Chapter Ten
The next day, they cleared the edge of the forest and saw the Calespur Mountains rising before them. Snow crunched beneath their feet as they headed inexorably up the foothills of Mount Cale, one of the tallest mountains in the Kingdom. Despite the remoteness of their location and the density of the forest receding behind them, a road of sorts could be discerned amongst the scrub, winding its way along the mountainside. Clavis, normally taciturn, seemed to come to life at the sight of the road.
“This was the main highway between the city of Ferrumgaard and the human village o’ Culdeny,” he said, pointing back down towards the coastal town far in the distance. “Engineers spent a year layin’ down stonework to make this road, in the hopes of increased trade with the fledgling human community. Dig down through this snow and dirt, and the flagstones'll still be there, as solid as the day they were laid out.”
“How large is Ferrumgaard?” Nellise asked.
“Nearly ten thousand of me kin called the inside of Ferrumgaard home,” Clavis replied, a note of pride in his voice. “But it ain't sprawled out like a human city. 'Twas dug into the mountain, a quarter of a mile wide and twice that in length, layered down through the rock to the valuable ore deep down.”
“I'll reserve my excitement for when we get there,” Pacian remarked dryly.
“That ya will, lad, that ya will,” Clavis chuckled. He seemed quite confident that the sight of the old dwarven city would impress Pacian, and he became thoughtfully quiet for a time.
The cold mountain wind chilled Aiden to the bone as they walked along the road for hours yet in spite of their discomfort, they were treated to the magnificent view of the Calespur Mountains around them. The road itself wound along the side of Mount Cale, with an ever increasing drop off to the right.
Just as the sun was dipping below the horizon, the road veered to the left and came to an end at a sheer cliff-face, fifty yards away. A massive pair of stone doors loomed before them, easily fifteen feet high, etched with strange patterns and words written in the old dwarven language.
One of the doors was hanging off its top hinge, leaving a large gap open near the ground where it showed signs of a century of wear. The ominous howl of wind blowing through the opening into the chamber beyond reminded them that this was a dead city, and one with a reputation for obliterating the lives of those who were incautious.
“Tell me again why we're doing this?” Pacian asked timidly, looking up at the doors. The stark reality of the place was becoming apparent, even to him.
“In your case, money,” Aiden reminded him.
“Aye, we're not here fer glory or fame,” Clavis nodded soberly, taking out his crossbow and checking it carefully. “Twice before this place has thwarted me attempts at recovering the lost treasures of me kin, and I consider meself fortunate to still be drawin’ breath. But I can see the looks in yer eyes, and ye needn't worry – if'n it looks too dangerous to push through, we'll call the whole thing off.”
“How far in do we need to go,” Aiden asked, peering through the gap in the doors and seeing only darkness beyond.
“The fifth floor down was the height of the flooding, if memory serves,” Clavis replied. “I'm thinkin’ we'll swing through the fourth level, and maybe see if'n there might be a way to get at the things on the fifth. Might have to go for a bit of a swim, though.”
“Are we planning to rest before heading in?” Nellise inquired, glancing around at the freezing conditions without any enthusiasm.
“Aye, we can rest inside,” Clavis assured her. “It'll be safe and sheltered from the worst of the weather.” He hefted his crossbow and took a step inside the ruined doorway, peering around cautiously with Sayana following in his footsteps. Aiden waited patiently for the better part of a minute before deciding it was probably safe to shelter out of the bitter wind, and leading the others in.
“Aye, it's clear enough,” Clavis muttered from somewhere ahead of them. A small tongue of flame appeared about twenty yards away, dancing in the palm of Sayana's hand. The light it shed wasn't nearly enough to gauge the look of the place in which they now stood, but it was comforting nonetheless.
“We can set up camp here and get some kip,” Clavis declared, as Nellise used her staff to provide additional light. “We're in the main foyer, a vast chamber thirty feet high and a hunnerd long, so if there's something living in here, it'll find us whether or not we have a fire going.”
