Soldiers of Avarice

by Stephen L. Nowland

  “Did you hear that?” Pacian asked, tilting his head slightly. Aiden gave him a curious look, listening carefully for any kind of unusual sound. He heard nothing for a long moment, and then a kind of dull thump from above, accompanied by the sound of dirt and small rocks hitting the floor of the stairwell.

  “Is this tunnel about to collapse?” Aiden asked, suddenly anxious at the thought. Now that his pain had subsided, he was more acutely aware that they were cut off from the surface by tons of rock.

  Clavis quickly moved closer to the collapse and took a look at it, trying to find the source of the noise. “I need more light up ’ere,” he complained. “Fire up another torch and shine it on this section for me, lad.”

  “That’s the last torch,” Pacian hedged. “We lost a pile of gear in the collapse. Once it’s gone, we’ll have to wait for one of the ladies to light our way.”

  “Bollocks; I’ll have to feel me way around,” Clavis muttered, carefully running his hands over the surface of the stone. “The rock ain’t fallin’ away from this side, but that surely does sound like stones being moved away on t’other. I guess me cousins aren’t quite finished with us yet.”

  Pacian groaned at this news, and Colt spat out a few choice curses. “Way I see it, we got two options,” the big man growled. “Either we start lookin’ for another way to the surface real quick, or we fortify the place and fight them when they break through.”

  “Does it look like we’re in any condition to fight?” Pacian snapped. “Of course we’re running; the only question is, where to?”

  “There weren’t no other way up that I know of,” Clavis retorted, “otherwise most of me people would have made it out alive when the waters came. All I know is that we canna go back up this way without a fight. As far as I know, there’s only this level that ain’t flooded out. If we don’t find a way through there, maybe we can hide and wait ’til they pass, then make a break for it.”

  “Wait,” Aiden interrupted as an idea flashed through his mind. “You said ‘when the waters came.’ That means there has to be a breach in the walls on one of the lower levels, right?”

  “Yeah, it does,” Clavis gravely responded, “but we got no idea what level that breach is on. Could have been on the eighth for all we know, and there’s no way we can swim down that far to find out. Even if we could, it opens out into the lake that was struck, so we’d have to swim up through that and hope there be a way out someplace above.”

  “Okay, so there’s a chance it might not work,” Aiden conceded, admitting to himself he was grasping at any hope he could find, “but if your clan was involved in flooding out the city, with the aim of destroying it, then it’s possible they cut that hole on the fifth floor to control how much of the place was flooded out.”

  “How do you know the lake was there, though?” Pacian asked. “Maybe the lake was way down at the bottom of the city, where the mines were.”

  “No, he’s right,” Clavis said. “If the water filled up here to the fifth level, then it must ’ave achieved a kind of equilibrium with the rest o’ the lake, meanin’ it had to be pretty high up, even if the breach was lower down, if ye get me drift. We better get down to the next level and start searching around; I think there be a strong chance we’ll find that breach there, somewhere.”

  “Anything to get away from this damn smell,” Pacian agreed, screwing up his face. “What the hell do they keep down here, anyway?”

  “Smells like they’re using it as a garbage dump,” Colt grunted. “It has to go somewhere, I suppose. It’d at least explain why they don’t live down here. Let’s move.”

  Colt lifted Sayana as if she weighed nothing at all, leaving most of her equipment on the stairs, since they couldn’t take everything with them. Nellise allowed herself to be lifted without complaint, though she wouldn’t permit Pacian to carry her. She leaned on him instead, and allowed herself to be guided along by the waning torchlight.

  “In God’s name, I have never been so tired,” she whispered. “Clavis, who was that man back there who was countering my prayers?”

  “Priest o’ Relnak, probably,” Clavis grunted. “Though I can scarcely believe Ol’ Greybeard would answer the call of a treacherous cur like that.”

  Colt’s theory on the nature of the stench permeating the air proved to be correct, as they saw piles of refuse, offal and garbage littering the streets and buildings of this section of the once-great city. The smell became overpowering as they moved through it, glad to find a path that the dwarves kept clear to allow travel through the muck.

