We arrived at the destroyed building and scouted around for clues. However, the rocky ground seemed bereft of any indications, which came as no surprise. If this was a Hollywood movie, we would have come across some footprints, or a carelessly dropped piece of identification, but alas, it happened to be real life, and we found nothing of significance. As always, we fell back on that most marvellous of detecting organs – Zen’s nose. I bless the day that Trix had happened across Zen’s father, Zenith, in the wilderness.* Without that fortuitous event, our problem-solving ability would have been instantly halved.
I called everyone together. “Time for the cavalry,” I suggested.
“Pardon?” Niama asked in a puzzled voice. “What’s this now?”
“It’s his human side breaking through again,” Nix explained. “Don’t take any notice. He often babbles incomprehensibly. Just nod and smile.”
“For your information,” I told Nix, coldly, “I mean that, seeing as how we can’t find any clues, we should call in our tracking expert in the form of Zen.”
“Then why didn’t you say so?” Nix averred. “You know that Niama can’t understand humanese. He’s not used to your weird ways as yet.”
“Leave Stephen alone, Uncle Nix,” Rosewing insisted. “Just because you can’t understand words longer than two syllables …..”
“Oho, so it’s a family female conspiracy, is it?” Nix announced, pointing accusingly at Rosewing. “You’re in on it too, eh? Well, no matter! I can outlast the both of you, see if I don’t!”
“You’re not still going on about that, are you?” Thorn questioned, smiling evilly. “I’m not out to seek revenge, honestly.”
“That nasty little smile of yours says exactly the opposite,” Nix snorted disbelievingly. “Hah! As if you’d know anything about being honest.”
“Later, people,” I commanded. “We have a job to do. Zen, front and centre!”
“What?” Trix exclaimed.
“More humanese,” Nix murmured to Niama. “Ignore him.”
“We need to start Zen tracking,” I patiently explained. “I noticed a few pieces of clothing in the broken cupboard over there. We’ll start by getting Zen to sniff the scent from them and take it from there. If the occupants are missing, then invaders may have taken them for some reason or other. Hopefully, Zen can find them for us.”
“Good idea,” Trix agreed, fetching a torn dress and holding it under Zen’s nose. “Seek, my clever boy! Track them down for Mommy.”
Having been in this exact situation many times before, Zen knew exactly what we wanted. He snuffled the torn cloth for a few seconds and then put his nose to the ground and began meandering in increasing circles. Finally, his sniffing increased in intensity and he headed out on a tangent. We looked at each other expectantly.
“The chase is on,” Nix declared softly.
“Yes, it is,” I agreed. “Just be careful everyone. We don’t know what we’re up against here. Please endeavor to stay alive. For my sake, as well as your own.”
* See ‘Zenith (4)
Chapter 7
We followed after our canine tracker, hands on weapons, because who knew what we’d find. It was best to be prepared, as much as we could be, anyway. Zen led us a merry chase for quite awhile, forging deeper and deeper in a downward spiral of connecting tunnels.
“Where the devil are we going?” Nix asked, as we stopped for a breather. “Any more of this and we’ll end up at the centre of the Earth.”
“We do seem to be headed downwards,” Thorn agreed, thoughtfully. “I’ve never been this deep before. Wherever the inhabitants of that house were taken, it’s a long way from where they lived. I wonder what’s down there?”
“Who knows?” Trix shrugged. “There could be anything. This is all new to me as well. I mean, I’ve done a lot of exploring in my time, but this seems endless. I didn’t realise just how many tunnels there actually are. They lead everywhere!”
“Yes, your ancestors must have spent a lot their time creating these passageways,” I observed, looking at Trix. “Were they simply curious explorers or were they looking for something specific?”
“I guess we’ll never know,” Trix murmured, standing upright. “Anyway, I think Zen’s becoming impatient. Let’s continue the chase, wherever it leads.”
“It’s all right for him,” Nix grumbled. “He has four legs, so they wear out only half as fast as mine.”