“Nobody and nothing comes here,” Colt muttered. “This place is cursed, and even the animals know that.”
Everyone decided to focus on setting up the camp and preparing a hot evening meal to ward away the chill. They ate in near-silence, and then one by one turned in for the night
Aiden slept fitfully during the uneventful night until awoken by Nellise at what he assumed was just after dawn. Awakening to her exquisite face and golden eyes in the flickering orange firelight was one of the perks of adventuring with her, though Aiden would never actually tell her that.
They ate breakfast with a measure of enthusiasm for the coming day. Nobody was more excited than Clavis however, who was well refreshed from his night's rest and ready to tackle his life-long dream - again. Not that Aiden held that against him of course, but it did make him question what exactly had prevented his prior success.
“Keep an eye on our short friend,” Aiden whispered to Pacian as they packed their belongings. “I don’t think he’s told us everything about his earlier visits to Ferrumgaard, and I don't want us getting killed as a result.”
“You don't think he's lying to us do you?” Pace asked, eyeing the dwarf as he stood thirty feet away, at the limit of their light sources.
“Lies? Not really. I don't know, call it a hunch if you want, just watch out for anything strange from him.”
“Can do,” Pacian shrugged. With their supplies packed, they readied their weapons and fell into line behind Clavis. Sayana used her unique skill to shed light on their surroundings, but the sheer size of the space they walked through meant they could barely see the ceiling, let alone the walls. The stone underfoot was smooth and unblemished, despite being carved into shape centuries before. There were no signs of any tracks, or other disturbances in the immediate vicinity, giving Aiden hope that the place really was deserted.
A few minutes’ walk from their camp was another set of double doors, similar to the massive gates at the entrance only this time still intact. They were closed, and bore the marks of heavy siege equipment from some time in the past.
“Whoe'er cracked open the outer doors tried the same approach on these,” he explained, as would a tour guide. “Little did they know that the ceiling behind these doors collapsed not long after the city were abandoned. Hunnerds of tons of rock have made sure they will never open again.”
“I assume you have some sort of alternative route?” Nellise remarked, taking in the former majesty of the doors before them.
“Sure do,” Clavis replied, gesturing to the left. “Figurin’ there was still some treasure to be found below, they opted to dig their way around the inner gates.” He led them over to where the walls were rent by heavy tools. A tunnel of sorts had been dug in through the surrounding rock, circumventing the blocked doors. Clavis didn't hesitate, stepping straight into the roughly-hewn tunnel without caution, closely followed by Aiden and the others. Unlike their short friend, they had to stoop a little to get through without bumping their heads.
“Was this carved by dwarves?” Aiden asked curiously, drawing an irate look from Clavis.
“Does this look like the same quality as the foyer ya just walked through?” he asked irritably. “Whoe'er did this had no finesse, no skill at all. Just wanted to get into the city and grab whate'er wasn't nailed down. Little more'n grave robbers,” he added for good measure, although it was unclear if he was disgusted by the grave-robbers, or the poor quality of their stonework.
The tunnel curved around in a large arc, then re-joined the main
structure of the city's upper floor after a short distance. Not far to their right stood the doors they had travelled around, along with several hundred tons of rock piled up against them. The granite was piled all the way to the ceiling, a stark reminder that they were walking around inside a hollowed-out mountain.
“Somehow, several pillars came down in the first years after the exodus,” Clavis observed quietly. “Eventually the ceiling just gave way in the unsupported areas. The rest 'o the place is holding up just fine, in case ye were worried about a collapse by the way.”
“No, why would we be thinking about that,” Aiden replied dryly. The chamber they were now in was lined with what appeared to be empty houses, carved with intricacy and care from the surrounding rock.
Supporting columns similar to those Clavis had described lined what could only be called a street, which continued off into the darkness beyond their lights. In the echoing stillness, they walked along the deserted street mindful of the people who used to fill this place with life.
“Most of the food services worked up on this level,” he continued quietly, “so as the smoke from the fires could get out 'o the ceiling vents. 'Twas the most efficient way to feed the city, so just about everyone who lived up here was a cook 'o some sort.”
