by Josh Vogt
He closed his eyes, as if reliving those first moments of discovery. Despite herself, Akina got caught up in the telling, imagining her mother stepping into this cavern and being the first Fairingot to gaze upon their ancestral home in untold centuries. She imagined Jannasten striding through the long-dead streets, seeing the empty homes, the temple murals, the circling walls.
"You explored the city," she said,"and then found this forge."
Gromir's eyes opened, and it shocked her to see tears glistening in them."Yes. Of course, the size of it confounded us." He flourished at the monstrous forge."What might the ancient Fairingots have crafted here? Or was it a center of worship for Torag? As we pondered all these possibilities, Janna laid a hand on this anvil." He cringed."And the forge tore her soul straight from her body."
Akina stepped back, a sour taste rising to her tongue."How's that possible?
He wiped a hand over his face."I didn't know at first. I only knew she lay dead and I lacked the power to bring her back. Then the forge awoke. Eldritch fires burned within it, and I heard the clamor of workers all around, saw fell spirits speaking in strange languages. A rift opened over the hearth and within it..." The knob of his throat bobbed."Darkness. Then the spell ended and I fled. In fear. In shame. In despair, believing I'd caused her death in bringing her here. I fled, yes, half-blind with grief, and tried to make it back to the surface. On the way, though, Vaskegar found me." He looked over to where the duergar commander stood alternating between speaking with his soldiers and watching the pair from afar."He's a deposed lord, you know. Once wielded great influence throughout Hagegraf." He shook his head."Can you imagine rising to that level of power? Being one of the most important figures in the duergar capital itself? He commanded the fate of thousands."
Akina aimed a flat look his way.
Gromir coughed."Anyway, eventually some political manipulations and unfortunate military losses toppled him from favor. He was relegated to leading a number of patrols throughout the wilds—a shameful role for one so mighty. But he found me. His warriors captured me, and I thought myself a dead dwarf."
"You told him about this place," Akina guessed."You bartered for your life."
"I told him everything. What more did I have to lose? He brought me back here and proved more intellectually aggressive than I would've guessed. He had several mages under his dwindled command and they discerned more about the nature and purpose of the forge. It's nothing short of an arcane device that transforms a soul into raw energy, using it to open a channel to other realms and make the power there accessible for—well, any number of ends depending on the operator's intent. We think it originally connected to Torag's realm, but became disconnected from that specific location in the time it's lain here in disuse." He waved a fist."We couldn't get it to work, though. Nothing we tried summoned the energies or portal I'd seen. He even sacrificed one of his own soldiers on the altar—for that's what it is—but the forge remained dark."
Akina glanced at the anvil."Then why'd you say it'd kill me to touch it?"
"We believe your mother's contact with the altar imprinted an echo of her soul within the construction. An alignment of Fairingot blood with the dormant energies of this place. As such, we believe it now requires another Fairingot to operate."
"Brakisten." She looked to her brother's rumpled form over by the pavilion."You brought Brakisten as a sacrifice to get this thing working for Vaskegar?"
Gromir tugged the tip of his nose."I didn't intend to get it working. I came to destroy it."
Akina frowned."What?"
"When our initial efforts proved fruitless, Vaskegar realized we lacked too much insight into how the forge had originally been built and operated. There should've been a sort of arcane key, a way to unlock the forge without exposing the wielder to its deadly energies, but we couldn't figure out what it was. When he learned about Brakisten, he wanted me to bring him down here right away, to see if his soul could awaken it again."
Akina jerked his way."You sold out my brother?"
Gromir waved off the idea."I kept Brakisten alive this long by arguing such an attempt would be a waste. If we couldn't figure out the process within the span of his death, then we would've lost the only opportunity to harness the forge's power. I suggested the answers might lie in various dwarven archives, and that I could seek these out if only they would let me live and bestow on me a portion of the forge's power should he harness it. After some debate, he agreed, swore me to Droskar's service, and then let me return to the surface."
"You swore to Droskar's service!"
