by Taran, David
“Gate’s closed! Turn back, you’ll have to wait until the new battlemage is here,” he yelled.
“Human!” a voice boomed from the other side of the gate. “We want cross! Why you not paid toll yet?”
“I told you the toll is on its way!” the guard shouted back to the ogre. “It won’t be here for a few more days. You’re asking for too much, it takes time to collect!”
“Oh. Why you not say so in first place! Trogbog tribe is patient! We wait!”
Turning back to them the guard yelled down in a much lower voice, “Bunch of idiots. They ask me that every hour. Bad timing for them to show up right when our battlemage is being replaced. If you want through you’ll need to find another way.”
Sarena sighed at his words. “Any ideas you two?” she asked. “I’m not sure I could take on an entire group of ogres. I doubt I could even convince the guard to open the gate for me to try.”
“Ask him who made this bridge!” Uckey demanded.
“If you don’t mind me asking, how was this bridge made? I’ve never seen such an incredible feat of craftsmanship,” Sarena called up.
The grey-haired guard smiled at her question. “It’s older than Millstone itself, and according to legend it was made by a Radiant thousands of years ago. Who else could have made it?”
Sarena had no idea what a Radiant was, but the way the guard pronounced it almost reverently made it sound like some kind of god. “Oh, of course. I thought that was the case, but I couldn’t help but ask anyways,” she said in an attempt to mask her lack of knowledge.
“Of course,” he said while continuing to smile. Obviously he didn’t believe Sarena at all.
“Get us out of here, Uckey,” she said quickly under her breath.
Uckey spun around and began to do a quick trot back to the other side of the bridge. Sarena could feel her face had turned red at the man’s words, and it wasn’t until they had reached the other end that it started to fade away.
“What in the world is a Radiant, Uckey? And why didn’t you mention it before?” Tyrus asked before Sarena could.
“I don’t know! If I had to guess, it’s a race that doesn’t exist in my time, but I’ve never heard of one so powerful in any of the histories I’ve read! And he said it has been thousands of years!” Uckey paused for a moment. “I didn’t think Ankaros had sent us so far from my time. I can only hope that the grimoire truly is still within Stewrix. We haven’t seen a single gnome during our travels, and my race has always been the most sociable of all the greater races - shavren excluded of course.”
“We haven’t seen anything except shavren yet, Uckey,” Sarena said.
“Yes, yes I know!” Uckey said. “Most of the races keep to themselves, but the lack of any other races at all is concerning I admit. And this Radiant creature...well we know nothing about it for now! We don’t have time to detour and find more information on it! We’ll just have to focus on our task! To the docks!”
Uckey abruptly turned, causing Sarena to have to pull on her wind element to maintain her balance. She found that both of her elements responded to her call far faster than before, but she could feel them draining the power held within the core inside of her now. Most likely she couldn’t hold the wind element at full strength for more than a minute. Clearly it would take some time before she had returned to the strength she had with Tyrus’ aid.
They continued along the edge of the river, heading to the east. Even the road along the water’s edge was paved, with a five foot drop directly into the water. Sarena knew that there was no way a normal town could afford that kind of luxury. Millstone probably relied on the river trade to make most of its wealth. Stone docks stretched out from the paved road for at least a mile, with dozens, if not hundreds of boats moored to them. Dock workers were everywhere, offloading and loading cargo, or standing around waiting for someone to hire them.
“What is drawing all these people here?” Tyrus asked. “There’s nothing out here except farms and tiny villages. How can this town have so many people in it?”
“Food,” Sarena answered. “Like you said, farms are everywhere around here, and I bet the capital has the best prices for them. Fastest way to the capital from anywhere around here is probably through Millstone, so that’s where everyone takes their goods to sell.”
Sarena kept an eye out for a boat that didn’t look busy, hoping to find one large enough to hold Uckey. They had traveled nearly half the length of the dock before she finally saw a small flat barge, empty of cargo and no sign of it being loaded either. A cabin stood at one end, with rails running around the sides. There was no mast, but paddles were lined up neatly by the edges. It looked perfect for what they needed, and Sarena could see a man had just walked out of the cabin. She pointed it out to Uckey and they walked up to the edge of dock next to it before calling out to the man.
“Five gold,” the man said before Sarena had a chance to open her mouth. He had deep blue eyes, but not a strand of hair on his tanned head.
“Excuse me?” Sarena asked.
“You want me to ferry you and that horse monster across. Five gold. I just got finished unloading everything and you’re asking me to head right back out,” he said.
Sarena scowled. The only money she had was what she had been paid by Ropal for the pelts, and after almost a week of travel she had spent less than a gold. He was blatantly trying to take advantage of her, either that or trying to scare her away. She didn’t want to waste any more time. After Uckey had said it had to be thousands of years past his own time, she was willing to spend any amount to cross. It didn’t mean she liked throwing so much money away though.
“Deal,” she said while reaching into a small pouch she had sewn into her cloak. Withdrawing five gold from it, she waved her hand at him with the coins easily visible. He showed no reaction at all except motioning them to come down the gangway onto the low barge.
