CHAPTER FOUR
Following the Sword of Truth lead Richard and Sebastian through the maze of twisting corridors under the ruins, but both remained uncertain where precisely they were headed. Occasionally the passage would branch and one option would be rough carved stairs leading down. The sword chose this route every time, and so they found themselves drawn inexorably downward into the bowels of the ruin. Again the passage bifurcated with a downward stair as an option, and again the sword indicated that they must go deeper yet.
"I swear that sword is leading us straight to the Keeper," grumbled Sebastian.
"Quiet, this is a bad place to say that name."
Richard continued down the stair. The upper passages had been laid with tile, clearly worked by master artisans. These lower passages were simple cut rock, narrow channels carved through the stone with no thought given to appearances. At first they had been dry, but as they descended the air grew more humid. A warm breeze ran through these tunnels, originating from somewhere deep below the surface, and carried a hint of brimstone. Sweat beaded on Richard's brow, and he wondered if the stories of the Keeper lying forever in a lake of fire were true.
"We must be getting close to the end," Sebastian offered, though it sounded as much like a question as a statement of fact.
"How do you figure that?"
"If we go much deeper we'll come out the other side of the world."
"Hold on, look at that."
Richard sheathed the Sword of Truth. Warm, soft light filled the stairwell, emanating from a chamber below. The pair continued slowly down the stair; the walls peeled away, opening into a huge cavern. Richard had never seen anything like it.
The cavern was at least a half a mile in diameter, and perhaps half as deep. Richard could see the entire cavern, except the bottom. It was obscured by a lake of fire that stretched from one end of the cavern to another. Massive stalagmites rose up from the bottom of the cavern, some of them connecting with equally gigantic stalactites. Others had been shaped by human hands, their tops chopped off and ground down to form platforms. Bridges of steel chains and stone slats hung between the platforms. The path was clear, and it lead to the far side of the cavern.
"This is exactly the reason I don't follow treasure maps. They always lead you to awful places like this."
Richard walked to the edge of the platform and peeked down. As he suspected, this platform was another stalagmite. A tumble off the edge would be certain death. Looking out over the sea of fire Richard noticed a massive chain suspended in the air, far below the platforms.
He followed the chain with his eyes, first finding where it connected with a giant iron plate set in the wall of the cavern, then tracing back down the line to...
Words failed him.
Richard was not religious by nature, and though he thought it was foolish to outright deny the Creator in world of manifest wonders, he had never felt any need to pray to that being. Until just this moment.
"Creator keep me safe."
Richard heard the prayer but didn't feel his lips move. It was Sebastian. He'd seen it to. At the far end of the chain, where it met with five other chains, was the Keeper itself. The part of it that could be seen was a hundred feet long. The rest was hidden in the lava below. Black tendrils sprouted from its jaw and its brows, and it seven eyes were dull grey and multifaceted. Though it most resembled a snake, it had no scales, and was instead plated and armored like a fire red beetle. Six iron collars enclosed the thing's neck, each connected to a chain. It simply hung there, suspended in the lava, unmoving.
"Is that what I think it is?" Richard asked, silently praying that Sebastian would not agree.
"Yes, that's it," offered Sebastian, his voice cracking with fear. "That's the Rourazar."
Richard felt a sudden flood of relief as he remembered Sebastian's warnings about the Rourazar.
"Oh thank the stars, I thought it was the Keeper. The Rourazar I can handle."
Sebastian responded with an incredulous stare.
"You can't possibly mean to continue forward. Look at that thing! The path goes right towards it."
"It's just a giant beetle snake. Look at it. It's all chained up. It can't do anything. And the sword lead us here for a reason. So yes, we're going forward."
"I'm not going anywhere. You go ahead. I'm staying right here."
"Suit yourself."
Richard walked across the platform, heading for the first of the bridges. He'd gone a dozen steps when Sebastian fell in behind him.
"I thought you were staying here?"
"I decided to stick with the guy with the magic sword. You have a problem with that?"
Richard snorted, but kept his thoughts to himself.
They made their way slowly and carefully. The smell of brimstone was thick, and both men covered their faces with their shirts to filter out the worst of it. Touching the chain rails of the bridges turned out to be a bad idea. While clearly not hot enough to melt, their heat was more than sufficient to burn flesh. Sebastian discovered this the hard way. Each of them bound his hands with scraps of leather and cloth. If one of these chains broke, they'd need to grab something. Better not to burn in the process.
