“Get to it, and be sure to be letting me know if you got problems,” Dexter said after a lengthy pause. He started down the ramp towards Heynt. “Let’s find a place to stay while the wizard earns his keep, a warm meal and a cup of ale would do me good.”
“You thinking all that mumbo jumbo he was babbling about’s going to do us any good?” Rosh asked Dexter in a softer version of his gravelly voice after they’d started down the ramp.
Dexter shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not,” he offered. “I ‘spect us to come up with another idea just in case.”
“Ain’t seen no fire powder around here,” Rosh said.
“Aye, and we’ve not enough to put a dent in that rock,” Jenna added behind them.
“How’d the elves fashion this wall of rock anyhow?” Dexter wondered, craning his neck to have a look at it. “Thought they wasn’t as good at magic as your grandpa’s people.”
“This again?” Jenna groaned. Tarin and Xander had moved ahead of them by now while they slowed their pace to discuss their contingency options.
“Gotta get me one of those someday,” Rosh mused, distracting them all.
“What?” Dexter asked, following his gaze to Keshira. “Seems your problem isn’t finding a woman, it’s finding too many!”
Rosh scowled, then chuckled. “Naw, I meant one like her. Perfect woman! She’s got the looks and she don’t say much unless asked.”
Dexter bit his chuckle short, expecting to be punched by his lover. When nothing happened he dared a glance at her and saw her smiling wickedly at Rosh. It was a smile that promised a very unpleasant future.
“Tell you what though Rosh,” Dexter offered. “Next time we run into a pleasure golem stuck in a crate, I’ll let you open it.”
Rosh grinned. “Maybe you ain’t such a bad Captain after all.”
“But first you got to dig me a hole through that wall of rock.”
Rosh looked at the cliff again, frowning. “We’re gonna need an army of diggers.”
Dexter shook his head. “These people won’t be liking their lake sucked dry I reckon. This’ll be just us.”
“That’s a lot of digging,” Rosh pointed out.
“But you’re so big,” Jenna said, her eyes over-wide in an attempt at feigning innocence.
Rosh glanced at her suspiciously, then grinned, “So the women do talk when the men ain’t around!”
Jenna rolled her eyes and Dexter chuckled. It was short lived but the ribbing reminded them all of the loss of their crewmates and, it seemed, their ship.
* * * *
Later that night Tarin returned from parts unknown to tell Dexter he’d found a path. Jenna stayed with Xander to keep him out of trouble and to assist in anything he needed. The others followed the boy as he showed them a way out of town to an area where water pooled sluggishly. The current under the surface slowed enough they could cross without incident. Climbing along wet and mossy rocks and slipping as often as not they came to the large pool at the base of the final vertical drop where the last waterfall sent hundreds of gallons of water crashing every second.
Doubtful, Dexter allowed the boy to show them the secret he’d found. Behind the waterfall, standing on a ledge only a few inches below the surface of the water, a hollow had been carved out by the force of the water. Talking was impossible given the volume of the crashing water, so Dexter motioned them away.
The next day they purchased digging equipment and began their excavation. It was slow, even with the never flagging endurance of Keshira’s arms. Rosh worked as a man possessed, his strength now greater than that of the golem’s. Dexter watched as the days passed and Rosh grew stronger and larger. Not only did the man’s endurance and strength grow, so did his appetite! Dexter worried his purse grew lighter by the day from the amount of food that her bought to keep Rosh from complaining. The large man’s stomach seemed like the furnace of a forge.
Even still, after a week of digging and Xander stumbling over complicated magical formulae, they’d only cleared twenty feet of rock.
“This is dumb,” Rosh grumbled loud enough to be heard over the nearby waterfall. He wiped sweat from his brow then reached for a loaf of bread they’d brought with them in a basket.
“Bold words,” Dexter mused as he returned from dumping a load of rocks into the water.
“I been in mines before,” Rosh said. “We got no braces. Whole damn thing could crush us any minute. Then what happens when we bust through? Water happens, and lots of it! You figured it a hundred foot or more to the other side, how in the void we gonna get out before we drown?”
