CHAPTER NINETEEN
By the flickering light from the lanterns and torches that lined the tunnel walls, they hiked Through twisted tunnels chipped from layers of earth and long buried surface architecture. The road was heavily traveled, crowded with groups of gremlins dragging carts full of salvaged gear. They passed a few military patrols and several groups of religious missionaries spreading the word of The Many.
The road was well defended by strategically placed, heavily armed military checkpoints. They passed bodies of gremlins that died along the roads and cleanup crews with flame throwers.
The weave of tunnels that Niknak lead them through brought them into a cavern dominated by a massive fort, built of concrete and old tires, on the shore of an underground lake. Docks ran out from the fort, and on the ramparts a variety of weapons sat ready for an attack from the water or from the few tunnels that were beyond it's strong walls.
"Welcome to Tiremound." Pride hung in Sprocket's voice. "The only place in all of the gremlin kingdom that is free of religious influence. The frontline has no place for that...and luckily...there's nothing that we hate more than goblins."
A small mechanical door built into one of the two massive gates opened as they approached. Through the door, the military fort was extremely busy. Soldiers drilled, rested, were cooking things and entertained themselves with games near the barracks and a collection of tents.
"Sarge," Sprocket said. "Sarge, take your team and rest up...you guys have access to any gear you think you may need...and feel free to grab a meal." She glanced at Niknak. "Niknak, help Alpha team ...you know what they will need for the trip better than anyone. I'll get the Marked One and his sister something to eat while we talk. I bet you two are starving."
Callen looked at Ania, and the siblings nodded. "I definitely could use something to eat."
"Alright then, I'll have some food brought up to us...we'll make it a working lunch." Sprocket pointed to a large building in the back. “The command room is inside." Sprocket said. "I'll also show you what I know about Forgeholm, so you're going in there less blind. Come on."
Niknak went with Alpha team towards the building that was marked 'Armory' in neon lights and the siblings followed Sprocket up a set of stairs to a balcony that overlooked the fort. From that vantage point, they could see the tunnels and the dark water beyond the walls. Before the tunnels, defensive trenches had been dug and soldiers kept watch. Others kept moving bodies and stacking them near the tunnel mouths.
"A lot of attacks come this way." Sprocket said. "The tunnels beyond Tiremound's walls are perilous. I don't know how Niknak manages to survive out there."
"You're really well armed here." Callen pointed out as he looked at the fort's defenses. "You're telling me you can't move past this position?"
"There're several reasons." Sprocket said. "Most of it's political, and the other, well, when we have tried. It looks like the goblins have some sort of seer, sorcerer, or visionary that allows them to anticipate our movements. It's frustrating, because I think things would be different if our people were united. Maybe then, we could coordinate something massive and overwhelm their seer's ability to anticipate our movements. Hell, we can't even get an assassin in there and it isn't like Niknak would do it. The other problem is...our other settlements won't agree to aid a siege without you..."
"I guess that's where I come in." Callen sighed. "Two-fold..."
"It seems that way. I may find their religious debate frivolous, but part of me is glad your arrival has forced everyone to work together...and, hopefully, that will find us a cure for this plague. The only thing that bothers me is that my father will make me answer to you when we finally decide to siege Forgeholm."
"That's the only thing that bothers you about this?” Callen scoffed. "Seriously?"
"If I focused on all the things that bothered me, then nothing would ever get done." Sprocket sighed. "I find what my father and mother have done to the children they ordered to be stolen for their religious practices to be horrible. I would have never condoned such atrocities."
"Are they safe?" Callen asked. "Will your father live up to his word?"
"He won't have them killed if that's what you mean." Sprocket answered. "But, today's ritual would allow you to draw an incomplete conclusion about what happens to those they take. Most, don't die like the boy you saw. That only happens to one or maybe two a batch, while my father's physician adjusts his machine."
"What happens to the rest?" Ania asked. The look on her face showed that she was preparing for the worst.
"At first they were traded, now my mother takes them...for what, I don't know." Sprocket sighed. "That started after my mother claimed to receive some vision from people on the surface that shared her beliefs."
"She said something about that when she captured me..." Callen pointed out. "She thought I was one of them at first...she seemed to be expecting someone..."
Sprocket shrugged. "I have no idea, except that it was negotiated because my father was losing soldiers willing to go to the surface to take humans for the cause of the Forger. They negotiated...his advisors weren't even called, and I was asked to leave. I have no idea what for...although, I've heard the screams, but the ones that survive are returned to the surface."
"How many were taken?" Callen asked.