  To Aiden’s eyes, it seemed like the refuse was moving, and when he looked closer he saw thousands of dark, finger-sized beetles crawling over the garbage, feasting on the rotting piles. They seemed content to feed and live out their lives as the only inhabitants in this section of the decaying city.

  The immense, white-armored hide of a borer loomed up in the street before them as they walked along, scaring them half to death before they realized it was already dead, the flesh having been eaten from its bones by the voracious beetles crawling over its hide.

  What was even more disturbing, though, were the huge gashes along its armored side, as if a massive claw had slashed at the beast. Signs of great teeth marks along its shell indicated something very large had tried and failed to eat the beast.

  “What … the hell?” Pacian asked nobody in particular as he stared at the huge marks. Colt moved in for a closer look, and Aiden winced as the big ranger poked and prodded the carcass.

  “I ain’t never heard of something with teeth this big living in the area,” he muttered. “A predator that large, that hunts those bloody borers with their hard shells? Not something I’d want to run into.”

  “Don’t look at me fer answers,” Clavis remarked when Pacian glanced his way. “All I can say is, I never seen anythin’ like that durin’ me days livin’ in t’halls.”

  “It’s old, though, right?” Aiden nervously asked Colt.

  “Hard to be accurate, but it’s gotta be no more than a few years,” Colt explained, doing nothing to ease Aiden’s frayed nerves.

  “Perhaps it’s best we keep moving,” Nellise timidly suggested, glancing around at the darkness. Colt nodded grimly, his expression hinting to Aiden that he was more unsettled than he was letting on.

  They were deep underground now, and the pressure of it was starting to get to Aiden. He was constantly nervous, worrying about too many things to truly relax — if his theory about the breach being on the fifth floor was wrong, they were most likely doomed to perish down here. The ceiling was much lower this far into the city as well, being little more than fifteen feet above their heads.

  The sound of splashing water could be heard up ahead, which puzzled Clavis to no end until they arrived at the edge of the stone floor and looked out across a vast body of water.

  “Well, blow me down,” he breathed in awe. “The entire floor has cracked in half and sunk at least a few feet, judging by the height those buildings ahead are at. The floor is at an angle too, so I have to assume that some o’ the supports on the lower level have given way over the years.”

  The stone floor they stood upon was a good two feet above the waterline, the paving stones showing signs of having been split apart by tremendous force. “So, we have to wade the rest of the way through freezing cold water?” Pacian asked with dismay.

  “It ain’t so cold down here, lad, but I suppose I could try lashing together a raft made out of beetles and excrement for ye,” Clavis grunted, which Pacian politely declined.

  The torch was almost gone and it was too dark to see anything else, so they sat down at the edge of the artificial lake, bunched together for warmth and the comforting reminder of each other’s presence. As the torch died, only Clavis could see their surroundings, and he told them what he saw with a sad note to his voice.

  “This used to be the council chambers, where the bureaucracy that kept the city running was set up. A lot of what I can see — and
that ain’t much, let me be clear — has been destroyed by the water. There’s a big pile of rubble at the edge of me vision ahead that practically reaches the ceiling, and some of the buildings look like they’re gonna topple over at any minute.”

  “Damn, that’s a lot of water though,” he continued. “We’re gonna get wet movin’ around, no doubt about it, and I ain’t lookin’ forward to diving through that to look for a way down to the throne room.”

  They sat quietly in the darkness, listening to the water lap at the stairs for a few minutes, before Clavis spoke again, this time in little more than a whisper. “I’m sorry I got ye all into this mess, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell ya up front what really happened to me. Ye’ve been good to me this whole trip, and ye deserved better than this.”

  Nobody answered him, for whatever personal reasons they might have had. Maybe it was the aching in his body, or the tiredness from their ongoing ordeal; but try as he might, Aiden couldn’t offer him any sort of consolation. If they actually found a way out of here, then maybe one day he would forgive the dwarf for his deception, but until then, he couldn’t do it.

