from THE FORGOTTEN TEMPLE
FARCHRIST TALES - BOOK TWO
Speculative Fiction
Approximately 46,000 words
Copyright © Eric Lanke, 1990. All rights reserved.
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On the night King Gregorovich Farchrist II died, Sir Gildegarde
Brisbane II, stricken with grief, fled from the castle, into the city below,
and into the waiting arms of his only love, Amanda. She took him inside her
humble home and in the back bedroom, apart from her mother, she did the best she
could to console the man she loved. Brisbane felt his world coming to an end,
as the sorrow he felt for the passing of his King was only compounded by the
sorrow he felt for the separation from Amanda his position demanded. In a fit
of anger at the world, of misery for himself, and of passion for his beloved,
he took Amanda as a man takes a woman, and Amanda gave herself to him. His
climax thundered through his body and into his mind and, in that moment, he
knew the end he was rushing towards. When he left Amanda that night with a
sweet kiss on her lips, she was already pregnant with his child.
+
+ +
They decided to use the staircase
on the side of the chapel they had entered on, the same side of the river they
had been on since the beginning of the adventure. The pack mules, who had
followed them readily enough through the secret passage and into the temple,
refused to go down the stairs. Shortwhiskers had expected that, and he said
they would have to leave them there. They leashed the animals to spikes they drove
into the stone floor and the dwarf felt they would be safe enough that way
until they could come back to pick them up. Dantrius, however, seemed more
concerned about the gold the mules carried than the mules themselves.
They weren’t sure if the two stairways
went to the same places, but it was doubtful, as after going down a flight,
they turned in opposite directions away from the river. If the two staircases
did not meet, they planned on exploring the first one as far as they could
before going back to the second one.
They gathered again in a small
group, like the pips on the five of a die. The staircase was wide enough to
permit this and they slowly descended, Roystnof and Shortwhiskers up front,
Stargazer in the middle, and Brisbane and Dantrius bringing up the rear.
Brisbane’s thoughts were on the demon they had encountered when they went
downstairs at the shrine down the river. He did not want to meet such a beast
again, but as he padded down the stairs, Angelika coolly reassured him that no
evil could stand against them.
They reached a small landing at
the bottom of the first flight and a second one continued on after a turn to
the left. They continued down these stairs and then entered into a large
underground chamber. The room was a fifty foot square with a ten foot ceiling,
and all surfaces seemed to have been carved smooth out of the solid rock of the
mountain. The corners weren’t sharp but were rounded slightly and gave the
chamber an odd look to it. Every ten feet, all along the walls, a small archway
was spaced, each barely large enough for a man to pass through.
Stargazer stepped out in front of
everyone else and stood by herself with a look of partial amazement on her
face.
A strange and unpleasant feeling
sunk deep into Brisbane’s stomach. The chamber made him very uncomfortable and
he was not sure why. For the second time that day, he had an unfamiliar pang of
claustrophobia. He tried to push it aside, but it continued to nag him at the
back of his mind.
“Allie?” he asked. “What is it?”
Stargazer waved her arm at a wall
of archways. “They’re the meditation chambers,” she said. “Where the priests
would come to meditate and to pray. In the ancient times, it was said Grecolus
sometimes visited the most faithful priests in their meditation chambers.”
Stargazer ran to one of the
archways and the rest of the party came out to the center of the room. She
looked into one of them and then turned around to look at her companions.
“Come and see,” she said.
There were five chambers against
one wall and each person went to a separate arch, with Stargazer at the middle
one. Brisbane looked into his and saw that after going in for a few feet, it
ended and a very narrow shaft went down into the floor. Carved into the face of
one of the walls of the dark shaft were the footholds of a ladder.
“They go down to a small chamber,”
Stargazer said. “The priests would go down there to meditate. Sometimes for
days.”
Brisbane marveled at the size of
the shaft. Even Shortwhiskers would have a hard time squeezing down there. As
he was leaning over, looking down into that dark hole, his head suddenly
started to spin and he had to hold onto the stone walls to avoid falling in. He
backed away from the hole and his head started to clear.
“How big are the chambers down
there?” Brisbane asked.
“Very small,” Stargazer said
matter-of-factly. “They are really just large enough for one person.”
She suddenly went into her
archway. Brisbane ran to her. He saw her poised on the first step of the stone
ladder.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Stargazer looked at him oddly.
“I’m going down. I want to see what it’s like.”
Brisbane looked to his sides.
Roystnof and Shortwhiskers had joined him.
“We should probably search them
all,” Roystnof said. “We don’t want to miss anything.”
Stargazer started down the ladder.
“Wait!” Brisbane said.
Stargazer stopped. “Gil, what’s
the matter with you?”
