by RG Long
“Keep the bugs away,” Blume said. “I want to try something.”
“But what if...”
“What if we’re eaten by insects the size of Gorplin?” Silverwolf finished for him, her voice reaching a new pitch of fear. “I'd rather get crushed to death by rocks than oozed to death.”
Ealrin didn’t like either choice, but that was where they were. He nodded at Blume and stood in between Silverwolf and Barton. Gorplin was ahead of them.
“Slimy maggots,” he said, sword in hand. “Come on!”
They seemed to respond to his taunts and crawled faster than Ealrin had ever seen.
“Stop talking to them” Silverwolf said gruffly. “They like it.”
Behind them, the light of Blume’s ring grew in intensity, casting odd shadows around the cave. Ealrin’s body was blocking the light and the bugs who crawled in the darkness moved faster. He was right.
And he hated it.
Then, the sound of cracking rock filled his ears and he immediately looked up. Was the cave going to come down on them?
“Blume?” he said cautiously, not wanting to break her concentration, but also wanting her to be aware that they were in danger. The bugs were only steps away.
One leapt out at Silverwolf. Ealrin hadn’t seen them do that before. She stabbed at it, impaling the thing on her sword and releasing a plume of dark, black gas. Ealrin held his breath, but his eyes still burned, and the inside of his nose began to feel hot.
“This way!” Blume yelled. Ealrin swiped out at a bug as it came too close to his foot, then turned to see that Blume was carving a path through the rock. Her hand glowed too brightly for Ealrin to look at it for long, but from what he could tell, the solid cave wall was melting away wherever she touched it.
Unsure of how long she could keep up such magic, he pushed Silverwolf and Barton behind him to follow her and stood by Gorplin, making a few last swings at the insects.
“Bah,” Gorplin shouted. “Go on! I can fight in the dark!”
“Not without me you won’t,” Ealrin said. No needless sacrifices would be made today. “We step backwards together.”
The dwarf obliged, but only half-heartedly.
“We may not get out of this one, lad,” he said over the chittering advance of their opponents.
Ealrin looked down at Gorplin for a brief moment. The insect he had just stabbed writhed in pain as its kin crawled over it, uncaring.
“Who says we’re going to make it any day, friend? We live against the odds every day it seems.”
“Aye!” the dwarf said as he swiped at a bug. “My arm for an ax! Let’s go Ealrin, they’re stacking taller than I can reach.”
He wasn’t wrong.
Turning as one, he and Gorplin made their way down the path. Blume was still slicing through solid stone, though there seemed to be some pattern that she worked with. Some came away easier when she had touched it. Other parts were more stubborn.
Silverwolf and Barton faced them as they came, spear and sword out, ready for the bugs to come.
Blume’s hand stopped over a spot in the cave wall and the light that was coming from her began to flicker.
“Blume?” Ealrin asked tentatively, turning to face the same way as Silverwolf and Barton, preparing for a rush of insects to come their way. “Are you alright?”
In answer, the cave was cast into darkness as her light went out.
41: A Meeting
Jurrin held his knife in hand, looking down the tunnel and anticipated the worst. Maybe they had been followed by Ladis soldiers? Maybe the Isolians had found out where they had gone and were now making their way through the underground network, rooting out anyone they found? Maybe more cave creatures that were more sinister and vile than the ones they had found in the lake were coming up towards them at this very moment?
The tunnel seemed dark and foreboding. Outside, the light of the afternoon sun was calling to them. They had yet to make their way to the stairs that lay at the other end of the stone hall. Jurrin could see them. They called to him. He wanted to flee and find safety outside. No matter what lay at the end of the tunnel, he thought it surely must be better than what was coming for them now.
“That’s far enough,” Holve called out. “Stop right there.”
Jurrin couldn’t see anything yet. His eyes couldn’t penetrate the darkness beyond the light of Holve’s torch. Serinde stepped forward, much more gently than Jurrin thought was necessary for a soldier, or a cave beast.
“Did you really come all the way in the dark, little one?” she asked calmly.
Jurrin blinked and looked at the elf. Was she seeing visions?
Looking back, he finally saw what she did.
It wasn’t a cave monster or a soldier.
It was a girl.
Jurrin let his knife down and breathed a sigh of relief. The threat he had felt coming was just a little girl, no taller than he was. She looked scared but kept her chin up.
“Where did you come from, little one?” Serinde asked, kneeling down and reaching a hand out to the girl.
She didn’t move. Her eyes kept going from Holve, to Serinde, and then back again. Finally, she looked at Jurrin. He offered her a smile and took a hesitant step towards her.
“Miss?” he said with as kind of a tone as he could muster. He spent a lot of time with the little ones back in Big Tree, his hometown. He was used to timid and quiet ones. He even had been helpful to the Brewers on Irradan with their little one. This girl was different. Not quite young, yet not old enough to be Miss Blume’s age.
“My name is Jurrin,” he said softly. “I’m a halfling. I may look young, but I bet I’m twice as old as you are.”
“I’m ten,” she said in a shaky voice. She wasn’t breaking eye contact with Jurrin. She locked him with a stare that was both pleading for reassurance and daring him to look back. She had fire in her eyes.
