Metal Mage 4

Home > Other > Metal Mage 4 > Page 13
Metal Mage 4 Page 13

by Eric Vall


  Compared to tracks, this was a cake walk.

  “How’s that?” I asked the lead dwarf.

  The eyes of all of the dwarves were blank and stared from their places both near the rubble and beside me. A low whistle came from somewhere, but I couldn’t tell where.

  Thrungrig cleared his throat. “Well, that was … ”

  I didn’t know what he was going to say, but it turned into a grumble as he shifted his heavy boots.

  “Yep,” he finally continued. “That’ll do. Just uh … make a couple thousand more and that’ll be … that’ll be good.” He nodded.

  I smirked and cracked my neck as I turned back to my work. At least I hadn’t made a complete ass of myself today.

  Aurora sent me an amused look and let the flames curl around her finger tips.

  We worked like this for another two hours before the dwarves signaled for us to stop. They were a hard driving group of workers, but I could certainly respect their knowledge. The rubble was cleared a good twenty feet into the tunnel we’d started, and no one had been killed in the process. We also had about five thousand rock bolts and wedges formed and ready.

  Cayla and Shoshanne called everyone over for dinner, and the dwarves were clearly surprised to find they were included in the invitation. Heaps of cured ham, bread, dried fruits, and fresh cheese waited at the edge of the locomotive, and the hungry workers quickly filled their plates. Everyone settled in, and I could hear the approval of the dwarves as they practically inhaled the fine wares. I wondered if they’d ever seen such a display up in these mountains, and I nudged Cayla to be sure she didn’t miss it.

  I grinned. “Well done.”

  She gave me a kiss on the cheek and slowly licked a drip of honey from her fingertip for me.

  The mages were stretched and settled in, their bellies full and their pride in a good night’s work clear.

  Thrungrig rose, dusted his breeches and said, “Alright. Let’s get to it.” Then he turned to Toromere and told him to grab the cart. The red haired dwarf left swiftly and returned with a cart that rattled with several torches.

  Everyone looked up, clearly confused.

  “We can rest for the night,” I offered, and I felt the ache in my shoulders against the cold wall of the cave. We’d been up since sunrise, scaled a cliff, crossed the first leg of the range, and nearly killed ourselves tunneling through the peak. After we’d righted the wrongs of the day, I could tell everyone needed a good night’s rest.

  The dwarves didn’t look like they gave a shit, though.

  “You wanna rest?” Thurngrig asked, and there was a hint of mocking in his voice. “Alright. You rest and let the dragons get ye in the mouth of this cave.”

  I sat up straighter. “The dragons?”

  “Aye.” He nodded. “They hunt once the moon rises, and there’s no doubt they’ll smell the wares you’ve been cookin’ up and come looking. Best to get a ways further on, get some shelter around us.”

  I couldn’t argue with that logic. But I could see the exhausted Terra Mages were still a little torn.

  Shoshanne’s voice rose up clear through the silence. “If you don’t need everyone at once, they can rest here in the locomotive. I haven’t over taxed myself. I can stand watch and create a barrier that will deplete the smell from the mouth of the cave.”

  Aurora looked impressed and stood beside the Aer Mage with her arm on the young woman’s shoulder. “Good thinking. I’ll stand the first watch with you to be sure everything’s fine. Mina, light the torches, and then you and Deli can rest for a while. I’ll wake you up in a few hours.”

  I rose and dusted the dirt from my own breeches. “Haragh and I will start on the tunnel. Pindor, you too. Jovion and Zerla will rest and swap out when Aurora wakes the others.”

  Pindor looked exhausted, but his joy at being among the first group was clear, and he boldly abandoned his place to join Haragh near the dwarves.

  Everyone went to their posts, and the dwarves led the way toward the tunnel head.

  Thrungrig was all business, and he ordered the dwarves to gather loads of rock bolts and wedges and leave them in piles that stretched the length of the exposed tunnel. The rocks were still stacked carefully along the sides so they supported the ceiling, which had an angry split running down its center.

