by Leo deSouza
“Show yourself, freak!” Olaf shouted.
“There is she!” Rurur shouted as he saw ahead someone’s robe shaking and retreating.
Now the dwarfs were running with fury, they went up some rock steps and found themselves on an elevated platform.
“I swear I’m tired of this! Come and face us, monster!” Olaf continued.
Amongst the darkness, with the only light coming from the torch in Olaf’s hand, Torag could see the exact moment when a big horrid hand stifled the flame making all dark, one more time. Blows where heard by the ones that could, bodies collided, dwarfs growled and scolded, blades hit the ground, a big turmoil formed and then finally silence came, everything became quiet.
“Who is there?” Rurur asked in the darkness, he was nervously holding his weapon as he turned to all sides. “Who is there? Olaf? Ye are deaf!” Then he heard something from behind and quickly turned himself. “Who is it? I will hit ye! Torag, is that ye?” No answer came. “Torag!...” He insisted. His heart was beating fast, the sweat leaking over his face. “Torag, you’re mute! If that is ye, clap twice!”
Nothing was heard, silence was total, Rurur waited in the darkness, holding his weapon tightly, he sighed and relaxed just a moment before hearing the sound of someone clapping nearby.
“Clap! Clap!” It sounded.
The dwarf got into readiness again, one more time silence took all, and it stood like it for a moment. Rurur was vexed. “All right ye! Whoever is… I’ll tell ye what! I’ll twist my blade in the air and cut anyone’s head off! Aaargh!” He cried.
But right when he was about to strike blows, all the torches lit again, the ambience became lightened. There Rurur could see, on the floor, Torag half lying and scarred, Olaf who seemed unconscious and even a third dwarf, there was the captain, Thuor, standing among the others.
“Dwarfs of my company, I urge ye to join me.” The captain said.
“Captain!” Rurur spoke as he reached out his hand and held Thuor’s arm.
But this one replied just by holding Rurur’s hand, without looking at him, Torag was now pouring water on Olaf’s face, he slapped the dwarf’s cheek twice.
“Huh oh… What happened.” Olaf babbled as he woke up.
“The creature took my vision.” Thuor spoke.
“Oh no… That freak…” Rurur spoke.
“Why are your eyes white, captain? Ye… Oh! Did she take your vision?” Olaf asked.
“Now here we are, the deaf one, the mute one, the blind one, and yet a dwarf who will never more feel the good smell of a meal, me myself.” Rurur spoke.
“What about Montaron?” Thuor asked.
Rurur twisted his mouth and replied: “The tricky one saved himself, it seems so.”
“We don’t know, he may have been taken by the witch.” Thuor said.
“Why would she do it? She already has all the senses, there is nothing she could want from him now.” Rurur replied.
“Where is Montaron?” Olaf asked. “He left! He abandoned us…”
“If so, we can’t blame him, he is not one of us, nor has he any responsibility with this company.” Thuor added.
“Hunf… Fine.” Rurur replied. “Anyway what could we do now? We are all injured one way or another. We are all disabled!”
“Not if we stay together. Together we can be a single dwarf, with eyes, ears, nose and mouth!” Thuor spoke.
Torag nodded.
“Ye are right, captain, let’s get out of this maze.” Rurur replied.
“What are ye talking about?” Olaf spoke.
Now the four dwarfs walked in a row, Rurur was the one leading, Thuor came right behind him, holding his arm, then came Olaf, and at last Torag. Underground paths were the most friendly ambience for dwarfs, but even they were getting exhausted of this one, the maze revealed itself complex, and the presence of the witch forced them to be alert all the time, something that tired their minds.
“What happened when she got ye, captain?” Rurur asked as he walked.
“I could not tell. I was standing beside ye all, and in a moment everything became dark, I felt like being quickly dragged, then I think I fainted. When I woke up I was hearing ye shouting, that was when we met again, when I found myself blind.” Thuor replied.
“Yes! That was what I got too! Except that I did not go blind, but anyway not being able to smell is something strange.” Rurur replied.
