“Hurry, now!” Alfred could hear those above calling to him as another flame dropped down the chasm. It lit below where Gup was cranking his gun to fire again. He did not retreat and had no intention of letting Alfred get away.
As the flame passed him on the way down, Alfred yelled up. “Do not fire! Friendly targets!” He could hear the taught bows above relaxing. Gib and Pep crawled toward Gup and jumped him as the flame passed below the scuffle. In the darkness Alfred could not see the outcome.
Alfred started pulling again quickly, walking up the wall with the rope. He came to the ledge where Hedor and his men helped him up.
“Someone's gotten lighter on us!” said Hedor, easily pulling Alfred to safety.
“I haven't eaten since I left.” Alfred dusted himself off and untied the rope. Loranna came and gave him a big hug. They were all there: the girls, the boys and Hedor with a few of his men.
And to Alfred's surprise, the wizard was there. “Tirnalth! You heard me call for you!”
“Heard you? No, no... when the gnomes took you, I knew to find the others and lead them here.” He smiled, looking down at Alfred.
“You can see me now?”
“Yes, I can see very well now. I can walk amongst everyone here, like a ghost I suppose. At least I have a stronger connection. I am returning!”
“I always thought that that crazy wizard of yours was just a fairy tale, a legend!” said Hedor, rolling up the rope and looking on with a glimmer of hope.
Alfred had a thought and quickly rushed back to the edge of the chasm. He looked down, seeing only darkness. Hedor and Loranna came with him to peer. Alfred looked and listened but wasn't sure. “We have to help them!”
“They were shooting at you!” said Loranna. “They took you as a prisoner! They are evil, vile picts!”
“No... They are lost, so very lost. Two aided my escape! Tirnalth?!”
“Yes, Alfred? I'd love to cast a spell of blasting stone, but I'm afraid I'm not quite there yet!”
“Light! The brightest blinding light! Can you do that?”
“Light?”
“Yes, hurry, drop down there as a ghost and burn the brightest light! Just light, glaring, glowing, glimmering, ahhh... blinding!”
“Right, yes... of course! Here we go.” Tirnalth plugged his nose and leaped out as if he were jumping into water. He suddenly burst into a star of light floating down the chasm.
Everyone had to squint. Alfred reached for the rope from Hedor, who quickly assisted him and tied it back on. “Lower me! I'm rescuing my rescuers! Then we must hurry to the surface!”
“Sounds good to me!” Hedor motioned to his men, and they fell in line.
Alfred quickly rappelled down to Tirnalth as he floated down, looking like a churning miniature sun. It was incredibly bright, even for Alfred. But he kept going down and down.
Hedor called out to one of his men at the top, “Uh, Ruig, tie that second rope quick!”
Ruig pulled out his rope and quickly and firmly tied it to the end of Hedor's. The descent continued.
Alfred saw them soon enough. They were all blinded by the light. It appeared that Gup had the upper hand. Both Gib and Pep were in manacles. Gup was trying to lead them down, but all three were blinded by the brilliant light.
“Shoot him!” Gup yelled to those below.
Stone troopers hollered back up. “We can't see anything!”
“Shoot the light!”
“It's too bright!”
Alfred quickly grabbed the chain connecting the manacles and pulled Gib and Pep. Gup held on with great strength.
“You aren't taking my prisoners!” Gup snarled. He couldn't see in the blinding light, but Alfred could easily and pulled out his dagger. Though Gup was well armoured, his cheek was exposed. Alfred had no choice but to slice it. Gup shrieked, releasing the chain and grabbing his cheek.
Gib and Pep felt as if they were falling. Alfred held on to the chain. “I've got you – don’t you worry!”
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!”
“Don't worry, I've got you! And thankfully, you aren't that heavy.” Alfred tugged at his rope with the other hand and was suddenly pulled up.
“I'm totally heavy!” Pep huffed.
“I'm heavier!” Gib puffed.
Alfred rope-walked the wall again, with Gib and Pep holding on.
“I'm heavier than you, by half a stone at least!” Pep said.
“Pfff, I've got two on you, working on three!” Gib retorted.
“Pull us up, Hedor!”
