Alfred 2: And The Underworld (Alfred the Boy King)

by Ron Smorynski

  “How do we know two days have passed in the Underworld with no sun to tell us the time?” Cory asked nervously, holding the best spear around.

  “When you run out of food, two days have passed.” Hedor tightened the straps holding Cory’s gear.

  Loranna tried to hide her fear. Only recently, the girls had taken turns guarding in the mines and nothing scary had happened. But they didn't stay for long periods. Alfred ordered them to do this so they would get used to it. Loranna hadn't done it that much. She would have to get used to it in an immediate sense, which is... now. For into the darkness Alfred was taking her. She gulped.

  Alfred, Loranna, and Cory reached the scaffolding where the miners diligently tapped away at the vein of ore they had been breaking apart for several weeks. It was a good sized one. The scaffolding had been built upwards by several levels. They climbed up past the miners. The passage opened up into a large cavernous realm. No one had gone beyond the light of the miners. A few times Alfred had thought he heard something far off. It sounded like a pebble falling or something with soft feet pitter-pattering somewhere. It always sounded far away. With the miners next to him tapping and hammering away, he could never pinpoint it.

  Now Alfred yearned to explore the vast darkness to see what was beyond their mining operation. He held up the oil lamp. He and the others carried enough oil to burn for several days. Hedor made sure they distributed the important provisions equally. “That way, if one of you falls down into that chasm of eternal bottomless darkness, the other two will still be able to, you know, carry on.”

  Cory and Loranna weren’t comforted by Hedor's explanation.

  The initial expanse that led away from the miners had a wide smooth surface. Within a few minutes, darkness surrounded them in all directions. The ground looked like one solid rock. It was kind of creepy. They could still hear the miners tapping away behind them.

  Alfred used chalk to mark the ground, drawing arrows pointing back. He drew a few extra just to make sure. The chalk they had was flux used in the smelting process to help purify the melting iron.

  They headed in the opposite direction from the sound of the miners and soon enough came to ridges they had to climb over. These were odd – as if the ground were once wet and crumpled together and then dried to solid stone. In some areas the ridges from above and below met, forcing the explorers to crawl in very tight spaces, triggering claustrophobic sensations. Cory did not like it and began to sob.

  Remembering what Ruig had told him, Alfred said, “Breathe Cory. Focus on the small.”

  Cory regained his composure and pressed through.

  Loranna, much thinner, slid easily through. Hedor packed their gear well, keeping things tightly strapped to them.

  “Oh look I found a way around that's wider,” Alfred chimed standing a few feet away at a bigger opening.

  Loranna and Cory stared at him, rubbing their abrasions. He smiled meekly, shrugged, and continued on.

  They found a series of tunnels. Alfred chalked the intersection of them and decided to take the one that went down. Cory's eyes widened and his lips spread thin. They fit but had to bend slightly. At first, the tunnel descended gradually. Then it quickly became steeper and went straight down. They climbed down rocks and juts of rock in a very dangerous manner. Alfred went first. They were connected by good hemp rope provided by Cory's father.

  Alfred slipped a bit but caught himself and quickly gave a thumbs up. The tunnel winded downward, with stone after stone as their steps. The stones got smaller, so they braced against the walls and slid a bit at a time. They got dirty quickly and had lots of abrasions. They were used to getting these from farm work and the mining operation.

  “Alfred, what… are… we… doing… and… why?”asked Loranna, speaking between each downward movement.

  “We're exploring!” Alfred seemed distracted, peering down.

  “Why?” echoed Cory, trying to use his spear in some secure way to aid in his heavy movements. He wasn't so much climbing down as merely controlling his fall, making small drops per braced step. Loranna, on the other hand, was doing quite well, stepping down lightly, leaning to and fro. Was it the density of the space or the darkness all around them or the cold gritty surfaces that were getting to them?

  Alfred was below them, peering with his lamp hanging from the rope. “This is why,” he said. He lowered the lamp further and then he untied himself from the rope.

  “What are you doing?” Loranna whispered.