"I don't know." Sprocket admitted. "A lot is all I know, perhaps thousands...maybe more?"
"How long did this go on?" Ania asked.
"A while." Sprocket said. "It started soon after the plague began...it's been going on while..."
"How did you get away with it?" Ania asked. Her voice was heavy with shock. " How did no one notice?"
"They did. Hence the news reports and grandpa's investigation..." Callen said. "But, it wasn't soon enough..."
"They started with the homeless." Sprocket explained.
"I guess no one ever questions someone going missing when they're missing or unwanted in the first place." Ania’s posture slumped with gloom.
"Or those who live off the grid," Callen added. "That makes them the perfect victims for evil things because no one comes looking unless bodies start showing up...in this case they never did..."
"I'll do what I can to protect those that my father has captured from any harm." Sprocket said. "I can't promise much, but I'll do what I can. I do have the scarab and coin after all."
"Thanks," Callen said. "It obviously controls the gremlins...so, do you know how to use it?"
"Only a little." Sprocket did little to hide detest for the scarab. "My father could control everyone in his presence, that includes the TVs and speakers he has around the village. With it, I could only dominate one or two. There was a book that disappeared that I know had a few verses translated that allowed him to learn to use the coin...I don't know where it went though. I think it was lost when we were forced to leave Forgeholm. But, my bet is that it has more power over my people than even my father has been able to use."
"If it's so powerful, then why did he give it up?" Ania asked.
"He can't keep everyone under constant control. He has to sleep. When that happened, our people would smash the monitors, microphones, everything that he could speak to them through...then, they would collapse the palace on him from a distance in rebellion." She said. "He had to give it up, Niknak wouldn't have taken you to Forgeholm otherwise, and that would unite all the gremlin people in a way that he is trying to avoid."
"Why did he not just control Niknak?" Callen asked.
"Niknak's not like us...he's something more...no one knows what...he's a living legend." Sprocket said. There was a bit of romantic admiration in her voice. "He is immune to the scarabs effects and if anyone wants him to do something he has to be convinced."
"But, Bracket seemed to have some hold over him..." Callen pointed out.
"No," Sprocket said. "He
has some brain or computing issues, but he is the only one of us that is free from the scarab. I long for that kind of freedom."
"But you seem to be able to have your own thoughts," Ania said.
"All of us can...except cogs." Sprocket said. "Acting on the ones that my father doesn't like is a problem. No one can oppose him directly. But luckily, he's done well for our people. So, despite religious disapproval, there hasn't been civil war...but the plague has broken that stability...and if it weren't for what happened today..." She shivered.
Callen nodded. "I got that..." He looked out over the water and watched some of the rowboats moving towards the docks. He was lost in the strange beauty. Here he was on the fort’s ramparts overlooking an underground lake. High places always comforted him. He laughed when he looked at the ceiling. He understood the irony. "Sprocket, how exactly does this place exist? I mean...all of this is..."
She nodded. "I can see how it would be hard to understand for a human. But, your world is like that for us...only those strong enough will sneak above...to get things you throw away...and the bravest will go a bit further."
"I saw a report on the news about hidden under cities...but I had no idea...this is more like an entire world," Callen admitted. "Do you ever find humans down here?"
"Sometimes." Sprocket sighed. "But they don't live long...ultimately, we don't know what built this part of the world. We were freed into it by your father. Beyond that, I have no idea. The goblins and maybe...a few of the bands of intelligent trolls might have some idea..."
"Maybe, no one has ever really looked?" Ania asked.
"I don't know...perhaps it's magic." Sprocket shrugged. "The stories that some of the old gremlin women tell stories about how we go to the world above when we die...but until then, we avoid humans...and they care not for us."
"Like God's angels..." Ania pointed out. "There are few in Christianity that care for humans."
"Yeah...if you believe in them." Callen shook his head.
"Well, a lot of us believe in you." Sprocket pointed out. "And here you are..." She paused. "For better or worse..." She sighed and walked over to an opening that hung with a tattered curtain. "But, enough about that stuff, let's eat." She pulled it open and motioned for the siblings to enter. "Afterward, I can also show you our map."
They entered the hallway and took the staircase down. Lit by torches and candles, the mess hall was lined with rows of tables, like a cafeteria made from a variety of salvaged materials. In the back, several fireplaces glowed and a group of gremlins worked franticly to cook rats and other exotic subterranean meat. They seasoned bubbling caldrons with molds and mushrooms while singing something in their odd language.
"I hope that's not what you're planning on feeding us," Ania said. "I'm a vegetarian."
