magic Vaprak put over the well.”
“The faint of heart never gets white meat at a family banquet” Jaeleen said.
“And the daring adventurous who leap before they look end up in unmarked graves,” Baylee growled. It was the first rule Golsway had given him as a boy.
“Baylee,” the woman urged, reaching out to turn his face toward hers with a soft hand. The lamplight made her blond hair glisten like spun gold. “Do you know what riches might be waiting down there to claim? For us to claim?”
“Wealth is a burden only weak men choose to carry,” Baylee said, “I’d rather not have more than I can pack into a good travel kit, and what I can put into my head.”
“That’s only Golsway talking to you,” Jaeleen said irritably. “I’d hoped by now that you’d learned to think for yourself.”
The words stung Baylee, surprising him. He turned his attention back to the well and the lamp.
“I’ve offended you,” Jaeleen said. “Tymora’s sweet kiss, I’d not meant to do that, Baylee, truly.”
Baylee wanted to believe her so badly. Too often in most of his travels, he encountered only those who measured life and the worth of a man in gold pieces. The friends that he could trust could be counted on the fingers of both hands. The ones he felt comfortable with asking for something that he could not get for himself could be counted on one hand with fingers left over. “I’ve got a climbing rope in my kit. Get it.”
Jaeleen disappeared instantly from his side. She rummaged in his travel kit and brought the rope back. The ranger tied the string to the lamp through his belt, then took the rope.
I could go first, Xuxa offered.
No, Baylee replied. I need you here in case something goes wrong.
You need someone to watch your back if you’re going to turn it on that woman.
And the orcs could come back and bury us all.
Go, Xuxa said. If we are fortunate, you won’t be out of my reach by mindcall.
Baylee secured the grappling hook around a tree bole, then shook out the length of rope. Knots were already tied into it. He kicked the coil of rope into the well. The hemp slithered audibly for the first few yards, then became totally silent.
“What was the spell of silence for?” Jaeleen asked.
“Not all of the sacrifices were dead when they went into the well,” Baylee answered.
Sobriety dulled the excitement in Jaeleen’s features. She peered down into the well. “You’ve never said what you were here for.”
“Before Woodbrand ended the trollkin raids, the well had been in existence for decades.” Baylee said, testing the rope and finding that it held. He eased his feet over the well’s edge, then put his weight on the rope. Satisfied it continue to hold, he started down, going knot by knot. Dust and rock debris tumbled down around him. He glanced up where the rope hung over the edge of stone above. Bracing his feet against the walls of the well, he took his weight off the rope long enough to slide a worked bit of leather under the rope to prevent the rough rock from sawing easily through. “I’m here to see what bits of the past might yet remain.”
“You’re talking about the dead Obarskyr kings that are purported to sleep somewhere beneath Waymoot.” Jaeleen climbed onto the rope as Baylee made his way down.
Baylee went slowly, noting the scratches and old stains on the ragged walls of the well. The deep smell of must filled his nostrils with carrion and rot. He didn’t bother to correct the woman’s thinking about the Legend of the Sleeping Kings. If the day truly came that the Obarskyr kings were needed and did return from the dead, he felt certain they would return from some other place than Vaprak’s sacrificial well. The power of the well hadn’t been enough to conquer Woodbrand, or prevent the man from sealing it once he’d killed the trolls.
“What do you hope to f” Jaeleen’s voice suddenly stopped in mid sentence.
Baylee halted his descent and looked up at the
“The faint of heart never gets white meat at a family banquet” Jaeleen said.
“And the daring adventurous who leap before they look end up in unmarked graves,” Baylee growled. It was the first rule Golsway had given him as a boy.
“Baylee,” the woman urged, reaching out to turn his face toward hers with a soft hand. The lamplight made her blond hair glisten like spun gold. “Do you know what riches might be waiting down there to claim? For us to claim?”
“Wealth is a burden only weak men choose to carry,” Baylee said, “I’d rather not have more than I can pack into a good travel kit, and what I can put into my head.”
“That’s only Golsway talking to you,” Jaeleen said irritably. “I’d hoped by now that you’d learned to think for yourself.”
The words stung Baylee, surprising him. He turned his attention back to the well and the lamp.
“I’ve offended you,” Jaeleen said. “Tymora’s sweet kiss, I’d not meant to do that, Baylee, truly.”
Baylee wanted to believe her so badly. Too often in most of his travels, he encountered only those who measured life and the worth of a man in gold pieces. The friends that he could trust could be counted on the fingers of both hands. The ones he felt comfortable with asking for something that he could not get for himself could be counted on one hand with fingers left over. “I’ve got a climbing rope in my kit. Get it.”
Jaeleen disappeared instantly from his side. She rummaged in his travel kit and brought the rope back. The ranger tied the string to the lamp through his belt, then took the rope.
I could go first, Xuxa offered.
No, Baylee replied. I need you here in case something goes wrong.
You need someone to watch your back if you’re going to turn it on that woman.
And the orcs could come back and bury us all.
Go, Xuxa said. If we are fortunate, you won’t be out of my reach by mindcall.
Baylee secured the grappling hook around a tree bole, then shook out the length of rope. Knots were already tied into it. He kicked the coil of rope into the well. The hemp slithered audibly for the first few yards, then became totally silent.
“What was the spell of silence for?” Jaeleen asked.
“Not all of the sacrifices were dead when they went into the well,” Baylee answered.
Sobriety dulled the excitement in Jaeleen’s features. She peered down into the well. “You’ve never said what you were here for.”
“Before Woodbrand ended the trollkin raids, the well had been in existence for decades.” Baylee said, testing the rope and finding that it held. He eased his feet over the well’s edge, then put his weight on the rope. Satisfied it continue to hold, he started down, going knot by knot. Dust and rock debris tumbled down around him. He glanced up where the rope hung over the edge of stone above. Bracing his feet against the walls of the well, he took his weight off the rope long enough to slide a worked bit of leather under the rope to prevent the rough rock from sawing easily through. “I’m here to see what bits of the past might yet remain.”
“You’re talking about the dead Obarskyr kings that are purported to sleep somewhere beneath Waymoot.” Jaeleen climbed onto the rope as Baylee made his way down.
Baylee went slowly, noting the scratches and old stains on the ragged walls of the well. The deep smell of must filled his nostrils with carrion and rot. He didn’t bother to correct the woman’s thinking about the Legend of the Sleeping Kings. If the day truly came that the Obarskyr kings were needed and did return from the dead, he felt certain they would return from some other place than Vaprak’s sacrificial well. The power of the well hadn’t been enough to conquer Woodbrand, or prevent the man from sealing it once he’d killed the trolls.
“What do you hope to f” Jaeleen’s voice suddenly stopped in mid sentence.
Baylee halted his descent and looked up at the
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