Forge of Ashes

by Josh Vogt

  When they came in sight of Davarn, it struck Ondorum as similar to Taggoret in the manner of its construction and style, though on a smaller scale and with fewer adornments. More towers sprouted from the outer walls, the ridge of which had been fashioned into unevenly spaced triangles, suggesting a miniature mountain range. Ondorum studied the city's arched gates, wondering what the lower levels might be like.

  He and Selvia hung back as Akina veered off to speak with the guards. When she rejoined them, her expression remained dour, but fresh determination gleamed in her eyes.

  "They came this way, all right," she said."Two days ago, sounds like. Means they've been moving faster than I guessed. One of the guards remembers Brakisten's stink, and that he acted strange when they came and went, like he wasn't quite in his right mind." She looked north and curled her upper lip."They say the way's open, but there've been reports of a few people missing after going under."

  "Do they know why?" Selvia asked.

  "Not a clue. Maybe we'll find out." Akina nodded them forward."Half a day and we're there."

  They rode on, Selvia lagging slightly behind as she studied the maps to refresh her memory before they went under. She caught up right before they reached the surface gate at last. They came up between rows of enormous dwarven statues, with every second statue facing the opposite way. The first pair stared out over the path Akina and the others had come along, axes poised. The next pair looked up to the gate fortress itself, hammers planted as they stood watch. This repeated five more times until they reached the first set of gates, manned by six living dwarves, all in well-worn plate armor. Chunky towers stood on either side with archers peering down at the newcomers.

  After Akina explained the reason for their journey and intent to descend, they were admitted into the first court. Another set of six guards met them on the other side of the gate. They held the same positions as the outer group, but faced inward.

  A gate captain met them there, concern crinkling his brow.

  "You're saying this Gromir fellow's been working with duergar?" he asked Akina."And he came through here?"

  She grunted."That's what we're thinking."

  "Well, we've had a few folks and teams pass through lately. Mostly dwarves heading down to explore or hunt. A few surveyors hoping to get lucky. None triggered any wards. The tunnels connect to duergar territory down far enough, which is why we keep such a close eye on it, but it's been quiet from their end for years." He frowned."At least, we've thought so."

  "We heard some travelers had gone missing," Selvia said.

  The captain looked her way."We defend the way from any real threat to our lands. If goodly folks want to go down for a treasure hunt, that's their business. They know the danger. The risk is all theirs, and there's plenty more than duergar in the Darklands to cause trouble."

  "We're going after them, whatever the risk," Akina said."They've got my brother."

  The captain nodded."You catch them, you give that traitor a good, painful bleeding."

  They passed through four successive gates, each guarded by soldiers on either side. Dwarven warriors tromped along the top of the walls, as many studying the interior yards as peering out to the land beyond. Ondorum eyed the runes along the walls, wondering which ones anchored the wards and how many wizards maintained them. If the duergar had indeed taken this route, they must have had powerful magic of their own.

  The actual surface gates themselves stood over a hundred feet high, controlled by massive bars and gears. Ondorum waited for them to swing wide, but was surprised again when guards opened a far smaller gate, ten feet tall and cunningly fashioned into the base of the larger ones. When they rode through, the arched tunnel they entered couldn't have stood more than twenty feet high. Why, then, had the dwarves created the illusion of a far larger entryway that must've concealed nothing but solid stone? Overeagerness on the part of the crafters?

  He looked back just as the gate shut behind them, blocking out the sun. The thoom of its closing reverberated along the tunnel, and they followed its echoes down to find a set of inner entry points. Iron walls blocked the path with a bronze gateway allowing travelers through. They passed through two other gates until they reached a final checkpoint. There, Akina had them dismount and hand off their mules to a private, who agreed to see them stabled in hopes of their return. They divided their fresh water and food between themselves and then approached the last thick gate. The sergeant who unlocked this strode out beside them, where four soldiers saluted her before turning back to their duty. On this side of the wall, metal pikes had been drilled into the tunnel base, forming a jagged barrier that would impale anything foolish enough to assault the gate head-on.

