Sharana Martel savored the softness of the sheepskin covered pallet in the coolness of the early dawn inside the tent. The lambswool blanket caressed her skin as she moved carefully, listening to the soR breathing of her lover beside her. She looked at him, his broad bronzed shoulders naked above the blanket, his features strong and noble. His thick black hair was tousled from a night of sleep, and she smiled: how much like a little boy even strong men look in sleep...

She longed to pass her long fingers through his fine dark locks, but she would not disturb him yet. Not yet... Today would be arduous. They would reach the ruin by midday, and then they knew not what might occur. A treasure beyond their wildest dreams--or only dust and decay. Perhaps death. They lived with that possibility in the back of their minds. Fighters could not expect to adventure without danger.

They had been attracted to one another from the beginning. Sharana remembered the moment fondly; she always would. Jacyn was not happy at learning the news that his companion fighter was to be a woman. He had asserted that greater strength was needed. But when she stepped from the tent at the camp and he saw her-and she him-they both stood transfixed for a moment. Jacyn was not a man of many words, and he had even less then. He told the others that he would see what she was capable of, and turned away. Later he told her that he had thought he had never seen a woman more beautiful. And she confessed she had never before seen such a man...

She proved herself quickly, and they became friends as they fought together against danger and death. And now, they were lovers. She wondered now why it had taken them so long to give in to it. They had wanted each other almost from the start. It was mostly what the rest of their adventuring party would think, of course. But now, they didn't care. Their love was so strong that nothing else mattered. They faced death almost every day of their adventuring lives, and they knew that any day might be the last for one or both of them. So, they would enjoy life to the full every day and night; they would fight, search for treasure, enJoy the fruits of their labors. And they would love. They were happy.

Jacyn stirred, grunted softly, settled down again. It was time. Sharana reached over and very carefully ran her long white fingers through his black mane. He opened his eyes and blinked, turning to look at her. Her touch had been so sofl, he would never have been startled. Anyone else would have found himself in a vice grip with a knife at his throat in a trice. "You like to live dangerously, woman," he murmured through smiling lips, his huge hand encircling her slender wrist.

"Mm-hm..." she murmured, stroking his face. He released her wrist and reached for her, drawing her to him...

When breakfast and morning chores were done, they started on their way, riding a pair of matched horses they had bought with money from selling treasure they had found. their destination, an old ruin atop a hill in this out-of-the-way valley behind a mountain.

"There it is, just as we heard," Sharana pointed excitedly as she caught a glimpse of it.

"Right you are, my love, just as the old man said. Now to see if it's worth exploring."

"There are quite a few trees on the hill," Sharana noticed. "We should be able to come up there without being seen, if we're careful."

"By anything that's inside the ruin, at least. Look, there's a tower that looks pretty well intact." "And I wonder what's lurking inside," Sharana said with a little laugh.

"I think we shall be finding out, my love. Let's go."

They quickened their horses' gait and moved toward the side of the hill where the trees were thickest. They were deciduous trees, some broad-leafed, some frill-fronds, with some evergreens sprinkled among them and a variety of bushes.

Both Sharana and Jacyn were seasoned adventurers, he of the fifth level of experience, and she of then seventh. A serious injury had restrained Jacyn from adventuring for a long period of time earlier in his career, keeping him from advancing as rapidly as she had. She sometimes teased him, when occasion arose, and she was feeling in the appropriate mood, because of her advantage of two levels. No one but she could have gotten away with it. Jacyn of Landir was a tough-minded, no-nonsense fighter, his six-foot three-inch frame well muscled and strong from exercise, training and the hard work of his craft. Sharana was a tall woman, but he towered above her by six inches. She was a competent and courageous fighter, but she wanted her man to be a tower of strength, all the same. There were times when she wanted to be just a woman, to allow that part of her to take over, and let herself be engulfed by his manliness and strength. She derived strength from him, and she felt no less a fighter for it. And her need of him gave Jacyn strength in its own way.

Adventure

They did adventure with others, and when they did, they were open in showing their affection for one another. At first, the knowing looks, the teasing and jibes affected them, but they came to decide that none of that mattered. Jacyn was more than capable of showing any of them, including fighters of equal level that he had met so far, and even a few of higher level, that it was not wise of them to express such sentiments, especially to Sharana. But mostly, now, they ignored them, or let them know it was none of their business, or even joked with them.

