Alfred 2: And The Underworld (Alfred the Boy King)

by Ron Smorynski

  The War Chief snorted affirmatively.

  “Since you failed to do your task, the Witch forced us out of our winter sleep and has given us a secret weapon,” Wargog hissed.

  The War Chief growled, “Yuz try. Me no fightzz lil humanz who hidez!”

  “Hide or not, looks like they took care of your war party,” Wargog said, looking at all the frozen carcasses.

  “Blahzz!” The War Chief slammed his leg bone against Wargog. Though Wargog was half the size of the War Chief, he was quite capable and leapt up with his clawed hammer ready to strike.

  The ogres’ reaction was astonishingly quick. As dozens of them formed up around the War Chief, they were suddenly surrounded by hundreds of bugbears. The frightening sound of growls and roars shook the snow off of many trees near and far. Even Wargog's bear was clearly a match for two or three ogres.

  The standoff was astounding. The ground shook like a rolling earthquake. Many bugbears had to control their burly oxen, which were reined to the numerous mysterious wagons.

  Wargog knew this would come to naught, even in victory. He leapt upon his giant bear and waved back his bugbears. The War Chief, as well, kept his cool but simmered in anger, ready to attack.

  Wargog spat on the ground. He motioned for the goblins to toss them the rest of the grilled meat and pack up. The goblins threw the meat on the ground and quickly did their job of repacking the chow wagon. The bugbears backed away with hundreds of giant blades and hammers at the ready.

  “Point me to the mines!” Wargog yelled at the War Chief.

  The ogres stared at their master. He looked at the menacing array before him and pointed West. He wanted this to end and his slave raiding in the East to continue.

  “We will finish this!” Wargog growled and turned away, motioning for all of them to pack up and head out immediately. The bugbears growled angrily at the stupid ogres. They had just marched a hundred leagues and now had to continue to the mines.

  Chapter Fifty-Six: Battle in the Mines

  Sir Murith and Kurik, with his handful of mercenaries, rushed through the mines with several gnomes. They dropped down the tunnel into soft sand and crossed the newly built stone bridge over the lake. Entering the blue mushroom Sanctuary, they found King Alfred and King Gup looking over maps of the Underworld with Dunther and Verboden.

  “We have tunnel access here and here,” King Gup was saying. “My gnomes can dig hidden...”

  “King Alfred! King Gup! The army of beast-men has reached the ridge!” Sir Murith, bursting in breathless, was yelling.

  “They come to the mines,” Gup said.

  “They bring their tunnel beasts!” added Murith.

  “Our teams of spring loaders are ready!” said Gib. “Our javelins can pierce any serpent and wyrm tunnelers' scaly hides!”

  “We have gnomes at all the main tunnel areas that lead here, to the Sanctuary,” said Gup. “And we know of the soft rock they can tunnel through. We have eyes there too! Tunneling wyrms are like gnomes – tough on rock and can take pressure but weak to piercing steel.”

  “After that, we have our counterattack ready,” King Alfred said. Loranna and Cory stood nearby and nodded.

  “Are you sure you want to put the boys and girls in harm's way?” asked Lord Dunther.

  Loranna rolled her eyes.

  “You will feign attacks and shoot from a distance,” said Dunther. “The gnomes will dig tunnels up from the mines, into the fields of their encampment. They'll be a good distance away. Loranna and her archers will use those to setup positions to shower the bugbears with arrows from both sides. Cory and his spearmen will protect them from any immediate attacks. Hedor and Kurik, with their men, will guard those openings so the children... err... archers and spearmen can hastily retreat.”

  “We will chisel away at them!” King Gup added.

  Dunther nodded. Murith elbowed Gorham. He and Murith finally nodded when Dunther looked back at them. Dunther then rested a hand on Alfred's shoulder.

  Alfred, seeming to breathe in from a nightmare trance, met Dunther's eyes. Courage crossed between their looks.

  “Yes, each of my knights will lead a team to defend the tunnels,” King Alfred finally said. “Three groups will fan out in the areas where the tunnels meet and come back to the Sanctuary.”

  All nodded.

  “What are they waiting for?” Pep said, using his spyglass from a small opening on the hill.