Tirnalth remained below, shimmering powerfully. Gib and Pep could look up away from Tirnalth's aura and somewhat saw, though they had to narrow their eyes to slits. As Alfred scaled the wall, Gib and Pep took some hard hits against the stone.
“Sorry guys!”
“We be gnomes, Alfred. The hitting of stone and iron against us hurts very little!” Gib smiled. Doink..... doink....
Pep positioned himself so his head hit repeatedly against the stone as he swung back and forth from the manacles. “It's actually quite massaging.” Doink, doink, doink.
“Of course, slicings and piercings are definitely not our cup of gruel,” Gib said.
Alfred pondered that, looking down at Gup, who leaned against the shaft's wall and held his cheek. Hedor reached out to the curious little fellows.
“We can manage ourselves!” Gib said, easily climbing over the ledge and pulling Pep with him.
Hedor then helped Alfred up and untied the rope. He stood curiously regarding the dirty grimy picts. “So you are gnomes? I am Hedor, Captain Hedor, loyal to King Alfred. These are my men.” They all bowed respectfully.
Gib and Pep seemed slightly impressed and bowed curtly as they picked each other's manacles off and tossed them.
Alfred straightened up and looked down the chasm. Tirnalth was slowly rising and exploding the caverns with the brilliant light. Gib and Pep cowered from the blinding aura.
“Off Tirnalth!” Alfred squinted, as did the rest. “Off, turn it off!”
“Oh yes, sorry, I was enjoying the details in the carved rock. Ancient gnome carvings. Extraordinaire!” Tirnalth's light subsided as he floated to the top of the shaft.
“Yeah, okay Tirnalth...” Alfred stared at Tirnalth, sighing relief.
Suddenly, several metal arrows flashed through Tirnalth and thudded into the stone walls above him.
“It's my brother! He won't give up!” snarled Gib.
“We have to get to the surface!” said Alfred.
“We can lead you!” cried Pep, hurrying over rock mounds and into an ascending tunnel.
“Shooting at an old man! You've got no virtue!” Hedor stood treacherously close to the edge, shaking his fist down at the stone troopers. Gib quickly tripped Hedor, who tottered back. A metal arrow flew right by his face and pierced stone just above him. Hedor landed atop Gib and bounced off. “Sorry, you okay?”
“Let's get going!” said Gib, rolling out and leaping up.
Hedor was impressed with the little guy.
“Tirnalth!”Alfred yelled.
“Yes, Alfred?”
“Slow them down!”
“Oh right, I can do that,” said Tirnalth, blinking and disappearing. “Finally, a useful wizard, hey?” shrugged Hedor.
“The shaft ends here, we must go through the tunnels!” Gib said hurrying along.
“We've just come from there,” said Hedor. “It leads to the surface.” The children, Hedor and his men began to climb as best as they could, following the gnomes up through a cavernous tunnel.
Alfred wondered where Tirnalth went. He waited till everyone passed and was the last to go up the tunnel.
Just then, angry Gup adroitly reached the top of the main shaft and saw Alfred. His bleeding cheek gave him a gruesome look. His stone troopers, as quick as ever on stone, also leaped up from below. All held dangerous crank-loaded spring-fired weapons. Tirnalth suddenly rose from the stone in front of Alfred as many fired on them. The javelin
s pierced stone or ricocheted dangerously about the cavern. Alfred stood frozen in fear as javelins penetrated rocks all around him.
Gup kept his eye on the prize, which was Alfred, and aimed. Tirnalth's glow hindered Gup's ability to aim well. Tirnalth stood infront of Alfred who blinked out of his fear and climbed up. Some troopers fell back, clinging blindly to the edge of the ledge. Others tottered against the walls, squinting and blinking.
Tirnalth looked up at Alfred and began to fade. “Oh oh, I think I'm spent Alfred! My magical connection to this world. ...Make haste!”
Alfred nodded and rushed over rocks. Gup squinted his eyes tightly and twirled about, firing his one shot blindly. It came quite close. Alfred stared at the shaft of the javelin which had punctured his lamp and pinned it to the rock wall. He undid the loop that held the lamp, left it, and quickly hurried up the tunnel.
Chapter Forty-Six: Slavery
The cages the ogres kept their slaves in were made of thick fashioned flat iron bands. The bands were bent, bolted and hammered into place so crudely that spikes and metal edges stuck out in many areas. These cut and scraped the tortured occupants.
