Legends of Gila Boxed Set: Ruyn Trilogy - 1- Sword of Ruyn, 2 - Magic of Ruyn, 3 - Dragon of Ruyn (Legends of Gilia Boxed Set)

by RG Long

  "It'll take them days to dig through that rubble and weeks to find another entrance into these tunnels. These are ancient dwarven paths we're treading, so mind yourselves."

  It was then that Ealrin began to see what he had at first missed. Though the cavern was still quite dark and his eyes were still adjusting to the dim light, he was beginning to make out shapes in the stalagmites he was standing close to. In rings around each one were runes that were carved into the rock. Yes, they were certainly runes; similar to the ones Ealrin had seen carved into some of the dwarven weapons.

  Then he noticed that some of the rock formations were not natural, as he had first assumed, but rather statues of dwarven kings and nobles, hewn from the rock wall of the giant room. As his eyes lifted, he saw that the darkness of the cave was intermingled with small lights on the ceiling. No lanterns, but rather glowing dwarven runes of light above them. Time had dimmed them, but he was certain that when they were first carved they had lit the cave enough for any who came here.

  The dwarf chuckled a bit as he saw several others mimicking Ealrin’s glance around the room.

  "There's not much time for gawking. Especially if we're to meet up with King Thoran!"

  At this declaration, Teresa gasped and stepped forward.

  "The king? You know of his whereabouts? Is he alright?"

  Ealrin saw emotion in the face of the stout warrior. Though Teresa was a battle-hardened swordswoman, she was still a daughter to a father, Ealrin could see. A small smile creased his lips.

  "The King lives or my names not Gorplin of Kaz-Ulum! We saw him not two days ago. He marches south from Liaf. Heard he had a little goblin trouble, but took care of it. Nine thousand march south still."

  Ealrin took a deep breath. He had been concerned for King Thoran's welfare. His look of relief was nothing compared to that of Teresa's, however. She looked years younger as she turned back to him.

  And twice as beautiful with a smile on her face.

  Of course, when she saw Ealrin smiling at her, she quickly resumed her usual hard glare.

  Oh well, Erin thought, chuckling in his head. At least she does have some emotion.

  'We'll march south in these tunnels and then come out close to Loran. The woods conceal our gate into the mountain, so we ought not to have any trouble getting to the king. Then we can sort out these Mercs!"

  A cheer came from the survivors of Thoran, though they were bruised and battered.

  "General Rayg has much to answer for the atrocities he committed at Kaz-Ulum and Cardun-Addush. Androlion too for that matter," the dwarf continued. "As far as we know, we're the only survivors of that mountain..."

  The dwarf coughed into his hand and looked at his feet. Several other of the dwarves also cast their eyes down. Ealrin couldn't imagine what they must have been through. Escaping the carnage of the Mercs. Leaving behind family, friends, leaders, mentors, and others. What a terrible loss.

  He clenched his fist. Such evil. And for what? To forestall some insane vision a man had of a coming calamity?

  "He'll pay," Ealrin said under his breath. But apparently it was loud enough for some to hear standing next to him. Holve especially.

  He placed a hand on Ealrin's shoulder and spoke again to the dwarf.

  "We owe you our lives. Lead the way, Dwarves of Kaz-Ulum!"

  Gorplin looked up from the dust. A tear stained his cheek and dripped down his beard.

  "Bah. Were it not for the courage of your elves and the strength of your men we wouldn't have been able to get you this far. Unlike Androlion, we're not so daft as to believe there's one race who can survive without the other. We have some weapons from the battlefield we stole in the night. Grab what you can. Warriors of Thoran, we march as one."

  He bowed deeply to the crowd before him and his fellow dwarves copied his action.

  Ealrin and the others from River Head returned the bow and began to walk forward to where the weapons were. The dwarves stood up and began putting whatever they could carry onto their backs. They looked determined and battle ready, despite their apparent lack of sleep and meals. Ealrin admired the fight in these dwarves.

  And then he spotted it, among the other weapons purloined from the battlefield.