  The bugbears had a vast encampment spread in the valley leading up to the mine entrance. Their twenty large wagons were positioned in groups in the field. Bugbears were busily chopping wood and setting up campfires there.

  “They are warming themselves up,” Gib said. Both surveyed the area and realized they had a long wait. “The wyrms they have in those wagons need to be warmed up.”

  “The earth will do that!” said Pep.

  “Aye, but not the surface. It's quite cold and will slow them down. These seasons the humans speak of, I hope the spring one comes soon...”

  “Wait a minute! Look'ee there!”

  Gib pulled up his own spyglass. The bugbears were digging ditches around the wagons and pouring charcoal embers around the bases of them.

  “Are they cooking the wyrms for a meal, then?” Pep asked.

  “Wyrms can handle that heat easily. They can handle cold too. This seems like a lot of trouble for cave wyrms. And besides, how would they lead them? Wyrms aren't known to have any mind to give orders to. They can't be trained or can they?”

  “We better inform the teams in the tunnels!”said Pep, slapping Gib on the back.

  They scurried back from the lookout hole and hurried through the tunnels. They came upon gnomes guarding a passageway. Kurik and his men were there. Dunther and Gorham were looking at a map to position them in the right places.

  “They're doing something up there!” Pep said.

  “Very informative!” said Gib, with noticeable sarcasm. “They are warming the copper wagons with charcoal, perhaps warming the wyrms up, getting them ready. But wyrms don't need warming, methinks.”

  “Can you get in closer to have a look?” Dunther asked. “Are there any tunnels that are near the wagons?”

  “Aye yes, but it will be dangerous.” Everyone looked at Gib. He gulped. “But we can do it.”

  All nodded in relief. Gib elbowed Pep, who reluctantly followed.

  King Alfred, King Gup and Verboden arrived in the tunnels where they had the staging area.

  Dunther spoke first, “King Alfred and King Gup, Gib and Pep are going to scout closer to get a better look at the copper wagons. It appears the bugbears are preparing the wyrms for an attack.”

  King Gup smiled, as he saw his fellow gnome troopers oiling and loading their javelin devices.

  The gnomes split into teams guarded by some of Kurik’s and Hedor's men. Different members came up to look at the map to discern where they would set up their defensive positions.

  King Gup approached King Alfred and tried to pat him on the shoulder but ended up patting him on the lower back. “Don't worry, my boy king! We've dealt with cave wyrms many times. These spring loaders will do the trick.”

  Another gnome spoke up, “And cave wyrm is quite tasty!”

  “Earthy... but tasty,” Gup said. “Am I right, gnome troopers?”

  The gnomes laughed heartily in anticipation.

  King Alfred gritted his teeth, looking at Dunther and Gorham. They wore old goblin armour, fitted tight for the tunnels.

  “When will your new armour be ready?”

  “Any day now, my King,” said Dunther. “The work for the javelin loaders and arrows took priority and was time consuming. We are testing the fits shortly.”

  “Well, I hope you do not need them this very hour,” Verboden added.

  “I am not so sure they brought cave wyrms,” Alfred said.

  Pep and Gib crawled up past an old scaffolding used by men long ago. Hedor and his men never reached this one. They tapped the rock and
listened intently.

  “It's this way,” Pep whispered.

  Gib nodded as they ascended the rock wall and fit themselves into a tiny tunnel. They had to squeeze in and begin digging through soil and sod. The earthy mud didn't seem to bother them much.

  “I kind of like the taste,” Pep said, spitting out mud as he pulled clods down into the tunnel to make way for the ascent. “Not as tasty as the uppity's apple cobbler.. ohhyyy...”

  Gib was busy above him, shoveling soil downwards. Any human would have panicked in such a tight space, but to a gnome it was as comfortable as a thick blanket and pillows.

  Gib soon hit ice and snow and looked down at Pep, giving him the “shhh” signal. Pep nodded, silently scooping away more sod to fall below him.

  Gib got up as close as he could to the hardened snow to listen. He carefully scooped an opening, closed one eye and peered through the crystalline substrate. He could see bugbears moving all around him, represented by fractured snowy reflections in his icy field of view. On one side of the refractions was a large copper-toned shape.

