by Markus Heitz
"He hasn't even stopped for breath," Boпndil said in astonishment. "There must be a lake of the stuff inside him."
Bavragor wiped the froth from his beard. "Back in a minute," he said, rising to leave.
"Stop!" commanded Tungdil in a firm but friendly voice. "You can drink all you like as soon as we've finished." Bavragor sat down sullenly, dropping the empty tankard to the floor. The hallowed library echoed with the noise. "Our first stop is the Red Range. If the firstlings haven't heard about Nфd'onn, we'll tell them of the danger and ask for the loan of a smith. Then we'll continue through the tunnels to our next stop, the Gray Range."
He picked up another map and laid it out in front of the dwarves. "This is an ancient map from the 5329th solar cycle, showing the main paths through the fifthling kingdom."
Boлndal peered at the yellowing parchment. "Look, there's Flamemere. That's where we'll find our dragon."
"And then what?" Goпmgar inquired weakly.
Tungdil leaned back on his chair. "The way I see it, there's no need to actually fight the beast when all we need is a bit of its fire. Boпndil, if you dance around on its tail for a while, the rest of us can wait until it spews flames, at which point we'll jump out, light our torches, and hurry to the furnace."
"Can I slay it, or am I only allowed to dance on its tail?" asked Boпndil, practically bursting with excitement. Goпmgar gave him a sideways look.
"If it makes you happy, you can slay it-but only after we've got the fire," his brother instructed him firmly. "Dead dragons don't breathe flames."
"The furnace is near the entrance to the stronghold." Tungdil gave Boпndil a stern look. "I know you're looking forward to killing some orcs, but the fifthling kingdom will be crawling with them. If you take them on, neither you nor the rest of us will come out of there alive. You're going to have to be reasonable."
"Fine," Boпndil said obstreperously. He crossed his arms in front of his chest. "I won't kill the stinking orcs-yet. I'll slaughter the lot of them when it comes to the showdown with Nфd'onn." He glared at the others. "And let's get this straight: If we run into orcs on the journey, the first ten are mine. You can fight among yourselves for the others."
"Not on your nelly," muttered Goпmgar, just loud enough for Tungdil to hear.
He changed the subject. "Goпmgar and Bavragor, have either of you had much experience of humans?" They shook their heads. "I'll give you some tips on dealing with them in case we end up traveling overland for part of the way. But first you should get some sleep. We'll be leaving in the morning."
Bavragor and Goпmgar set off in the direction of their chambers.
"What about us?" asked Boлndal.
"We've got some exploring to do." Tungdil and the twins followed a stairway that wound deeper and deeper inside the mountain, taking them toward the ancient tunnels that had carried their forefathers through Girdlegard at incredible speed.
Tungdil walked in front with the map, while Boпndil and Boлndal trailed behind, staring wide-eyed at galleries and passageways whose existence they had never suspected. None of their folk had entered this part of the kingdom since it had been contaminated by sulfur hundreds of cycles before.
The air smelled dank and a little staler than usual, but there was no hint of gas. From time to time they came across a skeleton of a sheep or a goat that had lost its way and died a slow and painful death of thirst.
They followed the stairway for what seemed like hours. Broad-backed bridges of stone carried them over plunging chasms whose depths shone with a mysterious yellow glow. They passed mighty waterfalls and many-columned chambers as splendid as their own great hall. Overcome with wonderment, they walked in silence, hearing only the tread of their boots and the sound of rushing water. Soon the path sloped upward again.
"To think these shafts have been here all the time," said Boпndil, unable to keep quiet any longer.
"It's what happens when things aren't used. They get forgotten. I bet it's been free of poisonous gases for ages," his brother remarked.
"Aha!" Tungdil pointed to a door measuring four paces wide and three paces high and inlaid with golden runes. "This must be it."
They held up their oil lamps and scraped away at centuries of accumulated grime until they could read the runes. The inscription was written in an ancient dwarven dialect, and it took a bit of concentration for Tungdil to work it out. At last he recited the lines to the twins:
Whether finding friends
Or fighting foes,
May Vraccas be with you
And bring you safely home.
