by Sam Ferguson
“Did you try it?” Jonathan asked.
Ziegler shook his head. “Raven decided that it was best to use magic to scout the way. If the waterway ended underground, then it would be suicide. So, after a bit of debate we used Raven’s magic. We broke the head off of an arrow and then created three pieces of wood out of it. Raven cast a spell over each one and then sent them through the waterway. I’m not sure exactly what he did, but somehow the magic on the pieces of the arrow formed an image that appeared in front of the three of us. It was nearly the same as if we were looking through a window, except there was no glass. It was just an image brought about by Raven’s magic.”
“That’s how you got caught,” Jonathan surmised. “You used magic and the trolls could sense it.”
Ziegler nodded. “But we also found the way in to the central lair. The waterway is the key. It leads directly into the central lair. We got a good look around before the spell was detected and we had to escape. The waterway opens into a pool inside of a large chamber. Unlike the others we have ever found, this chamber was extremely ornate. There is a throne made of bones and gold. It sits behind a large alter of obsidian. There is a troll king there. He was much larger than any troll we had ever seen before. He was wearing strange robes too, with a blue amulet around his neck. I can’t be sure, but it seems to me that if there were a troll in charge of making the monsoons larger, then it would be him.”
An uneasy feeling hooked itself around Jonathan’s stomach, and goosebumps rippled across his forearms. “And you want me to go through the waterway?” he asked.
Ziegler nodded slowly. “I don’t ask this lightly,” he said. “Raven’s magic also revealed that the hole opening up into the pool is too small for any of us to get through. It would be suicide for me, or even someone as large as Jason.”
“Suicide for me too,” Jonathan noted.
“You could make it through the opening. I saw it, and I know you could swim through,” Ziegler said.
“But after the king is dead, I will not be able to swim back up the waterway, will I?”
Ziegler sighed heavily. “No. The angle is too steep and the current is far too strong.” His hand squeezed Jonathan’s shoulder tighter again. “You don’t have to agree to it now. Take the night and think on it. I know you only came to save your brother, but I think you might be the best chance we have to end this war. Look at you, a boy by all accounts, and yet you are the only one who could retrieve a magical bow that enables you to kill trolls. Despite all odds, you have not only braved the Murkle Quags, but survived all the way to The Warrens. You are within striking distance of Shadowbore. The gods have placed you here for a reason.”
“I’ll do it,” Jonathan said. Ziegler stopped with his mouth open and stared at the young man. “Just be sure that Jason gets home.”
Ziegler nodded solemnly. “I will.”
Jonathan glanced over at Miranda and his shoulders fell slack. There would be no future day when she visited him in Holstead, he knew. He looked back to Ziegler and thought about the plan for a moment before asking, “How will you know if I have succeeded?”
Ziegler smiled wide. After what I have seen of your archery skills, I have no doubt that you will succeed. Besides, if we are right, and it is the shamans that have amplified the monsoons, then the rains should stop upon the king’s death. Raven was certain that the king has much greater magical abilities than the other shamans. Beyond that, there is always the hope that killing the leader will cause the others to break up, or possibly retreat altogether.”
“What if they don’t, or what if the king isn’t there when I swim out from the pool?” Jonathan asked.
Ziegler leaned in. “Don’t let fear and doubt cloud your judgment. It is a solid plan, and at this point it is the smartest one. The only other option is a frontal assault with everyone fighting their way down to that throne room.”
Jonathan sighed and nodded. “No, I can do it. Just get Jason back home.”
Chapter 17
The group was back out in the rain before the morning’s first light. Ziegler led them, with Jonathan at this side scanning with his enchanted bow for trolls. The wind was even worse than it had been before, chilling them all to the bone and quashing their spirits. The rain was lighter, but in the harshness of the winds it felt colder and more bitter than the previous day’s large drops.