But today they adventured alone. This old ruin may have been visited before, but not recently. They had wanted to get away, alone together for a while, and this place seemed like something not too dangerous for two mid-level fighters to investigate alone.

The hill became steeper as they climbed. The spring day was warm, the breeze was cool; birds twittered in the foliage overhead, and a few butterflies drffled from flower to flower, creating a peaceful, happy mood in contrast to that of the crumbling ruins ahead. As they reached the last tree before an open space that lay this side of the gray stones, they stopped and surveyed the ancient pile before them. It had the appearance of total abandonment; vines and weeds choked the spaces and crevices between the fallen and tumbled stones, crawled over and among them. There was no sign of recent passage through them. Their trained adventurers' eyes told them that much. They tied their mounts there, and proceeded on foot, starting around the crown of the hill and the ruin itself.

The tower stood on the opposite side from their approach. They circled around, using their swords to cut through the places where the vegetation was thick, and rout any creatures such as snakes which might be lurking there. Nowhere could they see a sign that any larger creatures had passed to or from the tower, to leave a visibie trail.

When they reached the tower, they stopped and studied it. Narrow slits penetrated its height in a spiral pattern around it, indicating that perhaps a spiral staircase wound upward inside. They continued around to inspect the entirety of it. There was a door on one side, and one on the other. Weeds and vines, plus a couple of small bushes blocked the back entrance. The door facing the rest of the ruin was not blocked, but it was shut, and there were no signs of footprints near it. Their own boots left plainly recognizable prints in the dusty ground.

"Well," Jacyn deduced, that least nothing with feet has been around here recently. Not since the last rain, at least," Sharana qualified his statement.

"Which leaves-what? Things immaterial, things with wings..."

"I hope they're nothing more than bats." Sharana smiled. "Smail ones," she added. "Shall we brave the tower?" he asked, returning her smiie.

"With you beside me, I would go anywhere, lover," she returned, slipping an arm around his waist. He hugged her briefly, cast a backward look around at the disarray of failen stones that had once been buildings, and turned back to the tower.

"Well, since the tower looks a bit steep for climbing, let's try this door," Jacyn said, striding toward it, Sharana quickly following.

Into the Tower

It was a wooden door, and Jacyn found his great strength was not necessary to open it. Its iock was rusted, and the wood was rotten. When he tugged, it creaked open on rusty hinges, to reveal darkness inside. A dank, musty odor drifted outward. Jacyn propped the door open with a stone, and cautiously stuck his head inside, waiting for his eyes to adjust to the darkness. There were no windows in the ground level room that were open to the light. Sharana reached into her bag and brought out a light source, holding it in the palm of her hand. It was a small glass globe, upon which a Continual Light spell had been cast.

"It'll save on torches. It will pay for itseK in a short time," she had told Jacyn when she wanted to have the Magic User cast the spell on it. "And it will save time, too," she added. Jacyn agreed, though a bit amused at her, but since, had found all she said was true. It was also quiet, and could be quickly "extinguished" by returning it to her bag when they wanted to conceal their presence.

In the light of the little sphere, which was more of a lop-sided ovoid, they entered the tower. Decay and abandon greeted their eyes, even worse than outside, for here there were remnants of habitation: rotting furniture, a tattered curtain or some type of cloth hanging on the wall, sticks and straw littering the floor, with broken pottery, and all was covered thickiy with dust. Sharana's eyes swept the ceiling overhead for bats; she could none--but they could well be hiding in the rafters from which spider webs were draped in pallid festoons.

"Look," Sharana said then, in a near-whisper, holding up the light globe, "There's the stairway." Jacyn grunted in reply.

"Want to try it?" he asked.

"It's made of stone; I don't think it'll give way under even your big feet," she teased.

Jacyn gave her a mock shove forward, and followed as she gave a short chuckle. Their boots echoed hollowly on the dusty stone floor as they crossed to the stairs which spiraled up the curving wall. Sharana led the way with her light, and Jacyn, sword drawn, followed closely behind.

There was no sound but of their footsteps as they mounted, their boots stirring the dust. The stairs followed the curve of the wall, and finally they came to the next floor. Sharana stepped on the landing and moved cautiously into the second story room. Like the one below, it was all one room, and there was no sign of any occupants. Rotted furnishings, as before, presented the same gloomy, abandoned atmosphere. The lone window was broken out, presenting a Jagged hole where stones had fallen from the wall.

"This is monotonous," Sharana commented. "The ghosts haven't done their house keeping."

