“That goes without saying,” said the First Rider a grin on his face. “All right, Tenebrous,” he said. “I am First Rider Vipsanius Coppercoin and we will follow you to the Staff of Sakatha.”
The black cloud became silent and immediately began to flow down the corridor in the direction in which they were already headed.
“At least I picked the right direction,” said the First Rider with a shrug and a smile as his short little legs followed after the dark shadow. “Spread out and follow me.”
Sorus went second, Jon third, and Odellius brought up the rear. Tenebrous led them down a series of corridors and then suddenly halted in the middle of non-descript hallway.
“What’s wrong?” said Vipsanius as he came up behind the creature.
“I must calibrate myself to travel with fleshy creatures,” said the shadow and paused for a moment. “I can move through a certain thickness of solid material and did not consider that when leading you. We must go around.”
“How thick?” said Odellius as he came forward to where the duo stood.
The shadow said nothing and floated in front of the stone wall for a long moment.
“I said,” said Odellius moving to within a few inches of the thick cloud, “how thick is the wall?”
“Perhaps a foot,” said Tenebrous as his form wavered in the strange shadowy light cast by the stones.
“How long will it take us to go around?” continued Odellius as Jon moved forward and put his hand on the wall with a speculative touch.
“I’m not sure,” said Tenebrous the thick voice slowed down even more than usual. “I did not calculate your presence in my original plan.”
“Limestone,” said Jon with a nod of his head and a sudden kick at the wall that sent a small spray of rocks in all directions. “With picks and a sledges it’s a ten minute job at most but we’ll have to use our weapons. It could take some time.”
“Wait,” said the shadowy voice. “Back aways, there is an old storage area with digging equipment. No more than a hundred paces.”
Vipsanius looked to Sorus and Odellius, “Go with Tenebrous and bring what we need; Jon, you and I will start working.”
With that Tenebrous led Sorus and Odellius back the way they came and left Jon and Vipsanius alone. Jon began to kick at the wall which knocked off little showers of rock while the First Rider used the hilt of his sword to dig holes.
“Can we trust him?” said Jon, jamming his heel into an indentation in the rock as they worked at the stone wall.
“Of course not,” said Vipsanius as he dug a hunk of rock out of the wall, his short, powerful arms flexed at the effort, “but that isn’t going to stop us from following him.”
“We can’t fight a creature like that,” said Jon, “not without magic. If my brother was here, maybe, but I’m not sure. My blade has some effect against creatures of that nature and I’ll try if it comes to that,” he finished and then yelped in pain as he kicked a particularly thick part of the rock.
“Don’t hurt yourself, Jon,” said Vipsanius as he carefully cut out another hunk of the wall. “Just make small little indentations here so that the picks have a place to grab when Sorus and Odellius return.”
Jon nodded and began to work more carefully, “Have you decided what you’ll do if we manage to recover the staff?”
“Not yet,” said the First Rider as a little piece of the wall fell out at his feet, “but I’ll let you know when I do.”
“I appreciate that,” said Jon with a smile just as Odellius and Sorus returned. The big knight of Elekargul carried two large picks and a heavy sledge hammer while Sorus managed to juggle two shovels tucked underneath his sling and held hard against his body. They dumped their bounty on the ground; the First Rider grabbed a pick in one hand, and began to hammer at the wall with quick, steady bursts that sent stone shards flying in all directions. One of them caught Jon in the brow and he spun around with a curse.
“Sorry about that,” said Vipsanius as he continued to pound away without pause. Odellius grabbed the sledge hammer and began to match swings with the much smaller First Rider. The little man with the powerful chest managed two knocks for every one of the rotund warrior and the rocks began to spray out of the wall in great showers. It took them less than five minutes of steady work to break through to the other side and another minute to clear enough of a hole for them all to pass. By then Odellius’s breath came in great gasps and sweat covered his brow. On the other hand the First Rider breathed normally and only a few smudges of dirt on his face indicated any work at all.
“Which way,” said Vipsanius to the dark shadow and the creature immediately flowed forward and took them deeper in the caves.
“Not much further ahead is where I last saw them,” said Tenebrous. “The darklings helped me up to this point but I suspect that we cannot count on them anymore.”
The group went forward a few hundred meters and then the shadowy form stopped again. “I must go forward alone for the moment,” it said with a deep voice. “I will return when I find the children of dragons.”
With that the creature moved ahead into the darkness and immediately vanished.
“What happens when we find them?” said Sorus and looked to the other three, his young eyes darting back and forth and his good hand twitching at his side.
“We should have a plan,” said Odellius with a gasp as he put his back to the wall and slumped to the ground.
“Sorus, you can’t fight,” said the First Rider as the boy started to object but Vipsanius raised a hand to halt him. “Sorus, you find where the staff is and try to grab it as soon as you can. The rest of us will try and create a distraction and defend you. Follow Tenebrous wherever he leads.”
“Do you think we can trust him?” said Sorus, shaking his head no.
“We have no choice,” said the First Rider. “It’s that or just go home and forget all this happened.”
“I’m not totally opposed to that,” said Odellius with a smile, his face covered with dirt and sweat.
“If you want to go back, I’d understand,” said Jon as he looked at Odellius. “This is my fight, not yours. I’ll go on alone.”
Odellius smiled and laughed out loud, “What do you think the chances of that are?”
Jon smiled back at the huge warrior, “None at all.”
“What kind of a distraction did you have in mind, Vipsanius?” said Odellius and turned to the First Rider, a wipe of his brow with the filthy sleeve of his jerkin only managing to spread the dirt around.
The First Rider tossed the pick in his hand aside and drew his sword, “Lay into them like knights of Elekargul,” he said with a smile. “Once Sorus grabs the staff we’ll cover his retreat as best we can and follow if possible.”
“What do I do with it if I get out of here and… and you’re not around?” said Sorus his face pale in the dim light of the stones.
“That is your decision to make if I’m not there,” said Vipsanius as the smile left his face and he looked at the boy with a steady gaze. “If you make it to the surface alive then take the thing to our warriors, or give it over to Jon, whichever you think is best. You’re a knight of Elekargul, a Nightwalker now, Sorus, but you have no commanding officer other than me.”
“Yes, First Rider Vipsanius,” said Sorus suddenly standing up straight and giving the salute of his people. “You can count on me.”
“I know,” said Vipsanius and patted the boy on the shoulder just as the dark shadow suddenly coalesced out of the darkness.
“It is up ahead,” said Tenebrous, “not more than five hundred paces. You should put away your light stones except for one and mask that. The reptiles have gathered for a ceremony. Thantos and some darklings observe them. I am uncertain as to the length of the ritual but it cannot be long. The region ahead is of white marble and the magic is extraordinarily potent. It disrupts me to some degree and my ability to aid you will be limited.”
“I’ve never seen a white marble ruin,” said Sorus with a look to the other three, who in turn looked to one another, their faces expressionless and their eyes hardened.
“You will know it when you see it,” said the First Rider with a glance to the boy. “Just remember what we talked about and do your duty as a knight of Elekargul,” he said and handed his light stone to Sorus. “You carry this
