan had apparently lost all sense of caution.

"Jozan, get back!" Mialee yelled. "You're too close!" She looked at the wand in her hand. She had already fired a number of volleys into the chimera, and she knew she'd hurt the thing, but the wand's missiles just weren't strong enough to seriously affect the monster. And she wasn't quite sure how many charges were left in the wand. She tucked it back into her belt. "I'll save this for later. It's time to try something else."

Mialee straightened and raised her arms, outstretched. She spoke the ancient words of power that would call forth a spell, and her hands moved in a smooth, practiced motion, tracing out the somatic component. As she completed the short ritual, the desired magic welled up in her mind, and she pointed her right hand, palm outward, towards the chimera. A ball of grayish white light materialized in front of her hand and streaked towards the monster, expanding as it went. By the time her magic had crossed the rocky clearing, it had formed into a sort of net. It smacked into the chimera with a viscous thump, enveloping the thing's two remaining heads in a web of sticky strands. The edges of the magical net stuck to the ground like glue, constraining the monster. Her web had enveloped both of the chimera's remaining heads. She could see that the chimera could have easily taken flight, ripping apart her web, but it would take some time for the monster to clear the strands from its eyes. "Now, Jozan! Strike it now, before it frees itself!"

Jozan was startled when Mialee's web spell appeared on the chimera's heads, but the battle-hardened cleric kept his head. He was used to such things. He weighed in again with his heavy mace, cracking bones. "For Pelor!"

Soveliss decided the time for arrow-work was past. Though the bow was his preferred weapon, he'd fought in close quarters many times before, and he could be deadly in melee. He drew a longsword and a dagger from his belt.

The elven ranger leapt in close to the snarling, thrashing, webbed chimera. He couldn't see through Mialee's web, but he could tell that her spell had done it's job- Alhandra was still alive between the monster's forelegs, and hadn't yet been torn apart by the lion-head. Soveliss darted in close, his weapons a blur. He slashed and stabbed at the unguarded flank of the chimera, cutting the monster badly. Always thinking, he reached up and sliced at the monster's right wing, trying to sever it at the root. That tactic had worked, after a fashion, on the harpies. Removing the monster's ability to fly would hamper it and prevent its escape. Gritting his teeth, Soveliss spun again and reversed his sword and dagger. He brought both weapons down on the top of the lion-head, impaling them to the hilts.

The chimera shuddered when Soveliss stabbed it through the head. Then Jozan brought his mace down one more time on the head of the goat. There was a loud crack as the skull was split open. The monster went silent and fell over, dead.

Shakily, Jozan and Soveliss pulled Alhandra out from beneath the chimera.

"Is she still alive?" Soveliss asked.

The cleric felt her pulse. "Yes, though barely. Her armor's a bloody mess, but Pelor willing she'll be all right."

"That was brave of her, what she did," the elf said. "I hope your god was watching."

Jozan chuckled. "He was, my friend. Fear not. In a few moments, I think she will be fine. Just help me pull her clear and clean her up a bit, so I can do my god's work."

Mialee, seeing what the two were doing, dispelled her webs with a wave of her hand. "That should help a little." The magic-user couldn't help feel a little pride that her well-timed spell had aided in defeating such a fearsome guardian.

It was not long before Alhandra was back on her feet, just as Jozan had promised. "The healing power of Pelor shines upon the brave," he said.

The four then collected their belongings and went to the edge of the chasm. Lidda waved to them from the other side.

"You've been busy!" Soveliss called across.

"We'll have the bridge back up in a minute," Lidda shouted. During the fight, Regdar and Tordek had hauled up the rope, and tied it off on their side. "You'll have to come across hand over hand!"

Jozan and Alhandra didn't think much of that, burdened as they were with heavy armor and packs.

"Are you up to crossing it?" Jozan asked.

"Do you think you can do it?" Alhandra answered, a friendly note of challenge in her voice.

"Hah, no problem."

Soveliss, who wore much lighter leather armor, knew he'd be able to make the crossing without any trouble. As a wood elf, he was quite used to climbing ropes, and as a scout he was nimble enough. He didn't fear falling. "What about you, Mialee? Do you think you'll be able to pull yourself across?"

"I should think so," she answered, trying to sound sure of herself.

Soveliss grabbed hold of the rope and began pulling himself across. In a very short time, he was on the far side, being congratulated by Regdar and Lidda and Tordek.

"Great job," Tordek said, clapping the elf on the back. "I'm glad I didn't have to cross like that."

"I think my way of crossing was a good bit easier than yours," Soveliss chuckled. "I doubt I could have held on through a fall like that." The dwarf beamed with pride, and Soveliss declined to mention that they'd probably have to cross the chasm again by means of the rope- on their way back.

Alhandra, making her way along the rope hand-over-hand, was thinking along much the same lines. If one of them should become seriously wounded inside the cave, or, gods-forbid, should one of them fall into darkness, it would be difficult if not impossible to bring an injured person back across that rope. She silently prayed it would not come to that.

The last three adventurers crossed with a bit more tension, and much more slowly, but eventually everyone stood together on the far side. Nervously, they all stood looking into the dark, dragon-carved cave that had been the chimera's lair.

"Someplace in there lies the Deck of Many Things," Mialee said.

"Our quest is nearly at an end," Regdar said.

"You hope," said Lidda.

The others looked at her. "What do you mean?"

The halfling pointed into the cave. "While you were all coming across, I stuck my head into the chimera's cave."