The stone blocks that made up the crossbeams of the bridge were chipped and cracked, probably from clanking together when they were installed. Richard couldn't imagine that many people had come down this way. Each bridge swayed as they walked across it, and the motion combined with the heat left Richard feeling sick and nauseous. If Sebastian's groans were any indication, he was handling the heat with even less aplomb.
It took some time of careful, measured steps to cross the entire chamber, but eventually they arrived intact at the far end. There they found a large stone lectern. Richard approached slowly, moving in a circle around it.
The top was slanted, and where one would normally rest a book was a large brass plate. Several oddly shaped brass knobs protruded from the surface of the plate.
"That's it, isn't it?"
Sebastian simply nodded, clearly dumbstruck.
Richard unfurled the map and lay it over the plate. Each of the protruding knobs, seven in all, fit one of the oddly shaped holes in the map. As he lay the map down it seemed to glide into position, and as soon as it made contact with the metal every crease, every minor tear, even the smallest stain vanished as the map was restore to pristine condition.
"What do I do now?"
Sebastian joined him at the lectern and ran his finger over an inscription at the bottom of the page.
"You have to read this. It says 'Reveal the message for he who seeks the tower of Sinthra'."
The seven knobs sunk into the surface of the plate. As they disappeared the holes in the map filled themselves in. First the paper seem to grow until the hole was completely sealed, then ink appeared on its surface as if an invisible artist were sketching in the final details. Each hole corresponded to a land feature somewhere in the Midlands. At the center of each was a marking indicating a tower. Seven towers, but which was Sinthra's?
"Look at that!" Sebastian pointed to the center of the map, where the invisible hand that finished the map now sketched out a message. "I can't read that. I don't recognize the script at all."
"I can read it." Richard had seen the script before, in the Book of Counted Shadows. As soon as there was enough to make sense of, he began to read it aloud. "It says 'Only the Seeker shall find the tower.' Actually, there's a strange character in the middle of tower I don't recognize. Wait, it's still going on. Now it says 'We who created this place and this map did so to aid the Seeker in his quest. His price for our service shall be to finish a quest we could not. Only the Sword of Truth wielded by the true Seeker can slay the Rourazar."
Richard and Sebastian shared a anxious glance while the message continued to write itself out.
"Wait," Sebastian exclaimed. "I can read this part. It says 'If you can read this and no more, then surely you are already dead.' What do you think that means?"
The map was suddenly free of the lectern, and began sliding towards the floor. Richard snatched it out of the air and began rolling it up.
"Do you hear that?"
Richard perked his ears and listened intently. There was a groaning rumble that grew louder and louder and ended with a thunderous crack as the six iron plates that secured the six iron chains attached to the six iron collars that held the Rourazar came free. They fell for what seemed an eternity before splashing down in the lava below. The Rourazar fell as well, disappearing into the lava.
"Do you think it's dead? I mean, could that have killed it?"
Richard stared at the spot where the Rourazar had disappeared. He did not think it was dead.
"I think we should run."
They ran, oblivious to the danger presented by the bridges. There was nothing to be gained by careful and measured steps. Far below the lava buckled and roiled. Richard caught glimpse of the creatures armored flanks twisting in the lava. So it was alive. And he was supposed to kill it. With a sword.
Suddenly it reared up, launching itself from the lava. It was at least two hundred feet long. It crashed into the platform with the lectern and the platform exploded. Sebastian found new speed and rushed forward but Richard stopped in his tracks, watching as the stone rained down on the wyrm. The stones seemed to do it no great harm but did leave it stunned. It collapsed back into the lava and sunk again.
Richard turned and continued running, easily catching up with Sebastian. They crossed two more bridge, with only six more to go, when the Rourazar launched itself in the air again, smashing into the platform they had just crossed. Again massive slabs of stone fell on the beast and sent it hurtling back into the lava. Richard prayed it would not recover again before they reached the stairs.
As they crossed each fresh bridge and the stairs drew closer Richard's anxiety grew. There were three bridges to cross now. Sebastian was lagging behind Richard, prompting him to shout at the mapmaker to hurry. As they passed over the third bridge, Richard looked down and caught another glimpse of the Rourazar. It was circling the platform, preparing to strike.
Richard grabbed Sebastian and dragged him across the platform, almost pulling him of his feet. As they approached the second bridge the Rourazar launched itself into the air.