Olaf slipped on something on the ground, he looked down to see what it was, making all the others stop. As the dwarfs now could see, except for Thuor, there was blood on the floor.
“Oh my…” Rurur whispered.
“What is it?” Thuor asked.
“Blood!” Rurur replied.
“Anyone is wounded?” Thuor asked
“Seems not.” Rurur replied.
“Then it must be Montaron’s blood.” Thuor spoke.
Torag crouched and began examining the surroundings, then he pointed to something nearby, a strange green jam spread on the wall.
“This, disgusting jam did not come from Montaron.” Olaf spoke.
Now Torag found on the floor a bloodstained knife, he raised it in the air, smiling archly.
“Hah! The tricky one stabbed the witch! There is his knife!” Olaf exclaimed as he saw it.
Thuor was thoughtful, he had now his eyes closed. “Still the blood can be Montaron’s, he dropped the knife, he must have fought her.” He spoke.
“Fighting? Oh no… I don’t think that one is the type one who fights face to face… My guess is, he stabbed her in her back, and then ran out laughing into the darkness again!” Rurur said.
Torag smiled as he nodded, his eyes sparkling as he imagined the scene.
Then they entered a large circular hall, the biggest place they had been since they entered the maze. This room was better lighted than the rest of the labyrinth, by many torches, it was circled by an elevated sidewalk, and above it many statues of dwarfs.
“I wish ye could see it, captain…” Rurur spoke as he looked around.
All the ones who could see were amazed by the sight of the ambience.
“There are many statues of dwarfs here…” Olaf spoke.
“Dwarf statues ye say? How they are?” Thuor asked.
“They are like… Miners… using mining helmets, and in their hands mattocks and shovels…” Rurur spoke.
Thuor opened his eyes and turned himself, as if trying to see what he could not. “This must be the Sacred Hall… A place of the old explorers, the first who came. I’ve heard about it as a legend, though no one could ever confirm its existence. These are our ancestors, the ones who colonized the East Mountains.”
Torag had rested his axe on the floor and propped his hands on its handle, he was looking at the statues with a wondering mien.
A horrid voice echoed inside the hall: “Rats! Trapped In a mousetrap, this is what you are!”
In all the entrances of the chamber, heavy iron doors came down, closing the passages.
“It is she again!” Olaf shouted. “We are trapped here!”
“Good, one more opportunity to finish this.” Thuor said brandishing his weapon.
The disturbing sound of a wicked laughing was heard. “A blind dwarf wants to fight!” The evil voice sounded.
A wind blew twirling through the hall, the flames on the torches stirred, and some extinguished, but some fires were kept, all became darker. The ones who could see saw a shadow moving quickly behind the statues, circling them.
“Show yourself!” Olaf shouted.
Now the wind was blowing disorderly, the flames trembled and the sight of the dwarfs became blurred. Torag was hit on the side of his face, so strongly that he was thrown on the ground and dropped his axe far away, he could not raise himself. A shadow passed among the group, and again a freaky laugh sounded.
“Ye cheater disgusting monster, come to me and…” Olaf was saying when a strong strike hit his back. He was thrown away and bumped against a wall, falling on th
e ground, defenseless. Now there was only Rurur and the blind captain standing. Finally, the witch showed herself suddenly, and threw her own body against Rurur, this one was thrown back and bumped with Thuor, both fell on the ground as their weapons spread around. Now all the four dwarfs were dragged towards a wall and were cornered by the monster, the creature advanced towards the group, slowly hovering above the floor, her strange long fingers moving like spider legs. Suddenly, Fairy Vixen came out of Olaf’s clothes, she flew against the witch casting a pale white light. The monster whisked as the fairy circled her head, but it did not take long for the witch to catch the fairy in the air, she opened her horrid mouth, showing her devilish tusks, and from inside it came a long black tongue; the monster swallowed the fairy.
