by Josh Vogt
"I have basked in silence for centuries," the creature said."I have gifted others with eternal silence, even without their asking. Am I not the epitome of graciousness? Yet in the end, I have come to realize that silence is not the sum of existence. Some say we came from silence, from the void, and that we shall all return there someday. I, though, have seen further than this. The void is not a beginning or an end, but a pause between universes. An indrawn breath before the next words are spoken and the eternal moment once more teems with life."
Ondorum nodded as he fixed his ki flow in place. While it bolstered what strength remained and might give him the element of surprise, he didn't expect it would survive much further abuse. Now he needed the moment to employ it.
Irori, if you can see into our very minds and souls, surely you can see this deep into the world. You've gifted me with years of training and refinement, but skill is nothing without the strength to execute it. I stand surrounded by the earth that is my birthright. I claim it now and pray you honor my effort.
"Those who give over to silence in this existence, however, are surrendering to the void," the rock-beast said."Unnecessarily so! They deprive themselves of far more glorious experiences, no matter what noble or shameful reason gave them reason to still their tongues in the first place. Yes, I accept that a certain amount of deprivation may be good to enhance sensations you later allow yourself, but too many wallow in their silence as if it's a holy thing."
Ondorum's cheek twitched, and the creature's raspy laugh sliced at his ears.
"So. Holiness is your pursuit, then. You think me blathering foolishness, and yet here I've discerned your ultimate goal. Do you see how silence avails you nothing? Do you understand how much I've learned from you despite your efforts to the contrary? That this might have been a much more enjoyable experience if you'd let me remove not only your outward chains, but also the ones that bind you from within?"
While the oread knew the rock-beast meant to mock him, its words struck deeper than it could've guessed. Silence could be holy. He knew this. He'd felt it in the presence of others who'd given over their entire lives to the practice. However, this didn't ensure his own vow had achieved the same ends. What if he'd given himself a fool's hope, thinking depriving himself of one area of expression would automatically raise his regard in others? Or perhaps it had, but only in stubbornness and pride, rather than true virtue.
The creature made another rattling sigh as it inspected him."I do appreciate the puzzle you've presented. It is one I shall mull over for decades yet. However, we all must admit our failings in the end, and I am nearing the limits of my patience. Yet I do wish to know the truth of you. And the best way to solve a puzzle is to disassemble it and try to work it out in reverse. A clever solution, don't you think?"
Ondorum set his doubts aside for later scrutiny. This was neither the time nor place. He tried to keep his muscles relaxed, maintaining the illusion of remaining within the creature's control. He'd have a single chance at escape, and if he fouled it, he doubted it would give him time to make another effort.
A single tentacle reached for him. He jumped back, heels thumping the ground. The rock-beast rattled again.
"Oh, don't resist. That'll just make this worse. I can tell how much your body already betrays you." Its eye slit narrowed."But what if your mind is not your own? What if this body I see here is naught but a shell for one of those skull-infesting vermin?" The eye shimmered."That must be it. The brain-feeders. I despise your kind. Hedonistic parasites, the lot of you! I will carve you out of this form and ensure you never claim another host again."
More tentacles wove his way and Ondorum dropped into a crouch, palms pressed to the floor. In that moment, the whole chamber seemed to thrum in response. He didn't have time to tell if it was his imagination or not. A strand whipped around his arms, pinning them to his torso. As soon as it grasped him, his strength began to ebb again. The rock-beast yanked him into the air above its peaked form. Its mouth churned and its eye raged with boiling light.
Ondorum drew in a breath and visualized his ki contracting into a blazing knot for just an instant. Then he breathed out, unleashing it all as he punched both arms straight up. The strand slid up over his head and released him. He dropped heavily to his feet, shaking and near to collapse. Yet the firm rock held him up, and he drew from that strength, pushing his body beyond what it could accomplish on its own.
He vaulted backward, flipping over two tentacles that snatched at him.
"Impossible!"
