by D. M. Almond
Gabriel relaxed visibly. He even seemed embarrassed that he was able to be wound up so tightly in the first place. He shook his horned head and waved away the tension.
Logan broke the silence. “Who is this Hydra lady?”
Isaac and Corbin moved to silence him, but Gabriel stopped them both by speaking. “No, the human is right to ask this. It is good to be curious of the Nine Worlds’ workings. I suspect if your ancestors had done as much, your race would not be in such dire straits.”
Gabriel tried to clear his throat and took a heavy swill of his wine. When he set the flagon back down, his face had changed. His eyes were sunken and distant, reflecting one who had lived through unimaginable depths of misery.
“The Hydra is not a who, but a what. She is Azelban, the Damned Queen. The foul creature has spread her Darkness across our lands, taken our homes, destroyed our loved ones…”
“But wasn’t the Hydra banished from the elven plains aeons ago by the All-Father? Isn’t she supposed to be exiled, an eternal guardian to the gates of the Shadow Realm?” Isaac asked.
“Listen and I will tell you the tale of my people. I will explain how the Children of Mara have come to this world and this place. It was twenty years ago when the moon, Lysandra, first fell from the sky. Before that fateful eve, the Children of Mara spent many a long night dancing under the unyielding full light of Lysandra. All knew it to be a sign of ill omen when that silver orb turned black, blotting out the stars like a yawning pit in the heavens.
“The Children gathered to offer prayer to Mara around the circle of Soqur. That was when she came unto Alfenheim, screaming across the sky, the nine-headed serpent freed from her eternal servitude. I see the look of doubt in your eyes, but if you had been there, if you had seen the shrieking dragoness, there would be no question in your heart that she is the one and only Azelban the Damned.
“The hydra crashed into Alfenheim like a meteor with such force that the land quaked violently for hours. Within days, her icy fortress was raised in the Black Spires. By day the Hydra slept and the land seemed normal. But when night came, she sent forth her Legion, led by the Titan Pallas, to claim the souls of my brethren. They were a fearsome lot, cutting down all who stood in their way and taking the strongest as prisoners that they might corrupt their souls with the darkness and alter them forever into her Dark Majesty’s service.
“As her Legion spread across the land, conquering all before them, so too did Azelban’s power grow. The darkness was like a wave, spoiling the land itself, which turned dead and bloated under her shadow sorcery. Our forests, once beautiful and proud, began to crumble, becoming bogs of decay and rot, and soon creatures crawled out of them, as if from the pits of Hel, claiming the corrupted lands as their own.
“Finally there came a time when my Children of Mara could find no safe place to hide from the spreading darkness. And so we had to make a decision, either to abandon our lands forever or be captured and become part of Azelban’s dread Legion. For seven days of fasting, we prayed for the Goddess Mara to guide us. And on that seventh night, she answered her Children. A beacon of light came down from the starry sky. We wasted no time assembling and journeyed straight away toward where that beam touched down. It was a short journey to the top of Eadle Mountain. There, at the apex, we found the Mirror of Ygritte.”
Isaac gasped.
Gabriel nodded with a glint in his eye. “Aye, so you know of it. We used the Goddess’ gift to take us away from Azelban’s spreading evil. One by one, we entered the Mirror and found ourselves in a new world. We knew not where we were, only that the land was scorched and barren. The heat was unbearable under the scorching sun, and raging sandstorms assaulted the land. We were ill-equipped for such a journey, and many of my brethren fell on those barren plains.
“But never let it be said that the Children of Mara are a weak lot, for we journeyed ever onward. Our pilgrimage took three long weeks, and many more fell to the elements in that time. Until one night Mara called to me, shaping my dreams and guiding my path to a nearby outcropping of rocks. I saw her there, silhouetted in light over the rocks. When I woke, I could barely contain my excitement, and we headed directly for that place. When we arrived, we found a cave with the symbol of Mara carved above it!”
“And that cave led you here?” Isaac asked.