“I suppose the people who lived on the top few levels were the first out, then,” Aiden wondered aloud, looking in through one of the empty windows of a local residence, long since abandoned.
“The MacTavish clan was the most predominant up here,” Clavis answered darkly. “Fancied themselves the kings 'o the upper levels. When the surge of people running up from below flooded this place with men and women lookin' ta get out as quick as they could, the MacTavishes joined them, without thinkin' 'o the real King 'o Ferrumgaard, Arland the seventh, trapped down below in his throne room.”
His speech was laden with barely disguised hatred, so much so that Aiden turned and looked at the normally taciturn dwarf, just to make sure it was the same person. Clavis noticed that everyone else was looking at him the same way, and quickly shook off the dark mood.
“That's all in the past now,” he muttered in a more reasonable tone of voice. He continued walking onwards; Nellise was close by Sayana, whose soft light revealed her troubled expression quite clearly.
“Does that count as strange?” Pacian whispered to Aiden sarcastically when Clavis was out of earshot.
“Yeah, it does,” Aiden muttered as the two friends silently contemplated the implications while following Clavis further into the dead city.
The cavernous hallway ended in a large stone wall, with a wide stairwell carved into it. The stairs seemed sturdy enough in spite of being chipped and cracked in places. They were fully enclosed by solid granite on either side, preventing any chance of plunging to one's death.
Sayana’s light wasn’t going to be enough so Nellise whispered a prayer and her staff lit up, as if it were a bright lantern. With it, she and Clavis led their descent, stepping around fallen chunks of rock that had accumulated on the stairs over the past century and down to the second floor. The air was noticeably warmer here, and a clearly defined street stretched out before them as they reached the bottom of the stairs, threading its way in amongst tightly clustered buildings.
“Each 'o the buildings you see around us was a craftsman's forge,” Clavis proudly explained. “There be a hunnerd of 'em on this floor alone, and back in the day, the sound of all them hammers workin' away was like no other sound ye ever heard.”
They continued along the street until they came to another collapsed section blocking their passage. Clavis was unperturbed, instead choosing a different route through the ancient city that avoided the obstruction.
The tightly-clustered buildings ended abruptly, giving way to an immense open area before them. In the middle of this cavern was a gargantuan device, much like a giant pot – it had to be over fifty feet in width, and he couldn't even guess at the weight of the thing.
One of the massive braces holding it up had failed years ago, leaving the cauldron leaning heavily to one side. Old and decaying leather gloves, rusty metal tongs and other equipment were strewn around on the stone floor at its base, as well as a fine layer of sand that had spilled out of a large clay vessel.
Huge blocks of stone, carved to channel molten iron hung suspended by big, rusty chains over a gaping hole in the floor, where the white hot metal would have dropped. Their puny lights could not penetrate the darkness of that hole well enough to see the bottom, though he could see the outline of a stairwell not far from their position.
Beyond the pot, a colossal furnace lay dormant, charred black from years of use and decaying slowly with time. A solid layer of rust covered the machine, along with scattered parts to what must have once been an elaborate pulley system. Aiden stared in amazement at the sheer scale of the foundry, unable to fathom the need for such scale.
“Told ya ye'd be impressed,” Clavis chuckled at their faces. “This is just a hint of what the dwarves of Ferrumgaard were capable of back in the day, and I doubt we'll see their like again. They'd forge massive engines here, both for peacetime and for war, and of course parts for maintaining the city’s infrastructure. There's no point dwelling on the distant past, for the real treasure lies beneath us. The stairwell beckons, over yonder.” He pointed towards an area past the gaping maw of the furnace, over near the northern wall.
Wordlessly, they moved on to the stairwell and down to the next floor. It was just like the last staircase they had taken, wide and smooth. This one circled around the great hole in the floor where they would have been able to see the machinery of dwarven industry at work, had it still been operating.
