Tossing and turning through the night, another night passed without the dream. It had been so common a thing that Artirius did not sleep well in its absence. From the time he entered and slept in Alastrial, the dream had not come. It was beginning to unnerve the barbarian, as if it foretold something terrible. He was not one to be greatly superstitious. Deities did exist, but they seldom played in the common lives of mortals and the children races they watched. The times were uncommon, though.
He was awake and waiting for Daelin before he arrived. The dwarf knocked on his door and called for him at the time he told them the night before. “Slept well I hope?” the dwarf inquired.
“As well as any condemned man could, yes.”
“Ha, ha. Well let us rouse the elf and be on our way, shall we?” The two turned to see Tressnou sitting in a chair in the royal entrance hall. He was smiling at them.
“You know, we all don’t have time to waste. Some of us are trying to save the world,” he chuckled lightly.
“Sneaky elf,” Daelin smiled. The group moved to the main entrance of the royal hall and slid through the doors. There was no activity in the great entrance hall at this early hour, so it was not hard to move across to the opposite side. Here there was a large passageway that led to the military barracks. Daelin saluted the guards as they passed and the greeting was returned, but a little more rigidly. The respect for the general showed on these dwarves.
They maneuvered down a longer corridor, with rooms off to the sides. These rooms had three purposes: to hold supplies, to hold food, and to house dwarves. As they continued, they passed the medical wards and a kitchen. The group made a turn at a ‘T’ in the hall and went down another corridor. At the end of this hall was Daelin’s quarters. They entered quickly and quietly, not wishing to be noticed.
The room was as a commander’s room should be. To one side was a great desk with a replica of the plane they lived on sitting atop a pedestal. Many shelves were behind the desk, lined with books, logs, and the information on every soldier he commanded, including every mission they had been part of. A fireplace sat against the far wall. At the opposite end of the room from the desk were his bed and personal belongings. They were all in chests, armoires and dressers. In the center of the room was his table, which was covered with maps.
At the table sat the four defenders that would come with them on this journey. As Daelin entered, they all stood and saluted. “At your rest, men,” the soldiers all relaxed their stances but stood at ready. Motioning to the four, “These are four of my best defenders, our elite guard. They will be our companions on this journey. To the left, Olie and Browlie, twins.”
Olie smiled and said, “I’m the ugly one.”
Browlie looked on grumpily, “We are twins you twit.”
“I know, but it is a cleverer way of putting you down.”
“Why you…”
Before the brotherly love could be shown to its full extent, Daelin cut them down, “Enough, please boys, we have trying events at hand.” Browlie snuffed at the smiling Olie.
Continuing on Daelin looked to Artirius and Tressnou, “Full grown children with sticks those two. Now,” he looked at the next dwarf in line, “this is Riley, and the last in line is Nugget.” The dwarves all saluted the generals companions and returned to rest.
Daelin continued, “Now, I have gathered the four of you for a hush, hush mission. I did not inform you of what we were doing until this point, to maintain secrecy. You will join us on an underground journey to Derril’s Point. Our goal is to quietly slip away to the underground trade roads without rousing anyone, or alerting them to our mission. To do this, we will be using a passage that is kept secret from everyone, except the king and myself. What you see now you will keep secret, or suffer the consequences of oath breaking and treason to the clan. If you know, understand, and except this responsibility, say ‘aye’ now.”
The dwarves chorused together ‘aye’. These were dwarves, and honor bound them to serve the clan’s interest. Nothing would make them break this oath.
“Good.” He looked again to Artirius and Tressnou, “I can trust you as well, I know. So now, everyone, pick up your packs and lets go.”
The others grabbed their gear and moved toward the door, but noticed Daelin did not head that way. He moved instead to his fireplace. He quenched the fire, and with a steel poker moved aside the logs. Underneath he pushed a stone. It revealed a stone cog with a little handle. He rotated it until something behind the fireplace slid into place and he stepped back. As he did, the fireplace itself slid back and to the side. Behind it was a well-cut passageway leading downward.
“Well now down we go,” Daelin lit a torch and proceeded along the passage. Browlie and Olie lit torches and the entire group filed in. Browlie and Olie kept separate, in order to evenly light the way. The passage descended downward around three hundred feet, and leveled out. It was comfortable enough for the group, even the massive Artirius moved freely here. This passage went on for well over a mile. Then Daelin’s light found rock in front of the group. Daelin handed the torch to Nugget, and moved to one side of the wall. He pushed a stone and it moved into the wall. He turned and went to the other and did the same. At that a massive slab of stone slid into the wall, it must have been many meters thick. The area beyond, opened to a much larger size.