Richard hurled Sebastian forward, pitching him onto the second bridge as the Rourazar crashed into the the platform. Sebastian collapsed and clung desperately to the stone blocks as the bridge buckled. The section of platform under Richard's feet suddenly pitched forward, achieving an angle perpendicular to its origin. The bridge snapped taut for a moment then gave way. Fortunately for Sebastian it gave at the near end and held at the far end, and more fortunate still he managed to hold on to the stone even as it crashed into the side of the second platform.
As that platform tilted and fell Richard leapt for the bridge. He sailed through the air and caught the steel chains of the bridges rail. Even with his hands wrapped in leather and cloth he could feel their heat, and where they touched his bare arms they left searing black marks. Richard scrambled across the chains, forcing himself to ignore the pain that came with each movement. The coverings on his hands were smoldering ruins by the time he reached the stone planks and he shook his hands free of them. Sebastian was still pulling himself over the edge when Richard overtook him, so he helped the more civilized man up.
They both dashed across the second to last platform and took the final bridge in a series of leaps and bounds. Finally they reached the stairs, but neither paused for a breath before they had climbed the first hundred steps.
"Well, that was exciting, wasn't it?" Richard offered between gasps.
"This is why I sell the maps. I hate this. This is not fun for me at all. And there was no treasure! There's supposed to be treasure!"
"Relax, we'll make sure you're – "
The entire stairwell shook as the Rourazar crashed into the small portion of the stair that was exposed on the platform below. Richard stared down in disbelief. The Rourazar had not smashed the platform – it had climbed it! It now sat on the platform, peering up at them with its seven compound eyes. The black tendrils that ringed its face twitched angrily.
"You don't think it can get up here, do you?"
"I think it plans to try."
***
Zedd poked at the campfire with a long stick. It didn't need poking, he was simply bored.
"I'm back."
Kahlan's announcement startled Zedd out of his reverie. He looked around and saw her on the other side of the fire. Her dress was dirty and torn, but it was clear on her face she'd been through an ordeal that was more than physical.
"Did you find the Shota?"
"In a manner of speaking."
"And? What's happened with your powers?"
"Nothing, my powers are fine."
"Then Damark?"
"Have you heard of a wizard named Melchior?"
Zedd's heart sank. He'd not heard that name in many years, not since he was an apprentice himself.
"I know of him. He was destroyed years ago, or at least I'd hoped he was."
"Not so, says the Shota. He lives, or persists at least. She says he has transcended the barrier of death, and been brought back to this world. By Darken Rahl."
"Impossible! If that is true, then all hope is lost. I knew Rahl was mad, but to consort with an evil such as Melchior? What manner of fool is Rahl? Surely he must know that a fiend like Melchior serves no one but himself."
"That's only the half of it."
"And the other?"
"He has recreated the Sharkiya. That is how he turned Damark against me."
"Then it is worse than I ever feared."
"What are we going to do Zedd?"
"We have to find Richard. It's even more urgent that we find Sinthra's tower and the astrolabe. I only pray he is having more luck with his quest than we are with ours."
***
Richard continue running up the stairs. Sebastian tried to follow but quickly fell behind. Richard backtracked to his position and realized he'd collapsed against the wall.
"Come on, get up. You have to go faster!"
Sebastian panted and wheezed. "Can't. Stairs. Too many."
At the end of the stairwell the Rourazar was forcing its way up. It was too broad for the tunnel, but that didn't seem to matter to it. It pressed itself against the stone and in return the stone hissed and cracked, turning molten red and melting away. Richard wondered if the lake of fire below was naturally occurring, or perhaps the inevitable result of the Rourazar's presence. Whatever the case, the Rourazar was gaining ground, slowly making its way up the tunnel.
"Dammit," Richard grunted as he threw Sebastian over his shoulder and continued up the stairs. It was growing hotter by the moment, and the air was thick and hard to breathe. Richard pushed on, trying to ignore the heat.
"Richard, you should slay it now. While it's pinned by the tunnel! Just run down there and stab it in the face!"
"That's a nice idea Sebastian," Richard grunted as he continued up the stairs. "But I don't think I'd survive getting within fifty feet of that thing. You feel how hot it is?"
"I'm burning up!"
"Well guess where the heat is coming from."
"Richard?"
"What?!"
"What are we going to do about the D'Harans?"
"I don't know."
Richard continued up the stairs. He doubted he could take the D'Harans waiting for him upstairs. He was exhausted and ready to collapse. Still, he rather face the D'Harans than the wyrm below.
As he climbed, a plan began to form. He could only pray the D'Haran lieutenant was a reasonable man.