The air was becoming stale as they descended into areas where fresh air couldn't readily reach, and the dry smell of stone and dirt was becoming stronger. The architecture of the nearby buildings returned to the closely-built, multi-storey structures the dwarves seemed to have favoured, although here they seemed to be less intricately carved than on the floors above. Several of them had collapsed over the years, leaving large chunks of rock strewn about on the empty streets.
“Housing for the workers,” Clavis grunted as way of explanation. “Our industrious grave-robbers were probably disappointed with what they found when they first set eyes on this place. We're close to the collapsed section that stopped me progress a few years back. It's naught but a five-minute walk from here.” The dwarf led them past the remains of his people's engineering accomplishments and through a narrow street, lined with the crumbling tenements of the dwarven working class.
“If it's so easy to get to this point,” Pacian inquired as they travelled, “why has it taken you years to get back down here?”
“It's hard to find anyone crazy enough to come with me,” Clavis muttered ruefully. “Ferrumgaard is no place to travel alone, something I learned the hard way. That's why together, we'll beat this place, and ye'll be all the richer for it.”
Twice over the next few minutes they had to clamber over piles of rock, or detour around even larger piles of rock. The place was really coming apart. As if to tweak his fears, Aiden swore he could feel a slight vibration through the soles of his boots, although it was possible he was imagining things.
It was closer to ten minutes before they reached a towering section of fallen rock, large enough to bury several buildings completely. There wasn't any way around this one that they could see within the range of their light sources, so Aiden assumed this was the collapse that Clavis had spoken of.
“Here it be,” he muttered, looking up towards the unseen ceiling somewhere above.
“This?” Pacian remarked incredulously. “This is what stopped you last time you were here?”
“Aye lad, and I barely escaped with me life to boot.”
“I see, so, how exactly were you planning to get around it this time?” Pacian accused. “It's just as big as the pile blocking the big doors upstairs.”
“Ah, this time I came
prepared, with tools and knowledge,” Clavis answered, giving the others a wink. He took off his backpack and pulled out something wrapped in hessian. He withdrew a few things from the wrapping, and then carefully assembled a heavy pickaxe, with a flat bladed shovel on the back end.
“You're going to dig through all that, with a bloody pickaxe?” Colt asked flatly. “I don't suppose you brought enough for all of us?”
“By me calculations,” Clavis said, oblivious to the pessimism brewing in the group, “the uppermost rock will be the thinnest, and will only take a day or two ta clear. Ye can help me move some 'o the looser rock, and to be sure that'll speed our progress. I'd ask that one of ya keep watch on our little excavation site though, just to be safe.”
“I'll do that,” Pacian volunteered. “The rest of you can move rocks around all day long if you like.”
“Ever the gallant gentleman,” Nellise remarked dryly.
“Well I would assume that Clavis isn't asking the women to do heavy lifting, am I right?” Pacian pressed.
“Only if'n they feel like it,” the dwarf replied. “But no, I was thinkin’ our big ranger friend might help me out.”
“Fine by me,” Colt shrugged, removing his equipment and the top half of his armour, and placing it all into a pile nearby. “Don't go stealing that or I'll knock your teeth out.”
“Sure, like I'm going to steal a bloody greatsword,” Pacian retorted. “Where would I even stash it?”
“I'm sure you can find some place big enough to stow it,” Colt grunted.
“Okay, patrolling now,” Pacian stated flatly, then walked off to look around the local area. Clavis was already carefully negotiating his way to the top of the rock pile, so Aiden took off his leather breastplate and shirt to lend a hand while Nellise took out a few torches from her pack, lit them up, and tossed them around the site to provide more illumination.
“What's that over there, sticking out of the rock?” Sayana said, appearing beside Aiden suddenly. He turned and peered in the direction she was pointing, and saw something other than rock at the bottom of the pile, close to the edge of the light. It was yellowish-white, and seemed to be sticking out from the stone at an awkward angle. Curious, the two of them moved in for a closer look
“Is that what I think it is?” Aiden asked, as the object took on a disturbing shape.
