Alaric Swifthand

by Steve Lazarowitz

  “Is that so? Exactly why did you volunteer us to join this venture?”

  “Because I wanted to see the great Alaric Swifthand in action. Isn’t that reason enough?”

  “You know as well as I, we’re trying to get as far away from here as possible. What the hell were you thinking?”

  He sighed. “I wasn’t thinking. I’m sorry we all can’t be like the great Alaric Swifthand, who always knows what to do in every given situation. I’ve never had to run for my life before. I don’t really know what I’m doing. To tell you the truth, I might be safer marching into hell with the giants, than into Athour with you. You may not see it, Alaric, but you’re not exactly good luck.”

  “Maybe I should let you go with Drake and company. Aynslae and I don’t need you.” I wasn’t certain that the statement was true, but I was angry.

  “I’m sure you don’t. As for Aynslae, don’t be surprised if she ends up accompanying me instead of you. Now, if you don’t mind.”

  Without another word, he lay back down and closed his eyes.

  I walked back to my own patch of ground, couldn’t quite find it, and gave up. I swept away a few larger rocks with my feet, then thought about laying down. The area was hardly conducive to sleeping. I thought then I should just go. Disappear and leave them to their adventure.

  Not far away, Aynslae sighed. I turned to look at her. She was asleep and apparently dreaming. I thought about what Tindal had said. Would she go with him into danger, instead of with me?

  The wiser part of my mind decided it was time for a lecture. Dammit, Alaric, when will you stop fooling yourself? The girl has no interest in you. Turn around and go. Now. Don’t wait. No! Don’t look at her again either.

  I looked at her. She was vulnerable. Moreover, I had promised to protect her. And I couldn’t do that by walking away. I cursed my honor, then shifted my gaze a bit further to where Kharrah lay. I shook my head. The giantess certainly didn’t need my protection.

  When I finally lay down, I didn’t sleep well, for I knew it wasn’t honor that kept me here, but some sort of thinly veiled, completely moronic lust. I cursed myself several times, before I finally succumbed to sleep.

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  Chapter Twenty-eight

  The next morning was hot, humid and altogether too bright. I was sweating before we even started walking. Flies were common here and apparently hungry. They were also big, black and bold. I had sustained a number of painful bites during the night and a couple before breakfast. I soon learned to swat them fast, before they had a chance to settle down and dine on me.

  As if the flies and heat weren’t enough, Tindal talked incessantly. After the first few minutes, I ignored him, which didn’t seem to bother him at all. It’s not as if he left me an opening to respond anyway.

  I had thought about last night’s conversation and considered going off on my own. I might have too, but Tindal’s comment about Aynslae weighed on my mind. I wasn’t sure she wouldn’t rather stay with him and, as little interest as she’d shown in me, I still wasn’t willing to give up on her. I suppose I have always been a fool for women; I just didn’t realize how much of a fool until that moment.

  Only after we’d been on the road for an hour, did I begin to suspect why Tindal was talking. He was nervous. While he was no stranger to the sword, he had never actually had any real adventure. He was talking to hear himself. I thought back to my own expedition into the Labyrinth of Kerrenar and suddenly found myself feeling sorry for him.

  I dropped back until I was beside him and touched his arm. He stopped talking and looked at me.

  “Are you nervous?”

  He turned from me, so he didn’t have to look me in the eye. “Why would I be?”

  “Have you ever been on this sort of expedition?”

  “No, I haven’t. And if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t be on one now.”

  “Actually, I’m not sure I can completely take the blame for this outing, but that’s not important. Let me give you a bit of advice. Adventures happen. You have to deal with them. There’s no other option … at least, there wasn’t for me. Now if we do find these caverns, we’re going to likely be in considerable danger. We’re going to need to help each other. The last thing we need is me blaming you or you blaming me. So whatever you feel you have to say, get it out now.”

  He dropped his eyes to his feet and lowered his voice, so only I could hear him. “I’m scared, Alaric.”

  I almost laughed, but caught myself. “Of course you’re scared. Do you want to know why?”

  “Yes.”

  “Because you’re not an idiot. Only an idiot marches off into the unknown, without feeling fear.”

  “So you must be fine then.”

  “Dammit, man, what the hell is wrong with you? I’m in the same situation you’re in. I’m in just as much danger.”

  “No, Alaric, you’re not. There are things you don’t know about me.”

  “Such as?”

  “If I told you….”

  “Yes?”

  “You’d know them. And I didn’t keep them a secret this long, to reveal them now.”

  “I see.”

  He didn’t say anything else and I didn’t want to push. I slowed my pace and allowed him to pull ahead of me. For a long time, I thought about the conversation, my imagination filling in the missing information. What was there Tindal felt he couldn’t tell me and how would it affect the rest of our journey? I had a feeling it wouldn’t be long before I found out.

  We traveled all that day and part of the next, before Drake announced we had arrived. I followed his line of sight to a tiny fissure in the side of a rock wall. Had I passed it on my own, I’d barely have given it a second glance. I couldn’t imagine how the giants were going to get through. I wasn’t even sure I could make it myself.

