Forest Kingdom Trilogy 3 - Down Among the Dead Men

toward it, and then stopped as a bright, shining glimmer caught his eye. He hefted his sword thoughtfully and moved slowly forward. Somebody had made his cavern long ago, that was clear from the tool markings on the walls, and who was to say their descendants might not still be around, and armed… .
    As Hammer drew nearer, the bright glimmer gradually resolved itself into a long silver scabbard, resting on the ground beside the crack in the wall. Hammer looked carefully around him, ears pricked for the slightest sound, but there was no sign of the sword’s owner anywhere in the cave. Hammer lowered himself on one knee, and looked the sheathed sword over without making any attempt to touch it. Sword and sheath were a good seven feet long, and from the width of the scabbard the blade had to be impressively broad. The scabbard itself appeared to be solid silver and was covered with ancient runes, etched deeply into the metal. Hammer didn’t recognize any of them, but they looked to be very old … and disturbing. If he didn’t look right at them, the runes seemed almost to be moving, writhing… . Hammer swallowed sickly and turned his head away for a moment. For the first time he realized what he’d stumbled upon.
    Long, long ago—well past the point where history fades into legend—there were six swords of power: the Infernal Devices. No one knew who made them, or why. All anyone knew for sure was that they proved to be inherently evil, and their use nearly destroyed the world and all who lived in it. Three of the swords disappeared. Three remained; Rockbreaker, Flarebright, and Wolfsbane. The Forest Kings locked them away in the castle armory, and swore they would never be used again. And there the Damned swords remained for hundreds of years, until in the deepest despair of the Demon War, King John called them forth one last time. One sword, Rockbreaker, was destroyed. The other two were lost in battle, disappearing into a great crack in the earth.
    And now Jonathon Hammer had found one of the Infernal Devices.
    He stared unblinkingly at the greath length of the scabbard. Ancient sigils had been graven into the crosspiece of the sword, forming a single word:
Wolfsbane
. There was power here, just waiting for him to pick it up and use it. It was a dangerous power; the Infernal Devices were believed by some to be alive, and able to possess the minds and souls of their owners. But Hammer had never believed such stories. He reached out a hand to the long, leather-wrapped hilt. And then it came to him that this was his destiny, the marvelous future for which he had been searching all his life. This was what all his days had been leading toward, the greatness that would inevitably be his once he wielded an Infernal Device. At last he would become what he had always been meant to be: a ruler of men. Hammer picked up the scabbard with his left hand. Despite its great size it seemed to weigh almost nothing. Hammer slung the scabbard over his left shoulder and buckled it securely into place. It felt comfortable on his back, as though it had always belonged there.
    There was a clattering of falling stones as six guards came stumbling and sliding down the steep earth slope into the cavern. Hammer spun around, his hand falling automatically to the sword at his hip. For a moment all he could think was
They’ve found me
, and then his mind calmed and his hand fell away from the sword at his side. He didn’t need that anymore. He had something better.
    The six guards assembled at the base of the earth slope and looked quickly about them before fixing on Hammer. They grinned coldly and fanned out to form a semicircle before him. The pale light from the cavern walls gleamed dully on their swords. The guards didn’t waste time speaking to Hammer, and he had nothing to say to them. There was nothing to say. He had murdered a fellow guard. He had put himself outside the law, and every man’s hand would be turned against him. That was why the guards had followed him so determinedly; they shared some of his shame. When one guard went bad, it reflected on the honor of every other guard. Of course, if he was to die before news of his actions got out … Hammer smiled slowly. The guards wouldn’t rest until he was dead, he knew that, but he no longer feared their anger. Nothing could harm him now. The guards moved purposefully forward, and Hammer went to meet them, still smiling. He waited until the last moment and then raised