Daelin went first and the group followed. “Welcome to the great underground trade roads. These roads travel as far as any road above ground and farther still in some parts of the world. As you can see, it is quite a large way.”
Artirius laughed lightly.
Daelin exclaimed, “Oh, of course, unlike us you cannot see in this darkness. Even the elf can see a bit here.”
“Well yes, but with a little magic I can actually see better then you.” Tressnou uttered a few words and blinked. His eyes were now very dark; they looked to be as deep as the world itself. “Now I can see very well.”
“Alright then, this is a shortcut carved out in secret. It is designed as a quick exit in times of need. We are eight miles from where the trade roads meet Deep Hollow so no one will have much of a chance seeing us this far out. It should be two days at a steady pace to get to the weigh station. Be careful and stay close, these roads are not traveled much anymore and no longer guarded by the city. Never know what we will find here.”
The group followed Daelin, as he guided them along. Travel was smooth for the most part. Occasionally parts of the roof had caved in and it was necessary to do a little climbing or digging, but nothing of great interest held them up. After traveling a few hours, they began to feel a wind blowing over them, and it seemed that the path widened.
“We are coming to the ‘Undercross’ a natural stone bridge that spans four hundred yards over a chasm. Once, long ago, I knew a young dwarf who tried to climb to the bottom. After climbing two weeks, he decided to give it up and climbed back out.”
Olie asked, “Who was it general?”
Laughing, “Ha, lad, it was I.” The group was lightened by the story and the crossing was as smooth as the whole trip thus far had been. Opposite the Undercross a large area opened up, lined with stalactites and stalagmites. They maneuvered through them with little trouble. As they approached the middle Olie let out a yell dropping his torch.
The group turned to see one of the stalagmites had actually attacked him. Upon a quick observation it was clearly not a stalagmite though. Lasso like limbs whipped out from the thing and grasped Olie tightly. He was struggling to escape as the creature opened up its eyes and mouth, with teeth that looked like stone daggers. Daelin moved in quickly with Artirius right behind. Daelin swung the hammer end of his dwarven ax hard into the creatures side as Artirius brought his great hammer down and struck the top of the creature. Each blow sounded as if it had crushed a great stone. The attack was so intense it all but shattered the creature. The creature let out a gargling sound and slouched down. It was no more. The surprised Olie looked amazed.
Daeli
n patted his shoulder, “The lashing rocks, they are called. I have not seen their kind for some time. Evil creatures that look like stone themselves. This is an ideal place for them to hide. If that one was here then it is hard to tell if more are about. Let’s keep it quiet and move slow and together.” The group tightened a bit.
They could here sounds all around, like stone dragging on stone. The lashing rocks were stirring as other creatures moved amongst their kind. From one side, a lashing rocks limb flew through the air toward Tressnou. With a quick snap of his wrist a burst of fire caught the limb in mid air. The lashing rock let out a piercing screech. Others now rustled around the travelers. They were faster now and seemed to close in on the group. Daelin motioned and the run began. They bobbed and weaved in and out of the standing rocks. Lasso limbs snapped here and there about them, but they slapped them aside each time they came. Some came close to their faces and legs but the group moved on. As the great open area began to close, it looked as if a wall of stone stood before the passageway ahead. As they drew closer the lashing limbs made what was in front of them clear.
Artirius sprinted ahead of the group, hammer in his hands. Calling on the rage of the barbarian he began to heat up. He focused on the stone barrier. He felt the rage about to consume him as he knew it would, but they needed to get through this wall and he did not wish to spare the time hitting the things more than once. He let his conscience slip away. Those behind him could tell you what he did next, though he would never remember. The rage that came to barbarians made them superior versions of themselves. As Artirius was superior among men, the strength he possessed was phenomenal. Two rows of the creatures stood, as a solid wall, in his way. He moved with the speed of a fast horse at full tilt. With one wide arc across his body he swung his weapon with all his speed and power. The creatures before him were literally obliterated the same way a small rock was crushed by a hammer. Artirius moved onward, and through the creatures. Though he could not see, his rage did not stop him. The group heard him, as he moved on ahead; swinging at lashing rocks that waited beyond the wall he had destroyed. One caught him by the arm. Such was his strength in his rage he drug the rock to him and looked it in what could be considered eyes. If these creatures could feel fear, that one did. It screeched as, with one arm, Artirius raised his hammer, and down it fell on what would have been the thing’s face.
It was silent. As the group got closer Artirius regained himself, but was slightly weakened by the rage. They were past the danger now and moved on down the passage a short distance and rested. Artirius panted lightly at first. The rage required about a minute of good rest to fully recover. In combat, if the rage subsided at the wrong moment it could kill a barbarian due to the weakened state. In some cases for Artirius, if he did not force himself to stop raging, it could consume him beyond the need for only a minutes rest. The depths of his strength were such that he had never plunged all the way to the bottom.
