Deepforge

by R. J. Washburn

  The dwarves were ready, but everyone else questioned the ‘rear’ comment.

  Grognor explained, “There’s only one way Rebecca could have gotten up here directly from Deepforge. All other paths are blocked by ice this time of year. She would have either had to come up the valley and scale a thousand foot glacier wall, or through an old cooled lava tube. It’s tight, but she would have been able to do it.”

  “Well, if she was a traitor, why didn’t she just get the Drakmids to come up that way?” Lucas asked.

  “Because,” Grognor explained, “the only way to get to it is via the route through the valley and up the glacier face, or the way I just described to Eugene. It would be pointless, anyway. The tube is quite narrow. We’ll have to go in single file.”

  “Wouldn’t that be a tactical disadvantage for us too, then?” Bruno asked.

  Grognor smiled. “No, for you see, the Deep Level Engineers have been working on a little surprise for our population. We’ve been getting a bit crowded, and I had them working on five deeper levels in secret. We were going to unveil this on the first day of Summer. Not even your company knew about this.” He motioned to Devlin. “I suspect the engineers are down there, and if I know them like I think I do, have been sneaking the weaker people down in there since the war began. We’ll go in through the cooled tube and through a secret door I had built in. Once in, we will stage the attack.”

  “This is why you hadn’t seemed as concerned as we all thought you should be,” Cray reasoned.

  Grognor smiled. “Come on, let’s take back our home.”

  The forces split. Grognor’s army was on foot. Eugene and the Naw-nee had disappeared across the ridge, with all the horses. Grognor knew exactly where he was taking the army, but it was all-too obvious. Rebecca had left her footsteps in the snow leading right up to a rock outcrop about a fourth of the way up Deepforge Peak.

  “That’s it, right there. It’s a bit of a climb, but it’s nothing compared to what we’ve already experienced.” Grognor pointed.

  Everyone saw and understood. They began climbing; most of them having no problem whatsoever. The dwarves and the gnomes were right at home, climbing the rough steep rock with expert skill. The Stone Children practically sprinted up, seemingly melding into the rock itself as they went. The halflings reluctantly climbed, more sure footed than they would admit, leaving the humans to have the toughest time. Finally, they reached the outcrop.

  “Ok,” Grognor started, “I’ll go in first, leading the way. Teelena will be right behind me, then the humans. Dwarves will take up the rear, and seal the tube behind us. We don’t want anyone else to know about this passage. Are we clear?”

  Everyone nodded.

  “Good, let’s go.”

  Grognor started in, the narrow tube barely big enough for him to fit. He thought about the humans and how they were possibly going to fit. He looked back as Teelena easily walked upright. She looked behind and motioned the humans in behind her. To their surprise, the humans were remarkably flexible. They were able to hunch over, fitting easier than was expected. Grognor smiled, pleased with yet another thing the humans could do. “I’m just so amazed at how versatile you people are,” Grognor said to General Lucas. “Seems like every time I underestimate you, you prove me wrong.”

  “That’s how we’ve survived, Sire,” Lucas said with pride.

  “Indeed. Ok, listen up everyone,” Grognor began, “we won’t be using torches or any source of unneeded yellow light. This mountain has more than enough red light to light our way. You can no doubt already feel the warmth. It’s a welcome change, isn’t it? Just as soon as the tunnel gets too dark to see, the dwarves will collapse the entrance. It will allow our red sight to work. Is there anyone here who doesn’t have red sight?”

  Nobody spoke up.

  “Good. It’s rare, but there are a minority of people who are born without it. Ok, any questions?”

  One human spoke up, “Is there any chance of this tube collapsing on us?”

  Grognor nodded. “Of course there is. Anything else?”

  Nobody else spoke up.

  “Ok, follow the leader,” Grognor said, and proceed down the tube.

  As the army moved down the tunnel, it got warmer and warmer. Most of the humans were very much relieved with this fact; they were tired of the cold they had been subject to. Soon enough, it got beyond comfortable, edging on hot. It was getting too dark to see. The Stone Children were somehow moving through the lava tube with the greatest ease despite their size, as if they were part of the mountain itself.

