VOIDWALKER

by M. L. Brooks

  Basilia was originally built as a fortress to protect against Valarian armies. The Circle of Light, the predecessors to the Mage’s Guild in Guardia, established themselves in the city after the conflict with Valar ended. Under mage rulership, the city saw a renaissance of culture and development.

  The previous king of Guardia sought to unite the country under his leadership and ordered the mages to subjugate themselves to him. The mages who agreed moved to Guardia and established the Mage’s Guild. The remaining Circle of Light moved to the mountains to practice deeper magic and avoid the political interests of the rest of the country, relinquishing control of Basilia in the process.

  Now the city of Basilia had begun to decline. People left every year, fearful of how the city would stand in conflict between the Circle, Guardia, and New Valar. It still had one of the largest libraries in Solduntyr, a market, a college aimed at educating people from all classes, several notable stone structures, and statues honoring the varied history in their leadership.

  From Bosh Ragan, Rose hired out a coach and they rode back west to King’s Cross and then north toward Basilia. The trip was bumpy, and Adair found it tiring to hide out in the wagon although Alfein made the effort to keep her company. They spent a lot of their time talking or playing cards with a deck they found left in the wagon from its last occupant.

  About a mile East of Basilia was a small hamlet with an inn, a few farms and houses, and a large forge all in close proximity to each other. Emin pulled the carriage over by the inn, and Rose went inside to negotiate their stay at the inn. Emin poked his head into the carriage and told Alfein and Adair that they could get out. Alfein put on a homespun brown cloak, covering his wings and attempting to make his appearance less conspicuous. When he was ready, the two of them jumped out of the carriage.

  “So where do we meet the weapon smith?” asked Adair.

  She looked around at their surroundings. There were hills, farms, and some scattered trees. Their carriage was standing next to the inn and to the right was the smithy. The day was cold and damp with a few rays of sunshine poking through the clouds around the hills.

  “Well I’m guessing over there,” said Emin, pointing to the metal working sign of a horseshoe and anvil hanging over the smithy.

  Adair walked over to the smithy and looked through the windows. There was no one in the building and the hearth of the forge was unlit. She walked over to the door and tried to open it but it was locked. Emin followed her along as she checked out the smithy.

  Rose came back from inside of the inn along with a stable hand who took their horses around to the stables. Alfein walked with her over to Adair and Emin.

  “No one is here,” said Adair to Rose.

  “Your powers of deduction never cease to amaze me,” said Emin.

  “I spoke to the innkeeper who said the weapon smith went to Underfell a couple of days ago. So, your job is to go and get him and then convince him to help you. I’ve bought the inn out for a good week so I’ll be staying up here and luxuriating. I needed a nice vacation anyway,” giggled Rose.

  “Where’s Underfell? Also, could we get a name and a description of the smith to take with us?” asked Adair.

  “I know where Underfell is. It’s home of the Stone Fae and there should be a mountain entrance to their caves not far from here. Might be a good walk once we get underground though,” said Alfein.

  “The weapon smith’s name is Martholomew. He goes by Marty. The rest you’ll have to figure out on your own,” stated Rose. She turned and went back to the inn.

  “Ok so we’re going into a cave and searching for this Marty guy. Sounds easy enough,” said Adair as she grabbed a bag and packed a few things into it from the back of the carriage.

  When she was ready, the three of them went further east toward the mountains together. In the distance, Adair could see the outline of the Silent Spire. It was an ominous tower that the Circle of Light had constructed to mark their new place of study. They walked through the forest around the spire and to the mountains beside it where they found an unmarked cave at the base of the mountains.

  Emin retrieved his skull from his satchel and lit it up with green fire. The group walked carefully into the cave. Adair stuck close to Emin’s lantern, trying to use his light to see any markings that would indicate someone had been through here. The deeper they got into the cave, the darker it became. Alfein’s wings started glowing with a soft blue phosphorescence once almost all of the light had gone from the cave. The tunnel wound down, leading them into the depths of the underground. The path ahead forked and they stopped at the split in the two tunnels.