“It looks like bone to me,” Sayana answered clinically. She knelt down and moved away some of the rock and dirt with her free hand, to reveal the forearm of a deceased person. The arm was reaching out from the rock pile, as if the person had been trying to pull themselves out.
“There's probably more of him under the rock,” Aiden commented dourly, not exactly enthusiastic about trying to find out. He couldn't tell if it was male or female, and wasn't sure it was important. The bones were clean, without any trace of flesh on them.
“What have you found?” Nellise asked, coming over to see what the fuss was about. She gasped slightly when she saw what they were looking at, and then leaned in to inspect the remains with a professional eye.
“This is the forearm of a human male,” she stated, pointing at the elbow. “Women have different elbows, and the other races have a different bone structure and size to ours.”
“Any idea how long it's been here?” Aiden asked.
“It's hard to say from looking at the remains,” Nellise mused. “But, I can pray on this and ask for divine inspiration to provide me with an answer.”
“You can do that?” Aiden asked, surprised.
“Of course. With a little help, I will find the answers I seek. I'm not just a pretty face, you know. Now, please move aside, I need to be close to the remains.” Aiden obliged her, stepping back to give her some space. Sayana did likewise, though with a frown on her fair features. She tilted her head and looked around, puzzled for a moment, as if she wasn't sure if she'd heard something or not. Given their situation, Aiden felt it appropriate to inquire further.
“What is it?” he whispered.
“I thought I heard... no, felt something nearby,” Sayana whispered back. Aiden looked directly at her, suddenly very serious.
“Kind of like a vibration?”
“I suppose so, yes I'm not sure what to make of it,” she shrugged.
“But you definitely felt it,” Aiden persisted. “You weren't imagining it, right?”
“Certainly not,” Sayana replied archly. “I didn't survive for years in the wild, unable to tell the difference between real and imagined things.”
“Right, sorry,” Aiden mumbled in apology, too distracted to pay much attention to what she was saying. If the vibrations he'd felt earlier weren't his imagination, then what were they?
“Hey, you can stop working, I found a better way to get through that rock pile,” Pacian called out as he jogged back towards the site where Clavis and Colt were just starting to really get things moving.
“Don't waste yer time lad,” Clavis replied from his perch near the top of the rock pile. “The only way through to the tunnels beyond is behind these rocks.”
“Or the bloody big tunnel I found over on the northwest wall,” Pacian replied smugly. “But you can keep digging if you really want, I'm okay with that. I'll just sit down over here and -” Colt interrupted his speech by letting a heavy rock drop to the ground with a loud 'thud', and then dusted off his gloved hands.
“Sometimes you don't know when to shut up, Pace,” he growled, leaning over to pick up his armour again. “Clavis, are you sure there wasn't another way through that you missed?”
“I'd think I'd remember another tunnel in me own home,” the dwarf replied, skidding down the inclined rocks to land on the stone floor. “But if you're sure about it, I'll take some time to look at it. Is this tunnel 'o yours big enough to squeeze through?”
“Yes, and with room to spare,” Pacian replied. “A lot of room to spare, actually. It's almost as big as the stairwell we came down.” Clavis paused in mid stride, his expression slack as he seemed to be struck by a horrible thought.
“There wasn't anything like that last time I was 'ere,” he said slowly and deliberately. “I think ya better show me lad, and quickly now.” Pacian gestured and used his torch to light the way back towards the tunnel he'd found. With a feeling of growing dread Aiden and Sayana followed.
It only took a minute to reach the gaping hole in the side of the stone wall, and despite Pacian's brief description of its size, the walls of the tunnel didn't appear to be carved by crude tools, or even those of master craftsmen. They were, in fact, completely smooth, and the tunnel itself was more or less round, and over ten feet across. Clavis crept forward slowly, his left hand extended to touch the smooth stone, almost in disbelief. And then Aiden felt another vibration in the stone, this time much stronger than before.
“By Relnak, did you feel that?” Clavis exclaimed, invoking the name of the dwarven battle god. He started backing away and Pacian did likewise, grabbing the hilts of his daggers, just in case.