  Alfred let go.

  “No!”

  Alfred suddenly squatted to a landing, looked up, waved and disappeared.

  Loranna called out in a loud whisper, “Alfred? Where are you?”

  “Why'd he untie himself?” Cory asked over and over, nervously.

  Loranna saw the bottom of the tunnel and what appeared to be sand. She saw the untied rope sink into it. She untied herself and dropped. She landed on soft sand. She was lit by Alfred's oil lamp, which was sitting at the base of the landing. She thought that was strange. Cory – out of impatience, worry, exhaustion or feeling cramped in the rock tunnel, or a bit of all – stumbled and fell onto the sand next to her.

  “Oooof!”

  “Good thing I put that sand there for you,” Loranna smirked.

  Loranna wiped off a bit of sand that had exploded on her during Cory's landing.

  “You did? Thanks!” Cory rolled over and pushed himself up.

  “Where's Alfred?” He stood up, spitting out the sand.

  Loranna stepped out from the tunnel to another cavernous realm, away from the dim glow of the lamp. Cory looked at his spear. Partially broken at one end, it was now more a javelin than a spear. “Oh boy.”

  Alfred stood on what seemed a beach of some sort next to still clear water. What was more amazing was the blue hue coming from beyond its wide expanse. Loranna's eyes took a moment to adjust. Cory stepped forward with the lamp, and Loranna turned quickly to cover it.

  “What are you doing? I can't see!” Cory said.

  Then, in that moment of darkness, the blue hue filled the void, and they could see everything glowing from the blue light.

  “Whoa, you look weird,” said Cory.

  Loranna turned and approached Alfred. They stood in front of a calm clear lake. In the middle of it was an island with giant blue glowing mushrooms.

  “That is what I was looking for,” Alfred said.

  Cory whistled with amazement.

  “Looking for?” Loranna asked in wonderment.

  “A sanctuary.” Alfred gazed at it with glistening eyes and a broad hopeful smile.

  Loranna crouched at the edge of the lake. She put her hand in it.

  “It's so pure and clean,” said Alfred. “Try it.”

  Loranna gently cupped crystal clear water in her hand and let it flow off, cleaning her other hand with it. The sound was mesmerizing. The water looked as clean as anyone could imagine. If it weren't for the coolness in her hand and the blue reflection on it from the mushrooms, she could barely tell if she had water in her hand at all. She sipped it. It was like drinking cool air – in a liquid state.

  She felt peaceful...

  Cory then squatted next to her and splashed up a storm as he washed his face and grunted joyously at the clean – well, now dirty – water. “Oh yeah... gurgle spit sploof blah!” Cory shook off the water like a wet dog.

  Loranna's quiet, peaceful moment vanished. Oh well!

  “This is our fallback position!” Alfred said.

  “Fallback position?” Loranna looked up.

  “When they attack.”

  Chapter Twenty: The Sanctuary

  Alfred, Loranna and Cory returned to the camp outside the mines in the evening. All of the people were dancing around the fire, singing and hollering. What was happening? It sounded almost hysterical, like goblins reveling and doing a victory dance after destroying everything and overcoming their foes.

  Alfred hurried over to the fire and saw Broggia dancing abou
t, holding a pair of blacksmith tongs with something fiercely glowing in it.

  Sir Murith noticed Alfred first. “Ho Alfred! King Alfred! Savior to us all!”

  He raised his sword, and the others stopped their singing and dancing.

  Broggia stopped and dropped the red glowing block on his leather boot. It began to burn his boot immediately, so he had to dance just a few more steps to get it off quickly! There, lying on the ground, was a nice block of steel.

  Alfred stepped forward. “Is it?” He bent down to look at the still orange glow of the block.

  “It is...”

  Broggia bent down with him. It lay there, a beautiful rectangle of orange steel, glowing with a warm radiance.

  “We did as you said, Alfred. We got the mixtures right, the heat right, and Boggin and I pounded this bloom all day, pushing out the slag and impurities, and there it is...” Broggia picked it back up with the tongs, looking at it wondrously. “It is steel, the likes I have not seen but only heard of in legend and tales. We are like wizards now, King Alfred!”

