Chapter Seven
After many days of travel through hostile terrain, Captain Corden, Uruk the mok, the wizard Artemis, Ogre, Squeak, and the rest of the brigands finally arrive at the citadel of the wizard Karoth. It's an impressive structure, with a high metal wall surrounding it. Then entire structure is also surrounded by a moat. They ride up to the edge of the moat and look in. The moat appears to be filled with clean, clear water. Captain Corden turns and points at one of the carocks.
"You," she says, "your people are known as strong swimmers. Swim across and extend the bridge."
The carock nods his head in agreement and dives in. The liquid in the moat boils and hisses, vapor pours up into the air from where the carock dove in. The carock comes back to the surface screaming in pain. His skin blisters and peals away, exposing muscle tissue. The muscle tissue sears and burns away. His skeleton sinks to the bottom of the moat, and dissolves before it ever touches the bottom.
"Aaaaaaciiid!" Says one of the hawk mutants, pointing at the moat.
Captain Corden nods her head. "I suspected as much," she says.
"You thought the moat might be filled with acid, yet you sent one of our carocks into it anyway?" Artemis asks incredulously.
"It was a risk I was willing to take," she tells him, "just not with my own life."
"So how shall we get the bridge across my queen?" Asks one of the amazons.
Captain Corden turns to Artemis. "Could you fly across on your magic carpet?" She asks.
"Only if you wish to also sacrifice your only wizard," he replies, "I highly doubt a wizard of Karoth's reputation would have left the front gate protected with only a moat. I have a better idea."
The wizard points at the heavy metal hand crank and a beam of green energy leaps from his finger and strikes the contraption. The hand crank begins to turn of its own accord, extending the thick, heavy, steel bridge across the moat. Once the bridge is fully extended, Corden points out a groundling.
"You there," she says, "cross the bridge and open the gate."
The groundling shakes his head. Uruk growls at Corden in his own language. The pirate queen glares at her second in command.
"I will not send any men across the bridge until I know it's safe!" She tells him, "Risking the life of a single groundling is preferable to risking those of our entire band! And if you're so determined to lead by example, then you lead the men across! Ogre will be happy to take your place as my first mate."
Uruk turns away and contemplates this for a moment. Then he turns to the groundling and nods his agreement in Corden's order. The groundling looks around for a way out. Seeing none, he swallows the lump in his throat and carefully starts to walk across the bridge. He gets a third of the way across the bridge and nothing happens. Still nothing happens and the groundling begins to relax. Then when he gets to two thirds of the way across the bridge, one of the iron gargoyles on top of the wall turns its head. Twin lasers shoot from its eyes and strike the groundling, sending it from the bridge and into the moat. The others stand about listening to the groundling's dying screams. Corden turns to Uruk.
"Still want to lead by example?" She asks.
Uruk makes a snorting sound in response. Corden smiles and turns to Artemis.
"Is there anything you can do?" She asks.
"Perhaps," says Artemis. He points at the gargoyle and a globe of impenetrable blackness encompasses the iron statue. He points at other iron gargoyles and summons similar globes over them as well. Once all visible gargoyles have been blacked out, Artemis walks up to the gates. He raises his hands and the gates glow green. After a moment the gates swing open. He turns and gestures for the others to follow. The captain and the others follow him into the courtyard. The entire yard is overgrown with weeds and ivy. Across the courtyard is the keep proper, with huge double doors set in front. The brigands spread out across the yard.
"I have a bad feeling about this," says Squeak
"I know what you mean," says Ogre, "Why would a man need such large doors to enter his keep?"
"A man wouldn't," says Artemis.
The wizard raises his hands and casts another spell. The doors glow green, just as the main gates had. The doors swing open. From out of the darkness comes a gigantic reptile with four heads, each head at the end of a long serpentine neck. The beast's black scales glisten in the midday sun.
"Look out!" Cries Captain Corden.
"A hydra!" Shouts Squeak
"Everyone scatter!" Orders Ogre.
Uruk howls something in his bestial language and several brigands launch arrows and bolts at the hydra from their bows and crossbows. The arrows and bolts bounce harmlessly off its ebony scales. A tiger man mutant runs up with a spear, intending to impale the beast. One of the heads snatches up the mutant in its jaws. Another head bites down on the mutant's lower body. They tear the mutant apart, each head swallowing half. Artemis casts a spell at the hydra. The beast glows green, closes all eight of its eyes, then lies down and goes to sleep.
