"This whole High Priest business certainly seems to involve an unpleasant amount of cleaning," Kay observed, languidly, to Lucius.

A soft smile spread across Lucius' smooth, gentle features. "I'm hardly a High Priest, my friend," he said as he swept the dust and dirt from the corners of the small church.

Kay sniffed. "Yes, well, I'm sure that an Assistant High Priest--or whatever it is that you are--shouldn't have to do so much cleaning, either."

"Followers of Ariadnus prefer to call their priests 'Shepherds'--" Lucius mildly reminded his friend.

"Oh, yes, I forgot what a charmingly pastoral religion you profess," Kay said, sarcastically.

Lucius ignored Kay's remark.". . . and I'm sure I don't have to do any more cleaning than an apprentice wizard such as yourself."

"Only because I must," Kay said, bitterly. "Why I have to work my fingers to bloody stumps when it is my mind that I am trying to cultivate is quite unfathomable to me. You, though, seem to actually like all of this manual labor." The tone with which Kay spoke the last two words made clear his utter contempt. He crossed his arms behind his head and attempted to find a more comfortable position on the pew. "By the way, you really should invest in some cushions for these things, I'm sure that even the peasants must find them wickedly uncomfortable."

"I think that the congregation are so intent on listening to the wisdom of Ariadnus that they don't even notice," Lucius said, amused by his friend's complaints. "And, yes, I do quite like doing my part to keep the temple pleasing to Ariadnus. As it is written: 'He who labors with his hands for one hour earns more grace than the man who says a thousand prayers.'"

Kay grumbled. "That sounds like something my slave-driver of a master would say. I think the only thing the first man is likely to earn is blisters."

"Oh, your master cannot be that demanding," Lucius said, "after all, he let you take some time off to visit me."

"Only because it was on the way to Blackwood Forest. You would think that the old man could just buy his death's-head mushrooms at the Wizard's Market like everyone else. But, oh no." Kay rolled his eyes. "He claims that they're too harshly handled during the trip from the forest to the market, so he has to have me go get them and waste precious study time traipsing about the forest at night, rutting in the mud like some hog. Considering the amount of money that father is paying him for the privilege of teaching a brilliant student such as myself, it is only fair that he allow me to make the trip somewhat worthwhile by permitting me to spend some time with my dear friend Lucius."

"Well, whatever the reason, I am glad you're here, my friend," Lucius said. "It's been a whole year since I finished my training at the Grand Temple of Ariadnus, you know."

"I still remember the first time I met you...you were looking for a copy of Gaius Caratacus' book, I think," Kay said. "I can still see that distraught expression on your face as you wandered about. How ironic, getting lost in your own Temple's library and relying on a stranger for help"

Lucius seemed to recall that it was Kay who had come to the Temple's library looking for Caratacus' work, as the Wizard's Academy in Carmatheon did not have a copy. Lucius remembered finding the young wizard wandering about the fourth floor of the maze-like library, hopelessly lost and too proud to ask for directions. Lucius did not remind Kay of any of this, however, he simply did as Ariadnus advised and let the wizard's comments bead up and flow off of him like rain on a waxy leaf.

Kay continued. "You know, I always wondered why an agricultural deity such as Ariadnus would have his main temple in the middle of a metropolis like Carmatheon."

"Well, when the Grand Temple was built five hundred years ago, Carmatheon was just a tiny village a mile or two east of the grounds," Lucius explained. "Over the course of time, though, the city grew at a phenomenal rate and engulfed the lands surrounding the Temple. Believe me, there have been several major efforts made to get the Temple relocated to a more rural setting, but so much history has taken place there that their attempts haven't come to much . . . so far."

Kay was about to comment on this, when his attention was drawn to the doorway of the church. The doors stood open, as they almost always did, and the outline of tall, broad shouldered man was silhouetted in the threshold.

Seeing Lucius, the figure made a deep bow. "Hail, Shepherd Lucius, wot ye whether Shepherd Antiochus be about?" The figure spoke in a tone which indicated the youth of the speaker. However, the strange manner in which the person spoke was that of several centuries previous.

"No, Rufus," Lucius replied, apparently taking no notice of the young man's strange dialect, "Shepherd Claudius in Lester has taken ill and Shepherd Antiochus went there to assist until he recovers. Is there anything I can help you with?"

"Verily, for my father hath unearthed a most mysterious and uncouth object in his field, and what portent it bringeth, he wot not," Rufus said in the same archaic manner.

"What sort of object?" Lucius asked.

"A skull, Shepherd Lucius," Rufus replied. "As thou art a man of great wit, wouldst thou come anon to my father's demesne? For, verily, if Shepherd Antiochus be far afield, I would fain have thee come in his stead."

"Certainly, Rufus," Lucius said. "Would it be alright if my friend Kay," the Shepherd indicated the mage, who rose to a less casual position on the pew, "were to come along as well? I think he may be able to help explain what a skull is doing in your father's field."

"Aye, verily a man who be a friend of a witty man like Shepherd Lucius needs must be passing witty himself," Rufus said.

"Alright, then," Lucius said. "There are a few things that I'd like to finish here before going to your father's, so why don't you head back there and wait for us?"

"Aye, I shall retire to my father's by and by and announce your coming." Saying this, Rufus departed, after giving Lucius another bow.

"What's Sir Anachronism's story?" a bewildered Kay asked Lucius after Rufus' departure.

"Hm?"

"Forsooth, me thinketh he speaketh like a pompous ass. Verily!" Kay said.