The silvery moon broke through the clouds for quick intermissions only to be covered up again as the wind above carried the clouds eastward. Ziegler used the additional light to speed the group along their journey, slowing when the darkness was full and nearly running when the moonlight streamed down upon them.
Soon they came to a large mound of rocks. Jonathan signaled that he saw two trolls. At first he thought they were in the mound, but he quickly realized as the glowing hearts split and walked in opposite directions that they were patrolling around the outside.
Ziegler signaled for everyone to lay low to the ground.
Jonathan drew an arrow back and waited for the first troll to move out into the open. He fired and the troll fell without a sound. He drew another arrow and dropped the second just as easily. The two arrows returned to his quiver and he signaled that all of the enemies were gone.
Captain Ziegler moved in close to Jonathan and put a hand on his shoulder. “This is it,” he said. “Behind those rocks is the cave where they took your brother, and Raven. We’ll go on ahead, and the others will go after your brother.”
“Can’t I at least see him?” Jonathan asked.
Ziegler shook his head. “Better that we split up now. Don’t worry. Moose will lead the others to make sure your brother gets out alive, but we can’t risk all of us going in there and getting caught. You and I need to go to Shadowbore.”
Jonathan glanced over to Miranda. He could only faintly see her in the dim light straining through the clouds above. Then he turned to Ziegler and nodded. “Let’s go.”
*****
“Where are they going?” Miranda asked as she saw Jonathan and Ziegler run off toward the south.
“They have something they need to do,” Bear said cryptically.
“What?” Miranda pressed. “Jonathan’s brother is in this cave right?”
“As is Raven,” Bear answered.
Bull came up and put his massive hand on her shoulder. “We focus on getting your father and Jason.” It was the sympathy in his eyes that gave it away for her. In her short time with him, she had only seen the brash braggart that her father had talked about and so eloquently described in his letters. To see him show any amount of empathy was beyond alarming to her.
“They’re going to Shadowbore, aren’t they?” Miranda guessed.
Moose walked up and pointed to the mound of rocks.
“Come on, then,” Bear said. “We have some trolls to kill and people to rescue.”
Miranda stared off at Jonathan, watching his cloak wave in the wind as he disappeared into the darkness. “He didn’t even say goodbye,” she whispered to herself.
“Let’s go, love,” Bull said as he gently pushed her toward the mound of rocks.
Miranda turned to follow Moose, but the large man had disappeared into the shadows. “Where did he go?”
Bear cracked a grin and shrugged. “No one’s sure how he does it, but he puts the literal meaning into the word Ghost, if you know what I mean.”
She glanced all around, but saw no sign of the giant.
“Come on, he’s going to get a head start again,” Bull complained. The three of them broke into a light jog. They rounded the mound of rocks, passing by one of the slain trolls and stopping at the open entrance.
“Remember, no magic unless I say so,” Bear told Miranda.
The young girl nodded and held her staff out in a guard position. Bear and Bull went in first and she followed after them. Unlike the other tunnels, there were lights in this one. Torches set into the stone hung every twenty feet or so, illuminating everything.
Off in t
he distance the trio could hear the sound of a sharp crack, followed by a distinct thud.
“Snake-eggs,” Bull cursed. “Moose has already got one.”
An instant later there were some muffled thumping sounds. A slight groan could be heard and then another crraaack! Bull pushed by Bear and quickened his pace while trying to remain as silent as possible.
They came to a small chamber where a troll guard lay dead on the floor. His head hung limp off to one side and his tongue was flopped out of his mouth. The small chamber then broke off into three more tunnels. Two were dark, one was illuminated by torches.
Bear moved up to the tunnel with the torches and put his ear out, listening for any sign of Moose. He shook his head and frowned as he turned back to the others.
“We can cover all three tunnels,” Miranda offered.
Bear shook his head. “We can cover two,” he said. “Moose likely took one of the two dark tunnels. He does best in the shadows. So we can either all go down the lit tunnel, or we can split up.”
“How do we know which tunnel Moose took?” Miranda asked.
