The Chronicles of Outsider: Humble Beginnings

by Justin Wayne

  Chapter Thirty Five: Tempest Bowl

  Thom was the first one out of the house. Cuke and the others followed right behind him and froze in place as they saw smoke in the distance. Cuke and Thom shared a look then took off at once into the storm.

  “Wait, where are you going!?” Natalia called after them and ran forward only for Bryn to stop her.

  “Let them go, we can’t help them now.” she said and gripped her younger, brash sister tighter. “Trust me Nat, we’d just get in the way.”

  “I can help! I can fight and save them! I could—“

  “Nat!” Bryn shook her shoulders roughly and she at last fell silent. “Calm down. You can’t fight, and you already saved them. This is their turn to save themselves…and us.”

  Gradually the young woman stopped resisting and held back. Bryn nodded curtly as she hugged Natalia and brought her inside. Graham and the other two men left at once to see what was going on, weapons in hand. She watched them go and muttered a prayer under her breath before shutting the door.

  Thom came up short as he saw the flames licking up the trees and leaping from treetop to treetop in the wild winds. Cuke gripped his collar and pulled him along through the barreling waves of snow and ice that pelted them in the face and clung to their skin. Almost on cue, their shoes became covered and heavy; slowing them considerably.

  The dwarf cleric pumped his short but powerful legs to run but felt more like he was wading through water with a friend in peril just on the shore. He reached into his pocket and removed a scroll. Holding his hand out and calling to Reiin, he took a stance and read the lines quickly.

  Thom stood back fearfully as he watched the flames from the trees swirl into a single large mass overhead like a coiling snake of fire. He stared in awe as the massive fireball compacted into an orb of pure white light and heat until it fit into the palm of Cuke’s hand.

  The cleric shrugged and laughed nervously. “Sometimes Reiin lets me get away with some wild stuff outside of my agenda.” Holding the orb out before him, he willed it to release slowly and smiled as the air in front of them rippled with heat. The snow melted away and retracted so quickly it appeared alive and feeling.

  They rushed ahead as quickly as they could with Cuke clearing the way when they became aware they had no idea where to begin looking. They ran past the shops and houses until they were near the end of town. The cleric turned to the hobbit.

  “Where’s Merlon’s house at? He might still be there.”

  Thom shrugged and held his arms out wide. “I don’t know, the last time I was here he tried to kill me!”

  Cuke cursed and looked around. He spotted a series of dark shapes in the snow nearby and upon investigation found them to be bits of wood; some with runes carved into them. He looked up and across the street then found their source; an empty doorway.

  They entered the house and shook off the frost that clung to their clothing. Cuke brushed it from his short beard and rubbed his bald spot. “Wish I’d remembered my helm.” he murmured as he searched the dark room.

  Thom did likewise and soon stopped short. He bent low and with a groan lifted up a heavy weapon he would recognize anywhere. “Merlon’s axion.” he said quietly and felt his legs go weak. Cuke too shivered as a deep pang of worry shot through him and he walked faster through the house.

  Thom sat at the doorway with the axion in his lap; staring at it and praying his friend was alright.

  “Where is he?” a familiar voice called and Thom’s head jerked up immediately. The hobbit cocked his head to the side and looked this way and that for the source.

  “Oh right, sorry.” A dark hand appeared and knocked away the white before him and revealed a gray cloak.

  “Nice camouflage.” Cuke commented as he stepped outside. “He’s not in there but he definitely was.”

  “We found this.” Thom said and held up the heavy axion.

  Outsider nodded and looked about. “How long ago did he leave?”

  The two shorter shared a glance. “Maybe an hour?”

  “Yeah, about an hour,” Cuke agreed. “Said he needed some fresh air.”

  The elf breathed a low sigh and put his hands behind his head. “Well he’ll have gotten plenty by now. Move aside.” He approached the house but stooped low a few yards before it. He scanned the snow and ignored the two sets of tracks he knew to be Cuke’s and Thom’s; isolating a pair.

  He pointed. “There, we’ve got some tracks to follow.” The others bent low to see as he explained them. “His are these wide ones here that sink in deep. But this other pair here is small and light; almost as if another hobbit were around.”

  “You never can tell with us,” Thom joked nervously. “Sometimes people think I’m a child.”

  Outsider looked up suddenly at that and made eye contact with Cuke. “Can it do that?”

  “I don’t know for sure but it wouldn’t surprise me,” he replied. “The girls saw an ex husband and a dark elf; two things they fear most.”

  “So you think it can conjure up whatever we fear or miss most to cause us pain?” Outsider reasoned and agreed with the hypothesis. “Did he ever mention a child to either of you?” Thom and Cuke both shook their heads. “Well I guess we’ll find out the story soon enough.”

