“Granite’s Bane can try all he wants. I can take care of myself.” Taric’s retort was classic to his fight the world demeanor.
“I won’t be part to your suicide. He’s more than your match in a fight.”
“That is what you think.” Taric laughed.
“Wait! Did you hear something?” Roild hushed Taric and cupped his ears.
“It’s raining in the over world. Could have been anything. Might even have been a wild deer.” Taric began walking again.
“If it is a deer then we can at least salvage the skin.” Roild the practical ignored Taric’s protests and stepped towards the bottom of the crack. Their torch flickered in the draft and rain dribbled down the sides of the crevasse. It didn’t take long before they had found the source of the noise.
“It is an over worlder.” Taric stated the obvious as he looked down at the broken body.
“Of course it is. There haven’t been any seen in a hundred years. I was beginning to wonder if they had all killed themselves by now. It is too bad. He looks young” Roild looked dolefully at the lad.
“It’s night up there. I wonder what he was doing. At least we should give him a proper burial.” Taric handed Roild the torch and leaned down to pick up the body. He had ahold of an arm and was just about to pull the youth onto his shoulder when the presumed dead boy moaned. Taric yelled like he had been bitten and dropped the boy.
“No one can survive a fall like that!” Roild was on his knees checking for any other signs of life. He found a feeble pulse and the shiny piece of metal held over the mouth fogged over.
“Come on! We have to get him to a healer. Now! Roild was lifting and Taric was left to retrieve the discarded torches. Together they made their way back through the caverns and stopped at the door of the community healer.
“What have we here?” The sour old woman that presided over the clinic demanded.
“Sharan, an over worlder fell through the crack.” Taric pointed to the thin body draped over Roild’s shoulder.
“And you want it embalmed so you can hang it on your wall. Touching that you thought of me. Leave me be.” She was in the process of closing the door when Roild burst through shoving her out of the way. Stepping to the bed in the room he deposited the lad and turned to the fuming healer.
“He is still alive.” Roild announced matter of factly.
“Even if that worm did somehow survive the fall through the crack he will not last long. Those over worlders have grown soft in the sun. They aren’t as stout as we are. Get that thing out of here.” Sharan exploded.
“I don’t care. He survived the fall and the hike here so he should at least get a chance. Do the best you can.” Roild towered over the woman.
“Why should I?” Sharan scowled up unintimidated.
“I will talk to the Corom and inform my father that you intentionally refused care of a critically injured human.” Sharan stared back for a few seconds before she began muttering and shuffled off.
“You had better do your best.” Roild warned.
“You can tell the Corom that I will do my best with the worm. If he dies it won’t because of me.” Sharan then ordered everyone out of the room.
“Now what?” Taric asked once the door had been slammed in their faces.
“I suppose I should go tell my father about this.” Roild gave one last look at the door and left for his father’s place.”
“That gives you something to do but what about me?” Taric scowled at his friend’s retreating back and decided that he had nothing better to do but wait for news from Sharan.
“Father! Where are you?” Roild stamped his feet off just inside the door sending echoes through the house. The ancestral home had been carved piece by piece, year by year from the walls of the central cavern in one of the larger dwarven communities. Kalsrod was the furthest east of the settlements but tunnels through the mountains connected them with the rest of the dwarven world. Every few weeks a trading caravan would emerge from the tunnels bringing news and supplies from the other communities so they never felt isolated.
“Roild. It is good to see you. Your father is in a meeting with another Corom member right now. I don’t get to see you anymore since you began building your house.” Roild’s mother, Nayer stepped out of one of the adjoining hallways. The dwarven custom was to move out of the family home once they were betrothed. The first born would inherit the ancestral home when the parents died or became unable to live alone. This lot fell to Roild as the firstborn but it would be at least two centuries before that time would come. Esteris and his wedding date were approaching with frightening rapidity. The worst part was that he had not finished more than a couple rooms of their future home. He had at first deemed it a matter of lesser importance and had spent his time otherwise engaged but now he was feeling the crunch. He and Taric had only left off the work long enough to take the patrol and work the kinks out of their legs.
“It is nice to see you also. I must speak with father. It is important. Do you know when he might be finished?” Roild asked.
“He should be out of his meeting soon. Mind if I ask what it is?” Nayer queried.
“Actually while out on patrol, Taric and I came across a human that had fallen through the crack.
“Tch tch. Sad. You know that they have no balance when they grow so tall. Probably just wandered too near the edge and slipped. I don’t see why you need to bother your father about burying it?” Nayer folded a towel and was about to change the topic when Roild responded.
“The human isn’t dead. He survived the fall somehow.”
“Oh? Perhaps they aren’t as fragile as I had thought.”
“Is that my son I hear bellowing through my halls?” Bredyn appeared and gave his son a hearty hug before Nayer could continue.
“Greetings father. You are well I presume?” Roild asked as soon as he got free.
“Of course I am. How could I not be with your mother feeding me like she does.” Dropping to a conspiratorial whisper he continued. “Sometimes I think she is trying to fatten me up so I can’t leave through my own door.”
