Into the Wastelands: Book Four of the Restoration Series

by Williams, Christopher

  Warren watched them with a small smile. “Do not worry. The chamber is only about a hundred yards away.” With that he bent over and walked into the passage. One by one the Guardians followed.

  Heather followed Aaron into the passage and they made slow progress. It wasn’t easy walking all bent over, but it was probably easier for her than Enton and Atock. Her back was hurting when she realized that Aaron had left the passage through an open door in the left side of the tunnel. The door resembled the passage wall and she probably would have passed it by without even noticing.

  She stepped into a large square chamber and was immensely relieved to see that the ceiling was several feet above their heads. Stopping just inside the door, she stretched her back and then realized that everyone else was doing the same thing.

  Warren was holding the door and he motioned her on in.

  The room wasn’t much. It was a good ten yards square and completely empty of any furnishings. There weren’t any other exits. On the far wall was a small alcove that was charred and blackened – a fire pit of some kind.

  “It’s not palatial,” Warren said from beside her, “but it’s safe. The goblins have never been to this area of the mine and the door is easily blocked.” He motioned to the back of the now closed door and she saw that a heavy wooden plank could be used to bolt the door shut.

  “The goblins have never been here before?” Heather asked, surprised.

  “No, not to this part of the mine. Well, not as far as I know anyway,” Warren answered. “They hate it and do not come to the mine freely. That’s why we were caught off guard by their sudden arrival.” He shrugged, “It makes more sense now, though.” He shook himself, “Do not worry. We’re safe here.” He motioned towards the floor. “You will want blankets though, it’s can get quite cold.”

  Despite their exhaustion, Heather insisted that they maintain a watch. The Guardians agreed with her, but Warren just smiled and shrugged. He and his men lay down and were asleep almost instantly. No one wanted the first watch so Heather took it – leadership and all that.

  She had to remain standing to stay awake and the time seemed to pass excruciatingly slow. Eventually her turn was up and she shook Atock awake and then collapsed into her blankets. She was asleep before she had finished lying down.

  They awoke the next morning to the most wonderful smell. Heather couldn’t quite indentify it as she pushed her blanket away and set up. Warren noticed her waking and walked over, knelt down beside her, and handed her a bowl. Taking the bowl, she glanced inside. It looked liked either gruel or vomit and neither one really appealed to her. She looked up doubtfully, “What is it?”

  Warren had been watching her examine the bowl’s contents and he was smiling. He bent low and spoke quietly, since some of the others were still asleep. “It’s a mixture of grains mixed together and then we pour warm water over it.”

  Warm water? Heather thought and then she looked over to the small alcove in the far wall. Sure enough, there was a small fire there with a small black pot hanging suspended over the flames. Her eyes widened in alarm. “Won’t the goblins be able to smell the fire?”

  “No,” Warren answered immediately. “There is a crack in the back of the recess that vents the smoke to the surface.” He smiled, “Trust me, I’ve used it many times.”

  Heather nodded, still not convinced. By his own admission, Warren had never seen this many goblins in the mine and possibly he had never seen any goblins in this part of the mine.

  She forgot about the fire at the first bite of the mushy breakfast. If she had been living in Telur and eating more normal food, then this breakfast would have been just all right. But after weeks of eating out of their packs, this was wonderful. She took several more bites in quick succession, enjoying each of them as much as the first. The fourth bite, however, was pure heaven. It seemed that Warren’s men added some dried pieces of fruit to the concoction and it was simply the best thing she had eaten in what seemed like forever. She closed her eyes as she chewed on the piece of small fruit. It wasn’t an apple – a peach, perhaps – but it tasted phenomenal. Opening her eyes, she looked up at Warren. “That fruit is the best!”

  He grinned at her again. “Glad you’re enjoying it.”

  Just then the door to the passage opened and Quinn stepped into the room and closed the door behind him.

  Heather glanced at Quinn and then back to Warren. Her eyebrows raised questioningly.

  “Nothing to worry about,” Warren said quickly. “I sent out my men to scout the passages. Please excuse me.” He pushed himself off of the floor and moved over to Quinn. The two men put their heads together and talked quietly.

  Less than an hour after waking, Heather found herself trudging through the gloomy passages. Jerrold led the way and he was followed by Warren. Heather insisted on being next, mainly because she wanted to hear any and all of Warren’s discussions. It felt rather like he was in charge and, if she was honest, she had to admit that chaffed a little. She found that she had rather liked being the leader. Regardless, she would not let a stranger make the decisions unless she was in agreement with the decisions he made.

  Warren’s other three men were not currently with them, as they were out scouting their path.

  Much to Enton’s relief, they had only travelled the low tunnel for another hundred yards or so before they came across another of the high arching passages. They turned right into this tunnel and followed it forever, or at least it seemed so. The passage gradually sloped down, which made the walking easy.

  “Did your men see any signs of goblins?” Heather asked, leaning in close to Warren to speak. The tunnels were chillingly quiet – except for the noise the group made - and she didn’t want her voice to carry too far. Warren looked her way but he looked blank. “When you sent your men out this morning, did they see any goblins?”

