by Josh Vogt
The ruined scanderig thrashed about, casting rock and flames and slag metal across the camp. Chaos broke through the duergar ranks. Soldiers scattered as Vaskegar shouted to try and restore order. He leaped to the ground and strode through them, grabbing fleeing soldiers and striking them down, crying for them to regain their senses. All the while, his sorcerers wove gleaming shields of magic about the damaged forge, trying to contain its fluctuating energies. Gouts of flame struck the barriers they summoned, burning them away almost as fast as they could be conjured. Akina remained where she sat, mind detached from her body as she waited for the forge fires to break free and consume them all.
A figure landed on the platform beside her, and she found herself staring up at Ondorum.
"You can't be here," she said."I must already be dead."
Despite the tension lining his angled features, he smiled and offered a hand. Then he spoke in a gravelly voice she hadn't heard in far too long.
"Not yet."
She gawped as she let him drag her upright. His touch loosened the knots and twists Ularna had inflicted on her muscles, and strength flushed through her."Right. Not dead. I'm dreaming, because you just spoke."
"Ever observant, Akina." He pulled her toward a set of stairs."Also observe that we should be going."
She spotted Vaskegar still bellowing for order and snatched her arm away."No. We finish this here."
"Wait—"
Hurrying to the bottom of the stairs, she grabbed up a fallen axe and sought the duergar commander. Before she could take a step his way, Ularna interposed herself.
Akina raised her weapon."Fine, I'll start with you."
The duergar looked bored, as if Akina wasn't worth the effort. Akina lashed out, but the other woman evaded as she had before. After another frustrated hack, Akina knew she'd already left herself exposed.
Yet as the duergar woman poised to strike her down again, Ondorum bulled between them and parried the hits, turning punches and palms aside like one might swat flies away. He lashed out with a kick and Ularna slipped back, letting his foot whiff past inches from her face.
He took up a defensive stance, fists cocked at the wrists. Ularna studied him for a moment. Fascination burned in her eyes, the first real emotion Akina had seen from the woman. She would've preferred the previous disinterest.
Ularna pulled back and bowed, fist to fist. To Akina's amazement, Ondorum returned the gesture, though with open palms.
"Go," he told Akina."Do what you must."
Ondorum and Ularna launched at each other, becoming a gray blur of fists and feet. Akina was tempted to watch the fight, but realized they had limited time before the duergar recovered and concentrated on containing their captives. She spotted Vaskegar and furious heat flooded her, soothing aches and quickening muscles. He hadn't seemed to notice her yet, and she headed for him. But another figure landed in the way. The noise of clashing chains jarred Akina's skull as Gromir stood before her. The mutilated dwarf moaned as he pounded toward her, hooks swerving around his head.
Akina backed up, belly chilling at the sight."Gromir, it's me."
The smoke surging from his mouth and nostrils thickened and darkened. He came on, chained limbs thrashing. She struck a fist with the axe, and the weapon whined as the chain deflected the edge. She tried to tell herself the dwarf had been taken beyond salvation, that she fought Gromir's shell, controlled by Droskar or a foul spirit from the Ashen Forge. She reared for a blow to his exposed head, but one of the hooks lashed out and knocked the axe down so it ricocheted off a shoulder. The two hooks then joined the fight, snapping out at her, clanging off her helm and breastplate as they sought to dig into her flesh. One snagged on a sleeve and jerked her about. Another narrowly missed stabbing her through the eye and caught under the rim of her helmet instead. The leather strap under her chin snapped, and her ram's helm tumbled away.
A hook snaked around her foot and yanked her down. Gromir's ashen eyes turned to burning coals as he dragged her closer, and his chain-wrapped fists rose to pummel her into the ground.
∗ ∗ ∗
As they traded blows and blocks, Ondorum marveled at the duergar he faced, and realized she must've trained in a similar manner to him, learning to use the body itself as a unified weapon. He'd never realized duergar followed monastic paths, but how else to explain their rivaled styles as they flowed back and forth, dodging one another's kicks, letting bone-cracking punches shoot past each other's heads as they spun and stepped and whirled around one another.
