The Sword of Retribution

The Caves of Shanathin - Part 3

     The tunnel continued to twist and turn as it wound its way up into the mountains. A few hundred yards past the point at which they’d fought the amoeba, the litter of bones came to an end, indicating that they’d left the creature’s usual haunts. Either they’d passed a side turning without seeing it, easy to do in the dim light, or the creature had fled further than it normally went in an effort to escape from its tormentors.

     Looking across at Shaun, Thomas prayed it was the latter. As Lirenna had said, magical artifacts often created a dependency on the person holding it, like a drug. It was most often the more powerful magical objects that had this effect and Thomas had been hoping that the sword's magical charge was too weak to have that kind of effect on Shaun. Now, though, he was beginning to grow worried.

     Then, as the soldier’s anxiety was turning to despair, they saw the glowbottle’s dim, red light reflecting off a familiar shiny, wet surface ahead of them. The amoeba seemed to have shrunk in on itself, forming a nearly spherical blob that only blocked half the width of the tunnel. The sword was clearly visible inside it, its blade pointing inwards and its hilt nearly a foot below the surface. Completely unharmed but out of reach.

     “I reckon we can tiptoe past it, if we be careful,” whispered Angus, not sure whether the creature had a sense of hearing. “Yonder beastie’s sleeping like a baby. It’ll be a day or two before he moves again.”

     “What about my sword, though?” demanded Shaun. “How do we get it back?”

     “Forget it, and count yourself lucky to be alive,” advised the trog. “Many have paid a higher price for their first encounter with one o’ them beasties.”

     “No!” protested the soldier. “We must get it back! We’ll need it! Remember the Maze of Samnos? The sword was the only thing that could hold back that spectre at the end. Where would we be now without it? And Galarad said there’re creatures in the Underworld that can only be harmed by magic.”

     “Looks like a job for my Invisible Servant,” said Thomas. “I'll have that thing out in no time.”

     He cast the spell and, a moment later the barely visible, shimmering form of the magical construct formed in front of him. “I haven’t got much magic left,” said the wizard, “so I can't maintain it for very long, but it should only take a moment.” He sent the invisible servant to fetch the sword, but the moment it touched the gelatinous creature the spell fizzled and collapsed with a spark of randomised magic. “What the hell?” said Thomas in dismay.

     “It’s a magical creature,” said Lirenna. “Maybe the creature’s magic interfered with the spell. Let me try. Maybe I'll have more luck.” She cast the same spell, but it suffered the same fate as Thomas’s spell, leaving the demi shae looking crestfallen and disappointed.

     “Your firebolts worked okay, though,” said Shaun, confused. “They didn't have much effect, but they worked.”

     “They just jab fire and heat into the target,” explained Thomas. “Dumb, brute force magic. Pretty much the simplest magic there is. An invisible servant is a complicated arrangement of magical energies, though. Easily disrupted. We’ll have to find a non magical way to get the sword back.”

     “We ought to be able to think of something,” said Jerry. “With nine of us working on the problem, we’re bound to come up with a solution sooner or later.”

     They thought for a few moments. “I think your first idea was the best,” said Shaun. “Just wait for the creature to expel it on its own. We might have to wait a day or two…”