“What caused this?” Sayana asked, her voice tight with anxiety. “Is it connected to that tremor we just felt?”
“Back in the day,” Clavis explained, licking his lips with consternation, “we had these critters we called borers. They grew to about yea big,” he described, holding his hands about two feet apart. “Kinda like moles, but with a hard shell, able to dig their way through stone given enough time. In the wild, they'd cause all sorts 'o problems with the tunnels but they're usually not dangerous, 'cause we'd cull their numbers every few years.”
“Clavis, this tunnel is huge,” Aiden pointed out, placing a hand on the hilt of his sword as he did so. “How many borers would it have taken to do this?” Another tremor rippled through the stone, this one sustained for over five seconds before it stopped. Motes of dust and dirt cascaded down from above them, coating them in a fine layer.
“Thing is,” Clavis explained, his voice too calm. “Thing is... without anyone around to cull 'em, there's no telling
how big they could grow.” The implications of this statement slowly sunk into Aiden's mind, and the picture it formed was not something he wanted to see emerging from the tunnel.
“Get your gear, everyone,” he ordered tersely. “We're not waiting around to see -” He was interrupted by another tremor, this one even more intense than before, accompanied by a loud screeching noise. Aiden's heart almost leapt out of his chest as his natural instincts to run kicked in. The tremor did not stop, and instead continued to build in intensity.
“Run!” Aiden shouted, not waiting to see if anyone was listening to him. He bolted back over towards their excavation site, still being lit by Nellise's staff and several flaming torches. She was already on her feet, using her staff to help her move across the unsteady ground towards Aiden.
Colt had managed to get his equipment together, just as the rock behind him exploded outwards, showering him in gravel and dirt. The spray obscured Nellise and most of the torches, but there was enough light around to see that something big had emerged.
“They go after loud noises!” Clavis roared over the immense sound of the rocks tumbling around them. From behind, the loud screeching sound grew louder, and the torch Pacian had dropped when he took flight with the rest of them lit up a huge creature, easily filling out the tunnel it was crawling through. Aiden saw a shiny, dense outer shell and two beady little eyes, glowing yellow in the torchlight.
He was still half running, half stumbling across the rock-strewn floor towards Nellise, who was backing away from the borer that had emerged almost right next to her. She was clearly stunned by what she was seeing and wasn’t reacting fast enough. One of the borer's great paws, tipped with huge razor-sharp claws, lashed out and struck her in the chest, sending her tumbling backwards.
Aiden drew his sword and spoke the command word to activate his magical glove, bringing the shimmering force field into existence. He continued moving as fast as he could towards Nellise, hoping to find her armour had protected her from the slashing claws.
Her staff was still glowing, making it easy to locate her in the dusty mess they were mired in, though getting there through the shadowy half-light without tripping was challenging. Nellise was starting to pick herself up as Aiden reached her, a sizeable dent clearly visible on the lower part of her breastplate.
“I'm fine,” she coughed in the dusty conditions as he helped her up. He didn't get a chance to say anything, for a second giant borer followed the first one, screeching in unison, and the two started shambling their way with alarming speed towards the light sources – Nellise and Sayana.
“Everyone, rally around me!” Aiden cried out, readying his sword as the others rushed over to him. “Clavis, can we outrun these things?”
“They can keep up with us real easy,” he called back, pulling out a hatchet as he skidded to a halt next to Aiden. “They hate bright lights, loud sounds and fire though, and I think we have plenty 'o that right here with us. We don't have to flee, man - we can hold here!”
“You better be right about this,” Aiden muttered as one of the two borers shrieked and charged towards the light that was hurting its puny eyes. When this was over, and assuming they survived, Aiden would have to have a word with their dwarven friend about the concept of 'full disclosure'.
The giant borers moved on all fours, and seemed to resemble a cross between a wolverine, tortoise, and a mole. Their armoured hides glistened a sickening shade of yellow-white, and each of their four paws was tipped with vicious claws. They towered over Aiden and the others by a full three feet, and must have weighed close to a ton. Colt was the closest to the creatures, and had been backing away from them to regroup with Aiden and the others.
