Tales & Treasure Chapter 39

Vidmar - Greco's Crown

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Vidmar found an opening. All he needed to do was squeeze through the narrow passageway, and Greco's crown would be his, or so he hoped. Unfortunately, the cave had other ideas. His forearm caught on a sharp rock as he pushed himself deeper into the tight, dark cavity; a jagged mineral dug into his arm as he tried to pull free. After a few choice words and a firm yank, the cave relinquished, yielding a jacket sleeve torn to the cuff and a deep finger-length gash in his forearm.

Blood poured from the wound like water from a spring. His arm throbbed with pain, his rough, tanned skin turning a deep shade of crimson. Vidmar tried to tear his ruined sleeve from his wounded arm but couldn't grip the slippery fabric with his crippled hand. 

"Kamet, I need a little help," he said, running up to the big mercenary, who absently examined a stalactite with a lantern. 

"Gods, what happened?" Kamet said, looking at the wound. 

"Does it matter? Just rip the sleeve off and apply a tourniquet," Vidmar said, pointing above his elbow. 

"You're getting clumsy in your old age," Kamet said. After some effort, Kamet fastened a makeshift tourniquet. The bleeding slowed. He cleaned the wound with a generous pour of wine from his waterskin; any pour of wine, not into his mouth, was a generous pour for Kamet. 

Vidmar hissed as the alcohol cleansed the tender laceration. 

Kamet laughed. "I have to say. You look pretty dumb with one sleeve and half your fingers."

"Still good enough for your mother."

Kamet scowled, then poked Vidmar's wound. "What did I tell you about my mother?"

Vidmar laughed, but the vibrations stabbed at his cut. "Do you have a bandage?" 

"No."

"You brought enough wine to start a tavern, but you didn't bring a bandage," Vidmar said, gesturing for a drink of the wine. Kamet obliged. 

"You didn't bring one either."

Vidmar exhaled. "I had other things on my mind. Use this." He pointed to his other jacket sleeve. What good is a jacket with one sleeve? Kamet didn't hesitate; he ripped the sleeve off in one smooth swipe. It was a sloppy bandage, but eventually, the bleeding stopped. 

Vidmar needed to focus. He didn't know how long they had been searching in the mysterious woods: an hour, a day, a week. Time seemed to move strangely in the thick air of the Kokor. It didn't matter. Whatever the length was, it was too long. He didn't remember why they entered the cave, only that it felt right. He felt pulled toward it. The forest will guide you, Hobb's words echoed in his head. Vidmar thought the farmer was full of shit, but he hadn't been wrong yet. Whenever he felt lost, an opening would appear, or a breeze would push him from behind. I'm going crazy, Vidmar thought, rubbing his arm. 

He almost hit his head on a long, serrated stalactite. A reflexive dodge jerked his whole body sideways, his head tilting as the rock almost trimmed his unusually long beard. His feet crossed and danced to keep himself from falling, a nearly flawless evasive maneuver that ended with his left foot in a shallow puddle, splashing cool water up to his knees.

Kamet laughed. "Graceful." His laughter was energizing in the cold cave. 

"Great," Vidmar said, wiping water beads off his damp pants. "We should have kept our heads down and stayed in the army."

"Where's the adventure in that?" Kamet said almost seriously. "I'd rather follow you than that washed-up king any day. Even if it means dying in this forest searching for a crown that probably doesn't exist."

Vidmar nudged Kamet. "Beats guard duty."

"Aye. It does."

Despite the gash in his arm, his ruined jacket, and wet pants, Vidmar smirked; he would find the crown. The forest will guide me. Fucking Hobb. Well, here I am, cut, damp, and lost, dreading leaving this cave for the forest that lurks outside. Now, where do I go?

They walked further into the cave, crouching as its ceiling gradually lowered. A shoulder-width pathway revealed itself to Vidmar's right. He numbly ran his bloody hand over the smooth rock, creating a ruby-colored handprint to mark his way in case they needed to backtrack. He slid sideways as he ventured deeper into the passageway. The tunnel became tighter and tighter. Vidmar sucked in his already thin stomach for extra room. 

"I'm not going to fit through there," Kamet said. 