"Oh, that," Lucius said. "Well, as you might guess, there aren't many books in this village, so even though everyone is taught to read the Wisdom of Ariadnus when they are young, there is little else around for them to exercise their skills with. Well, I noticed that Rufus was always eager to hear the tales of heroes that the passing bards would recite at the inn, so I let him borrow my copy of King Cedric and his Loyal Knights. He enjoyed the stories of their virtuous deeds so much that he vowed to become a knight himself, one day. Ever since, he been trying to follow the rules of chivalry as closely as possible, and lately he's even adopted the speech of the knights in the book."

Kay snorted derisively. "As if a peasant like him could become a knight."

"'As the oyster has its pearl, so the man of humble appearance may have a soul of sparkling beauty'," Rufus said, quoting from the scriptures of Ariadnus.

"Perhaps," Kay languidly conceded, "but, most of the time, all you get from an oyster is a decent meal."

"If you don't wish to go to help him, Kay . . ."

"Oh, don't be silly." Kay rose from the bench and stretched his limbs. "This sounds like it could be even more amusing than that old woman who showed up yesterday claiming that there was a mushroom growing in her field that was the spitting image of St. Anastasia."

After Lucius finished his sweeping, the wizard and the priest left the church to meet up with Rufus, leaving the doors wide open behind them ("Like Ariadnus' heart," Lucius commented, piously, which elicited a rolling of the eyes from Kay). As the two traveled the mile of furrowed dirt road that led to the thatched-roof cottage of Rufus' family, Lucius enjoyed the glorious late summer weather. The sun smiled serenely down upon the palpitating fields of grain which lined the sides of the road. They saw the occasional peasant working, who invariably waved and smiled to the priest as he passed by. Kay, for his part, continually sniffled and wiped his nose, occasi nally muttering about the "wretched countryside".

Their destination was a humble structure of grey stone and brown wood. The white curtains on the few windows danced gaily in the breeze, and a black and white cat which lay on the grass by the entrance paused its bathing for a moment to eye Lucius and Kay suspiciously with its mysterious amber orbs. As they drew nearer, a cheerful young lad in a tattered brown tunic ran out to greet them, his unruly mop of blonde hair bouncing wildly about.

"Shepherd Lucius" the boy shouted with glee, clasping the young priest's legs in a tight embrace.

"Why, hello there, Joshua," Lucius said, smiling affectionately down at the boy as he gently patted his head. "How are you doing this fine day?"

"I'm doing great, sir! I bet you've come to see the skull, right? Ebel says that its the skull of a lich!"

"I wouldn't be a bit surprised," Kay said. "Even a lich would die of boredom in this place," he added in an undertone.

"Do you think it could be, sir? Do you?" Joshua eagerly asked Lucius.

"Well, we'll see, Joshua," Lucius soothingly responded. "Although I must admit I don't know of too many liches that existed in these parts."

"Not even in the time of King Cedric?" Joshua asked, looking a little crestfallen.

"Well, perhaps then," Lucius conceded playfully.

Joshua's eyes sparkled at the possibility.

"Now, Joshua, where's your father and brothers?" Lucius asked.

"They're in the new field with the skull," Joshua said.

"They didn't bother bringing into the house?" Kay asked.

"Nope," Joshua replied, "everyone was too scared to touch it, probably 'cause it's a lich's skull!"

"I'm sure, I'm sure," Lucius said with a laugh. "Can you take us to see it?"

"Yep, follow me." Joshua slipped into the waving rows of grain, the priest and the wizard following close behind.

After a few minutes of travel, they came upon a broad expanse of newly plowed field that ran along the shady forest from which it appeared to be recently reclaimed. At the far end, a group of young men conversed, and, at the sight of them, Joshua immediately broke into a run.

"Daddy, Daddy!" the boy called out as he ran, "Lucius is here to look at the lich's skull!"

"You realize, of course, that it's not a lich's skull," Kay confided to Lucius as they made their way towards the others.

"I know," Lucius agreed. "I've been around similar abominations before, and just being near them made feel...uneasy." Lucius shuddered at the memory. "I'm not getting that feeling now, but it's a shame that we have to disappoint the boy."

Kay rolled his eyes. He hates to disappoint the boy! Personally, I don't mind having the little brat feel a bit let down since the alternative involves an artifact that could kill everyone in this village. Oh, I do hate the living dead . . .

"So, who are all of these people, anyway?" Kay asked Lucius, deciding not to dwell on his aversion to reanimated corpses.

"Well, Rufus you met." Lucius gestured towards where the broad-shouldered youth watched Joshua's approach with a grin on his face. "The older gentleman is his father, Baynard." Lucius indicated a man, graying at the temples, who had the same athletic build as Rufus. Baynard scooped up Joshua as the lad ran towards him and the boy was soon perched on his father's shoulders, chatting animatedly. "The twins are Dornor and Ebel," Lucius said.

Dornor and Ebel must have had more of their mother's blood in them, Kay decided, for they were fairer and more deep-chested than either Baynard or Rufus.

"Which is which?" Kay asked.

"Dornor is the one in the red shirt, Ebel is in the brown," Lucius said.

Kay nodded, although he would probably forget the information in a moment, anyway. He was terrible at remembering things about people. Kay indicated a youth whose features hinted at a personality of mischief. "Who's the last young man?"

"That's Colin, Rufus' friend. He's a very interesting young man, although his story is rather a sad one."

"How so?"

"He used to live with his mother and father in the forest, hunting the game there and occasionally coming into the village to trade for grain and other things. But his father was killed by a wild boar a little over a year ago, and his mother died of fever six months later." Regret filled Lucius' voice. "I offered the lad the chance to come and live at the church, but he refused. He seems to be doing alright for himself, though." The priest's voice took on a thoughtful tone. "I think that he must be blessed by Ariadnus."

Hmm, living alone in some primeval wood, and Lucius considers him blessed? Kay thought. Cursed, more like.

