Burrows & Behemoths

by Lee Duckett

  Badger cocked his head, ~Don’t dwarves live in caves?~

  ~We live in tunnels, wee man~, the dwarf bristled. ~Gnomes don’t just find a pile o’ rocks and climb in like yer namesake. Ya build, just like us, even if it ain’t as impressive.~

  The party waited in awkward silence, Rurik actually twiddling his thumbs. ~Thought so!~ came Fayne’s exclamation.

  “What is it?” Aria asked, before shaking her head, realizing the girl might not be able to hear her. ~What is it?~

  ~It’s the passage to the arrow-slit,~ Fayne told them. Reappearing a moment later. She crossed the hall to go down the other hallway, and came back a moment later. ~Same thing. One of the orcs left behind a shortbow.~ The elf stowed her torch in her bag, using the glow of Aria’s aureole to see by.

  The party regarded the main door. It was wide open, a long, wide, and high tunnel extending into the darkness. Fayne took point without a word as they continued sneaking down the path, which went slowly down and to the right, light spilling into the dark tunnel from farther ahead. Fayne waved to Aria, then mimed touching her fingertips to her tongue and pinching out a candle. The cleric’s confused look lasted a moment, then she nodded in understanding and put out her glow.

  Fayne continued to sneak ahead, using the light emanating from a pair of double doors set into the side of the tunnel to see by. The elf peered inside, motioning for the rest to come up. They looked into a large room full of rough-hewn tables. Against one wall fires burned, heating several cauldrons and roasting a motley collection of meats. A couple of orcs languished at the tables while three smaller orcs worked, preparing the food.

  ~I think we found their dining hall,~ mused Badger.

  Rurik grunted over the connection, informing them ~They might be usin’ it as such, but it be a guard-hall.~

  “How-” Aria quickly cut herself off. ~How do you know that?~

  ~Says so over the door,~ Rurik told her, pointing at the blocky writing above them, indecipherable to the rest of the party, as they did not speak Dwarvish.

  ~How should we do this?~ Badger asked. ~Should we sneak by them, poison the food, what?~

  ~I thought we could just kill them,~ Fayne sent. ~And then we kill the rest.~

  ~Are orcs irredeemably evil, like the goblins were?~ Aria asked.

  ~Pretty much,~ Fayne responded, calling upon her elvish memories. ~If they’re in tribes like this.~

  ~Oh, in that case,~ Aria mentally sighed, all reticence gone as she hefted her mace, ~What are we waiting for?~

  Fayne rolled her eyes and slipped in, noting the doors set in the back and right side of the ad-hoc cafeteria. Rurik and Aria followed, armor clanking softly, which was covered by the sounds of cooking. Badger came in behind them and took up a position near the door, as was becoming his habit. Fayne drew an arrow back, mentally suppressing the magic in her bow to stop electricity from coursing along her arrow, but also stopping any light from alerting the orcs. Aria snuck up behind one orc as Rurik walked towards another, swearing over the connection when he kicked a metal cup, sending it skidding across the floor.

  Aria clubbed her orc over the head as it turned toward the sound of the cup, stunning it and leaving it open for another blow. Fayne shot the second orc twice in the chest as she sprang from the shadows, dropping it.

  As the cooking orcs turned to look at the noise Badger cast Grease, covering the floor with slick, conjured fat, and placing the effect so that one corner of the spell’s radius ended in the fire pit. The cooks fell as the created grease caught fire, screaming as they burned.

  Rurik rushed towards his foe, trying to kill him quickly, but the orc jumped out of the way, grabbing the axe leaning against the table and swinging it at the oncoming dwarf. The samurai deflected the blow with his wakizashi while slashing him with his flaming katana. Magically created flames rode the length of his sword, burning the orc as the blade sliced into its side.

  Fayne shot a burning cook dead that was running for the door while Aria ducked under the blow of another orc, catching it in the ribs as she straightened, throwing it backwards. Badger threw a Flame Bolt at the falling orc, missing it by inches. Rurik leaned out of the way of another orcish blow before striking his attacker with both swords, killing it in retaliation.