"In name only! To give myself enough time to figure out how to repair this disaster. Vaskegar plans to use the power of the forge to overrun Taggoret. Then he'd establish a power base for himself there and keep expanding, fueling his army with whatever weapons the forge can provide. Do you think I'd let that happen, knowing what he intended?"
"So he just let you go?"
"Of course not. Selvia—Gollvara, that is—and a couple others came along, disguised to keep an eye on me and ensure I held up my side of the bargain."
"The ones who helped you snatch Brakisten?"
Gromir nodded."They also acted as the occasional go-betweens, watching the shop or escorting me back down here to confer with Vaskegar directly. Fortunately, that was rarely required. But if, at any point, I deviated from my efforts on Vaskegar's behalf, Gollvara was poised to kill me. I still wanted to understand Jannasten's death, so I played along, searching and studying and..."
His shoulders slumped."I found it. A spellkey that would allow us to operate the forge under controlled conditions. I kept my discovery hidden from Gollvara for several months, feeding tales of delays and dead-ends, but I could tell she grew suspicious. It'd only be a matter of time before she tortured the information out of me and Vaskegar had all he needed to master the construction." He met her eyes for the first time since he'd begun his explanation."And then you came home. Gollvara argued that, with two Fairingots now available, Brakisten no longer needed to be spared. She pushed me to deliver him here so Vaskegar could further his experiments, not knowing I possessed the spellkey. Nor did I expect her to lure you here afterward."
"And you did bring him."
"I did, but only after I realized I could use him to end this. I only gave Vaskegar part of the spellkey and convinced him I was necessary for the rest, claiming at least one true dwarven operator was required. I planned to use Brakisten's soul to activate the forge, but divert the power and use it to resurrect Jannasten. Then I would release the energies, let it tumble into chaos, and wreck the forge for good, escaping with her in the wake of its destruction to return to you, triumphant." He sighed."A foolhardy and desperate plan, I know, but it's all I had."
Akina struggled to absorb his tale, searching for further deception or hidden truths. Could Gromir really just be a victim of his own horrible mistakes and circumstances, or had he played a more vile part in her mother's death and now tried to conceal his hunger for the forge's power? Could he really destroy it? Did it absolutely require a soul sacrificed to its flames?
As she thought through it all, Ularna once more glided into view, seeming to study the forge while drifting in and out of earshot.
"What's her role?" Akina asked, gesturing.
Gromir plucked yellow hairs from his beard."She's just one of Vaskegar's lieutenants, far as I can tell. Doesn't talk much, and I've not been too keen on the few conversations we've had."
She fell silent again, gaze drifting from the forge to her mother's bones to the duergar and elementals all around them. Gromir shuffled in place.
"Akina? Say something. Please."
She glared at him."I can't forgive you for this."
He exhaled."I don't suppose I expected you to, really, if you ever found out. Though I'd hoped to avoid telling you."
"And make yourself out as the hero, hm? Never mind that your ‘rescue' involved sacrificing my brother!"
He looked away."You can't make
me feel more anguish than I've already suffered."
She popped her neck to one side."Oh, I doubt that."
He held out his hands, pleading."If you work with me, we can still get out of this. I'll tell Vaskegar you've agreed to help, and he'll let you live long enough for us to use Brakisten as I planned. Then we can escape together in the aftermath."
Akina stared at Jannasten's bones for another minute. Then she roused herself."I'll help. But I won't let you sacrifice Brakisten."
"What do you mean?"
"You'll use me instead."
His eyes widened."No! Absolutely not."
"It's either that, or I tell Vaskegar how you're planning to betray him, and we all die."
"But Brakisten is—"
"If you say anything that includes the words worthless, hopeless, or doomed, I'll bite your tongue out. I won't let my brother die for you or me."
Gromir's lips worked as he tried to summon further arguments; then he threw up his hands."Very well. If that's what you wish, the least I can do is respect it. But won't you reconsider? I did all this to try and give you a better life, and now you're just throwing it away?"