  “Halt!” Grognor ordered. “Blow it now! Everyone cover your ears!”

  Moments later a low bone rattling blast filled the tunnel, along with a thick cloud of dust.

  “Remain calm, and everyone close your eyes. When you can start seeing shapes, then go ahead and open them again. Your red sight should be active.”

  As everyone began to open their eyes, the tunnel was bright as day. The warmth of the mountain radiated in the infrared enough that they needed no other light to see. They walked for nearly two hours until Grognor suddenly stopped. He looked back at the others, who looked forward to see what was up. He took out Victoria’s sword and shoved it into a crack in the wall, then twisted. A split second later part of the tunnel wall moved away, revealing a well made corridor. As soon as the secret door opened, they could hear the sounds of battle coming from the upper levels. Grognor stepped in and motioned everyone else to follow. He and Teelena stood just inside the corridor and waited for the rest of them. At that moment, several dwarven warriors rushed in from another part of the mountain, through the corridor, ready to fight. They stopped short when they saw the army and their leaders standing there.

  “Brother!” Selena yelled, and rushed to hug him. “Thank goodness you made it!”

  Grognor grabbed and hugged her tightly as tears once again rolled down his face. Teelena rubbed his arm.

  Selena pulled away and hugged Teelena too. “I was trying to convince Vella to take the lava tube.” She pulled away with a confused look on her face. “How did you all get here?” Then she noticed Grognor crying. “Brother! What’s wrong?!”

  Grognor grabbed and hugged her again. “Rebecca was a spy. She’s dead, Selena. I killed her.”

  Selena gasped. “Oh, gods! No! Not her!”

  “It’s true, Selena,” Teelena confirmed.

  The two siblings cried for a moment and then pulled away from each other. Selena couldn’t believe her brother, the fierce dwarven warrior-Emperor, was crying…grieving. “Grognor…” she said, not understanding what had changed. She then began to be more aware of the others around. All the races were represented, including some people she didn’t recognize. “Grognor…what’s happened? Who are these people, and who are the humans attacking us?”

  “Selena, this is Bruno. He’s leader of the Stone Children. They live northwest of us in the impassible mountains.” He then warmly introduced the leaders of the humans and everyone else.

  Selena could see something major had changed. He was being more than civil to them. “I…I don’t understand. Humans are attacking in strange armor; with their chromatic dragon allies…we didn’t even know they were humans until we saw them without their helmets…why do you travel with humans?”

  “Our enemy is not these humans. They are our friends and allies. The time of civil war is over. The metallic dragons have made that crystal clear. These…Drakmids, as we’re calling them, are from the south. That’s about all we’ve been able to figure out. They have a network of spies.” Grognor looked around at the army. “We’ve only been able to identify three: Brendon, Daemon the elf, and…our sister Rebecca. But, we’ve discovered there are more. Who they are we don’t know. But, whoever they are, they will die on sight.”

  Selena understood. “But, who are these Drakmids, and why do they attack us?”

  “Nobody knows for sure, only that they want Deepforge. They are all serve an ambiguous ‘She’. We kno
w nothing more.”

  “Actually,” Bruno chimed in, “we may know more than that, or have the potential to. Remember the antennas? I would bet Rebecca was using that to contact whoever ‘She’ is.”

  “The radios? They were all destroyed in the pulse,” Selena said.

  “Obviously not. If there were any in a shielded chamber, they could have survived. Where do you keep your radios?” Bruno asked.

  “I…I don’t know. The communications engineer is dead. We found him just outside the Great Door right before the dragons attacked,” Selena said.

  “I know where they are,” Delvin said. “They were decommissioned when the telephone system was put in place. They were obsolete. They were all dismantled to their component parts, and packed in boxes in level twenty with the portable generators.”

  “Level twenty. Makes sense. Down that low they would have been shielded from the pulse,” Bruno said.

  “So, what level are we on now?” Teelena asked, looking around at the new looking work.

  “This is level twenty five,” Selena said.

