by D. W.
While the goblins were small, they were deadly fast, and far more determined than Thad had expected. He had learned how to hold up a partial shield to his front and sides, allowing him to conserve his magical strength and allowing him to be more aggressive in his attacks.
Safe behind his shield, Thad didn’t waste energy dodging or trying to parry their clumsy attacks. Instead, he shuffled around to foil a concentrated effort by all the goblins to come at him together while waiting for a single goblin to find the courage to attack alone. That way he could kill them one at a time, conserving his energy and strength. The strategy worked more often than not, but the ugly little creatures were unbelievably fast and resilient.
After he had killed all but one of the nasty little creatures, he allowed himself to relax a little. He had refrained from using magic to kill the goblins, enjoying the practice with his blade. When the last goblin made a hasty lunge, Thad reflexively stepped aside bringing his sword down hard, neatly severing the creatures head from its neck. Watching the head roll to a stop, he felt regret that the fight had ended so abruptly. Dancing with his blade allowed him to forget that he was lost and alone in the darkness, at least for a time.
With the battle over, his next task was to make sure he could make the cavern defensible with the meager resources he possessed. It had five large openings and two smaller ones, leading off into the darkness. All he had to use at the moment was one small piece of metal that wouldn’t even stretch enough to cover one of the openings, much less seven.
Not willing to give up, Thad continued looking for ways to defend his new temporary home. On one of the dead goblins he found a piece of unrefined ore. It wasn’t much and after he purified the ore it would only amount to what he already carried.
After searching the bodies of the goblins and finding nothing else of use and still tingling with energy from the fight, he dragged them down one of the larger two at a time. Once they were far enough away that he didn’t think the smell of their bloating bodies would bother him, or attract other unwanted guests to his new home, Thad headed back to deal with the large and very dead toad.
He shifted into his magesight to inspected the toad and found that while the meat was edible it was mostly made up of fat and fluid. Shrugging his shoulders, he reasoned that it would still feed him for a few days. Unable to block the entrances into the cavern, Thad began looking for someplace to rest until he could recover his strength and start his looking for resources.
After searching every inch of the walls, his staff blazing with bright light, Thad didn’t find one place suitable to rest. His only choice left and that was to make one for himself. It was risky, using his magic to carve the stone, as the potential for a cave-in was high. Sighing audibly, he resigned himself to the task.
Finding a somewhat suitable location, he began to chip away at the stone with his magic, blasting small sections away at a time. It was easy at first, but the more he worked the harder it became. He needed to keep the entrance as small as possible while making the inside wider. In the end he was forced down onto his hands and knees, dragging out the rubble after each blast. When he finished, his magical reserves were almost depleted, so he wearily crawled inside and quickly erected his metal door using the last bit of his magical of his magical energy.
Thad wasn’t physically tired but he was severely mentally fatigued, and with his magical strength gone he was vulnerable in the open. Propping his staff up against the wall Thad let its light extinguish and activated his light ring. With little else to do, he followed his normal routine and checked the sending box for any news from the princess. Opening it he was relieved and happy to see a small helping of dried meat along with a new letter. He opened the letter he hastily while shoving a piece of meat into his mouth.
Thad,
I hope the day finds you well. I haven’t heard from you in some time but since the box is always empty the morning after I use it, I assume you’re still alive. If you get the chance, I would like to hear from you so I know I’m not just feeding some monster that has your end of the box.
There still has been no news of Eloen. The creepy man in black has been back and has become a sinister nuisance. Mother still doesn’t know what to do about him. I’ve heard her say, that if this had been the past, she could have simply ordered him to leave or threaten to throw him in the dungeon, but with the current atmosphere she is afraid it would undermine the new laws.
The rebellion has been put down or smothered depending on how you look at it. Mother has also started to crack down hard on any who have ignored her royal decree. To prove her goodwill she has even gone so far as to buy the young man who sent her that beautiful glass sculpture of Fort Southpass his own shop within the capital. . If any of the nobles knew she had done that, she would be ridiculed by them, so she keeps it secret for now. It’s enough to show visible progress to the commoners I guess.
Well I better turn in for the night. Early tomorrow mother has a meeting with the king of Rane, and she expects me to be there. Hope to hear from you soon.
Your friend Maria.
Thad read the letter four times before finally folding it up and gently adding it to the others. He was worried about Eloen, but there was nothing he could do for her at the moment. He couldn’t even get himself out of the trouble he was in.
Laying his head back against his pack he tried to envision different ways to block off the tunnels leading into the cavern, while still allowing him a way out when he needed it. Using boulders was one way, but every time he wanted to leave and return, he would have to move them and that would not be a fast process. Sitting back in the darkness and mulling over the different ways to solve the problem, he quickly drifted off to sleep.
