“Wow. You could fit an army in here. Echo!” he said loudly, listening to his voice bounce back to him several times before it faded away completely.
“Indeed,” Nia answered. “I can think of no other reason such a passageway might exist heading straight for the human capital.”
“Really?” Randall asked. He hadn’t seriously considered that the tunnel’s purpose might be for waging war.
“It is the right size for companies of dwarves to march in formation,” she noted. “And large enough to even accommodate siege engines.”
Randall looked around the passageway, imagining it filled with dwarves geared for battle. Even catapults seemed likely to fit under that high ceiling.
“Do you think King Rodick is planning an invasion?” he asked.
“Even a land at peace has to be prepared for war,” Nia said. “I think this tunnel has probably been here since long before either of us were born.”
Randall nodded, and continued on in silence, images of dwarven armies dancing in his imagination.
* * *
“When will this blasted tunnel ever end?” Randall asked peevishly after nearly two days of travel. “It feels like we’ve been down here forever.”
“Why are you asking me? How should I know?” Nia shot back. The trek was getting to both of them.
Walking the tunnels hadn’t been so bad when the passages twisted and turned, and there was the infrequent dwarf or side passage to break up the monotony. But miles of the same dreary sameness was wearing Randall’s patience razor thin.
It didn’t help that the dwarves hadn’t said a word to them the entire time they had been together. When it came time for breaks and meals, the dwarves would cluster together a short distance away from Randall, Nia, Berry and Hunter. And while they would talk quietly among themselves, they would go quiet if any of the group approached. It was obvious that they preferred to keep to their own company.
Even when Randall had tried to engage the guardsmen in conversation in Dwarvish, he had been ignored. Once, when he had been particularly insistent, the lead guardsmen had stopped the march and stared at him silently until Randall gave up in a huff and began walking again.
At the next meal break, everyone sat and ate in silence. Randall was so disheartened that he didn’t even try to engage Nia in conversation. After a few minutes, Berry suddenly hopped up from his meal and faded from view.
“Berry!” Randall called. “What’s wrong?”
Seconds later, Hunter yelped and sprung to his feet, spinning in a circle. A moment later, he spun again, hissing and spitting. Berry reappeared behind the big cat, the tip of its tail gripped in his tiny fist. He gave it one last tug before chittering and scampering off down the corridor.
The big cat gave chase, catching up to the imp easily with its long loping strides. Just as Hunter leapt to the attack, Berry stopped and flung a shield up around himself. Hunter crouched down and pawed at the translucent wall, raking it with his claws and attempting to get his mouth around it while Berry rolled on his back holding his sides and chittering hysterically.
“Berry,” Randall admonished.
“If you keep teasing him like that, he’s going to catch you some day,” Nia interrupted, though a grin teased at the corner of her mouth.
Even Berry and Hunter seemed to be getting a little stir crazy. But at least the show had helped to break the mood. Randall felt a little less ill-tempered when the group broke camp and continued down the passage. Berry sat on his shoulder humming contentedly, while the big cat would occasionally look back over its shoulder at the imp, dragging its long pink tongue across its fangs as it did so.
After nearly another full day of travel, the passageway ended abruptly, dead-ending into a wide, featureless wall. The dwarven commander barked orders at his men, and they scrambled to the wall, digging their fingers into a nearly imperceptible crack running down the middle. At his command, they began pulling against the crack as he fiddled with a mechanism set off to one side.
After a moment, there was loud cracking noise and the wall shifted. The dwarves heaved again, and the wall opened up a few inches more along the crack. Sunlight beamed through the opening, nearly blinding Randall after so much time underground. Nia took several deep breaths of the fresh air blowing into the passage, a satisfied smile on her face. Even Hunter sniffed at the air expectantly.
After several more pulls, the wall had opened wide enough for them to pass through without difficulty. As the group prepared to take their leave of the dwarven catacombs, the commander put up his hand to stop them. He handed Randall a small sack containing a few travel rations.
“Ninove, one day’s march,” he said in heavily-accented Talish, pointing directly away from the tunnel opening.
So close? Randall thought to himself. They had traveled countless miles under Tallia! His mind boggled as he tried to imagine how extensive the dwarven tunnels must be, or how many dwarves might actually live there.
The image of a giant ant’s nest came back into his mind and he shuddered involuntarily. He wondered if the dwarves might one day tunnel directly under the capital city. Or even under every city on Tallia. He shuddered again, and stepped into the sunlight.
After everyone had stepped through, the tunnel wall behind them closed again. From this side, it looked like a natural outcropping of stone gracing the side of a hill. If he hadn’t known it was there, he would never have suspected it was a doorway leading into the dwarven territory. It fit in with any number of natural stone formations around him. He found himself wondering if any of them opened up into tunnels, too.
Nia looked around, grinning from ear to ear. She bounced excitedly on the balls of her feet before spontaneously clasping Randall in a fierce hug. He froze momentarily as she squeezed him tightly, and then reached up to awkwardly pat her on the back.
