Tenaka gazed at the corridor before him. Zerith was quite correct - this
passage was definitely trapped. In fact, it was literally filled with traps.
>From end to end and from floor to ceiling. Balefire walked around the corner
to stand next to his brother and then Skudge arrived. "Not safe!" said
Skudge, pointing at the corridor before them. Tenaka barely suppressed a
grin.

First along the corridor were the customary spikes moving in and out of the
walls - both walls, naturally. After this came axes that hung from the
ceiling and swung from side to side. Next the spikes were repeated, but from
the ceiling and floor instead of the walls. At that point, the corridor went
around a corner, but from the sounds that could be heard, there was more
just around it.

"An interesting dilemma," said Tenaka. "Who wishes to try their hand at this
Hall of Death first? Zerith? Brother?"

"Can you not simply open one of your Windows to the far side, brother?"
asked Balefire.

"Nay, brother. For one, I cannot see the end of the corridor and I have
never been there, and for another, it at all possible I would prefer not to
use Windows in case Vex should notice and try to combat me again. As you
probably noticed earlier, his interference proved troublesome."

"Troublesome?" said Zerith incredulously. "You have a remarkable gift for
understatement!" The rest of the group smiled - they had had longer to get
used to Tenaka’s unusual sense of humour.

"So there are no volunteers then?" said Tenaka. "Then I guess it shall have
to be me. Wish me luck." Skudge pulled at the Dreadlord’s arm, trying to
stop him. "Nay, friend," said Tenaka to the Scamp. "This is too dangerous
for one such as yourself yet. Wait here a moment, and you can come through
anon." Skudge let go and returned to the rest of the group.

Tenaka approached the first trap - the horizontal spikes. He stood before
them for a moment to accustom himself to the necessary timing and then
stepped through the first set. After each set, he paused for a few moments
and then went as soon as he believed it safe. As he ran through the
penultimate set, he tripped on a crack in the floor and stumbled forwards.
The group held their collective breaths for an instant, until Tenaka righted
himself, just before the spike attached him to the wall. The Dreadlord
turned to face the party and, smiling, let out his own breath. Again, Zerith
was amazed that he was so calm after such a close call.

Next were the swinging blades. Tenaka knelt down and looked along the floor.
There was no room for him to crawl under them. He would have to rely on
timing again. Life was always so inconvenient. Again, progress was slow, and
then, suddenly, as he was about half way through, Kriella’s voice sounded in
his mind. They were about to enter Nyx’s chambers where, apparently, a
combat had already started. He quickly banished her voice from his head - he
needed to concentrate. The remainder of the section passed without mishap.

He next came to the other set of spikes - the vertical ones. Looking at
these he saw that they were staggered so that the place he would have to
stand on whilst waiting for one to move was also the spot where the previous
one would impale him. He would have to time it so that he could run through.
Watching the timing for a moment, he realised that he would have to sprint.
He estimated the distance at about 150 metres. It was a long time since he
had sprinted, and even longer since he had tried it in full plate armour,
but he would have to try. He counted down to himself, three, two, one, and
then ran.

At the distance of 150 metres he had not seen the tripwire that lay across
the corridor between the two of the last few spikes. At full speed he ran
into it, tripping and ending up sprawled on the floor - right on top of the
final spike! He felt it pushing up against his stomach and quickly cast a
levitation spell on himself. The strength of his cuirass allowed the spike
to gently push him up when he was lightened by the magic, and when the spike
returned to the floor, he stood and moved away.

He looked around the corner and smiled. Despite his first thoughts, there
were no traps in this second section of the corridor. He beckoned for the
next man to come through and Balefire stepped up to the first trap. Tenaka
watched for a moment until he could ascertain that the Warmage did not
require help. Silently he contacted Kriella. She told him of the events in
Nyx’s bedchamber and of what she planned to do next. He smiled at the
thought of her plan. He turned back to the corridor and saw that Balefire
was through and that Zerith had begun. The two Ebonheart brothers watched.

"An interesting place Vex keeps, eh Brother?" said Tenaka.

"Aye. Full of fun and frolics."

"Lady Daedrasbane is now safe, by the way. Whilst I was traversing the Hall,
Kriella and Betrayal killed Red and Blackie. She is now within the Soul Gem.
All that is left is to kill Vex."

"Zerith shall be pleased to hear this, no doubt. Ah, Zerith, you have
finished." Balefire told Zerith that Nyx was safe. Zerith visibly grew more
relaxed, and his face even broke into a smile when he heard of the demise of
Red and Blackie. Just then they all remembered something as one and turned
to look at the far end of the corridor. Skudge was still standing there.

"Surely the Scamp cannot negotiate this fiendly Hall," said Balefire.

"I could open a Window," said Tenaka, "but I would prefer it if we could
find another way."

"I can think of nothing," answered Zerith.

Tenaka concentrated and was about to open the Window, when suddenly the
traps stopped. The spikes stopped within the walls and the axes drew
themselves up into the ceiling. Even the trip wire went slack. Skudge
skipped down the corridor, completely unperturbed by the memory of what it
had been only a moment ago.

"What did you do?" asked Balefire.

"Skudge try tell," replied the Scamp. "But you no listen."

"What did you do, Skudge?" asked Tenaka.

"Skudge find switch. Switch turn off traps."

The three men laughed out loud and Zerith slapped Skudge on the shoulder.
They continued on down the once Hall of Death.

Chris
-The Last Law:
If anything that could have gone wrong has not gone wrong, then it would
ultimately have been beneficial if it had gone wrong.
ICQ #19093908
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