Brisbane felt sweat bead up on the
back of his neck. He wasn’t sure why he was so jumpy, but he felt very uneasy
about him or anyone else going down into the meditation chambers. Especially
him. He just could not imagine anyone willingly going down into those chambers
and sealing themselves away into the earth. He didn’t see how anyone could be
relaxed enough to meditate under such circumstances.
“Nothing,” Brisbane said
eventually to Stargazer. “Just be careful.”
Stargazer smiled and then
disappeared into the shaft. Brisbane turned his back on the arch. Roystnof and
Shortwhiskers were standing right there and Dantrius was off in another corner
of the chamber.
“She’ll be fine,” Shortwhiskers
said. “We’ll probably have to drag her out of there. I think this is one of the
reasons why she wanted to come along.”
Brisbane nodded his head weakly.
His throat was dry.
Roystnof unshouldered his pack
again. As he rummaged through it he spoke aloud, loud enough for Dantrius to
hear him if the mage cared to. “We will each go down into one of Miss
Stargazer’s meditation chambers, and each of us will need his own light
source.”
He brought out of his pack a
handful of unlit torches. He handed one to Shortwhiskers and one to Brisbane.
Surprisingly, Dantrius came over and took one as well. They all stood for a
moment in a small circle, each with a short, fat stick in his hand.
Roystnof turned to Brisbane. “Do
you still remember your fire cantrip, Gil?”
Brisbane said nothing. He met
Roystnof’s eyes and then looked around the circle. He placed his hand around
the end of his torch, closed his eyes, and said the magic word Roystnof had
taught him. It had been years since he had done it, but Brisbane remembered and
pronounced all the inflections perfectly. He pulled his hand away and the end
of the torch began to burn with a bright flame.
Roystnof smiled as he put his
torch into Brisbane’s fire and fed off the flame. Shortwhiskers and Dantrius
did the same. When they all had lit torches in hand, Roystnof called for them
to move out and reminded them to check all the chambers. They set off in different
directions and, as Brisbane stood there, he saw each of them choose and arch
and disappear down a shaft.
Brisbane tried to swallow and
coughed because his throat was so rough. He went over to the arch next to the
one Stargazer had gone down. He held the torch out and peered down the shaft.
The firelight flickered down and he saw the floor of the meditation chamber
perhaps twenty feet down. He looked back into the large chamber, saw it empty,
and turned back to the stone ladder.
Brisbane tried to build his
confidence. It wasn’t working.
Go, Brisbane, Angelika whispered in his mind. Yours is an honor all would desire. Go down
and face your fear.
Brisbane stepped onto the first
rung of the ladder. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest.
I am with you, Brisbane. You need not go alone.
Brisbane started down. The walls
of the shaft seemed to swallow him immediately. He had to hold the torch almost
straight up above his head to keep from burning himself in the enclosed space.
The end of Angelika’s scabbard scraped against one of the walls as he went
down, making a shrieking noise and running chills up and down his spine. Each
step became more and more difficult and Brisbane became sure the walls were
closing in on him. He shut his eyes tightly and let Angelika weave her spell of
confidence around him. Her seductive voice did not slow his beating heart, but
it kept the organ in his chest.
Brisbane touched the bottom. He
stepped off the ladder and slowly opened his eyes. He found himself staring at the
footholds of the ladder. He spun around in place—there was no room to make a
turn—and met another wall with his gaze.
Down, Brisbane. Farther down.
Brisbane brought the torch down
next to his head and looked down. The bottom three feet of the wall was an open
space.
Through there, Brisbane. The meditation chamber.
Brisbane felt beside himself.
Without Angelika, he did not think he could have made it this far. He had never
known he was this claustrophobic, but the truth was now being drilled into him.
He began to bend down to peer into the open space, but the angle of Angelika’s
scabbard at his belt prevented it. It caught against the walls of the shaft and
would not let him crouch. He tried time and time again, but it just wouldn’t
work.
You’ll have to take me off, Brisbane.
No! Brisbane’s mind screamed. I
couldn’t move without you here.
Young Brisbane. Angelika’s voice was sweetness in
his head. I will still be able to speak
with you. Just set me here against the ladder.
Brisbane found himself doing so
before he realized it. He undid the buckle that secured the scabbard to his
waist and gently set Angelika, point down, against the wall in which the ladder
was carved. He was now able to bend down and peer into the meditation chamber.
What he saw when he did so frightened him more than anything he had seen so
far. Carved into the rock, dropped slightly below the floor of the shaft, was a
space of about three or four feet on a side, a tiny little chamber of air
buried thousands of feet under the mountain. There was nothing in it.
Go on in, Brisbane. Go on in and commune like the priests who
lived here centuries ago. They saw their god. What will you see?
It’s empty, Brisbane thought. There’s no need to go in. There’s nothing in
there. I should go up and check another one.