“No! Curse ye monster!” Olaf shouted as he rose up from the ground. The dwarf tightened his fists and growled, the monster looked at him with a devilish smile. But right when both were to get into fighting, the sound of stone scraping was heard, the last thing the witch could do was to look up to see one of the big statues falling over her. The stone block fell above the monster, smashing her and cracking on the ground. The metal doors raised, unblocking the passages and the extinguished torches were lit again. What a surprise every dwarf there got when they saw, right in the place from where the statue fell, on the elevated sidewalk, a smiling dwarf.
“Montaron! Ha! Haha!” Rurur exclaimed as he clapped.
This one jumped down to the floor and sneaked around the broken statue checking if the witch was really dead.
“What happened?” Thuor asked.
“It is Montaron, captain! The little rogue killed the monster!” Rurur said.
Thuor smiled.
Torag and Rurur raised Montaron on their shoulders.
“Hail Montaron! Our best friend and savior!” Rurur shouted.
Olaf was downcast quietly searching for something among the statue pieces on the ground. “Regret, dismay and pain… This is the trail that this terrible monster left behind…” He whispered.
“I know ye lost your fairy, Olaf, but we must be grateful we are still alive.” Rurur spoke as he put Montaron back on the ground.
Olaf was really sad, he rubbed his shirt collar as if remembering when the fairy hid there. “First Jewelry, now Vixen… It is as if this journey is sparing us but taking all our friends…” He said.
Then all of sudden something happened, from the broken statue on the ground came fairy Vixen, alive as ever, and twirling in the air while leaving a trail of bright powder.
“Oh there ye are!” Olaf shouted, joyful. “I thought that damn monster had killed ye!”
The fairy flew fast and both her and her master agitated, as if partying, then she hid again inside his clothes.
“Seems these sprites can’t die this way.” Rurur said.
“Good… Now all that is left is to find a way out.” Thuor said.
The group spread on the hall, taking back from the ground their weapons.
“Let’s read the map and find us the path.” Thuor spoke.
“I don’t think this will be necessary, our luck finally began to change.” Rurur said as he was examining a stone monolith in the center of the room. The other ones came close and saw there runes carved on its rock, like the ones they saw before.
“It says…” Olaf spoke as he read it. “Here lies the memory of the pioneer dwarfs, the first to dig the mines and open the way. Show respect if ye are one of our kind, and bow yourself towards the ones who made the paths possible to travel in the old days. To the left, bewilderment, to the right an even worse fate, lest is to go back from where ye came, or to go ahead and finally leave towards light, where the last puzzle is.”
“So ahead it is, towards the puzzle, whatever it is.” Thuor spoke.
“Witch body stinks…” Montaron said whisking near his nose.
The company left quickly, willing to leave the dark place and all the bad memories they had from it. As they crossed the arch that led to the way ahead, they entered a large corridor and walked for a while till they saw light coming from the end of the tunnel. The group fastened their pace, deep into all of them was the desire to witness a more airy place, when they finally reached the end of the corridor, the light was so intense that it blinded them all for a moment, they entered a large cave, in the ceiling a big crack in the rock, light from the sun came from it and clouds could be seen in the blue sky. On the ground, a strange floor, and they were about to realize that the danger was not over yet.
P uzzles and stories.
The company was now sitting under the light, some were cleaning clothes and stuff, some were checking weapons and provisions, but Thuor was just standing. “Now things have changed, I’m not in a condition to be the leader of this party anymore. We must nominate a new one.” He spoke.
The others dwarfs looked at each other not knowing what to say, then Rurur spoke: “My statement is, captain Thuor stays in his post!”
Torag nodded, Montaron stood quiet, Olaf was not hearing.
“No. It is over, we still have a long way ahead in the underground, and one who can’t see can not guide others. One must take my place, there are dangers ahead, and the constant risk of getting lost, this is a serious situation.” Thuor said.
“It is true…” Rurur spoke in dismay. “May we think about the best attitude to be taken.”
Thuor was suddenly wide eyed, even though not seeing anything. “Attitude!” He shouted. “That is it!”
“What?” Rurur asked.
“The beverage. Altar gave me a bottle of it in Urtag’s house. I kept it hidden for a needing situation.” Thuor continued. “Take it, it is in my backpack.”
