by R J Hanson
“We must move,” Eldryn said finally. “I’m sure that bonfire we started in the outer room will be attracting onlookers before long.”
“We should pick a spot to regroup if we get separated,” Ashcliff said. “We must get the book and hourglass out of here and out of Dawn and Yorketh’s grasp. I can do that, but it means leaving the two of you behind.”
“The priority is getting those artifacts to safety,” Roland said, now with a deeper understanding of what they carried. “We are twice the warriors that we were when we entered this cavern. We will fight our way clear, and if luck, and Bolvii, are with us, we will bring Dawn and Yorketh out and in chains.”
“The campsite where that thing ate Roland’s horse?” Ashcliff asked.
“It sounds like as good a meeting place as any,” Roland said. “I’m sure we can all find it and it should be far enough from these mountains and the creatures that dwell here.”
“Very well then. I’ll see you there if we don’t meet before then.”
Ash trotted across the room and disappeared through the door on the other side. Roland and Eldryn walked with more confidence now bearing the weapons of the ancient Great Men. They strode to the door leading out of the outer room. As they approached the door four drow slipped into the room with them, weapons drawn.
chapter Vi
The Test of New Allies
ELDRYN DREW HIS NEW BLADE AND HOISTED his fine shield. Roland pulled Swift Blood form the scabbard on his back. The hallways would be too confined for battle with a Great Sword, but in this room where the monster still smoldered, he had plenty of room.
The drow fanned out. One carried a broad sword, two others carried paired short swords, and the last sported twin maces. They began to circle Eldryn and Roland.
The dark elf with the twin maces started in at Roland feigning with one mace and striking with the other. Roland was amazed at the speed with which the sword in his hands responded to his will. He slapped aside the feign and was still able to parry the strike with ease. Roland found that he was moving much more swiftly than his elven opponent. After the two parries Roland struck the dark elf on the right shoulder. The mortal blow cut the elf from shoulder to navel in one smooth stroke shearing through his silent chain armor like paper.
The cavern elf with the broad sword executed an exact thrust toward Eldryn. Eldryn dipped his shield and battered that attack away. He swung his Shrou-Sheld in a side cutting arc that the drow attempted to block. The swiftness of the cut and the weight of the weapon knocked the drow from his feet when the weapons collided. The dark elf scrambled to his feet barely in enough time to parry Eldryn’s second attack.
The two dark elves wielding paired short swords stepped in circles around Roland. Roland found that, due to his new helmet, he had no trouble watching both attackers at the same time even though one was before and the other behind him. Roland feigned forward knowing the drow behind him would attempt an attack at his exposed back. Without turning his head Roland clearly saw the double thrust coming at his lower back. Roland spun the mighty weapon under his arm and thrust out backwards with his smoke colored blade. The reach of the Shrou-Hayn was more than a full yard further than that of the short swords coming at his back. The smoke colored tip of the Great sword gouged a gory hole in the dark elf’s chain armor above where his heart lay. The elf slid from Roland’s blade lifeless.
Eldryn continued to force the drow on his heels, pushing him back. The drow looked above him to the mighty rafters that supported the room and kept the weight of the earth from collapsing in on them. With remarkable agility, and magical assistance, the elf leapt up the twenty feet to the rafter, catching hold and hanging from there. Eldryn considered stringing his bow but realized he would not have time. He watched as the dark elf smiled and drew a small handheld crossbow from his side. The drow whispered something and the crossbow drew and loaded itself magically. Eldryn knew that he and Roland would be dead at this coward’s hands. Roland would be able to strike the hanging archer from the ground but Roland had his hands full. Anger, an anger that Eldryn was unaccustomed to, burned through him and his arm stabbed the blade of the Shrou-Sheld high in the air. Lightning built rapidly in the cross piece of the sword, danced down the length of the blade, and ripped from the tip of the Shrou-Sheld. The blinding light continued through the dark near the ceiling and blasted into the frail frame of the dark elf. The remains of its corpse collapsed, smoldering, to the stone floor.
