by Tom Liberman
Ramkalla looked up sharply, “Freeriders you say?” he said. “That is most unpleasant news. That first batch of them killed my best warriors.”
“Yes, master,” said the simpering subordinate.
“How many of them and do they appear powerful?” went on the chieftain and looked at his hireling with steady black eyes as he fingered the little knife at his side.
“Four master, and Unglata reports that he thought one was the leader of them, the First Rider,” said the creature and took a step back and his eyes wide.
“What!” shouted Ramkalla. “Why was I not informed of this immediately. The First Rider in the mountains? There is more to this than I realized. First Thantos shows up wanting to track a group of reptiles in the mountains, then that devious Tenebrous wants to keep track of Thantos, and now the leader of the freeriders tracks the creatures as well. Why was I not informed immediately?”
The little darkling fell to his knees and raised his hands to the prayer position, “Oh great chieftain, mighty leader of the Skullbone Tribe, our scouts only just found out about this and we reported it as quickly as possible.”
“Lies!” shouted the leader of the darklings. “My orders didn’t cover these circumstances and you assumed they were outside the scope of this operation. Don’t deny it!”
“My master, forgive me,” pleaded the little darkling creature his head bowed, “I came to you as soon as I knew but our scouts did not report it to me immediately.”
“Then you are to blame for not giving them correct orders,” said Ramkalla. “Leave me alone to think for a moment.”
“Yes, master,” said the poor little servant, his legs shaking so badly he had to put his hand on the large desk to pull himself to his feet. “I await further commands,” he said stumbling out of the room, his already ashen face almost ghostly white and his hands trembling.
“I should have held out for a higher price,” said the chieftain to himself as he looked up at the stone ceiling where little sparkly minerals glinted back at him. “I should have guessed as soon as Tenebrous showed up that this was more than a simple job for the Mistress of the Abyss. I’ve been a fool again! A fool.” He snapped his fingers once more and immediately the aide reappeared from the hidden door.
“Summon the war master and my wizard,” ordered Chief Ramkalla without a glance up from the papers he now held in his hand. “Immediately with no delay. If you can manage this, I might let you live.”
“Oh, thank you master,” said the creature and bowed down so far his head touched the floor and his voice rose a couple of octaves. “I won’t let you down, chieftain, you can count on me.”
“Stop yammering and start following my orders!” shouted Ramkalla and suddenly looked up with fire in his eyes. “There is no time for this sort of simpering. You need to follow my orders quickly, immediately, and without question from here on out. The fate of our tribe rests in you doing this, do you understand?”
“Yes, master,” said the servant who bobbed his head up and down quickly. “I understand.”
“Then go right now and bring me the war master,” said Ramkalla as he stood up suddenly from behind his desk and walked to the other side of the room. Here he paused for a long moment, wheeled around, and then marched to the other side of the chamber, a process which continued for quite some time.
That is how the wizard and warlord of the tribe found him fifteen minutes later when they arrived in the chamber. The warlord was a tall creature with mottled white and black fur that looked vaguely like an upright hyena while the wizard was of the same species as the chieftain although somewhat taller, thinner, and with a strange bluish tint to his skin. Both men waited as the chieftain paced up and down in the chamber as they awaited his orders.
“Melwani, Samprokus,” he finally said as he came to a halt. “When the damned white dragon, the dragon child, and my brother interrogated those freeriders we captured did either of you overhear what they said.
Both men shook their heads but it was the warrior, Samprokus who spoke up, “Your brother did not allow us access, chieftain,” he said.
“I’m well aware of what my brother did and did not allow,” said Ramkalla, “What I asked was if either of you two showed any initiative and tried to find out the results of their conversation.”
The two looked at each for a moment and then the warrior spoke again, “I was unable to learn anything, chieftain. The white dragon did not want us involved and those creatures have superior hearing and sight as you well know. We did not want to risk being found out.”