Bull approached the tunnel on the left and listened close as he put a finger to his lips.
Miranda heard the faint thumping sounds coming from the right tunnel. She pointed to it and Bull and Bear nodded.
“Right then, Bull, you take Miranda down the dark tunnel. I’ll take this one.”
“You’ll be alright alone?” Miranda asked.
Bear winked as he drew his pair of knives. “Don’t worry about me, worry about the trolls.”
“Let’s go!” Bull whispered harshly. “Moose has already got at least three or four kills by now.”
“Race you to twenty,” Bear teased.
Bull growled and turned down the tunnel.
Miranda ran quickly to follow the bald headed warrior. They silently rushed through the tunnel as it broke away to the left and descended into the ground. The air grew warmer, despite the cold air above, and even though it was dark, it was not pitch black. There were small gems in the ceiling of the cave that gave off a strange, red glow. The light was enough that they could see where they were going, as well as make out the texture of the walls around them.
After following the tunnel for two minutes, it spiraled down at an alarming pitch. Miranda and Bull had to step sideways in order to keep from slipping and tumbling down the red hallway. Round and round they walked until they came to a long hallway that appeared to have several offshoots to either side. At the end of the hall sat a troll. It rested upon a large stone, with its back leaning against the wall and its head and neck crimped so that its chin rested on its chest. Its hands sat upon its bulbous belly, rising and dropping with each ear-splitting snore.
Bull motioned for Miranda to stay put. She moved close to the wall, trying to make herself as hard to see as possible in case the troll opened its eyes. Bull moved through the hall. He paused at each branch off the tunnel and peered around the wall before hopping across the opening and then waiting to see if the troll had been disturbed by his sudden movement. The bald-headed warrior leveled his sword as he neared the sleeping troll, and then he lashed out as quickly as a viper and drove his blade up through the large belly and into the chest. He pulled his sword out and then brought it up to stab directly down into the chest.
Miranda put a hand to her mouth as a copious amount of blood spilled to the floor, splattering loudly as the troll flopped over to land on its side. Bull then turned and motioned for Miranda to join him. He turned immediately to the opening on his left and disappeared.
The young woman paused at the first opening, but was quickly relieved when she saw nothing more than a den maybe twelve feet deep and eight feet wide. She inspected each opening and found them to be similar. Then, when she arrived at the last offshoot, her heart leapt into her throat.
Bull was helping a man to his feet. He was weak, barely able to stand on his own and reaching out for Bull’s support. He had a messy beard and a mat of unkempt dark hair on his head. Miranda rushed in to him and nearly knocked him over as she hugged him tight.
“Father!” she cried.
“M-Miranda!” Raven said in a cracking voice as he slowly put his arms around her. “My girl, what are you doing here?”
Miranda squeezed him tight and buried the side of her face into his chest. His body felt cool and thin, but he was alive. She cried tears of joy and then pushed away so she could wipe her face. “It’s good to see you again,” she said.
“Daughter, why have you come?” Raven asked. “You should never have come.”
Miranda looked to see that Bull was cutting another man loose. A thick rope extending from an iron ring in the wall was tied to the man’s neck. His arms were bound around a pole laid horizontally across his back so that he couldn’t use his arms, and his feet were bound together at the ankles. Even in the dim light of the red stones, Miranda could see the likeness to Jonathan.
“You’re Jason Haymaker,” she said.
The young man lifted his head and looked at her with puzzled eyes. “How do you know my name?”
Bull finished cutting him loose and then pulled Jason to his feet. “Boar,” he said as he pointed to Miranda. “This is Raven’s daughter, Miranda. She is a friend of your brother’s.”
“My brother?” Jason asked. “What do you mean?”
Miranda shot her father a quick glance and then went to Jason and took one of his hands in hers. “Jonathan helped me find my father, and he was here too. He went with Ziegler to Shadowbore.”
“Shadowbore?” Jason asked. “Jonathan was here?”