"Maybe they just don't care about being neat," Jacyn said.

"Apparently not," she chuckled. "Nothing of any value here, that's certain. Want to try for three?"

"Why not? Maybe the ghosts all live upstairs."

"Do ghosts 'live'?" she asked, to make conversation.

"In their own way, I suppose," he answered. "If you're going, go on."

Sharana looked over the room once more, including the broken-out window, and started up the stairs once more to the third story. This time, as they climbed, Sharana paused as she thought she heard a faint sound. "Did you hear that?" she asked.

"Did I hear what?" she asked in reply, to confirm his own perceptions. "Sounded like a fluttering..." she whispered.

"Bats, maybe..."

Sharana reached once again to feel the hilts of her sword and dagger, to be sure they were unencumbered when she needed to reach them quickly. She pushed her cloak back farther over her shoulder and took the next step upward. They listened intently as they climbed.

They came to the third story and moved quietly into the doorway. Silence greeted their ears, and Sharana moved her light around to illuminate the room. Suddenly Jacyn took hold of her shoulders. She turned to see him looking at the wall behind her. She turned her light toward it and saw a slimy blob oozing down the wall.

"Thanks," she said. "That was close..." There were drfferent kinds of slimes and oozes which could do real harm to unwary adventurers who came in contact with them. She turned back to look at the room. As in the rooms below, a window slit admitted some light. Here, faint but audible rustlings above them revealed the presence of bats hanging from the ceiling beams overhead. This room had no furniture, but there were some containers scattered here and there; boxes, barrels and sacks and a large pottery jar. Their heartbeats quickened; some signs of habitation, perhaps. Curiosity rose in them, pulling them to investigate their contents.

Carefully Sharana crossed to the containers in the middle of the room. A wooden barrel stood there, with a box on either side and several sacks around them. Jacyn extended his sword and tapped each of them. There was no response of any kind. He then flipped the lid off the barrel, and they peered inside, Sharana holding the light over it. It was half filled with some kind of grain, or meal, it appeared. Jacyn reached a gloved hand inside and scooped some up in his palm. It iooked like coarse ground grain. "Something around here eats, and it can't be ghosts," he remarked.

"I don't know if I like that idea any better," she shivered.

Using his sword once more, he opened a box, and found it empty. The other box contained the residue of something withered and dried--perhaps fruit. He then slit one of the bags, and a shower of small seed pods tumbled out. The other sacks likewise contained dried things which something might consider food. But what, they wondered. . .there was water in the bottom of the pot. Now they knew that something living had been here recently.

The rest of the container proved to be empty. Sharana looked around. "The fourth story?" she asked. "If you want to find out what eats seeds and grain," he said.

"I'm not so sure it's worth our while, but since we're here..." she shrugged, and they returned to the staircase along the wall.

They climbed in silence, with the memory of the fluttering sound they had heard just once before. The steps were crumbly on the outside edge, so they kept to the inside wall, but, remembering the slime-thing they had encountered below, they kept constant watch there, too. More than once they used swords to part draping spider webs laden with dust.

Fourth Floor

They reached the fourth story. The room was the same size as the others, as the tower did not taper as it rose. The window slit as before greeted their eyes, the sili broken. The floor of this one was layered with something more than thick dust; something almost indistinguishable, unless it was-droppings. Notfrom bats; they had seen that before, on other floors. Sharana stiffened.

There was a terrible shriek, and a sudden stirring. More than a flutter greeted them this time, as a flapping of great wings accompanied the blood-chilling cry. Something huge and monstrous hurtled toward them...

Sharana stepped back quickly, and Jacyn leaped forward, for his sword was already drawn. He swung viciously at the shadowed thing, which veered suddenly in its flight, to miss the wall behind them, as well as Jacyn's weapon.

Sharana, behind him, was struggling against something sticky and thick that she had backed into. it was some kind of web, she discovered, larger and stronger than the ordinary spider webs which were everywhere. She gave a little cry. Jacyn whirled. She had dropped the light globe, which now lay on the floor at her feet, casting weird shadows upward. Jacyn began trying to free her with his blade when they again heard those giant wings coming toward them. He whirled around again to meet it. In the semi-light, he could see the thing also had sharp claws, and a beak. As it passed, it stabbed and clawed at him. He swung again, and felt his blade nick some part of it, even as a claw tore at the tunic which he wore over his chainmail.