He ducked and spun on one foot. A tentacle whipped overhead. He stamped the floor, sending himself into the air over three more and into a roll. Coming up next to a shattered limestone column, he grounded himself, scooped up the nearest block, and flung it at the rock-beast. The creature smashed the first out of the air, but he continued to grab and throw chunks, forcing it to knock them down. It grabbed one and flung it back, and Ondorum shifted aside, letting it soar by and crash against the wall.
When the beast got too close, he bounded away again, footsteps thumping as he climbed up one of the larger calcified formations. It came on and grabbed the base of the rock. Ondorum threw himself off and past the creature as, with a heave of its strands, it crumbled the base, bringing the rest of it down in a roar and clatter.
Ondorum struck the floor behind it and rolled up to his feet. He started to run, but then his left leg caught, and he dropped to hands and knees. One tentacle had latched onto his ankle briefly, and the foot went dead. He dug fingers into the stone, calling on it to anchor him. He lurched forward and the numb foot slipped free. The beast glided toward him, and he pounded fists as he crawled forward as well, trying to keep himself out of range. He managed to stay just ahead as it advanced, until he reached a rocky shelf.
He grabbed the ledge and hauled himself upright. Turning, he found the rock-beast right before him, tentacles poised to grasp.
It leered down."A fascinating and impressive attempt, but pointless. I should make your death quick for giving me so much to ponder after you're gone, but I find agonized writhing adds so much juice to the marrow."
The ground rumbled, and the rock-beast's eye twitched from side to side."What... ?"
The cavern shook, and the shattered rocks all around began to quiver and slide, while the few remaining columns trembled in place.
Its shrill cry rose."What is this? What have you done?"
Ondorum tumbled aside as the gigantic worm burst through the floor ten paces away. This time, it didn't continue on. Twenty feet of its purple-shelled body twisted into the cavern, almost filling it from floor to ceiling.
The rock-beast's strands coiled back around its body, while its eye and mouth snapped shut, camouflaging it once more as a harmless, if jagged, stalagmite. Ondorum stood before it, balanced on his remaining good foot. The worm's head wove around, seeking the source of the disturbance that had called it back this way. He thumped his numb foot against the floor, and the worm fixed on him. Its mammoth mouth widened, and the sides of its lower jaw split open even further, revealing extra rows of fangs and quadrupling the area it could engulf.
It hurtled for him. Ondorum threw himself sideways as the worm descended. There came a last screech of denial, which cut off with a massive crunch. The cavern shook a final time and fell still.
Ondorum raised his head to see the worm locked against the floor, body undulating as it choked down a troublesome morsel. He rose and spotted the tunnel entrance he needed behind the worm's coiled bulk, accessible so long as he didn't bump into the thing. Ondorum limped through the debris, placing his unfeeling foot so it didn't disturb so much as a pebble. He wished the worm a pleasant meal.
Once beyond the cavern, he discarded stealth and shuffled faster. Despite being battered and weary, he couldn't help a broad smile.
Free at last to fulfill a promise.
Chapter Twenty-One
In the Ruins
The caligni gathered around as Akina and Izthuri made prope
r introductions, though it seemed Izthuri was the only one among them to speak any surface tongue. Their collections of black rags, cloaks, hoods, and robes concealed most of their bodies. Here, a pale nose poked out, there, white feet or hands emerged from the wrappings. Their eyes were uniformly black, surrounded by gray and white skin.
When Izthuri finished relating whatever tale she told them, they all bowed to Akina, a gesture the dwarf returned to much hissing whispers on their part. Izthuri gently took her arm as she straightened.
"You lead. Not bow."
Akina cleared her throat and spat dust to one side."Fine by me."
Still clutching her wounded side, Izthuri guided them over to the wall, where a set of half-hidden greenstone stairs led down into the ruin subsurface. Akina took a last look around before heading down. Guess the tour would have to wait.