As he uttered the last syllable, the door creaked back, allowing the three dwarves to enter. Inside was a vast chamber filled with all manner of cogs, their teeth meshing vertically and horizontally in a confusion of rust and verdigris. Various rods connected them to a series of cauldronlike vessels and the apparatus was topped with chimneys of all shapes and sizes. There were hatches below.
Boлndal studied the machinery with interest. "To think the three of us have restored to life a forgotten miracle of science," he said reverently.
"Not yet we haven't." Tungdil took a closer look at the cauldrons and discovered slim tubes of glass, each with a single leaden ball. The tubes were calibrated and the cauldrons marked with the dwarven symbol for water. He knelt down to look inside the hatches and came across traces of ash. He laughed and thumped the sheet of metal. "Bavragor would say it's a distillery, but I reckon it's some kind of engine."
"How does it work, scholar?" asked Boлndal, while his brother disappeared behind the array of cauldrons and crankshafts.
Tungdil had seen diagrams of similar devices in Lot-Ionan's hooks. "Think of it as a kind of mill," he explained. "The gears turn and drive the equipment."
"Look at this!" called Boпndil from the far side of the machinery. "There's more stuff over here!" They followed.
At the center of the chamber was a starting ramp wit h eight metal rails sloping gently toward eight closed doors. The uppermost end of four of the rails terminated in a wooden barrier, slung over with decaying sacks of straw.
"Those must be tracks for the wagons," said Boлndal.
Tungdil nodded. "We'll be gliding along a monorail. It's a hundred percent safe."
"Try telling that to Goпmgar," joked Boлndal.
Tungdil glanced across at Boпndil, who had discovered a depot of a hundred or so wagons in a corner of the hall. "Let's take a look."
There were various different designs of wagon. Some boasted ten narrow benches, while others had a single seat and were obviously meant for freight.
Near the front of each vehicle was a lever. Tungdil took hold of one and jiggled it gently. There was a squeaking sound from below. He peered beneath the carriage. "Brakes," he announced. "If you pull on the lever, the wagon slows down. We'll have to scrape off the rust, though."
"Hang on, scholar," said Boлndal. "How do you propose to lift the wagons onto the rails?" He glanced at the starting ramp, which was two paces high at its uppermost end. "They're too heavy for us to carry."
"True." Tungdil pointed to the ceiling. "But look up there."
"Hoists! We can use the hooks to raise the wagons and place them on the rails. I say we give it a go and see what happens."
They collected some leftover charcoal and set light to it with their oil lamps. Next they set out to fill at least one cauldron, which they did by drawing water from a pool at the bottom of a nearby waterfall.
"What now?" Boпndil asked eagerly.
"We wait," said Tungdil.
They dozed for a while, worn out from their exertions, until Boпndil woke up and grabbed Tungdil's arm. "Look!" he shouted. "The lead ball just moved!"
Tungdil sat up. The ball had risen and was dancing excitedly halfway up the glass tube. Hot steam shot from two of the vents.
"Well, well," exclaimed Boлndal, watching attentively to see what happened next.
The crankshaft turned on its axis and the first of many
gears screeched into action, achieving half a rotation before grinding to a halt. A third valve opened and a hiss of air escaped.
"It's powered by steam," explained Tungdil, full of admiration for the engineers who had designed the contraption millennia ago. "It's like a water wheel, except it's turned by steam instead of water." The twins looked at him blankly. "Surely you must have tried holding a lid on a boiling pan?"
"What do you think I am?" Boпndil said testily. "A cook?"
His brother understood what Tungdil was getting at. "The steam turns the gears and the gears power the hoist, so the wagons can be lifted onto the rails without us breaking our backs!" He looked at the thicket of rods and wheels. "It'll take more than just one cauldron of water to get that going."
"It shouldn't be a problem," said Tungdil. "We're leaving tomorrow morning and by then we'll-"
Boпndil spun round and glared at the door. "Did you hear that?" he growled, already keyed up for a fight.
"An orc by the sounds of it," teased Tungdil. "You'd better go and look."