The cages littered the Great Hall. The ogres easily carried them and tossed them about, not caring if they had slaves in them or were empty. The ogres stacked the cages and pushed them to one side, making uproarious and destructive sounds. Heavy metal bars scraping stone, wood and rubble mattered not to the ogres as they did their brutish work.
The slaves were generally fearful and quiet in their cages. But as the ogres lifted, tossed and smashed the cages down, the inhabitants couldn't help but scream in terror, pain and suffering.
Verboden, Dunther, Gorham, Cory and the rest stood outside in their shackles and watched in horror, wincing with each explosive plopping of a cage. The ogres, seeming to know the drill, quickly placed all the cages within the confines of their new prison area. It appeared that they were going to settle here for some time.
The slaves were mostly Khanifian, the dark-skinned folk from far away. When he could look up, Dunther saw how they suffered and realized they could not be demons. He had been lied to. He remembered that the tales of dark-skinned demon folk were told by troubadours and town-criers financed by the Silver Merchants. What strange and terrible leaders they were – to take away his kingdom's ability to defend itself and to spread wicked lies to the people. He never knew such evil manipulation existed. Before, the only wickedness he knew of were terrible beasts and creatures, like those now standing before him. The ogres stood about, counting the new slaves slowly on their thickset fingers.
“Nught meny... nught enuff!”
“Yu gots dat righz... mohr we getz!”
“Putz deez in dem cagez!”
“Dah witche gather gobbzies and ratkinz. Soon denz we get demz in duh minez! We getz dem! Hahr hahrrr hahhh!”
The ogres picked out the new captives and began tossing them into the cages. To see Dunther, who felt weak from escaping the soldiers, being tossed by ogres was deplorable. And Gorham, having fought off goblins and hyenas, and Verboden, having rescued him… well, both looked like rag dolls being flipped about. Cory held strong and gritted his teeth even while being squeezed in an ogre grip. He stayed brave through desperate tears. The cooks and servants quivered as the ogres grabbed them up, each hysterical and fearful in his own way.
The ogres, oblivious to the suffering, tossed each and every one into the cages. They rolled and banged against the painful iron bands or other slaves. It was a terrible moment for all. Dunther spotted the gruff soldier in another cage. He was now the leader of the mercenaries from the Silver Coast. He looked down, knowing he had been just another pawn. Several of his men were thrown into cages as well. Maybe a dozen had survived. None looked well.
When the ogres left, the slaves began mending and caring for each other. Dunther, thrown in with the dark-skinned folk, sat up and found them helping him find a decent spot to sit where they could tend his wounds. They used torn clothes and plant wrappings as best they could. It was a dour situation. They worked in silence.
Dunther suddenly looked into the tearful eyes of Nubio, the boy he remembered from the Magistrate. “Did the Magistrate give you to the ogres?”
Nubio nodded, tears flowing.
“I am sorry I doubted you and your people. If I ever get the chance to free you, I will.”
Nubio wiped his tears and tried to smile. He still wore his fancy servant clothes, but an older man was ripping pieces from it now. Dunther reached out to stop him but realized the elder slave knew better. Nubio let him. The elder was ripping cloth merely for bandages to use on Nubio and Dunther's cuts and abrasions. Dunther nodded thanks.
“Has anyone seen Lord Tahnwhithe?” Dunther asked, scanning the other cages. He met Verboden's gaze and knew what had become of Lord Tahnwhithe. Dunther dropped his gaze. He did not have the spirit to grieve.
As the elder wrapped bandages and spoke in Khanifian, Dunther looked up.
“They told us, you were the devils,” Nubio said.
“Who?”
“Our lords, the Merchants of Telehistine. They tell our people that you pale skins from the north are evil and want to enslave us – and that they will protect us. They took many of us to be their slaves.”
“How can you believe them when they take you as slaves?” asked Dunther, scowling.
“Our leaders believe them, and we believe our leaders. They say the Merchants will take care of us and protect us from you devils. But I don't think you are devils, and you don't want us as slaves.”
“Thank you, Nubio, we don't. Our kingdom never has. But we are guilty of believing them too, of believing you to be devils.”
“Then neither of us are devils? We can be friends?”
