The Seventh Treasure

Part 6 (Chapter 26 - 30)

Chapter 26

The entrance to the tunnel shrunk into a thin slit of light as the darkness engulfed him. The faint rays from outside did little to penetrate this dark world. He shivered in the damp air and pulled his cloak tighter around him. With one hand clasping his cloak the other stretched out in front, he edged forward.

The smooth tunnel floor gently sloped downwards heading into the bowels of the earth. He closed his eyes. Open he could see no difference. The tunnel entrance had long since disappeared. With his sense of sight gone had had to he rely on his other senses. The air smelt musky with the faint trace of rotten eggs. He could hear his faint footsteps on the rock and the dripping of water. He stepped into an ankle deep puddle. He cursed, and then cringed as icy drops of water from the tunnel roof dropped down the back of his neck. Muttering angrily to himself, he carried on descending deeper beneath the ground.

His outstretched hand touched rock. He let go of his cloak and groped the damp rock with both hands searching for an opening. He found nothing. Just a wall of solid rock. He groaned. He had come to a dead end. The tunnel must have split behind him and he had passed it in the darkness. He would have to retrace his steps and search for a side passage.

'Snap.'

He jumped at the sudden noise. The sound of a stick breaking in the darkness echoed along the tunnel. It took him a second to realised he had stepped on it. He crouched down wondering how a stick had found its way deep below the earth. He stroked his fingers down one end of the stick finding feathers protruding from the tip. It could only be an arrow.

Frowning he felt for the other half of the arrow. It felt surprisingly heavy as he lifted it up. He ran his fingers along the shaft. It ended embedded in a smooth object. His traced his finger along the surface and found a pair of empty circular holes above a triangular shaped hole. Realising what it was he held in his hand he dropped it in shock. It was a human skull!

The skull smashed against the tunnel floor. Reflecting light the arrow head sparkled amongst the bone fragments. It was then that Erik noticed he no longer was in the dark. The rock around him glowed orange allowing him for the first time to see his surroundings. He was in a wide chamber littered with the bones from over a dozen skeletons. Several had arrows lying in their rib cages.

He turned back to the dead-end. A tunnel had appeared in the rock face where moments earlier he had failed to find an opening. Small men holding burning torches stood in its entrance. Their large heads were not in proportion with their smaller limbed bodies. Their skins were so pale that in the fire light they were almost transparent. Thick bushy beards dominated their faces and their eyes were abnormally large giving them a constantly startled look.

The dwarves spread out into a semi-circle in front of him. Those not holding torches carried bows. A dwarf with gold bands braided in his black beard stepped aside.

'Fit arrows,' the dwarf commander ordered. The other dwarves pulled arrows from their quivers.

'I'm unarmed,' Erik cried holding his hand upwards. It made no difference. He watched in growing fear as the dwarves fitted arrows to their bows. 'I'm not here to steal from you.'

'Take aim.'

The strings were pulled back as the bows were aimed in his direction. Erik shut his eyes awaiting the order to fire. In desperation, he yelled the only word that he thought would save him.

* * *

By nightfall, Erik had not returned. Sigrun found her eyes drifting constantly to the cave mouth expecting him to emerge at any moment. She didn't want to admit to the others, but secretly she worried that Erik would not return. What would they do then? She knew Bjorn wouldn't allow them to return to the ship. She had visions of waiting until morning and then Bjorn giving the order to enter the cave. She imagined groping her way in the dark, her hands outstretched feeling for obstacles in her path, and not noticing the lump at her feet. She would trip in the darkness and when she reached back to feel what had caused her fall, she would feel a cold face in her hand. It would be Erik, arrows sticking out of him like a pin cushion.