Unexpectedly for her size, the golem jumped easily to her feet. That made the sarcophagus give a plaintive crunch and fall apart once and for all. And just then, the ratfolk attacked all at once.
I took a look around and glanced at Pinebogey. He was still lying motionless on the ground, pretending to be a log. A few of the rat-heads were messing around by his feet, trying to claw their way through the thick layer of bark.
― You have activated the spell Gulper’s Shattering Ram!
The hard wave of lilac made contact with the beasts and sent them flying back onto a set of sharp stones. Gorgie was on them by the time they hit the ground. The first few victory and reward messages came flickering before my eyes.
― You have activated the magical ability Life Aura!
The Great System told me to choose allies. I covered Gorgie and Pinebogey with the aura and glanced at the stone gnome. And she was wasting no time, crushing the ratfolk like a frustrated mushroom hunter that had just discovered a meadow of poison toadstools. I considered it briefly, designated the gnome and gave the system my approval. That brought Gallia’s life supply up by forty percent.
After the gnome finished off one heedless brute, she shuddered and turned her head toward me. We locked eyes. Seemingly, my canopy was no impediment to her. A look of surprise appeared on the golem’s stone face.
The wailing and predeath rasps behind me served as notification that Gorgie had jumped down from a nearby ledge and started to sow death and panic in the highest levels of the enemy ranks. All I could do was cast ice arrows right and left, not forgetting to keep moving as I did. The fight with Ulf had clearly demonstrated how easy it was to determine my location based on the spells I cast.
Out of the corner of my eye, watching the gnome and casting icicles at the beasts she was slaying, it dawned on me: these ratfolk were no match for Gallia. But I must give them their due ― the rat-heads figured that out quite quickly.
Very soon, the cave emptied out. And for a long time after, I heard shrieks and aggrieved squeals running away down the tunnels.
It was over so fast I didn’t even have time to properly warm up. Based on the offended look on Gorgie’s snout, he wouldn’t have minded a bit more either.
After finishing off the last ratman, smashing its head wide open, the golem came walking our way. I was just getting comfortable on a wide flat boulder and curiously skimming through my recent messages. My furiously pounding heart slowly brought down its rhythm, settling.
In a matter of minutes, I had just over thirty beasts on my account. Great! Wish it was always so easy! To quest through the labyrinth with the gnome for a week or so, gathering tablets… Ugh dreams, dreams!
“Pretty good warmup!”
The golem stopped three steps away from me. Her stone head transformed back into a gnome’s. An odd sight. Gallia looked like a smiling knight wearing a huge suit of stone armor.
I just shrugged my shoulders and looked her firmly in the eyes.
“I say we start again from the beginning,” she said in a friendlier manner and, nodding at the shards of her inscribed sarcophagus, added: “So, you already know my name, is that right? Who are you and where are you from?”
“Eric Bergman, son of a simple miner from Orchus,” I decided to identify myself, noticing meanwhile that the gnome was no longer addressing me as “mortal.”
“Bergman…” she repeated thoughtfully. “No… Never heard of you… So you say my compatriots brought me here?”
“Yes,” I nodded. “You’ll see them soon enough.”
Gallia frowned. Her eyes flickered, not promising anything nice for those gnomes.
“So they’re still here?!”
“Their ghosts,” I clarified.
“One second,” she stated, thunderstruck. “Are you trying to say that we’re in the…”
“The Labyrinth of Fright,” I finished her sentence and nodded toward the farthest tunnel. “And there they are now, right on cue.”
I had sensed an upwelling of the labyrinth’s magic a few minutes earlier.
Gallia turned her head where I pointed and, a few moments later, a very familiar funeral procession emerged from the dark tunnel mouth.
I let the gnome watch her own funeral in silence, then went over to check on Pinebogey. I saw shallow scratches in the thick bark covering the woodsman’s body and gave a contented chuckle. The Heart of the Forest had kept its keeper safe from harm.
“Is that what I think it is?” Gallia’s voice behind me made me turn around. The ghosts had already dissipated into thin air, and she was at my side again. A chill ran down my spine. The stone armor did nothing to prevent her moving quickly and silently. I also got a sense for the size of her life supply. After all, that was where the avatar was drawing its power from. If she could keep up her battle form for this long, I’m afraid to even imagine how long it could last.
“Yes,” I nodded, unwittingly obscuring my companion’s body. “This is the new keeper of a future Great Forest.”
“Is the current keeper not doing a good enough job?” she asked with surprise and, nodding at Pinebogey’s body, said: “If I’m not mistaken, this is a minor primordial? Isn’t there someone better to keep the Great Forest?”
“There is no Great Forest,” I answered. “And so, there are no keepers either. As far as I’ve heard, they all ran off to other worlds. Pinebogey here is going to start one from scratch.”