  Alfred had never heard Broggia’s raspy voice speak so happily.

  “No Broggia, you are blacksmiths, not wizards. You are the best of the blacksmiths!” said Alfred, standing and looking about at the small group of freedom fighters. “We have steel, we have the mines, and also, we have a place to...”

  “Take refuge!” Loranna jumped in.

  “Yes, take refuge, a place for us to live inside! A fortification underground! We've found one!” Alfred said.

  The group all looked at each other. What was he talking about?

  The next day, they quickly made preparations to go visit the place. Many farmers were visiting their children and helping. They wanted to see it as well. Alfred left Broggia and Boggin to tend the smelters to continue making steel. He took everyone else into the mines to make the trek to the cavernous lake refuge.

  It was a sight to see. The children started to wade in the water, but Alfred stopped them. That was their water source. Messing it up with swimming and playing about would only endanger their drinking water. The children sighed but understood. The farmers, amazed by it all, were eager to see the blue glowing mushrooms up close.

  They eventually found a shallow way through the vast lake to the mushroom forest. The mushrooms were amazing, the central dozen or so being as large as trees. They lit up the cavernous ceiling far above. There were many smaller human size mushrooms around them.

  A farmer tested one to see if it could be eaten as food. He smelled it and barely tasted a small piece with the tip of his tongue. He began to twirl in maddening hysterics, spinning in a crazy dance, looking at his wife and telling her he loved her soooo much. She was elated until he moved on to the next woman and said something quite similar.

  “They are definitely not for eating,” another farmer concluded aloud.

  Loranna came up to see what the farmers were doing. “How are the mushrooms?”

  The farmers all answered, “Poisonous!” The afflicted farmer rolled his eyes and fell flat on his back.

  “Will he be alright?” she gasped.

  “Oh, he'll be fine, near death from the poisonous mushroom for sure!” his wife said in an odd state of anger. Loranna misunderstood, thinking she said this because he had taken such a risk. Still, his face was oddly happy as he snored.

  All the farmer's wives looked angrily at him and then at their own husbands.

  “Right!.. No one eat the mushrooms!” one husband said.

  Loranna nodded and decided to take the girls to investigate the perimeter of the blue cave. They found several tunnels, one leading to a dangerous terrain of stalagmites and stalactites.

  These mineral collections build up or down from drops of water dripping from the ceiling. Eventually, enough minerals stick together to form a spike protruding upward or downward. Stalactites hang from the ceiling, dripping excess water and minerals to corresponding stalagmites below. The easiest way to remember which is which is that G is for ground, and stalagmites have a G... and C is for ceiling, and stalactites have a C.

  They found this cavernous area interesting because a huge waterfall roared through the middle of it. It wasn't lit as well as the blue mushroom cavern. There were a few smaller glowing mushrooms, but they had to bring in lamps to examine further the tumultuous roar of water and the choppy pool beneath it.

  Alfred came and saw that the waterfall was part of an underground river. He told them to be cautious not to fall into or enter it in any way, for it could carry them away to who knows where.

  A ledge ran above the river. The girls examined it and got frightened because it was a path obviously made by ratkins. It had many ratkin footprints and a few openings to rooms where ratkins may have rested. The boys and girls carefully traversed this walkway as it wound its way along the river.

  Where it went, they weren't sure. After an hour of cautiously following it, they decided to head back. Though there were plenty of signs that ratkins had been there, it seemed that this was a while ago. There were no signs of ratkins there now. The river flowed next to, sometimes under and at one point over the ledge they walked on. The rushing water sound made it difficult to hear if any ratkins were about.

  The boys and girls were on guard, with spears and bows held firm. The boys didn't have great spears yet – only sharpened sticks, some with stone heads. Their weapons would be strong enough against ratkins.

  Alfred wondered if this ledge ran all the way to the dungeons of Grotham Keep. Was this the very path the ratkins used to get to there in their previous attacks? If it was, then this could change the group’s tactics on defenses!