Tears flowed from the corners of Gabriel’s eyes, and he nodded. “Our blessed Mother saw fit to show us the path to a new home. The cave led us deep underground, with only one route, and brought us to these abandoned dwergaz halls.”
“Amazing,” Bipp squawked, startling Logan, who thought he had been sleeping. “Have you sent anybody back across the plains to bring more of your people to this sanctuary?”
Gabriel struggled with himself for a moment. He seemed to make up his mind and shook his head at Bipp. “It is easier if I show you,” he said.
The minotaur drained the rest of his wine and rose, wiping the fermented grapes from his bovine lips. He motioned for his guests to follow him, and they did.
Logan marveled at the expertly built corridors they were led down, which were even more impressive than the mighty ruins of Ul’kor. Nero helped Bipp maintain his balance as they marched down many tunnels and through many rooms. At one point, they passed a large outdoor garden that opened to the side of the green mountain, where all manner of crops grew. As they descended deeper, the halls grew gradually colder, until Logan could see his breath in tiny wisps of fog.
Gabriel stopped before a glassy wall. For a heartbeat, Logan thought they had run into another party of adventurers roaming the abandoned halls, but then his brain put the picture in perspective, and he realized he was staring at his own reflection. The entire wall was one giant mirror!
“This is where we entered the mountain,” Gabriel offered, pressing the palm of his three-fingered hand against the mirror.
Isaac began coughing and sputtering uncontrollably. “B-but…this is not possible,” he managed. “How can the Mirror of Ygritte be here, in this place, and atop Eadle Mountain in Alfenheim?”
“Only Mara in her divine wisdom knows,” Gabriel said with a sad smile.
“Are you saying you came from that mirror?” Logan asked.
“Yes, though her magic seems to be a one-way trip. We cannot find a way to enter the path again.”
Logan’s eyes widened, and he leaned close to Bipp. “Oh man, I think he’s been hitting the wine too hard.”
Bipp chuckled, but shook his head at Logan. “You can’t deny the mystery of it all though, eh?”
“Gabriel, it saddens me to hear of your homeland,” Corbin said. “Though we know little of your ways, it sounds like we are kin in this, at least. Exiles…searching for a way home.”
“A sad truth,” Gabriel agreed, bowing his head low. Then he appraised them with a wicked grin. “But maybe there’s something I can do to help you with that.”
Chapter 5
Their footsteps echoed down the dark corridor, and the temperature continued to drop. All had fallen quiet during their long march through the labyrinthine tunnels and rooms that made up the abandoned dwarven complex. Gabriel led the group, holding a torch to light the path. The minotaur’s eyes were not accustomed to the deep dark places of Acadia like the Falians’ were.
They were far away from the areas where the dwarves had set up their workshops and communal halls. Far away from the myriad dwarven homes, interconnected apartments carved into stone. Now they came to the mines, the desolate places, where no light would ever naturally shine and where laughter must have died out long ago. Something awful happened in this place. Logan could feel it in his bones, and he could tell his companions did as well.
As soon as they entered the frigid tunnels, their voices fell to a whisper then died out entirely, draining from their mouths as surely as the blood did from Bipp’s face. This place had been abandoned in a hurry. Left as proof were the pickaxes and chisels lying on the ground, tools any decent miner would take good care o
f. Other clues were the full wheelbarrows and knocked over lanterns, rusted and empty. Logan imagined he could hear the faint whispers of the men, their voices deeper and stouter than a human’s, warning him to turn around, begging that he run from this place and go no farther.
He looked at Corbin to see if he felt the same, but his brother shook his head and muttered, “It’s only the sound of the lava river echoing in the walls from deep in the mountain.”
That would have been a good enough answer if Logan had actually uttered his question out loud. Goosebumps spread up his neck as another gust of chill air blew by.
Gabriel held up a hand to stop them and pointed down a tunnel to their right. “The way lies ahead.”