  My nerves kicked up a notch as I stood beneath the crack, and I remembered the unearthly echo of the mountain opening above us only hours before.

  Haragh clapped my shoulder as he and Pindor passed, led by Toromere and two other dwarves who positioned the half-ogre ten feet from me. The red haired dwarf had Pindor take a post at the side and told him to conserve his energy ‘til he needed him. The young man looked grateful to plop back onto his back end.

  “Now,” Thurngrig instructed, “you’re gonna follow a grid. Drill the holes ninety-two centimeters apart, and one hundred and eighty-three centimeters deep, all across this arch. Then ye mount the wedge and drive the bolt in.”

  I nodded as he drew his hand through the air and across the roof of the tunnel. I swallowed, and then I let my Terra magic spark to the surface as I envisioned the dimensions and began to create holes to match the rock bolts I’d formed. I listened carefully for the sound of a crack in the walls I drilled through, but nothing shifted, so I continued quickly to finish the first arch of holes.

  The lead dwarf nodded his approval before he motioned to the pile of bolts and wedges.

  I raised several, then connected the pieces and quickly lined up three at once to drill into the holes. As I did, I could hear the rock screech against the force of the wedge, but the dwarves didn’t blink.

  When the bolts were buried to their end, Thrungrig nudged my leg. “Now, use that magic to tighten the wedge another turn or two, just to be safe.”

  I did as he instructed before being nudged onward to the next few holes. Once the first arch was finished, a few dwarves walked beneath it to inspect the work, then nodded their approval.

  “Good,” Thrungrig remarked. “Do it again.”

  I grinned. “You got it boss.”

  I couldn’t believe nothing had fallen. I continued to form holes in the rocky ceiling while the dwarves instructed Haragh to raise and shape some of the rubble from the already secured area to fill the gaping crack above us. We worked together like this for a dozen rows of bolts, and Haragh gradually removed boulders from the tunnel walls so I could continue the grid of reinforcements down to the base as well.

  Finally, the dwarves hailed for us to stop, and then they scuttled their fingers along the exposed walls with their eyes sharp and their ears close to the rocky surface. Thrungrig paced the length of the completed portion, and his torch was held high as he dragged his sights across every inch. He scowled in a way that reminded me of bosses I’d had in the past, the kind who would glower at your work, and that somehow meant you’d done good, but they’d never say it.

  Haragh and I looked at each other and waited diligently for the dwarves’ assessment.

  Finally, Thrungrig returned to us, and his scowl was gone. “Well, you’ll put the lot of us to shame at this rate, but I have to admit, you do a damn good job.” He chuckled, and the other dwarves gave their resounding approval.

  “Thank you.” A grin spread across my face as dust and dirt fell from my beard. “That’s the best compliment I’ve ever gotten, considering who it’s coming from.” I bowed my head to show my respect, and the dwarf returned the gesture.

  “Let’s get another few hundred feet on,” Haragh said, and I turned to my comrade.

  “You got it in you?” I asked with an arched eyebrow.

  “Sure do.” He bounced lightly on the balls of his feet, and I could tell the compliment had greatly improved his mood as well.

  We turned to our work, again with the dwarves there to guide us further into the tunnel. It was easy compared to lifting and guiding the heavy tracks, so we were able to work at a pace that was probably fueled by a desire to impress the dwarves even m
ore. We got to the point where we’d been forced to abandon our efforts from the cave-in, and the dwarves turned Haragh’s efforts to carving further into the mountain. Pindor roused himself from a near sleep and joined the half-ogre in the careful work under the strict direction of the dwarves, who continued to feel along the rock face periodically.

  A couple of hours on, the work suddenly became much harder, though. I realized I was breathing heavily, even when I hadn’t done enough heavy work to warrant it. I felt like my lungs couldn’t fill the way they used to, and I looked to see Haragh and Pindor had drenched their clothes, and their shoulders hunched heavily under the strain. I motioned for a break, and the dwarves leaned their weight against the rubble around us. I breathed heavily for a few minutes, then I noticed for the first time how dizzy I felt.