"Good day, Shepherd," Baynard called to Lucius as he approached.

"Good day, Baynard. I've heard that you're digging up more than old tree roots in this new field of yours."

"Well, I think that some folks are making more fuss about it than its worth," Baynard said, looking up at Joshua who still sat atop his father's shoulders. "But I reckon that there's no harm in being cautious about such things. I sure wouldn't want to wind up cursed, you know?"

Typical superstitious peasant, Kay thought.

"So who's this fellow that you brought with you?" Baynard gestured to Kay.

"Oh, this is my friend Kay," Lucius said. "He's an apprentice wizard, so I thought his knowledge might be useful."

"A wizard, eh?" Baynard sounded skeptical.

Kay could understand the farmer's disbelief since he wore fine black breeches and a white silk shirt instead of the voluminous robes associated with his profession. Still, what does he expect? Does he think that I'm going to go traipsing through some rustic village in the full regalia of my School? It would be dreadfully hot, if nothing else.

"I'm sure that we'll be able to resolve this matter quickly," Kay said. "So, where is this object of wonder?" He injected a hint of his usual sarcasm into his voice.

"Right over there, by the plow," Baynard said, gesturing. "I was just plowing the field with Rufus, and he noticed that the plough kicked up something strange looking. Once we realized what it was, I sent Rufus to get you. Didn't want to touch the thing, 'cause, like I said, I didn't want to end up cursed."

"Quite," Kay said. "Well, let's have a look, shall we, Lucius?"

The two approached the plough and found the skull grinning back at them as it lay in the furrow about twenty feet behind the implement. Kay casually bent down and picked the skull up, gasps of shock arising behind him. Kay briefly wondered how the others would react if he suddenly dropped the skull, grabbed his hand, and screamed 'The lich... he's trying to take over my soul', but dismissed the idea as childish.

"That's certainly been buried for some time," Lucius commented as he examined the skull. "Hm?" Kay said, drawn from his thoughts of malicious pranks. "Oh, yes, at least several centuries, I would think."

"What are those metal pieces on it?" Lucius asked.

"The remains of a helm, I'd guess." Kay brought the skull close to his face to get a better look at it. "Interesting, judging from the design, I would guess that this is from the time of the Novaeni Kingdoms."

"The Novaeni?" Rufus asked. "Wot ye what sort of folk they were?"

"Rufus, quit talking like a damn fool," Baynard said to the youth.

"Yes, sir," Rufus replied, embarrassed. "Do you know anything about the Novaeni?"

"This whole area used to be ruled by them, back before the Paynim invasions," Kay said. "The Novaeni were at the height of their power about six hundred years ago, under the leadership of King Alrek. Before that time, the Novaeni were made up of scattered petty principalities, but it was Alrek who united them into one state--the Kingdom of Gardar, they called it." Kay looked at the skull in his hand thoughtfully. "It's possible that this skull belongs to a warrior who fought in those very wars of unification, although I would need to see more remains to be certain."

"Kay, is there something etched on that band of metal?" Lucius asked, pointing.

"Yes...I think you're right."

Kay squinted at the object in his hand. Unsheathing the dagger on his hip, Kay used the blade to work out the centuries of dirt and rust that had encrusted themselves in an obscuring mass on the metal. His effort revealed a crudely designed symbol, which seemed to depict a snake wrapping itself around a sword.

"Amazing."

"What is it, Kay?" Lucius asked.

Instead of answering the question, Kay began to sift through the dirt of the furrow near where the skull had lain. After a minute, he triumphantly held up a vertebrae.

"Baynard, get some shovels, some horse brushes, and several large buckets of water," Kay said. "We are going to have to carefully excavate this site."

Baynard gave Lucius a questioning look, but the Shepherd merely nodded his assent.

"What's going on, Kay?" Lucius asked again as Baynard, his sons, and Colin went to fulfill the wizard's request.

"I'm not positive, yet." A greedy smile passed over Kay's features. "If this skull belongs to who I think it does . . ."

It didn't take long for the items Kay requested to be gathered. The next few hours were spent searching the dirt near the spot of the skull's discovery, new objects being unearthed every few minutes. Kay grew more and more excited all the while, until, after taking some time to examine a pitted sword blade that had been found, he called everyone's exertions to a halt.

"There's no question in my mind any longer," Kay said. "We have found the grave of Vilhjam, son of Jatgeir."

"And we're supposed to care, because...?" Colin asked.

The wizard gave an exasperated sigh. "I keep forgetting that I'm not dealing with fellow scholars. Vilhjam, son of Jatgeir, was the greatest warrior in the service of King Alrek, Colin. There are many legends about how he helped Alrek unite the Novaeni tribes."

"That's great, dad" Dornor said to Baynard. "We'll probably have scholars coming from all over the kingdom just to see this"

"Er, I don't know about that," Lucius said. "We're going to have to rebury him, because keeping the dead out of the earth is displeasing to Ariadnus."

"I wouldn't worry about that, Lucius," Kay said. "If scholars come here, it won't be to see this."

"What do you mean, Kay?" Lucius asked.

"I see that you've forgotten how the legend of Vilhjam ends."

"Well, I suppose so," Lucius said. "I never did study the Novaeni myths as closely as you, my friend."

"Allow me to refresh your memory, then," Kay said. "Now, as one might expect, being such a successful warrior, Vilhjam was loved by most of the Novaeni people...but not all. The legends tell us that one man--Thorgerd, son of Gizr, son of Hunard, who was a famous Berserker in the service of King Alrek--hated Vilhjam. Partly, this was because Vilhjam had married Gudrun--daughter of one of Alrek's richest nobles and also considered to be the fairest woman in the kingdom--whom Thorgerd had long coveted for himself. Thorgerd's hatred also was inflamed because Thorgerd felt that Vilhjam had displaced him as King Alrek's most favored warrior.

