Soul Forge Saga Box Set

by Richard Stephens

  The floor levelled out and the walls opened into a curiously, ovular shaped cavern, its entrance lined by uniformly shaped stalactites hanging from the arched entranceway. Corresponding stalagmites rose up from the tunnel floor, appearing like they could mesh together perfectly with the ceiling.

  She stopped to examine the peculiar formations. Running her fingers across the stalactite directly in front of her she noted its pale white surface didn’t match the texture of the rock around it.

  She nearly had a stroke when the stalagmites rumbled and rose from the ground, snapping at her hand.

  She stumbled backward into Silurian’s arms and they dropped to the ground in a tangled heap.

  “Who disturbs my domain?” A grumbling voice vibrated the loose debris lining the tunnel floor. Bits of rock chipped away from the row of stalactites and fell to the ground. Beyond the gnashing teeth, the floor lurched—a tongue-like rock lifted above the stalagmites and lapped at the spilled rock.

  “What is that?” Melody echoed Silurian, scrambling up the tunnel on her backside behind him to distance herself from the yawning maw of grating rock.

  She already knew the answer. The disbelief on her brother’s face confirmed he did too. The Gimcrack.

  She got to her feet and confirmed the red rune pointed at the living cave mouth—straight down the dark throat at the cavern’s far end.

  She helped Silurian up. Swallowing heavily, she took a couple of tentative steps toward the teeth. Getting as close as she dared, she said in a weak voice, “I am Melody Bowman, the Wizard of the North. I have come here at the behest of Mase Mintaka, formerly of Storms End, in search of the Tang Stone.”

  A hot breath wafted out of the cavern washing them in welcome heat—rank with rot.

  “I devoured the Tang Stone long ago and have suffered ever since. I rue the day that witch convinced me to watch over it.”

  “My mother asked you to—?”

  The tunnel shook under their feet. Dust shook free of the walls, billowing in clouds of dry wisps. “Your mother?”

  Melody put her palms against the walls to steady herself. “Yes. I’m Mase’s daughter. She asked me—”

  The tunnel heaved.

  Melody’s gaze flitted around anticipating the tunnel’s collapse.

  “Then you must extract the offending stone.”

  Melody frowned. “Extract it? Where is it?”

  The stalagmites shook up and down. Did the cave laugh?

  “In the bowels of the earth.”

  “I-I don’t understand.”

  “I am the earth wyrm. Trapped within the living stone. The Tang Stone lies within me. Retrieve the offensive talisman and I shall be eternally grateful.”

  Silurian pushed past her. “You ate the stone? How do you expect us to remove it? Climb down your throat?”

  “I don’t think so,” Melody chimed in, squeezing in beside him.

  The tunnel shook violently. Chunks of rock fell from the ceiling.

  “Where is your mother? She promised to come back and free me.”

  Melody and Silurian glanced at each other. Melody forced a smile, unsure whether the Gimcrack could see or not. If it had eyes, they weren’t visible. “Um, our mother died years ago.”

  A slight tremor rumbled through the tunnel. The cave teeth resumed their open position, becoming part of the tunnel.

  They waited for a while before Melody asked, “What now?”

  Silurian looked at his sword. The runes shone brightly. He shrugged. “I don’t know. There’s no way we can go any farther. I guess we’ll have to go back.”

  “But mom said the Tang Stone might be the key to our salvation.”

  “There’s no way I’m going in there. We’ll just have to use what we have to defeat Helleden.” He shook his head at the cave and slipped by Melody.

  Melody studied the Gimcrack. She couldn’t wrap her head around what kind of creature the cave beast was. Phazarus never mentioned anything remotely as bizarre as an earth wyrm.

  Her mother would’ve known the dangers involved. Surely, she wouldn’t send her children to their doom.

  Silurian limped away. With his damaged leg, there was no way he’d be able to navigate whatever lay beyond the Gimcrack’s throat.

  As quietly as possible, she stepped over the row of stalagmites—walking beyond the Gimcrack’s teeth and onto the odd surface of its tongue—the sensation like walking on spongy rock.

  “Melody!” Silurian’s voice reached her from up the tunnel.

