by T J Marquis
Axebourne hmmmed. He pinched the bridge of his nose, then barked "Hah! I've got it."
"I was waiting for you to get around to that one," Scythia said.
"Heh, look out boy. You're together this long, they start reading your mind," Axebourne stage whispered. "Anyhow, I doubt you've heard of the time Scythia saved Chasmreach, when she was only nine!"
Pierce's eyes lit up. That was a new one.
"By your leave, love," Axebourne said.
Scythia waved a hand. "You enjoy yourself, Axie."
"Scythia's father was the mayor," Axebourne said. "Always busy managing the state of the place - comings and goings, trade, defense. Scythia had made a habit of sneaking out after him whenever he went to his office, to practice her stealth. She would track him from parallel streets or alleyways, guessing when he might consider a detour, trying to get close if he stopped to speak with someone. This was without the Amulet of Silence, mind you."
Scythia fingered the silver chain at her neck.
"Well, of course, she was only a child, and one day, she finally got caught. She'd guessed her father was taking a detour toward one of his favorite bakeries and hung right to follow him at the next street. Yet there he was as she rounded the corner, in all his hard, long fatherliness."
"'Scythia!' he yelled at me," Scythia jumped in.
"Heh," Axebourne chuckled. "She always has to join in."
"'It's not safe for you out here!' he said. He knelt down beside me and whispered, 'I'm not the most popular mayor Chasmreach has ever had. You know those children at the school that like to pick on you?' I nodded. 'Well I have people like that too,' he said. 'And if they realize you're mine, they might just try to take you away from me.' I was appalled, of course. Every child knows the songs and chants about the Underwitches appearing in the dead of night to cart away children who aren't in their beds, and stories like that. But to think that Overlanders - humans - would kidnap a little girl to hurt her father - it was unconscionable."
"But she let herself be led home, and her father kept her under guard every morning until school began, for some time after that," Axebourne said. "It wasn't until the weeks before Flood Day that his watch grew lax, as his mind turned to the year's preparations."
"And it was a good thing, too," said Scythia. "Who knows what would have happened if I had still been under guard. The moment his grip loosened, I broke free of the house." She laughed. "I even spent an entire night outside, on the roof of city hall, just because I could."
"Scythia was stalking her father again one morning when she happened upon a band of ne'er do wells," said Axebourne.
"That's putting it mildly," said Scythia. "I'd been vaulting between rooftops to keep up with father when I saw a group of men huddled in an alley. They looked suspicious, so I stopped to listen, but I couldn't quite hear what they were saying. I scaled down the side of the building behind a gutter and crept near to them, so close I could almost reach out and touch them."
"They were brewing a plan for Flood Day," said Axebourne. "To bring in small boats armed with cannons and rob the treasury like brigands! Insanity." He shook his head.
"Or brilliance," said Scythia. "There's no way the garrison would have been organized enough to defend against that. And to top it off, they were going to kidnap father. Obviously I couldn't let that stand."
"But did she go and tell the adults?" said Axebourne. "No!" He laughed. "So bold, even at a young age. To think of the trouble you and I might have caused together..."
"Hah, no way I would have been able to stand you, dear," said Scythia. "I've heard your stories too, you know. And I had no patience for boys whatsoever. Anyhow, Pierce, I followed the brigands around for several days, getting a sense of their comings and goings, skipping school. Eventually, I followed them out of town in the evening and scouted their camp. Sure enough, they had a small fleet of boats built in a little stand of forest. I snuck out the night before Flood Day and made my way cautiously to their camp."
"She blew it up!" Axebourne blurted, obviously tickled. He laughed and shook his head. "All those brigands, with their grand plans, foiled by a little girl."
