Realm at the Edge of the multiverse

by B G Mitchell

  The Dwarf caravan master cleared his throat before speaking. “Apparently that booklet comes with each rifle. If you could just sign this order sheet once you checked the order for me, please.” He thrust a piece of paper in front of her which she passed on to Mayli who proceed to count the boxes. She then saw Nataylia enter the gate of the compound.

  She came straight up to Lucinda and said, “So this is what they have given us to replace my sister.”

  Lucinda nodded. Nataylia was not in the best of moods, and Lucinda could understand why. She had received the letter from her sister just stating she was well but was going to stay with the Surface Elves and see if she could get their help with the city.

  “Well, these are the supplies they promised,” Lucinda replied. “I know you’re angry,” she continued, “but these flintlocks, as they are called, will come in handy as the orcs will be here.”

  Nataylia did not reply and still looked annoyed at the cargo like it was somehow to blame. All of sudden, a Dark elf soldier came crashing through the gate and stopped right before Lucinda, bending over out of breath. He looked like he had run the full length of the city. Once he regained his breath, he then spoke.

  “Sorry, sovereign, but I have just got word as many as five thousand orcs are camped in a southern cavern a mere day’s march away from the city, and more orcs are joining them.”

  Everyone was silent at the moment as they let the news settle in. Lucinda spoke first. She turned to Mayli. “Give orders to barricade all tunnels that lead to the city except for the main southern tunnel and the tunnel that leads to Blindstone.” She then picked up one of the flint lock rifles. It felt heavy and solid in her hand. She turned it around, looking at the workmanship. It was good, and there were no obvious flaws, but she did not expect anything less from Elven craftsmanship.

  She then continued, “I have plans for the southern tunnel, also find fifty of your most intelligent and steady handed soldiers. They shall begin training this afternoon on these brand new weapons.”

  Mayli rushed off to carry out her orders as Lucinda looked down the site of the flintlock rifle where she pointed it towards the university. She then dropped the rifle down on its stock. They had the right physical weapons, but magic was their weak point. She turned and faced Nataylia, who looked rather shaken at the news she had just heard. She put her hand on Nataylia’s shoulder, hoping the touch would reassure her. Nataylia then put her hand on Lucinda’s hand and gave her a small smile.

  Nataylie then said, “I know you are concerned for your sister, but I need you to focus. We are going to need the goddess Mikiria’s help. We are weak in the magical department, so please pray to her.”

  Lucinda nodded. She then gently lifted Nataylia’s hand and held it in hers for a little while, and Lucinda could not help but notice that the gentle contact felt good. She then noticed that Nataylia was blushing a bit. She let Nataylia go and put the rifle back in its crate and hoped that the goddess Mikiria had a plan.

  The one thing Gary could have used at the moment was a reprieve. He tried to carry on as normal but still the face of the guard he had killed stayed in his mind, and he found he had trouble sleeping, but he could not dwell on it now. They had entered the blackfoot caves and were deep underground and had been for the past three days. So far, the worst they had encountered was a pack of goblins that where easily chased away by a few bright sparks provided by Thoergerod.

  The thing that really concerned Gary was that the lack of encounters actually worried Bloodhammer and he was made to understand when Bloodhammer summed up the worry with the phrase the smaller predators are not going to hunt when there is a larger predator about. But at least Bloodhammer was there to guide them. They would have been lost in these twisted caverns, otherwise it was quite literally a labyrinth.

  His thoughts where interrupted by Bloodhammer, who broke the silence by saying, “Soon we will come to a ravine where we can get some water, and then from there it should just be about four or five days back to Blindstone.” Suddenly Bloodhammer stopped and indicated he wanted silence as he covered the lamp he was holding. It took Gary’s vision, which had been degraded by years of sitting in front of a computer screen, a couple of seconds to get used to the dark and see what Bloodhammer saw. It was a faint, blue light coming from the entrance to the cavern, and there were a couple of figures moving in front of it.

  “Dark Elves, I think,” whispered Bloodhammer.

  “Surely,” replied Thoergerod also in a whisper. “The dark elves are singing to a new goddess.”