  “Which way do we go?” asked Adair.

  “I have no idea. I knew of the cave, but I’ve never been to the Underfell,” said Alfein sheepishly.

  “Then we just need to pick a path and follow it down,” said Emin as he took the tunnel to the left and kept walking.

  Alfein and Adair followed his lead and went with him deeper into the caverns. They trudged along through the gray tunnels for several more hours before they started hearing something in the distance. It was the trickling of running water. As they kept walking, the sound gradually grew louder. Adair also made out a sound similar to drumming. Excited to finally find something ahead of them, Adair picked up her pace, heading toward the drums.

  “There’s something ahead,” she said eagerly.

  “Adair, wait, we don’t know what we’re getting into,” said Emin as he kept pace with her.

  When they got further in, the tunnel widened into a big open cavern. A river rushed from an opening in the rocks and flowed down another tunnel on the other end of the cavern. The open space was filled with mushrooms and phosphorescent plants. Adair walked down to the river. The water seemed clean enough, but she didn’t touch it or drink it. She looked around to see where the drumming was coming from.

  Emin and Alfein stood a few feet to either side of her. On the other side of a river was a giant spider, larger than Adair, sitting in its web that was strung across boulders in the cavern. It plucked at its web fibers like a guitar string, producing the strange drum sound. When it noticed them, it changed its drum pattern and from all around spiders descended from the ceiling of the cavern. They were surrounded by about six of these large spiders. Another six or so skittered around in the distance, circling their prey.

  Adair drew her sword and stood ready. She had never fought against a beast like this and was unsure of how to continue. Alfein swung his cloak off, his wings extending out to their full length, as he drew two short swords from each side of his belt. Emin swung his lantern around toward the spider nearest him. It stepped back, wary of the green fire. The spiders didn’t instantly pounce on them, they just moved back and forth, corralling Adair’s party.

  The drumming changed again and the spiders lunged in at them. Adair swung her sword up and caught the spider in the fangs. It fell back and darted at her again. With that extra bit of distance between them, Adair thrusted her sword straight into its head. It released a hiss like gasp of air, it’s legs springing up, and it fell to its side. Adair could not wrestle her sword from its head quick enough, and she lost grip of it when the spider fell.

  Emin chanted loudly as the spider nearest him moved in to bite Emin with its fangs. Emin swung the skull around and smashed it into the side of the spider’s face. The bright green flames from inside the skull exploded out and spilled across the spider, sizzling as it scorched the spider’s body. The spider stumbled around, confused and in pain as it was covered in searing green fire. Another spider quickly took its place.

  “They’re responding to the strumming, we have to take that one out.”

  Alfein flew at the spider who was lunging at him. Catching his blades in the spider’s chitin, he lifted it with him and then threw it down on its back. The spider scrambled to get back on its feet, leaving it open to Alfein’s attack. Alfein flew up and then dropped down onto the spider, quickly slashing it apart. His blades glis
tened in the soft light of the cavern and they cut through the spider’s rough chitin as if it were butter.

  Alfein charged across the cavern toward the spider manipulating its web. The spider saw him coming and shook its spines out, ejecting them at Alfein. Alfein quickly blocked two of them with his swords. He noticed a third one had pierced his wing, and he spiraled to the ground slowly. The spider altered its thrumming again and the rest of the spiders scurried toward Alfein.

  Brandishing a war hammer, another man walked into the open cavern from the direction the river was flowing. He was shorter than Alfein, and muscular. He was bare chested and had an armor of metal and leather covering his legs. He had white hair and a coarse beard. His skin was a sallow ash color and had several muted pink scars from different old wounds he had acquired and survived. He shouted out a loud battle cry and then smashed his hammer into the side of the cave.

