by Sami Dougish
That didn’t make sense. I had just seen evidence of wagon tracks. I said as much, and Orizmad chuckled and said, “Oh you will find out about that soon enough. With that we returned to walking in silence.
Finally, the trees ahead of us began to lighten, and we eventually broke out of the tree line, and were greeted with a cliff face, that ran as far as I could see to my left, but to the right, the cliff turned into a ravine that ended hundreds of feet below in a large river. Across from us, I estimated one hundred meters away, was a higher cliff face. The river ran between the two portions of lands. I had seen this marking on the map I had taken from the bandits. It was the Castian gorge. That meant by roads, I was less than a half a week’s travel away from the border. I wasn’t sure where Orizmad’s hideout was though, all I could see was a large rock formation that was rose up from the ground near the cliff. Orizmad marched up to the front of the rock formation, and leaned forward, and knocked several times in a certain pattern on a seemingly random point on the rocks. Nothing happened at first, and I had no idea what was going on. That however, was when to my surprise there was a rumbling beneath my feet, and a large portion of the rock formation slowly seemed to disappear into the ground. Beside me, Oktai laughed, and said, “That is dwarven engineering for you.”
By the time the stone stopped moving, a large space, wide enough for a wagon was left open in the middle of the rocks. Several guards came out, and spoke to Orizmad quickly. Once done they turned around and went back down the passage way. Orizmad turned to us, and beckoned us to follow.
Shrugging I quickly followed. The path gently slopped down, and eventually came out into a cargo station of sorts. The station looked to have been carved directly into the side of the ravine. Wooden platforms had been built on either side of the carved-out area, but other than that, the entire area opened directly out into the canyon below. What the hell was this? I studied the surrounding buildings, and saw that they were made of what looked to be a guard post, and a station of sorts that was built around some large metal contraption that rose to the rock ceiling. The contraption itself had an assortment of metal gears interlocking all over its frame. I had no idea what it was for, and I looked curiously at Orizmad who was waiting for us at the bottom.
“What the fuck is all this?” I asked as I surveyed the area.
Orizmad chuckled, and said, “As direct and blunt as usual, this my fanged friend, is the work of my incredible engineering team, and is how I get most of my goods into Thuum for this regions depot at the hideout, observe and be amazed.”
With that being said, Orizmad gestured to the few guard, and they nodded, and rushed over to another large contraption, and four of the guards each grasped a handle on the contraption and began to hurriedly spin their handles. As they did so the sound of gears beginning to spin rumbled through the area. It was then, that the gears on the tall contraption began to rapidly spin. I saw then that a pully of sorts was attached to the top, and along that pulley was a rope that was as thick as my closed fist. The rope was being pulled rapidly through the pulley. Then to my amazement I saw that the rope had extend below the raised platforms on either side of the station, and fell down into the ravine. I followed the rope, and realized as the machine worked, the rope seemed to be getting reeled in, and to my amazement, I saw that the rope looked to extend off towards the opposite side of the canyon. Nearly ten minutes later though, the rope was taut, and now extended fully out into the open air of the canyon, and looked to stretch completely to the opposite side of the canyon.
My mouth was slightly open a what I had just witnessed, I had never seen such machinery. I had heard stories of dwarven engineering, but nothing as impressive as this. While I studied the machine that the rope was connected too, I nearly missed what came next, as the men who had been providing power to the machine were handing out leather body harnesses to my group. They quickly began strapping the harnesses to themselves. With a sinking feeling I had an inkling of an idea on what we were supposed to do here.
The guard then walked up to me, and held out a large harness for me. I eyed it warily, but took it, and watched the group, and saw that the harness was relatively simple to put on. It was actually similar to the ones I had worn in the mines while digging out the deep mining shafts while suspended from a rope. I got it securely attached to my body, and when I looked up, I saw everyone looking at me expectantly.