  She cast a scared glance over her shoulder.

  He limped down the tunnel faster than she thought possible.

  Grating rock rattled her senses. The stalagmites rose swiftly, interlocking with the stalactites lining the ceiling.

  “Melo—!” Was all she heard. The Gimcrack had snapped its mouth shut, muting Silurian’s scream.

  Paralyzed by fear, she waited for the cavern to devour her.

  The Gulch

  Pollard’s presence felt reassuring beside Sadyra as the slick path descended into the cool Gulch air. They had abandoned the horses a while back at Alhena’s insistence. He claimed they wouldn’t be needed where they were going and to bring them into the Gulch would have been cruel.

  Forlorn cries rose out of the fog blanketing the terrain as Sadyra absently wiped the dampness from her bow—her keen eyes scanning the mist.

  Behind her, Alhena’s staff shone brightly but did little to penetrate the mist.

  “An’ jus’ ‘ow are ya to find the tunnel, Pops, in this soup?” Olmar asked, his bulk almost lost in the fog not far behind Alhena and Rook. Of Larina, Sadyra couldn’t see, but her voice made her smile.

  “How do you think, Lunkhead? He’s obviously been here before. I’m sure he wouldn’t endanger us if he didn’t know where he was going. Isn’t that right, Pops?”

  Alhena’s face betrayed him.

  Sadyra glared at Alhena. “You don’t know where you’re going, do you?”

  “Not exactly.”

  Larina stormed forward and spun Alhena by the shoulder, her voice incredulous. “You do know this isn’t a safe place?”

  A high-pitched wail pierced the gloom close by.

  Sadyra nocked an arrow and spun to face the wall of mist. There was nothing to see.

  “I know whereabouts we are. I have been through here on several occasions. It is not an easy place to navigate. Have a little faith,” Alhena turned away from Larina’s scowl and pointed with the head of his staff. “This path should run into a body of water known as Splenic Splash. The trail will divert around its shore in both directions. If I am not mistaken, we will take the left fork.”

  Larina spun him back again. “If you’re not mistaken? That’s not reassuring. What if you are mistaken? The left fork, as far as I can remember, takes us deeper into the Gulch.”

  Alhena gave her a patient smile and shrugged out of her grasp. “That is the path we seek.” He started past Sadyra. “We must not tarry if we wish to be gone from this place before nightfall.”

  Sadyra glanced at Larina. Her friend didn’t appear happy.

  Rook joined Pollard on the edge of their vision. They waited for Alhena. The old wizard held out a hand to indicate they should continue walking.

  “Come on, Lunkhead,” Larina said to Olmar, “get waddling or we’re gonna lose them.”

  Olmar frowned but she didn’t notice. She’d already started down the remainder of the slope.

  Sadyra raised her eyebrows and reached up to put her arm around a portion of Olmar’s waist. “Let’s go Midge. They’ll be lost without us.”

  A series of yowls rose on one side of them—quickly answered by howls on the other.

  Olmar hoisted his black warhammer, searching the gloom. The residual light of Alhena’s staff paled in the fog ahead. The rest of the group were getting ahead of them.

  Sadyra walked sideways, her attention focused on the mist closing in behind. Sticks snapped and foliage rustled in every direction.
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  Larina took a couple of steps back, pointing her partially drawn bow the way they had come. Silhouettes ambled just beyond the mist. “Who’s there? Stop, or I’ll drop you in your tracks.”

  Whoever approached didn’t answer.

  Olmar stepped in front of Larina, growling himself.

  Shadows as tall as the sailor materialized through the gloom. They were trapped.

  “Rina. Ready your bow and prepare to run,” Sadyra instructed and shouted over her shoulder. “Pollard!”

  She pulled her bowstring taut. “Now!” Her arrow had barely left the bow when she heard the wet thump of punctured flesh.

  A pained cry disturbed the chaotic still of the moment. Before she loosed a second arrow, another cry rang out. Larina had found her mark.