  “A wagon,” he whispered.

  Pep nodded as he squiggled in next to Gib near the surface.

  Gib carefully tapped an opening through the snow to get a better view. Suddenly the snow covered ground smashed wide open, and a flurry of snowflakes and chilled air rushed in. Gib and Pep ducked. The void revealed the huge copper wagon towering before them and several bugbears stomping through with hot coals on the end of big bladed pole-arms.

  As they tried to focus on what was happening, the sound of bugbears growling and barking at each other, the roar of commands to hurry up and get more coals, and the stomping of furry clawed paws rushed in. Eventually, they settled into a good position, hidden by the snow. The bugbears' line of sight was far above their small hole and the terrain was so trodden, that many holes and snow clumps made their opening seem common. They could now see the bugbears churning out charcoal and pouring it into trenches around several wagons.

  Icicles and frost on the wagons were melting, the water flowing down copper gutters away from the charcoal.

  “Get that gutter away from the coal! Don't want to put out the fire!” a bugbear yelled.

  Another bugbear swiveled the gutter pipe so the chilly melted water was diverted away from the warming charcoal and flowed right into the gnomes’ lookout hole. It was the iciest of ice water! The gnomes screeched. The bugbear turning the pipe looked about, wondering what the noise was. Gib covered Pep's mouth as both shivered from the drenching.

  The bugbear growled and jerked the gutter pipe aside so he could see better. He knew he had heard something. He watched water pouring out of the pipe. Then he swung it back. Gib squealed as the icy water poured in again. The bugbear shook the gutter and heard the squeals again. This time neither Pep or Gib could control themselves. The bugbear swung the gutter back and forth and saw that it squealed each time he moved it. He did it more quickly. The squeals came quicker.

  “Quit playing with that gutter!”

  “It squeaks!” the bugbear growled.

  “Oh, it squeaks?! It squeaks?! What a fracas! Get back to work!” A larger bugbear ran up and began to whip the other. But he took a look at the gutter and shook it. The two bugbears heard faint squeals with each movement of the pipe.

  “It squeaks...” he smacked the smaller one, who shrugged and went off. He snorted and lumbered off to yell at others.

  Pep and Gib shook uncontrollably as the water continued to trickle into their hole. “Not sure I like this winter thing that the sun does,” Pep said shivering.

  Gib grabbed a rock and threw it up at the pipe. It twanged on the pipe, knocking it away to spill its icy liquid somewhere else. With all the noises of laboring and grunting bugbears, the incident went unnoticed.

  While shivering, the gnomes tried to wipe water off themselves, but they were surrounded by mud and snow.

  “I've had enough of this,” Gib said. “I'm getting a closer look before we freeze to death!” Pep nodded, quivering as his teeth chattered.

  Gib climbed out of the hole and crawled through snow toward the warm trench. He shivered in the snow while bugbears lumbered by with more charcoal. Then he neared the trench and could feel the heat. The area had a large mound of burning embers so most of the bugbears had moved on to other sides of the wagon.

  Gib could see steam rising from the wagon and the icicles and frost nearly gone. He looked back for Pep at the hole but could not see him. He called out cautiously. “Pep?”

  “Yep?” Pep was right next to him on the other side.

  Gib jumped. “You scared me!”

  “I scared you? Bugbears, giant bear, a big scary wagon full of deadly cave wyrms, and I scared you?”

  “Well, startled,” said Gib with a shrug.

  “Well, the coals are warm,” said Pep, warming his cold hands.

  “Stay down,” Gib barked softly. Both were freezing. Gib stretched out his neck and looked under the wagon. “Under the wagon, there's no coal. Look!”

  Sure enough, under the bottom of the wagon was just melted snow and puddles. The trench had the coal.

  “Well, they ain't cooking what's inside,” said Pep.

  “They're just warming them up,” Gib said. “I'm going in.”

  “What?”

  “I'm going under, under the wagon.”

  Pep peered about in fear. The bugbears were busy chopping wood, burning wood and getting charcoal around a couple of wagons. Others were tending the oxen. Still others were on patrol. But right where they were at least, it seemed clear.

  Gib quickly leapt over the charcoal and under the wagon, rolling into puddles of melted snow.