  “Wow, five below the lowest we knew about. You were right,” Teelena said, looking at Grognor.

  Explosions were heard coming from above. Light dust fell from the ceiling.

  “What the hell?” Lucas said.

  “They’ve been blasting random holes in the top level walls. It’s like they’re looking for something,” Selena said.

  “How many have we lost, Sister?”

  “I don’t know. Too many. Vella teleported many of them to Lakeshore, and the rest of us came down here and sealed it behind us. Once we left them the top level, the battle pretty much stopped. Several of the warriors have been fighting with sneak attacks, but the Drakmids have stopped coming after us.”

  “So, Vella’s gone?”

  “Yea, so are all the metallics. The Nords showed up and began attacking the dragons and Drakmids near the southern end of Deepforge valley. The war continues there, but they’ve left us alone.”

  “Well, this confirms what we were told. It’s the citadel they want, not us,” Teelena said.

  “Hmmm…” Bruno said out loud, obviously in deep thought.

  “What? Does this mean anything to you?” Grognor asked.

  “Maybe, but…it wouldn’t make sense.”

  “Well, are you going to tell us?”

  “Actually…no. I can’t. This is something I read about in the future, and would explain something else, too…but…it can’t be. It’s an anachronism.”

  “Bruno, if you know something, then you need to tell us,” Teelena urged.

  Bruno looked at them all, questions on their faces, desperate for an answer. “This could rip the fabric of the future apart…no, this isn’t right. Sire, there’s something here, hidden in Deepforge. I can’t tell you what, because if I’m right, it’s not supposed to be discovered until the time of…the Dragon King.”

  Grognor sighed in frustration. “That again.”

  “No, but, you see, that would mean that whoever is trying to get Deepforge…knows the future…oh… fuck…me!” Bruno looked genuinely frightened.

  “Bruno! Tell us! If you know, you must tell us!” Grognor ordered.

  “It’s very complicated, but I may know who it is. In my past, I had a run-in with this creature before. If it is her, we’re totally screwed.”

  “The radios!” Delvin said. “If we can get to the radio room, we may be able to talk to this…‘She’ whoever she is.”

  “Yes. Yes! If I can talk to her, I can tell you for sure one way or another. Where’s the radio room?” Bruno asked.

  “It’s in the high tower, above level one, on the Great Hall,” Delvin said with disappointment in his voice.

  “We’ll never make it. The Great Hall is full of Drakmids. Damn,” Selena said.

  “You said they weren’t interested in fighting us anymore,” Grognor said.

  “Well, yea, but we still attack them to keep them busy enough not to totally destroy the citadel with their explosions,” Selena said.

  “Perfect. Let’s get up to level two and arrange a distraction,” Grognor said.

  “That’s going to be…tricky,” Selena said. “We sealed up the path to the upper twenty levels, and the elevator has been disabled.”

  “No problem. We can work stone like nobody else,” Bruno said. “Not sure how we’ll be able to handle this heat, though.”

  “Well, let’s get this done,” Grognor said, just as another blast was heard. Slightly thicker dust rained down from the ceiling.

  They all went into the commons area where the refugees were very happy to see their Emperor. Some of the warriors’ families embraced them.

  Grognor let the reunion go on for a little while, then he address them all. “Everyone, we need to find out who’s behind this attack, and address that issue as best as we can. These are Stone Children, and they are our friends. The humans of the Deepforge Empire are our full allies, and also our friends. These humans who attack us and their chromatic dragons are from another land. Get that through your heads and know it’s true. Now, everyone make ready. We’ll be moving out as soon as we can get through the blockade.”

  Bruno and the Stone Children worked with the stone blockage the dwarves had created like it was nothing more than foam bricks. Meticulously, they fashioned a good sized passage into level twenty. On that level, it was completely deserted. The army then moved up the levels, checking for any interlopers as they went. There were none. When they finally got up to level two, they were met with an army of exhausted dwarves, happy to see their leader.

