…and hope…
…and wait…
We all exchanged nervous glances. Fists were clenched. Feet were tapped. Kostig began to pace in a small circle while staying under the protection of the rock.
Had Kayla failed?
No, we’d have heard it if she died.
“Another,” said Kostig. “Shoot another.”
I nodded at Harrien, who cycled his movements until he could fire another fireball into the sky.
We waited for the accompanying rock to fire upwards, but it didn’t come.
And then, we heard an almighty roar. A monstrous screech of pure agony, shock, confusion, all those things mixed into one cry.
Something flew to the ground and smashed into it, the crash enough to make rocks dislodge from the cliffside and rain down.
At first, I thought it was Kayla, but that was irrational. She didn’t weigh anywhere near that much.
Then I thought it was another boulder. But no, it wasn’t that either.
It was the komonaut!
We waited for a minute, none of us moving. When I was certain that the komonaut was completely still, I approached it.
Up close, it was even bigger than I’d thought, and its scales were beautiful when the moon and starlight shone over them. It looked like a great statue, something grand and magnificent. With its danger gone, I felt a hint of sadness that a creature like this had to die. I didn’t feel regret, because we had no choice, but it just seemed a waste.
Still, waste not, want not, right?
I approached the komonaut quicker now, and there, resting on its chest, were piles of ash. I used its outstretched arm as a ramp and climbed up onto it.
Elementals received:
[Kinetic] x4 [Total: 5]
[Barrer] x4 [Total: 4]
[Transfiguration] x1 [Total: 1]
[Force] x4 [Total: 4]
Transfiguration? Force? I didn’t have spells for those yet. But man, what a bounty I had gotten from this thing! Now I just had to figure what to do with the rest of its corpse.
CHAPTER 31 - Splat
Splat! Splat! Splat!
Erimdag always loved the sound that dynamite made when he threw it and it stuck to something. He didn’t like applying the alchemical jelly to it because that stuff stunk like a devil’s arse, and if you got in on you then you might as well pray to the god of cleanliness to bestow a miracle. It sure as shit wasn’t coming off with just a vigorous scrubbing.
That was one of the drawbacks of this life. That and the hard work and the danger of blowing yourself to pieces, of course. These negatives meant he had to make sure he relaxed and destressed in the evening.
After long days, days spent blasting rocks to smithereens and taking the pieces back to the construction site where they were building a grand temple for pompous Duke Woldstone, there were only two things Erimdag wanted. A beer, and a hug from his darling wife Yabrudeth.
And a soak in a tub, if he was patient enough to boil the water.
And a steaming hot pie brimming with meat and gravy.
Four things, then.
The most precious was Yab, but she wouldn’t hug him when he was covered in the alchemical goo, because the stench gave her a headache. This was especially frustrating when they had tried so long for a child, yet had not been blessed by the Gods of Treah yet.
Still, there was no getting around using it. The alchemical goo made their dynamite stick to things like a barnacle on a whale’s arse, and it meant they could toss dynamite into hard-to-reach and dangerous places, without having to climb treacherous ledges or climb through tunnels.
Now that he’d splatted three sticks of boom-boom against the rockface, he listened to the fuzes burning, and after a few seconds, he raised his bomb-shield and put his fingers in his ears.
Three explosions roared out, followed by the pattering of mud and stone raining everywhere, with pieces smashing against his shield.
He waited for the dust around him to settle, and then he got up, ready to pick through the rubble. The stone would go to the temple construction site, which was important because the temple would one day make the gnomish city of Agnartis the most spectacular place in the world.
Any metal deposits he found would have to go to the metallurgy bank, where they might be mixed into alloys, or perhaps given to the smithies.
What did that leave Erimdag?
Not much. He was a boom-master, and his job was to boom the hell out of things worth booming. He’d boom until the end of his days, and then he’d die and his soul would go to Treah, where he’d spend his eternity.
That was his life. Nothing special, nothing horrible, nothing out of the ordinary for a gnome.
He knew his role, and he worked hard. Now he got to it, and he walked toward the explosion site and got ready for his labor.
And then he stopped.
“What’s this?”
Hmm. He seemed to have uncovered a tunnel of some sort, one previously hidden by masses of stone. Not just a natural tunnel; this had been made on purpose. It hadn’t been used in decades, maybe longer, but there was no doubting it.
Was this a mine? Or, rather, did it used to be a mine? Who had covered it with stone, and how in all hells had they managed it?
And what was the light glowing deep, deep into the tunnel?
***
I could see a gap in the komonaut’s scales now, where Kayla’s sword stuck out of it. Getting closer, I could see right beneath the scales and I got a proper look at its inner body, where it appeared that she had impaled one of its organs.
Our fireballs had given her enough of a distraction to really size up her blow, and that was why she’d taken so long. One critical stab, and the lizard had toppled off the ledge.
All with no causalities, too.
Oh yeah. Nino’s leg had been smashed.
With no further casualties, then.
The others came out from under the ledge, and I sat on top of the giant lizard like I was a conquering king, despite only playing a small part in its demise. I watched them approach, and I could see how the tension had disappeared. They were laughing, smiling, just basking in the knowledge we could finally move on.
