The Map Maker's Quest

by Matthew J. Krengel

  “Open wide,” Eriunia whispered in the dwarven tongue. If a dwarf wished to conceal something they always placed a locking device in it that only opened when the dwarven language was spoken. Few beings knew the dwarf tongue in this world and none on the other side knew it.

  Slowly the door cracked open and she slipped her hand in and pulled it open on smooth hinges. A short passage with thick walls protected the workshop, but when she arrived it was empty. The tables were clean except for dust and cobwebs. She began searching once more. The next door was concealed even better but the area was small. Despite the contained area, she walked by it four times before a single blemish in the camouflage caught her eye.

  “There you are,” Eriunia said. A noise at the door caught her attention, and she whirled with an arrow notched and pointed at the door. She had a small pistol strapped to her waist but it felt strange in her hand and she preferred her bow.

  “Whoa,” Carvin exclaimed. He raised his hands in surrender at her. “It’s just me.”

  “Shouldn’t you be getting some sleep,” Eriunia said. She lowered her bow and slipped the arrow back into her quiver.

  “I slept for an hour,” Carvin admitted. “Couldn’t fall back asleep so I figured I’d come see what you were doing.”

  “I’m trying to find our way through the Divide,” Eriunia explained. “I know it’s here somewhere.”

  “Tasker had a way to pierce the Divide?” Carvin said in disbelief. “Right here under Cain’s nose the entire time.”

  “Scary to think about, isn’t it,” Eriunia agreed. She turned back to the door and carefully traced the outline. When she was done she spoke the same words. Once again the door opened just enough for her to grab the edges and pulled it completely open. Inside was a rough set of stairs leading down into the ground and Eriunia motioned to Carvin to follow.

  “Where does that go?” Carvin asked.

  “You might as well come with me and see,” Eriunia said. A torch sat against the wall. She lit it and handed it to Carvin. Another torch was held in a ring on the wall, and she pulled it free and lit it also. She ignored his question for now. She might as well explain it later when he could understand better.

  The moment they stepped into the passage Eriunia felt the change in the air.

  “Why does it feel so weird in here?” Carvin asked. He pulled the pistol from his belt and worked the arming mechanism with his free hand. The weapon lacked the ability to kill but it would still stop most attackers in their tracks.

  “This is a dwarven passage. I think it connects to their underground realms,” Eriunia replied. “That is something that no elf or human has ever seen. I don’t think anyone outside the dwarf race has ever been allowed to see or visit any of the great delves.”

  “Delve?” Carvin questioned.

  “What the dwarves call their cities,” Eriunia said. “Much like all of the elvish strongholds are closed to outside races, the dwarves defend their privacy most tenaciously. Almost none may enter and those few who find their way into the underground chambers of the dwarves hardly ever leave.”

  The steps continued down and Carvin counted four hundred before they ended in a more natural looking cavern. The room widened considerably. Across the cavern, the steps continued down, but a thick gate blocked their path. The golden image of a bearded dwarf face frowned at them, and the carving was so perfect Carvin felt like he was being watched. He could have sworn the eyes rotated slowly to watch them as they entered the passage.

  “You probably are being watched,” Eriunia said when he asked her. I’ve been told the guardian faces have many strange abilities. Some legends say they can tell the difference between the races and read what your intentions are. If they sense you’re going to try to break through, the cavern will collapse and close off the threat to the Delves.” She turned away from the frowning face and immediately found what she was seeking.

  “What is this?” Carvin asked.

  “All dwarven tunnels also contain a treasure room that can be accessed by elvish traders,” Eriunia explained. “As two of the elder races, we still try to maintain a bit of trade and diplomacy.”

  Another room carved off the right side of the cavern, also blocked by a thick gate also. This time there was another symbol carved into the golden plate attached to the gate. It looked to Carvin like an elf hand and a dwarf hand placed palms out and slightly carved down into the metal.

  “If Tasker was in a hurry and needed to store something where Cain would be very unlikely to find it,” Eriunia explained. “He would leave it here and mark it for storage so the dwarf merchants who come here would not take it and leave payment.”

  “How do we get in?” Carvin asked curiously.

  Eriunia walked to the gate and placed her hand against the image of the elvish hand and waited for a moment. Suddenly there were two loud clicking sounds and the gate slid open, allowing them entrance.

  Carvin followed Eriunia into the room and lowered his torch. Fastened to the wall were several globes of light that supplied enough illumination to the area for them to douse their torches. There were bowls of sand near the entrance and each of them ground the torches out in the sand. The room was carved out of stone into a rough square, and about a dozen stone shelves had been carved into the walls. Several crates of goods sat along the walls waiting for pick up and several more with open tops sat out. Carvin walked to one and looked down into it. Inside the first barrel were several dozen swords made out of a black metal that gleamed wickedly when he picked it up.

  “What are these?” Carvin asked. He walked to where Eriunia was reading the tags on the crates and showed it to her.

  “It is a fitting weapon for you, I think,” Eriunia said. Carefully she reached into her pocket and pulled a small gold coin from it. “Put this in the payment box over there and take one, they are the weapon of choice for elvish hunters that watch for the spirits of the dark one.”