  “It’s the air,” Thrungrig grunted. “Stale as hell once you get down deep.”

  That made sense. I looked behind me to check our progress and was surprised to find I could no longer see the light glowing from the mouth of the cave, where Aurora had been providing a warming orb for the others.

  Then I got an idea.

  “Wait a second,” I huffed and did my best to jog to the entrance of the tunnel, even though my head began to pound in response.

  When I arrived at the locomotive, Deli and Mina were just being woken up by Aurora. Shoshanne turned as I arrived and stood from her perch on a large boulder with concern in her eyes.

  “You look horrible,” she told me bluntly.

  I chuckled and tried to catch my breath. It was noticeably easier to do out here, which meant my idea would work. “Shoshanne. We need your air. It’s too stale in there. Can’t breathe.” I finished with a vague wave of my hand, and my head was so light I felt like I might topple sideways.

  Aurora immediately came to my side and held me steady as I adjusted to the fresh dose of oxygen.

  “Of course,” the Aer Mage said, and then she came to my other side.

  I saw her curls begin to sway as my lungs slowly settled, and her slight breeze revived me in a matter of minutes. When I could breathe again, I placed my hand on her arm. “Thank you for that.”

  She smiled sweetly and nodded toward the tunnel. “Lead the way.”

  Aurora quickly woke Jovion and Zerla before she joined Cayla in the locomotive to take her own rest. The four of us made our way through the tunnel, and Shoshanne sent a steady breeze ahead of us in order to relieve the others as quickly as possible. When we met them, they already looked better, and I sent Haragh and Pindor back to the locomotive to get some well-earned sleep.

  Haragh clapped me on the shoulder. “You goin’ on?”

  “Only Metal Mage around,” I said with a shrug.

  He gave me a wry smile, and then he led Pindor into the blackness of the tunnel.

  The dwarves quickly took the new Terra Mages through the process, and I stretched my aching muscles before I began again. Every inch of me protested, my eyelids especially, but I shook off the fatigue, determined to finish the tunnel by the time the sun rose. I’d rest at the mines on the other side.

  With the renewed energy of the mages, and Shoshanne’s air magic to restore us, we made double time again. I zoned out completely and followed the monotonous pattern of creating evenly spaced holes in a grid pattern, then drilled the bolts and tightened the wedges. On and on we worked like this, while the dwarves continued to cart piles of material along the way and place them at points of access throughout the tunnel. They instructed the Terra Mages on how and where to place the discarded rocks for easy removal once the tunnel was finished.

  “Hey uh …” I muttered. “There’s eight of you guys. Don’t suppose you’d mind lending a hand … ” I trailed off at the look Thrungrig sent me.

  The other dwarves silently glared from their places.

  “Whose tunnel is this?” Thrungrig asked.

  “Mine,” I sighed and returned to my work.

  I thought I heard Shoshanne giggle, but I wasn’t even technically conscious anymore, so I just let my mind drift and my arms take over the work. I didn’t bother counting the hours I’d been awake, either. The screech of the wedges blended together with the grinding of the rocks being removed, and it all reminded me of a few metal shows I’d been to back on Earth.

  Then a hand gripped my leg like a vice and jolted me from my stupor, and I wondered how long Jovion and Zerla had been standing stock still. I looked down to see Thrungrig signal me to halt my work, so I dropped my arms.

  “What is it--” I slurred, but the hand tightened another measure, and I winced in pain. “Ah! What the--?”

  “Shut it,” the lead dwarf growled.

  I did as he said and looked around in confusion. I heard nothing, only the echo of the dwarf’s command. The silence seemed heavier than the walls of the mountain itself.

  Then I heard it.

  It was muffled, but it was ahead of us, and it sounded like it came from the other side of the wall of rock the Terra Mages had been digging through.

  I squinted, my eyes bleary in the dim torchlight. Then the sound came again, clearer and closer. It was a low growl that was met with another more grating tone, then another. All different pitches seemed to call and answer to one another, before the rock wall let out a heavy thud, and a few loose stones fell from its face.