Orizmad cackled and said, “You are going to enjoy this! I have this rope routinely coated in whale fats. It is damn expensive, but as it enables me to get all of my goods into Thuum, it more than pays for itself.”
Without another word, the dwarf, marched over to one of the platforms, and stepped up next to the rope. One of the guards handed him some sort of device that had three grooved wheels, one at bottom and two at the top. It also had two large metal handles, wrapped in studded leather sticking out of either side. Orizmad quickly fitted the rope between the three wheels. Once in place, I saw him turn small latch on the side of the device, and the wheels closed securely around the rope. The dwarf then attached his harness to a hook on the wheeled device, that had another latch. Then once the hook was in place, he closed the latch, and locked the harness ring to the hook. With a look back to me, the dwarf smiled, and leapt off into the open air. Instead of falling though, he shot down along the rope the wheels keeping him steady, as he flew straight towards the other side of the canyon cackling madly.
I stared after the dwarf, slightly in shock, while Brazkin, Adarossa, and Primus quickly followed Orizmad. I just stood there watching them all incredulously. This was insane. Plain fucking insane! Oktai bounced over to me, and said, “Come Vakarrian, you will enjoy this! It is perfectly safe!” Oktai gestured eagerly for me to follow hm up the steps. Shaking my head in a mixture of disbelief and horror, I followed him.
“This is fucking insane!” I said as pulled myself back and took a deep breath.
Oktai laughed, and said, “So you can walk around disguised in a city full of people that hate your kind, face down a platoon of guards alone, threaten the head of one of the most powerful smuggling rings on the continent, but you can’t handle a little festival ride?”
“I would hardly call this a ride!” I spat back at him in irritation.
“Oh, but it is! It’s absolutely mind-numbingly fun! Trust me you’ll see, now watch, this is how to hook up!”
I watched as Oktai strapped his own device to the rope, and made sure it was secure. Once he was satisfied, he looked back at me, shot me a toothy smile and said, “Hold on tight, and I will see you on the other side Zatara!”
He then turned back and leaped off with a shout of joy. He sped down the cables as well, and I watched him fly off into the open air of the canyon. I shook my head, and muttered out loud, “This is insane!”
“You know you would make a terrible dragon? What, are you afraid of a little open air?”
I did my best to send a mental eye roll the same way the dragon did, and shot back, “No, but this seems like a stupid Idea! I did not get my freedom, and fight my way out of the town, just to end up a bloody stain on the ground down there! I’m exhausted, and I don’t give myself the best chance of maintaining a grip the whole time!”
“Bah excuses, the harness will support your weight, your hands just need to stabilize you it seems. You have the scales of a dragon, now at least act like one. I would never shy away from a task like this!”
“Well, you have wings!” I nearly shouted in exasperation, “You can fly you mind squatting reptile!”
“Oh get it over with vessel, and stop your pathetic mewling’s, and laughable attempts at wit!”
“Fine then!” I yelled back, now having a full-blown shouting match with my own mind.
I might as well get this over with, standing here was just making it worse. I took my own device from the guards, who were watching me slightly confused, as they probably wondered what I was doing, having no idea I was talking to a dragon inside my head. I quickly hooked
the device to the rope. I wasn’t sure how to hold the naginata, so I loosened my harness, and slipped the long weapon through several of the back straps, and cinched the harness tight again, it would have to do. I quickly checked the rest of my gear, and once satisfied, I took a deep breath, and before I could change my mind, leapt out into the open air.
Immediately, I felt the cable flex, and I had the feeling of falling, before the cable adjusted to my weight. The next second I was hurtling forward across the gorge. My shoulders strained as I hung from the device by my hands, which in turn were locked in a vise grip around the leather handles. That was when my heart nearly jumped out of my chest, I looked up and saw I hadn’t remembered to attached the latch that locked the ring into the hook. If there was any turbulence at all, I could become unhooked from the cable! And then, I would only have my already tired hands to between me, and plummeting to my death below. An involuntary roar was ripped from my throat, that was part crazed excitement, and part scale tingling fear.