“I knew you would get us out of those horrible tunnels!” she said, giving him a peck on the check. She danced in a little circle as he stood, blushing. Even Hunter seemed heartened by the change in scenery, and he rose up on his hind legs, batting playfully at the elf as she danced. Soon the two were rolling in the grass, wrestling and laughing.
The only one who didn’t seem to be filled with relief was Berry. The imp pressed his forehead against Randall’s temple, so that his tiny mouth was close to Randall’s ear.
“Not much time now,” the imp chittered softly.
The words sobered Randall’s excitement as he remembered their mission. He took one more deep breath of the fresh air, reveling in the scent of it, before calling out to his companions.
“Come on, Berry says we have to hurry,” he said as he broke into a trot, heading in the direction that the dwarven commander had indicated.
Nia came to her senses too, and rolled to her feet with a look of determination hardening her features. Calling to Hunter, she quickly fell in behind Randall as he ran.
The dwarf had told him it was a day’s march to Ninove, but with their healing talismans keeping exhaustion at bay, and with their longer legs, they should be able reach the capital well before dusk if they jogged the entire way.
Hunter kept up with the pair easily, loping alongside them as they kept up the ground-eating pace. Of the three of them, Randall worried most about his endurance. Berry could ride on his shoulder, but Hunter had no talisman to keep him from tiring.
After nearly an hour, his fears were realized. The big cat’s tongue lolled out of the corner of its mouth, and it began falling further and further behind. Randall held up his hand and slowed to a fast walk.
“We’ll walk until he catches his breath, and then press on,” he said.
“Thank you,” Nia said gratefully, patting the big cat roughly on his side.
They continued on this way, alternating jogging and walking, for several hours. They only stopped once for a quick meal, cleaning out the sack of rations given to them when they left the catacombs. It wasn’t really enough for a proper meal, but it was sufficient
to keep the hunger at bay.
As they neared the capital, Randall thought he began to recognize the countryside around him. This was some of the same grassland that he had traveled the last time he had left the capital city. A sudden wave of uncertainty washed over him as he realized how close they were to the capital city.
“I’m not sure what to do next,” he confided to Nia during one of their resting walks.
“Should I go the capital and ask the Mage Council for help, or should we try to track Rhys and Mamaeth down ourselves?” he continued, talking more to himself than to her.
“Rhys likely has an entire army at his back by now,” Nia reminded him.
“Yes, but Berry said that we didn’t have much time,” Randall countered.
“That is true,” Nia conceded. “But even if we were to go straight for Rhys and his army, do you know where to look for them? If they are indeed marching across Tallia with an army, the Mage Council will know where they are.”
Randall nodded. Even if they were running out of time, it would be faster to go directly to the capital. Randall knew the elf would have preferred to stay out of the human settlement if she could avoid it. If she were suggesting they actually go to the capital, she must truly think it was the right thing to do.
“Then we go to Ninove,” Randall said, happy to have come to a decision.
An hour later, Randall stopped suddenly in the middle of their run, staring wide-eyed off into the distance. Nia pulled to a stop behind him, brows knitted in puzzlement.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I…I felt it. Mamaeth has opened the doorway,” he said. “We’re too late.”
Chapter 23
“We’re too late,” Randall repeated, sinking to his knees and burying his face in his hands.
With all the dwarves’ talk of him being an ‘Archmage’ he had begun to believe that it would be easy to find Rhys and Mamaeth and stop them. That, somehow, everything would work out in the end. But when he felt the portal to Llandra rip open, all his doubts came back to him in a rush.
If he hadn’t spent days poking around the foothill mountains looking for dwarves, he would have been able to stop them in time. If he hadn’t wasted days hanging out in the catacombs, hoping for help that was never given, he could have gotten to Ninove and found the Summoning Device before they did. If he hadn’t let himself become distracted by Kirsti’s attentions, no matter how good it made him feel about himself, he might have even been able to stop them before they had traveled as far as Red Lake.
But the elves hadn’t dallied. They had a plan and a purpose, and they had stuck with it. And they had reached the prize before he did. He was afraid to imagine what sort of hellish army was pouring through it even now.
“I’m a failure,” he said, sobbing.
“No, Randall, you are not,” Nia said soothingly. “You have accomplished amazing things. I believe there is a reason you showed up on our doorstep when you did, and there is a reason fate has entwined my path with yours. I believe, together, we still have the power to stop Mamaeth.”
“It’s useless,” Randall whimpered. He looked up at her hopelessly, his eyes bright with tears. “I messed it all up.”
Suddenly pain exploded from the side of Randall’s face, and his head rocked back. It took a moment for his thoughts to clear, and when they did it was with the realization that she had slapped him. Hard.
He shot to his feet, hands balled into fists and a murderous expression on his face. He found that he had already summoned a considerable amount of magic, but rather than shrinking back, Nia matched his glare eye for eye.
“Randall Miller, you are not a baby,” she shot hotly. The slight tremor in her voice gave away the terror she must surely be feeling from being close to so much power, but she continued on unabated.
“If you believe you have done wrong, then you will fix it,” she stated coldly. “But what you will not do is sit here sniveling like a child. You are a powerful Mage, and together, we will meet Mamaeth and whatever army he has gathered with honor.”