For her part, the duergar looked intrigued. She tested his defenses with an avalanche of blows from all sides, then grounded herself and let him attack, fending off one strike after another with subtle movements. Neither of them gained nor gave ground.
Then, from one step to the next, she vanished. Ondorum's blow snapped through empty space. An unseen fist cracked against his wounded shoulder. He stumbled, but recovered the instant after. The duergar monk reappeared, now with the tiniest smile shading her otherwise calm expression.
A worthy opponent indeed. In any other time or place, even with one of her kind, he would've preferred to delay the confrontation, to confer with her, learn what her masters taught and how she perceived the world, and compare thoughts on the methods of ki channeling. Only then would they meet for a mortal exchange, having imparted one another's lessons and insights to ensure that at least the knowledge survived with the victor to be passed on to new students.
But this day afforded no such luxury, and Ondorum struggled to discern the most expedient way to disengage and rejoin Akina. The duergar held the advantage of being well-rested and unwounded, while he drew straight from his ki and the dregs of his physical strength to keep going. If the fight went too long, her endurance alone would overcome him. By the confident look in her eyes, she recognized this as well, and intended to extend the bout as long as necessary.
He rooted himself and let her next punch past his guard. The force rippled across his chest, but he absorbed the worst of it and grabbed her wrist, twisting to break. She flipped fully to follow the tension, slipping from his grasp as she did, but his kick connected with her hip right as she landed. She skidded backward a few feet. As she recovered, she noted the dusty footprint on her robe, almost blending perfectly. Another smile, another bow, and she strode in to resume the duel.
They'd turned so her back was to the forge, and she didn't see the flames boiling higher from the damaged mechanism. The largest surge of fire yet billowed from the forge and struck a shimmering barrier several duergar sorcerers fought to maintain. They collapsed, and the shield they'd woven vanished.
Ondorum threw himself backward into a braced crouch, arm raised to shield himself. The other monk paused, puzzled at the odd maneuver, until the suddenly uncontained flames tore through the ring like an explosion. The blast knocked her aside and shook the whole area, throwing the world into black-and-white relief.
∗ ∗ ∗
An explosion staggered Gromir and spun him around. A lengthy piece of shrapnel embedded in his stomach, and the chain around Akina's ankle went limp. She waited for him to fall, but he just stared at the metal bar protruding from his gut. He gripped it in both hands and began hauling it out of his crackling flesh. Glowing embers drizzled from the wound, the edges charring and sealing over even as she watched.
Akina scrambled to her feet and lurched away before he recovered. Ondorum appeared at her side once more, shouting for them to go. She spared precious seconds to spot and scoop up her helm, slamming it over her head as they sprinted through the disoriented duergar. They passed within a few paces of Vaskegar, who wove in place, a hand pressed to his head. His eyes and nostrils flared as he spotted them, and he pointed all nearby duergar their way, yelling. Soldiers roused and charged after the fleeing pair.
The two sped through the gate and down the road, where a familiar figure in black rags waved for them to hurry, then whirled and sprinted ahead.
Akina dared to glance back. The
other scanderig and all the Forge Spurned remained intact and ready to unleash destruction at Vaskegar's command. She returned her focus forward and bent her head to the race for survival, just as the final glow from the forge extinguished.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Upward
The ruins dropped back into shades of black, white, and gray. The cries of the pursuing duergar remained far too close for comfort as Akina slogged on, neck and neck with Ondorum. Izthuri took them through several twists and turns, but the shouts never fully died off. She didn't lead them back to the caligni hideout, which Akina understood. If the duergar got a whiff of the tribe's location, they'd be hunted down and exterminated. Instead, Izthuri guided them to a series of fallen towers near the edge of the ruins.
They drew to a halt, two panting, one wheezing. Izthuri eyed the way they'd come. While calls echoed back and forth a few streets over, none had yet fixed on their location.
"What now?" Ondorum asked."Hide and hope they pass us by?"
Akina shook her head."Taggoret. Both Gromir and Brakisten..." She stumbled over her dead brother's name, but shoved the grief aside for the moment."They said Vaskegar plans to attack Taggoret first."
