This story is one of a dozen "background flavor pieces" I wrote for Sierra On-Line's 1997 roleplaying title, Betrayal in Antara. All appeared either in the game, on Sierra's website as a teaser for the game, or both.

At the Hidden Pass
story by Cindy Vanous, ©1996 Sierra On-Line

The bridge looked as if it had been built before the Grrrlf war, by apprentice artisans with bellies full of wine, but it was still preferable to the raging mountain river below. Aren wished desperately for a pair of wings, to carry him safely across the narrow gorge without needing to set foot on the rickety structure. Even Kaelyn, usually calm and unflappable, regarded the bridge with the same wary expression she'd shown Aren when he first practiced magic by the campfire.

Only William seemed unfazed, even enthusiastic, picking his way rapidly to the center of the bridge. "Come on, you two! This bridge has been here since I was a child... there's nothing wrong with it." Aren winced visibly as William punctuated his statement with an experimental jump on the bridge's ancient timbers. To their credit, the planks failed to crack or shatter, although the whole structure did make an ominous creaking sound. The bridge wobbled slightly as William stomped his foot. "There, you see? Sound as the Empire."

"May I remind you," Kaelyn interjected, "that the Empire is about as sound and stable as a Burlenese milk-pudding right now, what with the pox, the war, and the pirates. If you were looking for a comforting analogy, you've missed your mark." Still, she stepped lightly onto the bridge and carefully began to pick her way across.

"It's just a figure of speech," William mumbled, as he turned to make his way to the opposite side, leaving Aren alone on the nice, safe ground. Sighing, Aren summoned up his courage. He cast a quick look behind him at the bodies of four bandits which William had determined to be Levoschan mercenaries. Unless they'd walked all the way around the mountains, they must have come through the hidden pass. And that meant crossing this bridge. Feeling slightly doomed, Aren reluctantly set his foot on the first timber, then the next, and tried very hard not to think about rapids and rocks and spinerays. He was totally unsuccessful.

Reunited on the other side, the three friends paused, ostensibly to check their equipment, although Aren's pale face and shaking hands belied the real reason. Even William seemed relieved now that the bridge was behind them. As she applied beeswax to her bowstring, Kaelyn surveyed the thick trees and tangled underbrush which thrived in this hidden valley. "Seems somehow odd to find a forest in the middle of a mountain," she commented. "Rather like finding a pearl in a possum."

"Or an honest man in the Shira," William added.

Kaelyn cast a sidelong glance at him. "I thought you were the one who was just saying how sound the Empire was?"

William laughed. "It's extremely sound! The Shira's been operating on bribes and favors for generations. Nothing greases the political machinery better than new money and old blood, and there's still plenty of both in the Empire. It's probably a shame that they're so closely related... what?" He turned to look at Aren, who had grasped his arm and was frantically gesturing for silence.

The party fell quiet. Around them, the noises of the improbable forest filtered through the ever-present background rush of the river. Birds, definitely... wind... insects... some sort of simian, hooting in the distant treetops... the distinctive thock, thock, thock of a woodbore... and then, close-by, a very soft chittering noise.

William instantly surged to his feet, startling his companions. He whipped his longsword from its sheath and dropped into a guard position, scanning the nearby woods with an intensity Aren had never before seen on the young noble's face. That vague doomed feeling returned as Aren quietly stood up and checked his quarterstaff. Kaelyn restrung her bow and notched an arrow, loosely, not wanting to waste her energies in pulling the string before an enemy presented itself.

Tensely, the three companions waited, straining for any glimpse or sound of the unseen danger. "What is it?" Kaelyn whispered to William. He twitched at the sound, and cast her a single worried look. In a barely audible voice, he replied, "Crabs."

Kaelyn lowered her bow and stared at him, about to inquire whether he was expecting an imminent stampede of rabid seafood. But just as she drew in breath for a suitably withering remark, Aren choked back a cry of horror and brought his quarterstaff to a ready position.

Kaelyn turned, just in time to see the first giant crustacean emerge from the underbrush. Its large mandibles gnashed together, tasting the air, and it waved a claw the size of a small dog. Two stalked eyes swiveled to take in the contents of the clearing, and the creature paused.

It chittered.

As two more of the six-legged horrors emerged from the woods, Kaelyn fought down a primal, unreasoning fear. She pulled back her bowstring and searched for a weakness on the crabs' armored bodies. The best target seemed to be the small mouth-part area between the crabs' carapace and their underbellies. Carefully sighting on the nearest crab, Kaelyn loosed her arrow. Peripherally, she saw William launch himself at one of the other creatures with his longsword ready, stabbing through the weak joint between leg and carapace.

Unfortunately, Kaelyn's own target was not so easily hit. It snapped the arrow from flight with a powerful claw and swarmed towards her. Throwing her bow to one side, Kaelyn leapt backwards and prepared to defend herself with shortsword and shield.