“A big girl of ten, eh?” Jurrin said, putting a hand out for her. “Maybe you can walk with us a bit? Quite a dangerous place for someone to go by themselves.”
She looked down at his hand with distrust and folded her arms around her front. Jurrin took a breath since he was loosed from her gaze. She did, however, take a step forward.
“What’s your name?” Jurrin asked.
“Olma,” she replied. I’m from Fray, in Arranus.”
Jurrin smiled at her and shrugged.
“I’m rather new to Ladis,” he said with a chuckle. “You’ll have to point that out to me on a map sometime.”
She opened her mouth to reply, but her words were drowned by the sound of scraping echoing through the tunnel. Olma took two quick steps towards Jurrin. He backed away with her, looking all around him. It sounded like the the walls were coming apart.
“We need to move,” Holve said as he reached forward to grab both Jurrin and the girl. Olma recoiled at this advance, but Jurrin grabbed her hand and squeezed.
“He’s not that scary,” Jurrin whispered to her consolingly. “Even though he looks mean sometimes, Mister Holve’s alright.”
Holve made a face at Jurrin but relented and moved away as the sound intensified. Jurrin led Olma down the tunnel towards the light. Serinde held out her sword, looking from left to right. It was hard to tell from which direction the noise was coming from. Jurrin looked up at the ceiling, worried that the tunnel might well collapse down on them.
Just as he was thinking that a crack had formed on the roof above him, a stone broke free to his left. Looking over, he saw not just a stone coming out of the wall, but a hand.
“Ah!” he yelled, taking a step back and holding out his knife to the wall. “The stone’s possessed! Help, Mister Holve!”
“Jurrin!?” came a muffled cry from the hole in the wall. “Jurrin, is that you!?”
“The demon! It knows me!” Jurrin cried and took a step back.
Holve had come back up and was looking at the spot where the stone had come loose.
“What in the name of the
suns?” he asked.
“Holve!” came a voice that Jurrin recognized.
“Mister Ealrin?” he said, looking closer to investigate. “What are you doing in that wall?”
“Help us!” he yelled. “Break away the stones! We have to get out!”
Holve didn’t ask any further questions but began to tear away at the stone that was below the one that had come out. A second pair of hands helped him push the rock free.
“Bah,” said a grumpy sounding voice. “We were nearly there.”
“Mister Gorplin?” Jurrin said, crawling forward and pulling away scoops of dirt and rock that came free once the stones were clear.
“Holve?” Serinde said from behind them as they scraped and dug.
“We’re coming, Mister Ealrin! Mister Gorplin!” Jurrin said as he dug. “Keep pushing the stones out!”
“Holve?” Serinde said again, this time louder and with more concern in her voice.
Jurrin saw Gorplin’s face as the dwarf began to wedge himself out of the hole they had made and wiggled into the hallway. Both he and Holve helped the dwarf come free, making the tunnel become even more covered in dirt as Gorplin brought a fair amount with him as he stood to his feet and dusted himself off.
“Bah. I’ll be buried in gold and diamonds,” he said as he looked at their surroundings. “I’d never have guessed it. We need to move quick.”
He bent down and reached back into the hole.
“Where did you come from, Mister Gorplin?” Jurrin asked, as he looked down at the hole, expecting to see Ealrin crawling out next. To his surprise, Blume was the next to come from the opening. Gorplin had her around the chest as Ealrin was pushing her from behind. She looked unconscious.
“Miss Blume!” He exclaimed.
“Holve!” Serinde shouted.
“What?” Holve said, turning to look at Serinde. Jurrin looked as well. Olma was holding on Serinde’s leg tightly as they both looked down the tunnel.
More footsteps were coming their way. But this time, they belonged to people who were shouting.
“Come on!” Holve said, grabbing the next hand that had appeared in the tunnel and pulling free the old scout who had captured them.
“Barton?” he asked, inquisitively.
“Holve!” shouted the man, grabbing Holve’s neck. He might have done more damage had Silverwolf not come up behind him with a sword to his neck.
“None of that now,” she said dangerously. “Remember what’s coming for us? I’ll throw you back to them.”
“We need to move,” Ealrin said, pointing where they came from. “There are thousands of bugs about to come up through that hole.”
“And from down there,” Serinde pointed in the direction of the shouting. Jurrin looked and saw what looked to be like giant grubs with shells and claws on the front of their bodies wiggling towards them. And, in front of them, the prophet who had captured them and brought them to this continent.
“Run!” he said, his female guards flanking him and matching his speed. One of them carried a torch that waved with their motion. “The bowels of Hades have loosed their fury!”
Jurrin grabbed Olma’s hand again and sprinted for the stairs.
“Sorry about all this,” he said as Olma ran beside him. “But it seems like our little group of friends doesn’t have many calm days.”
THE GROUP REACHED THE stairs with dirt, unconscious Speaker, new found girl, and all the rest of their crew in tow. They climbed as quickly as they could. Jurrin wasn’t sure which they were running from more: the insects or the prophet. He was fairly certain that the prophet was going to be in a foul mood.
