The Map Maker's Choice

by Matthew J. Krengel

  “So where do we go from here?” Jacob asked when they reached a split in the tunnel, about thirty feet from the elevator.

  “I don’t know,” Jane replied. She leaned her chin on her hand and looked in both directions. She felt something rub uncomfortably on her neck. Absently she reached up and pulled at the golden chain hanging there while Jacob played his flashlight down the passage to their right. Jane ran her fingers along the golden links until they came to the small compass hanging against her shirt. The empty passage offered no clues, so she turned and looked down the other passage. While she was waiting for Jacob to turn the light, her fingers closed around the compass and she looked at it. The small needle was pointing back toward the other passage.

  “I wonder,” Jane muttered. Eriunia and Coronia watched as she held the compass up. “Watch the needle.” Jane moved the compass in a half dozen directions, but the needle stayed pointed down the passage to the right.

  “We have nothing else to go on,” Eriunia replied to her unasked question.

  “Where did you find that, again?” Jacob asked. He remembered Jane picking up the compass but the location escaped him.

  “It was on the table in Tasker’s workshop,” Jane replied. “Lucky I grabbed it.”

  “Luck normally has little to do with things, in my opinion,” Eriunia replied. “Tasker knew something was happening and that the Adherents were looking for a way to get to him. He left us a way to track him. I don’t how he knew, but he did.”

  The passage on the right led them away from the elevator, far out into the stone beneath Lake Vermillion. It was hard to believe that hundreds of feet above them sat one of Minnesota’s largest lakes. At first the rail tracks running down the middle of the tunnel kept them company. As they advanced down the tunnel, Jane noticed that the tracks came to a halt, and while the mine passage continued, instead of a straight, level mining tunnel it became more of a natural passage that rose and fell. They encountered more side passages. Each time they reached an intersection, Jane would stop and check the compass. Based on where the needle pointed, they would choose their path and continue walking. The longer they walked, the more confusing the passages became. At times, the tunnels seemed to cross over each other, and a river ran beneath their feet. At other times they could look up and see four or five entrances to various passages.

  “Looks like a Looney Tunes skit,” Jacob said. He pointed up to where the tunnels cut along the edge of a large chimney.

  “What is a looney tune?” Eriunia asked.

  “It’s a cartoon show . . .” Jacob tried to figure out how to explain it to her but realized nothing he could say would likely work. He’d have to explain television, then cartoons. “I can show you sometime.”

  The passages seemed endless. Bella stayed close to them but would flutter up and around odd rock formations., the movements of her fairy light leaving strange shadows on the walls. Finally, at the end of a long climb up a sloping tunnel, Jacob motioned for a stop.

  “How long have we been down here?” Jacob asked. His feet were sore and he leaned against the wall, trying to read his watch.

  “Six hours, according to my watch,” Jane replied. She stifled a yawn and rubbed her eyes.

  “I feel like we’re walking in circles,” Jacob commented. He pulled his right shoe off and dumped a small pebble from the depths of it. “I wonder how many miles out we’ve gone.”

  “I’d say further than the longest tunnel in the Soudan,” Jane replied. The tunnel they were following had a ribbon of water running along the center of it. Only by its flow did they know they were moving deeper into the earth.

  “There’s water in many places around us,” Coronia said. She placed her hands on the wall. “I can feel it.” She pulled her hands away, then put them back on the wall and tried to see what else she could feel. “I think there’s something ahead of us.”

  They walked along the tunnel another couple hundred yards, crossing more side passages that had streams running with them that joined the main cavern like tributaries joining a river. As the volume of water flow increased, so did the size of the tunnel. They saw many tool marks and signs of activity that Eriunia said were dwarfish. Jacob saw a broken pick leaning against a wall and picked it up. It was of an odd design he had never seen before—the blades were flattened and angled into a V-shape. Across the metal was a series of runes Jacob could not read. He passed the pick to Eriunia. She examined them in the light cast by his flashlight.

  “It’s ancient dwarven,” Eriunia said finally. “I can’t read it, but the runes are similar to those I have seen before.”

  “That means we’re getting close, right?” Jane said with a smile. She was getting tired of darkness and the enclosed feeling of the caverns.

  “Well, dwarf miners would travel for days in search of new places to work their craft. It could be miles from here or around the next corner,” Eriunia replied, not sounding especially hopeful.

  “I hope it’s around the next corner,” Jacob said. He leaned against the wall a moment but moved quickly when moisture on the wall leached through his shirt. The water was cold, and a shiver went down his spine.

  They continued. Slowly the small stream they followed gained in power until it became a vast river. The path angled more steeply and the water gained speed. Each time it struck a rock, great sprays shot up into the air. The tunnel grew so steep, they were forced to slide down on their rears along the riverbank. The cavern leveled out again for about a hundred yards, then suddenly came to a halt. They could progress no further.

  “Would you look at that,” Jacob said in awe.

  “I am looking,” Jane replied. “I’m really looking.”