The stairs cut under the wall and then down a tunnel—not one of raw rock or earth as they'd been traveling through for days upon end, but a true-and-true tunnel lined with fashioned blocks and capstones, with proper arches and decorative engravings depicting... Akina couldn't actually figure out what the faded figures and lines were meant to show, but they felt familiar. The uncertainty itched along her scalp.
A few caligni ran ahead to alert the colony proper to their arrival. As they walked, Akina noted the caligni didn't talk much among themselves. Instead, they waggled and flicked fingers at one another, while their body language remained animated. She turned to Izthuri and held up a hand, wiggling fingers at random.
"This is how you all talk?"
Izthuri seized her hand and shoved it down."You make very rude sign. Any see, they attack."
"Right."
A caligni dashed back to Izthuri and they exchanged a feisty finger-flicking discussion. When he—Akina guessed it to be a he—sprinted away, Izthuri's eyes grew grim.
"What is it?" Akina asked."Did Ondorum..."
"No oread. I tell of him. My people look. Will not attack."
"Thank you." Dammit, Ondorum, where are you? You were supposed to beat us here. "What's got you so worried, then?"
Izthuri fingered the hilt of her blade."Evil wakes. Hungers."
"Isn't that why we're here?"
"Yes. But before, it wake and sleep again. Now wakes and does not sleep."
They took several turns in the tunnel, which started to be lit by green globules stuck to the walls. When Akina edged away from these, Izthuri waved a hand near one to show its harmlessness.
"Not blightburn. Just lights. No fear."
Akina recovered her poise and they strode on. As they took another corner, fresher-looking—though still ancient—carvings struck her again as strangely familiar."Izthuri, are these dwarven runes?"
The caligni nodded."Yes. Think so."
"So that makes these dwarven ruins?"
Izthuri gave her an odd look."You wait. I show."
They entered a large room where two dozen or so caligni sat about a central pit, holding their palms to the green flame burning there. Tunnels cut away from the other walls, some lit by the green globs, others dark. The caligni stared at Akina as she strode through, and she tried not to sneeze or snort as their stink wrapped arms around her head and squeezed tight. Fortunately, Izthuri didn't linger, but led her down another short hall and into a side room set with several chairs and side tables carved out of the same greenstone as the buildings and tunnels. Izthuri waved for Akina to take a seat, which she did with relief.
She didn't realize how many aches and cuts and bruises she'd compiled until she stopped moving. Then every one of them clamored for attention in unison. Given the tribe's collective odor, she didn't bother asking if the place had any baths; the thought, though, brought to mind Taggoret's cunning network of hot plumbing or a dip in a natural spring, either of which sounded beyond delicious. She settled for loosening a few armor straps.
"What now?"
Izthuri draped over her chair, arms and legs dangling across the armrests. Despite this sloughed position and her still-seeping wound, for the first time, Akina noted an almost regal air to her.
"We eat. We rest. You learn. Then we fight."
Akina pounded a fist into her palm."Good plan."
They waited for a bit until a pair of caligni entered, bearing stone plates of what she hoped was food. The servers bowed as they placed plates on the low tables before them. Akina smacked her lips as she leaned forward, but then cringed. Wherever the gray and green-speckled meat had come from, it had a distinct odor of rot, and the shriveled mushrooms didn't look any more appetizing. Izthuri's plate also had a glowing purple gem placed on it. She devoured the food, saving the gem for last, like a treat. Akina wondered how it compared to the elemental diamond Ondorum had given her. The thought of the oread started getting her far too maudlin, and she was thankful when her rumbling belly forced her to focus back on her immediate needs.
She nibbled on a few of the mushrooms, telling herself cheese was a mold, after all. When she didn't puke it straight back up, die, or start having visions of rivers of gold and mithral flowing from her fingertips, she declined the meat and asked for more fungus instead. Izthuri passed her a wineskin which contained a particularly sour fermentation, but she had to stop herself from guzzling it and save some for her host. While Izthuri also drank, Akina picked at her teeth, thinking wine definitely shouldn't have chunks in it.