Behind him, Sharana was trying to get her dagger. Jacyn spared her a glance, and as he did so, he saw movement above her head. He nearly froze as he spied a giant multi-legged thing descending the web toward her with two glowing red eyes flashing in the light. It moved with a jerking motion, which added to its sinister aspect.

Again, the wings were coming. Jacyn plucked Sharana's dagger from its sheath at her waist and handed it to her, then turned to meet his winged assailant once more.

He tried to time it just right, watching the winged thing closely. It came at frightening speed, having gained momentum by hurtling around the circular room several times. Screeching as it came, it again extended its claws and lifted its wedge shaped head to stab at him with its sharp curved beak. It hurtled toward him like a thrown dagger. Jacyn firmed himself in his stance. At what he judged to be the right moment, he swung, and his blade met the creature. With a terrifying squawk, the winged assailant took the force of the hit which struck with a chopping thud. It faltered in midair as Jacyn drew back the sword in hopes of striking a second blow, but the creature regained its flight and soared away, beginning to circle again.

Jacyn turned back to Sharana, who was still cutting at the webbing-but not fast enough. The huge black spider was nearly upon her head Jacyn lifted his sword and slashed the bulbous, shaggy creature in two, causing thick, dark ichor to splash out. Sharana gasped as she looked up at what might have meant her death. Again they heard the wings...

The winged thing was not through attacking. Dripping blood as it soared, it was coming back for another attack. Jacyn prepared to meet it just in time, and struck again. It was not so agile now, and his sword sliced into one of the batlike wings, nearly severing it near a joint, so that the thing could no longer fly. It fluttered helplessly to the floor where it flopped, squawking and screeching. still striking with its claws as Jacyn approached to slay it. He lifted his sword high and came down with a powedul stroke, slicing through the tough but skinny neck severing it from its body. Nothing remained of its noise but the death throes as it flopped around over the floor spewing blood everywhere. Jacyn turned back and helped Sharana out of the remainder of the huge spider's web which she was plucking from her clothing. Then she stepped forward and they embraced, and she was trembling a little.

"What now, love?" he asked her. "Have you had enough adventuring for today?"

She hugged him Ughtly, then looked up "There's just one more story up there, isn't there?" she asked, still breathing a little heavily.

Jacyn laughed. "You wouldn't admit it if you were scared to death," he said. "How can I be scared, when my hero's with me?" she laughed nervously.

"Let's rest a bit," he said. "I'm not sure there was only one of those winged devils." He released her and retrieved her lightstone, handing it back to her.

"Oh," she chuckled, "How could I forget that?"

"I'd say you might've had something else on your mind."

"Can't imagine what...just a litle old spider..." she turned around and looked at the dripping thing which still hung in the web against the wall.

"You need to start watching what your backing into, iove," he teased. "I had my hands full taking care of that thing over there, and your spider, too."

"My spider?" she exclaimed as though outraged. Then they both laughed and hugged one another again. "Is there anything else in this tower, besides spiders and-whatever that bat-thing was?" she asked then, not expecting him to know, of course.

"Just the bats, and the rats...and the litter," he told her. She looked around holding out her light, and confirmed his words. "Just litter..." she repeated.

"Then I guess we'd better go up and see what's on the last floor, if you're ready."

Upward

Sharana, holding the light before them, proceeded in the lead as before. They climbed the crumbling stairs, keeping toward the wall again, watching each step, and the watl and the space ahead, and also casting wary glances toward the window through which the terrible creature had to come.

Sharena found herseH automatically counting steps as she had done before. There had been exactly the same number between floors, and there were the same number this time.

Their heads rose into the last room of the tower. Immedlately they could see a hole in the ceiling, bright against the dark of the ceiling, shedding more light into this room, but at the same time blinding their eyes to most of the room from where they were. It was irreguiar, as though it had been broken in. Lacy clouds floated in the blue sky above, lending a more cheedul sight than they had seen since entering the dark tower. Sharana did not need her lightstone to see, once they had fully entered the room, except to examine detail.

Something immediately caught her eye as she lowered her gaze from the ceiling hole, Against the wall, away from the hole overhead, sat a chest, a rectangular box with a curved lid, bound with bands of metal, and secured with a large padlock. Her eyes lingered on it, for it was the very image of a treasure chest.