"Well I was kind of tall, at least," said Scythia, "and you're getting ahead. I've always been proficient at cutting and enchanting gems, Pierce. You may not know, but they're not all just stores of energy like yours. They can be made to hold almost any kind of enchantment you can think of - it's all just a matter of tinkering. Well, I was obsessed with making the smallest gems I could, with the largest explosive force. I was actually on the team providing fireworks for the festivals in Chasmreach, including Flood Day's End. So I gathered up my best pieces, stole out to the brigand's camp, and affixed them to each of the boats, as well as their storehouses of weapons and food."
"How did you make them blow without being nearby to trigger them?" Pierce asked.
Scythia smiled wickedly. "I introduce a flaw into them. If they're set in iron, they remain stable, but the moment they are removed, the flaw spreads, cracks the gem, until it can't hold in its power any longer. Then they blow. I can control the timing by managing the severity of the flaw."
"Oh, it must have been spectacular!" Axebourne bellowed.
"It was," Scythia said. "The gems blew right as I got back to the city. I smelled the smoke later, and the forest actually caught fire. Everyone woke up, and I almost got caught out on the streets, but father was so distracted and surprised, he didn't even think to check my room. You should have seen him, out on the cobblestones, barefoot in his night robe. He didn't realize it was me who'd struck the brigands until a full week later, when he saw me tinkering with explosive gems again. I was under guard for a year after that, except when they threw me a parade, of course."
"And the passion never left her," Axebourne said. He watched his wife with sparkling eyes. Then he gave Pierce a serious stare. "Don't get between a good woman and the things she loves, son. Down that path lies broken bones or death."
"I'd like to have seen all that," said Pierce.
"Oh you'll see," said Axebourne. Then his face fell. "If what's coming is as bad as you say, you'll see for sure."
"So that's why it's your title?" Pierce said. "Scythia of Chasmreach?"
"Very astute," Scythia remarked. "Scythia the Savior of Chasmreach is not only too long, but a little too self-centered for me. I don't mind at all my title just shows pride in my home city."
"And it's that humility that really drew me to her," said Axebourne, eyeing his wife lovingly. "Though being deadly and enchanting certainly didn't hurt her chances." He winked.
"Yes, yes," she said, "the pleasure is all yours."
Pierce found many such moments to relive as he waited out the night. He couldn't help but imagine all the stories of times he hadn't heard about, or all the golden memories only Axebourne would have remembered.
Eventually, the darkest night ended, the others awoke, and everyone wore their battle masks as they resumed the hunt for the ultra-Monstrosity.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Climbing
They found the giant before anyone had caught the sense of a convergence.
Agrathor made his strange sighing sound when Scythia had Ess gather everyone together and told them what she'd heard.
Apparently, the thing had been walking slowly in this direction since completing its assignment of destruction beneath Chasmverge.
It was surprisingly light-footed, taking long, slow strides that made only a scraping sound as its feet touched the ground. Every once in a while, the massive thing would groan to itself unintelligibly, and this is the sound that Scythia had heard.
"I think it had just risen from a rest," Scythia said. "Otherwise we might not have caught up to it."
"So now what?" asked Agrathor. His flame eyes flicked from Scythia to Pierce. "Climbed any giants lately?"
"Well not one this tall, but..." Pierce was cut off.
"We will be like insects on its limbs. It will probably not see or hear us," sai
d Ess, "but if it feels a brush or prick of any kind, it may crush us as we would a stinging fly."
"We'll need my amulet once again," said Scythia. "That at least will cover any sounds we make."
Sev said, "We will need to hear it if we are to anticipate any moves it will make."
"Ah, true," said Scythia.
"Their skin is tough and scarred," said Pierce. "At least that of the smaller ones is. It may not feel us at all. One of us can give it a test while everyone else hides. If there's no reaction, everyone should be safe to climb. Then we just wait until it moves up a level or assists in another attack."
"Great plan," said Agrathor. "I nominate you."
"Done," Pierce said.
"You're supposed to balk," Agrathor said, eyes narrowing. "No one wants to go first with something like this."
"Why would I balk?" Pierce said. "I love going first."
They had to run to catch up to the giant, slow strides belying its speed. Pierce approached the giant's heels with something between trepidation and excitement. The thing he was about to attempt would be something he'd never forget, if he lived.