Roland heard the lightning blast from behind him and through the magical qualities of his new helmet he watched as Eldryn seemed to throw a bolt of lightning from his sword into the hanging would-be archer. Roland was, however, very busy with the final drow. This dark elf seemed to match his quickness and every move that he made. They parried and thrust back and forth at the speed of thought. Roland saw the drow chewing on something and a familiar smell came to his nose. The mushrooms! This drow had a mushroom like the ones that Ashcliff had given Roland and Eldryn.
Roland had the advantage of a significant reach on the drow, but the dark elf was very skilled. He continued to work inside the arc of Roland’s blade. So close to Roland that Roland did not have the chance to bring the force of his mighty weapon against the drow. Roland found himself parrying and striking with only the first twelve inches of the blade from the hilt of his Shrou-Hayn.
It was not honorable fighting, but as Velryk had said, ‘Fight honorable men with honor. Fight evil men with everything you have.’ Roland parried a double chop from the short swords and, instead of making a short strike with the blade as he had been doing, he reversed the majestic weapon at the hilt and struck the drow in the face with the pommel of the heavy weapon. Roland’s pommel strike mashed the dark elf’s nose flat into his face. The drow staggered back briefly blinded and parrying wildly. Roland stepped back away from the cavern elf and finally got the distance he needed.
Roland swept the Great sword in a rapid arc over his head and cut down with magnificent force. The dark elf, vision blurred, saw something and he raised his swords to block. Roland’s momentum forced the drow’s short swords down and the end of his blade sunk eight bone-searing inches into the top of the drow’s head parting his eyes.
“Did you see that?” Eldryn exclaimed.
“El, I think I see everything,” Roland said with an astonished tone in his voice.
“We’d better get moving.”
“El, you remember those mushrooms Ash gave us?”
“Yeah.”
“They are potent. You might want to consider using one if we get into very much trouble.”
“Is that what caused your serpent like speed?”
“No, my speed found its source in this mighty weapon. I think the drow I fought at the end, however, was chewing on one.”
“I’ll keep it in mind,” Eldryn said. “Now, let’s get out of this place.”
“Agreed.”
Eldryn slung his shield over his shoulder and repositioned his pack. He took up the lit torch in his left hand and continued to carry the Shrou-Sheld in his right.
Roland sheathed Swift Blood in its scabbard on his back. He took his new black glass axe in his right hand and his old iron one in his left.
The two young warriors started off again into the dark hallways. Eldryn led the way with his torch held high as his eyes searched their path for the traps Ashcliff had pointed out earlier.
“Shouldn’t I lead?” Roland asked. “This helm is amazing, El’. I can see through the dark.”
“Does it shine off of the metal wire?”
“No,” Roland asked more than replied.
“Well, the torch does,” Eldryn said. “Now that I have an idea what to watch for, I can see the shine off of the wires and plate hinges.”
Roland nodded his head and followed with an axe in each hand. He felt much more comfortable now that his helmet allowed him to see through the heavy black curtains of dark surrounding them.
As they walked Roland saw a panel on the
ceiling above, cleverly disguised as rock, behind them slid open. He kept his stride not wanting to alert the ambushers to his observations.
Roland watched as the first dark elf lowered himself to the ground behind them in absolute silence. Roland had no doubts that this warrior would have murdered them easily in the black silence that surrounded them if not for his helm.
Roland mentally prepared himself and visualized his first and second move. What happened after that would depend on the dark elves. As the second drow began lowering himself Roland wheeled and swung an overhead cut toward the drow’s unprotected right leg.
The black glass of the lava axe sliced through the dark elf’s leather pants and continued through the muscles in his thigh. Roland, in his inexperience, counted that drow as no longer a danger and focused his next attack on the first one to drop into the hallway.
Roland made a quick cut with his iron axe at the other drow. The drow, a broad sword in his hand, parried the attack and stepped back quickly drawing Roland directly under the passage in the roof of the hallway.