  The rocks rippled forward and when the ripple got to where the strumming spider was, the boulders smashed together. Clear guts spilled out of the spider as it was squished between the two rocks. Smaller fairies, glowing different shades of gray and red, fluttered by the man and toward Adair and Emin. Without the strumming to follow, the rest of the spiders scattered. They scuttled around into different tunnels and some of them tried to hurry back up the walls.

  “He’s a Fae,” Alfein yelled to his friends.

  “We’re here in peace,” said Adair as she knelt down.

  The fairies swirled around them, checking them out. They went over to the spider that Adair had killed and as a group pulled her sword out of it. There was a soft clank when they dropped the sword onto the ground and then dragged his corpse away. The man walked up to Alfein.

  “What are you doing here?” he asked, pointing his hammer at Alfein.

  “We’re here looking for a weapon smith,” said Alfein, sheathing his swords.

  “You mean that mongrel who showed up here yesterday? I can take you to him, for a price,” said the man as he flipped his hammer down and leaned against it like a cane.

  “What’s your price?” asked Adair.

  “Surrender any food that you have on you. We don’t trade with surfacers out here that often, so anything you have will fetch a premium on the market.”

  “Fine, we’ll do it,” said Adair as she pulled a few rations from her bag and handed them to the man. Alfein quickly gave up what he had. Emin looked at the man and then at Adair.

  “Who’s to say he won’t take our food and then just ditch us somewhere in the cave? I’ll give you my rations when you take us to our quarry,” countered Emin.

  “Fair enough. My name’s Gildan. We’re just a few miles from the Underfell. I came up here tracking those damn fangers. They don’t normally get this close to our city but something has been agitating them lately,” explained Gildan as he led them back down the river.

  “Thank you for saving us,” said Adair as she proceeded to introduce her companions.

  “Humans are one thing, but I honestly haven’t seen a Forest Fae in centuries. I thought your kind gave up on this world,” said Gildan, looking over at Alfein.

  “And what of the Stone Fae? Choosing to hide under rocks rather than guide the mortal races,” shot back Alfein.

  “Our place is by our queen and hers is at the Eternal Forge. The only enemy a Fae faces is himself,” replied Gildan.

  “Then it would seem even worlds apart, we are still one people,” said Alfein.

  Gildan grunted in agreement.

  CHAPTER 15

  They followed the river until they reached another big opening in the cave. This was where they found the Underfell. Adair was surprised at how big everything was. She had never seen a city like it. It was built into a steep wall of the cave itself, each tier bustling with Stone Fae and smaller fairies flying around and serving them. Hundreds of houses, shops, and other buildings carved into the stone with a central staircase leading up each level of the city. On one of the middle levels was a tall clock tower that kept time for everyone. It’s measurements of time were different from the surface world, but it was divided up into three cycles.

  Around the river were people farming thick green leafy plants and tending to their own spiders. These spiders were light brown and were tied up at stables much like horses or cattle. They were far more docile than the spiders that they had encountered out in the tunnels. The river ran ahead into a water mill and through a series of pipes leading through the city. Gildan lead them toward the center staircase and they started walking up.

  The walk to the top of the stairs was an arduous one. Adair and Emin were both breathing heavily when they got to the top. Alfein was light footed and his agility allowed him to reach the top with less difficulty than Adair. At the top of the stairs were two grand doors that shone like yellow gold. In front of them were two squat guards wearing gold armor and carrying the same type of light spears that the Fae carried back in the void grove.

  To the side of the gates was a dark-skinned Fae like Gildan talking to a human man. The man had silver hair and sallow pinkish gray skin. He was the only other human they had seen in the Underfell. He seemed to be getting agitated by his conversation with the Fae, and their voices got louder until Adair’s group got closer and the man quieted down.

  “Here he is. I’ll be off now,” said Gildan as he waved at them and walked away.

  “Excuse me, sir,” said Adair as she inched closer to the man. “Are you Marty?” she asked.