Less than an hour later, Uckey was wading through the shallow waters on the other side of the river with Sarena standing on his back. She was using enough wind element to maintain her balance and avoid getting soaked, and made sure to look back at the taciturn man that had grudgingly ferried them to the opposite bank. He hadn’t even bothered with the paddles. The water around them had simple started flowing the direction they needed, guiding them to the other shore easily.
Instead of seeing a look of surprise on his face like she had expected, the man had already turned his barge around and was heading back to the docks.
“Stop trying to show off and get off of me! I know you can make the jump to dry ground from here!” Uckey shouted.
Sarena turned back to face forward before leaping off of Uckey’s back, putting a bit more force than needed into her jump. She had the joy of hearing his complaints intensify as he sunk lower into the water for a moment before she landed. The forest had been cut back for around fifty yards around the river’s edge, making it easy for them to climb the small bank up the shore. The ogres were situated around a mile to the west of them, and once they were on dry ground there was no need to worry about them attacking. There was no way they would be able to catch up with Uckey.
“Hurry up Uckey! We don’t have all day to wait for you!” Sarena called down the wet glow horse with a smirk on her face. “I want to get as far from here as we can before setting up camp!” She turned away and started walking to the north, with Uckey’s constant complaints chasing her.
Chapter Eleven
Sarena leaned back against the wall, staring at the untouched bowl of stew in front of her. She wasn’t sure what was in it. It didn’t really matter to Sarena. Her mind was too focused on the events of the past three days to eat.
Three days. Three full days wasted in a village less than a mile from the Agraven. And no sign of that changing any time soon.
When they had passed through the small village on their way north Sarena hadn’t paid any mind to the fact that everyone looked at her suspiciously as she rode past. She was too p
reoccupied with crossing the Agraven and reaching the last leg of their journey.
They were utterly disappointed when they found what awaited them.
Instead of the famous bridge crossing into a lush forest, all they found were a few charred stone pillars stretching out of the water below. As it turned out, the elves and shavren had less than friendly relations ever since the king had taken the throne almost twenty years earlier. The elves had burned and dismantled the bridge in response to the raids that had been sent into their lands, and anyone that tried to cross would be met with an arrow through the throat.
All that was left was a small stone barracks to the left of the road, with a skeleton crew to make sure the elves didn’t try to sneak across. With no way to cross, they had been forced to backtrack to the village and make their own plans.
Which lead to the situation Sarena was in now. She spent the first morning in the village buying several dozen feet of rope, then went back to the edge of the river in the afternoon to start working. Cutting down a few small trees and lashing together the trunks took little effort with Tyrus’ edge, and by the time night was falling she had a shoddy looking raft made. It would have worked well enough, except for one problem.
This close to the elven lands there were quite a few more monsters around. Even the river was full of them. The village was half a mile away because it was too dangerous to live near the banks, and Sarena thought she didn’t have to worry about anyone finding out about her crossing because of it. She had left the raft on the bank overnight while planning to use it to cross the next morning.
Only when they arrived at the bank just after dawn they found the raft completely destroyed. The wood had been torn to shreds. Deep gouges ran all across the logs that were haphazardly strewn across the area. Sleeping next to the remains was a creature right out of nightmare.
When Tyrus had said there was something was next to their raft, Sarena was expecting a normal monster that she could dispatch quickly before they set off. Instead what she found was a sleek, black, scaled creature the same height as Uckey and twice as long. Its four short legs had only three toes similar to a bird’s talons, all ending in thick claws as long as Sarena’s hand. A wickedly barbed tail was wrapped around its body as it curled up on the bank. As soon as Sarena stepped out from the trees it opened its yellow eyes and lifted its lizard-like head.
It looks like a smaller version of Ankaros. Does that mean it’s a dragon? I thought Uckey said they didn’t actually exist.
“Uckey. What in the seven hells is that thing?” Sarena asked worriedly.
“What luck! An actual water drake, this far from the ocean! I’ve always wanted to study them, but they’re just so rare!” Uckey exclaimed.
“Right.” Sarena rolled her eyes while drawing Tyrus.
The drake stood up and lowered its front legs, taking the unmistakable posture of a beast about to pounce. Sarena didn’t waste any time, drawing on her wind element and preparing herself. It didn’t disappoint her as it leaped forward with its jaws open, as fast as lightning.
Dodging to the left, Sarena brought up Tyrus and struck the beast on its flank. Her blade scraped along its scales, leaving nothing more than a thin white line.
“Um. I don’t think I’m going to be much help here, Sarena,” Tyrus said. “I can’t give you strength anymore.”
“I know,” she replied.
As the water drake landed where she had stood before it lashed out with its tail. Sarena was expecting the move and ducked underneath it while trying to think up a strategy. Her power had grown since they crossed the Teroban, but she wasn’t sure how long she would last before she ran out.
Instead of turning and continuing to attack Sarena, the drake lunged forward towards Uckey. The gnome hadn’t moved from where he stood at the edge of the trees, and must have looked like easier prey.
Sarena panicked. Uckey was practically useless in a real fight, and the drake was almost as fast as she was. There was no way she could reach it in time. She stretched out her left hand while shouting out. The world shuddered to a halt around her as she called on the stone, directing it towards the space in front of the drake immediately.