"I'm not throwing anything away. I'll die with a purpose—keeping the duergar from stealing this power." She jutted a chin down at Vaskegar."Go kiss his ass a bit more and convince him to kill me."
Chapter Twenty-Five
Perspective
You realize she's obviously attempting a ploy of some sort," Vaskegar said.
Bound again and under guard across the ring from Brakisten, Akina listened to the argument. Gromir and Vaskegar stood well within earshot, an indication the commander didn't care whether she overheard.
"My lord," said Gromir,"Akina has always been the most earnest person I've ever known." He glanced her way."Perhaps she errs in that somewhat, but whenever she truly believes something, she charges ahead and sees it through. Guile is not in her nature."
"It's been ten years since you saw her last," said Vaskegar."Even after she returned, you had barely any time together before you came scrambling back here. How much do you really know who she is now, Gromir? How much did you really know her before she left?"
Gromir shifted in place."We all change sooner or later, my lord. Even you changed when you became an outcast from Hagegraf."
Vaskegar cocked his head, and Akina half-expected him to attack Gromir then and there. Yet the commander shrugged as if it didn't matter. Of course—control. It wouldn't do to overreact to a tiny insult.
"And yes, I admit, there are aspects of her that have shifted. But not this." Gromir leaned in slightly."She loves her brother. She's already lost her mother, and she'd rather die than see the rest of her family sacrificed before her eyes. If I could, I'd place myself in her stead, but only a Fairingot can—"
"Yes, yes." Vaskegar inspected his gauntlet hooks."However, I cannot allow her to potentially disrupt our progress at such a delicate moment."
Gromir squared his slim shoulders."Then I cannot allow you to complete the ceremony."
The commander stilled, eyes glinting in the forge light."You dare?"
The dwarf half-smiled, as if even he disbelieved his audacity."Without me, my lord, the forge will remain dormant. All your work will be for nothing."
Vaskegar turned to look off into the distance and held silent for several minutes. Akina barely caught his mutter when it came."I will consider it. Now go before I kill you where you stand."
Gromir bowed and walked off, robes kicking up dust. Akina watched him go, wondering at the strength of his feelings for her still—putting his own life on the line to fight for her final request.
Once he'd gone, Vaskegar strode over to Akina. He folded arms across his broad chest.
"You want to take your brother's place. Why?"
Akina squared up with him."Love for kin and kind. You wouldn't—"
"Wouldn't understand?" Vaskegar's laugh ruffled his beard."You think duergar don't grasp the concept of love? You think our hearts are nothing but ash?" He caressed one of his crown's tooth-tines."Oh, love is well known to us. It's one of many emotions we've conquered."
"Conquered?"
He thumped a fist against his breastplate."All emotions must be tamed like wild beasts, lest they devour you. Love, fear, fury... these are powerful, but their power can be used against you. Better to leash them and use them to your own ends."
"Am I supposed to be learning again?"
He chuckled."Can you prove me wrong? Trying to bluster past another's insights often means they see deeper than you wish to admit. What good has your flailing rage achieved? What good does aimless love accomplish? You have to anchor yourself to a greater purpose."
She tilted her head Brakisten's way."I want to spare my brother's life. That's enough purpose for me."
"Even if I believe that, you think he'll thank you for it? He's obviously unworthy of the effort; you blind yourself to his many flaws, thinking a sacrifice will somehow fix yours." Vaskegar shifted one of the axes on his back."Well, I can admire your devotion, at least. It's what defines us as duergar."
"I'm nothing like you."
"You like to think we're so different because our loyalties lie with different realms. Yet at our cores, we're more similar than you'll ever admit. If anything separates us, it's that we duergar are honest enough to accept reality. Droskar demands all from us, and we give it to him willingly. We accept that life is toil from beginning to end, unlike you and other surface races who try to distract themselves with shiny trinkets and useless accolades."
"Endless toil, hm? Sounds pretty pointless."