She looked too long. Suddenly, there was a noise, and they looked to see where it came from. Almost opposite the chest was a pile of rags and straw, or grasses. From that bed rose the figure of a man or humanoid, they could not tell what he was, but he was armed with a huge spiked mace. He was growling like an animal and rushing toward them, his long hair and beard flying with the motion.

Sharana pocketed her lightstone and reached for her sword . Jacyn, with his already in hand, stepped forward to meet the raging man-thing. He was every bit as tall as Jacyn, but scrawny. For all that, his rage gave him terrible strength. He came at them, his weapon lifted high, ready to crush their heads. He was grinding his teeth in rage and drooling. Plainly, he was mad.

Jacyn met him without flinching, and ducked his wild swing, turning swiftly to attack with his sword before his opponent recovered. Sharana stood ready to step in when she saw an opportunity, hoping the two of them could finish him quickly and cleanly, for nothing else would stop the maddened creature.

Then suddenly, the hole above was darkened as something entered-something on rushing wings. Sharana whirled to see another of the winged creatures with beak and claws that had attacked them in the room below. She would not be able to help Jacyn now she had her own opponent. She readied her sword and swung at it as it plummeted down upon her.

She missed. Its agility to dodge amazed her. It was swinging around for another attack. Again. she readied her sword.

Jacyn scarcely had time to notice Sharana's attacker as he fought the madman, The sudden presence of the winged creature did not seem to surprise the wildman: perhaps he had a living agreement with them, for all they knew. He swung at Jacyn again and again with maddened strength, growling each time like an attacking animal, and enraged each time Jacyn dodged or parried his swing. He was becoming more and more enraged, more blind with fury. This encouraged Jacyn, and he watched for his chance to make quick work of him if he could.

The sounds in the near-empty chamber echoed eerily as the wild yells and growls of the wild man mingled with shuffling feet, flapping wings and the screeches of the winged creature. They had no time to take note of it, but it would be etched on their memories for a long time to come.

Jacyn held his sword ready as the hairy madman lifted his club again, this time as high as he could, with both hands, not realizing he was exposing his front fully to Jacyn's sword. Jacyn wasted not a second, but lunged in a forward thrust, driving his wide blade into the stomach of his opponent and ripping downward.

With a mighty scream, the madman dropped his mace, which fell behind him, and immediately doubled over to clutch his middle. Jacyn raised his sword again and brought it down mightily, to sever the man's neck and give him a quick death. Even as he turned to help Sharana, he saw that she had more than she could handle. A second winged creature had entered the hole above them. Jacyn sprang to attack it.

Sharana's winged creature swung around, dripping blood where she had scored several hits upon it. Jacyn spared a quick glance to see that she was still all right; her chain mail had protected her pretty skin from those terrible claws and beak.

He swung at the creature which came toward him, but then something strange happened. The creature swerved past him, diving for the body of the wild man. The other creature also dropped down, and they settled themselves upon him like vultures, their great claws gripping his naked flesh. With their long sharp beaks, they began to tear into the body.

Aftermath

For a time Jacyn and Sharana stood watching the grisly feast, as the horrid things, their wings spread and drooping over the carcass, gobbled the still warm innards of the wild man. Jacyn's arm stole around Sharana's waist. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Are you?" she returned. He gave her a squeeze as he chuckled. No clinging vine, this woman--or, if she clung, it was for love, and not from fear and helplessness.

"I saw something back here," she said, turning. It was a welcome diversion from the sight before them. "This chest..." she took out her lightstone, after sheathing her sword. "Keep watch for any more of those flying things..." she said, needlessly, and went over to examine it across the littered room.

"Careful," Jacyn said, just as needlessly, for he knew Sharana weil enough that she would certainly think about possible traps.

She kneit before it, examining the padiock. "It looks strong," she said. "And I'll bet this chest is heavy." She was thinking about all those floors below them, and the many steps they had climbed.

Jacyn stepped forward and tapped the lock with the Up of his sword. Nothing happened He tapped the chest on each side, and on top. "Stand back," he said, and Sharana stood up and stepped back a few steps. Jacyn hit the lock with a swing of his sword. It swung back and forth but held shut. He hit it harder. Then, taking the hilt in both hands, he swung with his great strength behind it-and this time the rusty lock opened. Sharana clapped her hands to applaud his efforts. Jacyn used the tip ot his blade to pry open the lid. It creaked on its hinges, but slowly lifted.

Sharana gave a cry of joy, and they both knelt before it, lifting the lid all the way up until it rested against the wall behind it. With her lightstone held above it, they peered inside.