  “Gib? Are you dead?”

  “Almost,” replied Gib, lying flat and smiling. “It's sooo warm.”

  “Ain't got time for that!” whispered Pep.

  Gib rose from his brief warm dream and pulled out his small hammer. He tapped the bottom of the wagon and listened. He looked to and fro, trying to hear. He tapped again. He wasn't sure. He thought he heard a scraping sound.

  Pep suddenly rolled in with Gib, looking frantic. Under the wagon they were well hidden.

  Pep pulled out his small pike hammer. “Should we take a look?”

  Gib nodded eagerly. Both, on their backs, aimed their pike hammers up at the wagon bottom.

  Just then they heard a loud scraping within, and all across the bottom they could hear things drop. The wagon shuddered with each landing. The copper floor seemed to dent a little. It had a myriad of scouring marks, nicks and dings from its long journey, but new ones were forming.

  Then, suddenly, two long jagged talons pierced the copper on either side of them. Tearing through the copper, these brutal claws began closing in on them. The gnomes stared wide-eyed at each other and then swiftly crawled out of the way.

  The talons met and suddenly ripped upward, creating a hole in the copper. Pep and Gib stared with even wider eyes – if that was possible. They could hear chitter-chatter in the hole, and many things scraping and echoing against metal. They crept back as close to the trench as they could.

  Suddenly, more talons reached through the opening and ripped it open even more.

  “Those aren't cave wyrms?!” Pep said.

  “Mandibles!” said Gib, pointing.

  Giant insect-like jaws ripped through the copper as if it were pastry crust. Suddenly, a strange creature with a screw-like beak and many appendages shot down into the dirt. It dug a hole so fast that Pep and Gib were stunned.

  “Did you get a good look?” Gib asked.

  Pep shook his head. “Nope. You?”

  “No!” said Gib, trying to peer closer.

  Giant insect mandibles dropped into the hole, one after the other. Dozens passed through quickly.

  “What are those? What?”

  Gib snuck closer. Pep tried to pull him back.

  One creature stopped at the hole and twisted its head back and forth, between the copp
er hole and the ground. It twittered and flicked its antennae towards Gib. He deftly tried to avoid the antennae as they flicked rapidly about. But it touched him and suddenly shuddered as it reared its mandibles. It was the size of a large squat pig. Its head was encased in chitin armour and had two devastating-looking jagged mandibles.

  “Hormigs!” Pep yelled.

  “What's a hormig?!” Gib asked, frantic.

  Pep pointed... “That! Giant ants! Giant ants!! Get back!”

  Gib quickly crawled back as Pep rolled over the charcoal and into the snow. The hormig squeezed and scurried under the wagon. Gib leapt over the charcoal to reach the snow but slammed down hard against the sludgy ground.

  Pep looked over and saw that the hormig had just caught Gib's boot with its mandible. Pep leapt back as Gib struggled to get free. The ant pulled Gib and then began smoking immensely as it suddenly caught fire. It squealed, engulfed in flames birthed from the charcoal trench.

  Pep quickly yanked Gib, and they crawled through the snow to their opening to the tunnels.

  Bugbears ran over to see what was amiss. They saw the ant smoldering in the fire. One spotted what looked like a small boot. He reached to get it, but the ant's blazing mandible dropped and engulfed it in flame. The bugbear shrugged, unsure.

  Gib and Pep ran as fast as they could through the Underworld. Knowing exactly where to go, they leapt across chasms and clefts to get there in record time. The rendezvous was a large cave with many tunnels leading to defensive positions. Gib and Pep arrived to see Dunther and Kurik waiting with their crew of gnome spring-loaders.

  “Hormigs! Mandibles! Not cave wyrms!”

  “What?” Dunther asked.

  “Giant ants!”

  “Where are they?”

  The answer came quickly. Out of the wall, above them, came a chitinous drill, spewing rock and dust. Everyone backed off except the gnome team, which stepped forward with two spring-loaders ready to fire.

  “Warn the others!” Dunther screamed, “Go!” He pushed Gib and Pep. They nodded and ran away.

  Kurik and his men fanned out with spears, pickaxes and steel shields, ready to protect the gnomes from any close encounters.