  Aria swung down at her fallen opponent, killing it, at the same moment that Fayne took down the last orc in the room. As it fell the back door opened and another orc walked in, scratching himself and yawning. The newcomer stopped mid-yawn, took in the scene before it, and immediately turn and ran, slamming the door behind it. Fayne’s arrow hit that door, blasting off stone chips as she swore.

  “What do we do?” Aria asked, unsure.

  “We go after ‘em of course!” Rurik boomed, running towards the door.

  Badger shrugged and started to run after the dwarf, Aria and Fayne following and quickly overtaking him with their longer strides. Rurik threw the door opened and followed the runner, who rounded the corner at the end of the hall to the left as the door to the right opened and a bleary-eyed orc stumbled out, shouting something at the retreating monster. The running orc shouted something back, as the sleepy orc looked to the left, seeing the party a half a second before Fayne shot it between the eyes, dropping it as its hair smoked from the voltage.

  The party heard Orcish yelling from inside the room, telling them others had seen the archer’s kill. When they got to the turn and the doorway, the escaping orc had already ducked inside another door, and could be heard frightenedly yelling something to someone inside. Rurik looked back to the party and raised an eyebrow.

  ~To the right first!~ called Fayne.

  Rurik nodded and charged through the door, bursting into the orc’s barracks, cutting down the slowly waking monsters inside. Aria followed, bashing the ones that Rurik missed, Badger throwing a Flame Bolt at one that was still moving after a crippling blow, setting his target on fire.

  ~Use cold,~ Fayne told him from her position at the door, keeping an eye on the other hallway, shooting at one door that started to open. The arrow sailed inside and there was a white flash of electrical discharge as the door slammed shut with a yell of pain.

  ~Why?~ asked the wizard as he switched to shooting Rays of Frost.

  ~If you set them on fire, you might burn some loot,~ Aria advised.

  ~I can repair it later!~ Badger exclaimed, but complied, blasting one with a ray, the orc’s chest freezing. The injured monster took a halting step forward before Aria slammed him in the chest with her mace, cracking his frozen flesh, killing him and shattering the front of his armor.

  As the party laid waste to the waking orc company, Fayne covered the hall. She was able to shoot at opening doors a few more times, but after another hit on someone inside they stayed shut. After their slaughter was done Rurik, Aria, and Badger surveyed the scene, all three breathing a little hard.

  “Wait,” Badger said, turning towards Rurik. “You’re a samurai, right?”

  “Correct, wee man,” Rurik responded cautiously, moving back to the hall. “What of it?”

  “Well,” Badger hazarded, “isn’t killing a bunch of sleeping enemies kind of, I don’t know, dishonorable?”

  “If they were ‘onorable opponents, then aye, it would be,” Rurik admitted. “But they are, that be, were,” he corrected with a smirk, “an orc raiding party; by their very nature they be dishonorable bastards. Those without honor need not be treated with honor. You can, but I don’t see the need. There’s a reason I’m not lawful good, laddie.”

  “Should we search the bodies?” Aria asked.

  “Not now!” Fayne called, annoyed, shooting down the hall as one of the doors opened a crack. “We need to take care of the rest of the camp!”

  The group moved back to Fayne, looking down the hall. There was a door on either side of the stone passage, as well as a one at the end.

  ~They’re in the room on the right and at the end of the hall,~ the elf communicated. ~I shot an orc in the right room, but I wasn’t a
ble to hit anyone in the other, the angle’s bad.~

  ~Which one should we go for first?~ asked Badger.

  ~If you cover the end door with Flame Bolts, Rurik and I can probably handle the right room,~ Fayne told him. At Badger’s nod the two moved down the hall carefully.

  ~What should I do?~ asked Aria.

  ~Keep watch on the mess hall, we need to know if more come,~ Badger told her.

  Rurik and Fayne got to the door, which hadn’t tried to open for almost a minute. ~You get the door, I’ll shoot whatever’s inside,~ Fayne instructed.

  Rurik nodded, getting into position. He opened the door, stepping to the side, revealing the room to be the living quarters of an orc shaman, who finished casting right as Fayne took her shot. Her arrow pierced the wave of fire that came from its hands, catching the shaman in the gut, while Fayne dodged to the side, not catching the full brunt of the Fiery Spray spell but still getting her left leg and arm burned in the process. She stumbled, ducking as a Flame Bolt passed by her nose a moment later to impact the opening door at the end of hall, which promptly shut again.

