Crisis of Faith by Benjamin Medrano (z-lib.org)

by Unknown

  “Excellent. I always did enjoy being feared, and you were wiser than your siblings,” Mazina said, sitting forward as she set the needlepoint aside at last. The pattern on it was jagged, and a shudder ran down Alexander’s spine as he recognized the symbols as those involved in a particularly nasty curse. The others had no idea just how dangerous Mazina could be, but he still remembered what had happened to his younger brother. The sight would haunt him until the day he died permanently, he suspected.

  “I’ve done my best. It isn’t as though I lacked object lessons, between you and Lisa,” Alexander admitted, taking a deep breath again, then glanced at the doors, adding, “I don’t think any of them realize that, though. They just know you’re powerful and unforgiving.”

  “Quite. That’s why they were chosen to come out here, as a matter of fact. I didn’t want to risk those who were too useful, if possible,” Mazina said lazily, glancing at the door and considering for a moment, then added, “Aside from you, of course. Based on what I’ve heard, however… Umira is still useful, as is Bane. Erin is expendable, so if you see a chance to push her in front of a sword, feel free.”

  “As you say,” Alexander said, bile rising in his throat, even if he didn’t really like Erin. He hoped none of them could hear what was being said. If they did, likely as not they’d expire shortly thereafter. Lisa might seem kind at first glance, but looks could be deceiving.

  “Of course. Now, then. Based on what I’ve heard of the local levels of competence, we cannot be sure of these rebels succeeding, and more reinforcements may arrive than they can deal with. That being the case, I’m willing to call forth four ruiners for you, and I brought several liberated projects from artificers,” Mazina said briskly, smiling broadly as she added, “You always were fond of those, and I believe the ley line disruptor will be of particular use.”

  “I… see. Yes, the disruptor will be useful, if we can get it into position,” Alexander agreed, his thoughts beginning to whirr at last. “As for the ruiners, they are quite powerful, so…”

  They began discussing how to use the resources Mazina had brought, and despite his misgivings, Alexander focused on making the best suggestions he could. While he wasn’t the most faithful follower of their faith, he did prefer the thought of being destroyed last, rather than first. And that was what would happen if he angered Mazina.

  Chapter 32

  Daniel Fisher yawned as he slipped on his cloak, then adjusted his sword belt so the hilt wouldn’t let much warm air out. It’d looked cold outside from the window, so he preferred to be comfortable while crossing the courtyard.

  “What’s taking so long?” Sina asked, poking him from behind, and Daniel yelped, squirming a little as he glanced back at her, then grinned.

  Sina was a fairly typical dusk elf, with tanned skin, blue eyes, and gray hair. She also wasn’t particularly pretty, which was the only reason they’d met, since attractive elves rarely ended up working with Kelvanis’s legions. She hadn’t been a slave for some time, though, and the shop she now owned did good business selling produce to adventurers, even if she mostly left the selling to employees these days. She had her armor and cloak on already, which made him a little chagrined.

  “Sorry, I just wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to lose too much heat out there,” Daniel said, smiling and leaning in to give her a brief kiss, then opened the door and stepped outside, gasping as the cold air nipped at his ears. “Yeesh, I don’t think I’m ever going to get used to how cold it gets here!”

  “Suck it up, army boy,” Sina replied, stepping outside as if unfazed, and he couldn’t help a laugh.

  “Hey! I haven’t been in the army for over a year,” Daniel protested, starting across the broad square that separated them from the Adventurer’s Guild. There wasn’t too much snow on the ground since the guard tried to keep the streets clear, but a dusting of snow was slowly drifting down around them. “You’ve been hanging around Darak too much, haven’t you?”

  “He’s fun, so why not?” Sina replied challengingly, glancing at him with a smile, and her eyes glittering just a bit too sharply. “Would you rather I hung out with Sayla, instead? That might make you a happier man, I suppose…”

  “No, no! I didn’t mean anything like that!” Daniel replied quickly, his eyes widening. “I mean, it’s just… what did I do today, anyway?”