  A certain sword, with a gap at the base of the blade and without a point at the end.

  ***

  ACCORDING TO THE DWARVES, the march through these tunnels would take two days. After that, the company would emerge in a forest west of the city of Loran, where the King was supposed to be camping at this point. Though they were few in number, they would add something to the King's forces. Information, if nothing else.

  The timing of the marching raiders from the south had helped the king's forces. Had they been late in coming, the two armies would have clashed at the border of Thoran and the Southern Republic.

  Hopefully they were not in the midst of a battle yet.

  For hours upon hours they marched through tunnels. Ealrin couldn't help but marvel at the coolness of the caves. Though the heat of the summer suns had been nearly unbearable, it was cool and damp in these twisting tunnels.

  On some occasions they could march ten wide through the underground passage. At other moments the openings were barely wide enough for two. There was no stopping for meals. There was hardly anything to eat anyway. And so they marched on.

  Holve was still beat up from the previous battle. He walked with a slight limp, and often needed to stop to rest. Though he never made it obvious that it was he that needed to stop. He would stoop to help someone who had stumbled, only to linger himself. Or otherwise he would admire something carved into the wall as his breathing got back to normal. Still, the old man continued to walk as the rest of the company did. Ealrin was concerned for him.

  Too often on this adventure Holve had been injured, not least of all by Rayg's blade. Whenever Ealrin asked Holve about the scar and the healing he would just shrug him off and say,

  "Nothing for a young buck like you to worry about. Keep marching."

  Keep marching. That was the mantra.

  It was hard to tell the passage of time in this cave. No sun guided their direction nor did a moon rise to warn of impending nighttime. There was only the light of lanterns and the dim glow of dwarven runes.

  After what felt like two days already, the command was given to halt and find a place to rest. Fortunately, they had stopped in a wider section of the tunnel. Nearly twenty souls could stand next to each other and still have to reach to touch the sides of the tunnel they now walked in.

  Dwarves, elves, and men began to search around for a spot to lay themselves down. Comfort was not available, only rocks and dust.

  The tunnel smelled damp and musty. The addition of several bodies that had not bathed in many days did not help the aroma of the cave. Ealrin's stomach began to turn due to lack of food and a nose that was too sensitive to the dank air.

  "You're looking pale," said Teresa as she laid down her two swords on a natural stone shelf. She then found a place to sit and leaned up against the wall.

  Ealrin was preparing a smart comment to fire back, but then he looked to see her face. Though her face was typically stout and showed great concentration, she now showed an emotion Ealrin had yet to see on her: fear.

  Her eyes looked in all directions, up and down, left and right. She kept her arms close to her as she sat down, rubbing her arms with her hands. A bead of sweat came down her face, though the temperature in the cave was very cool.

  Ealrin had been so focused on Holve today that he hadn't noticed Teresa. Had she been this scared all day?

  "Are... are you ok, Teresa?" he asked her tentatively.

  "Yes," she shot back at him. "I'm fine. Why?"

  She glared at Ealrin with a somewhat normal expression for her, except that instead of keeping her eyes fixed on him, she kept glancing about the cave.

  "I'm just not good underground," she said, more to herself than to Ealrin. "Are the dwarves sure this cave is safe?"
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br />   Holve chuckled as he too sat down and leaned his back against the cavern tunnel wall. The brown rock wall was smooth, as years of water trickling down the sides of the tunnel wall had worn it smooth. Holve grunted as he seated himself, obviously still in pain, but too proud to say he was hurting.

  "They certainly wouldn't be here with us if it wasn't Teresa. Try to rest."

  Ealrin had a sudden urge, so he stood up.

  "I'll go speak to Gorplin to check, Teresa. Be right back."

  He turned to go and find the dwarf, probably towards the front of the company. As he walked he glanced back at Holve and Teresa. Holve had a wry smile on his face, a knowing look on his face. Teresa cocked an eyebrow at Ealrin, then shook her and looked down at her own boots.