"That sleep spell will keep the beast out of commission for several hours," says the wizard, "but we should make haste. I don't relish the thought of fighting our way past that beast on our way out."
The brigands enter the ancient keep. The doors are old and rusted shut, but with Artemis's spells and Uruk's strength they manage to open the doors. They search through the keep. They find Karoth's audience chamber, and the many servant chambers and guard barracks. They find the stairs leading down into the sub-levels. Most of the band stays upstairs. Captain Corden, Uruk, Squeak, Artemis, Ogre, and Pontz go down to the lower levels to search for Karoth's treasures. The bandits walk the halls for what seems a really long time when they finally realize they are in a labyrinth. They wander about the halls of the maze for a while longer when they're attacked by a beast with the head of a bull and the body of a man. The wizard quickly incapacitates the minotaur with a sleep spell.
"What kind of wizard are you?" Corden asks him, "Mercy is hardly a trait I'd expect from one of your reputation."
"It isn't mercy," he explains, "it's pragmatism. I plan on making this citadel my home when this is done. No sense in destroying such valuable guardians."
"I see," she says, "just be sure you inform them who's boss."
"Oh, they'll know," he says with a wicked grin.
They continue on through the labyrinth. They encounter several other minotaurs, as well as a few trolls. Each time Artemis puts them to sleep, leaving them unharmed for future use. Finally they find their way to a huge gilded set of double doors. They doors are locked, but a quick spell by Artemis opens them up. They enter an enormous library. There are shelves upon shelves of books on all of the walls, going from the floor all the way up to the very high ceiling. There are rows upon rows of bookshelves running the length of the room, all of them going from floor to ceiling. Sitting on a podium in the middle of the room, is a huge book. It's a yard long, about 2' wide, and at least 2' thick. Artemis eases up to the tome and carefully looks it over.
"Karoth's book of spells," whispers. "With such power at my disposal, I will be invincible."
"We will be invincible," Corden reminds him.
"Of course," replies Artemis.
"So where is the treasure, Captain?" Pontz asks.
"Fool!" Says Artemis, "This whole library is a treasure! The knowledge contained within these books is immeasurable!"
"But we were supposed to be finding weapons to help us slay the moks from Knox," argues Ogre.
"And we shall, my friend," Captain Corden assures him, "Spread out! Start searching for hidden doors and secret compartments. His treasure vault must be in here somewhere!"
The others do as their captain commands. It takes many hours of searching, but eventually Captain Corden stumbles upon the secret latch which opens the door to the hidden vault. She walks into the room and is nearly overwhelmed by the treasures within. There are coins of silver, gold, and platinum by the thousands. Hundreds upon hundreds of jewels and precious stones. Ornate jewelry, works of art, and all other manner of treasures lie about. Uruk, Squeak, and the others come to join her in her find.
"Now this is what I call treasure," says Pontz.
They all spread out and start looking through the treasures. Squeak finds an ornately crafted pair of sai. He picks them up and twirls them about in a short practice routine. He finds their weight and balance to be absolutely perfect. On impulse he hurls them both across the room, one after the other. They both strike the same stone with deadly accuracy, the blades sinking deep into the wall.
"Impressive," says Corden, "but now how are you going to get them back out?"
Almost as soon as she says it, the sai start to glow a bright yellow. Then they start moving about, as if some unseen hands are trying to wrench them from the wall. Then by their own accord, they pull free from the stone and fly across the room, where Squeak snatches them out of the air. Captain Corden nods in approval.
"Most impressive," she says.