The big ranger drew his greatsword and waited for the first borer to move in close enough, then swung the huge weapon at its flank, slicing through its chitinous hide and gashing it severely. He hadn't anticipated the creature's hind legs though, and was suddenly thrown backward by a retaliatory blow from a leg that sent him into the path of the second Borer. Colt roared with pain as that creature struck him from behind, and seemed ready to trample the big man until it was distracted by Pacian's sudden appearance from the other side.
Aiden had lost track of him in the darkness, but Pacian had found a way to be useful. He struck hard, plunging a dagger in between the beast’s armoured plates, giving Colt a chance to stagger back to the rest of the group. Pacian tried to hit it again with his other dagger, but the borer's thrashing turned it away and he was thrown back into the shadows his first dagger still stuck in its side.
“Clavis, give Pacian some cover!” Aiden yelled as the borer Pacian had struck turned to follow its attacker into the shadows.
“I can't,” Clavis exclaimed, “I left me bow over with me tools!”
“Same with my longbow,” Colt grated, swinging his sword back and forth to try and keep the first Borer at bay.
“I’ve got mine,” Nellise cried, raising her weapon and aiming at the nearest borer. Sayana pulled out her axe and ran around to one side of the creature focused on Colt. It was lashing out with its paws, as he warily searched for a way past. There was enough light to see the back end of the second creature, which gave Aiden an easy target for his sword. Dashing forward, he struck with his blade before it could react.
The borer shrieked in pain, and then lashed out with its rear paw. Aiden had anticipated this response however, and held his shield ready to block. The force of the blow knocked him backwards, but he was otherwise unharmed.
A flash of light lit up the area of the cavernous hall, followed by the roar of the other borer as Sayana bathed it in flame. Aiden risked a quick glance over to see Clavis slashing at its flank with his hatchet, while Colt was trying to bash its head in with his sword. A crossbow bolt from Nellise pierced the creature’s side, gaining its attention.
The borer turned to its left in a slow, lumbering fashion and then squirted a stream of liquid from its mouth. Whatever the liquid was, it splashed on the ground at Nellise's feet, sending up a cloud of noxious vapour as it sizzled on the bare rock.
“Oh they also squirt acid for eatin' through rock!” Clavis yelled as an afterthought.
“That would have been handy to know a few minutes ago,” Aiden called back, his heart racing as he took another swing at the borer in front of him. Locating one if its paws in the shadows, he swung at that next, slicing a huge gash along its rear leg. The beast lurched towards Aiden, but its crippled leg couldn't maintain its weight.
“Pace, are you still over there?” Aiden called.
“Yeah, thanks for the assist, mate!” Pacian yelled back. “I'm pulling back though, it got my arm pretty good.”
“I'll follow you out,” Aiden cried, stepping to one side and bolting for the group that fought the other creature not twenty yards away. More flame erupted from Sayana's position, causing the borer to shriek and recoil from the heat and light. With the other beast partially crippled, they had a better chance of surviving this fight.
Aiden wasn't sure what had motivated them to attack – it might have been hunger, or the light pained their eyes, or some other reason. But they couldn't just run them off, considering how dangerous they were. This had to be a decisive victory if they wanted to continue on through Ferrumgaard.
With the first borer on the defensive, Colt took the opportunity to take a powerful, reckless swing at its head. His weapon struck a telling blow, gouging out one of its puny eyes and spattering blood onto the stone. In doing so the big man had his left arm splashed with acid which quickly ate through his leathers and burned his skin. Colt dropped his sword and staggered backward, clutching at his arm and screaming.
“Bugger it, I'm goin' for me crossbow,” Clavis bellowed, running past the gravely wounded borer and over to the rock pile as fast as his little legs would carry him.
“Watch out behind you!” Sayana called, spotting the other borer starting to move in, dragging its wounded hind leg. “Cover your ears, I’m g
oing to try something.”
