What Lurks Below

by Michael Soldat

  She started in a tavern in the north eastern part of Thogt, where many dock workers went for lunch. No one else in the city could work as well in bad weather, and a storm was one of the few things that could ruin this plan. On top of that, they’d most likely be strong enough to repel the beasts if they made it up the wall. What ship workers lacked in actual fighting skill, they more than made up for in ferocity. However, brawls naturally followed where sailors drank too heavily, so these taverns would prove very useful.

  At the first tavern, she found two people considered worthy of the job. People here weren’t as familiar with her as they would be elsewhere in the city. Lara rarely recruited people without weapon skills, so she had to acclimate to a new style of interview. Fists wouldn’t do much against a grog, after all, but the fundamentals would help if need be.

  Her second stop yielded no one helpful, considering it was a bar of lesser repute. Places like these were a gamble, but she found Nami at one of them, so Lara figured they were always worth her time. If times became desperate, Lara would return.

  By the time Lara left for her next stop, she looked around. There were a half dozen men carrying a significant chunk of a hull down the street. Behind them, she saw a face staring at her. It almost seemed familiar, but the person darted behind the hull and off into the crowd as soon as they noticed they were being watched. Lara waited to see if the person would reappear, but they did not.

  For the next few hours, Lara went to several inns, and bars. Unfortunately, she only managed to talk to and convince a few people to join her cause. Most people suddenly had other places to be once they learned that grog could make their way to the city walls. After working her way back to the center of the city, nearly to the keep, she decided to eat at an inn she was more familiar with.

  “Afternoon,” she said to the barkeep. “I don’t care what you’ve got for lunch, I’ll take it as long as it’s not squid.”

  The woman laughed and took the coins Lara placed on the counter. This particular inn had only one other person in it besides the barkeep, Lara observed, after sitting in the corner. They were facing the other way, cloaked, on the opposite side of the room. Lara paid them no mind. She leaned back in her chair until the food came out: a ham leg, stew, with a mug of ale. Lara would have preferred water, but was too hungry to object. She focused on the food, eager to quell the roar of her gut.

  “Excuse me,” came a woman’s voice from behind Lara as the person placed a hand on her shoulder.

  Lara grabbed the hand, twisted it, and jumped up to see who she had to fight.

  “It’s me! Lara, it’s just me, I’m sorry!”

  “Cecile! You had me frightened. I thought someone was trying to stalk me. The last person that grabbed me by the shoulder from behind had a knife in the other hand. Next time, say something first, OK?”

  After Lara let go, Robert’s widow sat across the table and massaged her hand.

  “Have you been following me?” Lara asked.

  “Well, yes, but I didn’t mean to.”

  “You didn’t mean to? Why didn’t you come up and say hello? Even if I’m out on business, I can’t think of many situations where I wouldn’t stop to talk. I mean, I consider us friends, after all!”

  “I know, and I do appreciate that. I’m just… I don’t like bothering people, is all.”

  “You’re never a bother! Cecile, come on. I always enjoy seeing you. You’re interesting, pleasant, and smart!”

  “Thanks, but I think what I'd like to say would be... difficult. I’ve been thinking of the best way to ask you, though. I keep getting distracted.”

  “Ask me something? Do you need help around the house?”

  “No, it’s not about that. I heard you were out looking for people, and I wondered-”

  “Cecile,” Lara said, putting her ham leg down. “We talked about this. You need time to recover.”

  “Recover how?! Lara, I’m pacing around my house at all hours, thinking about things I could have done, ways I could have prevented this. I’m alone, I’m going mad, and it hasn’t been more than a few days since the last time I saw him! I need some way to be with people, to keep my mind off Robert’s… passing. It’s not like I’m asking you to go into the mountains myself, though I would if you needed me. I’d go, and I’d kill every single one of those things, and-”

  “Cecile! Hey, easy now! I’m sorry, I didn’t realize what kind of effect this would have on you. I didn’t think about how you were handling things. Every other time I’ve seen people mourn, they ask for time alone to process things. You know, without any stress. No working, no people bothering you about anything.”