A stooped caligni came up and presented herself with splayed palms. Akina found she'd started to note the subtle differences between male and female. It had less to do with any body structure, and more with the smell. The females had a muskier stink to them, like they'd been rummaging through refuse piles composed primarily of fruits and vegetables turned to slime. The men smelled more of carrion, like a few of the ugly giant buzzards she'd had the pleasure of getting up close and personal with back on the surface.
Izthuri spoke with the other caligni for a moment. The newcomer had sagging, wrinkled skin visible around her eyes, and Akina took her for an elder of some sort.
"She asks permission to heal," Izthuri said at last.
Akina sat up, uncertain about having such strange magic worked on her. She threw aside any misgivings, though, and nodded. The caligni healer came forward and clasped clammy hands to Akina's cheeks. A purple aura flashed over the dwarf's eyes, and the world went blurry. When the spell struck, it took all her self-control to not shove the old healer away. It felt like frozen grubs wriggling across her entire body, crawling in through her pores and scouring every last crook and crevice as they gnawed away dead, diseased, or damaged flesh. The embers in her gut flared for a moment against the invasive energy, but she tamped them down and let it wash over her, hoping she hadn't make a huge mistake in allowing this. When the sensation faded, Akina took stock. Anything missing? Anything changed? Anything hurting worse than it had before?
She worked her neck and arms and marveled at the sudden absence of soreness, twitching pains, and the underlying ache that had become such a constant companion. She even figured if she checked the bandage on her arm from the crystal fragments, it'd be healed over. The healer cringed as if expecting a strike, but Akina smiled.
"Thank you." She started to bow, but caught herself and just repeated,"Thank you."
Izthuri finger-waggled what Akina hoped was a more eloquent expression of gratitude. The healer repeated the process with Izthuri, and Akina watched the flesh on the caligni's side knit over the bone and seal into a pasty swath of skin marbled by blue-green veins. It might've been a trick of the light, but Akina could've sworn fluorescent pulses flickered along those veins. The other caligni shuffled off, and Izthuri splayed a palm over her exposed side as if embarrassed. She slipped out of the room for a few minutes, leaving Akina to revel in her restored strength. She didn't even feel like sleeping.
When Izthuri returned, new strips of clean black rags covered her abdomen, and she walked with fresh purpose.
"Come. I show now. We quiet. We careful. Duergar."
&n
bsp; "Right." Akina rose and followed Izthuri along another series of tunnels. While she understood the need to keep the element of surprise, her new rush of energy had her fingers tingling, ready to crack a few duergar skulls if the opportunity arose.
They emerged inside a bare building, all worked stone. It looked like it could've been a small abode, and Akina noted the proportions appeared dwarven enough. Izthuri had to bend almost double to duck through the thresholds, while Akina plodded on without issue. They came out onto the slight rise of an ancient pathway, where the occasional cobblestone poked through the earth. Akina studied the buildings, clusters of low-lying structures, most with rounded tops like turtle shells, with random towers standing like stubby fingers. Everything stood packed side-by-side, but it felt like a cozy closeness rather than being jammed together.
Their position gave her a decent view of the ruins beyond. Portions of the buildings blended off into the distant cavern walls themselves, hewn straight from the earth. Above them, openings and blocky outcrops hinted at upper levels worked into the ceiling, and she guessed there might be whole warrens delved around and below the central chamber as well. While the cavern was already impressive enough, the entirety of these ruins might be several times larger than the initial glimpse suggested.
Izthuri paused at every corner and intersection, checking all directions before scurrying on. Akina came right behind, trying to keep her armor from making too much noise. Many of the buildings had collapsed walls or roofs exposing interior chambers, but some stood intact—though she doubted their integrity. They passed through a small square and down a tight knot of back alleys, all through a deathly hush that clung to everything like a pall of forgotten memories.
Izthuri studied the shadows once more before slipping into one of the larger nearby buildings, a circular, two-story establishment ringed with glassless windows. When Akina entered, she froze in the doorway until Izthuri pulled her all the way inside. Akina spun a slow circle.