Chapter 9
Kaelun
The drop is longer than I’m expecting. There’s a crunch as I land and a sharp pain in my ankle. I stand and try to shake it off, but my whole foot throbs.
I look up, and from the tiny prick of light above me, I guess I’m lucky I didn’t hurt myself more. I hope I can get myself out of this.
Trying not to think about that, I return my attention to my surroundings, squinting in the dark until shapes appear. The torch gutters and sends out so much smoke my eyes sting. I guess the air down here is pretty stale.
I can make out walls on all sides and something which looks like an altar in front of me with a raised table and a bowl below.
Surrounding the altar are chests of various shapes and sizes, but my eye is drawn to a small oil lamp sitting on the center of the altar.
I can’t explain why, but something about it calls to me.
Its value can’t be much. It’s a simple design, a rounded body with a long spout and a curved handle.
As I move closer and pick it up, I can tell it’s full.
It is surprisingly heavy in my palm. There’s an inscription in the bronze belly, but it’s too dark even if I could read. There’s no wick, which is a shame.
Experimentally I tip it, but no oil comes out. So what is inside?
A shout from above makes me jump. I’d almost forgotten about my companions. “Did you find anything down there?”
Shoving the lamp into my pocket, I call up. “Maybe.”
“Well hurry up. Sky is getting dark on the horizon. Gada thinks there’s a sandstorm coming.”
I curse. A sandstorm out here in the desert can kill. I should be safe down here, but if the storm is bad enough, it could cover up my exit.
I hurry over to the chests and open the first—or I try to. It’s wedged shut. It takes me another few minutes to find the latch and work out how to open it.
Sure enough, when the lid flies open I see straightaway that it’s filled with precious gems. “Yeah. There’s definitely treasure here!” I call.
“Good. Hurry. Bring it up.”
Lifting the chest, I realize just how heavy it is.
I have a moment’s panic thinking about how on earth I get it up the walls and out through the hole in the roof of the buried building.
Thinking quickly, I yank the dusty tablecloth from the altar and use it to tie a makeshift rucksack with the chest strapped to my back, leaving my hands free.
Then I go to the wall and run my fingers over the bricks. Sure enough, there are handholds here. I feel with my toes until I can shove my foot into one below and reach for a handhold at eye level and begin my climb.
I’m up the wall quickly, my body relying on muscle memory from the trip to and from my attic room each day.
Here the pattern of foot and handholds is different, so I have to concentrate more than usual so as not to make a misstep.
At one point I put my weight on my right foot only for the brick to crumble out from under me.
I dangle from my hands, the weight of the chest dragging me down. But the next moment I get my toe into another gap and my feet under me again.
When I reach the top, Gada shoves his hand through the hole. “Pass me the chest! Quick!”
“How do I know you won’t run off with it and leave me down here?” I ask him skeptically.
“Plenty more treasure where that came from if we do.”
He’s not wrong. Though I haven’t checked the other chests.
Ellys shoves him aside and his face appears in the hole. “Ignore him. We’re not going to betray you. Just pass it up so we can help you out.”
I hadn’t really considered how I would get through the hole with the chest on my back. He’s right. It won’t fit. “You’ll have to take it.”
I wriggle until my head and arms are through the hole. The wind is howling and sand blows grit and dirt into my eyes.
I cough. “Untie the material. Hold the chest. Then I’ll slip out and you can take it.”
The maneuver is awkward, but we manage it. As they take the weight of the chest, I slip my arms from my makeshift rope and use the edge of the hole to hang to one side. They lift the chest out with some difficulty, cursing and nearly dropping it.
When they finally have it out, there’s a pause. The wind increases in fury, and I hear my companions coughing and spluttering. “Fuck. The sand. Take shelter.”
“Hey, what about me? What about my donkey?”
“Sorry kid.” Ellys looks down at me through the hole. “You’re on your own.”
I go to climb out, but he stamps forcefully on my hand.
I let out a yelp of surprise.
Next moment he plants his foot on my head and kicks.
With a scream I tumble back into darkness and land with a thud. The sky outside the hole goes dark. The wind roars.
I stop trying to get up. There’s no point. It’s too late. The sandstorm has hit. I don’t know if those assholes will make it. I hope they don’t.
I’m better off waiting it out down here.
With a sigh, I roll to my side and rub my back. It hurts, but nothing feels broken. After another few minutes I sit, wincing as my tailbone protests.
Great. Stuck in this hole for gods know how long. No donkey. No ride back to Vathira.
At least I have the rest of the treasure, I guess.
But when I open the next chest, it’s filled with rotting remains of food. So is the next and the next. The fourth and fifth have bolts of fabric, and the last has stone tablets of writing.
With a loud curse I tip it over and let them crash out onto the floor. What good are these to me? I can’t even read.
I can’t believe I let those bastards play the oldest trick in the book on me.
I kick the nearest chest, whimper when my toe crunches into the hard wooden surface, and sit, folding my legs under me and slumping over with my head in my hands.
This is the worst scrape I’ve been in for a while.
It’s not hopeless, though. I’m still alive and a good climber.
So they left me for dead out here in the desert.
I can travel in the cool of the night and rest during the day.
I’ll find water somehow. I don’t need food.
How long could it take to get back to Vathira on foot?
I’ve gone a few days without a meal before.
I try to avoid thinking about the problem of water. That’s going to become important soon. I’m already thirsty. My mouth is dry. Dehydration turns to death pretty quickly out on the dunes.
Despondently, I reach into my pocket and draw out the lamp, squinting at it in the dark. Not that it would do me much good if I could see the inscription, but what else is a guy supposed to do?
It’s dusty. With the back of my sleeve, I rub at it, trying to clear the grime.
The next moment, the lamp bursts out of my hands as if it’s come to life. A bright light flashes, and it drops to the floor with a bang.
I fall to the ground, covering my eyes. But there’s no explosion.
A pale blue smoke wafts from the spout of the lamp and then, all of a sudden, the smoke materializes into the form of a handsome man with sky blue skin, pure white hair and beard, and high, arched brows drawn into a harsh scowl. “What stupidity is it to be this time?”