Each of the ultra-Monstrosity's steps took an age to begin and end, so getting a grip on the ridges of its scarred skin was easy. On contact, Pierce looked up the height of the creature for any reaction. There was none. He couldn't really see very far - all he had for light was a dim gem Scythia had given him - so looking up was really just an expression of habit. The giant could be looking right at him, and he wouldn't know. The force of movement began to pull at his body as the giant swung its foot forward. Pierce held on with all his strength, braced against the shock of the huge foot's landing.
How far up should he climb before declaring it safe enough for the others?
He moved up onto the creature's calf, sticking to the side in the hopes it would be less sensitive. Still there was no reaction. He wanted to keep heading up, but he began to climb back down instead. He had to get the others.
"Did you see?" he asked when he had joined the rest of the group. "No reaction. I don't think it can feel anything."
"Might explain why it's so hard to debilitate them in battle," Agrathor said. "They never react to pain - it's why we always assumed they were undead - maybe they just can't feel at all."
"Still," Scythia said, "we should take no chances. Be sure to keep your contact light. It will be a long climb, with much room for error."
Ess flew close by to everyone as they mounted the Monstrosity's foot one by one. If someone slipped, she should be able to give them some support, even if she couldn't levitate while holding them for long. If everything went wrong, the others were depending on her to fend off the monster until they could escape. It was unclear whether they could slay the thing if need be, but they had agreed that would be a last resort - there was no guarantee there would be any convergences with which to get back home.
Agrathor quickly surged into the lead, climbing from ridge to scarred ridge of black flesh with ease. He wouldn't tire. Pierce was strong, but even he felt the burn set in as they approached the Monstrosity's knees. He looked down, but the ground was lost in darkness. He'd been counting as best he could though, and thought they must have climbed over a thousand feet at that point.
He glanced over at Sev and Scythia. They both were moving as slow as he, but otherwise seemed to be fine. Ess flitted by behind them.
The farther up he climbed, the more committed he began to feel. It really was either success or death in this situation. Attracting the Monstrosity's attention or having his grip fail would both lead to disaster. Which would be less preferable? Probably the former, although falling to his death would be far more embarrassing than being swatted into paste. Of course, he'd survived the last big fall, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all...
Pierce lapsed into the daze of long-term physical exertion until he had mounted the giant's hip. He could feel the thing's leg shifting slowly beneath him as he hunkered down on a wide ridge of scar tissue. Agrathor was just above him, looking down with a grin, armored legs hanging off the edge of a ridge like a child's from a high chair.
Scythia and Sev joined them shortly, and everyone settled in for a rest.
"How is everyone holding up?" Scythia asked the group.
"Fresh as ever," said Agrathor.
"Little bit sore," said Pierce.
Sev didn't comment, but Pierce saw him massaging his arm muscles.
"Well we can all rest our bodies," Scythia said. "I don't recommend stopping for too long, or taking the time to sleep. I'm afraid if we lose momentum, we won't get it back."
She was probably right. Especially without food and water, the longer they stopped, the more their energy levels would drop.
No one said much more as they sat, letting their muscles breathe and gazing into the dark. They were about to start out again when the sky above lightened ever so slightly, revealing the dim outline of the Monstrosity stretching out above them.
"Look," said Ess, pointing.
The Underlands' pale silver moon was peeking out from behind the edge of some obstruction, revealing perhaps a quarter of the luminescent oblong. It looked farther away than it normally would have from the surface of the Underlands, but Pierce could still see its slow crawl across the sky. He took this as more evidence proving Scythia's theory. What hung above them now must be a hole leading up into the Underlands. The giant stopped moving.
Everyone stayed frozen in stillness. They held their collective breath, as if the slightest thing could get the Monstrosity's attention. Was it looking down at them with its massive, sad face? It was impossible to tell with the thing's head being partially obscured by the rest of its torso, and backlit besides.