The third creature closed with Aren. For a brief second, he wondered how anything that large and bulky could possibly move so quickly; then he whipped up his quarterstaff and caught the crab a glancing blow to its carapace, just above the right eye-stalk. The crab paused for just an instant, twitching the stalk as if making certain that it still functioned, and Aren took full advantage of the moment. Bringing his staff around in a wide swing, he bashed the thing full-force across what would, on a mammal or bird, be considered its face. White fluid oozed from a crack in its shell, and the crab let out a chilling, unearthly howl. Instantly, the surrounding forest was silent, as the resident animals recognized the scream and sought safe places to hide.

Aren, Kaelyn, and William had no such options.

William spared a moment to glance at the source of the howl, and almost lost his life in the process. His opponent, hampered not at all by the leg William had just rendered useless, lashed out with a claw and caught the young man's chainmailed right arm, squeezing. William let out a howl of his own and slammed his shield into the lower joint of the crab's claw-leg. The creature squealed and brought the sharp tip of another leg around to stab at William, who was slightly too slow to block it.

Undistracted by either cry, Aren pushed his advantage. With all the strength he could muster, he struck the wounded crab's damaged carapace repeatedly with his quarterstaff. Awkwardly, the creature tried to retreat, but it is a sad fact of nature that crabs move forward and sideways considerably better than they do backwards. One final overarm blow cracked the creature's shell wide open, and it fell in a pool of white ichor, thrashing violently as it died.

Aren stood staring, his arms aching from the unexpected exercise, lost in a fog of relief and exhaustion until Kaelyn's sharp voice cut through his reverie. "William! Aren, do something!"

Aren's head snapped around to see that William was in very dire trouble indeed. Red stains marred the bright links of his chainmail, and his right arm hung useless at his side. The crab feinted once with its right claw and William groggily moved his shield to block, leaving his entire left side open to attack.

Panicked, Aren forced himself to ignore his own fatigue. His mind raced, desperately seeking a way to stop the monster from killing his friend. No single staff blow would dispatch the ravening crustacean, nor would magical lightning be attracted to the beast, as its armor and weapon were crafted from bone rather than steel.

Suddenly, Kaelyn appeared, dashing towards the crab with her sword held high. With a single savage blow, she plunged the blade deep into the crab's back, then leapt away, leaving the creature to shriek and claw at the hilt still protruding from its carapace. In a flash, Aren realized what she had done. Reaching inward, he summoned the last of his reserves, somehow twisting his own life energies into a crackling, seething electrical charge.

Limned in a magical glow, Aren screamed an ancient word of power at the sky. As Kaelyn dragged a barely-conscious William away from the flailing crab, Aren flung out his arms. The air around the party sizzled audibly, and Kaelyn tasted metal. For just an instant, the atmosphere was completely still, then an awesome bolt of lightning slammed down from the heavens, enveloping the crab and silencing its howls forever.

It was over.

Three monster carcasses lay oozing on the ground, sinister even in death. Aren made a valiant attempt to stay on his feet, but failed. Gravity made his collapse a painful one. Kaelyn half-carried William over and sat him down next to Aren, then dropped gracefully to the ground beside them.

"It's a good thing we picked up plenty of Senwater before we entered the pass," she stated, rummaging through her backpack. "I don't think Aren would like crossing that bridge again."

Aren tried to laugh, but all that emerged was a feeble snort. He gratefully accepted a draught of the healing potion, sighing in relief as its goddess-given effects drove pain from his shoulders and restored some measure of the energy he had sacrificed while spellcasting. Next to him, William drank greedily from the flask, his wounds closing as the Senwater did its work.

Aren couldn't help but look again at the dead crustaceans. "Honestly," he said, without a trace of humor, "if anybody makes a single joke about drawn butter, I think I'm going to throw up."

"No problem," William hastened to assure him. "I think it's going to be weeks before I'm willing to eat seafood again. I've seen these things once before, as a child, when my father sent armsmen out to stop a crab incursion in the farming district. Four of his best soldiers didn't come back, but the rest of them brought a caged crab home with them. I had nightmares about that... that sound they make. For years." He shuddered, then rose to his feet and doggedly shouldered his pack. "Let's get a good distance from here before we rest. I'd rather not stick around to find out what might scavenge a dead crab."

As Aren reluctantly hauled himself upright, a thought occurred to him. "Kaelyn? Didn't you say that you were only going to hang around until you repaid the debt you owed William for saving your life? I'd say you just repaid it with interest."

Kaelyn shook her head. "No. I just carried him out of the way. If you hadn't killed that monster, it would have come after us both."

Aren persisted, mentally kicking himself for doing so. How could they continue if Kaelyn decided that her debt had been discharged? The party had barely survived this fight -- even with her help -- and they still had a long way to go. But his essential honesty got the better of him. "But you planted the sword that attracted the lightning!"

Kaelyn stopped short, as if she'd just hit a wall. Comprehension dawned on her face. "Of course! I was wondering how you managed to hit that crab! Well, now I don't feel quite so bad about not being able to work my best sword loose from its back." She paused, pondering what might have been, then shot an angry look back at her companions. "And if you don't stop laughing, William, I'm going to tie you to one of those carcasses and leave you here with your nightmares."

Miffed, Kaelyn stalked off ahead of the party, leaving Aren to cover a smile and wonder how much of the truth she was really telling...