  Olmar stepped beside Larina and swung his hammer at the shadows encroaching from the side of the path farthest away from Sadyra. Two of the shadows doubled over sideways—the sound of crunching bones accompanied the dull thwap of his warhammer and grunt of exertion. He jumped away from the mangled bodies of what had appeared as animated corpses.

  Though unrecognizable in the mist, Sadyra knew they were no match for the number of creatures closing in on them. “Olmar! Rina! To Pollard!”

  She nocked another arrow and let fly. A cry of pain and a thud denoted that whatever she hit had fallen to the ground. Another shadow took its place.

  Larina sprinted past her.

  She turned to follow—Olmar’s hand on her butt propelling her into a staggering run.

  “Move it lassie!” he roared, his lumbering footsteps thumping down the slick trail.

  Guttural growls followed them. Ahead, the sound of a sword impacting a metal weapon rang out and the thick mist pulsed with an orange outburst as pained cries filled the air.

  Sadyra stopped suddenly, barely avoiding knocking Larina into a bog at the end of the trail. She caught herself and jumped sideways, worried about Olmar running into her. If he ran into them, they would be getting wet.

  Olmar veered at the last moment and swung his hammer at a creature about to club Rook in the back of the head.

  Rook’s attention lay on several human-looking creatures engaging Pollard down the path to the left.

  The creature’s head exploded in a cloud of gore as Olmar’s hammer threw its body into the air—the grisly mess splashing into brackish water.

  Without needing to convey her thoughts to Larina, both archers assumed positions to guard the hill they’d descended. Training together had instilled them with an innate knowledge of the other’s reactions.

  Larina had an arrow ready, calmly biding her time to use it on whichever adversary became the most dangerous.

  It took patience to not shoot at the first thing they saw. A knee-jerk reaction would reduce the attackers quickly, but if they ran out of arrows, their effectiveness at guarding their companion’s backs would be lost. Their quivers only held twenty, thin-shafted, mail-piercing arrows and five thicker-shafted, heavy-tipped arrows for puncturing light plate armour.

  The orange glow of Alhena’s staff illuminated the right path as a long-fanged beast, reminding Sadyra of a bear cub, burst out of the mist and charged at the wizard. Tracking its run, she led the creature and let fly, her arrow impaling the beast’s shoulder.

  The creature’s momentum carried it into Alhena’s thigh causing him to stumble toward the bog and release an errant fireball into the mist.

  Sadyra looked back. Pollard, Olmar and Rook had their hands full while Larina tracked another bear-like creature, killing it before it attacked an unaware Olmar.

  Sadyra’s fingers deftly located and withdrew another thin-shafted arrow. A larger creature in leather armour materialized out of the mist close to Alhena, a spiked club raised above its head.

  Sadyra’s arrow flew true, shattering against its side. The shock of the hit staggered the creature but the arrow hadn’t penetrated its armour. It likely wore pieces of plate beneath its leather. The extra protection had repelled her thin arrow and there was a good chance the leather would deter her thick-headed tips.

  The creature raised its club as Alhena turned into its advance.

  Sadyra feared that even if Alhena got his magical charge off, at such close range, he might get caught up in the resulting explosion.

  Without thought, she pulled another thin arrow, nocked it, took quick aim and released. The shaft entered the creature’s ear, spinning it to face her. Its club flew from its clawed hand, and fell, dead before it hit the ground.

  Alhena gave her a quick nod before facing a group coming toward him. Creatures along the fringes of the mist slipped off to the sides, likely to sneak up behind him.

  Beside her, Larina was a flurry of movement, releasing arrow after arrow in a futile attempt to keep the increasing horde off the two giants and Rook. It wouldn’t be long until she depleted her supply.

  A horn blared in the distance, jarring Sadyra’s senses with the possible implications. The fog and the proximity of the surrounding hills made it impossible to gauge what direction the blast had emanated from.

  The noise had everyone in their group scanning the mist. Instead of taking advantage of their momentary lapse in concentration, the creatures stared into the mist blanketing the waters of Splenic Splash and backed away.

  The horn sounded again. Definitely from the direction of the bog.

  Sadyra watched in disbelief as the creatures on the verge of routing her small band vanished into the fog, crashing through the undergrowth until even that noise died away.