  The sergeant waved them ahead."On your own from here. We've got patrols that go out several times a week and a few advance posts, but don't expect them to be right by your side if you encounter trouble."

  "We can handle ourselves," Akina said.

  The dwarf knocked a fist against her breastplate."Stone endures."

  "Stone endures," Akina replied, though with less enthusiasm.

  The tunnel remained wide enough for Ondorum to stride by Akina's side as they descended, Selvia bringing up the rear. Lamps burned in sconces for the initial stretch, and then spaced out at greater intervals until they came to a last pair, beyond which lay darkness.

  Akina marched across this transition point without pause. Ondorum took a moment to stand and pray to Irori, asking for guidance through the hollows of the earth.

  "Worried?"

  Selvia's whisper broke him out of the prayer. He smiled down at her, shrugging. Shadows cast her finer features into a craggy mask, but he read the anticipation on her expression well enough.

  "We're not even really in Nar-Voth yet, according to her." Selvia watched Akina's receding back."I'm sure things will get a bit more interesting the deeper we go. I look forward to seeing a map come to life."

  Akina's words bounced back to them."More life down here than maps. Best we remember that, hm?"

  They trekked down through a series of switchback tunnels, which grew smaller and less refined with each step. At last, they passed through a jagged slant and into a larger cave that couldn't have been fashioned by any hands, dwarven or otherwise. Limestone columns poured down on either side and stalagmites of varying sizes formed chaotic fencings.

  Since the darkness reduced his vision to shades of black and white, Ondorum wished for a bit of torchlight to determine the natural coloration of this new world. It couldn't lack all hue. While Akina had a torch strapped to her pack, the head remained sealed in wax. It not only preserved the fuel for when they might truly need it, but also avoided drawing the attention of things that preferred the dark and might be drawn to unnatural light sources.

  He picked out other details as they descended. Mushrooms and slab-like fungus sprouted from some walls, forming miniature forests. Magnificent stalactites and stalagmites filled many of the caves, forcing the travelers to crouch or clamber past. In one section, he detected a distant dripping, with long, empty spaces between each drop. This stuck with them for a while. Though he never determined the source or even the particular direction it came from, he found it a meditative noise and felt saddened when it faded.

  Certain walls and tunnel thresholds had been marked with dwarven runes and other scratchings in the stone. When Ondorum tapped Akina's shoulder and then tapped one such series of runes, she smiled slightly.

  "It's an old gladdringgar. A rite of passage for more traditional dwarves." She traced the runes."You delve the tunnels alone and carve your name into the deepest places you're brave enough to go. Then, to be considered adults, your younglings can track down the older mark and add theirs beside it. This one's hardly as deep as some, but with this being such dangerous territory, it'd take a hardy soul to go this far by their lonesome." Her expression softened."Looks like it was never tracked down."

  He pointed at her, and then the runes.

  "No. Figured I m
ight, but never got around to it. Don't even know when the last Fairingot did one, so I wouldn't have the faintest idea where to start looking. This one says, Krovum Reklemoss stood here. Remember him." She turned away."Never heard of him."

  As she shuffled on, Ondorum placed a palm over the runes. I'll remember you, Krovum. You carved these runes straight, which means your hands didn't tremble in the act. Well done.

  He kept on the lookout for more and found a handful, some hammered deep, some barely visible behind the limestone flowing over the walls. He tapped Akina's shoulder to get the names of each spoken to him, but after the fourth, her glare put him off from asking again. Perhaps they served as reminders of her mother's death. He made a mental note to be more sensitive about such things. If he couldn't comfort her with words, at least he could let her handle the grief in her own time.

  At times, it seemed they'd entered an underground desert. They came upon broader caverns that appeared featureless but for the pebbles their boots brushed away. Some tunnels wound like coiled rope, and others shot down steep slopes that forced them to sit and slide, using occasional handholds to keep from gaining too much speed. In these portions, where no wind blew and no noise came except for their breathing and footsteps, the world felt empty, and they passed through it like ghosts.