CHAPTER II
When Thad woke from his nap he was still magically fatigued but he figured he was strong enough for a few hours of work. After listening for any sounds of enemies, he lowered the metal door and carefully crawled from his nook. The meat he had cut from the frog still lay stacked in the corner of the cavern where it was the coolest. It had been grisly work and contributed to the miasma of stench that enveloped him but he had tried his best to wash off the worst before going to sleep. There was always the fear it would draw predators but there was little else he could do with it at the time.
Thad had awoken with an idea. He had spent countless hours examining things with his magesight to check their compatibility with magic or their internal integrity. He figured that he should also be able to search for certain items the same way he had for his magical items back in the Ablaian prison. With the discovery of this new ability to coax his magic to flow into the things he wanted, instead of forcing it to his will, he was excited to learn if this new application would work for a lot more projects that he had in mind.
Thad almost closed his eyes to begin the search then nearly slapped himself for his own stupidity. It was dangerous enough in the caves with his light, leaving himself exposed and vulnerable while searching was moronic. Mentally kicking himself, Thad moved back into his little cubbyhole and replaced the metal door. Once safely tucked away he closed his eyes and began his search.
The area directly surrounding him shined like a beacon to his magesight. It wasn’t just the gems. He could see the very flow of the elemental lines running through the earth. It was extremely strong and almost seemed to be pulsing around him. He wondered to himself whether the gems had created the excess flow of magical energy or if it was the other way around.
At first he tried to move the magical searching in a three hundred and sixty degree pattern but soon that became too great of a strain. He then switched to searching smaller areas little by little until he found what he was looking for. About two hundred feet down the path he had taken originally to get into the cavern there was a large deposit of copper. Not the best metal for enchanting. It was too soft and he knew from experience that it would bleed off too much magical power, but it was better than nothing.
Emerging from his hidden
nook, Thad moved quickly towards where he had sensed the supply of metal. It didn’t take long to make his way to the spot where he was sure the metal was located. He could think of no delicate way to get to the ore so he began blasting at the wall with magic. He started to get worried when a few small pebbles from the ceiling rained down on his head but shrugged it off when nothing else happened.
After the first few blasts, Thad could see the copper peeking through the rock. If his magic was up to full strength, he could have simply touched the metal and had it condense into his hand in pure form. But with depleted strength his only option was to continue to cut out chunks of rock and carry it back to his new home until he regained his strength.
Thad’s pack was bulging with the copper ore when he finished. It had been a rich vein with plenty more left for future needs. He wasn’t sure how much he would need but he had pushed himself to his limit and didn’t want stress his power anymore. He didn’t think passing out in the middle of a dark tunnel where any of the denizens of the dark could find him was the best choice in ways to die.
Back in the cavern Thad quickly unloaded his burden and crawled back into his alcove. With his mind fuzzy he put up his metal door and quickly crumpled onto the floor. While he had learned an easier way to control his magic, it also allowed him to push much farther then before without feeling the effects as severely. The downside was that when he had pushed himself farther than his body could take, and it was beginning to shut down. He had tried to learn where his limits were but he started to understand that it depended a lot on the flow of the elements around him. Some elemental magic tired him faster than others. If he was going to continue to dig ore out of the rock he was going to have to find a better way.
The next morning Thad refined the ore and found it was much easier to work within the cavern itself. The elemental earth magic jumped to his call as he worked the metal from its rock prison. When he was finished Thad had three balls of pure copper the size of apples. One ball should be the right size to cover one of the smaller entrances but it would take two or three to cover some of the larger ones.
The frog meat still sat in the corner on the cool ground. He knew if he waited too much longer it would spoil. Conjuring up a magical fire he quickly began cooking the meat, stuffing cooked pieces in his mouth hungrily. It didn’t take long, and once finished he placed the meat in his cubbyhole and replaced the metal door hoping it would keep the smell from any nearby predators.
After filling his canteen up with water from the small pool, Thad made his way back down the passage to where the copper ore was located. Once there he didn’t start blasting away the rocks as he had before. Thad carefully examined the rock thinking of a different way he could get to the metal using the forces of earth instead of raw magical power.
Thinking back to his fight in the capital, Thad closed his eyes and tried to liquefy the stone. Reaching his hand in he was able to grab hold of the ore but it had turned to a semisolid state along with the surrounding rock. Focusing harder, he examined the stone wall. Down at its very core the rock was just tiny bits that had fused together. Stepping back, he placed his staff against the wall. At first nothing happened but then the wall started to into hard gray sand that flowed faster and faster to the ground.
Once he had the technique figured out it didn’t take long for Thad to begin to fill his sack with fist size chunks of copper. The amount of sand at his feet was growing deeper by the moment, as he had to remove more and more rock to get at the prized metal. Absorbed in his work, Thad didn’t realize his mistake until parts of the rock wall began to crumble and fall down on him.