  “Not all of them,” interpreted Gary, also in a whisper. “There was an exodus of believers, and given the threats the city of Dark elves had faced, I doubt they would be this far from my city. I am just going to have a wild stab in the dark here, this ravine is a good place for a small settlement of, say, dark elves who have just been instructed to leave their city?”

  Bloodhammer nodded, then whispered back, “Not to worry, all is not lost. There is away around the ravine, but it will add a day on to our journey.”

  “What about water?” asked Thoergerod.

  “There is a small stream in another cavern on the way where we can drink our fill,” replied Bloodhammer. He then turned around and was followed by the other two. After a couple of hours of walking, they at last arrived at the small cavern that had the stream which was just below the small ledge along the path, and yet again Bloodhammer called for silence. In front of the cavern entrance, Gary looked down, and this time there were two Dark Elves soldiers guarding the entrance.

  “What are they guarding?” Gary asked Bloodhammer as he lay down and observed them.

  Bloodhammer merely shrugged his shoulders before replying, “I am not too sure, there is just a small stream hardly worthy of an armed guard.”

  They sat in silence and waited to check if anyone or anything would come out of the cavern. After about an hour, Bloodhammer came to a decision. He then whispered to Gary and Thoergerod, “Well, they don’t seem to be moving, and we need the water. I say we take a chance and see if we can overpower the soldiers.”

  Thoergerod scratched his goatee for a second as if he was deep in thought, then nodded. Gary also nodded. With that, Bloodhammer stealthily climbed down the path to the cavern entrance, followed by the other duo, and once they got as close to the dark elves as they possibly could without being seen, Gary settled his nerves and pulled his sword out as Bloodhammer nodded to him.

  Bloodhammer then jumped out as loudly as he could and shouted to one of the Dark elf guards, “Hey, I am a dwarvern mercenary. Which way to the main hall?”

  The dark elves looked at him rather confusedly as they grabbed their weapons and pointed to the loud dwarf. Gary and Thoergerod used their focus on the dwarf to sneak even closer to their prey. One of the guards moved forward as Gary pointed at the one at the back and then himself. Thoergerod understood the meaning he had chosen his target and Thoergerod had the one in front. The dark elf closest to Bloodhammer then spoke while holding his sword out in front of him, ready to strike if he had to.

  “What dwarvern mercenary? Which mercenary clan do you work for, dwarf?” The phrase “dwarf” was filled with anger, and Bloodhammer picked up his axe as he looked offended by it, causing the other elf to move forward. But before he could reach him, Gary ran towards him, screaming. The shocked elves turned towards this new threat as Thoergerod let loose a simple spell that caused one of the Dark elves to be temporally blinded, and gave Thoergerod a chance to charge at the elf legs and land a good hit in the Dark Elf torso, smashing into his chainmail shirt and dropping him on the floor. He swung again at the Dark elf’s head, finishing the job. Gary swung at the Dark elf that was not blinded, and he swung for the elf as he tried to reach for his sword and managed to hit his shoulder, causing the elf to drop his sword and grab his arm in pain. Gary pulled his sword to swing back again as the elf looked at him. Gary stopped his swing. The elf used Gary’s reluctance to pull his sword up, and Gary know that b
rief second cost him as the elf swung towards him, and he had no choice but to block the swing with his sword. He felt metal hit metal as the elf suddenly clutched his side, which had a knife poking out of it.

  He turned and looked at Thoergerod, who was smiling at him, his arm pulled out like he had just thrown a knife. This time he did not hesitate. He stabbed his sword forward, impaling the elf in the heart and killing him instantly. He then pulled his sword out and followed Bloodhammer into the cavern.

  Inside there was the small stream as well as a stone slab. Gary, because he thought he heard something and looked at the side of the cavern, stopped for a second. There were two naked, human corpses strung upside down, both with their heads missing. One of the corpses seemed to be that of a twenty-year-old man, the other seemed older, about forty or so. He turned and crouched over as he felt sick. He dry heaved a couple of times.