  Spread out before them was a vast underground cavern that stretched for maybe the length of two football fields. The raging river twisted off to the side, leaving this area dry. The cavern was lit with a soft bluish glow. Jacob clicked his flashlight off. Along the walls and hanging from the ceiling were great patches of moss that seemed to glow from within. Growing up from the floor and carved from the walls were what appeared to be dwellings and various other buildings. Before them at the lip of the cave was a carved stone stair that curved along the wall and led down to the main floor.

  “This must be the workers’ quarters, for those who supported the ones building the device,” Eriunia said, awe in her voice.

  “We’re getting close,” Coronia said happily. Suddenly she stumbled to a halt and a look of pain crossed her face.

  “What’s wrong, Coronia?” Jane asked. She knelt next to the girl and put an arm around her shoulder.

  “I don’t know, but there was a flash of pain across my legs and stomach,” Coronia replied. She took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind. “I feel fine now.”

  “Eriunia, what do you think?” Jane asked, looking up.

  “I don’t know,” Eriunia replied. She stared at the former mermaid for a long time in silence, as if trying to figure out what was happening by sheer force of will. “It may be that the potion was mixed improperly. It was something I’d never done before. Each person is different, as is each mermaid. Perhaps the potion didn’t make the change permanent.”

  “What do we do?” Jane asked. She helped Coronia to her feet and made sure she was able to stand on her own before she let go.

  “We watch and hope for the best,” Eriunia replied.

  20: Fall of a Guardian

  The bombardment started after two days of anxious waiting and preparations. Jackie and Carvin crouched behind a thick stone wall near the shore while the Adherent cannons barked loudly. The soldiers around them scattered, running for the cover of the shelters they had built.

  “This could be a long day,” Jackie shouted as the tenth volley of the day roared in at the island. The first few volleys had flown far off course, but as the day progressed the Adherents
were finding their targets and range. More and more cannon rounds fell on shore, and deafening explosions lit the cloudy afternoon.

  “I hope it rains,” Carvin said. Fire had broken out and was raging out of control across a timber-framed barn. “We’ll lose more people to the fires than the shelling if it doesn’t. The Adherents must have found a way to boost the range of their cannons.” Carvin turned to Captain Argiilla and motioned to her. “Can we return fire?”

  “Not from the batteries we installed on shore,” the captain shouted back. “We assumed they’d be attempting a landing of their ships, not shelling us.”

  “What about the mushroom circles the goblins were building?” Carvin asked.

  “Destroyed two volleys ago,” Captain Argiilla replied with disgust. “I’m afraid that, unless we can make a break for the open waters of the lake, we are stuck here.”

  “Can we take shelter in the copper mines?” Jackie shouted as another Adherent round flew overhead. She ducked as the cannonball slammed into the shore, shredding a dozen fishing crafts.

  “Possibly,” Captain Argiilla replied. “It’d take work to clear the deeper passages.”

  “Put people on it,” Carvin ordered. “And get every bit of our armaments not being used on shore hidden deep in the mine, along with all the supplies we can find. Have the civilians carry them in and hide down there. At least someone might survive to fight another day.”

  The expression on the captain’s face told Carvin she thought that possibility unlikely. Still, she hurried off to carry out his instructions. He knew she would follow them to the letter or die trying.

  “Not much of a honeymoon,” Jackie chuckled. She poked Carvin in the ribs and pointed to the ring on her finger. “You owe me a nice relaxing trip somewhere after this is all done.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Carvin barked. He leaned over to kiss her, but another round of cannon fire landed close by. The ground shook and dirt fountained into the air and rained down around them, peppering them with soil.

  “Let’s find better cover before they really find their range,” Jackie shouted.

  “Good idea,” Carvin replied.

  Together they bolted from the shelter and headed back into the city toward the fortress. All around the island, the shelling continued. The Ironships of the Adherent navy circled and waited for the ships sheltered in the docks to make a break for freedom.

  * * * * *

  Jacob took the lead again going down. By the time he reached the bottom, he had counted eighty-four stone steps carved from the walls and worn smooth from use, though a thick layer of dust showed it had been many years since they were last used. When they reached the bottom, a clattering of sound echoed across the cavern. Jacob froze.

  “Think it’s the guardian?” Jane whispered.

  “I don’t know, but I think it’s a good time to check the device,” Eriunia replied. At one of their earlier rests, she had put on her armor again and looked ready to take on anything. The bow was strung across her back and a quiver of modern arrows hung at her waist. They, too, had been purchased at Walmart. Eriunia had turned up her nose at the quality of the arrows, but they were all she had.

  “I hope I can shoot straight with these horrible things,” Eriunia muttered. She pulled an aluminum arrow from the quiver and checked its cheaply made fletching.

  With a bit more caution, they started into the abandoned city. The quiet buildings closed in around them like sentinels or headstones in a graveyard. Jane couldn’t help feeling they were interrupting the peace of a resting place untouched for a thousand years.

  At the first structure they came to, Jacob leaned into a window and looked around. The roof and walls were made of stone and still stood strong against the onslaught of time. Nothing remained on the inside, making it clear that those who had lived here had either taken all their possessions with them or everything but stone had rotted away. He had just stepped back from the window when more clattering echoed across the cavern.