"This all came to a climax a few months after Vilhjam and Gudrun's wedding. You see, King Alrek died suddenly--poisoned by his brother, although that is not important to this story. As you can imagine, a splendid funeral was held for the King, with a week's worth of feasting and games. The culmination of all of this was the Grand Melee. This was a charming little event, in which all of the greatest warriors in the kingdom fought against one another until only one was left standing.

"Incidentally, this sort of thing probably contributed to the rapid decline of the Kingdom of Gardar. These sorts of contests were obviously a tremendous waste of manpower, which no doubt led to a declining birthrate, which, in turn, would have a devastating impact on the economy of a society so dependent on manual labor. Thus, when the Paynim invaded two centuries later..."

"Uh, Wizard Kay, sir," Joshua said, hesitantly, "could you please get back to the story?"

"Oh, fine." Irritation laced Kay's voice. "The General Melee was the first chance that Thorgerd and Vilhjam had to face each other since Vilhjam's marriage to Gudrun. Thorgerd, of course, was determined to kill his rival. The two men quickly dispatched the other warriors in the contest, and soon found themselves facing each other for the gold belt that was the prize for victory. Then there ensued the usual smiting and cleaving of helms and such--which I'm sure you would have enjoyed immensely, Rufus--that supposedly lasted for three days without pause. Eventually, though, Thorgerd struck a mighty blow with his axe against Vilhjam's head, but the haft of the axe broke, so the blow did not kill Vilhjam, and Vilhjam was able to disembowel the now weaponless berserker. So Vilhjam lived to win his belt of gold."

"And I bet he went home to his wife and lived happily ever after," Joshua said.

"Well, no, actually," Kay said. "He died from the wounds he had received from Thorgerd the next day as he began his journey home. Ah, those Novaeni certainly loved a bittersweet ending."

"Like I said, Kay, what does all of this have to do with us?" Colin asked.

"Don't you see the implications? Vilhjam died after traveling only a few miles from Alrek's tomb." Kay pointed to the partially assembled skeleton lying at their feet. "That is Vilhjam. Therefore, the barrow of King Alrek is somewhere within a few miles of this spot."

Kay waited a few moments for his words to sink in.

"Why are you so sure that pile of bones is Vilhjam?" Baynard asked.

"Look at this sword." Kay picked up the rusted remnants of the weapon. "See these runes here? The spell out 'Dragvandil', which was the name of Vilhjam's weapon. Also, the mark etched into that skull's helm is Vilhjam personal symbol. Finally, look at this belt." Kay picked up a rotting piece of leather with metal plates sewn into it. It was rather unremarkable, except that its large buckle gleamed with the yellow purity of its gold. "This is undoubtedly the prize that Vilhjam won at the funeral games of King Alrek."

"Oh, come on," Colin said. "I thought you said that he won a belt of gold, not a belt with a buckle of gold."

"Aye," Rufus agreed. "'Tis not passing good evidence, I wot...er, I mean, that's not really convincing proof."

His irritation caused Kay to respond in a sharp tone. "Myths exaggerate, that's why we call them 'myths'. Besides, I think the fact that these runes carved on this plate say 'To the victor of the Grand Melee at the funeral games of King Alrek' should be 'passing good evidence', don't you agree, Rufus?"

"But, Kay, don't you think that someone would have looted the tomb by now?" Lucius' words, gently delivered, generated nods of agreement from the others.

"I don't think so," Kay said. "King Alrek's grave was located within sight of his castle, so while that stronghold was inhabited, it wouldn't be easy to plunder the barrow without attracting attention. The Paynim invaders had completely different burial customs than the Novaeni. They would incinerate their dead and scatter the ashes, so, even if they knew that the barrow was a tomb and not just a normal hill, it probably wouldn't even occur to them that valuables might be hidden there, since such a practice was so contrary to their own. Finally, by the time that the Paynim were, in turn, conquered by our ancestors, the location of King Alrek's barrow was forgotten. It has only been in the past half-century that the old Novaeni legends were rediscovered. So, I think that there's actually a good chance of finding the tomb intact."

"How are we supposed to find this place, then?" Colin asked.

"Well, Colin, I've heard that you know this forest as well as anyone," Kay said. "Five centuries will have weathered the King's barrow somewhat, but I don't think that we will have trouble spotting it if we can find a vantage point that gives us a good view of the area."

"There's Bald Hill," Colin said. "It's about three miles away from here. There aren't any easy paths to it, but that's the only place I know with the kind of view that you're looking for."

"There it is, then," Kay said. "Are you up for a little adventure, Lucius?"

"I don't know, Kay," Lucius replied. "I don't think that Ariadnus would look favorably on breaking into someone's grave. It's bad enough that we've had to separate Vilhjam from Ariadnus' embrace, but I think that He will forgive us for that because we only came across him by accident. But to purposely go out and unearth someone . . . I think that Ariadnus will be much less understanding of that."

"Lucius, what's the problem?" Kay asked, drawing close and speaking for the Shepherd's ears only. "I thought that once the flesh had been completely absorbed back into the earth, the soul was considered to be free to return to Ariadnus, right?"

"That's true, but . . ."

"And what about that little boy?" Kay asked, glancing at Joshua. "He's has no shoes and that tunic is older than he is. Just think what a fraction of the treasure in that tomb could do for him and his family--for this entire village, even. Don't you wonder why it is that Baynard was the one who came across that skull? You talk about Ariadnus smiling on people, what better example could there be than this? A hard-working farmer coming across a source of wealth while tending his fields? It's a sign from your god, Lucius." Kay found it hard not to laugh as he said this, since he had the piety of an average stone.