"Alright, then you're on guard duty," Vidmar said.

Kamet kicked Vidmar in the shin. "Don't get yourself killed." 

"I'll try my best." Vidmar moved deeper into the crevasse, carefully moving the lamp in his hand up and down. Mercifully, the light protruded deeper into the cave, signaling that the narrow passage had opened.

Soon, he found himself in a chamber as tall as a cathedral. It was unlike any other cavern he had been in. It looked like an ancient dining hall, or an artificial dome, or perhaps a burial chamber of a once-powerful king's crown. Please. Water dripped steadily in the chamber, filling the room with a soothing echo. The air smelled different, unlike the thick, stale air that hung throughout the cave's entrance, but a rotten egg-like scent from nearby groundwater.

Vidmar tiptoed around the chamber, carefully watching his steps to avoid further damage to his boots. He surveyed the walls. Columns of minerals sat like the giant pillars of a palace throne room. He looked for another route deeper into the cave. He circled the chamber ten times, shining his lantern up and down almost every inch of the chamber walls; the light could not reach the darkness of the domed ceiling. Dead end.

"Damnit," Vidmar yelled. "Damnit, damnit, damnit. There's nothing here."

"What's going on?" Kamet's concerned voice echoed through the chamber.

"Nothing," Vidmar yelled back. "I'm just a fucking idiot who trusted a crazy old man. There's nothing here. I'm going to take one more look."

Kamet didn't respond. 

Vidmar continued to berate himself with a slew of insults that would have mortified Kamet's mother. After one final chastising, he took a deep breath and collected his thoughts. He put his lantern on the chamber floor, running his fingers through his dusty hair. Then, he buried his face in his hands and collapsed onto his knees. The craggy floor stabbed his shins, but he didn't think about the pain. His whole body hurt - what was one more injury? Vidmar inhaled deeply, the cool, moist air soothing his twitching limbs. There has to be something here. 

Vidmar placed his left hand on the cavern wall, feeling for markings or anything that signaled there was more to this room. He knocked every few feet, hoping to find a hollow spot, but that tactic only made his knuckles bleed. The flame in his lantern burned low; he didn't have much more time, and Kamet had the extra oil. Why is this chamber here? His hand continued its desperate search until it slid into a small crack. Please. The lantern shook as Vidmar tried to examine the crevasse. It looked like a standard crack. He put his ear to it, listening for noise on the other side. There was nothing. Vidmar blew into the small fissure to clear away any lingering debris, then reexamined it. 

It's just a crack. "Fuck," he yelled. 

"Vidmar," Kamet called from outside the chamber. "Are you alright?" 

"I'm fine, Kamet. It's just another dead end." 

"Damn. Well, hurry up. I forgot how boring guard duty was," Kamet said. His voice echoed in the chamber. 

"One more pass. There has to be something here." 

Vidmar continued his thorough search of the chamber. He was halfway through his final pass when the tip of his left middle finger dipped into a small hole. Please, he thought, silently begging every god he knew. Vidmar brought his lantern up to the spot. Upon closer inspection, it wasn't a hole but a triangular carving. The Pact's Symbol. His heart pounded in his chest. His fingers quivered as he traced the engraving. It was unnatural; something or someone had carved this into the stone. Instinctually, he pressed the center, but nothing happened. 

"What does this mean? Why is it here?" Vidmar whispered into the symbol. He rubbed his eyes and pressed the triangle again; the rock didn't respond. He bit the insides of his cheeks to keep himself from screaming. He brought the lantern closer, examining every inch of the shape. It was The Pact's symbol; Vidmar was sure of that. He felt relief that there was another clue, but he didn't know if he could decipher it. 

Vidmar walked around the chamber. This time, looking for similar engravings, but the rest of the chamber walls were frustratingly bare. He returned to his clue. What am I missing? He thought as he pressed each of the three points of the triangle. Again, nothing happened. He punched the shape. His knuckles cracked on the stone wall, but the triangle remained unchanged, mocking his frivolous attempts to reveal its secret. 

"Vidmar," Kamet called. 

"I found something. Give me a few more minutes," Vidmar said. 

"Hurry. This cave is playing games with me," Kamet said, his voice fading into the darkness. 