Sayana brought her hands together in front of her as she unleashed her spell, shaking the rock around them and blasting the two wounded borers with deafening sound. They shrieked in agony, unable to withdraw or cover their ears from the assault, but worse still, the blast dislodged rock and debris from above.
“Sayana, don't do that again,” Aiden cried. “The ceiling could come down on us completely.”
“I had to do something,” she yelled back as the echoes from the sound blast slowly dissipated. The first borer slumped to the ground, as blood oozed from what seemed to be its ears and its tongue unfurled onto the stone floor. The second borer was not only still active, it had gone berserk. Its tiny eyes narrowed on Sayana and it spit a stream of acid at her.
She was quick to react, leaping to her right and continuing on in a cartwheeling motion that let her avoid most of the acid, though she still caught some of it on her legs. The wounded creature attempted to swipe at Aiden with its front paw, but met his magical shield instead.
Pacian started to work on the other side, stabbing away at its exposed flank. Aiden opted to change tactics, stabbing with the point of his weapon instead of trying to slash through the armoured hide of the borer. Nearby, Clavis stood amidst the rubble, cranking out bolts as fast as his repeating crossbow could manage.
Pummelled from all sides, the beast eventually stopped moving and slumped to the ground. Aiden struggled to catch his breath, with the left side of his chest stabbing with pain if he breathed too deeply. Clutching at his side, he staggered over to check on the others.
“Everyone okay?” Aiden croaked, heading back over to see how Nellise and Colt were faring. A soft light glowed from the crystal Nellise held as she healed Colt’s burned arm. Grimacing through the pain, Sayana had dragged herself back over to Nellise as well, her legs sporting some nasty burns that would need tending.
“We're fine,” Colt replied gruffly, examining what remained of the armour on his left arm.
“Everyone gather around and I'll do some group healing,” Nellise instructed, opening her eyes to take in the line of patients awaiting her care. Clavis walked over and sat on the ground with the rest of them, looking overwhelmed at what he'd just seen.
“We used to keep 'em as pets,” he mumbled in disbelief, looking at the massive bulk of the dead creatures nearby. “Now I see why we used to cull 'em in the wild, I wouldn't want a bunch of those things running through me city.”
“Clavis, it would have been handy to know about them before we entered the city,” Aiden said a few moments later. “Even if they were two feet long, it would have been nice to be prepared, if you know what I mean.”
“Pets, I tell ye!” Clavis protested, his hands raised in supplication. “If'n I thought they'd be a problem, I woulda told ya, I swear on me life.”
“So you never encountered them before on your previous visits?” Aiden pressed. “Not even a tremor?”
“Nay, the first time down I ran into a pack of bandits that were using the top level as a hideout,” he replied as way of explanation. “Twenty-five o’ the bastards, more'n I could take by meself. So I left again before they saw me, never having gone beyond the entrance.”
“What about the last time,” Pacian asked bluntly. “You made it to this point, and yet saw no giant monsters?”
“That's right, I never saw or felt the damn things,” Clavis shot back. “Me and my team made it here and no further, with no sightings.”
“Easy,” Nellise said gently. “No-one is accusing you of hiding their existence on purpose. The question we need to ponder now however, is do we continue on, knowing there could be more of them?”
“Yes,” Aiden said immediately. “We were taken by surprise this time, and won't let that happen again.”
“Nothin's changed really,” Clavis added. “I told ye all that Ferrumgaard was dangerous, but the reward is gonna outweigh the risk, so long as ya have the courage to persevere. And on the upside, we've got a way through now that we never woulda had afore them borers came through.”
“Does save us a lot of rock-moving,” Colt grunted. Having made their decision, Aiden went over to the pile of rocks to put on his breastplate once more, swearing to never take it off again while they were still underground. The others gathered up their things and moved towards the new tunnel.
“There's something I never thought to pack,” Sayana observed quietly as she mournfully picked at the tattered remains of her leathers. “Spare pants.”