  “Ok, you all need to rest. We’ll take it from here,” Grognor started,” Cray and the Stone Children will form a diversion with one of our dwarven detachments. When they do, Bruno and I will get into the radio room with Delvin. I don’t know how much time we’ll need, but the diversion needs to buy us as much time as possible.”

  “Sire, we’re ready to help with whatever you need,” one of the standing dwarf warriors said.

  “Good. Then your mission is to keep any of the interlopers from descending,” Grognor said.

  Everyone got ready. Cray and a detachment of Stone Children, dwarves and others suddenly attacked the Drakmids on the far side of the Great Hall. The Drakmids immediately stopped chiseling at the wall and engaged them in battle. Blades crashed against blade, flesh and bone. It suddenly became a war zone.

  “Now, let’s go,” Grognor said.

  The three of them quickly ran across the Great Hall to the tower. Inside stood a Drakmid warrior standing guard. He never knew what hit him, who was Bruno and his iron fists. The warrior went out like a light to the afterlife. They quickly ran up the staircase to the radio room. They could hear the hiss of static before they got there.

  “Look!” Devlin said, pointing at the radio. “It was left on. She must have been in a hurry. We can probably assume it’s still locked on the correct frequency. Let me adjust the plate a bit…”

  He sat down and turned some dials, watching the analog meters deflect. Bruno saw what he was doing, and knew from his wife’s training what the gnome was trying to do. He even recognized the model.

  “This is from Earth,” Bruno said. “How’s this possible?”

  “Earth? Hardly. This is one of my models. I designed it myself,” Devlin said.

  Bruno was confused. “But, this is… never mind.”

  “Ok,” Devlin said. It’s ready. Just push this button to talk, and release to receive.”

  Bruno nodded, already knowing full well how it worked. He recognized the model and brand of the desk microphone too. He knew something was out of whack. He shrugged it off and sat down. He pressed the button and spoke, “This is Deepforge, is anyone there?”

  Only more static and white noise was heard.

  “Hello? This is Deepforge. Is anyone there?”

  A male human voice replied, “This is Lake Palace. Who is this?”

  “This is Deepforge. We need to spe
ak to her.”

  “Who… is this?”

  “This is Bruno of the Stone Children, who am I speaking to?”

  “This is Jerry… stand by…”

  A few moments passed, and then a female voice was heard speaking a strange language, “Bruno, old friend! Or should I say Michael? How are you feeling these days? A bit…under the weather?”

  Bruno leaned back, his skin a shade paler. “Ah, hell. I recognize that voice. It is her.”

  She came back on, “Are you there, First One?”

  Bruno pressed the button. “Obsidian. How did you get here?”

  She made a point to transmit a laugh. “Oh! Wouldn’t you like to know? What you should be asking yourself is, how do you get this lovely coin away from me!”

  Grognor and Delvin looked at each other, not understanding the conversation.

  “What language is that?” Grognor asked.

  “I don’t know. Never heard it before,” Delvin said.

  Bruno looked over at them. “It’s called English, a language from Earth.”

  They were not concerned with his answer. They were very concerned with how he looked. He had terror in his eyes. The radio sounded again with the woman’s voice.

  “Hey, are you still there?”

  “What are you doing here, Obsidian? Why Deepforge?”

  “Oh, please. You can call me ‘My Queen’, or ‘Black Queen’, or ‘your Majesty’. That would be fine. I like the idea of you kneeling down at my feet.”

  “Answer me!”

  “You don’t give me orders, rock boy, or whatever they call your race. I think you have a pretty good idea what I want. It’s just a matter of time before my warriors find it. You’ve already lost this war, Michael. I’ve got more people coming, too. We’ll remake this world in my image, and your future will cease to exist!”

  Bruno stepped back from the radio with a look of panic on his face. “Sire…sire…”

  “Bruno, what is it?” Grognor asked, also starting to panic.

  Bruno began rambling on in different languages, apparently talking to himself. He was losing his mind from fear. “My contemporary…no… he wouldn’t be able to change, either…maybe Jacinth…no… who knows where he’s floating…my wife? I don’t even know how to contact her…”