The Fourfold Key

Ramere led them through the torch-lit hallways, slipping in and out of doorways and arches unseen and unheard. Ruth tried to copy her silent technique, but so far had not succeeded. Ramere had turned to shush her multiple times already.

Ruth was bored. There were no guards, no traps that triggered a multitude of arrows to rain down on them, no nothing. She looked at the ground, kicking a stray piece of rock in front of her. I wish something would happen. Let Ramere knock out a guard or something, at the very least, she grumped to herself. She gave the rock an especially hard kick. It bounced down the hall and rolled around the corner. Not bothering to look both ways as she usually did, she raced around the corner. Picking up the rock, she looked back for Tom and Ramere. Both of them walked into view. Ruth turned back and froze. Right in front of her, leaning on the wall, was a guard. Ruth dropped the rock. It clattered on the ground, making the walls of the prison echo. The guard looked up, staring straight at her. He frowned. Pushing himself off the wall, he stretched and advanced toward her. The guard stopped two feet away from her and leaned down. He picked up the rock she had dropped and examined it. He looked up at the ceiling, then shrugged. Then he looked back at her. Ruth cringed, sure the quest was over. She shut her eyes, waiting for his strong arms to wrap around her and drag her into the deepest, darkest cell in the dungeon. When nothing happened, she cracked open her eyes. The guard was standing there, eyes wide and glassy. Then he turned and began to walk toward the nearest door, swaying and murmuring as he went. Ruth stared. The guard walked through the door and shut it behind him.

Tom and Ramere rushed to her.

“Are you alright?” Tom asked, rushing around the corner. “What happened?”

“I don’t know,” she gasped. “It was like I was invisible to him. And then he went into a sort of trance thing and walked in there. Oh gee, that was really weird.” Ruth was still staring after the man, cold fear rippling through her.

“Strange indeed,” Ramere murmured, flicking her fingernails together.

“Well, at least we’re okay,” Ruth said, smiling halfheartedly.

“Hrrmph. I don’t like it.” Tom frowned, staring at the door.

“Let’s go,” Ramere urged. “We shouldn’t have stopped; we’re losing time.”

They scurried down the passages, following Ramere. They saw one other guard, but he, too, just went into a trance and wandered into the nearest room. Tom was very concerned by the strange behavior, but Ruth was just relieved. Ramere took the lead, jogging around a bend. They had been going at that pace for a while, Ruth felt a cramp coming on. She took a deep breath to ignore the pain in her side. As she breathed in, she smelled the foul stench of the dungeon, but something else. Something…fresh. Something sweet.

“Air!” Ruth cried. “Fresh air!”

Ramere turned back to look at her. “Yes, we are getting very close. So you - all of us - must be silent.”

Tom quickened his pace to catch up with Ruth. “What are we going to do?” he whispered. “About Ramere, I mean. She can’t come with us.”

Ruth frowned. She hadn’t thought of that. “I don’t know. Let’s not deal with this now. One problem at a time.”

“I agree,” Ramere said softly from in front of them. “Whatever you’re planning, let’s get out of here first. Escape now, plan later.”

Ruth and Tom blushed, ashamed that she had overheard.

Ramere led them up a flight of stairs, the light growing brighter the higher they went. They were almost to the top of the stairs when Ramere halted.

“The exit is right through the door at the top of the stairwell. There will be many guards. Unless…” Ramere trailed off. She shook out her hair. Ruth hadn’t realized how long it was. It reached her waist. “Here,” she said, tossing them each a short sword—these she had taken from the torture chamber. She herself had taken a bow and a quiver of arrows. “Use these.”

Ruth stared at the blade in her hand. The light glinted off the cold metal, giving it a cruel glow. She couldn’t use it. Glancing at Ramere, she quickly slipped it into the belt loop of her overalls.

Signaling for them to stay silent, Ramere advanced up the stairs, stopping at the door at the top. Tom and Ruth caught up and stationed themselves on either side of the door. Ramere grabbed a piece of rusty wire from the ground and began to pick the lock, forgetting about the Key. The lock itself was rusty and quite stuck. Ramere tried one way with the wire and then another. Before they could stop her, she jammed it far into the lock and wiggled it like mad. With a snap, The wire broke in two, leaving one short piece stuck far in the door. Ramere let out a quiet groan. Ruth grabbed the knob. It turned and swung open. Ramere looked surprised.

“I was sure it wasn’t unlocked before,” she murmured.

“Yeah, well, you do know we have the key that opens all the locks here with us, right?” Ruth pointed out. Ramere flushed.

Tom walked through the door and the girls followed cautiously. They snuck into a hall lined with doors—though these doors were much nicer than the ones in the dungeon. Ramere walked to the center of the hall, scanning up and down its length. To the left, one of the doors slammed shut, making the three of them jump. Ruth gazed in the direction of the slam. It must have been one of the guards, she decided.