"Could he take it with the forces he's summoned?" Ondorum asked.
Akina blinked, still not used to him voicing thoughts."Maybe. If the city's caught off-guard. And if they fix the forge up, they might be able to call up even more."
"Then we must ensure the city is warned."
They held each other's gaze for a moment. She noted the chunk taken out of a shoulder, the still-oozing wounds over his ribs, and newer injuries. One hand sported several puncture wounds, while smaller cuts and burns coated his skin. Others might not have seen it, as he kept his frame strong, but his eyes hinted at utter exhaustion.
"You up for it?"
He rolled his shoulders back."Only one way to know."
She grinned."Right." She turned to Izthuri."Do you know a path that will get us up to Taggoret before the duergar?"
Izthuri's eyes scrunched."Where Taggoret?"
Keeping one ear to the noises of the encroaching duergar, Akina knelt and drew a crude map in the dirt. She noted Taggoret, Davarn, and the gate they came down. She tried to estimate where Nullick's warren had been in relation to the Long Walk, and where they stood now. Then she drew triangles to indicate the main peaks surrounding Taggoret itself. She tapped these."Mount Langley, Mount Carissa, Mount Onik, and Mount Soryu. Have you been up this way at all?"
Izthuri muttered to herself as she studied the sketch. At last, her head bobbed."Think so. Not in long while. A way is there. I think. But you said you protect my tribe."
Akina planted fists on hips."I am, by leading the duergar away from here. I figure they'll stay and try to repair the forge some, see if they can bring in more for their army. But if they know we're off to raise a warning, they'll hurry to attack the city before we can be too prepared. Most of them will leave and you can pick off the rest here easy enough."
The caligni looked doubtful, but nodded again."The way is there. Goes up fast. But way is watched. Dangerous."
"More buggane?" Akina asked.
Izthuri wriggled fingers."Not know. See some duergar go up. Not come back."
Ondorum frowned, but Akina leaned out to check that the area remained clear."If it gets us there in time to raise a defense, we'll take any risk."
Izthuri reached into her rags and pulled out a pair of tiny glass vials. The liquid within slid about like gobs of oil and glimmered with luminescent blue-and-green motes suspended within the otherwise clear fluid. Oddly, it reminded Akina of the glimpse she'd gotten of Izthuri's freshly healed skin. Izthuri cupped these in her hands and offered them in the same way Ondorum had once presented her with the elemental's diamond.
"You gift life from stone. I gift life from light. Drink. Run. Live."
They took the vials, scraped thumbnails across the wax-sealed openings, and quaffed the contents. Expecting a repeat of the earlier healing spell, Akin braced to gag but found herself pleasantly surprised when the liquid dropped down her throat like a glob of warm honey. It struck her stomach and heat lit her up from the inside-out—not the marrow-burning deluge she'd felt too often of late, but an energizing burst that flushed her cheeks and renewed the vigor in her limbs. She huffed and shook her head as her scalp tingled.
"That's got a kick."
Ondorum flexed his arms and bounced on his toes, showing he felt the same effects. The wounds on his shoulder and arms faded to slate scars on his gray skin, while the many minor cuts and burns vanished. He briskly rubbed his palms together in a manner so unlike his normal composure that Akina almost laughed."Quite agreeable."
Izthuri waggled fingers."Follow."
She took them to an outer wall on the opposite side of the city from where she and Akina had entered. There, a set of tunnels led away from the cavern.
"Take only up. Steeper, better. Faster. Remember, is watched now. Dangerous. Don't know what. But dwarf roads above."
As they studied the entrance to the route, a clatter rose two blocks down. Ularna ran into view, leading a squad of duergar. She pointed out their targets and the group picked up speed.
"Shattered stones and bones, how'd they find us?"
Izthuri held a pale palm toward them, both a farewell and an urging on."Fight well. Live."
Akina mirrored the gesture."Stone endures."
The caligni melded back into shadow. The pair spun and fled up the tunnels.