  “Without any stress? My husband is dead! What do you mean without any stress?!”

  “Alright! I’m sorry!”

  Behind them, the barkeep eyed both women while polishing a mug.

  “Do you want to go for a walk and talk about this? I’m sorry that I don’t know how to handle this. Sure, he meant a lot to me, but then again, I wasn’t married to him. I’m not trying to make your situation out to be anything less than tragic, I just don’t know what to do here.”

  They got up, and Lara brought the rest of her food back to the barkeep. It was good, but she made up an excuse about her stomach not feeling well. The woman looked surprised until Lara assured her that last night's drinking played a significant part. With the barkeep satisfied, the two women left. Lara and Cecile walked up a road that went around the castle.

  “So, what are you looking for?”

  “I want to help you, Lara. I want to do something to fight those damned creatures. Maybe going into the mountain is out of the question, but is there anything I can do in the city to help? I’ll stand guard, anything.”

  “Standing guard is an army job, and you know I can’t help you there. What I can offer you is something that will be low stress. You’ll still be helping, and there will be people to talk to so you can get your mind off of things. The only thing is, you might have to be out in bad weather, and you’ll have to be good with fire.”

  “Bad weather and fire? I’m interested, but that’s quite the combination.”

  “It is, but that's the job. As far as we can tell, these things don’t like light. I’ve proposed to the king that we should keep the northern and western walls lit up. The western wall will only be covered down to the gate.”

  “Oh, I see. I can do that!”

  “I believe you can. We’re going to be meeting with everyone I’ve talked to about the job tonight at the entrance to the castle, along with anyone Nami manages to find. Think you can show up around sundown? We’ll provide dinner, too.”

  “Absolutely! If you need help cooking, I can whip up some stew right quick!”

  Lara laughed.

  “I’m pretty sure you won’t have to cook. Show up, and we’ll see how things work out. I’m not sure what the pay is, or how many people we’ll accept. What I can offer you is a chance.”

  “You won’t regret that, Lara. I’ll be there!”

  Cecile sped off. Lara finished the circuit around the keep and went inside. Once back in her office chair, she began to doodle some designs for problems she may encounter. A downpour was one of the biggest threats she hadn't figured out yet. After some time, Nami walked in.

  “Hey! How many people did you find?” she said.

  “Oh, probably a dozen or so. And, I might have done something I’ll regret.”

  “You too?”

  “What do you mean, ‘you too’?”

  “Cecile found me. I felt bad, so I invited her.”

  “She found you? I walked around the castle twice with her this morning. When did she have time to talk to you?”

  “She ran into me a couple inns down the road, pretty soon after I left. She seemed upset about being stuck at home, and wanted to see a gray firsthand so she knew what she was hating. I convinced her to consider standing guard on the wall instead.”

  “Crafty.”

  Nami nodded.


  “So what are we going to do? I can’t help but wonder if she’s trying to sneak into something here. She wants to take out her rage on something that might be too much to handle.”

  “I don’t know,” Lara said. “On the one hand, I feel for her. Losing Robert has been one of the hardest things in my life, and with things as they are, I can’t even mourn for more than a moment. For her, it’s so much worse. However, I don’t like the possibility that we’d have to have another funeral for her after she charges at a gray for revenge.”

  “Think of it this way, though. What could she do if none of us were watching?”

  “What, do you honestly think she’ll sneak out of the city and go after them herself?”

  “Was she not about five seconds away from breaking out into some kind of rage when she talked to you?”

  Lara sighed.

  “Good point. Well, we’ll see how she acts around the others tonight. If they all get along, I think we’ll have to take her. If not, we’ll have a reason that she can’t come.”

  “I think that’s the best we can do. I don’t know her well enough to try to convince her it’s a terrible idea.”

  “Trust me, I know her a little better, but at this point I don’t think anyone could. Felas himself could decree she had to stay home, and she’d evade every guard they posted. Robert trained her with a blade, and that alone worries me.”

  “Better hope the others don’t get along with her, then.”