As the world shifted back to its normal speed the ground beside Uckey exploded. A thin sheet of stone blasted out of the ground, forming a wall in front of the drake. It crashed into it at full speed, cracking the sheet and sending shards of grey stone flying through the air. Sarena watched it fall to the ground in a daze, stunned and unable to move.
Calling on the stone again, she poured all of her power into one last desperate gamble. She didn’t have the strength to cut through its scales, and it was fast enough that she wasn’t confident in being able to strike its eyes safely. If her plan failed then they were doomed.
The world burst back into motion as Sarena felt her body fall to the ground bereft of strength. The ground all around the drake erupt as mounds of stone rushed into the air. A wedge shaped object formed as the stone combined, creating a guillotine that weighed several tons above the drake.
It was eerily quiet around them as the guillotine fell, crashing into the back of the drake’s neck. She hadn’t been able to make the edge of it very sharp, but she was hoping the sheer weight of it would take care of that for her. The black monster let out a short shriek as it was forced to the ground, the inexorable weight of the stone crashing through it.
Sarena sighed in relief. Thank the gods. I can’t believe that worked.
She felt a shadow pass over her and looked up at Uckey.
“Quick thinking there Sarena! You’re growing stronger even faster than I anticipated!” Was the last thing she heard before passing out.
When she finally woke up it was already late afternoon. She had taken a small blue core from the water drake before mounting Uckey and heading back to the inn, collapsing on her bed and falling into a deep sleep instantly.
She had woken up earlier that morning, determined to make a new raft and cross the river before night fell. What are the chances that another water drake would be there? She had thought.
Well, it turns out the chances are a lot higher than they expected. Sarena was able to overhear some of the locals at breakfast. The water drake she killed the night before was part of a large pack that had moved in around almost a decade before. Thousands of the huge monsters crowded the river for almost one hundred miles, blocking anyone from fishing or crossing by boat. Nobody knew why they were there. They normally lived exclusively in the ocean, hundreds of miles to the east, and never in a pack bigger than a dozen. It was a mystery that nobody had been able, or willing, to solve.
Sarena wasn’t interested in why they were there. She just wanted to know how to get past them.
Are we really going to fail after coming all this way? Just because some addle-minded king decided to start a war for no reason? Her grip tightened around her spoon at the thought.
“Uckey says he might have an idea, Sarena,” Tyrus said, interrupting her thoughts. “It doesn’t sound that reliable to me, but it might be our only chance.”
Sarena sighed. “Let’s hear it then. I refuse to give up when we are this close.”
“He said that there are...tunnels...that run underneath the Agraven.”
“And what makes that so unreliable? What’s wrong with these tunnels of his?” Sarena asked.
“They aren’t his tunnels. He doesn’t even know who or what made them. They’ve been there for as long as anyone can remember, and they’re so extensive that they’ve never been completely mapped before.”
Sarena stood up walked towards the door of the inn after scarfing down her stew as quickly as she could.
“Get on with it Tyrus. What is it you’re not telling me?” She said as she stepped outside and turned towards the stables.
“Well. It sounds like most people who try to explore the tunnels never come back. And it’s not because they get lost. An entire regiment of dwarves tried to use them to invade the elves during the Great W
ar, but even they disappeared. Their connection with the earth makes it impossible for them to lose their way. Something is in those tunnels. And whoever or whatever it is, they are still making them.”
Sarena opened the door to the stables and walked over to Uckey’s stall. His head was sticking out of it, staring at Sarena excitedly.
“I’m so glad you agreed, Sarena! I’ve always wanted to explore the Labyrinth again! The council only let me go once. Said they didn’t want to risk losing a national treasure after that,” he said.
“What do you mean they’re still making them? I thought nobody knew where they came from,” Sarena said while ignoring Uckey.
“That’s right! Yet the tunnels around Stewrix and Mount Eberak - the dwarven capital - are mapped for the most part, but sometimes new branches will pop up overnight!” Uckey replied.
Sarena opened the gate and lead Uckey out of the stables before mounting him. She hadn’t bothered taking any of their belongings off of him the night before.
“Lead the way, Uckey. I trust you know where to find an entrance,” Sarena said.
“Wait! Just like that? Not even a little bit of argument?” Tyrus asked.
“What choice do I have, Tyrus? Nobody in their right mind would try and cross that river. I could barely manage to kill just one of those drakes, and I seriously doubt there’s anyone in this tiny village that could do better,” Sarena said and shook her head. “No. I’m done complaining. Life has never been fair to me before, so why should I expect it now? If these tunnels are the only way to get through, then it doesn’t matter how risky it is. The only other option is swimming through drake-infested waters. Would you rather do that?”
Tyrus went silent as Uckey walked out of the town and turned off the road to the west. The trees around them were spaced widely enough that it didn’t impede Uckey as he trampled through the undergrowth.
“Start searching for the tunnel with your magic, Sarena. There was a branch nearby that draws close to the surface last time I was here.” Uckey said when the sun was almost directly overhead.