  Ealrin grabbed the hilt of his sword. It felt good to be reunited with the weapon Roland had given him. He had regretted leaving it behind on the battlefield. It was comforting to hold its handle. And despite the coolness of the cave, the blade and handle were warm to the touch. Ealrin was too glad to have it back to think much about this strange phenomenon.

  Gorplin was indeed at the front of the group, discussing something with a group of other dwarves, some elves and two men.

  One of those men was Tory.

  ***

  THE GROUP WAS DISCUSSING the next day's journey. Gorplin was leading the conversation, the new leader of the dwarves from Kaz-Ulum.

  "By tomorrow noon, we'll follow this stream out of the mountain and to where it flows to the sea. Good thing it's a fresh water spring. We'll rest here tonight and eat up some fish and drink plenty. That ought to give us all enough strength to march on tomorrow. If this spring weren't here it'd be a different story. Let your crews know we leave in the morning."

  Gorplin, though he was young for a dwarf, was quite in charge of the situation. He smiled at himself and seemed content with the progress of the day's march.

  Then a question arose from the troops.

  "And how will we know when it's morning in this blasted darkness?" asked an elf who looked as queasy as Teresa did.

  Ealrin looked around and saw that not everyone was excited about being in a dark tunnel. The elves, especially looked uncomfortable. Their homes generally were in the light of forests and trees, not the darkness of caves.

  "Ah, I forgot!" said Gorplin as he reached into the pouch at his belt.

  "At Kaz-Ulum we have reflectors of the suns that tell us the time of day. No such luck in this tunnel. So we'll use this."

  With that Gorplin pulled out an odd shaped object. It was metal on its top and base, but glass in-between. It was like someone had taken a tube of glass and pinched it in the middle. Something filled the top of the glass tube and was falling to the bottom half.

  "It's called an hourglass," Gorplin said as he chuckled. "Or in our case, it's a half a day glass. It's filled with sand that flows from the top to the bottom. We'll rest until all the sand reaches the bottom of the glass. I'll have some dwarves take the first watch."

  "I and some of the elves will watch as well. I doubt we'll be able to sleep underground anyway," said Lote from behind Ealrin. He jumped at her voice. He hadn't noticed her standing next to him or walking up to him. As all elves were, she was especially light on her feet.

  "Not a fan of the dark?" Ealrin asked her.

  "The dark I can handle. It's this rock roof I wish to be done with. It just feels like it'll crush us at any moment," she said as she looked towards the ceiling.

  Several elves and a few men looked up with wary eyes at the dark brown ceiling of the cave.

  Gorplin let out another chuckle.

  "I wouldn't worry yourselves much," he said as he put a hand to the wall of the cave.

  Gorplin's glove glowed with a dim and gentle green light.

  Then Ealrin gasped, as did several others.

  Spreading out from the point where Gorplin touched the wall, several dwarven runes began to emit the same green glow as his glove. All over the tunnel cavern similar runes also glowed green.

  "This whole tunnel system has been reinforced by dwarven runes and some dwarven engineering as well. This tunnel won't be coming down in this generation or the next! Now go make sure everyone's drinking plenty and eating. We march at the turn of the hourglass."

  Ealrin smiled to himself and to Lote. Being in a cave wasn't a bad thing, as long as it was with a dwarf who knew what he was doing.

  "Go settle the elves, Lote. And thanks for your bravery today," Ealrin put a hand on the elf's shoulder. Without the dwarves and elves, Ealrin would surely still be tied up and a prisoner of the Mercs.

  Or dead.

  The group began to disperse, and Ealrin looked around. There was still one person he wanted to talk to.

  ***

  "TORY!" HE CALLED AS he watched the twin walk away from the group. He noticed that Tory’s shoulders drooped. It was certainly not how he carried himself normally. But then again, this was not a normal day.

  Ealrin wanted to know how Tory was handling his brother’s betrayal. Not only had he deserted the king, but he had also killed his fellow soldiers. Dwarves Ealrin had seen him talk with, laugh with, and fight with. Perhaps his brother could make sense of the situation when Ealrin could not.

