Then, with a burst of water, Clavis emerged at the base of the monster's body, roaring and swinging his family’s ancestral axe at the vulnerable flank of the beast. The shining weapon cut through its hide like a hot knife through butter as it roared in agony. Quick as a flash, the razor-filled mouth turned straight for the dwarf.
“Get out of me city, ya thrice-damned overgrown carpet snake!” he bellowed, slicing through flesh and muscle with each cut. He could easily have moved out of the way in time, but instead, he held fast, keeping up the attack with all of his might as the wounded serpent, enraged beyond measure, descended towards him.
At the last moment, Clavis swung, taking out one of the great fangs from that terrible mouth and cutting deep into the flesh, then reversing his stroke to smash the hilt of the weapon in to its snout.
Mortally wounded from its mounting injuries, it roared and lunged at him, jaws wide enough to engulf the dwarf’s head and upper body, swallowing half of him in one go as the precious axe dropped into the water and sank.
“No!” Aiden cried out in horror, accompanied by the rest of his companions who were in a similar state of shock. Sayana, who had been hiding around one side of the debris pile, threw all caution to the wind and ran to the top, her axe held over her head as the wild girl sent the weapon flying through the air, striking the beast’s head solidly enough that they could hear the bone crack.
Nellise had picked up Clavis' repeater and began to shoot bolt after bolt at the creature. Although it had shrugged off their combined attacks earlier, the serpent was now mortally wounded. The giant serpent bellowed weakly one last time as it slowly withdrew below the water to die in some dark hole.
A stunned silence had descended upon them as the rippling lake grew still. Only the sounds of dripping water and their ragged breaths could be heard. Aiden doubled over, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath after the furious fight. Despite the dwarf’s deceptions, he chose to fight and die rather than abandon another group to the perils of Ferrumgaard.
Their brief moment of respite ended seconds later when rocks tumbled in from above, as the dwarves started to break through. Aiden almost cried out in dismay from the unrelenting challenges of this damned city.
“We are leaving, now,” he shouted, mostly to convince his battered body to keep moving. “We'll mourn Clavis later.”
“We can't see underwater,” Nellise remarked in a voice devoid of feeling.
“I'll swim down with your staff,” Colt breathed as he held one arm against his bloodied side. “When I find the breach, I'll leave it down there to light the way for the rest of you, okay?” Everyone nodded quietly in reply, too overwhelmed to say anything further.
A large rock fell from the hole above, giving Aiden the final surge of adrenaline he needed to keep going, as Colt retrieved Nellise' staff and waded through the murky waters, looking for the hole that Clavis had discovered. A minute later, Colt took off his cloak and tossed it aside, then dove down into the frigid waters with the glowing staff wedged into his backpack.
Aiden and the others gathered around the point where the ranger went in, and watched as the light descended beneath the water. There was a glint of something shining in the waters nearby and Pacian reached down to retrieve the axe of the King of Ferrumgaard. Nobody spoke for a long moment as he held the weapon before him, examining it until the light faded almost completely as Colt swam further away.
“He died recovering that thing,” Nellise whispered.
“Doesn't seem worth the trade,” Pacian mumbled, strapping it to his pack like any other piece of treasure he'd recover.
“How long has he been down there now?” Sayana asked, arms wrapped around her body to try and keep warm.
“Too long,” Nellise muttered.
“I'm going to go look,” Pacian declared, removing his tattered coat and bracing himself for the cold. The sudden cries of the dwarves from the nearby ceiling breach helped him find his courage, and he plunged into the water without further complaint.
“We can't wait to see if they've made it,” Aiden said, “they’ll be on to us at any moment. Sayana, you're next.” The wild girl steeled herself as she went. “I'm going in last Nel, so don't even think about trying to change my mind on this.”
“I wasn't going to say a thing,” she protested, inhaling deeply before diving gracefully into the waters. Aiden waited a few seconds before preparing himself for the dive, for he knew their enemies were only moments away from breaking through. He plunged into the water, stifling the urge to gasp at the bracing cold.