  “So this is it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Not very impressive, is it?” I tried to keep the amusement out of my voice.

  Drake shrugged, then smiled. “Since you’re so brave, perhaps you should be the first one in.”

  I reconsidered the entrance, paused and took a step forward. Aynslae moved as if to intercept me. Her eyes glistened, though I wasn’t sure if it was from fear or excitement. It was during that moment of hesitation that Tindal strode forward.

  “Oh, what the hell.”

  He moved quickly toward the crevice and, without another word, turned sideways and edged his way in. Within only a minute, he was lost to sight. Apparently, after only a few feet, the crevice turned.

  I knelt, opened my pack and lit a lantern. A few moments later, Tindal emerged and blinked. I walked forward and held it out. Without a word, he winced, took it and reentered. Several of the giant’s snickered, but Tindal was out of sight before I could see his reaction.

  I waited until the light had faded before I entered myself. Then I moved quickly to catch up with him, or at least, as quickly as the narrow passage allowed.

  The corridor was uneven and not easy to navigate. At length, the area opened into a cavern. Tindal stood in the center, eyes everywhere. I moved to stand beside him. To my surprise, Aynslae was the next one through. She looked around cautiously before joining us.

  It was a long time before the giants made it in. They had to remove most of their possessions and place them in sacks, which they held before them. While I waited, my eyes adjusted to the light and I could make out more clearly some of the details of the place.

  It was a large open area, filled with stalactites and flowstone. Several areas in the distance glowed pale green. It seemed like just a short time ago I had seen something like them for the first time. Tindal pointed.

  “What’s that?”

  “Phosphorescent lichen.”

  “Excuse me?”

  “Glowing mushrooms. Remember I told you of the underground civilization of the Drintu? That’s how they illuminated their city.”

  “You didn’t make that up?”


  “No, Tindal, I didn’t. Whatever I’ve told you about my adventures was true.”

  He turned and looked at the lichen and then back to me. “I thought you were an imaginative braggart. I never dreamed such places exist.”

  “Most people don’t. They remain in their city of birth and never take the time to visit the next. They live repetitive, empty lives, but never know any better, because no one has ever shown them anything else. To you, this may be insanity, but I’ve been through it before and can say with some certainty this: the world is a more beautiful and magical place than you have ever dreamed. I wouldn’t trade my life of adventures for a safe and secure old age. When this is over, if you somehow manage to survive, you will thank me.”

  His eyes widened. “And if I don’t?”

  “Then you’ll be dead and won’t care.”

  Tindal looked as if he were about to retort and thought better of it. Maybe he was learning, but more likely, he couldn’t think of anything witty to say.

  Drake had just forced his way into the cavern and I moved to meet him, leaving Tindal to ponder my words. The giant had stripped off even his leather jerkin to make it and both his chest and back were scraped and bleeding. While we waited patiently for the others, I decided to find out a bit more about this place.

  “Drake, how do you know that these are the Caverns of Longing?”

  “I saw and memorized a map when I was younger. The reference points were obscure, but a few of the notes scrawled in the margin hinted at the area. I’ve been searching for the landmarks for years and only recently have discovered enough of them to pinpoint the entrance. It’s really quite remote.”

  “So I gathered. And these boots for which you search. Tell me of them.”

  The Sword of Truth has already told me what it knew, but I was hoping for more.

  “There’s not much to tell. They are ancient and magical. They are said to fit anyone, no matter the size of their foot and to bestow invisibility upon the person who dons them.”

  “There are five of us. If one person gets the boots, how are the rest of us to be compensated?”

  “There will no doubt be more treasure than just the boots. Whatever we find, we split, except for me. I have no interest in the treasure. Should we find the boots however, they are mine.”

  “I see.”

  I thought about the Labyrinth of Kerrenar and how the lure of treasure had taken Theona from me. The irony of that situation had been lost on me, until the Drintu Chancellor had informed me all the treasure was long gone. I wondered if the same could be said of this place.

  “Drake, why do they call this The Caverns of Longing?”

  He paused for a second as we watched Kharrah stagger from the crevice. Like Drake, she’d had to remove her outer garments and was pretty scraped up. I turned from the sight of her, momentarily embarrassed by the unimpeded view of her breasts. Drake didn’t notice as he answered my question. Aynslae did and smirked.

  “No one really knows, but it’s one of the things I’d hoped to find out.”

  I was uncomfortable with his answer, though there was nothing I could do about it at this point. Not that it really mattered. If nothing else, I was fairly certain anyone pursuing us wouldn’t likely find us here.

  “What will you do with the boots, if you find them?”

  “I will return to Rikkordia and present them to the High Elder. They will bring great honor to my family.”

  I turned, so the emotion in my eyes wouldn’t give me away. Though I was not directly responsible for his death, there was certainly a good chance the High Elder would still be alive if I hadn’t accompanied Graham to Rikkordia. I thought about the black dagger again and cursed under my breath. Someone would pay and this time, it wasn’t going to be me.