"I never could win an argument with you, Kay," Lucius said, smiling faintly.

"That's only because I'm always right, my friend," Kay replied with a smile of his own.

"What do you think, Shepherd Lucius?" asked Rufus.

"I suppose it will be alright as long as we show the proper respect," Lucius replied.

"I don't think that all of us should go," Kay said. "It might be dangerous for the young ones and attract too much attention from the other villagers--we don't want a lot of strangers stomping all over the barrow, right? So, I think that Lucius, Colin, Rufus, and I should be enough."

"Alright," Baynard said. "I need to finish plowing this field, anyway."

"But, dad . . ." The words came from Joshua as a whine.

"No, 'buts', lad," Baynard said. "You'll be much more helpful to me than to your brother."

"Yes, sir," Joshua said, crestfallen.

"Don't worry, Josh." Rufus squatted down before his brother. "I'll bring back a sword or something for you. Who knows? Maybe I'll find a real lich's skull. Just make sure that you're helpful to dad."

"You bet." Joshua looked considerably more cheerful.

After discussing what supplies they might require, the men split up to obtain what they needed, and planed to meet up at the church. Lucius insisted that they gather up the remains of Vilhjam so that he could be given a proper burial in the village graveyard later that day.

It didn't take them long to acquire the necessary equipment, although it did require Lucius' personal intervention to get the village blacksmith to loan them his spare hammer. Soon, they were making their way down the rutted ribbon of road that led out of the village and deeper into the surrounding forest, Colin confidently leading the way, using the haft of his boar spear like a walking staff. After journeying a few miles, Colin suddenly left the road and threaded his way through the majestic trees and clutching undergrowth of the forest. Kay thought that the going was not particularly tough, but he wondered how Colin knew where they were going. Every direction in which Kay looked presented the same view of endless wood, and the leafy canopy formed by the ancient trees obscured the sun's position. At that moment, though, Kay stumbled and almost fell over an exposed root and decided that he had best pay more attention to what his feet were doing.

After about two more miles of walking through the woods, the trees suddenly fell away, revealing a large meadow filled with waist-high grass that rippled serenely in a gentle breeze. In the center of the meadow rose a large, flat-topped mound, probably a half-mile in diameter and one hundred feet tall at its plateau-like crown. Kay didn't need Colin to tell him that this was the Bald Hill that they were looking for.

"Interesting," the wizard mused aloud as the group waded their way through the tall grass to the hill.

"What is, Kay?" Lucius asked.

"Don't you think that it's a bit strange for a hill of this size to suddenly sprout up here when the surrounding area is as flat as a book?" Kay asked in return.

"Hmm, I suppose that is a bit unusual, but what do you think it means?"

"Well, look at it." Kay gestured at the mound. "It looks far too symmetrical to be a natural occurrence. My guess is that we're looking at the motte of King Alrek's castle."

"Aye," Rufus said after a thoughtful look at the hill. "Ye wit much, wizard."

"Pardon my ignorance, but what, exactly, is a 'motte'?" Colin asked.

"An artificial hill," Kay replied in a scholarly tone. "The builders would create this mound, and then they would build two wooden palisades, one around the periphery of the summit and one around the base of the hill. Despite its crudity, it was actually quite effective, especially compared to the other fortification options available at the time. The timbers used to build the palisades obviously have rotted away with the passing of centuries, but we could still probably find their remains if we bothered to dig."

"Didn't you say that this King Alrek was buried within sight of his castle?" Colin asked.

"Yes," Kay said. "It should be simplicity itself to spot his barrow from the summit."

Kay's confidence was validated when he spotted a suspicious looking terrain feature after only a few minutes of scanning the surrounding area.

The wizard called out and pointed: "Hah, there."

"Where?" Lucius squinted, looking in the direction Kay indicated.

"See those trees to the south that are slightly higher than the others?" Kay indicated a circular patch about one hundred yards in diameter. "That looks highly suspect to me. Note that the trees are younger than the ones around them, yet they are taller. I would guess that they're gaining that height because they are growing on top of something."

"Something like a barrow mound?" Colin asked.

"Quite," Kay said.

Rufus could not contain his enthusiasm. "Let us be off then. We shan't wot what it is ere we examine it."

"Indeed." Kay started off down the hill. "We should approach it from the east. The Novaeni would have lined the entrance up with the rising sun."

Moving through the forest, they discovered that the young trees were indeed growing on top of a mound of earth, about ten feet in height and a hundred yards long. Coming from the east, as Kay suggested, they found nothing, at first, but bushes and dirt. However, a little work with the shovels that they had brought revealed a large, stone slab in the side of the mound.

"I knew it" Kay exclaimed, hurriedly brushing loose dirt off of the slab with his hands. A little more work revealed that the slab was massive, about seven foot square and four inches thick. It took about fifteen minutes of work to expose enough of it for them to pry it free and send it tumbling down the side of the mound. With the slab removed, a six foot square opening yawned before them. Colin and Rufus gripped their boar spears nervously, half-expecting something to burst out of the depths of the barrow, but all that emerged from the opening was the disturbing stench of musty earth and old bones. Kay, though, seemed too excited to share in their apprehension, and he hurriedly lit two of the lanterns that they had brought with them from the village, handing one to Lucius while he kept the other.

"Let's see what we can see." Kay thrust his lantern into the sable darkness.

The light revealed walls that were green with moss and damp with the wetness of decaying earth. The stone-lined passage slanted sharply downwards for about twenty feet, and then it leveled off, the slant of the passage blocking their view any farther than that.

"I'll proceed first," Rufus said, boldly stepping into the passage.