  Warren took a deep breath and shook his head. “No, but they did see some signs that they have reached this area.”

  She could tell by his look how troubling that news had been to him. He had said they had never reached this part of the mine – at least not so far as he knew – but the sheer number of the goblins meant they had to be scurrying through this mine like rats. “How close are we to Nerandall?” she asked.

  It was impossible to miss his hesitation before he answered. “Several days,” he said quietly.

  Heather stared at him. “Days?” she finally managed to say. “Days?”

  He nodded. “Do not worry. We know of many rooms similar to where we stayed last night.”

  Honestly she wasn’t worried about where they would make camp. She was more worried about spending days walking through goblin infested tunnels.

  They took several small breaks throughout the early part of the day and they spent a half an hour eating their mid-day meal. It was strange, but it didn’t take long to lose track of the time. None of them really realized how much they needed the sky to know what part of the day it was.

  Warren got them moving directly at the end of that half-hour lunch, to their credit, none of Heather’s group grumbled a bit. They had only been walking for four hours or so, but they weren’t all soldiers.

  After their meal, they walked for nearly another hour before Heather sensed something different. At first she wasn’t sure what it was. It took a few moments to realize the air was different somehow. She looked behind them and as far forwards as she could but she couldn’t see anything. She even glanced upwards, but the ceiling had not changed. Her eyes narrowed as she caught Warren grinning at her. “What?” she asked quietly.

  “Your senses are excellent,” he said in way of answer. “I hadn’t expected anyone to detect it this quickly.”

  “Detect what?” Heather demanded, but Warren would say no more. But she found out less then a quarter hour later.

  The passage had changed very little throughout the day. Occasionally there were some minor piles of debris – most of it was from broken or fallen stones – but nothing else
seemed to change. That changed suddenly when they entered a large chasm, a naturally formed opening of the rock, or at least some of it was naturally formed. There were parts where the dwarves’ work had been unmistakable.

  The chasm, or cavern, stretched into the darkness over their heads and the far wall was lost in the gloom. There was a worn stone path that worked along the right hand side of the cavern while the floor dropped away to pitch black on their left. In a few places, a short stone railing still stood but most of it had fallen into the gaping abyss ages ago. The walls of the cavern were made of a dark black rock which only added to the gloominess of the room.

  Warren stopped walking and waited for the others to catch up and gather around. It took several moments as everyone wanted to stop and gawk around at their new surroundings. Finally, he managed to get their attention. “As you can see the railing is mostly missing, and to be honest, I wouldn’t trust the parts of the rail that are still there. Just stay to the right along the path and everything will be fine.”

  They followed the path in single file with Jerrold once again leading the way. The only person bothered by the abyss to their left was Agminion. He walked along the edge of the path with his right hand firmly planted on the rock wall. His whole body was never very far from the surface of the wall and he kept his eyes straight forward. He carefully did not look to his left at all.

  The path along the edge of the abyss wasn’t overly long, roughly three or four hundred yards. The cavern wall curved around to the right and ended abruptly at the foot of a bridge that spanned the abyss back to their left. It was impossible to see the far end of the bridge and Heather had horrible visions of the bridge having crumbled away in the distant past, but Warren assured them it was fine. Neely waited for them next to the bridge. Warren moved forward to speak to him and Heather stepped forward as well. Jerrold appeared indignant and looked ready to say something, but Warren stopped him by placing a hand on Jerrold’s forearm. Jerrold lapsed into a sort of sulky silence, but at least it was a silence.

  “Report,” Warren said to Neely.

  “I went to the salt cavern, the third tier forges, and even as far as the guards’ outstation, but I didn’t see any goblins.”

  Heather was impressed. She had thought her group was making good time, but it sounded like Neely had been to every corner of the mine. For the first time she realized that Neely was minimally outfitted. He had his sword strapped to his back and a canteen over his left shoulder. Undoubtedly he had run for most of the day and that caused her estimation of him to go up.

  “You didn’t see any goblins,” Warren said, brightening a little. “And no signs of them?” There was a slight hesitation on Neely’s part and Warren spoke quickly. “What is it? Did you see something?”

  Neely shook his head. “I’m not sure what it was, but the floor of the salt cavern was covered in tracks.”

  “Goblin tracks?” Jerrold asked. His earlier anger with Heather forgotten.

  “I’m not sure. The floor of that cavern distorts things and I’m not sure what it was.” He shrugged, “I’m sorry, sir.”

  Warren waved the apology away. “No, you did good.” He handed the man a small pack. “There’s food in there but you’ll have to eat while we travel.” In response, Neely smiled and took the offered bag.

  “So, we’re crossing the bridge?” Heather asked.

  “Why? Are you afraid of the heights?” Jerrold asked, drawing a rather nasty look from Warren.

  Heather smiled at that. “No, I’m not afraid. However, I fear Agminion is.” Her eyes flicked to Warren, “So I repeat my question. Are we crossing the bridge?” Warren nodded and she turned away from the men. She walked back down the path a short ways, passing Agminion, and stopped next to Cassandra.