  A soft white light appeared at the end of Nellise’s staff, offering them some illumination of the gloomy scene around them. She was leaning against a pile of rock while Pacian rummaged through her backpack, apparently searching for something at her behest.

  “Is this it?” he asked Nellise, showing her what appeared to be a small pouch. Moving slowly, she reached up and opened the pouch, looking inside to check the contents. She nodded, taking it from Pacian’s hands and emptying it into a small mortar. Aiden only caught a brief glimpse, but it looked like some sort of herbs she was about to grind up.

  “What’s that stuff going to do?” Pacian asked, sitting next to her and watching curiously.

  “A concoction that will keep us going,” she whispered in reply. “Though we may come to regret taking it when its effects wear off. However, we cannot afford to stay here for much longer, despite our need to rest. They will be coming.”

  “Right, then I better get to it,” Clavis declared, standing up and starting to strip off his leathers and equipment in preparation for swimming.

  “You’re still planning to try and get that damned axe?” Aiden asked, already knowing the answer.

  “We may have gone through hell down here, but it’ll all be for naught if’n I canna find the bloody thing I came here to get,” Clavis said. “Besides, I might find that breach ya talked about, assuming I can find a way down to the next level.”

  “Considering the state of this place, I’d be surprised if you didn’t find a hole in the floor,” Aiden replied caustically. “But I still think this is a bad idea. You know this place better than us, and we should be sticking together.”

  “I won’t be gone long, mate,” Clavis assured him. “Hold tight here, and I’ll be right back.” The dwarf cautiously stepped into the cold water, tentatively at first to be sure of its depth, but with greater confidence as he waded out into the city.

  “Sayana’s awake,” Colt announced at that moment, as she stirred in his arms.

  “How are you feeling?” Aiden asked.

  “I’m starving,” she replied weakly, leaning against the big ranger as she looked about at their surroundings.

  “Sounds pretty healthy to me,” Pacian chuckled with relief as Colt pulled out some of their rations for her. Sayana quickly took what she was offered, wolfing down cold sausages, bread and cheese much faster than she should have. She managed to avoid choking, despite her best efforts.

  “Here’s something else you can have,” Nellise offered, shaking a small vial of dark liquid vigorously in one hand. “I’ve made enough for all of us, but take only one mouthful, or you’ll regret it later.” She took a swig from the vial herself, shuddering as she swallowed the liquid, then handed it to Pacian, who looked at it dubiously.

  “This stuff better be good, because it smells worse than this garbage pile we’re sitting next to,” he grumbled, taking his mouthful and screwing up his face in silent complaint. “Good God, it smells better than it tastes. Your turn, Aiden.”

  “Oh, thanks Pace, I can’t wait to try it after such a ringing endorsement,” Aiden commented acerbically. He down a mouthful fast in the hopes of avoiding the taste, but to no avail. It was a bitter, acrid-tasting substance that made him shudder involuntarily, but almost immediately he felt more energetic.

  “Whatever it is, it’s working,” Aiden remarked, handing the vial over to Colt, who took a swig from it without complaint. He passed it to Sayana, who finished off what remained in the vial while she was still eating some bread. She displayed the most benefit from the concoction, as her eyes widened and her posture straightened.

  “It will last for little more than an hour,” Nellise explained, “but should give us the strength we need to search this place for a way out. If we don’t find one, I guess it doesn’t really matter after that.”

  “I feel great,” Pacian exclaimed, leaping to his feet. “Since Clavis is looking for loot, I’m going to search around a bit for anything interesting. Relax, I’m not going far,” he added when Aiden was about to protest. Pacian tore off a strip of cloth from the bottom of his longcoat and wrapped it around the end of the used torch, while the others rose to their feet and prepared to wade in to the freezing waters to look for a way out.

  Clavis had disappeared from sight several minutes ago, but Aiden could still hear his muttered complaints about the cold, and splashes as he moved around the broken, flooded floor.