The dark elf with the severe cut on his leg had pulled himself back up into the passage beyond the tall man’s reach. His leg was badly wounded but medical attention would have to wait. He prepared his short sword and dropped from the hidden passage onto the big man as soon as he was in view.
Eldryn heard the sound of battle behind him and whirled around. He saw Roland advancing toward a crouching figure. Eldryn moved up beside Roland when Roland suddenly yelled and threw himself into the far wall.
Eldryn didn’t know what trouble Roland had but he had to trust in him to handle it while he took care of the drow before him.
Eldryn discovered that although he was much stronger than his opponent, the small dark elf was a very skilled fencer, and very quick. Eldryn attacked and parried furiously trying to keep the talented drow at bay. He thought of the mushrooms in his pack but with blade in one hand and torch in the other…Torch, Eldryn thought to himself. Elves see in the dark by infravision! They see heat!
Eldryn began to use the torch in the same fashion he had been taught to use a dagger paired with a sword. The drow handled the addition of the attacks from the torch with ease. Eldryn waited for the right sequence and then it came.
Eldryn, leaving his left flank exposed, swung the torch in his left hand from his right to his left. The blade of the Shrou-Sheld came in following the blinding heat from the torch.
The dark elf facing Eldryn knew the ancient blade of the Shrou-Sheld was cutting toward him. However, he couldn’t see the attack through the intense heat glaring from the torch. He attempted to parry the strike, but his broad sword traveled too highly and the edge of Eldryn’s weapon cut deeply into the dark elf’s side.
Eldryn attempted a follow up attack but the skilled drow parried and countered, forcing Eldryn back. Eldryn went back in toward the drow and he noticed that the dark elf was moving much slower. He could see the wetness of blood on his opponent’s lips.
Eldryn pressed his attacks and backed the drow away while he moved around him to put the dark elf between him and the wall of the hallway. Eldryn thrust the torch toward the face of the tiring drow. The dark elf slapped the torch from Eldryn’s hand with his broad sword. Eldryn caught the broad sword with the blade of his Shrou-Sheld and forced both blades wide. He quick-stepped in close to the drow and caught him by the throat.
Eldryn gripped the drow’s throat in his callused hand. The drow clawed at the hand at his neck and struggled to get his broad sword free. Those efforts dwindled as the might in Eldryn’s powerful arm squeezed the life from the battling dark elf.
Roland felt the canary weight of the drow’s body as the dark elf dropped onto him from above. Roland cursed himself for counting the foe out when he had not made sure that he was incapacitated first. Nevertheless, when the drow fell on him it startled him to his core. In those slow-moving moments Roland also had time to realize that the helmet did not show him what was directly above him. That was a fact he would have to remember, if he survived this mistake.
Roland dropped his iron axe and began grasping for the dark elf that had dropped onto his back. He was unable to get a hold on the drow and his foe would soon be finding a home for the short sword he wielded, likely in Roland’s neck or chest.
Roland resorted to the only attack he could think of. He slammed his four-hundred-pound frame into the stone wall, trapping and crushing the drow’s frail body in between. The dark elf was resilient, but after several blows he fell from Roland’s back, unconscious.
Roland looked at the drow on the floor of the hallway. He would be sure this time. Roland retrieved his iron hand axe and sliced the throat of the fallen dark elf.
“Are you injured?” Eldryn asked.
“No. You?”
“No,” Eldryn replied. “I think I could use a good meal though.”
Eldryn took a water skin from his pack and handed it to Roland. Roland took a long drink and handed the skin back. Eldryn rinsed his mouth with the refreshing, if warm, water. He took two drinks from the skin and replaced it in the pack.
“I think we still have a long way to go,” Roland said.
“I’m afraid that you are right.”
The two embattled friends continued on into the damp dark with Eldryn’s torch a lonely glow of light against the black that surrounded them.