Though his injured leg hurt with every kick, he managed to swim downward towards the dim light coming from the staff without too much trouble. As soon as he'd passed through the floor, the eastern wall loomed up ahead, lit by the staff. Colt had dropped it onto the floor near the breach, which was a great tear in the stone, over thirty feet long, nearly reaching from the ceiling to the floor.
He only spent a second or two gazing around, but what he saw was astonishing – this was truly the home of royalty, for the remaining buildings and adornments here were shining with gold trim, and intricate carvings. Moss and other plant life were growing amidst the decaying ruins of the dwarven nobility, but it barely detracted from the opulence on display.
Small fish darted past as Aiden swam through the breach and upwards, kicking and pulling with his arms as hard as he could, for his breath was nearly gone and the weight of his equipment was making it difficult.
A few long moments later, he reached the surface and inhaled deeply, treading water as best he could, looking around the dark chamber he had entered. He could make out the faint sight of Nellise’s' white robe on the shore up ahead and swam towards her. Colt was at the edge of the waters, reaching out a hand to guide him ashore.
Aiden clasped it and allowed the big man to drag him out of the water, where he promptly fell in a wet heap on the rocky ground.
They lay there, drenched, cold and terribly injured, both in body and spirit for several minutes before they could recover from the swim and the deplorable loss of someone that they had come to know as a friend. There was little to see around them, as the light from the sunken staff was barely visible here. It could be easily surmised that they were in the remains of the underground lake, outside of Ferrumgaard proper and were almost free from the dreadful place at last.
“Don't get too comfortable,” Colt muttered tiredly. “I reckon those dwarves were the ones to make that breach, so they know it's there. If we don't keep moving, we'll freeze to death in these wet clothes.” Aiden knew he was right, but right now he just wanted to curl up into a ball and rest.
“How are we going to find our way out of here?” he breathed. As if in answer, the light from Nellise' staff suddenly went out altogether, only to be replaced by a glowing illumination coming from her crossbow instead.
“I moved it,” she explained, “though it won't prevent the staff being found by our pursuers.” Colt started scouting around for a way out of the cavern, while Aiden took a moment to look back down at the water and think of Clavis. It seemed appropriate to say a few words, but he could barely think clearly enough to force them out of his mouth. A hand rested on his shoulder a moment later, and he looked up to see Nellise with tears in her eyes.
“We'll mourn him when we're safe,” she whispered. “For now, we just need to thank him for his sacrifice and make sure it wasn't in vain.”
“Found a way out,” Colt called, pointing up at a large tunnel entrance. “Looks like a small river flows through here during the warmer months, and that means this will lead us to the surface.”
Somehow, Aiden managed to find the strength to get back on his feet and slowly drag himself after the others, pausing only for a moment to send a silent farewell to their fallen comrade.
Chapter Fourteen
It was an arduous climb from the depths of the mountain stronghold to the surface, made all the more difficult by their wounds. Worse than that, the tonic N
ellise had made to instil them with energy finally ebbed, leaving them exhausted and barely able to walk. It reminded Aiden of the first time he had gotten drunk on some cheap wine Pacian had ’procured’ from his father’s cellar.
For reasons unknown, there were no signs of pursuit from the insane dwarves of Ferrumgaard. Whether they were uninterested in leaving the safety of their ruined city, or they assumed Aiden and the others had been slain by the serpent, they would never know.
They were an exhausted, miserable bunch by the time they finally saw a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, leaning on each other for support and to stave off the chill from their soaked clothing and when they finally emerged from the cave into the night air, Aiden toppled over in relief.
The ground before them was covered in a thick layer of fresh snow, which glowed eerily in the moonlight filtering through the clouds. Their breath misted in the frigid air as even more snow drifted down from the grey skies above. Aiden guessed they had emerged somewhere in the Calespur ranges, for there were thick pine trees silhouetted against the snow as far as the eye could see. It was almost picturesque in a way, which made the things they had witnessed down below seem all the more surreal.