“Oh you old fool. I will leave the two of you to finish your business.” With that Nayer disappeared through one of the doors.
“She has a point. What brings you back home? Esteris already kick you out? You know your old room is yours anytime you need it.” Bredyn motioned Roild towards an alcove carved into the wall.
“What? No. We aren’t even married yet. Her parents are the traditional sort and would never agree to anything like that.” Roild settled into his favorite old chair opposite his father.
“That never stopped your mother and me if you know what I mean.” Bredyn winked at his suddenly crimsoned son.
“I would rather not know what you mean. Besides, what I came to talk about is more important than being kicked out by Esteris.”
“What could be worse than your woman refusing to feed or bed you?” Bredyn feigned astonishment enjoying the fact that he could still embarrass his son. Not that he did it publicly, just as a way of teasing the man in private.
“A human fell through the crack.”
“Is that so? This makes five in my lifetime. You want that I should have a section of the burial caves designated for humans?”
“No, at least not yet. He’s at Sharan’s. He was still breathing when I left for here.” Roild saw a surprised look flash across his father’s face.
“He fall in the shallows?” Bredyn interlocked his fingers over his belly.
“No, the narrows. There isn’t hardly a spot deeper.” Roild explained the circumstances of the discovery.
“You say he is at Sharan’s?” Bredyn was leaning forward in interest.
“Indeed. I came straight here from there.”
“Nayer! I'm stepping out for a bit. I’ll be back by supper. Just one minute and I will go grab my shield.” Bredyn sprang to his feet and went for the armor closet.
“Why do you need your shield?” Roild que
ried as he followed his father.
“Last time I spoke to that old hag she almost bit my head off! I need every bit of defense I can muster.”
“I was just there and she seemed civil enough when I mentioned you. Didn’t try biting my head off or anything.” Roild knew that his father and the healer rarely saw eye to eye on anything.
“That my son is because she can’t reach your head. I am more on a height with her and have to be more careful.” Roild laughed as his father selected his most ornamental shield and gave his son a meaningful look before the duo went out the door. They made straight across the cavern to the healer’s door where Taric was napping. On seeing Bredyn he jumped up and stepped out of the way. Sharan appeared at the door and on seeing that a Corom member was outside she grudgingly let them in.
“It’s all lies. Whatever he said is a lie.” Sharan tossed her head towards Roild and Taric.
“What’s a lie?” Bredyn asked innocently however Roild noticed that he had placed the shield squarely between himself and the healer.
“That overgrown son of yours threatened to tell you that I refused to treat that thing.” Sharan turned back to mixing a salve as Bredyn walked over and examined the lad.
“How is he?”
“It should be dead but it isn’t. Something strange about this one though. Watch this.” Sharan pulled a metal instrument out of a brazier of coals. It was glowing a cherry red. As everyone watched she pressed it to an injury that was oozing blood. A loud sizzling sound filled the room and smoke rose from the site. Bredyn took on a distinctive greenish cast and everyone else flinched.
“It can’t feel nothing. Besides it don’t even leave a mark. Discovered it while I was trying to cauterize a cut. Look at this.” Rolling the lad over on his stomach she showed them a hole burnt through the thin shirt. The edges were blackened and scorch marks were evident on the skin. Taking a wet cloth Sharan wiped off the scorch marks leaving only the injuries sustained during the fall.
“Is there anything that you can do to make him better?” Bredyn asked the healer who gave an irritated snort.
“Everything that can be broken is broken. I can’t do anything but alive it remains. It is beyond me. The worms must have become more advanced than we had thought. Makes no sense.” Sharan began muttering something about the over worlders that further clarified her disdain for the race of humans.
“So you think he will survive?” Taric asked hopefully.
“Didn’t you hear me you daft fool? If you were as broken up as it is you would have died long ago and yet it still draws breath. It’s unnatural I tell you.”
“Can he be moved?” Bredyn seemed to shrink behind his shield as Sharan turned on him.
“It could die any moment so yes I would like it moved out of my house.”
“I mean can he be moved without killing him?” Bredyn stood his ground as Sharan glowered at him.
“Your son carried him in here like a sack of dried mushrooms. If that didn’t kill it I don’t know what will.” Sharan turned her glare on the aforementioned dwarf.
“But he can be moved safely?” Bredyn persisted. Sharan returned her glare to the shielded dwarf and made her way to the boy before answering.
“His pulse is weak and...” Sharan lapsed into silence as she pulled up an eye lid up and peered beneath.
“And what?” Taric stepped closer.
“Demon child! That is why it still breaths!” Sharan swiftly stepped to a table and picked up a knife. Roild who had anticipated her intent leaped between her and the human as the healer advanced with the knife held out in a stabbing fashion.
“Get outta my way Roild! That demon will kill us all if it awakens.” Sharan struggled for a moment before she backed away. The knife clattered to the floor a moment before she fled out of the door.
“What was she going on about?” Taric stared in amazement at the door that was still ajar. Bredyn dropped his shield and rushed to the door. Slamming it he slid the bolt home and turned back to the young dwarves.