"Too right!" He set off at a jog, stopping to peer both ways at the door. Picking up a stone, he weighed it in his hands and turned to the right, only to whirl round and cast his missile into the shadows.
There was a loud squeal, then the rapid patter of footsteps in the darkness. Tungdil saw a small yet somehow familiar silhouette dart past the entrance where Ireheart was waiting, ax in hand. The creature was too quick for him.
"What was it?" Tungdil asked Boлndal. "Did you see anything?"
"No, but from the way it took off, I shouldn't think it was a threat." He watched his brother traipse back dejectedly.
"Shame it wasn't an orc," he grumbled. "I would have killed the little critter if it hadn't been so fast."
"We're nearly done here anyway," said Tungdil. He pointed to the row of eight doors. "We can head back once we've had a look at these."
"Even I know what's behind them," protested Boпndil, who had been longing to whet his ax on a worthy opponent. "Rails, that's what."
There were eight levers at the top of the starting ramp. Tungdil pulled the one next to the first rail and the corresponding door swung open. The rail continued through the opening, into utter darkness.
"It's going to be quite some journey," said Boпndil. "We'll be as good as blind in there. It's darker than a troll's backside."
His brother laughed. "Stop exaggerating. You know perfectly well that we don't have any trouble seeing in the dark." Even so, he had to concede that the tunnel would pose a considerable challenge. Visibility was limited to about ten paces. "The long-uns would need torches," he said.
"We should use torches as well," Tungdil told them. "If we get too accustomed to the darkness, we'll be dazzled by the least bit of light. What happens if there's a cleft in the rock? Even the tiniest chink of sunshine would blind us."
Boпndil, always the intrepid explorer, disappeared through the opening and took a few paces along the rail. Tungdil read the inscription chiseled into the wall.
"It leads to the firstling kingdom," he announced for the benefit of the twins. He was beginning to understand how the underground network had worked.
Four of the rails carried outgoing passengers away from Ogre's Death, and the other four were for wagons returning home. The wooden barriers and straw sacking served to absorb the impact in case the brakes failed.
He turned the matter over in his mind and paced along the row of doors. "Look at this," he exclaimed, stopping suddenly. "There's even a tunnel to the thirdling kingdom!" Maybe the folks were more united back then. Why else would they build a tunnel to Lorimbur's dwarves?
"It's probably so we could attack them," boomed a hollow voice inside the tunnel. "By the beard of Vraccas, it's pretty tight in here," cursed Boпndil. "No more than a dwarf's breadth either side of the wagon, I reckon."
Tungdil ignored Boпndil's typically warlike explanation of the tunnel's purpose and chivvied him along. "It's time to get going!"
"Hang on, I'm nearly at the end and…Whoa, the tunnel goes straight down! We'd better not tell Goпmgar or he'll die of fright." Boпndil's muffled laughter grew louder as he finished his reconnoiter and returned. "Look at the state of me!" He was covered from head to toe in spiderwebs, the desiccated corpses of countless insects sticking to his beard. He fished the cobwebs from between the rings of his tunic and dusted his whiskers.
"There's obviously plenty of wildlife in the tunnels," observed Tungdil, reaching for the lever to close the first door.
Boпndil sighed. "And all of it totally harmless. Still, any spider more than so big," he said, measuring out a space the size of his head, "belongs to me!" They all laughed.
Before they made their way home, they put out the fire beneath the cauldron and locked the door by reciting the verse. Without the sun to guide him, Tungdil wasn't sure how long it had taken to climb the hundreds of steps from the bustling heart of the kingdom to the forgotten hall, but it seemed from his rumbling stomach that they had been walking for some time.
They were sweaty and tired when they finally joined the other delegates in the dining hall. Ignoring the curious glances cast in their direction, they sat down wearily at the table.
"We won't show them the tunnels until tomorrow," Tungdil told the twins. "The last thing we need is for Gandogar to rush off and get ahead. We'll have our work cut out racing him to the Gray Range as it is."
"What are you complaining about?" grinned Boпndil, cutting a slice of fungi about the size of his plate and sprinkling it with pungent cheese. "You've got the best warriors, haven't you? Nфd'onn's days are numbered, just you wait and see."
