Young Writers Society

Becky watched Adrian storm over to Seraph then knelt down by the body he had abandoned.

She wondered who had killed it. Someone with a sword. Becky poked vaguely at his pockets, letting his blood get on her hands. She looked at the marks on his skin. They looked kind of like Seraph's, only these were obviously tattoos, where as Seraph's looked like they had always been part of his skin. Maybe they had.

There was nothing "of interest" on the priest.

"Stillman!" Becky gritted her teeth. She knew what was coming. "I told you to stay close to me."

"Adrian, he's was behind us, an' then this stupid horse..." Becky couldn't finish. The entire event was too ridiculous to even say.

"You missed a chance. The only way to improve is through practice."

He thinks I've ran away again! Becky realized. He hadn't seen Adrian on the back of that horse?

"Yes, sir." There was nothing else to say.

I didn't even raise my gaze to look at Adrian.

"Well? What's the deal, Seraph? Nothing to say now?"

I set aside another pouch from Brenneck's corpse, then rummaged through his robe, which had many pockets contained throughout. I continued to ignore the paladin.

"You look like you should be fighting alongside them, rather than running your blade through them!"

He dropped a hand on my shoulder as if to spin me around to face him. The second his hand touched me, I was on my feet, my hand shooting for his throat. My fingers clenched around his neck, and I stared at him with my good eye. I tightened my grip enough to make him short of breath.

"At least I fight, coward. I don't run when my companions need me," I growled. I felt the eyes of the party on me, then, and released him. I turned back to searching Brenneck, and my fingers closed around a small, square object.

I pulled it forth from his robe to find a little book. I flipped through it, and found it to be hand scrawled--it looked worn, and some of it was stained. I tossed it in the pile; though I didn't think we'd find anything more valuable to us from this group, I wanted tobe thorough--we could not allow ourselves to be sloppy.

Adrian wouldn't give up and continued. "I may be a coward, but at least I'm able to admit it. We know nothing about you, Seraph--why should we trust you?"

Seraph said nothing.

"You expect us to trust a man we know nothing about, who wears the markings of Bane openly?" Seraph narrowed his eyes and stayed silent. Adrian had enough he drew his sword and advanced over to Seraph.

Seraph pushed his sword away got in his face ""You know *nothing* of which you speak, coward. While the rest of us have fought and bled for this group, you've cowered in fear. These markings--" He pointed to his own face "--are none of your concern. My past is *mine*, and mine alone. If you want to fight me, you are welcome to. But know that it is *your* blood, not mine, that will be spilt."

Adrian answered as if he hadn't heard anything Seraph had said "I ask again: why...?" Adrian saw everyone eyes were on him and Seraph
Seraph growled

"Why are you so intent on finding out?"

Adrian gritted his teeth "You know why I'm so intent on finding out. I need to know I can trust you, when your face tells different story."

"You would judge me by the markings on my face?" Seraph's face softened slightly. "You would judge me on these markings given to me when I helped you heal our companion? Judge me on these markings, when I have done nothing but work for the good of this group. Would you?"

Adrian felt no anger anymore "I...won't. Every man has his secrets--some are better left undisturbed." Adrian slid his sword back in scabbard.

"Would someone tell me what's so important about this place?" Alden asked. He wasn't sure why he was even here in the first place. The battle was going to happen several miles away.

"The priests are here for a reason Alden. Read this," he said, tossing a small book to Alden.

After thirty years, we're finally close to reclaiming the tome of the tomb. Father is worried I won't be able to claim it, but we shall just see about that.

"There's more than that," Seraph said. "Read on."

We've gotten stuck. We passed through the catacombs without even disturbing the ghosts. There was some weak guardian, probably to scare of ordinary vultures. Then we hit the hall of blades. Ragnus attempted to blast them away, but this only made them swing faster. I'm going to send a message to Father and ask his advice.

Alden turned the page.

I spoke with Father, we are to stay here until he can join us. Alden looked at the date.

"This was earlier today."

"How long do you think it will take for them to get reinforcements?" Henry asked.

"Maybe a day, it just depends on where they are," Seraph answered.

"What do they mean by Tome of Tombs?" Becky asked.

"That's an easy question. The first wizard had a journal. When he died, it was taken with him to his grave. It's known as the Wizards Tome, and every mage interested in magical history has tried to get their hands on it ever since," Valin said.

"I thought that was just a myth," Alden said.

"It's been around long enough to be one," Seraph agreed.

"So what's so important 'bout a book?" Finn asked.