“What do you mean there’s no forest?! What do you mean ran off?!” the gnome asked, struck. But then it hit her. “What year is it?”
“Nine-oh-five after Accession.”
In reply, I heard cursing mixed into a language that went beyond what my mind was capable of.
“Have you been here long?” I decided to ask.
“It appears the old brute stuck me down here seven hundred years ago,” the gnome shot out angrily. She started pacing out the cave, muttering something furiously to herself all the while.
“Who are you referring to?”
“Grumma, Mother of Kings,” Gallia barked out through her teeth. “My mother-in-law.”
It wasn’t hard to put two and two together. That meant…
I quickly hopped up and gave a respectful bow.
“Your majesty, forgive my ignorance!”
“Are you saying that in nine-oh-five nobody knows I was Queen of the gnomes?” she stopped.
“Alas,” I answered, shrugging. “We have legends of you as a warrior and commander. The legend of you vanquishing the Black Serpent is my favorite. But this is the first I’m hearing that you were a Queen… Beg forgiveness again…”
“Speak.”
“Based on your reaction after waking up, you were murdered…”
“Probably in my sleep. The old brute must have slipped something into my food. Then she pierced my heart, probably with Dragontooth or something like it… Those like me aren’t all that easy to kill…”
“What makes you think it was your mother-in-law?”
“The gnomes that dragged me here,” she nodded at where the six ghostly bearded men had recently been fighting off ratfolk. “Their clothing and armor bear the Mother of Kings’ coat of arms. Are you saying you sacrificed the heart and blood of a Primordial for me?”
“Yes,” I nodded eagerly. “Two drops.”
“Well, whose?”
I saw ice in the gnome’s eyes again. Seemingly, she was still not exactly thrilled to be conversing with a Primordial slayer, even if I had brought her back to life.
“Jorogumo,” I responded, watching a smile of relief appear on Gallia’s face. Seemingly, I was toeing the line.
“So, you were able to take down the Black Widow?”
“She was killed by the Heart of the Forest,” I clarified. “But I had a hand in it.”
The gnome tilted her head thoughtfully toward her shoulder and turned to look at Pinebogey. She chuckled at some thought in her head and finally got to business.
“I take it yo
u didn’t decide to share such valuable resources with me only out of the goodness of your heart, right? Were you expecting a reward?”
“Your majesty,” I responded and bowed again. “I do not wish to insult you with falsehoods. We could really use any help you can give.”
“So what are you doing here?”
“We’re lost.”
The gnome chuckled and glanced at Pinebogey again.
“You must understand that my having laid dormant here for several centuries will mean all my clout at the gnomish court has been lost. As a matter of fact, I cannot even unlock my supply. A side effect of the curse embedded in the dagger. You saw it yourself…”
I nodded, agreeing. No sense in denying it.
“So I have nothing to repay you with just yet.”
The word “yet” gave me hope. I understood that she was leading me to a big question she wanted me to ask. I decided not to disappoint.
“Are there ways of unlocking it?”
“Yes,” she lit up at my perspicacity. “I require the blood of a Primordial.”
After saying that, she stared directly into my eyes. And an instant later, her face lit up. She understood that I had what she wanted.
“Your majesty,” I opened negotiations. “You must understand that this is a very rare ingredient, and my supplies are limited.”
“Let me be perfectly frank, Mr. Bergman,” she addressed me in a more formal manner. “I am puzzled by the fact that you have such a vast amount of this resource! Although, considering your level, the Great System’s generosity is not inexplicable.”
While I listened to the dethroned Queen of the gnomes, I was internally surprised at the change in tone our discussion was taking. After all, just a few minutes earlier we were about to face one another in combat. Beyond that, I was happy that Gallia didn’t try to take my things by force. Something was stopping her from doing it. And it probably was not Gorgie, who was trying to inconspicuously stay hidden behind her back. I could tell that she knew about the harn crouching for a pounce, yet there she was holding herself freely and confidently. She must have realized that we are not adversaries.
“Right now, I cannot repay you for the help,” she began. “But once I get home, I could be better prepared to meet you again.”
I understood that it was probably not her preference to speak with commoners, especially not in such a manner. In different circumstances, she might not have so much as glanced in my direction, but now… She needed me. And yeah, let’s face it, I needed her, too. An ally like her, legendary Queen of the gnomes, fallen from grace though she may have been, was worth a great deal. Beyond that, so far I’d only had positive interactions with gnomes. Like Madi Belvokrut. Despite my arrest, he was still doggedly representing my interests. And after all, he was just an attorney, though not exactly a common one. Now I had a true Queen standing before me.
“I am at your service, your Majesty,” I said and took the coveted phial from my backpack. “I have three drops left.”
A gleeful smile played on Gallia Longbraid’s face.