  Rurik ran into the room with a yell, ducking the Shaman’s glowing blue hand and stabbing the Shaman with his swords. As he pulled his blades out to stab again, the shaman backhanded Rurik, the orc’s glowing hand emanating a deep cold which burned the dwarf through his helmet. Rurik responded to the frostbite by bashing the caster with the butt of his sword, sending the orc sprawling to the ground. As the shaman struggled to get up, Rurik stabbed it several more times as Fayne rushed in, the orc lying still after the fourth strike.

  ~Shaman’s down,~ Rurik told the group. ~I have a plan. Aria, head towards the kitchen. Badger, hide in the barracks and be makin’ noises o’ battle from the kitchen.~

  As the mystically created sounds of combat started to come from the mess-hall Rurik called “I need some help here! This shaman is too tough!”

  Aria responded, “I can’t! They’re coming in through the cafeteria!”

  “And they killed Kenny!” Badger added. “Those bastards!”

  There came a yell from the door at the end of the hall as it flew open and a huge orc came barreling out, flaming war axe in hand, followed closely by the orc that had escaped them earlier. Rurik caught that second orc, eviscerating it with his swords as the chieftain charged down the hall.

  Fayne’s first shot missed as she followed the charging orc, while Rurik took down his target. She drew another arrow when she turned the corner, but the Chieftain was fast and had already made it to the mess hall entrance. Badger popped out from his door ready to blast his target, hand misting with frost.

  ~He’s coming,~ called Aria, panicking. ~He’s coming! DO SOMETHING!~

  The massive orc came up short, looking around the room, seeing only the aasimar. It raised its war axe and started to charge as two electrified arrows and a Ray of Frost stuck the chieftain in the back, getting its attention. It turned around and ducked to avoid another arrow and ray, moving faster than any of the others had. As it started to move towards them there came a loud crack and the orc dropped, Aria having charged forward and broken its leg with her mace. As it fell it swung out instinctively, catching Aria in the side with its flaming war axe, the blade dragging her to the ground.

  “Maggie!” Badger called, fight forgotten, running forward.

  The orc, still on the ground, wrenched its axe out of Aria’s side, swinging it out and tried to chop Badger in half, only to be stopped as Fayne shot its arm several times as she stalked forward. Its muscles spasmed as Fayne put arrow after arrow into it, causing it to continue spasming as it died, and for some time afterwards as every new lightning arrow impacted the corpse. She felt a hand on her arm, stopping her from firing again and swung around, arrow knocked, to point it in Rurik’s face, before quivering her arrow with a shuddering breath.

  Fayne turned back around to where Aria lay, and took a deep breath as she saw the cleric comforting her tiny husband with one hand, blood leaking from her mouth while bright golden sparks jumped from her hand to her chest, sinking past her burned vestments and into her cleanly cut chainmail.

  “I’m okay Jack,” she reassured Badger. “He didn’t hit me that hard, I just wasn’t expecting it. I was burned a little, and I had a little cut, maybe bruised a rib.” She winced, keeping her husband on her uninjured side. From Fayne’s point of view, she saw the deep gash in her side filling in, organs slowly becoming whole, and broken rib fragments pulling together. “And it just set itself,” She lied as the flesh pulled together. The gold sparks slowed to a trickle from her hand. “There, all better. Now help me up, we have to keep going.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Badger asked, voice thick with emotion. “That looked really bad. You were spitting up blood!”

  “I am,” she said, getting up to her knees and hugging him, before getting up and turning to Fayne. “I just bit my tongue when I got hit, magic fixed that too.” She shot Fayne a warning look, and was rewarded with a hesitant nod in return. “Well, Fayne,” Aria’s tone was all business, “was that the last of them?”

  The elf shrugged, carefully schooling her features, not sure how she felt about what had just happened. “That was all of the ones I know of.” She motioned towards the door to the side of the mess-hall, “There might be others, but I didn’t see any.”