Holve and Ealrin were supporting Blume between the two of them. Silverwolf ran with a sword pointed at Barton’s back. Serinde and Gorplin brought up the rear, while Jurrin and Olma ran just ahead of them.
The tunnel became lighter with each step, though the suns’ rays were red and deepening. Evening was coming. Compared to the dark of the tunnel, though, the outside world seemed bright.
If only they could get to it.
Once they reached the top of the stairs, they found their way blocked by thick vines and stones littering the stairway. Light broke through in various spots, but not one of them was big enough to let them crawl through.
Not yet at least.
“Hack at it!” Silverwolf said, pushing Barton ahead and beginning to use her sword as a makeshift ax. Vines and bark began to fly as others joined in. The group was tearing apart the barrier as quickly as they could. Jerius’ shouts echoed in their ears from below.
“Hopefully that maniac gets slugged to death,” Silverwolf said as she loosened a rock from a vine and threw it down the stairs.
“Oh, Miss Wolf,” Jurrin said, tearing away a vine himself. “I don’t know if anyone really deserves that.”
They had finally made a hole large enough for Jurrin and Olma to climb through.
“Get through, you two!” Holve shouted. “Try to shift the stones outside!”
Jurrin went first, wanting to make sure it was safe, then helped Olma come through. As soon as they were on the other side, Jurrin saw that they were back in the jungles, with trees everywhere. Olma climbed out and took a deep breath, as if relieved to be out of the tunnel. Jurrin agreed.
“Let’s pull!” he said, turning to grab at the vines that held the stones in place.
It looked like the entrance to the stairs used to be a grand opening, but time and nature had done its work on the structure. No part of the stones was left untouched by green vines and moss. They grew everywhere.
Jurrin pulled as best as he could and hacked with his knife. Olma helped, too.
Soon they had the hole big enough for the bigger ones of their group to begin scrambling through the opening. It only took a few moments for them all to come free, Gorplin taking the longest since he came last and was the shortest. The hole was a bit further off the ground than they had anticipated.
“Blasted tall people!” he shouted. “Couldn’t have made it a span shorter!”
With a final heave they pulled him free and all stood on the jungle floor, breathing hard and sweating.
“Who wants to stand here with a sword and take care of Jerius as soon as he shows his ugly face?” Silverwolf asked, raising her own hand. “Oh, a volunteer, already? Wonderful.”
She went to perch herself right by the opening. Jurrin was going to say something, but a thumping noise interrupted his thoughts.
He turned and looked behind him at the clearing in front of the stair.
A shirt stretched over a wooden frame seemed to float in midair for a moment. It had three dark red prints on it. They looked like... claw prints.
“What do the gods have against us?” Barton asked as Silverwolf swore again.
“See what I mean, Miss Olma? We don’t have very calm days around here,” Jurrin said, looking for the knife he had stashed in his belt.
All around them, Veiled One lizards began to materialize from their hiding places, spears in hand, mouths held open for a feast.
42: To Use the Sword
“This is a terrible time for a nap!” someone was shouting in her ear. Blume opened up her eyes with great difficulty. She felt so sleepy. And hungry.
The last thing she remembered was the cave. And the bugs.
She popped up quickly, worried that the bugs were crawling all over them. What she saw when her eyes adjusted to the evening light was much worse.
She and her companions were surrounded by the horrible lizards. Silverwolf was standing over her to one side, Ealrin to the other. Holve, Jurrin, and the others were all there, too. She was far too groggy to figure out how they all got together again.
All she could see was the canopy above was covered in the lizards. They waited for their comrades to fall on the blades of the companions, then they fell down from the trees to replace them. The floor was littered with the bodies of the lizards, yet still they came.
They seemed endless.
Blume struggled to her feet and raised her hand up to the lizard. The Veiled One rose with her hand and she flung it out of the circle of their friends. That one act drove her to her knees. She was too weak.
“No more magic!” Ealrin said as he hacked down another lizard that fell from above. He spun around after and helped Blume up. “But thank you.”
She smiled up at him.
“Then give me something to stab with.”
Ealrin didn’t wait. He gave her a sword they had found on the body of one of the dead guards. Blume recognized it as the sword he had been using.
“What about...”
Before she could finish her sentence, Silverwolf was tossing him a sword. Serinde signaled them and Ealrin nodded his thanks. Blume smiled. They were companions yes, but they worked best together as a united front against whatever came their way.
She stood to her feet and grasped the sword.
“Please tell me you remember something I taught you,” Silverwolf said as she took down another lizard and turned to form a triangle with her and Ealrin.
“Enough,” Blume replied honestly. Her lessons with the assassin were normally fueled by exhaustion and spite towards one another.
So this would be a perfect time to recall those lessons.
Blume held her sword up like she had been taught and, closing her eyes, took a deep breath. Her bones ached. Hunger pains rocked her stomach. She felt weak and slightly dizzy.
But she was also determined.
“You won’t always have your special rock,” Silverwolf had said. “Or you may be too tired to do anything with it. That’s when you use a sword.”
Blume opened her eyes and saw a lizard land down in front of her.
She was more than a Speaker.