Cautiously accepting the phial, she uncorked it and took one tiny little sip. After that, she closed her eyes and stood still for a long time. A little while later, she opened her eyes and shook her head guiltily. All that time, I was watching her energy structure and saw that the first drop had only halfway destroyed the black splotch obstructing her mana.
“Have another, your Majesty,” I encouraged her.
One more sip and the black splotch started to gradually fade to our shared relief. As soon as the gnome’s magic supply unlocked, mana started flooding in.
Gallia opened her eyes and glanced intently at me. I understood that everything hinged on this moment.
“Mr. Bergman, if you please,” she said and handed me the phial with one drop left. “Today you have done an inestimable favor both to me and the undermountain race as a whole. You have saved my life! You have proven yourself a dependable ally on the battlefield as well as a selfless friend. As a sign of our eternal friendship, I ask that you please accept this.”
There was a little pebble lying on her stone palm with a thin chain strung through it. I cautiously accepted the gift and gave a respectful bow.
“Thank you, your Majesty.”
“And now I must depart,” she said suddenly.
I quickly raised my head. She shed her stone armor to reveal a glowing suit of magic armor beneath. Depart how?
“Alas, my friend, you cannot go with me right now,” she said with a predatory smile. “Where I’m going, things are going to be very heated! For your own safety, it’s best if you don’t come just yet.”
Something in her hand crunched and fell to dust. And before disappearing into thin air, the gnome said:
“Keep my present safe. If you’re ever in a tough spot, you can show it to any gnome. Then you’ll know the true meaning of gnomish hospitality! As for how to leave the labyrinth, you have to go down to the lowest level. There you will find a portal. Hurry! You need to make it before the next upwelling. Until we meet again, Mr. Bergman. I shall await your visit in the Emerald Palace!”
When the legendary warrior woman of the undermountain race disappeared I finally glanced down at the little pebble lying on my palm.
― Amulet “Personal Friend of Gallia Longbraid.”
Chapter 18
AS WE MADE OUR WAY to the bottom, we were racking our brains. Another upwelling would probably be coming at any minute. And we did not want to consider what might happen if we didn’t make it in time. To wander this capricious labyrinth for months or even years, gradually transforming into yet more ghastly anomalies? No thank you!
I didn’t want to think ill of my new friend, but malicious thoughts came to rattle my mind all on their own. Would it have really been so hard to tell me about the portal before?! To say I didn’t understand the gnome would be a lie. It was an utterly logical and rational act. Completely in keeping with gnomish ways. Royal ones, too. If not for the friendship amulet, one might think that she simply duped me like a little commoner. But I already knew the value of such amulets all too well. Nure-onna herself, even in her own citadel, could not bring herself to harm me.
I smirked as I ran. If my new friend thinks she’s going to get rid of me so easily, she is sorely mistaken. The reward for such rare ingredients should be truly a king’s ransom. Furthermore, I was already planning to visit the undermountain kingdom regardless. I needed to complete the Woodwose’s assignment.
But just then, Gorgie gave a warning growl, helping me surface from the daydreams about the fabulous rewards I might get for saving the Queen of the gnomes. We had reached our destination.
It was vast cave with a huge ash gray obelisk looming large in the very center. It greeted us with an unnatural and dismal silence. The silence was heavy and frightening, making me turn my head every which way.
Gorgie didn’t like it here either. The scales on the nape of his neck were standing on end. He was occasionally baring his teeth and hissing in dismay. The danger seemed to be emanating from everywhere.
We froze in place, unable to work up the courage to move a muscle. My very nature was trumpeting out that we needed to run away at breakneck speed. Just cram our way down some far-away burrow and not so much as stick our noses out. What is going on with me? Why all this panic?
Gorgie fell to the ground and, hissing like a little kitten facing a big huge mastiff, started to step back. I had never seen my friend act this way before. Something smells fishy. Something definitely smells fishy…
It took me a few seconds to grasp what was going on. Then, working on instinct alone, I activated the summoning amulet.
Gorgie disappeared. And just in the nick of time…
— Attention! You have been subjected to mental magic!
― Attack repulsed!
Something clicked in my head. Like a key turning over in a lock. The panicked fear abated as if it were never there. In its place came a cold confid
ence.
— Attention! You have been subjected to mental magic!
― Attack repulsed!
The unseen enemy, as if aware of my mood, redoubled the pressure. The mental attack notifications poured down on me like summer rain.
Not wasting any time, I somehow chucked Pinebogey’s body onto my back and, trudging heavily, walked toward the obelisk. The canopy of invisibility was no help. They could see me perfectly. I meanwhile was blind. And there was no way not to be mad about that. With a chaos shield over me, I started to cast ice arrows at random all around me. They just crashed against the stones and broke into shards of gray, falling to the ground. But alas, that didn’t stop my adversary.
Labyrinth of Fright (Underdog Book #5): LitRPG Series Page 19
