Alone In The Dark

As he came to the middle of the hall, he stopped and stood in front of a nondescript sarcophagus, made of wood rather than stone or precious metals. Splitgrave had been fortunate in finding it before the damp air that had surrounded this coffin had done much damaged. The arms were crossed over the chest, the face bearded. A simple box, not adorned in the wealth of ages, but instead with seashells. Pretty, but not worth much. Then the eyes. These were luminous white pearls, brilliant white, staring at nothing.

Splitgrave traced a few arcane patterns on the coffin?s surface with a bony digit. "Daedridus the Seer," he intoned, "arise."

Vapor seeped out of the receptacle, coalescing into a transparent figure. The face was the same as that of the sarcophagus. Pearly blind eyes stared into space. "Belboz Splitgrave," said Daedridus the Seer. "I had assumed- pardon me, prayed- I would not live to see you again."

"And you have done neither. You are dead, and have seen nothing in 1200 years, seer,? sneered Belboz. ?And yet I find myself requiring your services all the same."

"Will wonders never cease. What has brought you to awaken me, then? Ah, but I already know these things. That is why you came, is it not?? Splitgrave said nothing, and Daedridus droned on regardless. "You seek the one who has been sent to end your life, to learn why you have not been destroyed. The knight Frederigo D'Honaire. I sensed his arrival. He has allowed the shrouded ones to pass onto the void, for which I am sure they would be grateful, excepting that they are no longer anything, having fallen into oblivion... He searches these very catacombs. You know them well, and you will find him near the Burning One's tomb. Still, he cannot answer the question of your continued existence. Nor can I. But know you have cheated death. The gambler who plays with his own life as the stakes, and wins, may not be welcomed back to the table. Your life has been taken, drawn away, Belboz Splitgrave..." Daedridus stopped. "I know no more. My vision is blocked."

"Damnation. Very well, I know some of what I require. Sleep once more, spirit, and trouble me no more." The ghostly seer nodded grimly, and faded into nothingness. Splitgrave muttered an incantation similar to the one he?d used to reach the mausoleum, and vanished.

This was clearly a place of the dead. Corpses sprawled in coffins, others stacked in alcoves, some even formed into grotesque candleholders and hanging from the ceiling like grinning gargoyles. There had to be some preserve charm upon them, for Fred smelled nothing, no stench of decay. There was only the musty smell that had dominated the vault containing Splitgrave's life. It was fortunate he had been given the chart, or Fred would have certainly been lost. The mausoleum was huge, and positively labyrinthine. Some of the portals leading into the 'danger' rooms were intriguing, lined with precious jewels embedded in the carved stone. Yet some other vaults marked with the red sigil were closed off by nothing more than a simple wooden door. Fred dared not try their locks. He would not have come so far just to die as a result of the wizard?s traps. But even with the chart, he had found nothing so far. Well, that was not actually so. He had found numerous relics amongst the dead. But were they cursed? Would they work against the dragon? How could he know for certain? More importantly, how would he get out of this place once he had located the proper talisman? The map was not forthcoming with an exit. The two Fred had passed were

Fred cursed and smashed an old skeleton apart, sending its skull toppling to the stone floor. The skull cracked in half, and a rat tumbled out. Fred was relieved to see the rodent. At least it was alive, unlike most of the company he'd been keeping. It blinked at him, then scurried off down the corridor. After a moment's hesitation, Fred followed the rat. If he was lucky, it would lead him to an exit, perhaps a crack in the wall he could enlarge and escape. "I wish- I mean, I?d like it if Astra were here," he muttered.

1. Sir Fred followed the rat.
2. The rat was too fast for him.

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