Grecolus, young Brisbane. The priests found Grecolus in there.
What will you find?
Brisbane began to crawl into the
chamber. He put the burning torch down on the floor of the shaft and scraped
his chainmail poncho against the stone on the way in. He positioned himself in
the chamber, his head touching the ceiling and his knees brought up with his
toes bent against the wall. His right hand still dangled out into the air of
the shaft and now he drew even that into the chamber.
There. Now. Close your eyes and let yourself go.
Brisbane closed his eyes and tried
to clear his head. He tried to imagine himself as one of the ancient priests,
coming down here to meditate. These chambers must have been the most important
part of the temple when it was alive with people. In these tiny cells buried in
the earth, men who had devoted their entire lives to the worship and study of
Grecolus came to meditate on what they had learned and what they believed. Some
of them reached such a state of tranquility that they evidently saw and
conversed with this god. Brisbane knew plenty of places in the realm that were
considered holy. The Peoples Temple in Raveltown. The Pool of Cleansing in the
land across the Sea of Darkmarine. But he now realized he was in, perhaps, the
most holy place of all.
And so he tried to tune in on the
spiritual channel that was reported to exist here, to feel the power of
revelation that others had felt here. From the beginning of his attempt,
however, there was something in the way. At first, he couldn’t tell what that
something was, but as he sat there, and the something grew in his mind, he
began to realize it was his own intense and ever-present feeling of
claustrophobia that was getting in his way.
The rock, the rock, the rock
pushing in on him from all sides, pushing, pushing, pressing in on him from all
sides but mostly from above. The ceiling bending under the impossible weight on
top of it, threatening to cave in and crush his fragile body flat. His
breathing grew very quick and then stopped altogether. He opened his eyes in
shock and saw in the dim torchlight the impossible space he had wedged himself
into. He could feel the stone surface against the top of his head, against the
back of his neck, against the crook of his back, against the tips of his toes,
against the heels of his feet. The tears began to stream down his face as he
sat in absolute terror, trying to draw life-giving breath.
He was going to die, Brisbane was
sure of it. He was going to die down there in that tiny chamber and the only
mystery left was whether he would run out of air first or his heart would
burst. But what was worse than the fact that he was going to die was the fact
that he was going to die alone and before he really learned anything about what
life was really all about. Even Angelika had left him. Brisbane had forgotten
about her in his fright and her voice could not reach him. He tried to call out
for help, but his jaws were frozen and he still could not breathe. Brisbane’s
vision began to pop and fade in the corners.
“Gil?”
The voice was distant and far
away.
“Gil? Are you down there?”
It was Roystnof. Brisbane could
hear Roystnof. He tried to speak but couldn’t. Roystnof was right there and
Brisbane was going to die anyway.
“Gil, I can see your sword. Are
you down there?”
My sword!
Answer him, Brisbane
“I’m here, Roy,” Brisbane was
suddenly able to say, his voice echoing strangely in the small space. He was
also able to breathe and move. He quickly crawled out of the meditation
chamber. He picked up the torch and looked up at Roystnof’s face.
“Gil,” Roystnof said. “Miss
Stargazer won’t come out of her chamber. She wants to talk to you.”
Brisbane restrapped Angelika to
his side and began to climb the ladder. Stargazer wouldn’t come out of her
chamber? She wanted to talk to him? The terrors of his experience were gone and
his only concern was for Stargazer. In an instant, he was back in the main
chamber and looking down the shaft Stargazer had descended. She had not taken a
light source with her and only darkness stared back at him.
Roystnof, Shortwhiskers, and
Dantrius stood behind him.
“We’ve searched them all,”
Roystnof said to Brisbane. “We found nothing except for Nog, who found a
passageway at the bottom of one. We want to go on but she says she won’t come
out until she talks to you.”
“Forget her,” Dantrius mumbled in
the back. “Let’s go.”
Brisbane ignored the mage. He
leaned over the open shaft again.
“Allie?”
Her voice came back very softly.
“Is that you, Gil?”
“Yes.”
“Come on down. I want to talk to
you.”
Brisbane straightened up. He
looked at Roystnof for a moment and then slowly started down the ladder, his
torch held high above his head.
“Don’t bring the light,” Stargazer
called out. “The light will spoil it. It really is quite wonderful.”
Brisbane froze on the ladder,
halfway into the floor. Roystnof came over and crouched down in front of him
and took Brisbane’s torch from him.
Roystnof nodded. “Go get her out
of there,” he whispered.
Brisbane pursed his lips. “Just a
minute,” he said and then began to unfasten Angelika from his waist. He handed
the scabbarded weapon to Roystnof. “I’ll be right back,” he said. He swallowed
a lump in his throat and started down the ladder again.