Kayla scurried down the cliff face and soon reached the bottom, and then she ran toward the group. Judah put his hand in the air, maybe for their version of a high five, but she ran past him and to Kostig, where they embraced.
Embraced, and then kissed.
Great for them, but it became awkward. Finally, they parted, and Kayla walked toward the komonaut to inspect her handiwork.
I watched Kostig then, and I saw the love in his eyes as he stared at Kayla, who must have been his girlfriend, fiancé, or whatever label their culture gave them.
And then, a boulder crashed into Kostig, smashing his shoulder and sending him spinning. He stumbled and fell, wincing when his shoulder hit the ground.
You have got to be kidding me!
Again? Another god damn boulder?
“Kostig!” cried Kayla.
Adi-Boto drew his sword, while Judah ran to Kostig. His shoulder looked a weird shape. A shape that no person’s shoulder should ever be in.
A great roar echoed all around us.
“Look! Up on cliff!” shouted Harrien.
And there, way above on the cliff top, was another god damn komonaut. Not just any komonaut, though. This was an even bigger one.
A mother or father komonaut, maybe?
I think we had just killed its child, and my instincts told me it wasn’t happy about that.
The parent komonaut’s roar was so great it even made the cliffs shiver, and lumps of stone dislodged and tumbled to the ground.
I felt as if my feet had become rocks, too. As if this great beast possessed magic of its own. An enchantment, maybe? A spell that turned my legs into stone?
Or, I was just terrified.
No, it was an enchantment. That had to be it. Not fear, definitely not.
Judah and Adi-Boto helped Kostig limp
away from the center of the canyon and to safety, where he huddled back against the wall.
“Hold still,” said Judah. He took out a small knife and offered it to Kostig, who seemed to understand what was going to happen. Kostig bit on the knife hilt. Judah grabbed his arm, stared intensely at Kostig’s shoulder, and then pulled.
Kostig’s scream could have woken a hibernating bear. It echoed all around us, a shriek of agony that I had never expected to come from the lips of a guy like that.
And when the echo faded, I looked at Kostig and saw that his arm and shoulder didn’t look much better.
“Healer,” said Judah. “Get arse over here.”
Cleavon left Nino for a second and attended to Kostig. “No, he needs care from Tallsteep healer, who is more adept at such injuries. Kostig must go back to the clan.”
Kostig grimaced. “Settles question of who will take Nino back to the camp. I cannot fight with my shoulder like this. The pain is nothing; I barely feel it. I have mastered it. But I will be no use without a sword.”
Barely feel it? Yeah right.
Despite his bravado about pain, the rest of what he said made sense. Except for one thing.
“How would you carry him back?”
Cleavon tapped his bag. “I have stretcher of wood. It is infused with kinesis elemental. It will float above the ground and carry Nino.”
“How long will the elemental last?”
“Three days.”
“Okay,” I said. “It took us two days to get here, so that will give you some leeway. Kostig, will you be alright? What if you are attacked?”
“I am a scout. Even with my shoulder, even with your clansman floating beside me, I will not be seen unless I command it.”
“Then we are settled on that. Kostig will take Nino back to camp, and the rest will find a way to push on.”
Kostig nodded, though I could see in his eyes that he wasn’t happy to have to go back.
“You must tell us location of mine,” said Judah.
Kostig considered that for a moment, and then spoke. “It is north of Agnartis. You would need to have seen map to know precisely. But when Agnartis is in your sights, you must go north.”
“Agnartis?” I said.
“City of gnomes,” said Judah. “A place to avoid. Trust me. So, Kostig, this is why we walk through the canyon. I understand now; this way, we can head in direction of Agnartis, but take route around it.”
“Kostig, you should go now. If you stay close to the wall, we will make noise to distract it.”
Kostig grunted in assent, and then spoke to Cleavon. “Healer, the stretcher you spoke of?”
“One second, I will find.”
“Isaac…” said a voice.
It was Nino, conscious again, with his face a pale green, his eyes sunken.
“Don’t worry, Nino. Kostig is taking you to a healer.”
“I…know. I hear when you…talk. Gods, this pains me.”
Nino reached out for something, but I didn’t know what. Was he seeing things?
“My bag,” he said.
Harrien held up a satchel. “I have it.”
Nino pointed. “Give to Isaac. You will need things if you continue.”
Harrien passed me Nino’s bag.
I opened it up to check what he had given me. As the clan’s inventoryman, I had expected his bag to be bursting with all kinds of cool crap.
Unfortunately, the god of good fortune had been a little pissed at me lately. Nino had brought some useful stuff, sure, but he’d left lots of it with the rest of the clan.
It made sense, I guessed. Nino had recognized the danger in our expedition, and he didn’t want to leave the clan high and dry if he, say, got flattened by a boulder.
What were the chances of that?
So I supposed that most of the clan’s stuff was in the secret valley, under Malin’s care. Regardless, I checked what I had got from him.