Dexter frowned. The big man had a point. Digging tunnels had never been Dexter’s forte, and the thought of swimming through a tunnel of surging water seemed unpleasant, to say the least.
“When was you in some mines?” Dexter asked.
Rosh shrugged. “A while back, one of my first jobs. Got left behind to take the fall and spent three months digging for it.”
“Ouch,” Dexter mused, both at the betrayal and at the menial labor.
Rosh shrugged. “They paid their dues,” he said.
Dexter’s eyes widened but he didn’t ask for details. Likewise, he imagined whatever the job was in the first place was probably not so distant from when he’d met Rosh working for bandits that had imprisoned them.
“So what about this?” Rosh asked, gesturing down the tunnel to where Keshira was still hammering away with a pickaxe.
Dexter sighed. “Guess we’d best stop before we get ourselves killed.”
“Trusting the bookworm?”
Another sigh followed. “Got no other baskets to put my eggs in.”
“Magic,” Rosh said, then turned and spit towards the waterfall that thundered over a dozen feet away from them. Disgruntled, he turned back and picked up the abandoned pickaxe, then stepped in while Keshira moved out with a load of rocks. He swung three times, striking stone and glancing off the first two, then burying it through a break in the rock and getting it stuck.
Rosh swore loudly enough to draw an interested Dexter down the tunnel. The large warrior worked at it, trying o pull the axe out of the hole he had made. He strained, working it back and forth and bending the thick wooden handle dangerously. Dexter’s eyes widened when he heard the rock crack, then a trickle of water ran down from the crack.
“Um, Rosh…” Dexter began.
“Ain’t got nothing better to do,” Rosh growled, not seeing the water seeping out. Instead he put his back into it and heaved mightily. A great stone popped out of the wall, which was aided by a geyser of water that shout out horizontally from it and struck Dexter squarely in the midsection.
Rosh watched his Captain as he was sent sprawling to the ground, propelled by the powerful water. He turned back to look at it and saw cracks spreading in the rocks and dirt. “Aw hell,” he muttered. The rocks exploded in front of him, sailing around and into him just as much as the water that suddenly overwhelmed him and bore him along with it through the short but treacherous tunnel.
Chapter 9 – Depths of Despair
“Dexter!” Jenna screamed. A stream of water burst out of the hole, spraying her with shattered fragments of rock and dirt that were thrown from the opening of the tunnel. She was making ready to re-enter the tunnel when she’d heard the sound and, less than a heartbeat later, seen the explosion of water.
She stared at it, momentarily at a loss. The water just kept coming. The waterfall it crashed into blunted its force but still it powered through, overloading the pool and causing the banks to flood. She stepped away from it and stared at the pool, hoping desperately for some sign of the man she loved.
She found him thrashing desperately as he tried to find the shore. She jumped in and helped guide him to the land. He lay on the ground gasping for breath even as he retched out water that had threatened to drown him. Finally, far before he was ready, he climbed to his feet and turned back to the water.
“Got to get her,” he gasped, then started to strip
off his soaked tunic.
“Get who? Keshira?” Jenna asked, grabbing on to him and pulling him back.
“She saved me,” he said, trying to pull away from Jenna.
“Stop it!” Jenna scolded. “You can’t swim, remember? Where is she?”
Dexter pointed at the water. “Down there – she saved me, talked to me. Kept me from drowning,” he stumbled.
“All right, stay here,” she said, then turned back to the water. She stripped off her shirt and pants, then slid her belt with her blades over her hips so she could dive into the water. She swam down, following the steep wall to deeper water and noticed how difficult it was to see. The water was riled up from the waterfall and the new influx of water from the tunnel. Had they broken through to the lake already? It didn’t seem possible, but where else would the water have come from?