Kay followed quickly after and then came Colin and Lucius. When they reached the level portion of the passage, they saw that, about twenty feet ahead, there was a couple of doorways in the passage, one on either side. Rufus, obviously intrigued by the chambers, was about to take a step towards them when Kay laid a restraining hand on his shoulder.

"Don't be a fool," Kay said. "Do you think that the Novaeni would make it this easy to enter their King's grave?"

Snatching Rufus' spear, Kay thrust it against the floor immediately ahead of them. The butt of the weapon easily shattered the "stone" of the floor, revealing it to be no more than cunningly painted wood. A few more strategically placed hits from the spear, and an entire twelve foot section of the floor collapsed. Kay shone the lantern down into the exposed space, revealing the rows of rusty spear points which protruded from the ground, twenty feet below.

"How did you know, Kay?" Lucius asked.

"Oh, it's a standard feature of Novaeni tomb design," Kay said, dismissively. "They were always very skillful in the way that they built these things--as you can see from that exquisite camouflage on the fake floor--but, fortunately, not very imaginative. Once you've seen one, you've pretty much seen them all."

"How are we going to get across that gap, though?" Colin asked. "If the ceiling wasn't so low, I might be able to jump it, but . . . Isn't there anything you can do, wizard? Like float us across it, or something?"

"Float you across it?" Kay asked indignantly. "Look, reversing gravitational constants is not exactly easy, even for a small area."

"Sorry, I didn't--"

Kay interrupted Colin. "However, since I was expecting exactly this sort of obstacle, I came prepared." Kay rummaged in his sack and soon produced a large coil of sturdy rope, a lead weight about half the size of a fist, and a small, opaque jar.

"The rope might be useful, Kay," Lucius said, "but I don't see anything to attach it to."

"Just watch."

Kay tied the small weight to one end of the rope. He then measured off about twenty feet of rope and cut it. Next, he opened the jar, which contained some foul smelling white mixture with a pasty texture. Kay dipped the lead weight into the jar, liberally coating it with the substance. Lucius noted that the wizard was extremely careful not to come into contact with it. When this was done, he casually twirled the weighted end of the rope around a few times and then released it, sending it flying across the chasm. The weight struck the ceiling on the opposite side of the pit and stuck there as if it had been nailed. Kay then dipped the other end of the rope in the jar and stuck it to the ceiling on their side of the pit.

"That ointment hath a strange puissance," Rufus said, "What be it?"

"It's an alchemical adhesive," Kay replied, carefully closing the jar and returning it to his pack.

"That's great, but surely it's not strong enough to hold our--" As Colin spoke, Kay took a firm grip on the rope and began to make a hand-over-hand trip across the yawning hole in the floor. " . . . weight."

It didn't take the others long to join Kay on the other side. Once there, their lanterns revealed more of the tunnel, and they noticed that there were two additional side chambers a bit further down.

"I bet there's treasure in there," Colin said, taking a step towards one of the rooms.

"I wouldn't bother." Kay carefully probed the floor with Rufus' spear, looking for another pit. "Why?" Colin asked as he thrust the lantern into the room.

Five skeletal faces grinned back at him.

"Ariadnus save me!" Colin shouted as leaped back from the doorway.

"I told you," Kay said, amused.

"Who were they?" Colin asked, cautiously peering into the room once more.

The five skeletons were laid out on a large slab of stone. Colin could see the decayed remains of ropes binding the yellowed bones of their wrists and ankles to the block. The way that the bones were contorted in weird positions hinted that they weren't yet dead when they had been placed in the chamber.

"I may have mentioned that King Alrek was murdered by his brother," Kay said. "Well, there were other nobles involved in the plot--nineteen, to be exact. Vilhjam, however, quickly rounded all of them up before they could seize control of the kingdom, and they were buried here with the King. Somehow, I think that they didn't particularly appreciate the honor."

Colin shivered and turned away.

"Did you find another pit?" Lucius asked Kay.

"No, actually," Kay said, returning the spear to Rufus. "Which is a bit strange, since you usually see at least two traps in the tombs of the Novaeni ruling classes. Perhaps it's because of . . . well, no need to worry about that, I suppose," he muttered to himself.

"Worry about what?" Rufus asked.

"Nothing, I assure you," Kay replied, confidently.

"Kay--" Lucius was interrupted by Colin.

"What's that, do you think?" Colin pointed at a spot on the wall, just past the second set of side chambers, where a two inch gap appeared between the stones. "It looks like it goes all the way from the floor to the ceiling."

"Aye, t'other wall be similarly marred," Rufus said

Lucius considered the gap. "It reminds me of the legend of Pahlavi. I think that he came across something similar while breaking into palace of the Shah of Ahranabad. When he tried to cross a certain corridor, a huge blade sprang out of the wall and almost sliced him in half."

"Please, Lucius, that story was written a century later and a thousand miles to the east," Kay said, dismissively. "It's just a gap in the mortar created by the settling of the earth that this barrow is built upon." With that he took a bold step forward.

Everyone heard the metallic click, and Rufus instinctively grabbed the wizard by his collar and dragged him backwards. It was good that he did so, for something huge and metallic whooshed through the space that Kay had occupied a moment before.

"You were saying, wizard?" Colin asked, smugly.

Kay didn't respond, only muttered something to himself about "reevaluating the trading links between Ahranabad and the Novaeni."

"Now what?" Lucius asked.

"We all heard the click before that blade came out," Colin said. "There seems to be enough of a gap that we could probably run across the space before the blade came out."

"That seemeth ill-advised," Rufus said.

"To say the least," Kay agreed.

"What do you suggest, then?" Colin asked.

