The Chronicles Of Bone: Truth

Chapter 1: Improper Tomb Raiding

"Hitting the wall with your crowbar is bound to get us killed. Ancient tombs are known to have traps and wards against forced entry, you know."

He heard her words, but chose not to register them. When his muscles talked, nothing could get through to him. Kwoul the Ogre was like most common Ogres. When it came to hitting, breaking or lifting stuff he was the man, or in this case, the Ogre to go to.

Standing next to him, she looked like a tiny kitten. Though she was tall for a half-elf and as lithe as her non-human ancestry went. She walked with a perfectly balanced step and stood straight and tall in her loose one piece brown jump-suit, as compared to Kwoul who stood a bit hunched, both dragged down by his belly and because craftsmen tended to build doorways that weren't quite his size.

Her skin was smooth and soft even with the dust and sand of the desert coating it and her curly black hair, though usually unkempt and left to hang free, complimented her sharp features. More than anything, it was her captivating eyes, blue under the sun, green in the light of the camp fire and gold when she was looking at the sunset, which made her beauty unique.

This proficiency of his was why Kanya, the half-elf scholar and archeologist squatting next to him, hired him occasionally for archeological expeditions. He didn't understand these two words, but they sure sounded better than "tomb raiding".

He paused his banging long enough to strip his blue linen vest and tightened the leather belt of his brown canvas shorts. Once he was comfortable enough, he resumed his one-sided fight with the wall in front of him. The outline of a secret door could be barely discerned at that part of the wall, but so far it wouldn't budge.

She had deciphered the glyphs over a hidden switch she had noticed next to the door. She read that pressing it opened the secret passageway in the middle of the wall Kwoul was hitting with reckless abandon.

Eventually, she was able to get him to stop long enough for her to open the secret door with the switch. Once the passageway was open, her employer, a Machinist who had hired her from the town of Ben-Hazar, made his appearance and gave her her reward and a bonus.

The Machinist was a type of mage wielding an amalgamation of very advanced technology and traditional arcane magic. She had dealt with many of his kind during her forty years of life, but her instincts warned her to be wary of him.

He was quite a mysterious fellow keeping his hood low, his hands in the sleeves of his dark grey silk robe and his words few. He had led them in that part of the desert and had protected them from the usual predators lurking over and under its sands.

Once at the right spot, he had summoned robotic Excavators straight from the Machine Mecha, the city of the Demigod of Technology located in an adjacent plane of existence, and had them remove most of the sand from the secret entrance.

After the heavy work was done, he had retired to his tent, leaving both Kwoul and Kanya to their work.

Not that Kanya complained; she wished all her employers allowed her to work in peace.

After thanking him she asked him for permission to follow him inside the temple. It was not everyday she stumbled at so ancient an edifice and she wanted to study it before raiders, thieves and time defaced it.

Ardanis grudgingly gave her permission though she had to swear she wouldn't touch or take any artifacts. He also pointed out to her that he wouldn't go out of his way to help or protect her and her assistant once inside.

Regardless of his warnings and veiled threats, she went inside followed by her Ogre accomplice.

They managed to dodge and disarm several deadly and insidious traps, but didn't discover anything significant. However, their descent came to a halt once they caught up with Ardanis.