  “You stole the blankets,” Sina said promptly, glaring up at him, and Daniel winced.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize that,” Daniel said, bowing his head in the hopes that she’d let the subject drop. “Maybe I should get another blanket for me, instead just a pile for both of us?”

  “Then how would I latch on to you for warmth in the middle of the night?” Sina demanded, pausing to glare at him as she continued. “I swear, sometimes you need…”

  Sina’s voice trailed off as she looked past him, and Daniel blinked, then looked toward the dungeon. His surprise grew still more as he saw a group of people near the dungeon entrance, and he gawked at them somewhat.

  Albert was there, which was enough of a surprise, but beside him were the adventurers who’d mentored Daniel and his friends; Darak, Joseph, Nadis, and Penelope. Beyond them, there were another two adventurers that Daniel only vaguely recognized as some of the guild’s enchanters, which startled him, since none of them were dressed like they were going to go on a delve.

  “What’s going on over there?” Daniel asked aloud, growing even more curious as he saw they were just standing around, looking at the mountainside. They certainly weren’t looking at the dungeon entrance, which made him wonder.

  “I don’t know, but it’s worth finding out, I think,” Sina said, and a surge of relief rushed through Daniel as he realized that she’d been distracted from her annoyance with him, at least for the moment.

  “Sounds good to me!” Daniel said, hurrying after her. As they drew closer, Daniel heard Penelope speak, and her tone set his teeth on edge since he’d been on the receiving end of it more than a few times. The powerfully built woman scared him when she was in a mood, which she appeared to be in now.

  “Albert, when is this event supposed to happen?” Penelope asked crossly, the brunette’s breath coming out in puffs of white as she glared at her brother. “If you’re wasting my time out here, I’ll shove you down a well, see if I don’t.”

  “Sistina told me that she’d be opening the passage shortly after dawn, so either go inside and leave me alone or wait. You’re the one who wanted to come out here, when I was just asking Darak for his help,” Albert snapped, opening a circular metal device, and as he did Daniel saw a couple of lights appear above its surface. One was along the edge of the device, while the other was a tiny glowing orb that had just risen above the edge. Daniel had only seen the sundial used a couple of times, but he supposed that creating an enchanted device that didn’t rely on the sun being visible was far more useful for someone like Albert, who needed to keep track of timing more precisely than he did.

  “It should be interesting, and—ah, Sina, Danny! You’re up early,” Darak said, the dwarf turning and grinning at them as they approached. “Planning on a delve today, then?”

  “That’s the plan, or it was until we saw all of you,” Daniel said, nodding to everyone as he asked, “Mind if I ask what’s going on? Is it something that means we should stay out of the dungeon?”

  “Stay out of the dungeon? Oh no, nothing like that!” Albert said, looking up and snapping his sundial closed as he grinned. “No, Sistina and I were working on the designs for a way to get up and down the mountain easier, and she’s been building it for the last little while. She’s supposed to open the entrance for one of them here any minute.”

  “An easy way to go up the mountain?” Sina asked, looking at Daniel speculatively, but she continued. “What do you mean? I know it’s pretty rough for most people, but we’ve got pretty good endurance…”

  “That doesn’t help with the time, though. And I don’t know about you, but l
ess climbing is something I appreciate,” Joseph said, running his fingers through his brown hair. “Now, if the entrance would just open so we can get on with things, I’d—”

  “She’s moving,” Nadis interrupted, and Daniel’s gaze flicked past the tall, icily beautiful elf to the mountainside.

  He didn’t see anything at first, aside from the entrance to the dungeon itself. The entrance was different than it’d been a few months prior, as the unassuming cave entrance had been replaced with a hall of pillars, along with a large set of double-doors at the end next to the sign with the dungeon’s rules. Seeing adventurers from other regions gawk at the sign often made Daniel laugh, since Sistina was a different dungeon than any other he’d heard about. But that wasn’t the point, more important was figuring out where this new entrance would be.