  “It’s hunting,” Eriunia whispered. She motioned for everyone to move slowly and quietly while she stepped out to the front of the party. She kept an arrow nocked to her bowstring and three more clutched in the hand holding the bow, ready to fire. Eriunia led them forward, straining to catch any sound to alert them to the presence of the guardian. After ten minutes of walking slowly, they reached the center of the city. All remained quiet. The buildings stood empty; it truly was a city abandoned to time. A clear fountain still rose in the city center, and they paused to refill their canteens. After drinking their fill and eating a quick powerbar snack, Eriunia looked around, then looked at Jane.

  “Which direction?” Eriunia asked. The moment she spoke aloud, she regretted it. The clattering started up again and seemed to draw closer.

  Jacob motioned for the others to remain quiet. He carefully lifted his shield from his back and strapped it onto his arm, then drew his sword from its scabbard and adjusted his pack on his back. He wanted to be ready to protect the others at a moment’s notice. Jane and Coronia were unarmed, and they had found nothing to pass for weapons.

  Jane checked her compass again. She rested a hand on Jacob’s shoulder. Without saying a word she tapped the compass and pointed in the direction they needed to go. Jacob nodded and began to head that way, Eriunia right beside him. Jane and Coronia followed the pair away from the fountain and back into the shadows cast by the buildings, following an avenue. The road, carved from the stone like the buildings, showed no seam where it met the walls, as if the entire city had been carved from the bedrock.

  They paused two more times. Each time Jacob looked over at Jane and she checked the compass. Each time she pointed toward the same point, against a wall opposite where they had entered.

  Crash!

  Jane jumped and tried to control the shriek that nearly erupted from her mouth. She had been standing in the middle of the street checking her compass when the guardian dropped from the ceiling and landed on the ground about a hundred feet ahead of them. Jane and the others froze and even tried to hold their breaths as the mechanical spider turned slowly one way, then the other, seeming to test the air for something—probably them. It did two full rotations, then skittered down the street away from them in the direction they had been heading.

  Jane knew her face was white as a sheet, and her heart still raced. She took a deep breath and leaned against a nearby building. Bella settled on her shoulder and wrapped her arms around Jane’s neck trying to calm her.

  The guardian was about seven feet tall and its legs stuck out about four feet to each side, each ending in a clawed point. Clearly the clockwork creature could climb walls and even move along the ceiling. The torso of the beast was a rectangle with the edges rounded slightly. In several places, gears stuck out through the metal and spun silently. The head was similar to that of a spider but lacked eyes. It seemed to hunt based on sound and movement. Its skin was metal and it gleamed like highly polished brass, despite the years it had been guarding this place.

  “Direction?” Jacob mouthed to Jane, pointing to the compass.

  She checked and pointed up the same street the guardian had taken. He frowned but nodded. Ever so slowly, they continued. About twenty steps later they emerged from the last row of buildings and came to a halt, facing a massive gate set in the towering stone wall. In front of it stood the guardian of the city. Back and forth it moved, pausing and stopping often to sense the air before it moved on.

  Eriunia motioned them back. She silently drew her bow back and sighted it into the farthest corner of the cavern, clearly hoping to distract the guardian. She released the arrow and instantly regretted it. The guardian homed in, not on the clatter of the arrow hitting a building across the city, but on the twang of her bowstring. Its head whipped around and faced directly where she was standing. As the guardian raised its crossbow, Eriunia leapt backwards,
trying to make it to the relative safety of a nearby stone house. The others ducked behind whatever they could, as the whine of crossbow bolts howled around them. One bolt struck a glancing blow on Eriunia’s arm, but the armor saved her limb. The blow left her hand stinging, though, and her shoulder aching as she dove into safety behind a wall.

  “That didn’t work,” Jacob muttered. Immediately two bolts shattered against the stones behind him and sent particles of dust and chips of stone flying all over. Mentally he kicked himself for saying anything out loud and pondered how his shield would hold out against the bolts.

  Jane peeked over the edge of her ledge and noticed that the guardian remained stationed in front of the gate. Apparently it was designed to defend the gate at all costs. Luring it from its place would not be easy. Still, they had to figure a way to get it close enough to the box Eriunia carried to disable the machinery.

  She noticed Bella start to flutter up and shook her head “no,” but the fairy had a determined look on her face, and the glow of fairy magic surrounded her. Jane grabbed a stone and heaved it up into the air away from where Bella was flying. The stone landed with a great clatter and rattled across a stone roof before it fell into an alley. The guardian’s head spun toward the sound. The moment it moved, Eriunia popped her head over the wall and fired an arrow. The missile shattered against the shield that protected the guardian.

  One quarrel from the guardian slammed into the rock in the alley and sent it rolling again, while the second nearly took Eriunia’s hand from her arm. She managed to get back into shelter just in time, and the impact of the brass quarrel sent chips of stone over her that drew lines of blood across her hand and face.