"My shining stars!" Sharana exclaimed in hushed amazement. "Would you look at that?" Jacyn exclaimed in much the same tone. Sharana inserted her dagger, carefully going around the edge of the chest, to spring any traps. There were none. Carefully, with gloved hand, she reached inside, and came out with a necklace which sparkled in the light from the facets of many gems.

"Beautiful..." she whispered.

"That will look even more beautiful around your lovely neck," Jacyn said, The chest was half full of jewels, gold and silver coins, carved items, small jewelry cases and little vases, and underneath it all, in the bottom, rested a pair of jeweled-handled daggers resting on a suit of chain mail. They could hardly contain their joy. Sharana reached over, took Jacyn's head in her hands and kissed him, then clapped her hands again like a child with a room full of fabulous toys.

"The problem is," she sald, finally, when she began to think practically, "how to get all this," indicating the chest with a forefinger, "down there." pointing downward.

"I don't relish making a dozen trips up and down all those steps!" Jacyn took hold of the chest. It was indeed heavy. "The chest itself is of no value. What say we drop it out a window?" Sharana smiled at him. "That's my man always thinking," she said, patting his cheek. Then she leaned over and kissed him again.

"I'll think some more for more of that," he smiled.

They had to leave some of the contents out in order to liR the chest, half dragging it over to the window. "I could go down and get what rope we have," he mused then, "and use it to lower the chest as far as it will go, first, before we let It drop. Otherwise, when it breaks open, it might spill the things all over the ground down there, and some of those vases will surely break. Those are not especially valuable, but..."

"That's a good idea," she agreed. "I'll wait for you here."

"No, I don't want you alone up here if more of those things come along," he told he It did not take much to persuade her that was not the best thing to do.

They descended the many steps, and went down the hill to where their horses waited.

Gathering all the rope they had, they did not stop to rest, but went back to the tower, bringing only a fresh canteen of water. Pausing outside, they looked up to see the window through which they hoped to lower the treasure chest. They held bags, in which they had put their rope, and which they would use for some of the treasure-thing which they did not want to drop from such a height for fear of breaking.

"It'll be quite a drop," commented Jacyn.

"Mm-hm," Sharana agreed. "But we can aim it for that patch of bushes there, and that may keep it from breaking up so badly."

"It just might. Well, ready to go back up?"

"Whenever you are, lover."

He released his arm around her and they once more entered the grim tower. They wanted to get their treasure before any more of those devil-bats showed up. "I sure hope we've seen the last of those things," Jacyn said, giving one last look at the sky. There was no sign of any flying thing above.

Once more they reached the treasure room, where the devilish winged creatures had now half finished devouring the wild man. They entered cautiously and quietly.

"I hope they're not hungry afler they've finished," Sharana whispered.

"You can never tell. I'd try to finish them off while they're eating, but I don't want to provoke an attack. We'll keep a wary eye on them."

They circled the feasting vulture-devils as widely as possible to get back to the treasure. Removing the rope, they stuffed as much treasure into their bags as they thought they could carry down the steps themselves, seiecting those itoms that appeared most fragile. Then, using the rope, they closed the chest and tied one end around it, package style.

Then Jacyn stood, wiped his hands on his trousers, bent and took hold on the still heavy treasure chest. With a grunt he lifted it, set it down again, and tried for a better hold. He gripped it and slowly lifted it. Sharana put her slender hands underneath to help. Together they moved for the window slit. "Will it fit? Sharana wondered.

"We'll soon see," he grunted.

They set the corner in the opening, and maneuvered it around, anxiety rising as to whether it would go through the narrow window slit. "Oh, no, it won't go!" Sharana wailed

"Don't jump to conclusions, it isn't quite straight yet," he said, and repositioned his hands, pushing the chest a bit more in line with the window.

Sharana joined in pushing. They waggled it back and forth. The heavy chest groaned and scraped, but it was going through. Until it came to the lock.

"What's the matter with it now?" she asked.

"Have to take off that lock," he told her, and took out his sword again.

The lock broke off easily this time, but now he had to remove the hasp as well, for the chest to go through. "Probably have to get a new sword after this," Jacyn remarked.

When the hasp was broken off, they resumed pushing and rocking the chest from side to side to inch it through the window slit. The stub of the hasp scraped a groove in the stone but now they had it more than half way. "Just a little more, and it ought to topple." he said.