“Don’t be such a sourpuss,” Thorn chided. “You’re getting some much needed exercise, and all for free! You got nothing to complain about.”
“Yes, I have,” he contradicted, shooting her a suspicious glance. “You’re here, for instance, plotting evil schemes against me.”
“No more than usual,” Thorn grinned.
We moved on, following Zen’s lead until a low growl from him caused us all to stop abruptly. “Something’s coming!” Trix hissed. “Everybody hide!”
We scrambled for concealment and ended up behind conveniently placed boulders, waiting for whatever it was to appear. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Anything could have been coming up to meet us. I suspected that we were deeper than anyone had ever gone before, apart from whatever had dragged away the occupants of that house, of course. My palms became moist with anticipation. Or would that be dread? Either way, my nerves were at fever pitch. I risked a peek down the tunnel but couldn’t see anything. Our oncoming guest was sure taking its time.
“What’s taking so long?” Thorn whispered to me. “Could it have spotted us?” I shrugged in a non-committal fashion.
“Who knows?” I whispered back. “Let’s just be patient.”
Another few minutes, which seemed like hours, strolled leisurely by, taking its time and apparently stopping to look at the scenery. To my mind, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity was proven. Time did slow down, agonisingly so. I quickly peered around my rocky protection for another look and was astounded because there, weaving from side to side and staggering forward, was a goblin. A female goblin, with her clothes in tatters and her body covered in bruises.
“What the hell!” I murmured.
“What is it?” Nix wanted to know. “What’s coming? Is it a monster?”
“It’s a goblin,” I told him, in disbelief. “And she looks in a bad way.”
“She?” Nix questioned. I look further down the tunnel, straining my eyes.
“I think she’s alone,” I proclaimed. “Let’s find out what’s going on. Stay here, just in case.”
I stepped out into the open and the goblin intruder suppressed a small scream of fright at my sudden appearance. She cowered away from me and I held up my hands in a peaceful gesture.
“I’m a friend!” I hurriedly assured her. She didn’t seem completely convinced so, without taking my eyes off her, I called Nix out from hiding. As soon as she saw him, her eyes filled with tears and she rushed into his arms, much to his surprise.
“There, there,” he consoled lamely, awkwardly patting her on the back. “You’re safe now. There’s nothing to worry about. You’re safe.”
She clung to Nix like a drowning sailor to a piece of driftwood and sobbed her heart out. He sat her down and continued to cradle her in his arms, looking up at the rest of us in puzzlement. I sent Trix and Zen on a scouting expedition further down the tunnel, just to make sure our visitor had been alone. Trix reported back that all seemed clear and we sat down in a circle around our mysterious guest and waited until her emotional storm had passed. Deciding safety to be our main concern, we then retraced our steps back along the tunnel, with Nix supporting the latest member of our group. We darted curious glances at her as we walked, but nobody questioned her because she was obviously still extremely distressed. However, that didn’t stop us from speculating in our own minds as to where she’d come from and what had happened to her. Perhaps she had been one of the missing inhabitants of the house? If so, she should be able to answer some of our outstanding questions.
Chapter 8
We made our way back to the ruined house and made a camp. Nix sat next to our enigmatic newcomer and offered her some food. She smiled shyly at him and ate it ravenously. We plied her with more food and she ate it all. When she had finished, we looked at her expectantly and she returned our gaze in an embarrassed fashion, ineffectively tugging at the scraps of her clothing to cover herself. Wordlessly, Nix put his coat over her shoulders and she wrapped it around herself, affording him a nod of thanks.
Finally, I decided to break the stalemate of silence. “Do you think you’re up to answering some questions now?” I asked, carefully. “We’d all like to know what happened to you.”
“Yes, I think I can deal with it now,” she said in a soft, musical voice. “It’s been horrible, but I feel safe for the first time in ages. Thank you, by the way. My name is Vorobon. Bon, for short.”
