Huge Ajax's Arc

Chapter 229 of 619

Ajax woke the four of them before dawn. Chalam came out of his quarters with his satchel slung and his staff in hand. Marco carried a wineskin and a wrapped loaf. Rowan had his bow strung and a quiver of the enchanted shafts across his back. Grayson met them at the gate with the second vault key on a cord at his neck. "Two days out," Ajax said. "Two back. If we're late, hold the gate. Don't ride after us." Grayson nodded once and stepped aside. The four crossed the ward line without a spark. The road turned south along the cliffs. Cold wind came off the water. Marco rode at Ajax's left. Rowan took point. Chalam brought up the rear with the staff laid across his saddle. By midmorning they left the coast road and cut down a goat track Rowan spotted from a rise. The track dropped through scrub pine to a shelf of black rock above the surf. Rowan slowed his horse and held up a hand. "Prints," he said. "Two men. Boots. Three days old." "How can you tell three days?" Ajax asked. "Rain came through four nights back. Prints came after." Ajax dismounted and pulled the hide from his belt. He set the square mark against the shoreline. The rock ahead matched the curve on the map. Marco went still. He closed his eyes. After a moment he opened them. "No one within a half mile," he said. "Not now." They led the horses down to the shelf. The rock ran flat to the water and then broke into a wall of stone rising against the cliff. Rowan walked the base of the wall with his fingertips on the stone. He stopped where a seam ran vertical, no wider than a knife blade, and traced it up above his head. "Here," he said. Chalam came up beside him. He passed his staff across the seam. The wood dimmed at one point near the ground. "Keyhole," Chalam said. "Under salt crust. Low binding on it. Old." Ajax knelt and scraped the crust away with his blade. A round hole showed in the stone, no bigger than a coin. He drew the iron key from his belt and slid it in. It turned once and stopped. A line of dust fell from the seam. The wall did not move. "Second turn," Chalam said. "Try the other way." Ajax turned the key back. The stone gave a low grind and a slab the height of a man swung inward on its own weight. Cold air came out. It smelled of dry stone and old iron. Rowan drew an arrow. Marco stepped up beside Ajax and reached with his mind into the dark. Chalam blew softly on the top of his staff and it began to glow, illuminating the shaft. Ajax slid the key back into his belt and drew his father's blade.