Deathstalker 01 - Deathstalker

just another defense for when they were sleeping in their Tomb. I feel that I should point out that there are bound to be other defenses protecting the city.
    Theoretically, my presence should be enough to disarm them."
    "But you're not sure," said Ruby Journey.
    "No," said Moon. "I have never been here before."
    "This just gets better all the time," said Jack Random. "If the Maze doesn't get us, the city might. And that's not counting whatever the Empire finally sends after us."
    "If rebellion was simple, everyone would be doing it," said Giles.
    Random just looked at him.
    They passed through the transfer portal one after the other, bristling with weapons, and found themselves on a shimmering silver plain. It stretched away
    around them in a vast circle, surrounded on all sides by darkness. The only structure was a tall metal door, some twelve feet tall and six feet wide, standing apparently unsupported in the exact center of the circle. The metal was a dark bronze in color, gleaming dully in the shimmering light from the floor.
    It was carved in rows of deeply-etched markings from an unfamiliar language.
    Owen moved forward to examine the markings, and the others let him do it. Owen shot them a scornful look as they hung back, and stood as close to the door as he could without actually touching it. The etched figures teased his eyes with hints of meaning, but remained stubbornly enigmatic. He heard a faint hum emanating from the door: a low, throbbing sound that seemed almost to echo in his bones. There was a feeling of imminence in the air, of something about to happen. Owen shifted his holster on his hip so that his disrupter hung a little more readily to his hand, and brought his face right up to the markings. A dim shadowy reflection scowled back at him with cold eyes.
    "Can you translate any of those scratchings?" Hazel said finally.
    "Show a little respect," said Owen, without looking away from the door. "I've seen similar symbols on some extremely obscure records from nine centuries ago, but I think this is some kind of variant or dialect. It's got absolutely nothing at all in common with standard Imperial characters. I doubt there are a dozen scholars in the Empire apart from me who would even recognize it."
    "All right, aristo, we're impressed," said Ruby Journey. "But can you read it?
    What does it say?"
    "Essentially: Go away. Do not pass through this door or something extremely nasty will happen to you. Only it's not a threat. I think it's a warning… You're being very quiet, Giles. Anything you'd like to volunteer about this door?"

    "Well, I can tell you one interesting thing about it. It wasn't here the last time I was here. None of this was. It was just an ordinary cavern, hacked out of the solid rock by the Wolflings."
    "I'll tell you something else interesting," said Jack Random. "That door doesn't have a reflection in the floor."
    Owen looked down automatically. He could see his own reflection in the silver floor, and those of his companions, but there was no trace at all of the door.
    The hairs on the back of his neck prickled uncomfortably as a cold wind caressed his neck.
    "So what do we do now, ancestor?" he said finally, looking back at Giles.
    "What's supposed to be here?"
    "This should be the entrance to Wolfling territory and the way to the Madness Maze. You needn't worry too much about the Wolflings; they're all dead now, of course, except for the One Who Waits. He should still be around here, somewhere."
    "After nine hundred years?" said Hazel. "You mean he's in stasis here, like you were?"
    "Oh, no," said Giles. "He's immortal, you see. They all were, theoretically.
    That was at least part of the problem. The scientists had come up with a way to live forever, but you had to be a Wolfling for it to work. And the Wolflings, whatever else they might have been, were very definitely not human. At least, not as we understand the term. Their minds worked… differently. No, he should still be here. The last of his kind. Waiting."
    "Who for?" said Ruby Journey.
    "You're welcome to ask him when you meet him," said Giles. "Personally, I could never get an answer out of him that made sense."

    "Thanks a whole bunch," said Owen, "That clarifies everything. Oz, can you hear me?"
    "Yes, Owen," said Ozymandius in his ear. "I'm watching everything through your implants. Unfortunately, the castle's sensors are unable to penetrate beyond where you are now. Something is definitely blocking them. I can