“Likely enough you didn’t even try,” said Ramkalla with a dismissive wave of his hand, “but that is not of any importance whatsoever. Those damned freeriders are up in the mountains again and this time following reptiles. My brother was up to something and now that despicable Thantos is involved and so is Tenebrous. We must find out what this Staff of Sakatha can do that it is so important.”
“The Staff of Sakatha,” blurted out Melwani suddenly.
“Yes, you know of it?” said Ramkalla and suddenly turned on his wizard. “Why didn’t you say anything before?”
“This is the first I heard of it,” said the wizard with a bow. “It is a relic of the Old Empire and belongs to one of the great lords, Sakatha.”
“The Old Empire,” said the chieftain suddenly and smacked his fist into his palm. “That lying piece of undead waste. He said it was a fight between the Mistress of the Abyss and her sister. What does this staff do exactly?” he said to the wizard and moved over to stand directly in front of the man.
Melwani looked to the warrior, then back to Ramkalla, and managed to somehow keep from a shrug “It’s not easy to say exactly, chieftain.”
“Then say inexactly,” said Ramkalla just as the first little servant came into the room, a look of pained fear on his face. “What do you want?”
“The reptile men,” said the cringing little darkling as he tried to look anywhere in the room except at one of its occupants.
“What about them?” said the chieftain his eyes wide with fury, “why is getting a simple report from you so difficult?”
“I don’t …,” started the darkling but then, catching glimpse of the storm clouds that gathered in the eyes of the chieftain, switched in midsentence, “they came below ground just a few minutes ago but in the old mine shafts,” he finally said with a blurt.
“The old shafts,” said the chieftain his face scrunched up so much that his wrinkles appeared to multiply many times. “There’s nothing down there at all.”
There was silence in the room for a moment.
“Shall I tell Thantos?” said the servant as it cringed.
“Damn,” said the chieftain as looked up at the ceiling of the chamber. “It all has to happen at the same time, doesn’t it?”
No one said anything.
“Fine, tell Thantos and have a dozen or so men take him to the old mines,” said Ramkall with a long sigh. “Wizard, tell me everything you know about the staff.”
“It belonged to a great leader of the dragon children long ago, a creature named Sakatha. He worked with His August Magesty, the Great Emperor himself and rode a terrible dragon whose very pores exuded a toxic gas so poisonous that only the holder of the staff could ride the beast,” said the wizard.
“What else,” said Ramkall tapping on his large desk with rapidly moving fingers.
Just at that moment the cringing figure re-appeared, a look of abject misery on his face, “Master,” he said and dropped to his knees and placed his forehead on the ground. “I informed the ghoul and he goes to the old mines. I wonder if I should now inform Tenebrous of this?” he said as he pathetically wrung his hands together, his face still down on the floor.
“By the Dark Demon Lords I cannot take any more of this,” said the chieftain and slammed his fist into the table.
The little servant made a weak little grunt of a sound and kept his head glued to the floor.
“Yes, of course,
tell Tenebrous, let’s get as my people involved in this thing as possible,” he stated and the creature on the floor immediately began to crawl backward and toward the door.
“The staff, damn you Melwani,” said the chieftain and turned back to the wizard as he moved to within a few inches of his face. “I don’t care about the history, I don’t care about Sakatha or this dragon; what powers does the staff have and why would the reptiles want it, why does Thantos want it, what does Tenebrous want, and what in the Nine Hells can the freeriders want with it?”
“It is a sovereign remedy against poison, I suspect,” said the wizard with a shrug of his shoulders. “It might have some power over dragons.”
“These are not facts but speculations,” said the chieftain as he spun around. “It’s pointless. We cannot betray or support one cause without risking the wrath of the others. Can we use the thing ourselves? No, that is insanity. There is no solution.”
“Yes, it is speculation merely, great chieftain,” said Melwani with a shrug. “These relics of the Old Empire are thousands of years old and their exact powers are unknown. If it is, indeed, even the real staff.”