The tunnel must have been worked for some time. It was wide enough that four of them could walk abreast, and only Gabriel was forced to bow low as he entered to avoid scraping his horns on the rocky ceiling. It was hard not to be impressed that the dwarves had managed to carve out such a tunnel, but Logan found himself more occupied with eyeing the wooden shoring beams that had been set up to support the walls and ceiling. They looked sturdy enough, but how long could wood hold up?
They went a few short steps down the sloping mine before coming to a dead end. The ceiling of this area had caved in many years ago, and they stared at a blockade of massive boulders.
“It’s a dead end?” Logan said.
“This damage appears to be very old,” Nero said, studying the rocks.
“Hey, what gives?” Logan squared his shoulders and looking past Gabriel, toward the way they had come. “You must’ve known this was a dead end, so why the dog and pony show?”
“Dogs and ponies, you say?” Gabriel mused. “Now that would be a fun show!”
“You know what I mean. Why did you bring us down here?” Logan snapped.
He noticed his brother and Bipp were like-minded, both falling back and readying for an ambush. Logan whipped out Gandiva and readied to pounce on the minotaur before he could attack.
“Be still, you fools,” Isaac growled, summoning a pulsing halo of light from the tip of his staff.
Logan tried to throw up his arms to ward off the light, but the magical flare blinded him, and he stumbled backward, dazed. When the radiant light died down, they were left temporarily disoriented. Small circles of colored light floated everywhere Logan looked.
“By Thorgar’s shadow, whose side are you on anyway?” Bipp spat, rubbing his eyes with stubby fingers.
“Gabriel is our ally in this,” Isaac said, “and I’ll not stand by while you halfwits assault him at the drop of a hat.”
Logan’s vison was beginning to clear up, and he saw his brother looking thoroughly abashed.
Gabriel frowned. “I can find no fault in you for this. The darkness spreads, even now, creeping through the shadows in its path to consume the Nine Worlds. It is a sorry time that we live in, when friends dwell in a constant state of fear and mistrust of one another. Would that the Goddess could spread her light over the veils of babes and begin the spring anew, but I fear this is all part of the coming Fourth Age, and sometimes I worry that happiness is lost to us.”
Isaac leaned forward on his staff, his sad eyes aimed at Gabriel. “Keep hope, my friend. It is all we have left.”
Gabriel’s melancholic smile did little to ease the guilt Logan was drowning in. The minotaur pointed past them, toward the base of the collapsed tunnel. “You see there, that hole? That is where I meant to lead you.”
He felt even more foolish, eyeing the hole, which was not very large. Logan guessed that a minotaur might be able to squeeze through it if he was really trying. Still, it was easy enough to overlook and not at all what he had expected. A door or a shaft perhaps, but not a hole in the ground. He kneeled down and tried to peer inside, but the light from Gabriel’s torch was in his eyes, making it difficult to see into the dark crevice.
“How can you be sure this is the way to Vanidriell?” Corbin asked.
Gabriel shook his head. “I cannot. But I can tell you that we have scoured every inch of these dwergaz ruins, and this is the sole path further into Acadia’s core. However, I must warn you of the dangers that await below.”
“Oh?” Isaac said. The minotaur had Logan’s attention now too.
“When we first discovered this hole, our brother Diamet sensed it was more than just a way into another dwarven mine. Determined to explore it, he went down below with his wife and an apprentice. At the time, we did not think much of it; it was just another of Diamet’s crazy intuitions about to come true. However, days passed without any sign of his return. Growing worried, some of the other Children and I set up camp here to wait for him. We determined that if Diamet did not return by the eve, we would set out to help guide him home.”
“And did he return?” Bipp asked, on his knees beside Logan.
“Nay. But Sonja, his wife, did. That very afternoon we heard her calls from below. She was in quite a fervor, screaming for us to help her husband, but before we could act, the tunnels filled with the most horrific screaming. Something down there had her, something awful and large, and it was tearing her apart.”
“Couldn’t you save her?” Logan blurted.