“Come on!” Tom hissed. Ruth jumped. She hadn’t realized they had started without her. She scurried over to join them.

Ramere led them to a large door at the end of the hall. A heavy metal bolt ran across it. Tom set down his weapon and began to push the bolt upward. Ruth and Ramere soon did the same. It was heavy, but with the three of them working together, it soon began to budge. With one extra large push, the metal bolt slid off the door and landed with a clang at their feet. Ruth gave the door a push and it swung open, leaving them blinded by bright sunlight. Ruth’s heart jumped with relief and joy as the three of them stumbled towards the dark shapes of the trees as quickly as they could.

Once they were under the cover of trees they started to see a bit better.

“Thank you once again for saving me,” Ramere said. “I am in both of your debts forever. ”

“You don’t have to do that,” Ruth insisted. “We couldn’t just leave you there. In the torturing chamber of all places!”

“Yes,” she said, kneeling down in front of them, “I do.”

“Alright. Fine. I guess.” This is weird, Ruth thought. She rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably.

“I’m tired. Let’s find somewhere to sleep.” Tom interrupted, apparently having no problem with the ‘forever in your debt’ thing.

They all agreed and soon they had settled themselves in a small mossy clearing with a spring to one side. Twisted rhododendrons hemmed them in like a cage. Everything was quiet and still, as if it were keeping a secret.

“Woah, it’s so green here. I like it.” Ruth gazed around her, admiring everything. Slinging her bag off her back, she proceeded to make camp. She laid out her bag as a pillow, and threw her blanket—which was little more than a sheet—over her. Glancing up at the other two she saw Ramere. Ramere walked to an especially mossy mound and laid down. She had no blanket. Ruth got up and offered her blanket to her.

“No, no.” Ramere shook her head. “I couldn’t do that. Besides, the night is warm, I don’t need one.”

“And because the night is warm I don’t need it. You can put it underneath you.” Ruth suggested.

“Well…” Ramere hesitated.

“Take it,” Ruth insisted. “You’ve been living in that sweltering dungeon for who knows how long. I’m going to be more used to this weather than you.”

“Alright,” she relented. Reaching over, she accepted the blanket from Ruth, nodding her thanks as she did.

Satisfied, Ruth returned to her bag and instantly fell asleep.

Ruth’s eyes flew open and she sat up. It was still dark. Something had woken her but she wasn’t sure what. She looked at Tom, who was keeping watch at the edge of the clearing with his back turned to her. Tom was slouched against a tree and appeared to be asleep standing up. He wasn’t the problem. Ramere slept on the mossy mound as she had before. What woke me up? Ruth wondered. She stretched and prepared for her first watch. Her eyelids drooped. She hadn’t gotten a lot of sleep these last couple of days. She considered waking up Ramere and pretending she had been awake for a while, but decided against it. I don’t want her to think I’m a liar. She needs to trust me, she thought. Ruth got up and made her way to the stream, thinking that the cool spring water would wake her up a bit. She bent down and dunked her whole head in the water. She gasped and sat up.

“Ooh, I’m seriously regretting that decision,” she whispered to herself. Shivering, she turned to head back to her bag. As she did so though, a series of crackling twigs caught her attention. It’s just an animal, she told herself. But for one reason or another, she was curious. I’ll just take a peek. She leaped lightly across the creek and walked toward the sound. Wait. If it’s a gnome or one of those dwarves I should probably get a weapon. She scurried back into the camp and took Tom’s walking stick he had picked up on the way. It was thick and heavy. It would make a good weapon, though Ruth doubted a very good walking stick. She returned to the edge of the rhododendrons. The thick branches scratched at her face as she made her way through. The branches thinned out a bit and Ruth stopped. It must be here somewhere, she decided. If I’m really quiet, I bet I’ll hear it. She held her breath. The sound of heavy footfalls came from behind her. She gasped and swung the stick around like a baseball bat. The stick connected with her pursuer’s head. The figure groaned and crumpled to the ground. Ruth bent down to examine whoever she had caught. It was hard to see the face, but it was male, she was sure of that. He had a black beard and strong arms. He was short, so he was probably a dwarf. And he wore a funny yellow cap. Ruth looked closer. A dwarf! Her heartbeat quickened at the thought of being so close to being caught, all by herself, in the forest. All the same, I hope I didn’t kill him, she thought, then leaned in closer and gasped, horrified.

“Tom! Tom—wake up! Tom? Oh my gosh I killed him!” Ruth shook him, trying not to cry. Then a rustling in the trees caught her attention. Ramere sprinted out of the woods, her bow from the Gnome King’s Castle bent back and arrow trained at Ruth’s forehead.

“Stand up,” she commanded, not being able to Ruth’s face. Bewildered and confused, Ruth obeyed.