It was a little better in the
dark. The walls didn’t seem to swallow him as much and his heart didn’t thump
as loudly. But he still felt uncomfortable as he descended the ladder. He was
again seized with a tremor of claustrophobia.
“Allie?” he said as the sweat
began to bead on his forehead.
“I’m here, Gil,” Stargazer said,
her voice closer. “Come on down.”
Brisbane steeled himself and
eventually touched the bottom. He looked up at the little square of light so
far above his head. He then crouched down, this time unhindered by his sword,
and peered carefully into the meditation chamber. His eyes could not see
Stargazer.
“Allie?”
“Gil.” Her voice was very close
but he still could not see her. “Roystnof said you searched the other chambers.
Did you go into one?”
“Yes.”
“Isn’t it wonderful?”
“What do you mean?” Brisbane
thought he could see her vague form in the darkness.
“Well, I mean the others can’t
appreciate it. They don’t have the faith. But we do. Can’t you feel the
holiness of this place?”
The terror wasn’t as strong with
Stargazer down there with him. In his position just outside the meditation chamber,
Brisbane could also always see the world of light above him.
“Yes,” Brisbane said. “I can.”
“I’ve never felt closer to
Grecolus in my life. I feel completely at ease with myself and the world. It’s
all so beautiful, don’t you think?”
Brisbane did not answer. He wished
he could feel the things Stargazer felt. He wished he could feel the glory and
grandeur of Grecolus. He wished he could see the pattern of the
Grecolus-created universe and the possible endings that universe would lead to.
He wished he could take joy in all these things. But he couldn’t. When he was
down in the meditation chambers, he realized all he could feel was the
smallness of his being and the helplessness of his situation.
“Gil?”
“Come on, Allie. We’ve got to go.”
He could see her form now and he reached out and took her hand.
“Gil, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing, Allie,” Brisbane said,
tugging gently on her arm. “Nog has found another passage. We have to move on.”
“Okay, Gil.” She shuffled around
inside the chamber and stuck her head out in front of Brisbane’s. There were
tears on her cheeks.
“What is it, Allie?”
Stargazer shook her head.
“What?”
“It’s just so…” Stargazer said,
trailing off. “It just all seems so wonderful.”
Brisbane smiled. “I know it does. I
know.”
He pulled her out of the chamber
and they stood at the bottom of the ladder for a long time in a silent embrace.
“I love you, Gil,” Stargazer said
into his chest.
“I love you, too, Allie.”
They kissed and then started back
up the ladder, Brisbane first because he was closer to it. They were quickly
back up in the main chamber with the others in the party.
“I hope everything is all right,
Miss Stargazer,” Roystnof said to her after she emerged from the shaft. “You
gave me quite a scare the way you refused to come up.”
Stargazer smiled oddly at the
wizard. “Everything’s fine,” she said to him. “It was just something I wanted
to share with Gil. I am fully prepared to continue on our exploration of the
temple.”
Roystnof returned her smile. “I’m
glad to hear that.”
“And Roystnof?”
“Yes, Miss Stargazer?”
Stargazer stepped closer to him
and lowered her voice. “I don’t think anyone here will mind if you call me
Allison.”
Roystnof’s eyebrows flew up. “Very
well, Allison,” he said, trying out the name. “Our friend Nog has found a rough
stone passage at the bottom of one of these meditation chambers. We have
searched them all and Nog’s discovery is the only one worthy of mention. Shall
we move on?”
“We shall,” Stargazer said. She
took Brisbane’s hand and followed Roystnof over to the arch that Shortwhiskers
stood beside. It looked like any one of the others.
They extinguished all the torches
they had lit and relied only on Roystnof’s magic lantern before going deeper
into the earth. Curious about it, Brisbane asked Roystnof how long his crystal
ball would give off luminance for them, and Roystnof said it would shine until
he dispelled the magic.
“Or until you die,” Dantrius added
tonelessly.
“Well, yes,” Roystnof said. “The
power comes from me, so that when I end, so will the light. But I don’t think
we’ll have to worry about that any time soon.”
Brisbane gave Dantrius an angry
stare and held back a desire to punch the mage in the nose.
“The passage is much larger than
the shaft,” Shortwhiskers cut in. “And it looks like it goes on for quite a
while. It appears to have been carved in a hurry but it seems secure enough.”
There wasn’t much more to say.
Shortwhiskers went down the appropriate ladder first and the rest of the party
went down one by one after him. Roystnof, Stargazer, Brisbane, and finally
Dantrius. The bottom of the ladder did not give into a tiny meditation chamber,
but instead into a corridor with a vaulted ceiling, fully ten feet off the
floor and ten feet wide as well. The party gathered momentarily at the bottom
of the ladder, arranged themselves into a marching order like the pips of a
five on a six-sided die, and them started off down the corridor.