Ogre finds himself a beautifully crafted falchion. The weapon glows with yellow light, marking it as obviously magical. Ogre walks up to a large marble bust and swings at it. The heavy curved blade of the sword whistles through the air as though there were nothing in its way. Ogre stands there, staring at the bust, wondering how he could've missed. He reaches out and nudges the statue, to check and see if it's only an illusion. The bust is solid, and its head topples off from where the sword had cut clean through. Meanwhile Captain Corden has found herself a sword belt with a rapier sheathed on it. The scabbard is inlaid with gold and encrusted with jewels. The basket hilt is ornate and elaborate. She draws the blade and gasps in amazement. It appears to be composed entirely of crystal and gives off a soft blue glow. Curious, she slashes at the padlock holding one of the treasure chests shut. The blade slices the lock clean off. She checks the blade and finds it completely unmarred. Then she picks up the broken lock and is surprised to find it as cold as ice. It's so cold, in fact, that it sticks to her skin from the sweat on her palms. Corden looks over to Pontz and sees him stuffing his pockets with gold and jewels. She walks up behind him and stabs him in the lower back. The pirate stands up straight as the blade punctures his lumbar, and stiffens up. He opens his mouth to cry out, but no sound comes forth. Frost spreads from the wound across his body. Icicles form on his elbows, nose, chin, and fingers. In seconds he's standing there, frozen solid. Captain Corden pulls the crystal blade out of the pirate's body and then slashes him hard. His frozen body shatters like a glass chandelier. She brings the blade back up to her eyes, admiring its unblemished, flawless edge.
"Very nice," she congratulates herself.
"Captain?" Asks Ogre as he looks upon the shattered remains that were once his crew mate.
"He was more interested in being rich than being invincible," she tells him, "I've shown him the error in his way of thinking."
Uruk finds a massive heavy metal morning-star. The huge spiked mace is much too heavy for most humans to wield. The mok lifts it with ease however. The entire weapon gives off a red glow. Uruk puts it through a few practice swings. It feels as though this weapon was made for his massive hands alone, that he was born to wield it. He feels a sudden urge to test its destructive power. He walks up to the far wall and smashes it with the morning-star. The stone wall collapses like a house of cards, revealing yet another hidden chamber. The wizard Artemis comes running in, furious at the interruption.
"Fools!" He cries, "What are you trying to do? Bring the entire palace down upon our heads?"
Then he sees what Uruk's impetuous swing had unearthed and his next words became stuck in his throat. There, in the hidden alcove, are the robe and staff of the mighty Karoth. The robe is a deep midnight purple trimmed with silver embroidery. The staff is made of bone, the thigh bone of some enormous creature. Runes and mystic sigils are carved all up and down the length of the shaft. And set atop the staff is a human skull. Artemis reaches out towards the items, his hand glowing green. A green beam of light shoots forth from his hand, engulfing the staff which flies across the room into his waiting grasp. He examines the staff closely.
"The Staff Of Wizardly Might," he says in awe, "any sorcerer who wields it can amplify his power tenfold."
He points the staff at the robes and unleashes blast after blast of destructive energy. Every blast hits the robes with absolutely no effect. The mannequin they've been set upon is completely unharmed. Artemis laughs evilly and then sends another beam of green light towards the robes. They lift up off the mannequin and float across the room until they hover over the wizard's head. Then he raises his arms and the robes lower down over him, his arms slipping into the voluminous sleeves, his head slipping through the neck hole, so that Artemis now looks every inch the mighty wizard.
"These robes," he explains, "protect their wearer from the direct magical assault of any sorcerer. Princess Ariel will be helpless against my power!"
"Then our conquest will be complete," says Corden, "our vengeance satisfied."
"For now, pirate," agrees Artemis, "but first let us return to the courtyard. My sleep spell will be wearing off soon and I don't want my hydra to eat all of our troops."
Equipped with their new found magic weapons, the five villains leave the library and head back to the surface. As he predicted, the sleep spells Artemis had cast were wearing off, not only the hydra but the minotaurs and trolls as well. Something strange happened though. When the guardians saw Artemis wearing the robes and carrying the staff of Karoth they all backed off, leaving the wizard and his companions alone. When they returned to the courtyard, all hell had broken loose. The hydra was awake and attacking the brigands. Many of them were lying on the ground dead or injured. Most, however, were hiding inside the keep where the beast couldn't get to them. Artemis simply walked out into the courtyard and ordered the hydra back to its cage. The huge reptile complied like an obedient pet dog. The others went about tending to the wounded and disposing of the dead. Then they raided the armory and made sure everyone who was left was equipped for battle. The following morning, they prepared to ride out.