“FUCK, FUCK,FUCK! NO, NONONONONONOOOOO!!!”
As I shot forwards, my roars and yells continued, mixed with bouts of swearing, Raskorian for his part was nearly beside himself laughing in my head!
“Oh by the heavens, this is too much, too much! You sound like the humans my kind use to fly off with in battles, and drop from the sky, they sounded the exact same way!” Raskorian was gasping with laughter as he said this, and was barely able to get it all out in between his roaring laughter.
“SHUT UP YOU FILTHY PIECE OF- OHHHHH FUUUUCK!”
May angry response was cut short as I realized, I was about to smash into the face of the escarpment on the opposite side of the canyon. It was only right before I smashed into the wall of rocks, that I realized the cable disappeared into a cave I hadn’t seen before.
I hurtled into the cavern, and was greeted with rows and rows of some sort of glowing orbs that lined the walls on either side of me. I was moving too fast to make out much more than that, as I sped past it all. I did hear rushing water below me though, and I chanced a look down and saw that I was passing over a large lake that was inside the cave, which turned into a much larger cavern as I sped along.
“An underground lake?! WHY DOES THIS FEEL FAMILIAR?!” I shouted out to the stone walls around me, and my fear induced anger was only worsened by the bastard laughing his ass off in my mind.
Now that the cable had leveled out, I was finally beginning to slow down, and ahead of me, I saw a large clump of lights, and I assumed this was the end of the line, literally. By the time I neared the end, I could make out what looked to be a station of sorts, with a number of dwarves seemingly manning the cable station. I was relieved to see solid ground at last, and I was looking forward to getting my feet on solid ground again. So relieved in fact I closed my eyes. That turned out to be a mistake.
Once the hook reached the end of the cable, there must have been some sort of stop on the cable that caught the horse shoe mechanism. With my eyes closed, I didn’t see it, and therefore didn’t expect the lurch forward that came with the sudden stop. I swung forward, and my grip failed, the harness ring slipped off the hook since I forgot to secure it, and I plummeted down to the soft glowing lake below me. The station had been built above the lake, and fortunately at this point not too far of a drop, but it was still at least a ten-foot drop.
I didn’t fall gracefully, and shouted, “THIS IS BULLSH-“ my last words were cut short, as I impacted with the water, and started spluttering, as I tried to pull myself back above the water. I kicked up, and my leg protested at the rough movements, but I still kicked up towards the surface.
Finally I broke the surface, and gasped for air, as I did my best to tread water with an injured leg. I looked up at the dwarves above, who were looking at me, as they gasped for air as they laughed, and I just yelled at them at the top of my lungs, “WHY AM I ALWAYS FALLING INTO WATER!”
Chapter 12
After the dwarves finished their laughing fits, they threw a rope down to me. Now fully soaked, sore, and tired, I grabbed onto the rope, and tired as I was, managed to pull myself up the rope. When I finally reached the top, I angrily stood up, and pulled the naginata out from my makeshift harness, where it had nearly impaled me as I fell into the lake. I bared my fangs at them, and their smiles instantly disappeared, and they took frightened and disgusted steps back from me, and their hands dropping to their weapons. This was the last thing I needed. I gripped my naginata, fully intending to kill them all, when I heard a shout, and Orizmad, followed by Oktai hurried up to get between me and the dwarves.
Orizmad quickly said something to his men in dwarvish, and they looked between me and their boss with surprise, but eventually they all bowed their heads in respect to Orizmad and stepped further back from me. They still shot me suspicious looks, but they made no more aggressive moves towards me.
Orizmad then turned to me with a smile, and said, “Well that was certainly an entrance!”
I glared at him, but just asked, “Where is my reward? I will take it, and my belongings, and leave immediately.”
Orizmad looked surprised, and said, “You can’t leave right now! Look at you, your soaked, wounded and tired. Hungry as well if I had to hazard a guess.”