"A vegetarian?" Sprocket said. "You mean a herbivore...aren't those the things that carnivores eat? I saw that once in a book about giant lizards."
Callen laughed, but it wasn't because he was dying to eat roasted rodent. "I think we'll be fine with the field rations." He said. "Rat and mold isn't either of our things..."
Sprocket shrugged. "More for us," She shrugged. "So, I guess you can eat whatever's in those silver packages you grabbed when we look at the map."
They went back up the stairs into a room with a large fireplace. The windows were tight to prevent projectiles from slipping through, but they did provide a good view of the surrounding the battlefield. Next to a large hearth, sat a table and chairs built of leather and bone. A massive head of a mutated alligator hung looking over the room from its post above the roaring fire.
Sprocket stepped up to the table that had several large browning pieces of paper nailed to it. After pressing a button, a group of pale electric lights flickered on. On the papers, an elaborate set of maps had been drawn. The maps showed side views, top views, and artistic attempts at two-dimensional representations of the 3-D nature of the underground world.
As Callen snapped pictures with his goggles, he was overwhelmed for a moment with the complexity and the depth, not only of the detail, but the scale of what they were mapping. This world was amazing. The a near endless network of tunnels connected caverns and various surface buildings, like subway tunnels and the basements of buildings, was overwhelming. He wished he wasn’t too deep to connect to Mavis and have these maps made into a 3-D version. He did take note on some of the paths that he would need to take if he needed to make his way back without a guide.
Sprocket pointed to one of the maps that seemed to be a few city blocks from Tiremound. "Well, this is where our military patrols have gotten to. Beyond this zone, its solid goblins...there are tunnels that will avoid their patrols, only Niknak knows them. Though, don't ask me how."
"The map looks pretty detailed." Ania looked over the maps. She pointed to a spot that was outlined with lighter and less detailed markings than the rest of the map. "I guess that's Forgeholm?"
Sprocket nodded. "The map is made from our memories. But, a lot can change in eight years and goblins aren't known to be good house guests. Actually, quite the opposite." She sighed. "There are only a few entrances that we didn't collapse upon our retreat." Sprocket explained. "So, Niknak will take you to Forgeholm through one of these. I dare not speculate which, given even if he were here to tell you, it could change depending on what happens out there. But note, here is the rune-covered holy door into the domain."
"There looks to be tunnels that wrap around..." From her bag, Ania handed Callen a bottle of water and she tore open the ration's foil. "Are there other doors?"
"I imagine so, but I haven't seen them." Sprocket said. "However, even if there was, this is the holy door. So, it's the only one we know of and the one we left from, you will have to use that one."
"Why do religious types always pick the stupidest and most difficult way to get things done?" Callen asked rhetorically. He opened his ration and took a swig of water. "We gotta have the door that's blocked by a village full of bloodthirsty monsters rather than a stroll through a grassy park."
"If that park was central park, in Philly, Boston, or New York," Ania said. "I think I'd choose the goblins..."
"Maybe that will change with the corporations getting involved," Callen said. "But, corporations rarely make things better..."
"What?" Sprocket said. "I agree with religion making things complicated, but what are corporations?"
"Big businesses," Ania said. "That humans work in. Instead of kings, our world has CEOs and instead of priests, we have CFOs."
"Oh." Sprocket sounded like she only partially understood what they were saying, but she didn't ask for clarification. Instead, she pointed back at the map. "There are many routes Niknak can take...my guess is that he will take the least traveled route which will go through the tunnel nearest to the lake and down. He knows paths that he will never share with anyone...so, I guess it's purposeless to guess. But, from what is remembered of Gearshire, no matter which direction you approach it from, you'll need a distraction of some kind to get to the door."
"Ah, that's where my team comes in." Sarge said as he entered the room. He was carrying a backpack. "Princess-General, you will need to order more C4. I took the last of it."
"Noted." Sprocket said. "Is everyone else ready?"
"Of course. Nikolai filled his medical supply bag and everyone got more ammo. They are resting in the mess hall." Sarge said. "Since it's meal time, and the goblins are most active after this meal, I think we should wait until tomorrow before we go. That will give everyone enough time to rest up for the trip."
"Agreed." Sprocket said. "I will send word to give your team cots in the barracks. Marked One, Ania, you can use the guest chamber near my quarters. I'll have another cot brought in there."
After eating their field rations, Callen and Ania were lead by Sprocket to the guest chamber. It didn't l
ook like much, but it was functional. The two cots were waiting in the room. Each came with a pair of rough blankets and pillows.