The ultra-Monstrosity lifted its arms, and its body shuddered with tension as it gripped the lip of the hole above. It heaved, and the lower half of its body swung out wildly as it pulled itself up through the cavity in the earth. The huge humanoid's form rippled visibly as it passed through some intangible membrane. The sensation of passing through the membrane was much like that of a convergence, uncomfortable, but less disturbing, more stable.
Gorgonbane held on for dear life. The force of the swing was greater even than that of its forward-moving foot as it walked, and Pierce almost lost his grip. He was praying that the giant wouldn't lift itself up and onto its side. If it put even a fraction of its weight on the thigh that Gorgonbane had stopped to rest on, they would die.
Thankfully, the giant came out of the hole and onto its knees, then lifted itself up onto both feet again. It stood, and Pierce could just see one of its eyes, blinking as if the moonlight were too bright. The Monstrosity stayed there for several minutes, either waiting for something or just spacing out.
Pierce checked on his comrades. Everyone's eyes were wide with surprise, even Sev's.
"Everyone okay?" asked Scythia. "I'm sure we didn't expect that."
Everyone signaled they were in one piece. Ess had followed them up through the air, then perched again on the giant's upper leg.
It was nice to be able to see again. Pierce felt like a blind man gaining sight, or as if he'd been sleeping, wading through deep dreams, and awoken in the early morning. He wondered where the thing would take them next.
"We could climb down off of it now," he said to the others. "We could find a convergence and go from there."
"It's an option," said Agrathor.
"But if we stay, it might take us right to where the action is," said Scythia.
This of course was tempting to Pierce, but was it wise?
"We do not know that it will climb up again, though," said Ess. "It is clear now that the level beneath the Underlands is only a mile or so further down, since the giant was able to reach the gap and climb up. It may be a similar distance from here to Overland. We cannot guess whether the giant will climb up for some other task, or cast another portion of earth down, or something else."
"And if it does cause more destruction," said Scythia, "t
he rubble may knock us off of it, or even kill us."
"I say we see if it moves again," said Agrathor. "Might as well get as close to the next battle as we can. We have to assume it's on its way somewhere, don't we?"
Everyone agreed, and they did not have to wait long before the Monstrosity started moving. It lurched up onto its feet, and Gorgonbane was swung about again, holding on for dear life.
Now its huge feet splashed grossly into the pervasive muck of the Underlands, leaving vast footprints in the nasty layer of mud and filth. Pierce was glad not to be down in that stuff again. He was even more relieved to be out of the endless dark of... sub-Underland? He wasn't sure what to call it, but he wasn't eager to return. Adventure was a grand thing, but it was nice to be able to see what was coming at least.
Gorgonbane agreed not to climb any higher. The Monstrosity had not noticed them hiding on its flank, so there was no sense tempting fate. When the time was right, they could dismount the giant and use a convergence to get back to Overland. Meanwhile, they tightened their belts and tried to ignore the complaints of their stomachs and the dryness of their tongues. And the Monstrosity marched slowly onward.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
A Circle
The ulta-Monstrosity's slow strides covered much ground and made good time. It finally stopped a few dozen miles west of a jagged mountain range with murky water flowing down some of its slopes from high above. Pierce recognized it.
"It's the falls under Murkfathom," he said to the others.
Sev nodded. "We are where Testadel used to be. Look, you can see the remains of Death-hedge below."
The dreaded maze of razor-sharp brambles had been crushed and ruined by rock and earth falling from below the site of Grondell. There was a crater where Testadel's foundations had been.
Gorgonbane now knew that the ultra-Monstrosity had been responsible for physically pushing the fortress through the surprisingly thin crust of the earth, the strange vaulting invisible membrane, and into the heart of the Temple. All around the area were the tall, black obelisks, currently silent. They stretched up from Underland's floor and pierced the stone sky. It was hard to tell whether they offered any real support to the land above, or whether they were dedicated only to emitting their sickening songs.