  Finally, Leif emerged and we moved together through the cavern, toward the patches of lichen in the distance. As we approached, I began to realize they were used almost like road markers, illuminating the entrances to passages that descended into the bowels of the world. I tried to be aware of everything around me, for I knew underground civilizations, at least the ones of which I’d been told, were all either warlike, or very, very wary of intruders. I hoped we would find a way to avoid hostile confrontation, though the wiser part of me doubted it was possible.

  Such were my thoughts when the moaning began. The sound was so low at first, I thought it my imagination, but as we approached the entrance of the closest passage, it grew louder. Finally, I could stand it no longer.

  “What the hell is that?”

  Drake didn’t turn as he answered. “The wind as it passes through tunnels can sound very much like a man in pain.”

  “Despair is more like it,” said Tindal.

  I listened to the mournful sound and thought it quite possible the caverns were named for it. The moan accompanied us for a longer time than I would have liked. Though neither spoke of it, I could tell from their expressions that both Tindal and Aynslae were likewise disturbed. The giants, true to form, didn’t allow it to affect them.

  The walls were tinged with glowing green fungus, but the small patches here and there were not enough to light the way. We continued onward through that first tunnel and several like it, until finally, we left the moaning behind. We were all on edge, but even then, we weren’t prepared for what happened next.

  The smell of rotting meat announced their presence before we actually laid eyes on them. The odor was so thick it made me dizzy. We continued more quickly, hoping to pass through the offensive area. We rounded a bend in the corridor and they were there.

  Even without the smell, it would have been obvious they were dead. Why this didn’t stop them from moving about, I couldn’t venture to guess. Some walked and some crawled and some writhed, but they all moved continuously. We watched in fascination, in spite of the fact it would have been smarter to turn and flee. We had only been standing for a few moments before one of them noticed us. It threw back its head and shrieked, a sound that made the recent moaning seem almost cozy.

  Then, almost as one, they rose and moved toward us at a pace I wouldn’t have guessed they could muster.

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  Chapter Twenty-nine

  The Sword of Truth was in my right hand and the Shield of Reckoning in my left, just barely in time. The others also drew their weapons, all except Aynslae, who didn’t have any. We attacked.

  Considering these ghoulish creatures were completely unarmed, it should have been an easy battle, but it was not.

  The closest creature swung a putrescent arm in my direction. I held up my shield to block it and was knocked back several steps. Whatever else you could say about them, they were strong. I approached again, this time leading with my sword arm. The thing swiped at my sword and grabbed it by the blade. A moment later, its fingers were lying on the ground between us. It was indeed fortunate their lack of intellect more than made up for their superior strength.

  I attacked now, swinging my blade in a fury of movement. I did a good job of carving the thing up, but a bad job of stopping it. I stepped back to reassess the situation. How do you kill something that doesn’t bleed?

  I found I literally had to hack the creature apart to keep it down. Because of this, the battle continued much longer than I had originally thought it would. By the time it was winding down, I was almost spent. I looked to my left and watched Leif smash one of them to pieces. I was about to shout encouragement, when I saw a second creature, just visible from my point of view. Leif didn’t see him and I didn’t have time to warn him.

  The creature struck a glancing blow with a horrible clawed hand. It didn’t look as if there was enough power behind the attack to do any damage. When the giant grabbed his arm and roared in pain, I was surprised.

  Leif backed off and I charged forward, engaging the creature, before it could do further damage. Driven by fear, I was able to make short work of it. Only then did I realize the remainder of the enemy had been put down. I walked
over to where Leif knelt, still holding his arm.

  “Are you okay?”

  “I will be, thanks to you.”

  “What happened? It didn’t look as if it hit you that hard.”

  “It didn’t. And yet my arm burns as if it has been set aflame. They are evil these creatures. We must not let them regroup.”

  “Regroup? They’re dead.”

  It was Drake who answered me. “No, Alaric, they are undead. We can stop them only for a time, but until their master releases their souls, they will grow again, though I dare say from the looks of things, it will take some time for that to happen.”

  As I looked around at the scattered pieces of rotten carcasses that littered the floor, I felt a chill pass through me.

  “How can anything survive what we’ve done to them?”

  “They can’t. It sort of helps that they’re already dead,” said Kharrah.

  I nodded then swallowed. I glanced at Tindal, who stood off to the side, looking almost as gray as the ghouls. Aynslae, on the other hand, was kneeling over one to get a closer look. I shook my head. I didn’t understand how she could be so calm when my only thought was to get out of there. Once again, I thought there might be more to Aynslae than was immediately apparent.

  Only a few minutes later we were on our way. Leif favored his right arm for quite a while. As we progressed, he started using his left more and more, until I could barely tell it had been injured. By then it was almost time to get some rest, but no one, not even Drake, was willing to stop in these parts. So we continued, weary and fearful. It wasn’t much later that Tindal noticed a group of warriors approach.

  We stopped and waited for them. Only as they drew closer, did I notice a feature that had not been obvious in the distance. The approaching party was curiously devoid of skin.

  “Great Gods!” shouted Tindal, “They’re skeletons.”

  I nodded in agreement. A column of walking bones approached, led by a man who looked just as dead, but not quite as decomposed. They all wore bits of armor and carried weapons in various states of disrepair. Even Drake was speechless as they drew closer.