  He took in a breath and looked up to see Bloodhammer was also shocked and muttered in a low voice, “By the gods, I think we know what happened to that missing family.”

  Gary heard another sound at the other side of the cavern and instinctively reached for his sword. He turned to look, only to see a small, metal cage. This time it had in it a Dark Elf female wearing only a white loin cloth lying in the foetal position in the cage with her back towards the group. It seemed she did not even notice their presence. Gary rushed over to the cage, followed by Thoergerod and Bloodhammer. As he got a closer look at the female, he could see that her black back was covered in strips that he would guess to be whip marks. She had short white hair which just came down to her shoulders with a red streak in her fringe, and her wrists had manacles on them that where attached to each other with a short chain. There was also a pair on her ankles. He also notice that the cage had spikes on the inside to make the occupant’s stay that much less pleasant.

  She did not seem to move or notice their presence, and Gary feared she might be dead. As he had a look at the lock, it was a simple steel lock which he hit with the butt of his sword a couple of times.

  Thoergerod spoke in a whisper. “Hold on a sec, what are you doing?”

  “I am freeing her,” replied Gary in a matter-of-fact tone.

  “But we don’t know who she is and why she is in this cage.”

  Gary nodded to the two corpses. “My guess is for the same reason as those two there. Look, I say we take her back to the Narderba, then the Dark Elves there can deal with her, and if it makes you feel any better, we will keep the wrist manacles on, but I doubt she is a threat. She is barely lucid, and besides,” he continued, slightly louder, “this is our chance to save someone rather than kill them to do something good for once.”

  Bloodhammer just nodded and with his fifth knock on the lock it busted open, allowing Gary to open the door. He grabbed his water bottle and put it to the Dark elf’s lips. To Gary’s visible relief, the elf started to drink. She was alive but barely conscious. She drank deeply from the water bottle. Obviously she had not had water in a while. Once the elf had drunk her fill, she was helped out of the cage and was placed on the floor where Bloodhammer used the back of an axe and managed to break the ankle chains. The elf sat down. She did not say anything.

  “Obviously traumatised,” Gary said to himself as the elf gave him a look like she should say something but did not know what to say. After Bloodhammer had filled the water bottle and Gary was sure the elf could move, they quickly made their way out of the cave heading towards Narderba.

  Never had a bed felt so comfortable. Even her bed back in Narderba was not as comfortable as the one Sylvania was currently in. She had been moved late in the night and was now in Lathenia’s house. Once she said she would go along with Lathenia’s plan, she had found out she would have her own room. It was not as large as her room back in Narderba, but it was nicely furnished and even had a window. It also had a single bed, a little bed side table, and an oil lamp, a book shelf as well as a dressing table, and a closet for her clothes. So far she was just wearing the prison uniform. She got up and rubbed her wrist, which felt odd being in chains for a while and suddenly they were free to breathe again.

  On the dressing table was a large bowl of water and a glass of water as well as a small towel. She drank the water as she did feel rather thirsty, then washed her face and neck and dried herself with the towel. She then looked in the closet, only to find it empty. She looked at the door and tried it and found it to be locked. She then looked out the window, where she noticed that the window itself had bars on it. She sighed to herself. It seemed she had just been moved to a nicer prison.

  The view itself was nice. It was out on a street filled with other double story houses. She watched the elven traffic below with interest as the elves went about their business. Once she got tired of that, she looked at the bookshelf. Some of the books were written in elvish. She picked up one that sounded interesting: The History of Morkangin Empire. At least she had something to read while she waited for what she did not know.

  An hour later, she heard a knock on her door. She replied, “Enter.”

  In stepped Lathenia herself. She was not dressed in her normal uniform but this time wore a long black skirt as well as a button up dark green shirt and a pair of black high heeled shoes and a small black case. She smiled at Sylvania. “How are you settling in?”

  “Doing okay. So far this place seems nice enough,” replied Sylvania. “And I like the view as well.”