“How long were we down there?” Nellise whispered, looking around in disbelief. “It felt like less than a day.”
“You lose track of time underground,” Sayana replied wearily. “It may have felt like hours, but it was much longer.”
“Probably closer to eighteen hours,” Aiden surmised, guessing that it was late at night on the day they'd entered Ferrumgaard. “I have no idea where we are though,” he added.
“Must be in the southwest of the ranges,” Colt muttered, looking around at the picturesque scene before them.
“We need shelter or we’re going to freeze to death,” Nellise mumbled, leaning heavily against the stone.
“There’s an old cabin around here somewhere,” Colt responded. “We just need to keep moving.”
“I don’t think I can make it,” Sayana whispered at the thought of pressing on.
“Sorry Sy, but it's gotta be done. I have a solution though, if you're not too proud to accept my help.” Colt picked her up in his arms as if she were made out of feathers then turned and led them through the snow.
Each step through the freezing terrain was painful, requiring monumental effort just to put one foot in front of the other. Aiden had never been so exhausted in his life and he couldn’t stop shaking. His damp clothing clung to his body and chilled him to the bone, yet after a few minutes there was still no sign of the cabin Colt mentioned and Aiden despaired they weren’t going to find shelter in time.
Without warning, Aiden suddenly fell face-first into the snow where he lay unmoving, unable to take one more step. He vaguely heard someone else fall to the ground nearby and he knew this was going to be the death of them all. As his consciousness slipped away, Aiden felt an odd sensation of being dragged through the snow, right before everything went dark.
* * *
The sound of a crackling fire roused Aiden from his deep sleep. His opened his eyes a little, revealing the blurry scene of a dimly lit log cabin. He was half-buried under thick blankets, yet he couldn’t stop shaking and his body ached. Tilting his head slightly, Aiden saw a cloaked figure crouched before the fire, stirring a pot of stew. He couldn’t see the person’s face, but noticed flowing, golden hair tumbling from beneath the hood.
“Where am I?” Aiden croaked, barely able to speak. The figure’s head turned to regard him curiously, revealing a woman of remarkable beauty watching him with glittering green eyes.
“Don’t speak, rest,” she whispered in an accented voice, moving to his side to make sure the blankets covered him completely. “You and your travelling companions nearly froze to death in the forest. You are safe, but you are seriously injured and very ill. Sleep, human.” Just before he drifted off into a tormented sleep, Aiden gazed into her eyes and saw they were large, angular and alien - the eyes of an elf.
* * *
A younger Aiden stood once more upon the field of battle, the soldiers of the Kingdom clashing against their black-clad enemies that seemed to know no fear. He watched as giant, metal warriors came forth and began to slaughter the Aielunders, before a shadow grew over the battlefield as something obscured the sun. Aiden squinted against the light to see what was happening, and was stunned by what he saw.
An immense golden dragon was descending onto the battlefield, its wingspan easily over a hundred feet across. Talons the size of a man dug into the ground as it crashed to the surface far behind the black warrior making his final stand.
The dragon turned to look directly at Aiden with piercing eyes that glowed with power. Paralysed with fear, he struggled to pull his gaze away, and focused on watching the cataclysmic fight before him. The black warrior was slowly being beaten by the behemoth, and it was only a matter of time until he fell.
A dull roaring sound slowly grew with intensity, similar to the sound of cattle stampeding in the distance. When he turned to see what the dragon was doing, he was taken aback when he saw that it was much closer to him without seeming to have actually moved, its head held low as it peered at him with burning eyes.
Aiden felt a pain in his right leg, and looked down to see blood flowing from a terrible wound that made him gasp in pain. The noise grew louder, like the pounding of blood in his ears, and he clutched at his leg as a sharp pain shot through it.