  Some farmers put up ladders and a pulley rope system down the tunnel into the blue mushroom cavern. They brought down many provisions to store there. If this was going to be their refuge, they figured they might as well supply it like one.

  Sitting amongst the blue mushrooms comforted them. The one who tasted the mushrooms was in the process of taking another lick when he saw his wife’s look of grave disapproval. He shrugged and put it down. He knew she was more important than some crazed, risky lick of a wonderful but poisonous mushroom.

  Alfred was determined to see where the ratkins' underground roadway went. Convinced that it lead back toward Grotham, he prepared enough food, oil, and gear to trek further.

  “You're going to follow the trail? You think it leads back to Grotham?” Loranna asked.

  Alfred nodded.

  Cory watched as Alfred packed more than one sack. “And we're going with you?”

  Alfred nodded again.

  Chapter Twenty-One: The Magistrate

  The Ambassador of Telehistine came to Grotham Keep. It was a huge spectacle on top of the already strange one that was the temporary village plopped outside of the Keep. Most of the new villagers knew and bowed to the Ambassador as he came in his bedazzling carriage pulled by great stallions. His guards and servants wore the most pompous garb. The Lord Merchants of Telehistine were profitable indeed.

  Lord Dunther and Abedeyan waited atop the front gate and peered down at the assembly arriving in the late summer. Everyone from that strange village of foreign folk gathered along the muddy way to see the Ambassador.

  “Since when did we become subjects of these Merchant Lords of Telehistine – that most of the residents show great fealty to them and none to us?” Abedeyan huffed.

  Lord Dunther merely stroked his stubbly beard and looked on. The caravan of wagons, greater horses and well dressed guards was twice the size of the band of soldiers and workers he had on loan from the man who approached. Dunther gritted his teeth.

  The Ambassador arose out of a cushy opening atop his richly adorned carriage, waving and clapping at the spectacle of spectators. Just as you would expect, he was bedecked with colorful feathers and silky fabrics. He had a turban with delicate gold chains and a plume of colorful feathers extending outward. He waved a chubby soft hand laden with gold and silver rings. His mustache and goatee were
finely trimmed over his bloated baby face. He smiled and tossed sweets of some sort to the people. They gladly scurried to pick them up from the muddy ground.

  Since the Ambassador could not throw the little candies very far, there was a lot of pushing to get to them. If anyone got too close, the guards pushed them back, away from the silver carriage.

  The procession reached all the way to the gate. Without the orders of Lord Dunther, the soldiers opened it.

  “Now, what is the meaning of this?” Lord Dunther descended the stairs. Sergeant Jeurkaheen bowed in front of him, blocking Dunther's path as the Ambassador's procession moved into the grounds of the Keep. Abedeyan stood beside Dunther. It had been quite a while since they had seen anything like this.

  When they first met the Merchants after their great victory against the goblins and ratkins, only a small contingent came ready to trade their supply of labor and soldiers for what little they had. But this return visit by some royalty or palace lord was too much.

  A man of some stature exited the carriage. Dunther and Abedeyan noticed that the Ambassador remained in it. They could see him through the ornate window. He seemed preoccupied with looking away and appearing superior. A foreign man, richly adorned, tall and skinny in tight black robes with silver embroidery and jewelry approached. His sneer was subtle but obvious.

  Abedeyan, the shortest one there, stepped forward and looked up at the man. “Hey? What's the meaning of this? We can't take in the whole caravan of gallivants on these grounds!”

  “I am the Lord Ambassador's Magistrate Caravello.” He bowed curtly and stood tall. He had a thin mustache and goatee. His skin was wrinkled yet wrapped tightly on a gaunt face.

  Lord Dunther stood somewhat stunned as the progression poured into the Keep. The guards had better armour than he and certainly looked well trained. Their horses were mighty stallions, even greater than what Lord Dunther once had. Now, all he and his men had, sold by the very group entering, were work ponies – and nothing a lordly knight could effectively fight from.