Chainfire: Chainfire Trilogy Part 1

The floor leading into the yawning dark chasm was worn so smooth that it almost looked as if it had been polished.

"Why didn't we come that way-it would have been a much shorter route."

He was impressed that she realized that the primary passageway ran in the direction from which they had come. The stone blocks for the foundation would not have taken the circuitous route they had.

"You're right, it would have been shorter, but there are shields there that I can't pass. Since I can't get in there, because of those shields, I don't know what is in there, but I suspect that the builders probably created rooms in there that contain things that must be protected. I can't really think of any other reason for those shields."

"Why can't you pass them? You are First Wizard."

"The wizards of that time had both sides of the gift. Richard is the first in thousands of years to be born with the Subtractive side as well as the Additive. Shields with Subtractive Magic are deadly and are typically reserved for the most dangerous places, or the places that have exceptionally important items they were most concerned about protecting"

Zedd led Rikka across the vast room by a route that kept them close to the outer wall. He rarely came down to this room and so he had to watch the stone wall carefully as they made their way around. When they reached the place he was looking for, he snatched Rikka's arm and pulled her to a stop.

"This is it."

Rikka blinked as she looked around. To the inexperienced eye, it looked the same as the rest of the room. "This is what?"

"The secret place."

It looked like the rest of the huge room. Everywhere the walls were scarred with the gouges left by tools used by workers thousands of years before.

Zedd held up the glass sphere so she could see where he pointed. "Here. See that gouge up high? The one going at this angle, following the fissure, and a little fatter in the middle? Slip your left hand into it. There's a cleft in the back of the gouge, deeper into the fissure."

Rikka frowned at him but then stood on her tiptoes and slid her hand into the grove up to her knuckles.

"There's a lip in the rock down here," he said. "I used it when I was smaller. If you can't reach, step up on the edge."

"No, I got it," she said. "Now what?"

"You're only halfway in. Put your hand in deeper."

She wiggled her fingers and worked her hand in farther until it was in up to her wrist. "That's as far as it will go. It's solid where my fingertips are."

"Move your longest linger up and down until you find a hole."

She made a face as she worked her fingers. "Got it."

Zedd took her right hand and guided it into a similar gouge in an other part of the same fissure down at waist level. "Find a hole in the back of this one as well. When you do, push a finger firmly into both holes."

She made a little sound deep in her throat with the effort. "Found it! I've got them both. I'm pushing."

"All right, now, as you push with both fingers, put your right foot up here, on the wall right on the other side of this chink, and give it a good shove."

She frowned at him, but did as he said. Nothing happened.

"Can't you push any harder than that? Don't tell me that you aren't as strong as a skinny old man."

She shot him a scowl and then used her grip in the handholds for leverage as she grunted with effort and gave the wall a good shove with her boot. Suddenly, the face of the rock began moving away. Zedd urged Rikka to step back. They both watched as a section of the wall silently slid back as if it were a massive door, which was exactly what it was. Despite its monumental weight, it was so perfectly balanced that once the two finger latches were released, it pivoted with nothing more than a stout shove.

"Dear spirits," Rikka whispered as she leaned toward the opening and peered into the dark maw. "How did you ever find such a place?"

"I found it as a child. Actually, I found the other end. Once I came through into here, I knew where this spot was and I took careful note so that I was able to find it again. The first few times I couldn't find it, so I had to come through again."

"Well, what is it?"

"When I was a boy, it was my salvation. It was the way I was able to sneak back into the Keep without having to come across the bridge and in the front, like everyone else."

She suspiciously arched an eyebrow. "You must have been a troublesome child."

Zedd smiled. "I have to admit that there were those who would agree with that. This place served me well. I was also able to get in here when the Sisters of the Dark had taken the Keep. They only knew to guard the front entrance. They, like everyone else alive, didn't know this place existed."

"So this is what you wanted to show me? A secret way into the Keep?"

"No, that's by far the least important or remarkable thing about this place. Come on and I'll show you."

Her suspicion flared again. "Just what kind of place is it'?"

Zedd held up the sphere of light as he leaned toward her and whispered.