“Get out, all of you get out!” screamed the chieftain and suddenly put his hands to his head. “I must make a decision and I can’t think with all of you talking so. Get out of my sight now!”
The two remaining darklings immediately left the chieftain on his own, and he paced back and forth along his room for several minutes as his hands waved and little disjointed statements came out of his mouth. The two stood in the antechamber and looked at each other until little servant returned. They said nothing and waited in silence as an occasional outburst came from the room. At one point a tall darkling with a thick wool cloak and leather leggings entered the waiting room, went into the corner with the servant for a moment, and spoke for a short period of time. The little servant’s face became a mask of terror as the conversation progressed and he looked at the wizard and the warrior for a moment and opened his mouth as if to say something, but then closed it again.
“Out with it,” said the wizard.
“Our scouts report on the movement of the lizards, Thantos, Tenebrous, and the freeriders,” he said as tears began to form in his eyes.
“Oh the sake of the Black Lord, spit it out you coward and I’ll tell Ramkall,” said the warrior, grabbed the poor creature by the collar, and lifted him into the air.
“They have found a secret chamber unknown to our miners,” said the pitiful creature as it clutched at the warrior with weak fingers.
“We’ve mined these mountains for a thousand years,” said the warrior suddenly dropping the little servant, who fell to the ground with a thump and gave out as squeal as his knee twisted under him. “A secret chamber? How is this possible?”
The wizard strode immediately to the door and opened it with a burst, “Chieftain, a crisis approaches, and you must make a decision!”
“A crisis, you tell me a crisis, as if I didn’t know that. I must choose between the Lady of the Abyss, Tenebrous, the reptiles, and my own tribe,” he shouted. “Do you think I’m in here twiddling my thumbs and calling for girls?”
“They have uncovered a secret chamber hidden all these years,” said Melwani as he looked hard at his leader. “They are guided somehow into areas hidden by great magic. We must decide whether to unleash our warriors on all of them, or to back one side or the other. The time of decision is now, chieftain. You cannot dawdle in your thoughts any longer.”
Ramkall suddenly stopped and glared at the wizard, “Of course you are right. Thantos works for the Lady of the Abyss and her power is greatest. The children of dragon are far away and can largely do nothing. The freeriders are dangerous on the plains yes, but they cannot hurt us in the mountains or below the ground, at least not severely. We must back the Mistress of the Abyss.”
“And Tenebrous,” said Melwani in a quiet voice.
“That creature is doomed,” said the chieftain with a dismissive wave of his hand. “He thinks to betray the Great Lady of Death. He will undoubtedly return to the Deathlands once again to see if he can find his way out. His power is not for us to worry about. Samprokus,” he shouted suddenly and walked to the door, “gather your warriors, we will attack the reptile men and the freeriders and disperse them to clear the way for Thantos.”
“And Tenebrous,” repeated the wizard.
“Let him fend for himself,” said the chieftain with a smile. “This is about the survival of my people and he can ooze into the wastes as far as I care.” Ramkall turned to the warlord and looked him steadily in the eye, “You heard my orders and will carry them out?”
Samprokus nodded his head, “I will gather the warriors for the attack.”
Chapter 27
“I don’t like this traipsing about underground,” said Odellius looking up at the low ceiling only a few inches above his head as he put his hand on the rough cut stone wall.
“These mines are old,” said First Rider Vipsanius as he also put his hand on the stone. “No one’s cut here in centuries and the support beams are rotted to nothing. I suggest we move cautiously from here on out.”
Jon nodded his head, “It does seem dangerous in here, but those reptile men went before us and nothing looks caved in. Maybe it’s sturdier than it looks?”
“We move with caution,” said the First Rider again as he ran his hand over the rough wall. “The lizard creatures are even less used to underground travel than us and if they set off a cave-in, we might suffer the consequences.”
“Their trail is easy enough to follow,” said Odellius looking at a webbed footprint in a little muddy rivulet that emerged from the nearby wall. “They take no precautions and do not imagine they are followed.”