Her lungs were beginning to ache when she’d swam along the bottom of the pond long enough to find the pleasure golem. She stood there, looking calm and peaceful as the current shifted her hair and torn clothing about on her. Her eyes followed Jenna and she smiled. It was creepy, but the elf had not the time nor air to spare. She grabbed the woman’s arm and pulled on her, expecting resistance. Keshira pushed off the bottom and rose easily, surprising her. She didn’t swim and soon she began to weigh Jenna down, but the elf determinedly just kept swimming.
By the time she broke the surface she was nearly let go. Her lungs were aching and her limbs felt like they were filled with lead. A few moments of gasping was all she afforded herself before pulling the construct towards the shore that was only a few dozen feet away. Once there Jenna collapsed on the ground, too tired to be the least bit bothered about her nudity or that a crowd of onlookers was gathering from the other side of the pond, near the city.
“Thank you,” Keshira said to her, leaning over her and smiling. “Are you okay?”
Jenna nodded, not trusting her tortured lungs to speak yet. Keshira bent down and picked her up, then carried her up to where Dexter was rushing down with Jenna’s things in his hands. The elf marveled at the pleasure golem, amazed at how calmly she had just stood on the bottom of the pond. Apparently her nature meant she could either hold her breath for a long time or didn’t need to breathe. After a few moments she let herself down from Keshira’s grasp and took her things from a relieved looking Dexter.
“What about…” Dexter trailed off, staring at Keshira, then he shook his head and finished his question, “Rosh. Any sign of him?”
The water raged behind them, now spilling over the next set of rapids that led to another pool and from then further on down. It was slipping over the edge of the banks towards town as well.
Jenna turned to look at Keshira again and saw what had made the Captain hesitate. Keshira’s clothing, a simple tunic and trousers, were torn by the force of the water and where she had apparently been dashed against the rocks. The tears on her trousers weren’t so bad as that of her tunic, which was ripped open completely and hung in tatters from only her left shoulder. Her right breast was exposed, as was the rest of that side, and even her resilient skin showed signs of deep scratches from a run in with a rock.
“I did not see him, Captain,” Keshira said.
Jenna shook her head, answering the same.
“He was in deep,” Dexter said. “I wonder if he’s trapped in there?”
Jenna followed his gaze, staring at the horizontal geyser of water and figuring no one, not even Rosh, could survive that sort of abuse. “Did you break through to the lake already?”
Dexter shook his head. “Rosh was worried we might, but I don’t reckon we was nearly that far.”
“Then what is it?”
Dexter shrugged. “I’m never sailing on water again,” he said, coughing out some more of the accursed substance. “This stuff’ll kill you!”
True to his word a great chunk of rock gave way and slid free of the wall. The water pushed it away and sent it to the bottom of the pool. All the while the pressurized stream grew bigger and bigger as the dark shapes of broken rocks and dirt were sped along by it. Dexter pulled them all back further away from the growing drain. Jenna wondered just how big it could get.
“Dex, the town…”
Dexter turned to see the slowly growing crowd that stared at the lake. Some of them were trying to cross over but were stopped by the volume of water that was pushing over the next lip. The town was built on a series of plateaus, evened out by years of work from the original slope it had once been. The highest plateau was safe, since the water was still several feet below it, but those below might not be so lucky.
“Jenna, go warn them. Keshira and I will look for Rosh,” he said.
“That’s a damn fool idea and you know it!” Jenna snapped. “You can’t swim and Keshira… well, I don’t know what she can do. I’ll look for Rosh with her, you go tell the townsfolk.”
“Captain,” Keshira said, trying to raise his attention.
“Hang on,” Dexter snapped to her. “He’s part of my crew, my responsibility. I was in there with him, I’ll be doing the looking for him!”
“How are you going to do that, by drowning alongside him?” Jenna said, her voice raised.
“Captain, please-“
“Just a damned minute!” Dexter swore, then wheeled back on Jenna. “I’m the Captain here, you’ll do as I say!”
“Told you it was a damned fool idea.”
Jenna’s mouth, opened to retort, stayed open but no words came forth. She spun about and saw a soaked, bloodied, and battered looking Rosh standing behind them. Without thinking she launched herself at him and hugged him tightly. She realized what she was doing a moment later when the surprised Rosh sought to press his luck and land a kiss on her as well. She quickly wriggled free and glared at him while retreating to Dexter’s side.