∗ ∗ ∗
Akina quickly discovered the main and crucial difference between entering Nar-Voth and leaving it as expediently as possible. On the way into the Darklands, most of the tunnels had sloped down, with only the occasional rise before falling once more. It lent a subtle ease to the journey, despite the obstacles they'd encountered along the way. Now every footfall became a bit more strained. Every leg muscle worked under just a bit more of a burden. Akina almost started to appreciate not having had the chance to retrieve her maulaxe, but the thought of facing enemies without it rid her of that line of thinking quick enough.
The rousing effects of the potion had faded long ago, leaving them to forge on under their own endurance and willpower. After the first half day, by her estimate, their initial pace slowed and they alternated a steady run with a rapid stride on the steeper portions. When they took a brief rest, she squatted to catch her breath.
"We lose them?" she asked.
Ondorum shut his eyes and stood perfectly still. He frowned after a little bit."I may hear distant echoes, but am unsure. Either way, it would be wise to assume the duergar still follow, and that they will protect their secrets at all cost."
"How in Hell could they be tracking us?"
"One of their number must have some skill in the matter. I saw their monk, but don't know the abilities of those with her."
"That trull's name is Ularna."
"Is it?" He gave a half bow."Thank you. It would be a discourtesy to leave such a worthy opponent nameless."
Akina scowled."Right. Duergar behind, unknown nasties ahead. And me without any weapon. Don't figure you've got one of your metal nubs still, hm? Summon me a hammer?"
He spread his hands."Alas. But perhaps we'll be able to move ahead without being molested. So long as we don't encounter any majestic worms."
"Majestic whats?"
He started up again."Another tale, another time. If they follow, we should hasten."
Any attempts at conversation died off as they labored on. The only good aspect of the race came from Izthuri's instructions, which eliminated any confusion about the route. Up went up. At one point, Akina imagined these tunnels were some of the original paths from the Quest for Sky, when her ancestors strode ever-higher, seeking the surface. Visualizing their spirits marching along beside her imbued Akina with a sense of retracing their steps, reliving history as it happened. She imagined their hopeful conversations as they explored and progressed, wondering what they might d
iscover when they reached the end of their journey. She became lost in this uplifting vision for a time, letting it ease her weariness and keep her feet steady.
Then her brother's face rose in her mind, joining those of the envisioned dead. Her stride flagged. Brakisten. Shattered stones, you deserved better. Fists curled at her side, and she ground her teeth in silent prayer. Torag, sorry it's been so long since I gave you your due. But if you help us reach Taggoret in time, I'll slaughter Brak's killers and make sure they never hurt anyone again.
Ondorum looked at her in question, but she waved him on. There'd be time to mourn later. For now, surviving this mad dash to the city mattered most.
They reached a rare level stretch and rested a moment, leaning against the walls, sweat dripping off noses and chins. Once her breath returned, Akina huffed.
"On we go."
As she charged ahead, her footsteps gained an odd echo. Something in the back of her brain recognized it, and she did her best to reverse direction."Oh sh—"
Rock crumbled beneath her, sending her plummeting. She crashed and rolled, clutching her helm to keep it from flying off. Good fortune for her as, on a final tumble, her head struck a hard outcropping that rattled all sense loose. When her wits returned, Ondorum crouched over her, flinty features cracked with concern.
She grumbled as she sat up."Fine. I'm fine."
She studied the lower tunnel she'd fallen into. The texture and composition of the tunnels had changed repeatedly as they raced upward, switching between veined rock to chunky slabs to slick limestone. The path she'd just fallen from had held rows of tiny stalagmites that crunched underfoot, but this new section looked more granular than anything they'd seen so far. Packed gravel lined the curving walls here, spotted with larger rocks that looked ready to tumble out at a touch. From what she could tell, the area had been dug out to form a thin sheet of stone between it and the tunnel above. Some sort of burrowing creature? Buggane after all?
Stretches of the walls, floor, and ceiling looked daubed over with thick streaks and clumps of an unknown substance. Not mud, but not natural stone, either. Akina ran a hand over one such spot and found it held firm, with the looser rock around it embedded in the daubing.