  Noisy ghosts, Ondorum amended at one point, when Akina jumped off a short ledge and sent clanking echoes all about.

  In one of these barren stretches they reached their first major split in the tunnel. The path opened into a rounded hollow, where the ceiling vanished overhead, forming a chute up into nothingness. Ondorum motioned for the others to wait while he edged to the entrance. When nothing dropped from the darkness above, he waved for the others to join him.

  Before them, twin openings slanted off in opposing directions. Akina planted fists on her hips.

  "Your turn, mapmaker."

  Selvia drew out a map. Unrolling it, she murmured to herself as she traced various lines. After just a few moments, she rolled it back up and pointed to the right opening."This way."

  Akina's brow rose."You sure? Spend whatever time you need. I don't want us backtracking."

  Selvia marched past the other dwarf."I'm sure. Let's go."

  Akina frowned but followed. In short order, they encountered several more spots where the tunnels diverged in as many as six offshoots at once, with some pointing back up toward the surface. Whenever they reached a junction, Selvia checked her maps but never needed more than a few seconds to confirm the direction. The deeper they went, the more she displayed confidence, as if seeing the route approved by her maps gave her a validation she'd not experienced before. She even took the lead from time to time.

  As Ondorum attuned to their environment, he started noticing other inhabitants, most of which scattered or tried to hide from their approach. Beetles and spiders skittered across the walls, while the rare flitting insect buzzed past his ear. In one of the larger caves, wings fluttered above, though he never spotted their owners. As they passed out of that cavern into a narrow tunnel, he glanced back to see a dark serpent slither over where they'd just walked. At least nine feet long, but as thin as his little finger, it flowed into a crack in the floor and vanished.

  Being underground quickly stole his sense of time. Selvia had pointed out their route before they left, saying it might take a week to reach the bottom of the initial tunnel network. There, it connected to a section known only as the Long Walk, a supposed Darklander thoroughfare. Of course, they hoped to catch up with Gromir and Brakisten before then.

  Ondorum pondered how he might track their progress so he could gauge if they approached more perilous territory. The number of breaths or steps he took? How many caves they passed through? None of these seemed proper substitutes for day and night.

  Akina dropped back by his side."I can hear your thoughts knocking against each other from five paces. Care to share?"

  So caught up in contemplation was he that he actually opened his mouth to reply before pinching his lips shut. He shot her a fierce glare.

  She grunted."Almost got you. Pity."

  She tromped off again, and he swallowed a sigh. Disappointment bloomed inside him—not at her for trying to catch him off-guard, but at himself for the instinctive desire to break his vow. It would've been enjoyable to share his thoughts with her, and he doubted his ability to mime the concepts that flowed through his mind right then. At times such as these, his vow made him feel very alone.

  Akina stopped and studied a spot on one side of the tunnel. Ondorum peered over her shoulder. Dull streaks stained the wall along with clumps that looked like drying scraps of meat. A faint rotten stench rose from it.

  "What is that?" Selvia asked."Blood?"

  Ondorum frowned. Not blood. Detritus from some manner of kill, with the corpse dragged off? He looked around for signs of a struggle or further gore trails.

  Akina leaned in and sniffed. She chuffed, shaking her head."Dwarf puke. Couple days old."

  Selvia held a hand to her mouth."Er... how do you know?"

  "You really want that story?"

  Ondorum caught Selvia's eye and shook his head, making her hastily raise hands in denial.

  Akina kicked at the dried mess."And what dwarf besides my brother would've come this way and treated it like a back alley behind a slophouse? Looks like you've got us on the right track."

  Selvia pouted."Of course I do. But you really think Gromir's been keeping him sick-drunk this whole way? He would've had to haul a wagonload of ale along."