"According to the story, it details how he created arcane magic, the very foundations of magic as it used to exist, until about thirty years ago," Valin said.

"What happened thirty years ago?" Becky asked.

"That's doesn't matter. What does matter is that the priesthood is trying to get their hands on that book. Whoever has the book can recreate the magic however they want to," Valin said.

"How is that a bad thing?" Becky asked.

"They can make it so that only they can use it, they would have a monopoly on all magic across the land," Alden said.

"Oh," Becky replied.

"We're talking too much," Cyrus said.

"Don't worry, we'll have plenty to do in a moment," Seraph said, before nodding to Valin.

"I'll lead the way. Henry, I want you next to me. Your skills as a thief may come in handy. Alden, I want you behind me. Seraph, I want you and Cyrus to guard our rear. If the priests attack, that's where it will come from. Everyone else, stay alert. I don't know what sort of traps are down there, but Hall of Blades doesn't sound like anything pleasant."

"Hold on a second," Henry said, before racing off towards one of the corpses.

Valin:

Henry wen't to go grab something of one of the dead bodies he had killed earlier. As he raced to grab something off the body, I rumaged over the two bodies I had slain.
On the person of the first, I had found a small sack of personal belongings, a locket with a rendering of a maiden, and some other frivolous things, however, I also found found another pouch of relatively useful things: leaves, native to our Elven lands that could not be found in the Human realms, that I used to make potent poisons and antidotes. Its good I found these: I was running low. I also found on him a dark, jet black, perfectly circular stone attached to a silver necklace. I had no time to really examine it, but I would when the time was right.

On the second body, I found nothing of use to me, or to anyone else. As I began to stand up, Henry came running back to the group, with no apparent changes.

Henry noticed the rope and knew, as an experienced underground adventurer, it would be infinitely useful. He untooked the rope from the elf's backpack and stuffed it into his own. It was soft to the touch and well-made. He also noticed something strange on one of the dead priests -- a black whip tied to the dead man's belt. Out of curiousity, he took the whip too and strapped it to his own belt.

He made his way back to the party. "Rope," he muttered. "Ye always need it when ye don't 'ave it."

Seraph nodded in appreciation. Valin stood up again and made his way over. Henry nodded in his direction and the elf returned the small appreciation. They had fought close together and survived. It was something you didn't forget.

Henry's mind felt calmer. Most of his anger had gone, but a fleeting look at Carmenia was instantly rejected -- she turned away, refusing his look. The thief sighed and brushed some dirt off his clothes.

"So," he started. "We're off t'see the wizard?"

Cyrus grunted. "Why the whip? A whip isn't a weapon."

"I could say the same 'bout ye hammer."

Finn rolled her eyes. "Boys," she murmured.

"Shall we go?" Carmenia asked.

"The sooner the better," Alden agreed. The group looked into the catacombs. It was pitch black.

"So, we're going in," Alden said.

"Yes," Valin said, but nobody moved. It was just so dark. The wind picked up, blowing leaves into the catacombs. They disappeared into the darkness in a few seconds.

"Kind of funny how scary it looks now," Henry said.

"Oh yer all cowards," Finn declared. She passed by Valin and Henry.

"I don't think that's a good idea..." Henry warned.

"There en't nuffink but th' dead," she said before taking another step into the black. She turned around.

Then a skeleton jumped down from the ceiling, landing right in front of her.

"BWWWWWWAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!" It yelled, waving it's bony limbs. Finn screamed and ran to Seraph. Valin sent a knife into it's skull. It went through, but the skeleton continued. Henry walked forward until he was directly in front of the skeleton.

"Ye got a light?" Henry asked.

"Of course," the Skeleton said, before falling to the ground. The skull glowed brightly, Valin's knife still stuck inside it.

"What just happened?" Becky asked.

"I know a bit bout raiding tombs. They like to put up skeletons to scare off the petty thieves," Henry looked at Finn. "It's more impressive at night."

"And the part about the light?" Seraph asked.

"Easy. When the undertaker comes to put a new body in, he needs to see what's he's doing. The skull thing is something they pass down from one to the other," Henry said.

The group took a good look at Henry.

"Go ahead and lead the way, Henry," Valin said, taking his knife out of the skull.

Valin jerked the knife out of the scull.

"Can I light a candle or somethin'?" Becky asked.

"Here," Henry said, handing her some flint. The little flame grew, and flickered. Light reflected off of the group's armor and Alden's feathers, illuminating their faces weirdly.

