Detective Strongoak and the Case of the Dead Elf by Terry Newman

Author:Terry Newman [Newman, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Noir, Mystery
ISBN: 9780008101206
Google: oM99BAAAQBAJ
Amazon: B00MT9E4IO
Publisher: HarperVoyager
Published: 2014-12-18T00:00:00+00:00

14

WALLS AROUND THE CITADEL

By the time I was back with the drinks some decisions had been made. Slant emptied his glass in one swallow, made his excuses, and returned to the throng. Tolly and I took our time while the wizard did some explaining, or what passed for explaining in wizard speak: a language that I was beginning to realise was not designed for the imparting of information, but for the hiding of it. He finally said that he might be able to do something to help: we had to wait until late, though. I was beginning to realise why wizards had such a reputation for secrecy. However, as we had yet to strike an actual deal, and money had not been agreed upon, so I had no real grounds for complaint.

Coming on close to midwatch we left the reception, which with Slant’s encouragement was showing all the signs of developing into a full-scale party. I drove back up the hill and with Tolly giving directions we made our way back to a quiet part of Old Town. We parked behind a ramshackle building close up to the Citadel Wall. I got out of the wagon and was making for the road when I realised Tolly was heading straight for the wall, the one separating the Second and Third Levels. I followed him along a small path with well-worn stones, through a small overgrown garden, and past an ancient-looking statue. The path appeared to peter out as it reached the wall, but Tolly was not deterred. In fact the wall appeared to be completely engrossing and I soon realised why.

‘A secret door!’ I said, a trifle too loud, earning myself a reproachful glance. ‘That’s it, Master Detective, let the whole Hill know.’

‘Sorry, Tolly, it’s just that I’ve heard that there are tunnels built into the walls, but I have never come across one. Who would have thought it, in Old Town of all places!’

‘Sometimes, Nicely, the best place to hide something is out in the open.’

‘Good point. What have you there, a magic key?’

‘Lock picks, if you must know, and I could do with a bit of peace to use them. Why don’t you go keep a lookout, before some surprised passer-by spots us and notifies the Cits.’

It may not have been magic, but it worked, and I soon found myself staring into a very black and very inviting hole. ‘This is not just a tunnel in the wall, is it? This goes right into the very Hill itself.’

‘That’s right. The whole of the Citadel is riddled with tunnels; a labyrinth in fact.’ Tolly took out two old-fashioned torches and lit them with a pocket flint. He handed one to me and I looked into the tunnel mouth. ‘This is dwarf-made or I’m a goblin’s grandmother! I had no idea, how do they keep this hidden?’

‘Mostly, by not telling extremely loud dwarfs!’ I was pleased that the average wizard’s reputation for grouchiness was not altogether ill founded.

I stored that up for future usage.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.