They traveled for hours through the maze of hallways and tunnels marking the stone with Roland’s iron axe. Several times they had to back track and begin again. Three times they feared they were lost, but luck, or Fate herself, saved them when they would see a mark on the stone that Roland had left.
Roland’s helm also allowed them to avoid several pit falls. In one of these Roland made a surprising discovery.
“El,” Roland said. “Someone is in there.”
“A drow?”
“I think a prisoner,” Roland said. “Hello there in the hole,” Roland said with his voice raised slightly.
“I heard you come, but I have heard many things,” came from the deep pit. The voice was cracked. Whoever it was spoke in the common language of Lethanor, but with a distinct accent that neither Roland nor Eldryn could place.
“Are you real or more ghosts of my mind?” The voice was harsh and low. Roland heard a man who was afraid to hope.
“We are real enough to pull you from your pit,” Roland replied. “We’ll throw you down a torch and then lower a rope.”
“Do not bother with the torch. Drop the rope and may whatever gods you worship bless you for it.”
Roland did as the voice requested. He dropped the rope for what he estimated was forty feet before it struck the floor. He held tight to the rope and then a light weight pulled at the rope’s end.
“Are you secure?” Roland asked.
“I am.”
Roland and Eldryn began to pull, noticing that the man, whoever he might be, was very light, probably less that one hundred and twenty pounds. Roland and Eldryn saw the old man that came from the deep hole, which turned out to be another cavern altogether. They forgot their own woes when they looked upon what was left of the man. They guessed that he was Slandik by his look and by the bone charm that he wore on a leather strap around his neck. Roland remembered reading of the tribes of the tundra of Janis. Mostly a nomadic people of will and excellent hunters and sailors. This one had long blonde and gray hair and was clad in worn animal skins. His eyes were milky white. He was blind. The old man was built on a large frame for a common man but was emaciated and starved.
“How fare you, old man?” Roland asked.
“I have been worse,” the old man replied. “I am Lucas. I come from the cold spans of Janis. I came here looking for glory and riches. I found only darkness.”
Roland noticed that the pouch the old man wore was full of gems, mingled with rocks. He carried a hand axe that showed long and terrible use.
“How long have you wondered in these darks?” Eldryn asked.
“It was
the year of the birth of your Prince Ralston when I came here,” Lucas said. “How long ago was that?”
“Prince Ralston has reached his twenty second year,” Roland replied. He thought Lucas would weep, but there was a steel in this man that was extraordinary. “We will lead you clear of this place, Lucas. We will see you safe back to your people.”
“I would be eternally grateful and in your debt.”
Eldryn dug in his pack and produced the remains of a bear steak, part of a potato, and a handful of nuts. He placed those in Lucas’ hands along with a water skin.
“Meat,” Lucas said taking his first bite of the steak. “Real meat and not rat or snake. May all the gods bless you.”
“Take my hand,” Eldryn offered.
“I have survived these years alone. I hear, and I smell. I eat what I catch, and those dark elves haven’t taken me yet. I’ll be fine. Just show me the path from this place if you know it. And gods bless you for the meat.”
Roland led the three down the dark corridors. Eldryn found that, although blind, Lucas moved with the grace of a cat and passed through these halls as silent as the drow that inhabited it.
Voices drifted to them from one of the corridors ahead of them. They made a left turn and discovered the room that they first entered when coming into the caverns of Nolcavanor. Eldryn remembered well the door on the north wall. A door that led to many crossbow bolts. They discerned that the voices were coming from the east, and one of them was Ashcliff’s.
“I will go first because I can see in the black,” Roland whispered. “You remain here with the torch and watch over Lucas. I will continue into the next room and see what the matter is. Then I will come back here, and we can decide our actions from there.”
Eldryn gave Roland a doubtful look cocking one eye brow.
“You are right,” Roland said. “I probably wouldn’t come back. Very well, if the situation requires combat, I will yell out to you before I charge in. Fair enough?”