"Nothing is pointless. It may simply take certain things longer to come to fruition, or for you to realize what the point is in the first place. For the duergar, the only worthwhile results are those borne of our ceaseless efforts."
She humphed."Sounds like obsession, not devotion."
"What distinction is there in the end?" He waved to Brakisten."Go. Talk to your brother. See if it makes any difference."
Vaskegar muttered to her guards in the duergar tongue, and they held back a few paces as she trudged over to Brakisten. He looked up as she plopped down beside him.
"My head hurts."
"Not surprising," she said."Gromir says he got you down here with a string of persuasive charms. Once you got here, the duergar decided clubbing you unconscious would be just as effective. And more fun."
Brakisten winced as he studied the blazing forge."At first, I thought I was having another nightmare vision. I wish I'd been right."
With her arms bound behind her, she could only bump a shoulder the forge's way."Think this is what you were seeing all these years?"
"I'd bet a round on it."
"But how?"
Brakisten frowned."Gromir talked to me a bit on the way down. I don't recall much, but I do remember him wondering the same thing. My dreams started right around when he began searching for this place. He thinks these ruins—this forge—wanted to be found. And once someone started paying attention to its existence, it reached out in return. He called it a... a resonance in me, seeing as we've got old blood here." He shivered."Said I should've told him the details of what I was experiencing sooner, how he might've been able to help me make sense of it."
She scowled."He's just trying to place his own guilt on you."
Brakisten looked crestfallen."Maybe. But I sure as spit could've done better by myself and our family. I could've chosen different, but I didn't." He raised his gaze to hers and snuffled."Forgive me, Kina?"
"Only if you do the same for me."
"Bad time to hold a grudge. You're my elder sister after all."
"In any way that matters?"
He coughed a laugh."In every way that matters."
They fell silent for a minute until Brakisten roused again.
"Listen. I've heard them talking. Mostly their dark chatter, but I've caught a few things here and there. I know once they use this forge for whatever they think it does, they're
aiming for Taggoret."
She frowned in thought."Gromir mentioned Taggoret, too. Bet they're planning to come up the tunnels under the city."
"If you get the chance, you've got to get free and warn them. Don't worry about me. I'll just slow you down."
"I'm not leaving." She hastily added,"Not without you." A technically true statement.
He blinked, first in confusion and then suspicion."What aren't you telling me?"
She was saved from answering by Gromir's approach, accompanied by Ularna. The dwarf bobbed his head to each of them and swallowed hard.
"It's time. We're ready."
Chapter Twenty-Six
Sacrifice
Ondorum stumbled on an unseen rock and caught himself against a wall. Only after he'd gathered his breath did he realize the formation was made of worked stone rather than raw earth. He leaned back to see the wall had fallen in on itself to his left, with mounded buildings and squat towers visible beyond.
Had he arrived? It seemed so, but he found himself at a loss as to where to go next. Izthuri hadn't noted any specific landmark he should aim for once he made it.
Chittering echoed behind him, followed by the scrape of chitinous legs on rock. He cast a look back, frowning. He thought he'd outdistanced the insect enough to dissuade further pursuit. Did the creature track him by scent? Or could it sense the vibrations of his steps, even as he tried to lighten his tread? Either way, it appeared hunger drove the beast to chase after whatever delights his blood contained, even across such a distance.
Clambering over the tumbled wall, he hurried along the road beyond, uncertain where to go within the ruins. He tried to track his turns, but his ignorance of the area's layout as well as his haste in fleeing his hunter served to quickly confuse him. Which direction did he face? Had he already gone down this side street? The empty buildings, made from uniform stone, all looked too similar, and he couldn't gain enough higher ground to get a better perspective.
A hiss caught his ear. At first, he shifted aside and crouched against a wall, fearing the insect had caught up with him. But when a black-clad figure shifted into sight instead, he relaxed, if slightly. The person's rags and glimpses of bone-white skin marked him or her as one of Izthuri's people; but he'd long ago learned that just because two people belonged to the same species didn't mean they could be depended on to extend the same civilities.