Items Received:
[Fire] Elemental x4 [Total: 10]
[Ice] Elemental x3 [Total: 8]
[Mapping] Elemental x1 [Total: 3]
[Kinetic] Elemental x1 [Total: 1]
Tincture: Mindclear
Spell book: Hrr-Counter: A guide for Intermediates
In any other circumstance, I would have been stoked with this. My elemental collection was building nicely, and I already knew how useful tinctures could be. Mindclear was pretty self-explanatory, I thought.
The hrr-counter spellbook was interesting. Given my leaps in learning the Kartum language, I could at least read the title properly. I flicked through the pages, studying the diagrams and reading what I could. It seemed to be an anti-magic spell, one that could counter the effects of another mage’s spells.
Ah, if only I had the luxury of time to learn it. If only there wasn’t a dragon right above us, waiting for us to get desperate and make a move, so he could spit deadly balls of stone at us.
Damn. I had hoped for some kind of magical solution to our komonaut problem to be among Nino’s stuff, but there wasn’t anything.
Above us, the komonaut roared again.
I eyed the beast, and then Kostig who was leaving us now, skirting by the cliffside with Nino floating on a stretcher next to him.
So here we were again. Not long after victory over the first komonaut, we were back to sheltering against a cliffside, scared to move in case a ball of rock pulverized our asses.
And not only that. Even if we found a way out of this, we wouldn’t know where the mines were. This seemed like an awfully bad time to say that I told them all so. That their ridiculous feud and subsequent distrust and secrecy had almost doomed this voyage, resulting in two people getting badly injured.
Yeah, they wouldn’t appreciate me saying that right now.
“I knew this was stupid,” I said.
“He did,” agreed Harrien.
Adi-Boto shot me a look. While the great warrior was mostly wordless, I found he could convey a complexity of statements and feelings in just one stare.
The look he gave me now said, you are being a bastard, Isaac. Your time in this world thus far has turned you cold. Yes, you need to be that way to survive, but survival isn’t everything. Emotions are the gateways to the soul, and you can’t banish them entirely.
Or maybe he just thought that I was a bastard.
I kinda agreed, and so I shut up and looked around and took stock of just how screwed we were.
I couldn’t get to the dead komonaut to get its flesh. We didn’t know where the mines were. That meant retreat was the only logical option, which meant we had accomplished nothing.
But at least the komonaut couldn’t get us here, while we sheltered against the cliffside and figured out how to escape.
There was a noise above us, like the sound of the wind but louder. I looked up to see the komonaut gliding through the air and across the canyon, before landing on the opposite cliff top, giving it a full view of us.
This thing could fly without wings?
No, it must have taken a running jump. Either way, we were screwed. No place to hide.
I took the hare meat from my pocket. Kostig had one piece, meaning it was gone now, and Judah had the other.
I always said when it came to a question or surviving or not, I’d take that option no matter what the consequences. What I had seen today didn’t change that. I’d be a fool not to take my chance.
Sorry, guys. Honor is useless on a dead man.
I raised the meat to my lips…
And then I heard a splatting sound.
Then another.
There is only a single question to ask when you hear a splatting sound; what the hell is that?
When I looked up, I realized that the splatting noise must have come from the luminous green blobs that were now sticking to the komonaut’s scales. They seemed to be fizzing, as though light were cascading across them.
What the hell?
Another green blob splatted against the komonaut and stuck
fast, exactly in the center of his head. He tried to reach it with his claws, but the blob wouldn’t move.
Looking closer, I realized what the fizzing light was.
Fuzes.
“Hit the ground!” I told everyone.
“Boom!” cried a voice way above us.
“Boom boom!” shouted another.
“Boom boom boom!” added a third.
Pumped full to the brim with adrenaline, I cast a spell.
“Hrr-barrer!”
The komonaut exploded into thousands of pieces. Flesh and shards of scale scattered out everywhere, every piece of scale becoming a turbocharged missile ready to poke holes in anything made of flesh.
I had built the barest amount of energy required to cast, so the shield in front of me was smaller and the light seemed duller than before.
[Barrer] Elemental depleted x1 [Total remaining: 3]
[Shield] discipline improved by 3%!
Rank: Grey 18.00%
I lifted my shield just as a piece of scale whizzed toward me at the speed of a bullet, on course to pulverize my head.
The scale thudded into the shield and the light flickered once, twice, and then again, but held firm. I kept it raised, but the explosion had died now.
The air was thick with dust. Judah coughed, while Adi-Boto slapped him on the back.
I felt rough as hell, but the komonaut was dead.
CHAPTER 32 – Gnomish Compassion
“Everyone okay?” I said.
My eyes stung when I blinked, and I felt dust lodged in the back of my throat. I hacked it up, feeling soreness in my lungs. I couldn’t open my eyes without my eyeballs screaming in pain.
“Everyone sound off,” I said.
“Sound off? What?” said Tosvig.
“Sorry. Everybody say that you are okay.”
One after another the group confirmed they had survived the explosion without getting a splinter of komonaut scale in their face. All except Harrien.
“Harrien?”
No answer.
“Guys, is Harrien near any of you?”
“Ta fleg na comta boom-boom,” said a voice.
Everything Is Worth Killing- Isaac's Tale Page 30