“Lovely to meet you, Bon,” I told her. “I’m Stephen. Going around the circle, this is Rosewing, my daughter. Next to her is Trix and her friend, Niama. The one sniffing you is Zen and beside him is Thorn, my partner. The troublemaker sitting next to you is Nix.”
“Hey!” Nix protested. “Are you saying that I’m a troublemaker?”
“You’re not denying it, are you?” Thorn grinned.
“I didn’t say I denied it,” Nix retorted. “I’m simply objecting, that’s all.” Bon smiled at the wordplay and I could see her releasing some of her inbuilt tension.
“Please continue,” I urged.
“I’ve been a captive,” Bon began. “A slave. Digging tunnels and building things. For them!” She stopped, the bitterness in her voice all too apparent.
“Who’s ‘them’?” I asked softly, realising this to be emotional ground for her.
She didn’t answer for a few moments, the look on her face showing her thoughts were far away, and not in a very pleasant place. Then she shuddered and blinked her awareness back to our group.
“They call themselves the Knarl,” she told us, “and their aim is to enslave us all.” She fell silent again, brooding. I looked around at the shocked faces of my colleagues.
“And exactly how are they going to do that?” I probed.
Bon shook her head and resurfaced back to our reality once more. She ignored my question and drifted off into a dreamy storytelling state.
“I was visiting some friends,” she explained. “Just walking along, minding my own business, when they appeared out of nowhere. I didn’t know what they were. I’d never seen anything like them before and they weren’t nice. They kicked and punched me and dragged me back to their lair, deep underground. I was thrown in a pit with a bunch of other slaves – a collection of all races – and forced to work for them. We were whipped and starved and every day we had to bury someone. It was horrible!” Her voice broke momentarily and Nix put a comforting arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him, choked back a sob and continued.
“We dug tunnels and built monuments,” Bon revealed, “day after day. We were slaves, pure and simple. Expendable. They didn’t care. We were nothing to them!” She looked defiantly around at us. “But I watched them. I noticed their comings and goings. Their routines. Just waiting for my chance. And then it came. I crept away and they didn’t notice. I dodged the patrols. I have to warn everyone! The Knarl are going to war! No one is safe!” Her voice became shrill with panic and she began to stand, looking around wildly. Nix threw his arms around her and pulled her back down.
“Take it easy,” he consoled. “They’re not here yet. You’re safe. For now, anyway.” She sagged, the escalating hysteria draining out of her, and she became apologetic.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered forlornly, “but it’s all been so ghastly. The Knarl are merciless and everyone is in danger. They mean to enslave all the races.”
“What are they?” Thorn wanted to know. Bon took a deep breath and her eyes unfocused.
“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “They’re a race of beings I’ve never seen before. They live in the deep tunnels. I think they’re some variety of spider.”
“They’re spiders?” Rosewing exclaimed in disbelief.
“No, not really,” Bon corrected. “They look like spiders, that’s all. And they’re huge! As big as you are.”
“As big as I am?” Rosewing repeated, horrified. Back home, when I told her what Bon had said, Tracey squealed in terror. She hated spiders, even the tiny ones.
“And they’re intelligent too,” Bon confirmed. “Cruel, but intelligent.”
“What made you think they’re going to invade?” Niama questioned.
“Oh, lots of things I saw,” Bon replied. “As well as digging tunnels, we were also making weapons – swords and spears mainly, but hundreds and hundreds of them. Nobody makes that many for peaceful purposes. All the Knarl I saw wore armor as well, and I saw them training every day in battle manoeuvres. They’re very militaristic, and that’s not all.” Her voice drop to a whisper. “They had the snoles!”
“The what?” Trix asked in a puzzled voice. “What are they?”
“Fire breathing lizard things,” Bon told us, looking around nervously.
“They breathe fire?” Thorn said, sceptically.
“I couldn’t believe it when I was first told, either,” Bon admitted, “but it’s true. I saw them use it on a prisoner once. It’s not something you’re likely to forget. The poor thing didn’t even have time to scream.”
“Well, that explains the melted stone,” Nix announced.