I shook my head, and said, “I’ve had worse; besides, I know when I am not welcomed somewhere, and just like everyone else, your people immediately distrust, and hate me. I have no desire to spend my time around people who hate me, I have done more than enough of that in my life. I will take what is owed and be on my way.”
Orizmad crossed his arms and studied me with a serious gaze. I didn’t know what was going through his head, but I had a feeling he was trying to figure out what to say to me next. Eventually though he opened his mouth and said, “I judge a person by what I see, not by what others tell me of them. So far you have done nothing but assist me and my people. You only attacked Brazkin when you feared for your life when he went to reveal your secret. You were reasonable though and let him go when I gave you my oath. That is not the sign of the savage primitive tales told of your kind. On top of that, you are the biggest reason we all made it out of that mission in one piece, and Oktai hasn’t stopped talking about how you took on near the whole garrison alone to buy us time to get my men out. For that and for saving my best friends life, I am in your debt. Stay, I insist. Enjoy my hospitality and know that no harm will come to you from my people or me. Besides, I’m sure the regulars will be combing the surrounding country side searching for us. Best to lay low for a time.”
I didn’t betray it in my stance, but internally I was surprised at the dwarf’s words. I had expected hatred at the very least from him, once he knew what I was, but so far, he seemed to have no problem with it. Despite everyone else here obviously loathing me. Well besides Oktai, and he was his own oddity. I considered his offer. I couldn’t lie, it would be nice to get cleaned up, and rest for a bit before heading out. The border wasn’t going anywhere, and as long as I had his oath of protection, I should be as safe as I could be here.
After a long pause, I nodded, and said, “Very well, where can I sleep, I need to get out of my armor, and clean my wounds.”
Orizmad smiled, in satisfaction after I accepted his offer, and Oktai was nearly bouncing in excitement. I would need to avoid the talkative man as much as possible. His endless stream of questions wore me out.
“Come follow me Mu- wait what is your real name? Surely you can tell me, now that I know you are a drayzraac, you have nothing to hide.”
I hesitated for a moment, before I grunted, and said, “Vakarrian.”
“Hm, strong sounding name what does it mean?”
“If I ever knew what it meant, I forgot long ago.”
Orizmad nodded, and said, “Well Vakarrian, follow me, let me show you around my hideout.”
I made sure my weapons were all accounted for, and I walked after him. Oktai bounced alongside me as we walked, and I could tell he was itching to ask me more questions. I
didn’t give him any indication that I was willing to talk, and kept my eyes straight ahead, following Orizmad.
As we walked, Orizmad explained that from here, he could attach wagons to the rope, and since this part of the rope was lower than the station we had come from, a pulley system would pull the wagon across the rope. This was why I had seen the wagon tracks on the opposite side. At this moment I couldn’t care less, and instead just walked in irritated silence as I followed the dwarf.
From the cable station, we made our way through a large tunnel. It looked to have been carved out by hand, and there were the same strange lights hanging from the walls here. I was curious as to what they were, but I was too tired to stop and ask yet.
A few minutes later, we came out of the tunnel, and I stopped in my tracks, when I took in the sight before me. When I had first heard of this hideout, I had assumed it would be some small hideaway, in the hills or something along those lines. No instead, I found myself in a cavern that must have been at least two miles in all directions. Stone buildings were around the walls of the cavern, and I could see numerous people moving in and out of the buildings and transporting goods to-and-fro. I even saw different pack animals being pulled through the makeshift streets of the hideout.
The ceiling rose around fifty meters above my head. In the direct center, was a large lantern, similar to the small ones throughout the tunnels and the entrance, but this one was over ten times the size as the rest, and released a bright orange glow, almost like the light from a fire. It bathed the entire area, and made it easy to see through the usual utter darkness of caverns.
“Even though they are a lesser race, Dwarves, always did have a talent for incredible feats of architecture, and machinery,” Raskorian rumbled in my mind.