  The magic-user was showing signs of exhaustion. She wasn’t a soldier and probably had never performed this much physical activity in her life. Cassandra sat against the wall with her arms wrapped around her legs. Her head rested on her knees and her eyes were closed.

  Heather knelt down beside Cassandra and said quietly, “I need your help.”

  Cassandra’s eyes popped open and she turned her head to get a better look. “What do you need?” she asked, and despite the signs of physical exhaustion, her eyes were still bright and sharp.

  Heather quickly explained the problem and several moments later she and Cassandra walked back towards the front of the line. They stopped in front of Agminion, who was busy rubbing his eyes and didn’t notice their arrival. Cassandra raised her right hand to her mouth and blew a green powder into Agminion’s face. He immediately dropped his hands from his eyes and begin coughing and hacking. His eyes widened and for two heartbeats, he just stood there looking surprised. Then, he fell forward. Luckily for Agminion, Heather and Cassandra caught him.

  With Agminion unconscious, crossing the bridge was uneventful. They crossed the ancient bridge in single file with Enton carrying the slumped figure of Agminion.

  On the other side of the bridge, they entered another tunnel that was almost identical to the one they had just left. Agminion gradually came to and he groggily walked beside Enton for a while, mainly because the big warrior insisted.

  They passed four or five openings, but it was difficult to see much. Jerrold had set a fast pace and he showed little desire to slow down to wait for stragglers.

  She wasn’t sure, but Heather thought that some of the rooms may have been storerooms long ago. Now, they were just empty. Some of the openings appeared to just lead to rooms, while others looked to be a whole new passage. Regardless, Jerrold led them straight on, and he and Warren barely looked in as they passed the openings.

  They had travelled this new passage for less than an hour when they came across an entirely new tunnel. It was broad, with high ceilings. Unlike the other tunnels they had been travelling, this tunnel could easily support soldiers marching ten abreast. It had all the appearance of a major road.

  Warren waved them all close and said, “We’re going to follow this tunnel. It takes us toward what used to be the city.”

  “What used to be the city?” Mikela repeated his words in a question.

  Nodding, Warren explained. “During the fight, the dwarves sprung some traps on the goblins. The ceiling was rigged to collapse and when it did, it took out most of the city.”

  Heather’s eyes widened, “They destroyed their own home?”

  “It was that or let the goblins have it and the dwarves were determined to not let that happen. The best part was that they waited until the hordes of goblins were already ransacking the city before they collapsed the ceiling. Tens of thousands of goblins perished.”

  Enton grunted and it might have meant anything. Heather thought it was a sign of respect. To be honest she sort of agreed with Enton. It was better to destroy the city than let the goblins overrun it.

  “We’re about three hours from another concealed room. Once we reach it, we’ll make camp for the night,” Warren paused, making sure he had their attention. “We need to move quietly now. The goblins will most assuredly know of this tunnel and they may even be using it. Remain quiet and listen for any commands. If we tell you to do something, then do not hesitate. All right?”

  Despite Warren’s fears, they reached the room he had spoken of without incident. Quinn was waiting for them and he opened the concealed door at their approach. The group filed past him, with only Heather hanging back. If he was about to make a report, then she wanted to hear it.

  “What have you found?” Warren asked, even before the door had closed on the last of the group.

  “It’s bad, sir.” Quinn answered after only a brief hesitation. He hadn’t looked in Heather’s direction, but that pause meant he was surprised that Warren wanted him to speak in front of her. “I journeyed as close to the city as I could and there are goblins everywhere.”

  “Did any of them see you?” Heather asked before she could stop herself.

  Both men looked at her then and it w
as Warren who answered. “No. If he had been spotted, he would have led them away from here.”

  She was glad that it was so dark as it would help hide the blush that was coloring her face. Of course he wouldn’t have headed here if he thought he had been spotted.

  “Can we make the waterfall without being spotted?” Warren asked.

  Quinn hesitated, “I’m not sure, sir. I believe it’s possible, but there may be an element of luck needed for us to reach it without being seen.”

  Warren was silent for a moment and then nodded at the door. “Go on. Get in there and get some rest.” He waited until Quinn had entered the concealed room and then Warren turned to Heather. He sighed deeply. “We need to reach the waterfall. If we’re seen trying to make it, then we’ll doubtless never leave this mine alive.”

  “Is there another way?” Heather asked.

  “There is,” Warren answered slowly. “Our problem is that time has grown short. If there really are that many goblins in the mine, then it’s probably not going to be long before they find the armor and we cannot let that happen.”

  “So, is this other way a long ways out of the way?” Heather asked, still not seeing the dilemma.

  Warren nodded, “It would take at least another four days.” He paused, “I don’t think we have any choice but to risk this main passage.”

  Heather hesitated. The armor had remained hidden for millennia, she didn’t know why Warren was so worried that the goblins would find it quickly. Another all too common thought occurred to her, trap, but that hardly seemed likely. Finally, as much as she hated to do it, she decided to let Warren make that call. If it was a mistake, then that blame would be on her.

  They left the small concealed room after a brief night’s sleep. Perhaps it had been nighttime while they slept, or perhaps it was daytime, it was hard to keep it straight in the dark of the mine.