The passage walls were plainer than she would have expected, cut from simple, clean stone with a rounded roof. Finn and Seraph walked next to each other behind Henry and Valin, who were talking in low voices. Becky followed, next to Sirloaz and the beautiful elf girl, behind Cyrus and Alden. Suddenly, they stopped. Becky nearly walked into them.

"What?" someone behind her asked.

"There's a door," Valin said. Becky pressed closer, raising the candle. The door was thick, and made of rusted iron. In the very center was a key hole. There was no knob.

Henry rummaged in his pack. He pulled out a small black pouch, from which he pulled out a crimped wire. He bent the tip into a hook, then inserted into the keyhole and jiggled it.

"'That going t' work?" Becky asked Cyrus quietly.

"Shh," he said. "Watch."

Henry pulled out the wire, examining it, then bent it again. He put it back into the keyhole, and turned it. With a hair-raising creak, the door swung open. Henry coiled the wire, and put it back in its pouch, which he stuffed back into his bag.

Cyrus winked at Becky, and she followed him into a similar but broader passageway.

I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the wall of the catacombs as Henry knelt down at the door and rummaged in his pack until he found what he was looking for. From my position behind him, I couldn't tell what he was doing, and didn't have a particular interest anyway, as long as the door was opened one way or another.

With an audible click and a satisfied grin from Henry, the door swung open, almost as if of its own will.

Brenneck's journal seemed to burn my hands, and I kept it in motion, fingering it thoughtfully. With the door open, I kept formation and headed through, not speaking a word to anyone.

This was Rogue domain. I looked to Valin and Henry and nodded at how easily they moved though the place, stepping over bones and rock slabs of broken tombs without a thought.

"Ye're lookin' li' yer 'ead migh' 'splode iffen yeh don' say wha's'n yer min'," Finn said quietly--the others were speaking too...I'd taken no notice.

I glanced beside me to find her looking at me curiously. I merely blinked at her and shook my head.

"No, it is nothing," I mumbled. I opened the little journal and thumbed through it again, quickly. Nothing jumped out at me as out of place. With an inward sigh, I closed the book and followed the others.

I eyed Seraph curiously; there was something in his manner that just didn't seem right. He'd been distant lately, very distracted--before, he'd been relatively emotionless, but at least seemed present. Now, his thoughts almost always seemed to be somewhere else... and maybe it was just me and my paranoia, but that somewhere didn't seem anywhere too comfortable.

Now, particularly, he seemed on edge, especially after the run-in with Adrian, which I'd witnessed a bit of. Well, I couldn't exactly blame him for being jumpy--I knew I was keeping my eyes and ears very wide open after being attacked by an animate skeleton. I shivered again at the memory, though my cheeks still burned a little at how nonchalantly Henry had dispatched the "threat." And how I'd run directly to Seraph when it "attacked"--oh, the shame, the shame! I shook my head and muttered.

"What was that?" Seraph asked. I looked up, a bit perplexed. "I missed what you said."

"Oh. Ah. Nothin'." He kept looking at me. "Nothin' impor'ant, at leas'."

"I see." He shifted the notebook from one hand to the other, and I glanced sidelong at it before raising my eyes to sweep the corridor we walked down.

"Seraph," I said, before I could stop myself. He looked at me, eyebrows raised a little, expectantly. I bit my lip momentarily, then got my facial expression back under control. "D'ye have any idea wha's goin' on? 'Cause I'm los' as--"

"Finn!"

I'm not sure whether it was the sound of cracking stone or Carmenia's shrill cry, but whatever alerted me to the danger I'm grateful for. I felt the surprisingly thin slab of stone shatter beneath my boot and launched myself away from it, but too late.

I shrieked as I began to fall into the trap below, flailing my arms--a gauntleted hand grabbed my wrist and another was flung about my waist, hauling me out of danger. Suddenly I was pinned against Seraph's armor, and Valin was shouting for everyone to stop.

"S--Seraph--" I gasped, my face pressed uncomfortably against his breastplate.

"Are you all right?"

"Le'--go--" He looked down at me, then released his crushing grip on my torso. I stumbled a foot or so away, rubbing my ribs, and looked over to where Valin was kneeling beside the shattered slab of stone, running one finger gingerly over the jagged edge.

"Another trap?" Carmenia asked, her voice nervous. "Like the skeleton?"

"Traps in this place certainly seem to have some sort of attraction for Finn, yes," Valin murmured, glancing up at me momentarily. I gazed stonily back.

Cyrus snorted. "Maybe we should put 'er up front, then. She'd find 'em all before anyone else got hurt."