“I don’t know but we should find out.” Bredyn was still leaning against the door as if he expected it to be assaulted with a battering ram.
“It’s his eyes.” Roild was looking in the boy’s eye in the same fashion that Sharan had been. The other two dwarves gathered around and stared in spellbound silence at the sight before them. The pupils were mere pinpoints but the irises were shifting and faintly flickering from a light within. The color was one second icy blue and the next a colorless gray. A moment later a brilliant violet fading into a crystal clear green then a coppery brown. It was mesmerizing to say the least. When Roild dropped the eyelid he stepped back and looked to his father.
“What do we do?” He waited for his father to make the final decision.
“I'm not sure. He could be the fulfilment of a legend. I never told you why we patrol the crack. Few people know what I'm about to tell you. The others are all in Underheim.” Bredyn stared transfixed at the human’s face.
“What are you talking about? We have patrolled the crack forever.” Roild interjected when his father didn’t continue.
“There is an old legend dating back from the time the last Dragon Lord walked the land. He was especially gifted with a sense of the future. He was also fixated with humans. My great great grandfather once told me about him. He said that he looked exactly like a human accept for the eyes. They sort of glowed in the right light. You could get lost in them if you stared for long enough.”
“What does that have to do with the crack?” Roild was getting confused. He had heard the story of the last Dragon Lord’s visit a hundred times over.
“We patrol the crack because he told us to. He said a priceless gem would fall through from the over world and that we would rescue it.” Bredyn finally got to the point.
“You don’t think that...” Roild was even more confused now.
“That this is what he was referring to? Maybe, maybe not. He was dyeing so it might have been the ravings of a mad man or it might have been something else entirely. I do know that this human is not normal. No one could have survived that fall and you saw that fire doesn’t harm him.”
“So what do you want us to do now?” Taric asked as an awkward silence grew after Bredyn’s assertion.
“Roild, go home and get your armor and weapons. You too Taric. Bring back something warm for the human to wear and be quick about it. He needs to go to Underheim as soon as you can get him there. Sharan will be back with reinforcements soon and he needs to be gone before then.” Bredyn picked up his shield and a fire poker and waited at the door as the dwarves filed out. They heard the lock click into place as soon as they were out. Taric hastened to obey the order and departed towards his parent’s home. Roild jogged towards his parent’s and thought.
Sharan he knew was no friend of the over landers and had already demonstrated her disgust for the race that occupied the upper levels of the world. He knew that she would have gone to get help destroying the boy. There were a number of dwarves that would take up the opportunity. Roild personally thought it a whole heap of superstition but there were those that thought that centuries ago the humans had consorted with demons and plotted to destroy the world. The old stories of the Great War had been largely forgotten as time had passed. The reason given for abandoning the surface to the humans was that the dwarven council feared their growing numbers. Feared that one day the humans would stop fighting themselves and unite against the other races. This fear had given root to wild stories and rumors of the atrocities committed on the surface. Generations removed from the source people could be made to believe the most outrageous things. Things like the irrational fear that an invalid such as the boy in the healer’s house could be the supernatural instrument of a demon intent on destroying Kalsrod.
Arriving at the house Roild began dragging his armor out of the closet. It had been months since he had worn his armor. The patrols along the crack had never been dangerous. It was only one dead ending cavern a
long the crack that split the mountain to the surface. Unless it came through the barred door or the crack there wasn’t anything else out there. The highways were another matter. The labyrinthine caverns that spider webbed the Garoche Mountains were inhabited by dangerous cave dwelling creatures.
Grabbing a sack he tossed his battle ax and armor in along with a thick cloak and a good couple sets of clothes. Nayer appeared just as he was about to leave. She gave the open armor closet and the sack in Roild’s hands one look before demanding to know what was happening. Roild explained as fast as he could but was cut off by his mother. She demanded that he remain there and disappeared. A minute later she reappeared with a small satchel and tucked it into the sack.
“Be safe. I will let Esteris know. Your father wouldn’t send you unless it was extremely important.” Roild feeling he had delayed long enough gave her a hug and slipped out. Arriving at the healer’s house he was relieved to see Taric appear carrying a similar bundle to his own. Nothing would have aroused suspicion like a fully armored dwarf running through town. Suspicion that could ill be afforded.
“It’s about time. I was afraid Nayer would stop you until it was too late.” Bredyn had already transferred the lad onto one of the litters that Sharan kept hanging off the wall. Roild removed the cloak and clothes from his sack and spread them over the motionless body hiding it from view. Placing the sacks of armor and weapons on each side of the litter they slipped out of the door. Bredyn was right behind them and somehow managed to close the door in such a way that the fire poker was wedged against it on the inside giving the appearance that someone was barricaded inside.
“Leave by the western tunnels. If anyone asks you just tell them that you are delivering some of my old armor to the forge for repairs. From there you know how to get to Underheim.” Bredyn parted company with them then and found an unfrequented circuitous path home.