Vidmar's eyes felt heavy; he struggled to keep them open. The weight of his task anchored him in place. He rested his head above the engraving. "What's the secret? Everlasting darkness, I'm going to die before I find this damn crown. It lies with the dead, and Vid…." Suddenly, Vidmar heard a sharp crack like a stone breaking. He stepped back and watched the triangular engraving disappear into the wall. A silver-blue light emanated from the hole where The Pact's symbol used to be, leaving a tiny, glowing tunnel into the cave. More cracking and crunching made Vidmar feel like the cave was collapsing. "Shit," he yelled, stepping further back. 

Bright silver lines flowed from the center of the engraving across the cracks in the rock like granite. These lights spidered from floor to ceiling, projecting a faint glow throughout the chamber. Vidmar felt his jaw hang open as he stood. Debris fell; small stones dropped onto his shoulders. A loud, sharp snap near his feet forced him to jump. Underneath the engraving, ribbons of light formed a rectangle, and then a stone emerged from the wall like a drawer opening. The only difference was this drawer was a solid slab of silver stone. 

Once it finished moving, a smaller cube rose from its center in the same fashion but vertically. What's happening? Vidmar thought, in awe. For a moment, he forgot about his injuries, the forest, Kamet, and even Elisa. 

Three bands of light appeared from the bottom of the cube and danced around the larger stone. They circled the cube, then dove into the shape before reemerging as gold engravings - The Pact's symbols. He couldn't translate them, nor did he have any material to create an etching. The triangular mark was etched into the center of each side of the cube. Vidmar's throat tightened in anticipation. He clenched his jaw and pressed the center of the golden marking on top of the cube. A dull grinding sound escaped the cube as the engraving sank into the box. Then, it turned clockwise until the top half created a star shape with the bottom half. 

Finally, the grinding stopped, and Vidmar lifted the top half off. The air that escaped was clean, refreshing, and citrus-scented. Hopefully, that's not poison. Dust covered the crown inside the box. "Gods," Vidmar whispered before biting his lip to contain his excitement. 

He examined the gold, jeweled crown in the box before lifting it. Three rubies were affixed in gold adjacent to three emeralds on the opposite side. Between the six jewels sat the largest diamond Vidmar had ever seen – almost as large as his fist. This was the crown of Slavanes Greco – the crown of Emre. Vidmar's palms grew sweaty, his throat swelled, his eyes watered, and he struggled to control his trembling limbs. Finally, after years of searching and losing almost every person he cared about, Vidmar found the crown. He didn't know how to feel. When he dreamt of this day, he thought he would feel joy, euphoria, or, at the very least, closure. But he only felt confusion and sorrow. 

He lifted the crown from the box and realized it sat on something – another stone similar to his original clue. He couldn't read the markings in the dark but could feel The Pact's etchings as he ran his fingers across the slab. He quickly slipped it into his pocket. I have to get this to Hobb. He will know what the message is, Vidmar thought before returning his attention to the crown. What do I do now? Do I give it to Alcin? I have a contract, and he will find me eventually. I could give it to Elisa; she would make a good queen, but she'd probably give it to her psychotic brother. Maybe Hobb would take it? Or I could leave the crown, rip the jewels off, and finally escape. 

Vidmar had no idea what to do with the crown now that he finally had it. He put the top back on the cube, the golden light turned green, then disappeared, and it sealed itself shut. The grinding noise returned, along with a glowing red marking on top of the box. He tried to pry it open, but it wouldn't budge. I guess I'm not putting it back.

The chartreuse lights on the cube turned azure. More ribbons of light appeared throughout the chamber, now a deeper shade of blue. They circled the room as Vidmar wrapped and carefully placed the crown in his pack. He checked that the crown was secure and that his bag had no crown-sized holes; satisfied, he slung the leather bag over his shoulder. The azure lights flew around the room like trapped birds. They circled Vidmar once, then blinked, then disappeared, leaving only a faint glow from his lantern to light the room. 

"Kamet, we're going home," he called.

His friend didn't respond. Vidmar only heard a faint drumming noise above him, like hundreds of pebbles falling onto the cave's ceiling. The drumming stopped. Something hard and heavy fell behind him.