"I hope it doesn't break all the jewelry we left in there," she said in a woeful voice. uIf it's worth anything, it shouldn't break so easily," he told her.

"That's all you know about delicate jewelryl" she returned.

"If it was so delicate, you should have put it in your bag," he retorted.

"There wasn't room! I didn't want those vases to break, especially those that have something in them," she explained.

He only gave a scornful grunt. The chest tipped downward outside the window, and they gave it more determined shoves from the inside. With a final scrape, it fell. Immediately they both leaned forward to watch, and bumped heads. Surprised, they looked at each other and laughed. Then they heard the impact of the chest on the ground below. Jacyn permitted Sharana to look first. "It broke open," she reported.

"What did you expect, from four stories up?" he replied.

"Let's get down there!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Who do you think's gonna steal your treasure, love?" he asked teasingly.

"You never know!" she called as she dashed across the room. She made a face as she skirted the horrid corpse and the feeding devil vultures...by now they were picking the last of the flesh from the bones.

As they headed for the door, one of them lifted a ghastly blood covered beak and glared at them through its bulbous eye. "It still iooks hungry to mei" Sharana shuddered. "Let's get out of here."

They hurried down the steps, grateful to be away from them, and on their way out of the grim tower for the last time.

"What I wonder," Sharana said as they descended, "is how he got that chest up there in the first place?"

"Probably when it was empty," Jacyn offered.

"Yeah, but-what was a madman like him doing with that kind of treasure and living like he did? He was probably eating that stuff we saw in the room below and sleeping on a pile of rags and grass. And he had all that wealth locked away all the time. Why, he could have had a castle and lived like a king."

"We'll probably never know," Jacyn said. "Maybe he wasn't mad when he brought it in here, if it was he who did, and then went mad for some reason. Or he could have been so afraid someone would steal it from him that he holed up in here and guarded it, instead of spending it."

"Like we're gonna doi" Sharana quickly appended. "That, love, we will talk over at leisure!"

"Oh, will we ever!" she agreed, with obvious anticipation. "He could have just came here to hide out, and the chest was already here. He could have been too crazy already to know what treasure was."

"I suppose we'll never know. It doesn't matter much," she said. "Was he human? I couldn't tell.."

"Neither could I. I was too busy to study him -but he had human form. He was mad, and the only thing to do was to kill him before he killed us. Just like the winged things."

"Yes, you're right, of course."

They entered the next flight of stairs. "I hope the horses are still all right, and none of those things have come along..."

"You worry too much, love!"

They descended the last flight, crossed the dismal ground floor room and emerged into the sunlight once again.

"Let's see where it fell..."

"Over there," Jacyn pointed, "Aww, It missed those bushes...splattered all over the ground! Now we'll have to pick up all those coins, one by one...no telling where they all went..." Sharana wailed.

"..You will never have a more pleasant task, my love,' he answered as they headed toward it.

Jacyn found the chain mail, still in the ruined box. "I think it will fit me," he said. "I wonder if it could be magical?" Sharana said, reaching to stroke the fine meshed, polished mail.

"It's in wonderful condition-hardly a rust spot on it."Magic mail is like that," he said, "and no telling how long that chest was up there."

"The chest is hopelessly broken...I hope we have room for all the jewelry and coins and things," she mused, stroking the jeweled handled dagger she held "We can toss out something less valuable if we have to," he said, scooping up a handful of gold and silver coins. He took one and bit it.

"Real gold, all right," he reported.

"And the jewelry!" she exclaimed. "Fit for a queen! Look at these necklaces, rings and bracelets...brooches, bands, spirals...oh, so beautiful, and they must be worth..."

"A fortune," Jacyn interjected.

"We're rich!" she cried, as if the realization had just struck her. "Really rich. We'll be living high on the hog for a long time, sweet Sharana."

"And we're going to enjoy it!" Sharana danced around, holding fisfful of jewelry against her breast, looking up into the lacy clouds above. "Oh, it was terrible, but it was worth it," she cried, reaching a hand up behind his head and pulling it down to kiss him. He dropped the coins he held and took her into his arms.

"But you, my sweet Sharana, are the greatest treasure of all." he told her.

They stood on the hill, under the tower in the spring sunlight, lingering in each others' arms for a long tender moment before they went for their horses to bring them back and load their treasure.

They had ridden some distance from the ruins when the main swarm of the devil-bats descended upon them. They were too far from the tower to turn back and take refuge.

To be Continued...

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