  He waved his arm and they started off against the current of the tempest, Outsider leading to break the wind and scan for footprints with Cuke in the rear to help Thom pluck his feet from the ground when he got stuck.

  The snow fell heavily on them in sheets and made it hard to see, even for his keen elven eyes. He switched to his darkvision and found the lack of heat made him blind. Switching back to the color spectrum, he crouched low and paced as if he was hunting; low to the ground and with fluid movements. His change of stance eased his balance from foot to foot and he walked on top of the snow without sinking through.

  Thom and Cuke followed behind and trudged their way along without complaint. The cold was bitter and sliced through clothing and armor alike but neither would give in to be the first to admit it was too tough. Cuke pulled a spare rag from his smaller “battle pack” and wrapped it along his head like a hat.

  “Maybe I should try to replicate that poison to numb myself!” Cuke yelled over the roaring gales. “Want some?” he asked Thom who responded by breathing on his hands and rubbing them together.

  Outsider came to a stop so suddenly Thom walked into him and Cuke into him. The elf pushed them away and righted himself. He raked the ground with his eyes from side to side and front to back but found nothing, not even the slightest indention.

  “Either this storm’s blowing too hard and cleared them, or they learned to fly.” He frowned and looked to the sky despite himself.

  Cuke snorted and slapped his knee. “Aint no dwarf that ever flown lest they were tossed.”

  Outsider paused in thought and looked about the land. They were between the forest and the town in a small clearing with little to no cover until the treeline. He scanned the horizon and found no shelters standing against it, nor a suitable position to make one. He looked to the others and found them watching him for a solution.

  “I’m sorry guys, I don’t see any trails,” he apologized and dropped his gaze back to the ground. “Should’ve put more work into my hunter repertoire.”

  Thom looked up suddenly with eyebrows nearly touching his hairline. “That’s it! You’re a natural hunter and a bounty hunter!” The other two stared at him blankly. “You just need to mix the two to find him. Think about it, you’re trying to track someone down, but out in the wild in the middle of a storm. If you ask me I’ve never met anyone suited better for the job.”

  Outsider looked to Cuke incredulously. The cleric shrugged with a grin apparent on his face. “I don’t know Outsider, he’s got a point.” The elf threw up his hands in exasperation.

  “I don’t know what you expect me to do! He’s gone, the trail has vanished, and we’re in the middle of a blizzard.” he growled and picked up a handful o
f snow.

  “What would you do if we were in a city?” Thom offered and wrapped his cape closer to his neck. He shivered and watched Outsider as he thought it over.

  “I would ask around and see who had seen him and when and where.” he answered and stroked his chin as the pieces began to fall into place. His eyes lit with that inner fire Cuke recognized and he stood straight. “You two said he left an hour ago. We know he came to his house and someone found him around the same time the forest burst into flames.”

  The hobbit and dwarf nodded accordingly as he recounted what had transpired.

  “How long after the explosions before you came outside and made it to where I met you?”

  Cuke scratched his head then beard. “We got out the door maybe a minute after it ceased; I had to get my boots on.” he chuckled almost apologetically. “Then probably another five before we got to his house down the street.” He looked to Thom for a second opinion to ensure accuracy.

  “Sounds about right to me,” he said then crinkled his face. “I didn’t really notice it before, but now that I think about it, the axion was still warm when I picked it up.”

  Outsider ducked low again and pulled his hood lower over his face. “In this weather and temperature it wouldn’t take more than a few minutes to chill metal. He and whatever found him couldn’t have been more than that ahead of us.”

  “Meaning what? We got close then lost them?” Cuke asked with a hard edge grown to his voice. His brow creased as he scowled at the thought and his beard bristled in the wind.

  “It means they couldn’t have gotten so far ahead of us that their trail was blown away, and if it was going to fly it would have as soon as it found him.” Outsider declared and turned back to the end of the tracks they had been following. He crouched low once more and leaned forward onto his hands.

  He felt around for a few minutes as he dug through the icy powder then brushed away the snow as he hit something resistant. A small handle appeared in the ground; iron and heavy. He gripped it tightly with both hands and stood to lift it with his legs.

  The heavy round door rose from the snow with a groan, followed by a zephyr of warm air that steamed around them. Cuke inspected the door and whistled appraisingly. “This is a strong door; made out of adamantine! You ever seen the stuff?”

  “Too much of it.” Outsider replied and the house he grew up in flashed in his mind. He dusted the snow from his hands and peered over the edge of the tunnel. “I’ll go first and tell you if it’s safe. Thom, you stay up here in case we come back and need you to help us carry Merlon.”

  The hobbit slouched and bit his lip to hold back an argument. He merely nodded and plopped down in the snow with the door held open to serve as a wind blocker. He met Cuke’s eyes then dropped them immediately.