  “Shit,” Toromere cursed and turned his dark eyes to Thrungrig, who had just released my leg and replaced it with his sword.

  “Aye,” he grunted and kept his voice low.

  The other dwarves removed their swords as well, and my hand instinctively found the revolver at my waist. I had already reloaded, so I cocked the hammer as I leaned closer to the lead dwarf’s ear.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Naga,” he growled before another heavy thud resounded through the rock face, and a deep crack wrenched itself straight through the center.

  Chapter 11

  “What the hell is a Naga?” I demanded.

  The dwarves formed a half circle, and each of them held a torch in one hand with a sword in the other. Jovion and Zerla had joined in a circuit on the ground, and I watched the crack in the wall before us seal again. The growl on the other side of the wall grew more agitated by the minute, and I quickly realized it wasn’t just one creature I heard.

  “Dragon,” Thrungrig answered. “Of sorts.”

  “What does that mean? You said the dragons would get us from the other end of the cave.” I squinted hard through the torchlight, and my legs began to lose their feeling. I clenched my fist around the stock of the revolver and willed myself to calm the fuck down. The lack of sleep made it hard to think clearly, despite the rush of adrenaline that pumped through my veins, and the idea of the tunnel collapsing again didn’t help.

  I needed to focus. Nobody who panicked ever came out alive.

  Thrungrig elbowed me hard, and he must have seen my lack of composure. “Don’t worry, they don’t even fly.”

  “Oh, well if they don’t fly,” I shot back.

  He didn’t miss my sarcasm, and I actually heard him sigh before he turned to me. Another loud thunk hit the wall in front of us, but he didn’t bother with it.

  “Naga. Flightless, live in packs in the caves of the peaks,” he explained. “Sightless in the light, and ugly bastards, too. But you run into a Naga in this tunnel, and you’re nearly to the other side of the mountain.”

  I processed this and nodded, feeling slightly reassured. A cave on the other side of this wall meant we probably could battle these Naga without getting crushed by any rocks. I focused a little better now and finally got a handle on my nerves.

  No crushing. Just dragon ass kicking. On no sleep.

  Thrungrig gestured to my revolver as he held his torch higher. “You point that thing right between the eyes. The fire throws them off and might send em runnin’ if they don’t get a bite in first. If they taste ye, they’ll keep comin’. Just don’t hit us.”

  “I won’t,” I assured him
and cocked my revolver. Then I turned to warn Shoshanne to get back, but she was already sprinting back down the tunnel toward the locomotive. I called to the Terra Mages next. “Don’t bother with the wall, just get back. And get ready to hurl some of this rubble.”

  Jovion and Zerla rose together and settled into battle stances. Two more heavy thuds hit the wall and sent a few rocks flying toward the dwarves, who also stood at the ready about ten feet from the opening. Another loud crack, and a giant hole broke open in front of us, then a snarl gurgled menacingly from the blackness on the other side.

  “There ye’ are ye’ ugly bastard,” I heard Thrungrig growl at my side. His own teeth were bared, and I couldn’t help but think he was looking forward to this.

  I didn’t get a thought in past that, however.

  With a hideous growl, a giant head wrenched itself through the hole, and its claws grappled at the rocks and crumbled them under the weight of the beast.

  Ugly didn’t do it justice.

  The skin of the Naga was a sickly white that yellowed and browned in the folds of its translucent skin, and jagged veins protruded angrily all over its body. No scales, this was genuinely like skin. The skin of a dead man or of some eelish thing you’d hear about at the bottom of the ocean back on Earth. The yellowing stuff stretched so tight in some places that it looked painful, but it hung loose in others and gave the impression it had actually been peeled from another creature and put on. The Naga’s eyes were tiny points that sank into its head, and they were surrounded with raw pink skin and even more bulging veins.

  “Holy shit,” I cringed and took aim.

  The beast whipped its head from side to side, and it looked disoriented by the flashing of the torches that the dwarves waved toward its face. They also cursed at it in their strange language and prodded its angry claws with the points of their swords.

 

‹ Prev