"Boпndil's right," said his twin, "although there is one thing that bothers me. Remember the description of Keenfire?"
"Which part?"
"The purest, hardest steel for the blade, stone for the spurs, precious metals for the inlay, not to mention diamonds for the bit," Boлndal reeled off.
"We'll take everything with us," said Tungdil, guessing the nature of his concern. "I asked Balendilнn to supply us with ingots and gems. He said that our task was important enough to merit a donation from the secondlings' hoard. He's giving us everything we need."
"Gold, silver, palandium, vraccasium, tionium, and a handful of diamonds…Vraccas almighty! Every bandit in Girdlegard will be after us!"
"Don't forget the steel, granite, victuals, and other provisions," Boпndil reminded them. "I know we've got sturdy legs, but not even an ogre could carry that much."
"If everything goes to plan, we'll be traveling by wagon so we won't need to worry about transporting the materials. And if we're forced to leave the tunnels, we'll buy a pony to carry our valuables. It'll be fine; you'll see."
The twins said nothing and focused on their supper, but Tungdil knew from their silence that they were unconvinced.
"Fine! What do you propose we do? Quarry the ancient mines of the fifthling kingdom for precious metals and steel?" He sighed and reached for a morsel of cheese.
"We could take some extra diamonds and buy the precious metals on the way. In fact, we could buy the metals once we get there," suggested Boлndal.
"Too risky," ruled Tungdil. "What if we end up with no tionium? We'd be missing a vital component of the ax."
He raised his fourth tankard to his lips and emptied it in a single draft.
"The decision stands: We're taking everything with us." He stood up briskly, cursing himself for drinking too quickly as the beer rushed to his head. "We'll manage," he said encouragingly and left the hall in the direction of his chamber, swaying slightly as he walked. Feeling rather too full and somewhat light-headed, he stretched out on top of his bed and fell to thinking about the small silhouette that had darted past the door. He was sure he recognized it from somewhere.
Suddenly he was assailed by doubts. I hope we'll really manage. What have I let myself in for? Tired from hours of walking, he fell asleep in his clothes.
Tungdil was roused f
rom his dreams by a vigorous shake of his arm. He sat up blearily and groaned. I thought dwarven beer wasn't supposed to give you headaches?
"They've gone!" he heard Balendilнn saying. "Tungdil, are you listening to me? They've gone!"
He opened his eyes. The high king's counselor was standing at his bedside, with Bavragor, Goпmgar, and the twins in the background. They were clad in their mail and looked ready to leave. "What are you talking about? They're behind you," murmured Tungdil, struggling to move his tongue.
"Not them! I'm talking about Gandogar. His party has left." This time Balendilнn's voice was louder and sharper. "You'll never catch them if you don't leave now."
Tungdil slid out of bed. His body and mind were in no fit state to embark on a high-speed journey in the dark. "Don't worry," he said soothingly. "They'll take forever to reach the Gray Range. Ask Goпmgar how long they needed to get here!"
"They're not traveling on foot," Boлndal broke in. "They've all vanished except Bislipur, and no one knows where they've gone."
"They didn't go through the gates," added Boпndil.
Suddenly it dawned on Tungdil: "Sverd!" In an instant he was wide-awake. Bislipur's gnome had followed them and eavesdropped on their conversation until Boпndil had scared him away. Which means Gandogar knows exactly how to operate the rails. Sverd was every bit as devious as his master.
Tungdil wriggled into his leather jerkin and pulled on his mail, leather breeches, and boots. At last he was ready for the adventure to begin. He told Bavragor and Goпmgar to follow the twins through the disused passageways and light the fires beneath the cauldrons.
"I want the wagons to be on the rails by the time I get there. I've got a thing or two to say to Bislipur first."
He asked Balendilнn to accompany him. "I see you've chosen your mason," the counselor remarked.
"Not exactly." Tungdil sighed. "Bavragor volunteered himself and I fell for it. It's too late to go back on my word, but I wouldn't mind knowing why everyone is so against him. Is his drinking really that bad?"