  "How are you doing?" Ealrin asked hesitantly. He really didn't know how else to bring up the topic.

  "The march today has been alright, but I'm looking forward to seeing the sun again," he replied without looking at Ealrin. Without seeing directly into the man's eyes, Ealrin could tell that they were red and puffy. Were those tears of mourning or of anger?

  "Tory," Ealrin said, trying to figure out how to best approach the subject he was most curious about. He attempted to put a hand on Tory’s shoulder, but Tory knocked it away with his own.

  "Look," Tory said, taking a step back and looking directly at Ealrin's face. "I don't want to talk about Cory. I don't know why he did what he did. I don't know why he would kill his own people. All I know is that now Androlion has stolen from me not only a friend, but also a brother." His voice was rising as he spoke and several turned to look at him now shouting at Ealrin.

  Ealrin was now wishing he had not brought it up.

  "When next we see Androlion Fellgate, it'll be his head or mine."

  And with that, Tory stalked off into a part of the tunnel where no others were. Ealrin knew that this was something Tory Greenwall, perhaps for the first time in his life, would face by himself.

  ***

  EALRIN WALKED BACK to where Holve and Teresa were carrying his collected provisions: five fish and two containers of fresh spring water.

  Fishing had given Ealrin some time to think. It had also given Teresa and Holve the opportunity to build a small fire out of some moss and ribs through the cave. Others had done the same, causing the roof of the tunnel to become filled with smoke, but due to its height and an outlet somewhere unseen by Ealrin's eyes, the smoke did not stay in the cave or come down low enough to bother its occupants.

  "I didn't think you were coming back," Teresa said, looking up at Ealrin with a scolding look on her face.

  She was never one to begin conversations, or to throw needless words about. Ealrin looked at Holve questioningly.

  "She talks when she's nervous, compounded with the fact that we are both hungry. Hand over the fish," Holve said, answering Ealrin’s unspoken question.

  Teresa gave Holve a mean look, but said nothing more. She accepted the fish from Ealrin and began to cook it over the fire, using her sword as a spit.

  After eating and drinking Ealrin’s stomach felt better, but his mind was still a whirlwind.

  What effect was the treason of Cory going to have on the King when he saw him? How was the king faring, and had he met the Raiders on the battlefield yet? How was Holve, who was now snoring away beside him, going to handle the next day’s march?

  Why did Teresa look more beautiful when she slept than when she was awake?

  And if fate had intended for Ealrin to
survive the dangers he had faced so far, what else was in store for him, the man with no past and a bleak future?

  35: The Use of Lesser Races

  The company was awake and moving at the turn of Gorplin's hourglass. True to their word, the elves had not slept much at all, but rather spent their time keeping watch, replenishing containers of water, and fishing in order to have food on hand for the next day.

  No one was sad for their efforts. Not even the elves.

  "You snore," Teresa said as she woke from her sleep. It took a moment for her to stretch and stand up. Ealrin knew why.

  Sleeping on a cave floor was perhaps the least comfortable bed he could remember. And that included Soltack's books. His back ached, his legs were still tired from the previous day's journey, not to mention his entire body still hurt from the stress and fatigue of the battle he fought just two days ago. He was unsure of when he would get any real respite.

  Twin suns, had it only been two days? Ealrin thought. It felt like he had lived a lifetime in those short cycles of the sun.

  After cleaning up to care for the ancient dwarven caves, the group marched on.

  Without giving it anymore thought, due to the prodding of the dwarves up front and the goading of the elves behind, Ealrin collected his few things and began marching alongside Holve and Teresa again.

  By afternoon they would see the sun.

  ***

  THE STREAM THAT BEGAN in the cavern where they rested continued on throughout the tunnel they walked in. Perhaps at one time it had filled this tunnel with water and formed it out. That may also have been why the dwarves left the tunnel unused. Knowing nothing about tunnels or caves or rivers and not wanting to frighten Teresa anymore than she already was, Ealrin decided to bring up a different topic.