  "Doubt it," Akina said."I don't know how he's got Brakisten toddling along. Some sort of drug or spell, with the occasional slug from a tankard? Maybe his duergar friends are dragging him by his beard. Whatever it is, the stress of traveling must've caught up with him here."

  "Hopefully we'll be the next thing that catches up with him," Selvia said.

  "True enough."

  Another interminable stretch of walking ensued. At last, Akina looked around and rolled her shoulders, leather and iron armor creaking.

  "Guess we're well past due for a break, hm?"

  "How long have we been going?" Selvia asked.

  Akina grimaced."Couple of days, I reckon."

  Ondorum looked at her dubiously. A wild guess, or was she tuned into patterns he couldn't detect? He wished he could ask.

  As the dwarves bickered over who'd take first watch, he found a clear patch of ground. He didn't need sleep yet, but he could use the time to bring order to his jumbled thoughts and emotions. Each disjointed instinct or desire could be a cobblestone that paved his soul's path to perfection. He just had to find out where it fit.

  ∗ ∗ ∗

  Akina groaned as she settled in against the cave wall. Ondorum sat a few feet away, already in his usual meditative position. Part of her had unthinkingly looked forward to resting for a few hours and maybe having some soft conversation with him. Nothing serious, just meaningless chatter to pass the time and ease her mind. Of course, he looked to be as rock-stubborn with his vow as ever. And what would she talk about down here, hm? The weather? Still, he would've come up with something, and his refusal to lower his wall of silence made her feel more alone than she cared to admit.

  She tugged the brim of her helm over her eyes. Silly to do in the pervasive darkness, maybe, but it was a trick she'd picked up on surface marches and hunts, and it usually helped her fall asleep. Old habits must've followed her down these long tunnels, for she soon dropped into uncomfortable dreams she never quite remembered.

  What felt like minutes later, Akina snorted awake and reached for her maulaxe on instinct. Where? When? Oh. Right.

  Ondorum sat in the same position, though from the slight tilt of his head, she could tell he'd fallen asleep while meditating. Probably something he'd be kicking himself for days about, knowing him. Fine. Let him stew in guilty silence. He could ask her for sympathy when he was good and ready.

  Selvia remained seated on the flat-topped boulder she'd picked
as a sentry spot, where she could rotate to check for threats from any direction. With her back to Akina, she watched a tunnel leading out of the cave.

  Akina took her hand from the maulaxe and eased it into one of her belt pouches, withdrawing Gromir's note. The parchment crackled as she unfolded it. She scanned its words for the dozenth time, trying to make sense of them.

  ...fulfilling my promise...the damage I've done...your mother restored and your brother redeemed...serve a greater purpose...

  She wanted to crumple the note and cast it aside in disgust. Yet she folded it up and tucked it away again in case she could decipher it later on. Sounded like the ramblings of a madman, sure enough, but it couldn't be mere madness driving Gromir. He'd always been a bit off-kilter, torn between his love for magic and his interest in the fighting arts. It'd been her devotion to battle that drew him to the sparring rings, while his arcane bent caught her intrigue in return.

  Yet she could never fully appreciate his use of magic. Back then, it slowed him down when he tried casting a spell during combat. During her years abroad, she'd grown even warier of spellcasters, partly thanks to the mercenary band's sorcerer—a gnome named Piquwit—who'd once set the whole camp ablaze with a miscast ball of flame. Plenty of the mercenaries had charms and trinkets to enhance their edge in combat or bolster their health. Some even had enchanted armor and weapons; but to her, it felt like they always failed their wielders at just the wrong moment, or were cursed, or couldn't stand up to a good axe blow.

  Ondorum had once tried to explain how magic held a natural place in the world and shouldn't be feared. She'd scoffed, denying any fear, but she'd take dwarven armor and weapons over a spell any day. He then reminded her how she herself had boasted of the ancestral magics some dwarven smiths used to forge their equipment. She'd told him to shut it and stomped off to find someone to bleed.