22. lock and Key

They walked up the path towards where Eva had pointed earlier.

Maria looked down at her aunt laying in her arms. She was pale, her breathing was erratic and Maria could swear that her breaths sounded as if she was breathing through water.

She looked over at Warren with a question in her eyes.

He nodded his head.

"I think the Athach may have pierced her lung. That’s why I wanted to get to this fellow’s place. But I can’t guarantee anything."

"That’s OK." said Maria. "She is pretty tough, but everyone has their limits and the damage I did earlier didn’t help."

She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Jenny.

"Don’t beat up on yourself for that." she said. "You did what you had too. She approved of your actions. If she is not angry at you, neither should you be."

"Emotions rarely understand or listen to reason." Maria replied with a small smile. "It still hurts no matter how necessary the actions were. But thanks for your words."

They continued in silence for a short while until they passed the small group of trees and saw that beyond them there was a small cottage.

It was not remarkable in any way, though it was well kept and had a small fence surrounding it, behind which a garden could be seen.

Smoke rising from the chimney indicated there was someone home.

The group picked up the pace.

Jenny knocked when they arrived. Sounds of movement from inside was followed by the door being opened by a old gentleman.

"Yes?" he asked.

But before anyone could say anything, he saw Eva and let out a gasp.

"Gods! Quickly bring her in. Hurry, Hurry!"

They all hurried in. Maria put Eva on the cot that he indicated.

"What happened?" he asked. "I have never seen her this bad before."

He went over to a cabinet and brought some bottles and bandages.

"Good thing she had me keep a supply just in case."

He stopped and looked at them as if he only just noticed them.

"Umm. Who exactly are you, anyway?" he asked.

Maria introduced her friends and herself.

The old man’s eyes opened wide.

"You’re Maria? She talks about you all the time. Telling me stories. I have already started telling other storytellers and bards about you. They pay good money for it too."

Maria blushed a deep red. She could hear the others suppressing laughter.

"Please if you could, help my aunt. Then we need to talk."

"Oh, yes. I don’t suppose anyone here knows a little more about this stuff than I do. I’m a storyteller after all, not a surgeon."

Warren stepped forward and the two of them started to work on Eva.

Maria could only watch in silence and Jenny tried her best to comfort her.

After what seemed an eternity, warren and the man finished. They changed the sheets and covered her up and Warren went up to Maria.

"I have done the best I could. Now we just hope and pray that her healing is as good as rumoured."

"Thank you." said Maria.

"And now," said the old man, "you said you needed to talk. What about exactly?"

"Well before we go any further," said Maria, "I would like to know your name. My aunt did not tell us while she was bringing us here."

"Oh! I am terribly sorry." he said, making a overly low bow. "My name is Tagert, and I am a storyteller by trade. Though now I sell stories to others and stay put. I am a little too old to be travelling everywhere."

"My aunt wanted to come here because she thought you may be able to help us find someone."

"And how would I be able to do that?" he asked.

"I will explain from the beginning and you may help us figure that out."

Maria told their story, from the time the Unnameable spoke to them to the fight with the Athachs, leaving out nothing.

Tagert sat immobile and very attentive, absorbing every word. Finally when she finished, he straightened up and said, "That was the most exciting story yet. You do lead a most interesting life."

"I would rather it were sometimes more mundane."

"Be that as it may, I think you may be stuck with your lot. And I suspect, given the chance, you would still do it all over again."

Maria said nothing.

"So, can you think why she wanted to see you?" she finally asked.

"I do." he said. "The story of the two swords sounds very familiar and, if it is true, there may be more details in the story as to what he must do to get this treasure. Including where he may need to go.

"Can you remember the story?"

"That is what I am trying to do, but I have not told that story in a very long time. Don’t worry though, I believe I wrote it down as well." he said.

"Wrote it down?" said Jenny. "I though you all memorised these stories."

"We do." he answered. "But age does take away abilities, and also who will learn my stories after I am gone? So I decided to write them all down and when I have left this world, others will still be able to learn and tell my stories. No longer will stories be lost over time."

He went to a cabinet in the corner and opened it to reveal stacks of parchment. He reached in, grabbed a stack, and brought it to the table.

"I believe it is in here." he said as he rifled through the sheets.

They sat in silence as he searched.

"Ah here it is." he finally said, pulling out a small stack and quickly reading through it.

"Oh, oh."

"What?" asked Maria.

"Oh this is not good." said Tagert.

"What?!" Maria nearly shouted, wanting to get up and strangle the man.

"Well it seems our friend is right in one aspect of the story." he said. "The two swords do form a key."

"And?"

"But it doesn’t open a vault to some treasure or secret."

"What does it unlock?" asked Maria, not really wanting to know the answer.

"A prison."

"Great." said Warren.

"Who is in this prison?" asked Harold.

"A demon named Baltose." said Tagert. "He was a demon of great power who threatened the gods during the time of creation. They banded together to capture him but knew if they did not do anything he could free himself of the bonds. So they asked the master smith to create a prison and the key to lock it. He did and the key was split into the two swords. And he has been there ever since."

"And that idiot is going to let him out." said Maria. "But to be fair he probably believes Weivo’s story of treasure."

"Probably." said Tagert. "Greed makes you not always question what you should."

"Can you tell us where the prison is?’ asked Maria.

"Yes." answered Tagert.

"Good. we can then figure out how to get there and hopefully stop him before it is too late."

"There is one other complication." ventured Tagert.

"What?"

"Not only do you need the two swords to make the key, you also need a sacrifice. Preferably human."

They were silent for a while taking in this new information when Jenny cleared her throat.

"If Weivo has been manipulating Isling all this time and has made sure that he hurt you and your family, would Weivo not make sure that Isling chose a sacrifice that he wanted. Someone who lives in our town?"

Maria’s blood ran cold at what Jenny was saying. If this was true, then the one person who Weivo would suggest would be,

"Annie."