  At that point the stone a good distance to the right of the dungeon entrance rippled, drawing Daniel’s gaze, and he blinked, slightly disoriented by the sight of stone rippling like water. While he’d seen Beacon created from the mountain, the details had been largely obscured by the brilliant pillar of light at the time, so this was a little new to him. Still, moments later the stone shifted aside to reveal a deep tunnel about thirty feet wide, with several glowing stones set into its walls.

  “I don’t care what you say, it’s always weird to see stone move like that,” Darak said, crossing his arms and scowling at the entrance unhappily. “Rock isn’t supposed to flow like that. Not unless it’s lava, and then it’s rightly pissed at everything.”

  “Perhaps, but that shows that she’s ready for us. Time to check out Sistina’s new lift,” Albert said, taking a couple of eager steps forward.

  “Lift?” Penelope asked, not moving yet, and Albert paused, looking back at the unmoving group. When he didn’t say anything, Penelope spoke, exaggerated patience in her voice. “Al, either pull your head out of the clouds and tell us what to expect, or we’re not going near that tunnel.”

  “It isn’t—oh, fine!” Albert said, scowling as he looked back and forth between her and the enchanters, then gestured at the tunnel. “It’s a steam rail, but with the engine at the top of a shaft. It has several cables attached to a carriage designed to move on the rails, effectively a room, and it lifts the carriage up and down, until it reaches several stopping points higher up the mountain. Does that answer the question?”

  Murmurs of surprise rippled through the others, and from the way Darak’s eyebrows rose, Daniel could tell that he was impressed, and the dwarf unfolded his arms as he peered down the tunnel.

  “A steam rail?” Daniel asked, exchanging confused looks with Sina, who looked like she had no better idea of what that was than he did. Fortunately, Nadis took pity on them.

  “You’ve seen or heard of minecarts?” the elven mage asked, looking at them curiously, and when they nodded she smiled and continued. “Good, this will be easy, then. In some cities, they lay tracks like those, but wider, and build steam engines to move the carts around. Think of them like the steam carriages the guild arrived in, but smaller for the most part. They’re also a bit more practical, in most cases.”

  “There’s been discussion of building them between cities, but just enough monsters or people are prone to stealing the rails that it hasn’t gone anywhere. Not to mention how expensive it is to make enough rails for that,” Joseph chimed in, looking at the tunnel curiously. “This sounds interesting, though. I’m not sure what to make of it.”

  “You won’t make anything of it if you don’t come inside,” Albert replied testily, huffing a little as he turned and headed into the tunnel.

  “I suppose there’s nothing for it,” one of the other enchanters said, shrugging as he headed toward the tunnel. “It should be interesting, at least.”

  “Assuming the ‘carriage’ doesn’t fall on our heads,” his companion replied waspishly, the half-elven woman looking a little cross. “I hate being asked to look at things like this.”

  “Then why’d you come out here?” Penelope asked, heading after her brother with a sigh.

  Daniel hesitated, considering for a moment as he frowned at the tunnel while the others headed forward. Eventually he looked at Sina and tilted his head. “What do you think? Should we make the others wait for a bit?”

  “Like Eric will even be down yet; you know how he is about waking up,” Sina said, and gestured forward. “Besides, why not take a look? I’m not going to step anywhere that looks dangerous, but I know Sistina well enough. She’s not going to build anything she thinks is risky.”

  Shrugging, Daniel thought about it, then admitted, “Well, you’d know better than I would, considering how much time you spent in there. I don’t see any reason not to take a look, anyway.”

  Sina laughed and followed the others, with Daniel not far behind her. He’d been telling the truth, but he also didn’t have quite as much faith in Sistina as Sina did. Oh, she’d killed the demon queen who’d killed him, even if Albert had managed to bring him back from the dead quickly, and she’d saved Sina’s life when she could have killed her… but Sistina was a dungeon. Daniel had only narrowly escaped death inside the halls enough times that he wasn’t about to put much faith in her hands.

  Not that the other adventurers seemed to agree with him. Darak and the others were far more experienced than Daniel was, and they seemed to think that Sistina was positively welcoming, compared to other dungeons. The one time Daniel had tried to caution them, Penelope had given him a sharp look and asked, with a tone so dry it should have turned their ale to dust, why Sistina hadn’t simply dropped a golem on them and killed them outright, if that was the case. At that point he’d decided to drop the subject.