  “I don’t understand,” Carvin replied. He picked up a sheath that matched his sword and walked to where a small cold iron box was bolted to the wall. He slipped the coin inside and then fitted the sheath onto his belt.

  “The sword cuts the body and the spirit,” Eriunia replied. Suddenly, she held up her hand and stopped. Tucked into a corner shelf was a wooden box about two feet tall and wide. She stepped over to it and pulled it from the shelf. “I think this is what we’re seeking.”

  Carefully she pulled the top of the crate loose, and Carvin crowded over her shoulder. They both stared in awe at the complicated device resting in the bottom of it. The entire thing seemed to be sheathed in gold. Various dials and gears were arranged in a delicate balance that defied the mind to trace where all the connections were made.

  “We’re running low on time,” Eriunia said finally. “We better get up top and put this to work.”

  She picked up the device and realized there was a golden case in the crate also, she slipped the device into it and closed the case. Despite the color and shine of the metal, the case was light and Eriunia was able to carry it with one arm.

  Carvin relit the torches and then stepped out into the cavern as the gate swung shut behind them. The return trip seemed to go by quickly. When they stepped out onto the cliff overlooking Duluth the sun was lighting the distant horizon.

  “Gather the soldiers up there,” Eriunia said. She pointed to a big flat grassy area. “I’ll go work the device and ready our passage.”

  Carvin left at a run, spreading the word. Soon a stream of rebels headed towards the gathering place. Eriunia hurried to the center of the meadow and set the box down. The machine itself was simple to operate, and she turned several switches to the on position and then watched as a small dial began to slowly rise. It was gathering power from the magnetic lines of the earth and storing that power inside the device.

  The sun was fully int
o the sky when a light pulsed out of the device and a break in the Divide slowly formed in front of them. This break happened much more naturally then the cruel breaking that Cain had achieved the day before. Still the Divide seemed to groan in protest to the attacks being leveled against it.

  “If we aren’t back by tonight, return the device to its place and collapse the cliff on the tunnels,” Carvin ordered one of the com­manders standing nearby. The man saluted, and he and a dozen other soldiers took up positions around the glowing break in the Divide.

  Carvin followed the last of his men through and blinked as he passed through the break and stepped out into the middle of a wide area. The ground was covered in a black hard substance and had little white and yellow lines all over it. There were buildings all over the ground on this side and he joined the stream of soldiers moving south and east. Mounds of iron were parked everywhere and sat on wheels made out of a substance he had never seen before. A sign on a nearby building read Barnes and Noble and he wondered what it stood for.

  “We spotted the Adherents already,” Eriunia shouted. She pointed to where flashes of energy marked the beginning of battles with scattered bands of black-robed men. The first couple groups were quickly overrun, and the mass of rebels slowed as they entered the forests around what they called Lookout Tower on their side.

  Eriunia worked her way to the front of the force and passed the word for the rebels to slow down and move quietly. Almost immediately the force quieted. Soon the woods and houses around Enger Tower were awash with rebels.

  “Look,” Carvin said. They had reached the edge of the forest and were overlooking Enger Tower. Hundreds of Adherents were milling around on the grassy area, but in the distance he spotted several familiar forms.

  “Wait, Carvin,” Eriunia hissed. She motioned several of the tree spirits forward and immediately they sent the vast systems of roots grown into the earth forward. Better to sow confusion first and attack when the Adherents were broken and desperate. Carvin’s next words chilled her to the heart and she quickly changed her assessment of her strategy.

  “We have to move,” Carvin said. He watched in horror as the firing line raised their weapons. Then confusion seemed to break out and most of the weapons were lowered again. Carvin grabbed a musket from a nearby rebel and leveled the barrel at one of the groups just outside the tree line.

  “On my signal,” Carvin said to the fighters near him.

  They all raised their weapons and watched as the Adherents slowly turned to face the woods as if realizing for the first time that something was wrong.

  “Ready, aim,” Carvin said. He paused for a moment and centered the musket on a group of six Adherents. “Fire!”

  He shouted the last word, and the Adherents tried to scatter. All around him a rolling wave of energy erupted from the trees and sent black-robed figures crumpling to the ground. All around him the rebels poured a withering fire into the gathered Adherents. Cain’s men tried to fight back, but they were caught in the open with no escape. The battle turned to a rout almost the moment it began.

  “I’m going after Jackie,” Carvin shouted to Eriunia. He armed his musket again and sprinted from cover.

  Eriunia paced him step for step, and her bow was a blur of action, the rebel soldiers charged out after them. Soon the force was rolling over the remaining Adherents. Carvin arrived at the tower at the head of a very angry force of soldiers, and he ducked a swing by an Adherent officer. He used the butt of his musket and slammed it into the stomach of his opponent. The man doubled over and Carvin followed through with a strike to the back of his head that made his eyes cross as he slipped to the ground.

  “Jackie!” Carvin shouted. He dropped his musket when they arrived and swept her into his arms.