In reply, the wizard browsed through his backpack and produced a small metal box. He opened the box, showing it to contain a dozen or so small, round objects carefully wrapped in soft cloth. Kay unwrapped one of the objects, revealing it to be an opaque glass sphere, the size of a hen's egg.

"What's that, Kay?" Lucius asked.

"It contains the same adhesive I used to secure the rope to the ceiling." Kay casually tossed the sphere at the gap in the wall where the giant blade had disappeared. The sphere shattered, as one would expect, blocking a few inches of the crack with its pasty contents. Kay counted to thirty before, once again, walking towards the spot. They all heard the click again, but, this time, the blade crashed against the now solidified adhesive and moved no more.

"Shall we proceed, gentlemen?" Kay asked, a smug look on his face. Holding his lantern aloft, he headed further down the corridor.

"Charming friend of yours, Shepherd," Colin said to Lucius. "Can't you do something about that attitude?"

Lucius, however, just smiled patiently. "'The harder you pull on the ass' reigns, the more likely he will go in the opposite direction.' It's best to let him find the error of his ways on his own."

"If you say so, Shepherd," Colin replied, somewhat incredulously, before following after Kay.

Their journey was abruptly halted by a stone wall fifty feet later.

"What's this?" Colin asked. "Shouldn't the tomb of King Alrek at least contain King Alrek?"

"I see that the wall has fulfilled its purpose of discouraging the foolish," Kay snapped. "The burial chamber is behind it."

"But how do we get to it?" Colin asked.

"This is why I had Rufus bring the smith's hammer," Kay said. "The passing of the centuries should have weakened the mortar considerably. If you could, Rufus?"

"Aye." Rufus unstrapped the massive hammer from his back.

It took the athletic youth only a few blows before the brittle mortar gave way, and a few of the wall's round, grey stones fell to the floor with a cacophony likely to wake the dead. As the stones fell to the earth, an icy breeze swirled around them and Colin cursed as both lanterns were extinguished. The foursome found that they could still see, however, due to a frosty blue light that emanated from hitherto unnoticed runes carved into the rocks of the wall.

"Oh, dear," Kay said, thoughtfully, "I had rather expected that the strength of that enchantment would have dissipated by now. This might be . . . unpleasant."

"What do you mean unpleasant?" Colin asked, an edge of hysteria in his voice. "Did we get cursed, or something?"

"Well...," Kay began.

That was when they heard the scraping.

It began quietly, at first, no louder than a gentle breeze rustling autumn leaves. The sound quickly gained volume, however, until it sounded more like a gale ripping through the branches of a forest. Other sounds could be discerned, too, such as a creaking, like that of a ship's planks as the vessel passes from swell to swell. Finally, a chattering could be heard, like that of a dozen rats working their way across a wooden floor.

"I feel something . . . unclean approaching." Lucius shivered, his voice barely a whisper.

Kay relit his lantern and held it aloft, illuminating the eyeless sockets of the first skeleton. The thing walked towards them, groping the air eagerly with its claw-like fingers and moving its jaw up and down as if it were already grinding a bloody morsel of their flesh between its black teeth.

"Ariadnus save us!" Colin cried out.

"Calm thyself, Colin," Rufus said. "The true warrior knows no fear, even when facing such as these." Even Rufus, though, was pale as he put down the hammer and picked up his spear.

"Can't you do something, Kay?" Colin asked, as more skeletons came into view, approaching slowly but inexorably.

Kay didn't reply, but he began to chant in some strange tongue and weave his hands in an intricate dance. Colin's heart brightened. He expected the wizard to burn the approaching dead with fire, or blast them with lightning. He was, therefore, rather disappointed when none of that occurred. Turning to say a harsh word at Kay, Colin gasped as he saw that the wizard no longer stood behind him.

"He hath vanished," Rufus said.

"The coward" Colin said.

"Sorry," Kay's disembodied voice said from somewhere behind Colin, "but I haven't learned any offensive spells yet."

"Don't worry," Lucius said, picking up the hammer that Rufus had just put down. "We have Ariadnus' blessing...we can defeat these vile things."

"Aye," Rufus said fervently, rushing forward to meet the first of the creatures.

The young man bravely thrust his spear into the breast bone of the skeleton, but his spear skidded off as if he had struck a steel plate. Another skeleton lunged at him with its rotting claws, and it would have grabbed Rufus, had not Colin leaped forward and thrust his spear into it. Like Rufus, Colin's spearpoint skidded off one of the thing's bones, but, as it did so, it slipped between two the skeletons ribs. The spear sunk in until the crosspiece, which was about two feet down from the point, came up against the creature's ribs and prevented the spear from going any further. Colin soon noticed that the crosspiece also prevented the creature from getting any closer to him.

"Marvelous, Colin" Rufus exclaimed, and adopted in similar tactic.

Soon, they each had a grasping skeleton pinned on their spear, but that did not help them in any way from escaping their predicament.

"Interesting." Colin was surprised to note that Kay's voice seemed to come from among the skeletons. "I think I was correct that the passing of time weakened the spell upon the tomb. These creatures only seem capable of finding their victims based on sight."

"Somehow that's not very comforting." Colin tried to avoid the mold-covered claws of the skeleton impaled on his spear. "There must be a hundred of them"

"Hardly, there's only the twenty nobles that were buried with King Alrek." Kay's voice seemed to be even further away now.

"You'd better not be leaving us!" Colin said.

Colin heard nothing back from Kay. However, just as Colin was cursing Kay for getting them into this disaster, an acrid odor stung his nostrils. As he wondered what it was, the giant blade that they had imprisoned in the wall came loose and crashed into a pair of skeletons, shattered them like they were glass figurines. To Colin's amazement, another pair of skeletons obtusely walked into the trap and were immediately smashed like the pair that proceeded them. Colin felt sure that the trap would finish off all of the skeletons that had not yet passed it.