Dexter was there as well, reaching out and clapping the solid man on the arm in a congratulatory way. “How’d you survive?” He asked, his tone filled with wonder.
Rosh coughed, the sound deep and filled with fluid. He spat several times before turning back to them and shrugging. Even as they stared at him they saw he looked better, the bruises and scratches fading from his body. “Got dumped into the next pool downstream,” he said. “Bounced off every damned rock in it! Found one and hung on, then pulled myself out and climbed back up here.”
“That’s not possible,” Jenna said, shaking her head. “Nobody could live through that…”
“I been thinking that a lot too,” Rosh said, then shrugged. “Guess I ain’t so easy to get rid of.”
“Well now what?” Jenna asked, turning to look back at the water. It had grown larger.
“Now we can warn the town,” Dexter said, giving her a meaningful look.
Jenna nodded, biting her lip and feeling herself blush a little. Her actions had been mutinous, she knew, but they weren’t on the ship at the time. For that matter, they didn’t even know if they still had a ship. “Sorry Captain,” she said softly. “I just…”
He nodded stiffly. “Don’t make a habit of it,” was all he said. “Or maybe I’ll move you back into the Arms Master’s quarters.”
“Hey, that’s my bunk!” Rosh protested.
Dexter nodded and smiled wickedly. Jenna’s mouth fell open. “You… you can’t…”
“I can,” Dexter promised.
“Hey now, that ain’t fair, dumping me out on my own. Not after all the-“
“Oh shut up,” Jenna growled at him as she stomped past him on her way to try and find a way to ford the now raging river that emptied the pool so they could head back to town.
Rosh clamped his mouth shut, then turned to look at Dexter. Dexter smiled, then clapped him on the back again. “Good to have you back,” he added, then followed after his first mate.
* * * *
The waters were slowly returning to their normal levels by the time Dexter returned with his remaining crew to the bank. The excess water had stopped, so far as they could tell, an
d the precautions they’d called for proved unnecessary. The rocks and dirt that had been piled along the edge of the town as an emergency stopgap proved a burden now for them to climb over to return to investigate the tunnel they’d dug out.
“My Lord!” A voice cried out behind them loudly.
Dexter cursed. Rosh glanced back and cursed as well, sharing Dexter’s sentiments. It was Tasha; she had tracked them down.
“You didn’t show up, we feared we’d angered you,” She said as she approached. Her mercenary company, the Claws of Rosh, were following behind her.
“You did anger me,” Rosh growled at her, drawing some excited whispers from the people already gathered and others coming to investigate.
“We’ve returned because we seek something left behind long ago,” Xander said, stepping forward quickly.
Dexter stared at Xander, surprised. He glanced to Jenna, who only widened her eyes in amazed agreement, then decided to let the wizard have his moment.
“What do you seek?” Tasha asked, edging forward curiously.
Xander glanced back at Dexter, a look of panic on his face. Dexter hid his smirk and spoke up, “Stick around and maybe you’ll be finding out.”
“My Lords,” Tasha said, hiding her irritation far less successfully, “the council has bid me to be their emissary whilst you are here. I am at your disposal.”
Rosh cursed again, softly.
“Do I not please you?” Tasha asked him, bowing her head submissively.
“You ain’t had the chance to please me yet,” Rosh retorted.
Dexter bit back his groan at the large man’s words.
Tasha looked up at him, surprise on her face. “You would take me, My Lord? I would be honored…”
Rosh growled and looked to Dexter for help.
Dexter shook his head. “Another time, perhaps. If you’re to keep an eye on us, then come. But only you.”
Dexter turned and motioned for the others to continue. Xander and Keshira hurried across, then Rosh, but Jenna waited to walk beside him.
“Dex, what are you doing?” She hissed, glancing behind her to be sure Tasha wasn’t close enough to hear.
Voidhawk: The Elder Race Page 25