Montaron was looking curiously, Rurur came to the captain’s backpack and found there the bottle with the beverage Altar gave. “Here is it! Let’s hope it works!” He spoke, then gently held Thuor’s chin. “Open your mouth captain, we are on the verge of a final revenge against that damn witch.”
Rurur leaked some of the beverage into Thuor’s mouth, the captain swallowed it, everyone now was looking at him in expectation. Rurur waved his hand in front of the captain’s eyes. “What do ye see captain?” He asked.
Thuor squinted and did not answer, he made an expression of great effort and then finally spoke: “I see four of the best dwarfs among all the eastern ones!”
Everyone cried in joy, except for Torag, but he smiled anyway.
“Ha!” Rurur exclaimed. “Blessed be the Old Soothsayer and his beverage!” He now gulped the liquid by himself, stirred it inside his mouth and then swallowed. The dwarf sniffed in the air, then finally came and stuck his nose into Torag’s armpit. “It stinks like rotten fish!” He exclaimed.
Everyone laughed loudly, Torag abruptly took the bottle from Rurur’s hand and drank from it, he gulped roughly.
“Say something.” Thuor spoke.
Torag burped. “Ye are all a bunch of surly dwarfs!” He said.
“Ha! Torag, the bold one, can talk again! I never had much hope of getting rid of his rude words forever.” Rurur spoke.
Now there was only the last gulps of beverage left in the bottle, Olaf took it with caution and drank, then looked to the others. “Say something to me!” He spoke. “Hey! I can hear my own voice again!”
“I would have some words to say to that old bearded sage now, his beverage is a wonder!” Torag spoke.
“But it is over.” Olaf said turning the bottle upside down.
“We must be thankful it was enough for us all.” Thuor said.
Torag now smiled satisfied as he looked around. “Ye know what? I feel like totally renewed, as if I could do all the way again, from the beginning.”
“I feel fine too.” Rurur said.
“And this is good, as we still have a long way ahead.” Thuor broke in.
“I thought we would be lost forever in this damn labyrinth!” Olaf spoke.
“I think we deserve a good time for resting and eating, to recover our strength aft
er all this.” Thuor said.
“Resting? Hunf… I feel like I could walk many leagues without weariness.” Torag spoke.
“That is because we all drank the beverage. But he did not.” Thuor spoke, pointing to Montaron.
“Right. I guess after it we will feel twice ready.” Torag added, he came to Montaron, hugged him and kissed both his cheeks. “Let me tell ye now that I can speak, ye little bandit, how thankful I’m for what ye did for us!”
Montaron smiled shyly as Torag hugged him hard.
“It is true!” Olaf broke in. “He freed us from the jail and killed the witch just when she was about to take us!”
“This little one is a prodigy, for sure.” Rurur said.
“We are surely going to find some way to reward ye for all ye did, Montaron.” Thuor said.
Again, Montaron said nothing, he just kept smiling. So there, under the crack in the rock, the dwarfs ate, Montaron had his own provisions and he gathered them together with the others’ rations; the food they had was not a sweet smelling type, but still enough to satisfy the group, packed and well protected inside their backpacks, it stayed dry and tasteful. Time passed and the dwarfs had rested, everyone who drank the beverage was feeling extremely well, the joy of escaping with their lives and unharmed took them and renewed their hopes.
“Tell me, master Montaron, about your crime and how you escaped.” Torag asked when he finished a smoking.
“Don’t bother him.” Thuor broke in. “Whatever he did, it’s past, and he already proved a valorous friend.”
“Nah… I not wanting to bother him, it is just about knowing better our new party member!” Torag replied.
“Now that I see ye here, Montaron, I think it was a bit unfair. They could have at last waited for the winter to end, ye could then go back through the narrow passage.” Thuor spoke.
Montaron nodded quickly.
“Anyway ye are here with us now. Welcome to our party, we owe ye for what ye did.” The captain continued.
“Thanks.” Montaron replied.
“Why do ye not have a beard?” Rurur asked.
Montaron rubbed his chin and replied: “They shaved me.”