“Ruth!?” Ramere cried. She dropped her weapon and raced over. “What happened?” she asked.

“I thought he was a gnome or something and I hit him with a stick,” she wailed.

Ramere got on her knees and checked his pulse. “You knocked him out.”

“Really?” Ruth asked.

“Yes. But he’ll come to before long.”

Right on cue, Tom groaned. “Wha..?” he asked.

“You’re alive!” Ruth threw her arms around him.

“Yes.” He hugged her back in a daze. “Who hit me?”

“That was me!”

“You sound happy,” he commented wryly.

“I am!”

Tom looked confused.

“I woke up and you were asleep and I started to keep watch and I heard something and I went out here and then I hit you on the head and thought I might have killed you and I’m really, really, really, really, really, really, really, sorry!”

Tom looked perplexed. “You thought I was dead?”

“I just—I dunno.” Now it was Ruth’s turn to look confused. “I was tired. And I still am.”

“It doesn’t matter. Let’s get back to camp. It looks like it’s going to rain.” Ramere beckoned for them.

Sure enough, it rained all the rest of that night. Not only did it rain, it poured buckets. Ruth woke the next morning soaked and sore. Though Tom was the most sore, having been the one that got hit on the head.

“Confound whatever animal made that noise,” Tom muttered in the morning, rubbing his sore neck.

“Confound it nothing,” replied Ramere. “The sound of the steps were not some dumb animal. They were the footsteps of an intelligent species. We’re being followed.”

“Followed?” Ruth immediately saw the dwarves in her mind’s eye. Her heartbeat quickened. “How did you know that?”

“All elves know how to decipher footfalls and such. I’m not one of the more skilled, I’m afraid.”

“Well, you’re the best footfall-decipherer in this group. And the best warrior. I don’t know what we’re going to do when we go our separate ways,” Tom proclaimed, not realizing his slip-up.

“You will not allow me to accompany you to your destination?” Ramere asked, crestfallen.

“Well…no,” Ruth answered, kicking Tom in the leg. “Truth is, we’re on a top secret mission for Queen Rosebud. We were instructed to let no one accompany us.” She inwardly grimaced at the lie, wishing she didn’t have to. But she didn’t think it wise to keep telling everyone they met all about their quest.

Ramere flicked her fingernails together - which Ruth took to be a nervous habit of some kind - and attempting to change the subject, said brightly, “maybe I could teach you.”

“Teach us what?” Tom asked.

“To fight. You just said I was the most experienced warrior in with us.”

“I said best. Not experienced.”

“I’m both,” she replied.

“Maybe…” Tom looked uncertain.

“But...” Ruth kicked him again. He took the not-so-subtle hint.

“I guess it couldn’t hurt.” He shrugged, rubbing his sore leg.

“All right. Let’s get started. Tom, would you go fetch some—”

“Wait,” Ruth interrupted, true feeling overcoming kindness. “I’m not sure I can do this. Every time I’ve had the chance or the choice to kill someone I haven’t done it. I know I probably sound like a coward to you two but I just can’t imagine killing someone. I mean, that’s serious.”

“Ruth, just because you can’t kill someone doesn’t mean you’re a coward.” Ramere consoled. She came over and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “And that doesn’t mean you can’t learn to fight. Just to protect yourself. No need to kill anyone.” Ramere consoled.

“But what if I do it accidentally?”

“If you don’t train you’ll never get close enough to even scratch a trained swordsman, and if you’re trained you’ll know how to disarm and not kill them. You don’t have to do it without wanting to,” Tom told her, jogging back with two swords.

“Okay,” she agreed, accepting the sword.

“Actually, we shouldn’t start with real swords.” Ramere snatched the swords back. “We’ll get some sword-sized sticks in the woods.”

They got their sticks and cleared a place to train. Tom was terrible. Ramere took him down time and time again. Ruth did as well, though she wasn’t very good, either. Ramere and Tom both said she was a natural. She still didn’t like the idea of fighting with someone that was intent on killing her, but consoled herself by remembering a time when she was playing with the triplets CJ, DJ and PJ. Short for Catherine Jane, Daniel John and Patrick Jones.

“Aww, no fair,” CJ had complained after Ruth had disarmed her. “I never win anything.”

“Not true,” Ruth retorted back. “You beat DJ and PJ. You should be proud.”

“Yeah, beat by a bunch’a girls. How lame.” DJ crossed his arms and scowled.

“Well, at least they’re not real swords and we’re not actually dead,” PJ said optimistically.

“Yeah, imagine what it would be like to be killed with real swords. All the blood and the pain!” DJ grimaced and the idea, but still looked thoroughly thrilled at the prospect.

“Okay, we’re done. CJ’s looking a little pale, DJ.”

All of a sudden the daydream changed.