I shot him a look that, if the universe was just, would have had him pushing up wildflowers come spring. Valin just gave a long-suffering sigh and shook his head at the dwarf. "Clever, Cyrus. Clever. However... would you mind if I borrowed that staff of yours, Finn?"

I blinked at him, then passed it over. "Be careful wif tha'."

He nodded, then tapped the bottom, metal cap sharply against some of the remaining stone on the slab I'd nearly fallen through. It shattered neatly and fell down; I could hear, from the clattering, that the pit wasn't deep, but in the dim light I couldn't see the bottom. I shivered a little and loosened the dagger at my wrist in its sheath.

"Good. Everyone, single file; I'll go first. Step only on the stones I do--or, therefore, the person in front of you--and keep an eye out." He made his way back to the head of the group and resumed walking, though more slowly, as he tapped each slab firmly before he stepped on it.

I made to follow Henry, but before I could, Seraph's hand gripped my wrist. I turned violently as Carmenia stepped gingerly past me, staring up into his face. His eye was inscrutable, unreadable.

"Don't do that again, Finn."

With that he released my wrist and gently propelled me after the Elf.

Valin

This was our territory. Henry's and mine, that is. It wasn't that we actually owned it, in that sense, but in the sense that we, having been rogues either by choice or necessity, were in our element here. As a rogue you either learned to deal with these sorts of things--and fast--or you died. Since we were both alive, we knew what we were doing. The door that Henry had opened was only the first, and it wasn't the main tomb door, either. Whoever had built this tomb had installed a false floor trap, that seemed to have a certain affinity for Finn.
She gave me her staff when I asked for it. I used this to tap on every single tile in the floor, to test it for being hollow. On every tile that gave me a good, solid sound, I stepped, repeating the process every time. The others followed me, stepping only where I stepped. It was slow going, but we lost no one, and no had no further excitement.
Once we finally got to the otherside, I returned to Finn her quarterstaff.
"Everyone stay where you are, and don't move around more than necessary. We don't know what else is in store for us" They stayed put. I knelt down to the ground, examining the floor. There was some disturbance in the dust at the ground. Like it was disturbed by footprints, but not quite. It looked like all the disturbances led to the same way, however.
"Henry, come here," I said, quickly. He knelt down next to me, and followed the "Tracks" up and to our left to what appeared to be a wall. But upon closer examination, we figured out what it truly was.
"The tomb door," we both gasped. Now was the moment of truth, and we turned back to tell the others.

"We've found the tomb door," Valin said.

"Can you open it?" Seraph asked.

"There's no lock, but the Priests managed to get in," Henry said.

"Can you get in though? Is there some way to open it?" Seraph pressed.

"I'll go take a second look," Henry said, going back to the door.

"They mentioned something about a hall of blades; it must be past that door," Seraph said quietly.

"We'll be careful," Valin said, before turning back to the door to help Henry.

Alden felt rather useless.
No, not useless, vulnerable, he corrected himself.

"Becky, if we were to be attacked from the rear, what would you do?"

"Not a whole lot, Cyrus and Seraph would be in the way."

"Indeed, at this moment we are at our most vulnerable. Cyrus and Seraph would have to defeat a great deal of enemies to protect themselves and everyone else."

"So what are you saying?"

"Only that you should be alert and ready for whatever may happen next. The longer we stay here, the more likely we are to get attacked."

"Got it!" Henry yelled triumphantly as the door opened. A panel had been pushed in.

Ahead of them was a long hallway. Blades swung across the hallway at irregular intervals. Some were pendulums, while others swung sideways in a motion that would decapitate most men.

"We'll do this one one person at a time," Valin said.

"Be careful of the slits in the ground, the blades come out of there," Henry warned. Then, he began to negotiate the hall.

Henry was in his element. He swept all doubts, emotions and thoughts from his mind and targeted the task ahead.

He paused before the first swinging large blade. It wasn't fast, but the sheer width of the weapon meant that it took up such a large space there were barely enough gaps to dodge the swing. He studied it's movements and analysed the others behind -- te few piercing upwards from the floor, and two across from other sliced horizontally, ready to decapitate anyone foolish enough to get too close.

He went from stationery to speed in a second.

Henry leapt, rolling underneath the blade as it swung to its peak, the massive axelike shape swooshing behind him. As his roll finished, he jumped upwards just as the sword thrust into the air where he had just been. He landed, twisted his position and moved his feet quickly to avoid any other blades. The two decapitating blades were close, so he hardly dared to breathe as he managed his next maneouvre, throwing himself forward, hopping and then somesaulting above the blades with incredible agility. He landed with barely a sound, and instantly dropped to the ground. Two swords pierced out from the walls, above his head. He crawled and pulled himself to his feet dodging sideways as one of the pendulum like blades swung towards him.