They stared at each other for a long time, Randall barely holding onto the reigns of his power. Nia’s gaze softened first.
“I believe in you,” she said gently, and with those words, the power drained out of Randall as if she had put him under some sort of spell.
“You’re right,” he said, his shoulders slumping. Taking a deep breath, he stood up straight, squared his shoulders, and started jogging. “Come on,” he said.
“Is it far to Ninove?” Nia asked as she fell in beside him. Her voice betrayed nothing of the argument that had just passed between them.
“We’re not going to Ninove,” Randall said. “I felt Mamaeth use the Summoning Device all the way out here. Every Mage in Ninove will have felt it, too…maybe even every Mage on Tallia. I know exactly where to go.”
Nia nodded resolutely. “Then perhaps help will already be there when we arrive,” she offered hopefully.
“We can only hope,” Randall said.
They traveled for nearly an hour when Hunter stopped suddenly, its belly low to the ground and its ears flat on his head. The large cat opened its mouth wide, showing off its fangs as it hissed menacingly.
“What’s wrong with Hunter?” Randall asked. “I know it’s time to rest, but…”
“Shh!” she interrupted, intently scanning the plains before them. “He sees something, but I can’t spot it. I’ve never seen him this frightened,” she explained in a hoarse whisper.
Randall crouched, scanning the grass ahead of him. Whatever it was that had the big cat spooked had hidden itself well. He was just about to give up the search when he saw it. In the sky.
He’d thought it was a just a bird circling in the distance at first, but then it angled toward the group and he realized it was further away than he thought…and much bigger than a bird.
The silhouette rapidly grew as the beast approached. Nia had spotted it too, staring at the advancing creature with wide eyes, her hands hanging limply at her sides. How can it be so big? Randall thought as it drew near. And then it tucked its wings together and dove straight for them.
“Get down!” Berry chittered loudly in Randall’s ear. Even the imp’s voice held a note of panic.
Randall launched himself forward, tackling Nia at the backs of her knees, bringing them both down into the grass in a tangled heap. Rolling onto his back, he called out the elven words of power.
“Alwyn-vysha!” he cried, just as the beast roared past the spot they had just been standing in.
The creature sped past, and climbed high into the air, circling the spot where they lay. It roared angrily, its head swinging back and forth as if it were looking for the group. Randall’s heart pounded in his chest and he felt like the veins in his neck would pop from the pressure as the flying monstrosity circled twice more before speeding off into the distance.
“Was that a…” Randall started to ask, finding himself unable to finish the question.
“A dragon,” Nia breathed, as if she barely believed it herself. “It was a dragon.” Going to Ninove was beginning to look like a good idea after all.
* * *
They took greater care after that, making sure they had as much cover as they could while traveling. Trekking through waist-high grass was a chore, but Randall didn’t want to risk getting caught out in the open again. The slower pace meant Hunter could keep up without tiring, at least.
The entire time they traveled, the portal to Llandra steadily pulsed, like a throbbing bruise in his mind. The feeling grew stronger as they approached, and soon Randall was forced to slow to a walk.
“We’re close,” he said, massaging his temples. “The blasted portal is killing me.”
“Where is the army?” Nia mused aloud. They hadn’t run across any more fae, for which Randall was extremely grateful. Seeing the one dragon was enough to last him for a lifetime.
Randall had been wondering the same thing. As near as he could tell,
the portal to Llandra was only about a quarter of a mile away, but there had been no sign of Rhys’ army, or of any other.
As they drew nearer, they dropped to all fours and crept forward in the grass. Randall couldn’t shake the feeling that he had been here before. After a moment, he realized where he was.
“This is close to where I fought Aiden,” he whispered, nodding toward the distance.
“It cannot be a coincidence,” she whispered back.
“I don’t think it is,” he replied. “Aiden summoned monsters when we fought. I think he had the Device on him. If he did, it’s encased in dwarven steel now.”
“Come on…it’s just up ahead,” he said, crawling forward through the grass.
Once they reached the site, Randall risked peering up over the tall grass. He scanned the area, looking for his old campsite, but time and weather had taken its toll. There was no tent or old campfire pit to be seen.
Then he spotted Aiden. Or rather, what was left of him. The statue still stood, nearly two hundred yards away. Randall was a little surprised it hadn’t crumbled to dust, yet. But then again, the first time he made dwarven steel with symbol magic, that rune had lasted a lot longer than expected, too. He nudged Nia and pointed, and she peered at the statue intently.
“Mamaeth is there,” she whispered, so quietly that he almost couldn’t hear.
Randall shielded his eyes from the sun and tried to get a better look. He wasn’t sure, but he thought that he saw the sprite clinging to Aiden’s back. And then Llandra pulsed brightly, causing pain to explode behind his eyes like a knife wound. He gasped and dropped his head into the grass, clutching his temples.
“Shh,” Nia said, clasping her hands over his mouth as he groaned in pain. “He has used the Device.”
Magic Astray (The Llandra Saga) Page 17