  “Good,” replied Lathenia. “l have managed to convince the council to send Narderba some supplies which should help them.” She stopped for a minute and then continued. “The council has given me a few ground rules at least until you prove to some in the council eyes that you’re not a spy. For the moment you have to wear this.” She then produced a black collar from the case with a red crystal embedded into it. Sylvania took the collar and could feel magic inside of it. She nevertheless slipped it on to her neck in a fluid movement, still feeling the magic in the collar. Lathenia frowned a little and turned the case towards Sylvania inside of it where four padded leather bracelets, both of them had red crystals on them. So much for the feeling of freedom.

  Lathenia seemed to notice the concern on her face. “Don’t worry, you only have to wear them outside the house, and they are padded so you will have to wear them tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow?” replied Sylvania in a confused voice.

  Lathenia stepped out of the room for a couple of seconds and came back with a lovely white dress in her hands and gave it to Sylvania. “For tomorrow we are going out,” she replied, answering Sylvania’s question.

  Sylvania studied the dress. It felt soft. It had no back to it and a bit of cleavage and the dress had a slit down one side.

  “Hold on a sec,” said Lathenia as she popped out of the room again and came back with a pair of white high heeled shoes. Sylvania looked at them. She did rather feel like a trophy husband at the moment. She put them down and sat as Lathenia also took a seat on the bed. She then picked up the book that Sylvania had been reading before saying, “I would have thought this would be a little dry, being a reference book.”

  “I rather like books about other cultures,” replied Sylvania. “I am always interested to see what life would be like if I had been born in a different city,” she continued.

  “Well,” replied Lathenia. “I could bring some more books like this down from my library.” Sylvania then noticed that Lathenia had put her hand on her thigh. She smiled at Lathenia and she put her hand on the one that was on her thigh. Syvania must admit she was rather nervous, she knew what the next step would be given the deal she had made but she had never gone that far. Part of her thought that maybe she would enjoy it, as Lathenia leaned closer and then spoke in her ear with a whisper, “You seem a bit nervous. Don’t worry.” She then proceeded to gently stroke Sylvania’s hair which Sylvania must admit she rather likeed the touch.

  Lathenia then carried on. “I don’t want to pressure you. We can consummate our…” She paused for
a moment and then continued. “…relationship, I think is the word at least for the moment.” She then smiled reassuringly at Sylvania and left the room. Sylvania looked her dress and the suitcase of bracelets as she heard the click of the lock and sighed to herself. Well at least, she thought to herself, it is a velvet lined cage.

  Degraos did not like to wait, preferring to go to the fight himself, but he had to as the demon lead orc army was now on the march (scholars have proven time and time again very little good can come from a demon lead orc army) were on the move now and heading straight to the city, and he had to wait here just an hour’s march from the city in a rather large cavern which had been used by his people for centuries as a defensive position because carved into the cliffs above were ledges. Just the spot to host an ambush, not enough to push the army that currently the estimated size was twenty thousand, and with just a hundred men it was enough to stop them, but the sovereign had a plan.

  One of his men had his ear to the ground. He stood up and gave Degraos the signal the orcs were on the way. Degraos quickly climbed up the rope ladders as the rest of his men put out their torches and secured their night vision. They then and waited in silence as he heard the stomping sound of marching boots. He got his crossbow ready and waited. Down below, he could see the black haired top of the orcs’ heads as they marched in straight lines. He waited until about thousand orcs had passed and then waved at a shoulder at the very end of the cavern who lit a fuse and ran down the ledge like his back was on fire.

  It did not take long as the burning fuse hit a couple of barrels of gunpowder. He had never felt anything like it as the two barrels exploded, it let out a deafening boom that reverberated across the cavern and also loosened about a ton of rocks on to the orc army below, sealing the exit and cutting off the remaining eight hundred orcs from the rest of their army. It was a shame that he only had enough gunpowder to do one of these traps. Ignoring the ringing in his ears, he shot one of his bolts into the head of one of the orcs below as the rest of his men did the same, picking off their confused orc targets with ease. The orcs must have lost another hundred due to trampling alone as his men picked off the rest from their ledges with their crossbows, picking the panicked off with ease since most of the orcs where running in sheer confusion, directionless. A couple tried to form a small defensive position and even tried to throw some spears with no luck.