“Nor do we take precautions,” said Vipsanius and looked into the darkness; the glow stone in his hand penetrated just far enough ahead to see the narrow corridor sweep around to the right. “These caves are occupied by darklings I’d guess and they do not like visitors.”
“We killed a darkling,” said Sorus his eyes wide in the gloom. “They didn’t seem so tough,” he continued and put his hand to the blade at his side. It was difficult to believe that not many days ago Sir Germanius used it to fight the white dragon.
“They come in many shapes and sizes,” said Odellius and put his own huge hand on the thick blade at his side. “I’ve seen them eight feet tall and covered with black fur,” he continued, “and wizards and priests as well. The little ones come in waves and they pop out from any nook or cranny. Do not take them lightly. We defeat them easily enough on the surface as they cannot stand up against a cavalry charge but here, in their black lands, we are the strangers and our tactics a disadvantage.”
Vipsanius nodded, “Odellius is right, Sorus, never underestimate a foe in any case. That’s a certain way to die. I’ll take the lead; spread out a few feet between each man so we can keep watch and move slowly. Sorus, you come second, Jon third, and Odellius bring up the rear.”
The four immediately spread out in this order with the appropriate amount of space between them as each looked up to the ceiling and the many rocky protrusions that seemed to hang over them like dark clouds on a cold day. “They could be anywhere,” said Jon as he pulled out his huge gray sword and poked at a little hole in the wall.
“They’ll see us before we see them,” said the First Rider shining his light ahead. “Their eyes are light sensitive and they only use dark red and blue glow stones. Our bright lights will attract their attention long before we see them.”
“They’ll know about the reptile men too,” said Sorus with a grin, “and they’re in front of us.”
“That’s true,” said Vipsanius from up ahead, “but it doesn’t mean they won’t attack us. The reptiles might have an alliance with the creatures down here, something prearranged.” Suddenly the First Rider came to a complete halt and stared at the passageway that opened to his right.
“What is it,” said Sorus from
directly behind.
“Look at this,” said the First Rider, his hand on the stone cut as he ran it back and forth. “It’s smooth, like glass, like a door frame.”
Jon and Odelluis came up to examine the wall and nodded their heads. “What does it mean?” said Jon, “I’m not much for caving.”
“I’ve read about cuts like this,” said the First Rider as his hand came to his chin, “but I’ve never seen the like. It might be a secret passageway just opened by the lizards,” he said and shone his light down the path. “Or someone just cut this pathway with significantly more precision than any we’ve yet found.”
“I don’t like the idea of coincidence,” said Odellius as he paused to take a look behind him just in the nick of time as a little darkling warrior stabbed at his back with a sharp knife. “Watch it,” he shouted, turned his body to the left, lifted his sword, and caught the creature under the chin with the hilt of his blade. The creature flew through the air, smashed into the wall behind them with a crash, and then crumpled to the floor.
More of the little creatures came out of nooks and crannies in the wall in a wave, and a huge, furry beast with four horns coming out of its head joined them from the open corridor ahead of the First Rider.
Jon, nearest to Odellius, flicked his huge stone blade at the first of the charging little creatures and connected, which immediately sent it to the floor with a crushed skull and one eyeball popped out of its socket. Odellius formed up with Jon, although the two of them barely fit side by side in the corridor, and faced off against the dozen or so creatures that came at them. One of the beasts, attached to the wall like a giant black spider, launched a dagger that sailed by Jon’s ear and hit the First Rider in the back of the shoulder, but luckily hilt first as it spun half a rotation too far.
Jon leaped at that foe, his long reach catching the creature by surprise, and chopped its arm off with a little flick of his wrist. Odellius reached up and grabbed a second creature that tried to drop from the rocks behind him and used it as a shield when a brace of daggers flew through the air. The young knight of gray raised his sword to swing again but the narrow confines of the cave knocked his swing off target and the little darkling he tried to hit dodged easily away and, with a riposte strike, nicked Jon’s arm just under his chain shirt.