“It sure does,” I agreed. “But fire breathing lizards? How is it possible?”
“How many did you see?” Thorn asked Bon.
“Only about three or four,” she replied. “Unless they had some others hidden away, that’s all there is.”
“Even if there’s only one,” Nix grumbled, “that’d be bad news enough. How do you stop something like that?”
“It gives us food for thought, that’s for sure,” I declared. “Bon, can you tell us anything else?”
She screwed up her face in reminiscence. “Oddly enough, I could understand their language,” she told me. “After a fashion, that is. There’s lots of clicks and hisses, but somehow they do form words as well. It wasn’t always easy to understand them but I gained the distinct impression that they were after something called a ‘blood stone’, whatever that is.”
“A blood stone?” I repeated, mystified. “What on earth could that be?”
Bon shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine,” she declared. “But whatever it is, they appeared to be willing to wage war to find it.”
“Blood stone, blood stone,” Trix murmured, rubbing her chin. “Somehow that seems vaguely familiar. I think I’veheard about it somewhere before.”
“You have?” Thorn questioned. “Where?”
“That’s the problem,” Trix replied in frustration, frowning. “I can’t quite bring it to mind. Let me think about it for a little longer.”
“In the meantime, I think we should head for home,” I proposed. “I’m sure the Council of Elders would want to hear what Bon has to say.”
Chapter 9
And so we set out for the settlement. This talk of war unsettled me. Would it really come to that? In my mind, there could be no greater obscenity than sentient beings slaughtering each other. And for what? For something called a blood stone that might not even exist. I mean, how stupid was that? It was the height of madness. We’d have to stop it, but how? Hopefully, the Council of Elders may have a few suggestions although I wasn’t very optimistic on that score. I noticed that Nix kept himself in close proximity to Bon, and I wondered if it was more than mere solicitude on his part. He’d never talked about his girlfriends, or if he even had any. Oh sure, he had always boasted about his overwhelming masculinity and his irresistible attraction for the ladies, but I knew that was only for Thorn’s benefit. For her part, Bon seemed pleased to have Nix so close to her. Perhaps she looked upon him as her knight in shining armor. Interesting.
We stopped
off at Nix’s house to find appropriate clothing for Bon. Nix’s mother, Edwinex, fussed over Bon as if she was a long lost daughter, much to the latter’s confused embarrassment. Edwinex insisted we all stay for lunch, an offer we gratefully accepted. Nix immediately claimed the seat next to Bon, something that Nix’s mother observed with twinkling eyes.
“That Bon is a fine figure of a girl, isn’t she?” Edwinex whispered, nudging me in the ribs. “I think my son is rather taken with her. And about time too,” she sniffed. “I was beginning to wonder if he’d ever settle down.”
“You’re getting a bit ahead of yourself, aren’t you?” I murmured to her. “They’ve only just met, you know, and here you are practically setting them up as a married couple. I’m surprised you haven’t already picked out names for your grandchildren into the bargain.”
“You’ll see,” Edwinex confided, self-assuredly. “I know these things. A mother can always tell.”
After eating, we made our way back to the settlement and reported our experiences to the Council of Elders. Bon did the majority of the talking, of course, and the Elders were very disturbed at what she said.
“Snoles?” she was asked. “They breathe fire? How could that happen? How big are these things?”
“About half my height,” Bon replied, “and I have no idea how they can produce their flames. It must be something peculiar to them.”
“A very alarming development,” one Elder mused. “And you say these Knarl are preparing for war?”
“That’s the distinct impression I received,” Bon told him. “It was a war camp if ever I’d seen one.”
“What about this blood stone thing?” another Elder asked. “Do you have any ideas about that?”
“None whatsoever,” Bon replied, “but I don’t think they did either. If I had to guess I’d say that it was something they’ve been chasing for a long time. Maybe for generations. Perhaps it’s an artefact or a religious symbol, or something.”
Blood Stone (11) (The Underground Kingdom) Page 3