Nubio tried a smile in his pain. Dunther looked into his dark eyes. A flash of fear made him think they were wicked and deceptive, and he heard the voice of a Telehistine ambassador from long ago telling him of the dark-skinned demons. He blinked and shook his head. Then he looked at Nubio's smile and knew all he had been told was wrong.
“Yes Nubio, we can be friends.”
The ogre War Chief entered through a rubble-filled opening. He was so huge that he broke off more stones. He was followed by smaller regular humongous ogres and many servant goblins. He looked at the slaves in the cages and surveyed them. They brought in Abedeyan. At first, Dunther didn’t recognize him. He looked like a boy, beaten and enslaved, a tragic, ragged little boy. He realized who he was when they tossed him into a cage. Poor Abedeyan was near death when he fell. He couldn't move. His physical and spiritual strength were at an end.
The War Chief looked down at Abedeyan, who was barely able to open his eyes, quivering in pain and fear. A Khanifian woman tried to put a hand on him to comfort him but retracted when the War Chief neared.
“Yuzz thinkz theyz kahn hidez in minez, hey?? Thinkz yuzz?”
Abedeyan quivered more.
“Leave him alone!”
The ogres all turned to see Dunther, holding on to his iron bars and staring at the War Chief.
The War Chief stomped two steps over to look at the puny Dunther. “Speakz humie.”
“I am Lord Dunther, Knight of this realm. I serve King Alfred.”
“Hahz harhaz!”
The other ogres chuckled with low growls to copy their War Chief. Hobgoblins and goblins sniggered in glee.
The War Chief grabbed the cage, shaking all of its inhabitants. They screamed in fear for what the War Chief could easily do. Dunther held tight and balanced himself well. But the others bashed into him with horrific screams and pinned him painfully against the bars. Realizing his threadbare pride would serve no purpose, he looked down in shame.
The War Chief came in close and stared at the imprisoned knight.
Dunther spoke on. “King Alfred is who you are after? He escaped you, and all you got were a few of us. King Alfred knows you are here and plans to destroy you! I will enjoy seeing you go up against him!�
�
“Ohhzz mightyz are wheez??”
“Not me, Slave Master... not me. I am just a slave in a cage. But King Alfred, you could not catch him. He will return to defeat all of you!”
“Shudd uptz!!” The War Chief shook the cage a bit longer this time. To the occupants it was a wretched quake. They bounced and hit the iron bands and spikes, getting bruises and cuts. Dunther lost his grip and tried to catch the others. He realized he could not boast any longer or he would get them all killed. But then, he thought, what would it matter if he did?
The War Chief stopped and held the cage, tilting it to see Nubio. He eyed Nubio closer. “Yuzz, yuzz wear the zlave clothez of the Magizzz!!!”
Nubio tried to back away but could not.
An ogre came up to the War Chief, “Yehz Chief, dah Magizzzstrate gave'em to us! He seyz he desservez painz and zufferin! Ourz painz and zuffrihn!”
The War Chief eyed Nubio and snorted. “Outtz!” He opened the cage and pulled Nubio out, dropping him to the ground. “He'z my zlave now! I gotz mez ahh Silver Merchant zlave!”
“Juzzz like the lordz, you copy dem!!” said a smaller ogre, bowing.
The War Chief smacked him so hard that he fell, nearly crushing Nubio. The War Chief stomped around after the ogre, swinging his big fists. Nubio barely rolled out of the way. “Juzzz likez!!?? I Am Dah LORDZZ!!”
The fallen ogre got up and bowed. The War Chief punched him a few more times for good measure. The ogre took it, cowering.
“Grrrahhh!! Stupidz ogrezz alwayzz tellin meee nuddin! Yuzz couldn't even get dem frum dah minez! Und nowzz we gotta waitz around herez for dah witch'z to make more goblinz!!! Longz time we waitz here!” The War Chief stopped and looked at the slaves in the cages, huffing and puffing. He met Dunther's eyes. Dunther looked away, not proud at all.
“Your King Alfred better showz up for a fight! A humie boyz! Hah hah! I can't waitz!” The War Chief snorted and rambled out. Nubio followed, complying as a slave must. He glanced back quickly at Dunther and just as quickly looked to his new master.
Alfred 2: And The Underworld (Alfred the Boy King) Page 26