Three Crowns, Part 4

Picking up the candle again, Myro quietly headed back out into the hallway. He passed down the hall and moved past the stairs he had come down. Ahead was another stone archway. There was a very dim light bleeding through the archway.

“A way out”, Myro exclaimed. He quickened his pace. Then Myro heard a sound echoing down the hall toward him. Something was moving in the chamber. There was a scraping sound and a metallic rattle. Like the chains on a ghost, Myro thought to myself.

Softly Myro advanced to the archway, beyond was another small, stone chamber. The chamber was almost as dark as the hallway but a dim light came through an opening barred by rusty metal bars halfway up the far wall. It looked like the entrance over a long forgotten sewer.

Myro felt the hairs on his right forearm come to attention. Glancing down, he spotted a dim, blue glow emanating from the short sword. From out of the shadows by the wall came motion and a skeleton of a man lurched out of the dark holding a shield and swinging a rusty sword.

“Ahhh!”, Myro screamed and brought the sword up defensively. The sword met the skeleton’s sword mid-arc with a thunderous clang of metal. Jumping back, Myro tried to prepare himself, but the skeleton moved forward and was on him again. He desperately parried two more ringing strikes from the skeleton moving back as he did. He felt the cold stone wall at his back.

Myro leaped forward trying to get around the skeleton and swung the sword in an arc as he vaulted by. Landing past the skeleton, Myro turned toward the hallway as he heard a clatter of metal and bones behind him.

Moving into the hallway, Myro carefully, looked behind himself into the room. The skeleton was an unmoving pile of bones on the floor. A rotted wooden shield and rusty sword lay nearby.

“Hah”, Myro yelled. Exhilaration filled his muscles with energy. His breaths were short and ragged. Myro paused and breathed out slowly for a few short, long breaths.

Myro walked over to the sewer opening. He could see a tunnel and a dim light in the distance. A slight, cool breeze played across his face. Myro gripped two of the rusty bars and pulled. The bars budged slightly. Looking about, Myro picked up the discarded rusty sword on the floor. Placing it between two bars, he levered the bars until they began to move. With a sudden start, one of the rusty bars snapped off and fell to the floor. There was just enough space for him to fit.

Myro tossed the bent, rusty sword into the opening and squeezed in after it. Picking up the rusty sword in his left hand and clutching the short blade in his right Myro crawled down the tunnel.

After a dozen feet, he came to another opening. Rusty stubs of metal marked where the opening was once barred. Clumps of grass ringed the opening. Pushing through the opening, Myro tumbled out into a dry streambed. Looking up he could see the stars wheeling above.

Myro lay on his back for a few minutes taking an inventory of the night's events. Pushing himself to his feet, Myro slid the short sword into his new scabbard and trudged off into the night.

THE END.

The Exit