"What?" Regdar said. "What did you see?"

"Well, for one thing, there's a nice pile of gold in there."

"The chimera's treasure?" Tordek asked.

Lidda nodded.

"What about the Deck? Is that in there?" Jozan asked.

Lidda shrugged. "Not in the cave, but it looks like there's some kind of door at the back. I didn't look at it too closely, only enough to see that it was closed tight and made of stone. You think the Deck is inside?"

"Let's take a look at this door," Mialee said.

Lidda nodded, and showed them into the cave. The seven companions crowded into the narrow confines of the cave. It didn't extend back very far, but it was strangely dark and cold inside. Torches were lit and they quickly examined the place.

"Surprisingly small for such a large beast," Regdar said. "Not much of a cave."

"Chimerae are not like dragons," Jozan said. "They are usually brought someplace for a specific purpose, and tend to stay where they are born."

Tordek looked over at Lidda. "Where's that treasure you mentioned?"

"Over there," she said, pointing to a dark lump to one side. They quickly searched the chimera's treasure.

"There's a healthy little hoard here," Tordek said, greedily shoving silver, electrum and gold coins into his backpack.

"And there's the door," Lidda said, pocketing one of the few platinum pieces scattered amongst the treasure. The back of the cave was of carved stone, shaped into a smooth wall, about ten feet square. The outline of a large door was clearly visible in the torchlight.

"Let's get what we can carry, and then look at the door," Regdar said.

The others agreed, and they divided up the treasure in their usual way. Everyone had agreed long ago that anything brought back from an adventure would be tallied and redistributed at a later date, once everything had been examined and counted. With their packs mostly full, the seven companions turned to the next obstacle before them- the door.

"There's no handle," Jozan said. "Is there any sign of a mechanism?"

Mialee and Lidda moved forward to examine the smooth wall more closely.

"No runes," the elf said, running her fingertips along the stone.

"And no traps," Lidda added.

"What kind of a door has no handle?" Regdar asked. "How are we supposed to open it?"

"Let me have a look," Tordek said. The dwarf laced shut his bulging pack and went over to the door. He rapped it once with his axe, experimentally. Then, he stuck his axe in his belt and pulled a small hammer from his pouch. He rapped the stone door with it, gently at first, then a second time, much harder. The others winced at the noise, but the blow didn't seem to harm the stone at all. It's surface remained as smooth and unchipped as ever. "Hrm," Tordek said, rubbing his beard. "There's definitely a room or passage behind it."

"Can we break our way through?" Regdar asked.

"Not with this we can't," Tordek said, putting away his hammer. "This isn't that sort of tool. And besides, even if we had the right mining equipment, I don't think we'd make much progress. This is good stone." He put his hand on the unmoving door.

"Maybe there's a key somewhere," Lidda suggested. "Could we have missed it in the pile?"

Soveliss spread his hands. "What good is a key without a keyhole?"

"You're right," Regdar agreed. "I still think breaking it down is our best bet."

"Maybe not," Tordek said. He pursed his lips and ran his fingers along the door again. Then, he pressed his ear against the door, as if listening. The others looked on in amusement as the dwarf began to, of all things, hum, softly. Tordek went on that way for some minutes, humming some strange tune quietly to the silent stone, eyes closed, head pressed against the door. Finally, he stopped and opened his eyes. "We're not going to break it down," he said. "We couldn't if we tried. There's an enchantment in the stone. Even a mattock of the titans wouldn't so much as chip it."

Regdar looked at a loss. "So, what do we do?"

The dwarf smiled. "There is a keyhole, we just have to find it."

Mialee looked down at Tordek. "You think the door is magic?"

He nodded. "I'm sure of it."

"Well then, let's just make sure." Mialee rolled up her sleeves and waved her hands in a quick enchantment, muttering the words of a simple spell. Before their eyes, the door began to glow as her spell revealed the enchantment on the door.

"It's glowing," Lidda said.

"Told you it was magic," Tordek said.

"But look," Mialee said, pointing. "There, in the exact center of the door. Do you see it?"

"You're right, lass!" Tordek exclaimed. "It glows more brightly there in the center."

"I think we've found our keyhole," Mialee said, smiling. She gingerly pressed her hand to the spot in the middle of the door where the enchantment seemed the strongest. Sure enough, the door responded. There was a quiet rasping of stone on stone, and a panel slid aside in the door, revealing a small cavity.

"Bring a torch over here," Regdar ordered. The flickering light revealed the secret cavity was not more than a handspan deep. There at the back of it was a small lever. He reached his hand in. "And there's our handle."

"Better let me have a look at it, first," Lidda reminded him, putting her hand on Regdar's arm.

"Ah, right," the fighter said, pulling his hand back.

Lidda waggled a finger at him. "You must remember these things, Reg," she grinned. "Now, hold the torch closer, so I can see." The little thief had to stand on her tiptoes, but she was able to peer all the way into the hidden compartment. Gingerly, she felt around inside with her thieves tools. After a few moments, she stepped back. "It's safe," she announced. "Who wants to do the honors?"

"Well, Lidda," Regdar said, "if you want to, go ahead and pull it. You've earned it."

Smiling, Lidda reached back into the little compartment and pulled the lever. Immediately, there was a grinding sound from within the rock. She pulled her hand clear and took a step back. The great stone door slid upward, revealing beyond a darkened chamber. There was a hiss of stale wind as the air escaped the room beyond, air that had not stirred in hundreds of years.