  Not that she didn’t have impressive structures, though, that much Daniel had to admit, looking at the smooth walls of the tunnel, and how the glowing orbs were all precisely embedded in the walls, with delicate carvings surrounding them. The ground was also carefully textured to give a solid grip, he noticed, and as they moved deeper, he saw the carriage that Albert had mentioned, along with a section of the floor that had been cut away and replaced with metal. The carriage really did look like a room, too.

  The carriage was odd, with a solid steel frame around the edges, along with a steel floor and ceiling, and Daniel could just barely see the rails in the corners. There were fences on three sides, and he’d guess that it could fit three wagons if someone was careful, while in the corner was a box with a series of levers. Odder, from his perspective, was the fencing that was raised above the entrance.

  “What’s this, Al?” Joseph asked, stomping on the metal section of the floor that Daniel had noticed.

  “Oh, that? When the lift is activated, that will lift up to form a fence,” Albert replied, nodding over as he added, pointing at the fencing in the air. “That’s similar; it’ll drop into place to keep anyone from falling out as the cables draw the lift up to the next stop.”

  “That… is interesting. Hm, excellent metalwork,” Darak murmured, studying the floor piece, then glancing up at Daniel as he grinned. “That’s what I’m here for, to make sure all of this is solid. Apparently Sistina trusts herself, but prefers other people to double-check things.”

  “What happens if a cable snaps, or something like that?” Sina asked, looking up as she stepped up to the edge of the carriage. “It’s a long way down from the top of the mountain.”

  “There are brakes that will latch onto the rails in that case, which should slow it to a stop if enough cables break. In addition, after Lady Diamond raised some concerns as well, Sistina decided to include enchantments to slow it to a stop if it somehow reaches the bottom third of the shaft,” Albert said, and nodded at the enchanters as he added, “I checked the enchantment designs, but since I’m a bit biased, I thought I’d ask a couple of experts to take a look as well.”

  “And all without pay,” the human man muttered.

  “I never said we weren’t getting paid! We’re getting three silvercaps for this, so don’t give
me any of that,” Albert retorted firmly. “You’ll each get half of what one sells for, so quit your bellyaching.”

  Darak’s head jerked up at that, and the dwarf protested. “Hey, you never said anything about that kind of payment!”

  “No, because you wanted a variety of potions and someone to upgrade your armor enchantments. The cost of that would run you more than what they’re getting paid, Darak, so we can swap you to a flat fee if you’d like,” Albert replied, crouching next to the box with the levers as he studied it.

  Daniel whistled softly, considering before he said. “That sounds like it’s a lot of gold, considering how much you said the potion you gave me cost.”

  “Yeah, well, stronger armor means I’m less likely to get pounded into paste the next time I run into one of those danged constructs,” Darak said, rubbing his head and frowning, then sighed as he said, “No, I think I’ll keep things as they are. Thanks, Albert.”

  “You’re welcome. And I haven’t forgotten about your debt, Daniel,” Albert said absently, prompting Daniel to wince.

  “I’ve been paying it back!” Daniel protested guiltily.

  “One copper at a time, yes, but you’re not even halfway there,” Sina pointed out, her eyes narrowed as she added, “I still can’t believe you tried to attack a demon lord who incapacitated most of the guild!”

  Before Daniel could protest more, Darak laughed, grinning as he spoke up. “Danny’s nothing if not brave! Brave doesn’t mean smart, though.”

  Daniel opened his mouth, then froze, trying to decide what to say as laughter rippled around the room, most of the people examining different parts of the lift. Finally, Daniel simply scowled and muttered, “Fair enough. Sina, can we go?”

  “Huh? Why?” Sina asked, blinking as she gestured at the carriage. “Don’t you want to see if it works?”

  “Nah, I don’t want to risk getting killed if it drops on us. Besides, I have a debt to pay,” Daniel said in resignation, glancing at Albert as he heard the man chuckle softly.