After a short time they all stood and prepared to move on. They didn’t say much as it was not needed. Though they all had heard stories of the great man, they meant little in comparison to what they had seen. Whatever they felt of him before this feat, they now all respected his ability.
Artirius looked at them all, “Shall we go.”
Daelin grinned, “Surely, this way all, a little over a day left to the weigh station.” The road now resembled what it had when they first began to travel. It was mostly smooth. On this side of the Undercross there were fewer collapses, so it was even a bit faster going. About four hours passed before the group chose to rest for the night. They made a small fire to cook on and keep them comfortable. Though this was a tunnel, it was still underground, so the dwarves slept well enough. Artirius tossed a bit, but he too slept very well. Tressnou needed to sleep only a few hours. Elves did not need to sleep as much as the mortals, so he meditated on things while the others rested. Again, no dream crossed the mind of Artirius.
Feeling rather refreshed the group got up to have a quick breakfast and quell the fire they had made the night before. They set out around what would have been early morning on the ground above them. They made excellent time again and Daelin seemed pleased, “Aye, at this rate we will hit the weigh station before I had planned, maybe even as much as half a day. Not bad considering those stupid rock monsters back there.” The road stayed steady, and they passed a small underground spring of fresh water. It was little more than the size of a birdbath, but it was not a bad idea they thought to feel up their water bags. It may only have been a day, but in the darkness it was important to take advantage of anything you had at your disposal. It could be unforgiving here. They took a quick rest and again continued on.
After traveling a few hours more Daelin motioned at the road ahead, “Well, if I am remembering things correctly, the weigh station should be around this bend and a few hundred yards or so.” Sure enough the dwarf was correct. They rounded the bend and could see the station. A door stood in the rock with torches placed on either side producing warm and welcoming light.
As the group approached, something seemed a bit odd. The door was not closed and seemed to sway somewhat. Daelin halted them a few yards away. They scanned the area. Daelin called out for the dwarves guarding the weigh station. “Hello there. Duty dwarves, where about are you?” No reply came. He motioned for Nugget to enter as Riley covered the entrance. Nugget kicked hard inward on the door and Riley followed behind. With a nod of his head Daelin sent the twins in next to assure no help was needed.
After a moment, Nugget, head bobbing, came to the door. “Sir, all clear. But…” he paused, “you may wish to come and see.” He turned aside to allow the general passage, Artirius and Tressnou followed behind him.
Inside, it was clear what had happened. A table was overturned and broken pots and dishes lined the floor. Upon closing the door, a dwarf was found hanged. In one corner was the body of another. It had been only a day or less since this attack by the looks of things. The fireplace was still warm so it could not have been long. In the back, the small bunks were torn apart. Beyond that, the store rooms were sacked of supplies, namely food, but other gear was missing as well.
“Beasts…” Olie looked at his fallen brothers.
“Aye, little more than dogs,” his twin responded looking also at his fallen fellows.
“Not just the dogs,” Daelin said. “Look here on the floor, you see there. Though there is hard rock all about some dust lingers in these places. The print there on the floor is not like the gnolls, who are a bit tall to work in this room. They are taller than Artirius remember, and he nearly must crouch here. No, this is more like a boot or shoe. The mark looks orcish.”
“Yes, they were rumored to be involved now, it would explain much,” Tressnou commented, while looking over the room. “I believe it may be wise to move on, and not to rest here. If this attack has happened, it is quite possible that a move is being made on Derril’s Point, perhaps even as we speak. It is less than a day ahead, at a stiff march, correct, Daelin?”
“O, aye. But I favor a run if you can keep the pace wizard.”
“I can match you, I assure it,” the elf smiled.
The dwarves gathered up their dead friends. Normally a burial service would be the custom, but due to the nature of things it was not possible. So the other custom was upheld instead. They were wrapped in linens and laid on as much wood as could be gathered, from the remains of the table and chairs. They placed oil on them, to quicken the flames. Daelin acquired the dwarves’ papers to identify them later. “In service you died for our people. May Maldor guide you to his Halls. Goodbye brothers.” He solemnly lit the pyre in front of him. Smoke rolled up the fireplace’s chimney.
Turning, they all moved to the door, and opened it. Riley went first, his head hanging low. As he passed over the threshold, a whizzing sound came from his right. He did not have time to see the arrow, whistling through the air. It pierced his shoulder. He rolled away feeling the pain as he dro
pped his pike. He knelt and realized he was prone. Looking up, he saw the spear coming toward him. It was a quick thrust, it would be instant death.
Chapter 7