  “Hey, I’ve found a way down,” came Clavis’s cry from the darkness ahead. “There’s holes in the floor all over the place fer some reason, so mind yer steps.”

  “What sort of holes?” Aiden called back, looking down at the water with trepidation, hoping they didn’t blunder into any by accident. Colt, standing nearby with the women, was keeping watch, only mildly interested in what Clavis had to say.

  “I dunno, it’s kinda hard to make out any detail on ’em, but they ain’t natural, which means some borers might have dug through some time ago,” Clavis guessed. “I dunno if they can swim or not; never thought about it before. But I don’t know what else coulda done it.”

  “Well for our sake, I hope they’re as dead as the one we saw on the way through. Any sign of a breach in the walls?” Aiden asked, hoping against hope that a way out had been found, though part of him knew it couldn’t be that easy.

  “Nay, though I only been searchin’ for a few minutes,” Clavis answered. “The problem is trying to hold me breath long enough to get a good look-see. Anyway, be careful where ya step. I’m headin’ back under again.”

  “Don’t waste too much time,” Colt warned. “Make searching for the exit a priority.” Clavis signaled his understanding before diving back into the cold waters once more.

  Aiden wasn’t really paying attention, as he was watching Pacian climbing the pile of rubble that Clavis had mentioned earlier. It rose up out of the shattered buildings and flood waters around them and seemed to consist mostly of carved stone sections from housing.

  The light from Pacian’s makeshift torch lit the ceiling, and there appeared to be a sizable hole above him. That could only mean that the rubble Pacian was climbing had come from ... the floor above them.

  “Pace, watch out; that hole above you leads right up through to where those crazy dwarves are living.”

  Everyone halted immediately at this statement, looking up in trepidation. Pacian perched himself directly beneath the hole and looked through it cautiously. It was much bigger than he was, probably close to ten feet across, and had smooth sides, much like the borer holes they had seen on the higher levels.

  Looking around at the base, Aiden couldn’t see any signs that it was used as a passage between the levels on a regular basis. Despite his reservations, he climbed the pile of rubble to join his friend, for although part of him was wary of bringing their enemies down upon them again, another part wanted to know if
they’d found their way out of this dreadful place.

  “Give me a boost, would you?” Aiden asked, having figured out the best way to climb through the gap above. Pacian complied, giving him a shove while maintaining his precarious perch on top of the crumbled buildings. Aiden managed to get a hold above the edge of the stone and pull himself up high enough to peer over the edge.

  It was completely dark, but there were also no signs of glowing eyes looking back at him either. His heart racing, he continued to climb all the way, heaving himself over the edge to sit on the stone floor to get an impression of his surroundings.

  Although he couldn’t see, his hearing gave him a sense of an enclosed space, as if he’d climbed into one of the buildings they’d passed on their way through. Despite his desire to remain inconspicuous, he motioned for Pacian to throw the torch up through the hole, so he could see where he was exactly. The torch flipped through the gap with ease and landed across from Aiden.

  He was underneath a vast pile of fallen rock that was hollowed out, with the hole he had climbed through near the centre of the internal space. The rocks made an almost perfect domed shape overhead, with the remains of a building half-buried within. The door was still intact, though it appeared to be blackened in places, and the bones of several dwarf-sized individuals were scattered and broken around it, probably some locals who had stumbled upon the same entrance Aiden had.

  But what really caught his attention was the gap in the surrounding rock behind him, at roughly chest height, that opened out into the main thoroughfare — the hole he himself had made only hours ago.

  Aiden could barely contain his excitement — he had stumbled into the area where Clavis had told him he could find the library, right under the noses of the insane occupants of Ferrumgaard.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Thinking quickly, Aiden took off his longcoat and draped it over the gap in the wall. Then he poked his head down through the hole in the floor and raised a finger to his lips to call for quiet from the others. Ignoring their curious looks, he limped over to the torch, picked it up, and then cautiously approached the area near the blackened door.