  “Fayne, can you and Rurik clear the other rooms while Mag-Aria and I search the ones we’ve already cleared?” Badger asked.

  “I can help clear rooms!” Aria protested. “I told you that I’m feeling alright!”

  “You an’ Badger know more about magic stuff,” Rurik chimed in, having gotten a good look at her injury as well. “So it makes sense for you two to search. Fayne’s good at the sneakin’, and I’m good at killin’ when sneakin’ don’t work, so we should go.”

  Aria looked at him for a moment, considering, before nodding and letting Badger lead her back to the barracks.

  Chapter Six

  Where Orcs Fear To Tread

  The side room of the mess-hall was a larder, with an odd combination of obviously looted comestibles, most of it still packaged for travel. Fayne grabbed the better food and drink, stuffing it into Shino’s Bag of Holding, before she and Rurik moved to the last unknown doorway. Inside was a room half-filled with old weaponry. The unusual thing was that it was exactly half filled, as the half near the door was completely bare, but the other half looked relatively untouched.

  A few of the closer weapon racks were missing a few weapons, but it was otherwise pristine. On the left and right sides of the room, stood two seven-foot-tall dwarf statues made out of stone. They stood at the exact center of the room, as if to mark the difference between the looted and un-looted sections.

  Rurik and Fayne looked around the room before Rurik stiffened, staring at the statues. “Dungunar’s beard, I know what this is!” he whispered to Fayne.

  “What is it? And why are we whispering?” she asked back.

  “Those be ancestor guardians!” Rurik told her, not raising his voice. “They be made as guards in dwarven holdings.”

  Fayne looked at the statues apprehensively, “Does that mean that there’s a dead dwarf in each of those things?”

  The samurai looked askance at her. “What? No lassie, they’re carved to look like famous ancestors. Dwarves bury their- I mean our dead. To return them to the stone from which all dwarves came.”

  “Dwarves come from stone?” the elf asked, one eyebrow raised.

  “Not really. No more than elves actually be comin’ from trees.” He paused and looked at her, “They didn’t, right?” She shook her head. “That’s what I thought. It be more of a creation myth,” Rurik told her. “Though given that gods actually exist, maybe?” he looked thoughtful before shaking his head. “Prolly not, but either way, it’s what we do, like how elves love trees.”

  “If you say so,” the archer said, walking over to the untouched weapons. “These don’t look trapped so-”

 
“DON’T LASSIE!” Rurik hissed.

  She froze, turning her only head. “Why?” she asked cautiously.

  “Look at the ancestors, lass,” he urged her.

  Fayne looked over at the closer statue, who had moved its head and was staring at Fayne’s hand, which was an inch away from a sword. The elf carefully retracted her hand and the statue returned to looking forward with a soft grinding sound. “Well,” she said, her voice a bit higher. “I guess we know why the orcs didn’t loot this place. I’m gonna be over by the door.”

  “Probably for the best, lassie.” he advised. After she had retreated he walked over to the same weapon and slowly reached out. When there was no reaction he grasped the sword and removed it from its rack. With still no reaction he walked over to Fayne and held out the sword. As she reached to take it the statues turned to look at her again.

  “Just. . . Put it in the Bag of Holding.” Fayne instructed, holding open the bag. Once she stopped reaching for the sword the Ancestor Guardians went back to their standby position. Rurik dropped the weapon inside with no problem, so they spent the next few minutes having Rurik ferry the weapons over to Fayne’s Bag.

  When Rurik had the last weapon, a war axe, Fayne motioned him out of the room. She closed the door and put her ear to it, holding out her hand. “I have an idea,” she said. “Give me the axe now.”

  Rurik raised an eyebrow and shrugged, handing her the weapon. When she didn’t hear any sounds from on the other side of the door she sighed, stowing the weapon. “Looks like they only cared if I held it in the room.” At this the dwarf tensed, his hands going to his weapons.

  “What?” Fayne asked, taking a few steps away from the door. “What is it?”

  He relaxed. “Nothin’. It’s just that’s the type of thing someone says before something bad happens.”

  Fayne sighed. ~Guys, Rurik is trying to outguess the universe again.~