  The cleric patted him on the shoulder and gave a half hearted smile. “I’d stay if I could.” he managed honestly and sat beside him as Outsider lowered himself into the tunnel. “Only the gods know what we might face down there. For all we can tell that tunnel could go straight to the Nine Hells!”

  “Thanks.” Outsider replied sarcastically from below with a muffled echo. His arms and legs were held out to each side and he locked his knees to brace himself against the wall behind him. Then he began lowering himself down it by keeping pressure against his back to hold himself against the wall and slowly slid deeper step by step.

  His eyes closed then reopened glowing so he could see in the darkness; darkvision detailing all the temperature shifts for him. Several minutes later he changed position as if standing with each leg out to his left and right to prop himself there. Then securing his boots, he lessened the pressure of his legs and slid down the walls with his feet rather than his back.

  His speed increased rapidly and he began to wonder just how deep he was going. Maybe I really am going to Hell.

  Dust and bits of dirt flew from his feet as he descended quickly until he couldn’t see through the dirty fog. He braced his knees and tried to lock them and stop but was instead jolted disorientingly and continued as before. Alarmed and unable to stop, he flicked both wrists forward for his knives to fling from their sheathes into his hands.

  But none came.

  He cursed as he remembered he’d lost the first on the rooftop against Blaine and the second was left in the doe’s chest. He coughed as the dust filled his mouth and clouded his eyes so he pulled his cloak over his face. As he did so a dim light shone from within the folds.

  He glanced down and saw Darkbane glowing in the sheath beneath his underarm. Hurriedly he slipped it free and stabbed it into the wall on his right with both hands. His momentum shuddered and his legs were pressed away from the walls until he was sliding down the side by his dagger.

  “Damn blade’s too sharp!” he spat and pulled the magically enchanted blade free. He fell into a full drop for a split second before reversing his grip and slamming the blade back into the wall with the dull end facing downward.

  He hit the wall with his chest and legs, winded, but refused to let go. The jarring in his hands and arms would have been excruciating if he wasn’t numb and he feared he had busted a leg earlier in his descent. He tightened his grip on the handle as he looked down past his feet to the steadily rising drop below.

  The enchantment held and the blade accepted the abuse as rock and earth scraped down its length even with Outsider’s full weight upon it. Gradually his momentum eased until he hung there stranded by Darkbane. He eyed the dagger gratefully perplexed and shrugged mentally.

  “Cuke!” he called with his head leaned back to face up toward the hole that was now just a bright speck.

  A few seconds passed. “Yeah?” the dwarf replied very distantly and hardly audible.

  Outsider spat dirt from his mouth and wiped it from his eyes. “You got either an impossibly long rope or levitation spell?”

  The cleric scratched his head and ruffled through his pack. “Uhh, yeah why?”

  Outsider laughed disdainfully and shook his head. “Cause there’s no way in the place-we’re-going you could ever do what I just had to!” He rolled his shoulders as he hung on and for once was glad he couldn’t feel anything. “Be careful, it’s real deep!”

  He placed both feet onto the wall he was currently hanging from and with a deep breath for measure kicked off it; launching to the other one where he similarly stabbed it and kicked off; repeating the process until he was able to see the ground and judge the distance.

  He looked back up the tunnel with his head cocked to the side and sighed. “Real deep.” he repeated and ignored his uneasiness at being back underground.

  Ever since he had escaped the Shadowverse he had never returned to any sort of deep tunnel or cave by choice and even then only for a few hours at the most. The depth and darkness of it all brought him back to the city of dark elves and he couldn’t resist looking this way and that to search every patch of darkness for a shadowy figure.

  He cringed and descended the last twenty yards rapidly by sliding with the dagger sharp side down. He hit the ground, landing on a large pile of rope, then rolled to break his fall, and came up to his feet without pause. He looked around the darkness and groaned inwardly.

  Before him loomed a great cavern; pitch black and high ceilinged with numerous stalagmites jutting up to meet the stalactites hanging like fangs. Boulders and rolling mounds of earth were strewn about the rocky grotto and patches of vines hung from several. The walls were mostly compacted earth; not quite rock, but strong enough to support such immense weight.

  He rubbed his hand down one and though he couldn’t feel it physically he could tell it was wet by how little effort he put in digging through with one finger and how much soil remained stuck to his hand when he pulled away.

  He inhaled deeply and caught the telltale musk of earth; an obvious sign of how deep he had descended, and a mellow aroma similar to mud. He strained his ears with his eyes closed and focused on his training with Mentor. His hearing reached out phen
omenally in range and he nodded as the bubbling of a brook overlapped the typical groaning and whistling of caves.

  The subdued scent of nuts, like almonds and pecans, wafted past from behind.