When he looked up again, his heart stopped as he looked straight into the eye of the immense dragon that was right in front of him. Aiden screamed and dropped the glowing orb, shattering it upon the ground of the cave.
* * *
He gasped awake, trying to focus on where he was. It was mostly dark, but there were comforting flames coming from a nearby fireplace. Nellise sat at the end of his bed, watching him with concern.
“You're all right, Aiden,” she whispered soothingly, “you were just having a bad dream. I hope you don't mind, but I just mended your leg.”
“Thanks,” he croaked, still shaken by the change in the dream, “What time is it?”
“Just after dawn, two days after we left the caves,” she explained. “We were all in rough shape, but thankfully God was looking out for us.”
“That woman,” he mumbled, looking around for her and spying the elf sitting in a chair on the far side of the cabin.
“Her name is Mona, and she saved our lives,” Nellise explained. Mona didn’t react, seeming content to simply watch him from afar. She wore the same kind of camouflaged leathers as Colt, and a longbow leaned against the wall next to her.
“You’re a ranger?” Aiden asked, struggling to rise to his elbows.
“I aid their cause, though I work independently,” she answered with a honeyed voice.
“The others?”
“We’re alive, after a fashion” Pacian answered from another bed nearby. Aiden looked around and saw the others were all in their own beds, though Colt was sitting up and dressing himself.
“This cabin was recently seized by the Rangers,” Mona explained, gesturing at the walls. “A minor lord, Baron Thomas Fairchild was using it to entertain his wealthy friends with illegal poaching on King’s land. As I understand it, he’s going to hang for the crime, so it’s worked out well for us, since it saved your lives.”
“When I brought you here,” Mona continued, “I noticed one of your number was a follower of the human god Kylaris. I focused my efforts on her in the hope that if she lived, she could heal you all.”
“Smart move,” Colt grunted with a hint of admiration in his voice.
“Lean back and I’ll finish my work,” Nellise instructed Aiden, who did as he was told while the others continued talking.
“None of you should be in this area, least of all you, Dante,” Mona responded, leaving Aiden unsure who she was speaking to until he realised she was talking to Colt.
“It's nice to see you again too,” he answered sarcast
ically. “We were exploring the ruins of Ferrumgaard but things didn’t go so well for us. Thanks again for saving our backsides, but if you’d keep this to yourself I’d really appreciate it.”
Mona didn’t answer straight away, choosing instead to exchange a searching look with Colt who, after a few moments of scrutiny, swore under his breath.
“Look, can we speak in private? There's things that need saying, and I don't talk well with an audience.”
“This cabin has but one room,” she replied distantly. “In your condition, it’s too cold to go outside right now so why don’t you just tell me what’s on your mind?”
“You know what,” Colt growled as he pulled his leather tunic over his bruised body.
“Say, do you two know each other?” Pacian asked with exaggerated innocence.
“She’s the reason I was kicked out of the Rangers,” Colt grunted, which Mona seemed to take issue with.
“Am I to be responsible for the choices of others?” she asked pointedly. “If those around me act out of passion and misguided feeling, am I to blame?”
“Don’t get subtle on me, you know I can't follow you when you do that,” Colt complained.
“Look, I’ve had many admirers over the years, but around here they were predominately uncouth frontiersmen, interested in only one thing. I rebuffed all advances and kept to myself for decades, until I met you. Forgive me for speaking of such things in front of your friends, I do not mean to embarrass you.”
“Oh it's quite alright,” Nellise assured her. “Just pretend we're not here.”
“You know what would be better than that?” Colt asked in a restrained voice. “Actually not being here. Why don't you try that?”
“Because this is more fun, Dante,” Pacian chided.
“Nobody but Mona calls me that,” Colt growled, leaning in towards Pacian threateningly. Mona sighed in exasperation.
“There it is again,” she remarked. “And you wonder why I didn't want to be with you after the incident.”
Nature Abhors a Vacuum (The Aielund Saga Book 1) Page 22