  “Who wants to know?” he asked.

  “Rose sent me. I need a sword and I was hoping you could help me?” asked Adair.

  “Listen, I don’t know how you managed to follow me all the way down here but I’m not making swords right now. I’ve got real problems,” groaned Marty.

  Alfein and Emin talked back and forth for a moment and then Emin chimed in. “Adair, I think Alfein’s wing is in bad shape. I’m going to see if we can find a healer for him.”

  Adair nodded at her friends.

  “Please. Maybe I can help you out with your problem,” offered Adair.

  “Unless you can get me an audience with the queen, I’d rather you just left me alone,” said Marty.

  “Well what do you need the queen for?” asked Adair.

  “That’s a long story and I’m not interested in mulling it over with you. I’m going to go get a drink,” he said dismissively.

  Marty started heading back down the stairs and off to one of the taverns near the upper tier. Adair gave him some space and then followed him into the bar to watch him. The Fae stared at her as she walked by, keeping away from her as if she were contagious. The entrance of the bar was another ostentatious golden door with a large sign stretched over the top of it in a script that Adair could not decipher.

  She opened the door and walked inside. Her lungs were immediately greeted by smoke. The inside of the tavern had an elevated area where people sat at tables playing cards. Below was the bar with a busty Fae girl serving drinks to the patrons. In the corners of the room, there were Fae sitting and smoking and drinking and chatting with each other.

  A Fae glided out from a room behind the bar. Her midriff was exposed and she wore elaborate gold jewelry to cover her breasts and hips. She slipped by the bar, rolling her hips as she danced by. She stopped at each of the tables and conjured smoky apparitions of different animals to incorporate into her dance. From spider legs emerging from her back to snakes slithering around her arms, she created a wide variety of illusions. There was something both creepy and alluring about her.

  Marty put a few coins on the counter and picked up a purple libation from the bartender. He took his glass and headed up to the card tables. Adair walked past the bar and followed Marty up toward the elevated area. Marty went up to the table closest to the steps, set down a pouch of coins, and asked them to deal him in.

  “You’re lucky we didn’t kill you when you came into our city, we’re sure as hell not going to play cards with you,” said one of the Stone
Fae as they threw their cards down, got up from the table and walked away. The other people around the table murmured the same sentiments and got up and left as well. Marty chugged half of his drink and then sat down at the table alone.

  Adair came up and sat down with him.

  “Deal me in,” she said.

  “Leave me alone, girl,” he said, taking another swig off his beverage.

  Adair set the last of her coins down on the table.

  “No really, deal me in,” she urged.

  He rolled his eyes and then asked, “Ok, you know Six Card Stable?” Adair nodded that she did know of the game he mentioned. He shuffled the cards together and then dealt them out.

  Six Card Stable was an easy game. Each player had a hand of six cards and then another six cards face down in front of them. Their goal was to create matches or runs of cards in their hand with each set being worth different amounts of points. The players would go back and forth drawing and discarding, and could draw from the top of the discard pile as well, until they felt they had a sufficiently good hand. The first phase of the game was over whenever one of the players decided to put their hand down.

  Then, they flip over their stabled cards and make any final matches and tally up their points. Some players might go out even if they had a bad hand, counting on the other player’s hand being worse or on their stabled cards to make up the difference. It was a short and simple game that was played by townsfolk across the realm. It had enough chance to make gambling interesting and enough choice to make players want to keep playing.

  Adair went first and drew a card. She looked at her hand, this deck of cards was not the same as the cards she was used to playing with. They were made out of high quality linen that had been treated with something to make them stiff. The cards were elaborately decorated with beautiful pictures and gold numbering. She was able to gather enough information from the symbols on the cards to figure out numbers, suits, and matches. Her hand was mediocre but she tried to keep her face straight as she discarded. Marty watched her carefully and then picked up her discard before discarding one of his own.