Unfortunately, that still left half of the things for them to fight.

As Colin despaired, he felt Lucius pushing past him, bringing the heavy hammer he held crashing down on the head of the skeleton that Colin was keeping at bay. The thing's skull splintered like an eggshell, and the rest of the skeleton instantly collapsed to the floor like a marionette with its strings cut.

Colin had little time to rejoice, because another skeleton leapt forward to take the place of the one that had just fallen. Colin managed to pinion the thing with his spear, but not before it left five bloody trails across his chest. A glance to his right informed him that Rufus and Lucius weren't doing much better. Rufus still struggled with the same skeleton. Lucius tried to finish it off with the hammer, but a third skeleton grabbed onto his arm. That skeleton would have bitten a huge chunk out of the Shepherd, had not Lucius managed to jam the haft of the hammer between its jaws. Colin felt that they were still doomed--there were still too many of the skeletons.

The sound of shattering glass came to Colin's ears, and one of the skeletons at the back of the pack suddenly stopped as if its feet were nailed to the floor. Colin thought of Kay's spheres of adhesive and suddenly realized what had happened. Colin looked to his right just in time to see Lucius crush the skull of the skeleton which Rufus was fighting. Colin heard more shattering glass as Lucius finished off the horror that Colin struggled with. As Colin watched the skeleton collapse, he noticed that all of the remaining nightmares seemed to be stuck in place, though they still grasped towards the humans. One of them managed to free itself--at the cost of ripping its own left leg off. As the legless skeleton crawled towards Colin, he dropped his spear and unslung his axe from his back. One grim blow and the skeleton was no longer crawling.

"That's the last of them," a relieved Lucius said, a few minutes later, as he shattered the head of the one remaining skeleton.

"Thank Ariadnus." Colin dropped his axe amid the assorted bones and slumping against the wall. The crimson slices across his chest burned painfully. He noticed that Lucius had a matching set of marks on his arm and Rufus had a wicked looking gash on his cheek.

"Well, I suppose that could have been worse," Kay said, materializing a few feet away from Colin.

The wizard, of course, bore not even the slightest scrape from the encounter. Colin was tempted to make a harsh remark about this, but held his tongue. Despite Kay's grating personality, the wizard had helped them fight when he could have easily abandoned them. Kay eagerly headed towards the breached entrance to Alrek's burial chamber and Colin noted that, at some point during the battle, the blue runes on the stones had faded from view.

"Wait a bit, Kay," Lucius called to the wizard. The Shepherd rummaged through his pack and produced some bandages. "I must see to Colin and Rufus' wounds."

"Oh, of course," Kay said, absently, as he begin to work his fingers against the loose stone, slowly trying to pry the wall apart.

By the time Lucius had tended to Rufus and Colin (and Rufus had tended to the protesting Shepherd), Kay had created an opening large enough for them to pass through.

"Well, shall we see what wonders lie beyond?" The wizard, lantern in hand, eagerly stepped over the remains of the wall and into the room beyond, the others following close behind.

The space on the other side of the wall was a twenty foot cube. In the center stood a stone bier, seven feet long and three feet wide. The bier, however, did not seem to have any occupant. In fact, except for some assorted pottery--most of it broken--and a lone skeleton crumpled in one corner, the room was empty.

"I am astonished!" Rufus said. "Wizard, what covin is this? The tomb is despoiled!"

"What's going on, Kay?" Colin asked. "Where's King Alrek? More importantly, where's his gold?"

"I'm afraid that may be King Alrek." Kay indicated the skeleton in the corner. "But I don't understand! How could looters gain access to the tomb without disturbing the traps?"

Lucius grabbed the wizard's arm and indicating the ceiling. "Kay, look up there."

Kay shifted his grip on the lantern that he held so that more of its light bathed the ceiling. The extra illumination revealed a spot in the center of the ceiling where the stonework had been pierced and then crudely patched. It had obviously been done centuries ago.

"Oh, I see," Kay said. "That was a clever idea . . . "

"Well, why didn't you think of it, then?" Colin asked.

"Hmph, it's not like I'm a professional grave robber, you know," Kay replied.

Colin groaned in frustration. "I can't believe we just fought those skeletons for nothing"

"Not for nothing, Colin," Lucius said, soothingly. "Ariadnus will be pleased that we removed such abominations from the world."

"Aye," Rufus said, heartily. "Mayhap a minstrel will make a passing fair ballad of this."

"Maybe," Colin said, not sounding particularly convinced. "But in those bard songs the heroes always walk away with some great treasure . . . all we have are these stupid pots!" Colin pulled his leg back to kick one of the few intact vessels, a large urn about three feet in height.

"Wait!" Kay shouted, and Colin almost lost his balance as he abruptly halted his action.

"What? Is it trapped, or something?" Colin asked, confused.

"No . . . at least I don't think so," Kay said. "However, it just occurred to me that the intact pieces of pottery are worth a fortune"

"Verily?" an amazed Rufus asked.

"Wait a minute," Colin said. "If they're so valuable, why didn't the people who robbed this place take them?"

"Because they weren't six hundred years old then," Kay said. "Because of the Paynim invasions, there's very few good examples of Novaeni pottery around, and none so large as these."

"Ah, excellent thinking, Kay," Lucius said.

"Well, its not exactly gold and jewels, but if they're worth a mound of coin, then I guess I can't complain," Colin said.

Colin, however, soon changed this opinion. The big pieces of earthenware turned out to be abominably heavy, and, for most of the journey back to the village, Colin did nothing but curse wizards and their strange ideas about what constituted good treasure.