There was not much left to navigate now.

Two swinging blades that moved opposite to one another, so each covered their weaknesses. It was the ultimate test to dodge both, as there was not enough space inbetween them to pause. It had to be complete speed and timing.

He was ready to go.

Then he saw it. There was a bar that supported two of the blades exposed on the ceiling. Grasping his whip, he suddenly had a burst of inspiration.

He took a deep breath and flexed his wrist forward, the black whip coiling out like a snake and wrapping itself around the bar as he jumped forward simultaenously. It would barely have enough time to support his weight as he swung forward, hoping to go above the dangerous blade. However, he hadn't timed it perfectly and the first blade threatened to block his path as he perilously flew forward.

But it was he wanted.

He clung to the top of the blade. the unsharp connectors that hung it from the bar at the top. He felt the pendulum move left and right, as he hung there. He watched the second blade in front of him and timed his second jump perfectly, abandoning his whip.

Henry passed by the second blade and rolled to a halt on the other side. He sighed in relief.

The whip dropped to the ground with a slap.

He looked behind him, barely seeing the party watching in awe from the other side.

"No idea 'ow a Griffin is gonna get through that," Henry muttered to himself.

They would have to destroy the mechanism -- but how?

I watched in silent amusement as the rogue twisted, turned and vaulted his way through the Corridor of Blades. I crossed my arms patiently, having confidence that Henry could navigate the bladed hallway.

Once on the other side, where we could barely see him, he looked back at us, puzzled.

"Stop the damned thing, already!" I called out to him.

He disappeared from view for a few moments. I leaned against the wall once more, tapping my armored toe against the ground rhythmically. I let my gaze fall to Finn's back, and let myself linger there. Every so often she would shift her weight to her other foot, setting her hair in motion as well.

I couldn't help but wonder what she would look like in a city, rather than the wilderness. I couldn't picture it. The leaves in her hair, the worn clothing, the accent, it all seemed to be too much a part of her person to be changed. She wouldn't last, in a realm of cities. She needed the wilderness, needed the small town life. I sighed inwardly and stared down at my feet. I let my eyes close...and waited.

I shook my head, whistling lowly as Henry squirmed and dodged his way through the death-trap with what appeared to be an enviable lack of difficulty. A few times I winced at a near miss, but after a surprisingly short time, he was standing on the other side, breathing hard and mopping his forehead, looking back.

"Stop the damned thing, already!" Seraph's voice boomed out from right behind me, making me jump.

"Damn straigh' 'stoppit,'" I muttered, rubbing my ear and shooting Seraph an irritated glance over my shoulder. "En't no way th' griffin could ge' through tha', any road."

"Oh, and I suppose you could?" Alden challenged, indignant.

I turned and glared at him. "Ye sayin' I couldn'?" He met me stare for stare, and my eyes narrowed a little. "A'righ', then." I turned back towards the Corridor of Blades--beyond them, I could see Henry fiddling with something on the wall, probably a trigger of some sort--and dropped my pack at my feet, cinching the belt around my waist tighter and rolling up my sleeves. I'd been watching close as Henry did his thing, and while I wasn't quite as fast as him, I was small and agile, and now I knew exactly what to do. He'd dropped his whip, too, so I'd be able to use that. It was definitely within the realm of--

I barely took a step forward before Carmenia gasped my name and two hands shot out from opposite directions to stop me. Seraph released me very quickly, I noticed, almost as if he'd been burned, but Valin tightened his grip on my shoulder, fixing me with a stern gaze. "Don't be a fool, Chant," he said lowly, his voice intense. "Use this." On the last word, he cuffed at my head lightly, knuckles grazing my ear a little. I dodged most of the 'blow' and stepped backward, jumping a little as my back touched Seraph's armor.

"By Falthyr, Finn, stop fidgeting before you set off another trap and kill us all," he snapped. I stared up at him, too shocked and indignant at his response to be able to think of a reply--and by the time one had found the tip of my tongue, it was cut off by a strangely mechanical screech and thunk, and Henry's triumphant voice from the other end.

"Alright, everyone," Valin said, raising his voice, "progress carefully! One at a time, not too close together. Keep your eyes open!"

Henry, from down the Corridor, snorted and folded his arms across his chest. "No faith in my skills, honestly."