  “Don’t yell.” Outsider warned Cuke as the cleric floated up to him. Deflated, the cleric ended the spell and landed with a thump. He frowned and kicked at the rocky ground.

  “How’d you know I was there?” he spluttered. “I was floating and holding my breath!”

  The hunter shrugged. “Maybe if you didn’t smell like nuts.”

  Cuke nodded systematically then stopped as the words took on a second meaning. “Wait a minute,” he said wagging a finger. “When you say nuts, do you mean like cashews and peanuts or—“

  “Listen, there’s a brook up there somewhere and I aim to follow it.” Outsider interrupted tactfully. “Water more often than not flows to the outside; giving us a clear trail to follow.”

  “How do you know it doesn’t live down here?”

  “I don’t, but it wouldn’t make sense for it to if it really is a demon.” He thought back to his studies in Duskenbaijan where demons and the like were common topics. “They often choose a location different than the realm they came from; which is usually a rocky place of fires and craggy mountains.”

  “Too similar.” Cuke decided and Outsider nodded. “Then why not stay on the surface where it’s snowing and full of life? So to speak.”

  Outsider set off for the brook with his dwarven friend right behind him. “Maybe it doesn’t like the cold; too acclimated to heat?”

  “Well it’s definitely hot enough down here.” Cuke said and wiped sweat from his brow with the cloth he had wrapped around his head. “Wonder how it stays so hot.”

  Outsider paused and looked back at him. Both their eyes were aglow with darkvision and they could make each other out well enough, so he leaned in close enough to see the different shades of heat upon his face. He turned back around and contemplated the implications of the temperature down here.

  “I think you’re onto something Cuke,” he explained as they walked. “Maybe it came down here for the heat but wanted somewhere more hospitable to thrive?” He came to a stop at the water’s edge. He crouched low to the brook, which glowed brightly in the heat spectrum, and placed his over it then pulled it away. “Steam. I think this is a hot spring.”

  Cuke gleefully stepped into the brook and sighed contentedly. “It’s certainly heavenly; can’t get much different from Hell than that can you?” He reached down and scooped up two handfuls then promptly splashed it on his head and rubbed his face; the scratching sounds of his beard grating to the elf’s finely tuned ears.

  “Enough bathing already.” he pressed and moved on. Cuke groaned and followed along behind him. The brook went fairly straight along the cavern until a tunnel came to view in which it disappeared within. The two shared a glance then continued into it more cautiously than before.

  Neither were strangers to such terrain considering their heritage nor were they joyous about it either. The last thing they wanted was to face a demon in a confined space.

  Water splashing over his ankles, and in Cuke’s case, his calves, they curved every which way in the low hanging tunnel for several minutes which stretched into half an hour then an hour. Even Outsider’s adept tracking and knowledge of underground caverns failed him and he soon lost direction. He glanced at Cuke who similarly frowned and looked over his shoulder once or twice.

  Just as they began to fear they could become irrevocably lost the darkness began to wear thin at the end of the tunnel and gradually faded to a light gray. Quickening their pace, they eagerly set out for it and found themselves within a secluded gulley carved from centuries of erosion.

  Outsider held up a hand to stop Cuke and inspected the area for signs of habitation or recent traversal. He roved the sheer walls of rock and granite and noted how smooth they had been weathered by the grain following a current’s shape as well as how deep they had ventured by the numerous layers of sedimentary rock that colored the cliffs.

  Standing between them he felt lost in time and imagined how much this rock had seen and changed over the millennia. If only these walls could speak, he pursed his lips at the thought.

  In turn he looked to the dwarf and himself, inwardly acknowledging the long lifetimes their races would bestow upon them. Dwarves could easily live to be three hundred and over four if careful, meanwhile elves were renowned for living to be six, seven hundred on average and sometimes, though admittedly rare, break a thousand.

  He imagined what if would be like to watch the world and times change around him as he aged then chuckled darkly. “If I live that long.” he muttered and shrugged, not seeing anything dangerous about them.

  They moved on through the gulley with footsteps abnormally loud within the rocky confines that echoed everything. The wind howled with a skin-chilling wail through crevices and cracks alike which only made the incessant dripping that plip-plopped in an endless pattern so accurate he could set a watch by it that much more immortal. He imagined these sounds being the permanent atmosphere for longer than any living being left on earth; another force of nature within the land.

  The very air itself smelled old as if never breathed before.

  “You ever feel so out of place you worry your intruding on something ancient?” Cuke whispered without looking away from the awe inspiring view. His hands were clenched at his sides and his breathing slightly elevated.

  Outsider could only nod and silently agree with his friend’s astute observation that so perfectly summed up how he too, felt. So they walked on in silence in a revered presence neither of them could understand.