XI

The entrance was completely flooded. The former statues that adorned the entrance hall were now unrecognizable, covered with algae. The consignor who was on them long ago slept revealing the bronze below. They were all in combat poses.

The fisherman was swimming in the direction of the treasury. One thought kept running through his head. The remains of the stairs could be scattered under the mud. Traces of marble that was covered were still visible.

The most expensive marble came from an island around Alderia, Qualtar meant prestige. The man in Qualtar was not considered wealthy and who did not own that marble and set it up for all to see.

When the catastrophe happened, many were left to collect at least some of their valuables.

The bodies he was passing by were all frozen as they died. Most still saw horror. He could see that in their eyes. There was volcanic ash all over his bodies.

The volcano is an earthquake. Everyone was saying only an earthquake. The waves swallowed the rest. Am I the first to visit this place after the collapse?

In the corner was the body of a warrior who did not belong to the others, the ashes were not on him or on his golden armor.

Black eyes suddenly opened, the man stood up and followed him. For someone dead, he was an extremely skilled swimmer, too skilled.

The room where they turned had barely any water in it.

The door of the next room was closed from the inside; with no way the fisherman was able to open it. He was desperate. Somehow, he was able to slip into a side opening.

The warrior was behind his heels, but he was too big to push through the opening. His hand was a few steps from the fisherman's throat.

He saw his eyes better than ever, they were all black with no glare or humanity in him.

The fisherman's face turned pale, a detail he had learned on the warrior who had not noticed before that his hair and beard were red.

"I haven't felt you before."

"I'm new."

"I'm Soren."

"Killed twice…"

"Yes."

"You should have been long dead."

"Yes. And you are?"

"I'm Hilrun, son of the Lorevid."

"Well Hilrun, son of Lorevid, who sent you here?"

"Irthail sent me."

"So he thinks you can solve the puzzle."

"What puzzle?"

"You'll see. Follow me."

In the ground levels there was no water at all. The cave that connected the two halls was high so he could not see the ceiling. The walls seemed to have been freshly carved.

Soren went first, knowing the way by heart.

"I wanted to ask you something."

"What?"

"When you said you were Soren, you meant King Soren..."

"Who ruled these islands centuries ago and the one who accumulated large amounts of treasure while the rest of the smaller islands were starving." Soren ends up instead.

"Why killed twice?"

"Once in battle, the second time from poison. I survived, and I got the nickname after getting up every time everyone raised their hands at me."

"Why me of all?"

"You're a descendant of Girlan and Bertine, but illegal."

"Those Girlans and Bertine, are you sure?"

"Yes."

The rooms to the top were full of gold, the gold that lured. The amount was obese. The crates full of gold were stacked on the floors, each with a gold-painted lock. Each side had two recesses in a metal frame that were filled with precious stones. The goblets were of pure gold with rubies and sapphires at the bottom. The harp in the corner even had gold strings. Swords that had been carelessly scattered over piles of coins, in innumerable quantities, had a diamond inserted on top of an apple.

Most in the room were homemade coins, which date back to Soren.

There were strange symbols in the corner that the fisherman could not interpret.

"Three puzzles await us."

"Three? Didn't you make them?"

"No."

"How did you store all this treasure here?"

"We did not enter this space, but through the openings."

"Openings, there are openings?"

"At the top, there is an opening on the main square."

"Why now?"

"Because that's how it says on the wall."

"What exactly does the wall say?"

"That the descendant of Girlan will solve all the puzzles and free all those trapped here. We ourselves are to blame for our downfall. We had the power to turn the lava off and mitigate the earthquake, but we did nothing, but there was no hindrance to save at least some of our wealth."

"That's why I'm needed."

"Yes."

"What exactly are you?"

"How do I define it ... you people call it a draugr."

The first puzzle was to find the right key that belonged to the chest. The chest was unusual in appearance; it was square with an even stranger lock.

The fisherman carefully weighed the lock, then took the keys and thought.

One hundred, if not a thousand, would be a futile endeavor to find the right one.

"None of them are real," the fisherman said.

The mechanism behind them is activated by opening the chest. Inside the chest was a palantir. Bluish light surrounded them, filling the room.

A voice came from the depth of the sphere:

"From the three hats, choose the right that belongs to the magician. But beware the first hat is for the passenger, the second is opposite the third for the owner, and the third is the opposite of the first table."

All three caps were the same size; only the color was different.

The former was too worn with visible marks on the worn rim.

The other was medium-sized with a better preserved rim. Gentlemen always wore those hats when they walked around, limping like peacocks.

The other is certainly not a magician's hat. That leaves the first and third.

The third cap was in the best condition of all three. He knew that wizards used hats only for decoration. Such fashion was in the seventh century of the first age, now after ten centuries the fashion has changed drastically. Many things have lost their significance by becoming decorative objects.

With a sure hand, the fisherman approached and took the third cap. He has managed to solve two so far, leaving only the third hardest of them all.

The room they entered had letters carved on the floor. On the side of the torch were illuminated reliefs. Each relief represented one painting, four on one and four on the other. The first set represented the gods; the second set represented the kings. The third is the wizards and the fourth is home.

"Name every first one of the four, move on and solve the puzzle. If you slip the floor it will crash into the chasm, you will fall." Soren read a sign from the wall.

"The name of the first god... Volun," the fisherman said.

"Just go by the letters and you'll be fine, I hope." Soren comforts him.

"Thank you very much. V-O-L-U-N."

His foot slips on the last letter. The tile loosened beneath him, the sound of her slamming into the chasm below echoed in the room.

The letters shinned when he crossed them, the first quarter he did. He had three more letters that had more letters than the first-god.

"The First King.... Aptahar. A-P-T-A-H-A-R."

The letters shinned again. Long ago, as a kid, he read about gods, kings, magicians.

"First Wizard... Distaerdan. D-I-S-T-A-E-R-D-A-N."

The unnecessary letters have already disappeared, leaving only the needed.

"Just the name of the first homeland... Gizdaran. G-I-Z-D-A-R-A-N."

All other letters except N, where he was standing, were missing; the fisherman mustered the courage to look down into the dark abyss. The wizard Egitar pops out of the face-down wall.

"You have succeeded in breaking the curse that rules this island. Take as much treasure as you can bear before all this swallows the sea. I will protect you for that long from the waves," the wizard said.

Having managed to collect as much gold as he could carry, the wizard made a circle around the fisherman that took him out of the crumbling city.

Goodbye, distant son of Qualtar. "

The wizard's opportunity is now completely gone.

Irtail waited a long time at the gate, climbing it on his strong back and racing to the surface. With all the magic gone, the fisherman could no longer hold his breath.

"You made it." Irtail told him when they broke out on the surface.

"And this is something," the fisherman answered him.

"You were expecting a reward."

"Yes."

"Your part was separated while you were packing that smaller one."

"How is that possible?"

"Magic, fisherman, it's waiting for you in your home."