Gabriel looked at his feet in shame, and Isaac shot Logan a cross look. “The Children of Mara…we are not warriors. We…I will admit that we are cowards. The sound of it was so horrifying that I felt crippled, unable to move, except to cover my ears and wish it would end. And it did. The thing down in that pit finished off our friend, and we agreed to send no more of the Children down there.
“For days afterward, we could hear the creature moving under the floors of these mines, scraping the stone in a frenzy, looking for some way out. It knew we were up here and wanted to feed.”
Logan looked down at the black hole and felt queasy. Bipp scrambled away from the opening and shook his head vigorously.
Isaac contemplated the hole in silence, tapping long slender fingers against his lips. “And you say this is the only path deeper into the planet you have uncovered in the entire complex?” he asked.
“It is, or I would never think of returning to such a place.”
“How can we know this will even lead back home?” Corbin asked.
“Are you sure this is the way the precog wanted us to travel?” Logan asked
“This is the path Siribel put us on,” Isaac said with a nod.
Gabriel gasped. “Siribel? The Gladewarren lives? But how can that be possible?”
“A jotun warrior named Thiazi claimed her as a prize in the Ullevi War and took her back to Acadia, where he used the Gladewarren’s divine sight to fuel his own fiendish rise to power. But she is free now, healing and gathering her power back at my tower, liberated through the actions of those standing before you.”
“Mara be praised.” Gabriel beamed. “If the Gladewarren is alive and free, then surely there must still be hope for the Nine Worlds after all.”
“Hey, guys.” Logan held his hands up to silence everyone. “Not to put a damper on the celebration, I’m as happy for Siribel as anyone around. But what makes you think we can fare any better than this Diamet did?”
“Diamet was a Child of Mara,” Gabriel said. “We are not built for battle. You, on the other hand, seem aptly suited to the task.”
“Oh, I bet you say that to all the adventurers,” Logan grumbled sarcastically. He shot Corbin a questioning look.
Corbin shrugged. “As is so often the case of late, it would appear we have little choice but to take the chance.”
Logan kicked a pebble down the hole. They all waited in silence until the sound of it hitting the bottom echoed back up. “Who’s up for a little spelunking?”
Chapter 6
Someone was rapping on the door. The Necromancer moaned, a sound like tearing dried parchment, and tried to roll over in his stone coffin. He wished the pestering little rats would go away and leave him to his dreams. Such sweet dreams, of a mountain—no, not a mountain, a stalagmite�
��and a gnome named Hublin.
It was forbidden to go up to her aerie, carved in the side of the highest reaches of Mount Q’nir, the ancient stalagmite, where it was said Styx once gave birth to twin serpents. None were given permission to make that journey. The witch Yaga had been condemned to a life of solitude for heinous crimes the gnomes of Ul’kor only whispered about.
And yet that was where Hublin found himself, making the back breaking hike up the side of the steep stalagmite, which was as tall as a mountain. Several times he stopped to rest and catch his breath, wondering why Ohm had condemned him with the gift of stubbornness.
Well, at least the journey will get rid of some of this belly fat, he thought, slapping his round stomach.
The knocking became louder, more incessant, and the Necromancer hissed like a serpent, batting the lid of the coffin and grumbling for the undead creatures to let him rest. He latched back onto the vision, relishing the feel of it.
This was important. The Necromancer needed to see it unfold. He had to slink back in and let the experience envelop him before the vision slipped away.
Hublin was a stone’s throw from Yaga’s doorstep. The cleric wrung his hands, trying to muster courage enough to knock. The witch was said to be a cunning shrew who lured innocents with false hopes and left them to the shadows. As a holy man, he knew that was utter rubbish. There was no such thing as witches. It was just a fanciful tale wives spun to keep their little ones on the good path. Yaga was nothing more than an old lady who still worshipped the old gods.
Then why was he here? Because she’s the only one who can tell me what I dare not ask the masters.
Taking a deep breath to steady his nerves, Hublin stepped forward and rapped his knuckles twice against the round wooden door. There was movement inside. Hublin gazed back down the stalagmite, wondering if there was still time to change his mind.