Broomstick - Part Eleven

Here's part eleven! We left off with our hero escaping the dwarves with the Nether Key, which he cleverly took in his escape. Now the story continues.

I've been tagged again...by Leilani Sunblade this time (http://dreams-dragons.blogspot.com/2013/04/tagged-again.html ). So I'll do it right here as quickly as possible. Same tag as last time.

1. I have red hair that needs to be cut soon.
2. I love to play chess.
3. I have never owned a hamster.
4. I want to see the new Star Trek and Man of Steel, but I can wait for Iron Man 3 probably.
5. I live on earth.
6. I like science fiction, and am trying to write some.
7. I am currently reading Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.
8. I think it's a good book.
9. I write poetry from time to time.
10. I like to draw people's faces, but I can't get body proportions down right.

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The next morning when I woke, it was on my bedside table. The box that contained the Nether Key was right there, and I couldn’t return it.

I went downstairs and out after carefully hiding it (in my sock drawer) and purchased a paper out in the street. I returned to the Sleazy Fox and ordered some breakfast and began reading. The front-page headlines stated: POWERFUL ARTIFACT STOLEN FROM IMPOUND

The article was about the Nether Key, of course, and to my annoyance featured Tom Thumb as an interviewee. To my further dismay the paper reported that he wouldn’t be taking today off for the Broomstick holiday, but would rather be continuing his investigation into this.

The death of Aleck Shipton and the disappearance of his sister Alice were bumped back to the second page. The recipe in Aleck’s pocket was not mentioned, but the cause of death had been determined to be a heart attack. I highly doubted it was that simple, but the recipe he had in his pocket hadn’t been what killed him. I read a little more about Tom Thumb’s exploits and then breakfast arrived, and I handed the paper to Woody. I ate quickly and headed out to the library.

The mysterious “Three” wanted Alice alive for some reason. They wanted her brother Aleck dead for some reason. They also wanted the Nether Key, which they did not have. Why?

I checked out a few books on the Nether Key and spent the morning scanning the pages of those up in my room at the inn. What I found was not very helpful.

It had something to do with the Nether Realm, but the problem lay in the fact that nobody really knew what the Nether Key did. There was much speculation about the subject, but the artifact was kept locked up and had never been used in recorded history. All that was known about it was that several had tried to channel its power, to disastrous effects.

I wrote down a few possible uses of the Key:

Nether Key

Summoning the dead/supernatural being(s)

Control over death

Control of the Nether realm

Grants wishes

Gives immortality

Curses the user to be a vampire or other creature of darkness

This was more promising. If I could figure out what they might want it for, I could derive what they needed to do in order to use the Nether Key. I fished around to see if there were any references to kidnapping, and I thought I found something to do with summoning a supernatural being and controlling the Nether Realm.

The sacrifice of a person with no family and a deep connection with the Nether Realm is thought by many theorizers to be required for the proper rites to do with summoning the great Titan Ishgrald of the Dark.

And then it hit me like a brick to the face. Alice was the sacrifice, of course; but what I hadn’t realized in time was something I should have seen coming. My mind flashed back to when I first eavesdropped on the two dwarves in the King’s Men ballroom.

“Did you hear the news?”

“Of course.”

“He’s dead.”

“Who do you think did it?”

“Same as tomorrow.”

“Of course. With Aleck out of the way, all that’s left is Old Man Shipton, and then Alice.”

Alice Shipton still had family. And I might already be too late.