  * * * * *

  Jacob saw the rebel forces erupt from the trees and a grand smile filled his face. Most of the Adherents were scrambling to bring their weapons around on the new threat and he leapt over and shoulder-check one of the men to the ground. Chaos filled the grass around Enger Tower with shouts and war cries. Jacob managed to pull a repeater from his opponent’s belt and then whipped his elbow around and slammed it into the man’s jaw. He heard his opponents teeth click together violently, and there was a groan as the other man stopped struggling. Jacob leapt up and fired off two rounds from the gun that sent four more Adherents slumping to the ground. Then Carvin was there and slammed the last of the officers to the ground with a harsh strike from his musket.

  “We have to find Cain,” Jane shouted. In a rush of activity the rebel force swept around them, and the battle slowly moved down the hill toward the ships. Jane spotted Eriunia among the soldiers. She held her bow in reserve and only used it when there was no other choice other than to take the life of Cain’s servants. Some of the Adherents refused to stop even as the rebels overwhelmed them. Some tried to continue fighting even after the feathered shafts slammed into them.

  “Where is the book?” Eriunia called. She gave Jane a brief hug and found she was happy to see the small group. They had only known each other for a few days, but she felt they were becoming fast friends.

  “Cain has it,” Jane called back. “He’s heading to his ship.”

  “What is going on?” Mrs. Timbrill said. There was another round of firing, and she ducked away from the flashes of light.

  “Mom, we have to stop the guy who took the book,” Jane hurriedly explained. “He’s the reason all this has been happening. If he gets away, things will get even worse.”

  “I can’t lose you both,” Mrs. Timbrill said through her tears. Things were moving so fast she was unable to function, and she slipped to the ground sobbing.

  “We have to, Mom,” Jane insisted.

  “It will be all right, Mom,” Jackie said. “We finally have the advantage. This is our chance to free thousands of people from a horrible man.”

  “Stay here,” Jane told her mom. “These people will help protect you for now. We’ll be back. That I promise.”

  She hugged her mom fiercely and whispered that she loved her into her ear and for the first time in many months realized just what those words meant. All the arguments she had been through with her mom seemed so pitifully small when all of their lives were on the line.

  When she finally pulled away, Jane saw her mom was crying openly too. Jackie hugged her quickly and then the group sprinted off towards the lower part of the city.

  Jane, Jackie, and Eriunia ran down the sloping grass and followed Jacob into the trees. He had retrieved his sword and shield and held the shield before them deflecting the occasional shot directed their way. Carvin brought up the rear holding a repeater taken from a member of the firing squad. A few of the rebels saw them charging forward and joined them. They worked their way down into the city, and the fighting grew fierce. The Adherents had time to prepare now, and the rebels were forced to move slowly. Each intersection was fiercely contested, and Jane had to careen down side alleys and through hidden roadways. All around them, flashes of power marked the battles and the battles became swirls of confusion and chaos.

  Behind them Jane saw flashes of light as they sprinted across roads, and she knew Carvin was firing on the Adherents as he dashed by. She found out later that the confusion added by their passing carried the battle and saved dozens of rebel soldiers. The first sign of trouble was when they arrived at Canal Park and skidded to a halt. The Adherent camp was abandoned, and Jane spotted dozens of small boats making for the waiting fleet. Cain and his remaining soldiers were fleeing. Jane feared they were too late to stop the ships.

  “Get down!” Jacob shouted. Moments later he heard the report as one of the ships pulled sideways, and its great iron cannon spat a lance of fire towards the city. “Apparently Cain has decided to sacrifice the men he left on shore.”

  Jane watched in horror. Near the edge of the lake almost two hundred
black-robed figures waving their arms frantically at the retreating boats. The cannon ball struck in the middle of the group and sent men tumbling in every direction. The rest stumbled to their feet and tried to flee, but several more lances of fire erupted sending great fountains of dirt high in the air.

  “Apparently Cain doesn’t want his troops joining us,” Eriunia said. They watched as the firing continued, unable to help the men who were dying on the grass. The massive Goliath was anchored about fifty yards off shore, and Eriunia’s keen eyes picked up the short figure as he climbed out of the small launch and walked to the front of his ship facing them.

  “We’re too late,” Jane growled angrily. ”He’s going to get away.” She stamped her foot. On an impulse she grabbed the repeater from Jacob and threw caution to the wind. Instead she sprinted towards the edge of the water. Behind her the other shouted warnings.

  “Oh, blast it,” Jackie said. Then she followed Jane.

  “No, don’t!” Carvin and Jacob shouted almost at the same time. Once Jane and Jackie moved, others followed them.

  Eriunia followed more slowly and with her bow ready to fire, she would stay hidden from sight if possible and fire if the opportunity presented itself.

  Jane sprinted to the edge of the water and triggered the repeater, she held the trigger down until the gun sputtered and stopped firing. Most of the shots went wild but three of them spattered across the deck of the massive ship and drew Cain’s attention. He walked to the railing, looked down at them, and sneered.

  “You’ve lost,” Cain taunted. “With the knowledge contained in this book I’ll expand until I control my entire side of the Divide. Then, when my power is at its height, I’ll send my forces through and conquer this side also.”