  She unconsciously stepped away from the edge of the water, her companions gathering around her. If whatever approached instilled fear in their attackers, she wasn’t sure she wanted to stick around to find out why.

  Pollard and Olmar assumed a position in front of the others and backed up the path, infuriating Sadyra. She would be forced into the thickets if she wanted to get a shot off.

  Curiously, Alhena squeezed between the giants and approached the edge of the bog. His staff shone bright, but as far as Sadyra could tell, he wasn’t readying a charge; merely illuminating the water’s edge.

  “Pops, get back ‘ere.” Olmar made to go after him but Alhena held up his hand.

  “Stay back. Whatever you do, do not provoke him or our journey ends here.”

  The Bowels of the Beast

  The silence within the Gimcrack’s mouth was disturbed by long, soft inhalations—akin to the cave breathing. Melody swallowed her discomfort, looking around the small chamber in the faint light of her staff. She raised a hand to the meshed teeth to run her fingers across the off-white stone and was inundated with thoughts that were not her own. She withdrew her hand and the sensation faded. Reaching out again, she pressed on the teeth—the contact made her stagger backward to fall on her rump, reeling at the startling revelation of the stone.

  Implanted in her mind was the essence of the creature’s existence. The Gimcrack devoured rock in order to free itself. It had done so since the formation of the world. At the rate it moved, eons would pass before it actually broke free. At which point, it had designs to devour the world’s surface.

  She stood up and tentatively placed her free palm against the inside of the Gimcrack’s mouth, tracing the veins of rock toward the opening at the back of the cave. “Can you hear me?”

  You are indeed the offspring of the witch. I am attuned to your presence just as you are mine.

  She jumped, pulling her hand away. A distinct voice had sounded in her head. She swallowed her misgivings and directed her light into the round fissure at the back of the cave. It appeared slick—its surface ribbed in regular intervals as it dropped out of sight.

  “What are you?”

  The creature didn’t respond.

  She frowned and placed her hand against the mouth wall.

  I am the wyrm of the earth. Grown from a seed, if you will. I am eating my way to the surface of my cocoon so that I may devour its sweet flesh and evolve.

 
; Melody blinked. She had no idea what the Gimcrack spoke of. “The world is your cocoon? You mean you’re like a butterfly or something?”

  I know not what is a butterfly. I was inserted within this pod you parasites refer to as your world. The rock sustains me until I am able to breach the surface. Once there, I shall devour its flesh and transform into my true self; free to fly away.

  “Parasites? You mean my brother and me? We’re people. We inhabit the world’s surface. What will become of us?”

  You are insignificant. You have destroyed much of what is good. I feel the earth’s pain. I must be free of this rock to cleanse the surface. Of all the parasites, your kind is the worst.

  She couldn’t argue with that. As Wizard of the North, she’d witnessed the devastation wreaked by mankind. Helleden’s firestorms were a travesty in and of themselves, but the sorcerer wasn’t the only one culling the beauty from the land. Still, if what the Gimcrack said were true, once it ate its way free, the world as they knew it would perish anyway.

  Your mother sought me out. She promised to expedite my progress to the surface if I agreed to guard the Tang Stone. Had I known the effect it would have on my progress, I would have eaten her instead. With you here, I may yet satisfy that yearning.

  Melody couldn’t conceive of her mother agreeing to release the Gimcrack if she had known what the result of its freedom meant. If Mase had formed an accord with this creature, it was likely undertaken to achieve her own ends.

  “Easy, mister earth wyrm.” She grimaced. Did this thing have a sex? She shook her head. If she didn’t act fast, she faced the unsavoury prospect of being devoured by the stone crushing beast. “How does this Tang Stone affect you?”

  The Gimcrack’s tongue lurched.

  She screamed and flailed her arms to keep from falling. The tongue abruptly settled down, dropping her to her knees. Not knowing what to do, she re-established a link with its mouth.

  It has brought my progress to a stop. I am no longer able to move forward.

  That’s a good thing, Melody thought, then shivered and pulled her hand away. If the Gimcrack communicated with her telepathically by touch, it probably had the capacity to read her thoughts.