Reacting fast, he quickly activated his shield up as he grabbed his pack from the ground. Running to keep ahead of the rapidly collapsing tunnel, he mentally kicked himself for making yet another mistake. The noise of the collapse followed him back to the cavern but he was hugely relieved to see it slow down and then stop before reaching the entrance.
Berating his own stupidity, Thad checked the damage once the dust cleared. The small tunnel had been completely sealed off with hardly a crack for an insect to pass through. The only upside to the whole situation was that he had one less entrance to seal.
Thad looked over his supply of copper. It should be more than enough to close off the passageways if spread thin but it would do very little to stop most of the creatures that roamed the underground networks. He could always magically strengthen the metal but that would increase the difficulty of entering and leaving the cavern. There were plenty of gems to use but what enchantments would work the best? A shield would work but it would have to be constantly activated and that would take massive amounts of magical energy.
Not wanting to waste precious energy while thinking, Thad returned to his small cubbyhole, and sealed himself in. While his brain churned through possible solutions, he scratched out a quick letter to the princess and placed it in the sending box so that as soon as it was charged it would reach her. He had food and water for a few days so it was a perfect time to let her know of his current condition.
There were hundreds of ways to make the doors stronger or make them easier to access but he wanted the one that would work the best. He had plenty of gems to use but he didn’t want to make it overly complex. Each new gem that had to be linked would add hours to the planning and work process. After giving it a lot of thought, Thad finally decided the best choice would be to have five linked enchantments. The first would be a shield that would activate when any movement within a certain range happened. He wasn’t sure if it was possible to have the trigger of an enchantment be movement but it was worth a try. The next two enchantments in the chain could be activated by his staff to bypass the first. The last two would simply be assigned to make the metal barrier open then close after his passing.
This would allow him to use a minimal amount of effort to place and use the doors. He would still have to link quite a few enchantments for the opening and closing of the barriers but it was much better than having an overly complex setup for was only to be a temporary sanctuary.
Thad decided the largest of the tunnels should be closed off first and went straight to work. He started by setting up a thin metal frame around the tunnel mouth to hold the gems and be the main core of the enchantments. The opening and closing enchantment for the door was just a variation of one of the swords he carried. Those being known to him were the first placed.
Once all the tunnels had their frames in place and sealed, along with more than enough gems linked for his remaining enchantments, he breathed a sigh of relief. They wouldn’t hold against a determined foe just yet but it was a start. Now all he had to do was perfect the new enchantments and place them. He was anxious to get this first stage finished so that he could mentally and physically allow himself to relax in protected shelter.
Using the left-over copper, Thad made a smaller version of the shield he had used back in the Farlan palace to protect the princess and queen. This difference now was the activation key was movement instead of a word. It worked but the second set of enchantment that was meant to recognize him failed to activate correctly. It took him three more tries before he found the problem and was able to bypass it.
The enchantment did recognize him but it had also picked up the movement of his clothing and equipment. After figuring that out, Thad simply had to adjust the enchantment to allow anything through as long as he was present within a certain distance of the item. It meant that if he was being chased, anything too close would still be able to follow him through. In his mind that was still better than being trapped on the outside of the barrier with who knew how many other things coming after him.
Even with the enchantments figured out, it still took a fair amount of time to get everything ready and a staggering amount of magic for the larger doors. Thad had no way to measure the time it took to finish, but when everything was finally done, he was confident that nothing would be able to reach him while he was in his sanctuary.
With his t
emporary home secure, he still left with a multitude of problems. The water would last for far longer than needed but he was running low on food and if he wanted to make any items to help himself, he would need more metal; preferably iron, gold, or silver. If that wasn’t possible, he would even take copper.
The main problem with finding more metal, was the vast amounts of magic it required to search for it. He was in a room filled with a large amount of gems as well as more earth elemental magic than he had ever felt before. There had to be a way to use that to his advantage. He knew that it would allow him to use any magic rooted in the earth elemental much easier and to a much better effect, but that wasn’t enough. He needed a way to harness it more effectively. His body could only handle so much magical influence before it would begin to shut down.
Thad’s first thought of his staff. It had been created to handle massive amounts of magic where his body could not. It was like a giant cistern that collected magic and allowed him to direct its flow where he wanted it. The only trouble is that what he wanted was more than simply directing the flow. He had never tried giving his staff a set of parameters to work from but he didn’t see the harm in trying. The worst that could happen was failure right?
Clearing off a comfortable space, Thad sat his staff across his legs and began to focus. At first he tried giving his staff a set of parameters to find something in his nearby pack. When nothing happened, he got slightly annoyed and tried to simplify the set of instructions. Still nothing happened.