Bull nodded. “A fine warrior he is too,” he said. “He was dead set on finding you, no matter the cost.”
“Why is he going to Shadowbore?” Jason pressed.
“The waterway,” Raven said. The other three turned to him. “I am guessing that Jonathan is a younger brother?”
“No, he can’t!” Jason said loudly. Bull slapped a hand to the man’s mouth and held it firmly.
“Quiet down, Moose and Bear are up in the other tunnels. We don’t need to attract any more attention.” Bull stared at Jason’s eyes for a moment and then slowly removed his hand. “Now, Jonathon wanted us to get you home.”
Jason shook his head. “Most of the other trolls left last night.”
“Why?” Bull asked.
Raven answered. “Couldn’t say for certain. I can’t understand their language. All I know, is we were originally held in the upper chambers. They examined us for a while, and then they took my staff. A group of them left the tunnel, with my staff, and the others brought us down to this level.”
“Then last night they came in shouting and hollering. They had broken Raven’s staff and they seemed pretty angry.”
Raven smirked. “I was hoping that perhaps they had tried to use it and it backfired on them, but there is no way to be sure.”
“They were after your magic?” Bull asked.
Raven shrugged. “All I know is most of them left after that. We could tell because the tunnels became almost deathly quiet from that time up until you arrived. I’m guessing if they thought you would come for us, they would have stayed here to fight.”
“We need to find Bear and Moose,” Bull said. “Ziegler said we were to get you both home as soon as we found you.”
Then you shouldn’t have told me my brother was here,” he said flatly. “I’m not leaving without him.”
Bull grinned wide. “That’s exactly why I told you. I ain’t for leaving the kid to the monsters in Shadowbore either.”
“We should help Bear and Moose,” Raven said. “Let’s clear this den before we move on. If we don’t, then they might be able to raise an alarm.”
Bull turned to Raven. “Can you walk?” he asked.
Miranda handed her father her staff and he took it in hand. “Easily enough.”
Bull turned back to Jason. “What about you, can you fight?”
Jason narrowed his eyes and offered a sing
le nod. “Give me a sword and let’s finish this.”
*****
Jonathan and Ziegler crept into the large opening slowly. Jonathan had already spotted and killed four guards, and now the entrance was clear. They stepped into Shadowbore and snuck down into the first chamber. Several tunnels broke off from this chamber, but Ziegler pointed to the farthest right tunnel.
“The waterway is down this one,” he said. The two of them walked along the shadows for several hundred yards. Jonathan noticed several hearts as they approached a second chamber. Firelight danced out into the entrance to the tunnel, playing upon the wall near Jonathan.
“I see three,” Jonathan said.
Ziegler nodded. “The entrance to the waterway is in this chamber. It isn’t large, but you should manage. Take these trolls out, and then you should be able to make it.”
Jonathan took a couple of breaths to steady his nerves. Then he set his jaw and walked out to the opening of the chamber. Three arrows flew and three trolls fell. Unfortunately, one troll dropped onto the arrow and snapped the shaft, so now Jonathan only had six arrows left. He didn’t let that bother him though. He only needed one for the king.
Ziegler ran into the room and pulled Jonathan along by the arm after the trolls were dead. He took him to a place in the wall where there was a moveable stone slab. He gripped it, and with a grunting effort, pulled it free.
“This is it,” Ziegler said. “This is what your brother found.”
Jonathan looked at it and his heart sank into his stomach. The waterway was little more than a granite chute. From the looks of it, he would have to hold his breath the entire way down. The water ran so fast that he knew there was zero chance of swimming back up.
“Hold your bow across your chest,” Ziegler said. “You don’t want it breaking before you reach the throne room.”
Jonathan nodded. He handed the bow and the quiver to Ziegler while he climbed up to sit on the rock at the edge of the opening. Ziegler then gave him the weapons back and Jonathan held them close to his chest. He closed his eyes and then looked to Ziegler.