"The waste chamber is down the hall." Sprocket said.
"Waste chamber?" Ania asked. "You mean the restroom?"
"If that's what you want to call it." Sprocket said. "But, Marked One, I have a favor to ask of you."
"Alright." He sounded skeptical.
"I ask you, that when you return, that you let me do the battle plans." Sprocket pleaded. "I will tell them to you and then, you can tell them to the troops. I want to win this."
"What you trying to say?" Callen said with a jesting sarcasm. "That I'm not a skilled general?"
"Ah..." Sprocket sounded a little thrown off. "Well, I don't mean to offend...but, yes."
"Good." Callen laughed. "Because I would have to agree. It's all you."
"Good, I am glad." Sprocket's posture calmed. "Religion has no place guiding decisions in warfare, and I only saw ruin if you didn't see the logic."
"Well, I don't see religion having much purpose anywhere." Callen sighed. "Only idiots believe in things without proof...but here we are marching to find a cure for the plague because of some myth..."
"A funny thing to hear from the mouth of a religious figure." Sprocket said with a smile.
Callen laughed. "Yeah, well, I'm wondering how exactly I got that status among your people, and I'm guessing I'll find out when I go into the domain..."
"Be careful what you ask for." Sprocket said. "You may not like what you find..."
"Yeah, well, even if that's true, I doubt I'll find anything that will shatter my faith," Callen said. "Considering I really don't have any..."
Sprocket nodded, and a slight attention-grabbing growl caused her glanced down the hall. She grinned slightly. "I'm coming." She said, before turning back to Callen and Ania. "You two rest up. You have a difficult journey ahead of you." She turned and closed the door.
Callen turned towards his cot and began preparing it while Ania peaked out the door. "She's with Niknak," Ania sounded happy, like she was watching a romantic movie. "He feels more stable and his colors show how important she is to him...and vice versa. They calm each other...make each other whole."
Callen sat down on the cot and twisted to lie down. "So?" He said. "Your point?"
Ania shrugged. "I just think it's nice." She said. "There's some good in these gremlins."
"Yeah." Callen scoffed. "Maybe in one or two of them...to them we're..."
"Gods," Ania said. "Maybe we can use that status to our advantage."
"We're gonna have to consider that this seems like a bunch of opportunistic bullshit,” Callen stated. "But, I don't know how far that will go. Sprocket's priestess mother, I just have a bad feeling about her...her church is full of icons of the metal demons...and she sacrifices humans..."
"I don't blame you for having a bad feeling," Ania climbed onto the other cot. "I mean, even if there weren't icons of the metal demons, having a bad feeling probably wouldn't be a surprise..."
"No, not at all." Callen yawned. "But, I don't think a holy gremlin cure locked in a sealed underground laboratory makes much sense..."
"So, I take it you believe Sprocket in that the goblins created it?"
"That seems most likely, but I don't know...I guess it doesn't matter much how it started...we just have to end it. Somehow." He sounded frustrated. "But, I think we should get some rest."
"Yeah, me too." Ania curled up on her cot.
"Sleep well...err...the best you can," Callen closed his eyes.
"You too." She said. "And Callen, thanks for saving me today."
"I'm glad I was able too."
"But, Callen," Ania said. "Don't die before we get to this domain..."
"Don't worry..." Callen did his best to sound confident. "I'm pretty sure that the domain is dad's lab."
"Panacea." Ania smiled. "You think the myth is built on your cure..."
"A possibility, but if it is, then we need to find another way to cure the gremlins. The lives of those kids, Tende...and..." He paused and a lump grew in this throat. "And...Sadie...are depending on us..."
"Yeah...no pressure..." she swallowed hard. "But, we can't tell the gremlins it's for you. So we have to play along..."
"Yeah, all as we can do now is learn as much as we can about these gremlins...and look for something we can use against them. I don't trust them and we may need to exploit any weakness we find in order to ensure everyone gets out alive."
"That sounds a little cold," Ania said. "But, I guess we don't have a choice..." She sighed. "Oh, and Callen...one more thing...the gremlins...the sick ones...it looks like they're dying of something similar to Renee..."
"What?"
"I noticed it when we left Gearshire..."
"Similar how?"
"Well, the gremlin plague is magically enhanced...but not nearly as potent as what Renee died of."
"What does that mean?"
"Sprocket's idea about a sorcerer has to be right..."
"Well, maybe that's who we have to kill to cure them...and I get panacea...looks like we got our work cut out for us...now let's get some sleep."