  “Yeah. Anyway, we have to figure out how we’re going to keep these fires lit. Knowing our luck, it’ll rain the first night we do this.”

  Lara pulled out more paper, and the two of them began to draw out plans.

  7

  As dinner time drew near, Lara stewed in her anxiety. During the afternoon with Nami, they planned five different ways to light Thogt's walls depending on the resources Felas might allow them. Each one, however, hinged on a factor she couldn't control: everyone showing up. Shortly, a messenger arrived at the office to tell them their recruits were gathering at the keep’s entrance. Lara nudged Nami awake, since she had fallen asleep somewhere around the third configuration.

  “Wha? Huh? I’m awake. Did we figure it out?”

  "I hope so. Let's go, though. It's time for dinner.”

  Nami yawned.

  “Thought I was just resting my eyes. Did you figure out the Cecile problem while I was asleep?”

  Lara shook her head.

  “Hmpf. Well, maybe she won’t show.”

  After sorting out their papers, the women walked down to the entrance of the castle. Roughly a dozen people milled around, talking. Much to Lara’s chagrin, Cecile was one of them.

  “How many did you talk to?” Lara said.

  “Fifteen or twenty. You?”

  “The same. Well, it’s still early.”

  They walked over to the group. Lara cleared her throat.

  “Hello, and thank you for coming to dinner! You’ll be served food made by the castle’s finest cooks. Or, rather, its only cooks. Trust me, they’re great at their jobs. But, we’re going to wait a little longer in case others show up.”

  Lara and Nami interspersed with the group, checking up on everyone. A few people from their gray kidnapping excursion said they would show, but only two were present. The other people invited were those who knew how to survive hard work on a daily basis. Finally, there was Cecile.

  “Lara! I’m so glad you invited me. I hope I can be a part of this. It’d be nice to work with some of these people. That man lives down the road from me, next to his smithy shop. I’ve seen him lifting all sorts of heavy things.”

  “That’s good to know, Cecile, and hopefully that’s all we’ll need people to do. Well, there’s lighting fires too, but it’d be hard to find anyone that we talked to that couldn’t do that at all.”

  Cecile smiled, then went to talk to the smith. A circle formed around Nami, who was telling them all about one of her previous trips to the mountains. Lara couldn’t tell whether Nami was trying to caution the others or brag to them. Others were joining the crowd, so Lara didn’t have time to pay too much attention.

  Most of Lara and Nami's potential force had arrived once the sun met the horizon. Lara led the group inside the castle and down to one of the dining rooms. Being with such a large group, Lara had to ask for more chairs, and soon enough, people from all parts of the city sat around a giant wooden table. Lara took one end of the table while Nami sat at the other.

  Stewards served ale first. Lara planned this, hoping it would lead people to be looser with words so she could figure out their personalities. Were they friendly? Were these people angry drunks, which might interfere with their guard schedules? If they drank, could they control themselves? Many of these people were familiar from past work, but Lara needed to know them inside and out for a job as important as this.

  Cecile made friends with the people on both her sides, worrying both Lara and Nami. They hoped everyone else they recruited wouldn’t want her on the wall with them. Ideally, they'd believe she should be grieving somewhere safe. Unfortunately, once Cecile explained herself, the others agreed. They believed she knew best about how she should mourn, and how better to keep yourself preoccupied then tend a fire on the wall?

  After everyone had one or two mugs of ale, Lara asked the cooks to deliver the food. They ate a simple meal of potato stew and bread, to prepare them for the bland meals one might eat while standing guard. If vigilance was to be maintained, there would be no time to head home or down to a tavern for a proper meal. No one complained. Some even claimed that the food was better than they normally got.

  “Alright, friends, if I could have your attention…” Lara started. “We’re here because I am asking you for help. I’m not sure what rumors have spread, but I know for a fact that most of you know about grog.”

  Many in the crowd nodded. A few voiced a firm ‘aye’.

  “Well, it turns out they have minders. Farmers, I prefer to think of them as. They look like us, but in a twisted sense. Completely gray, no hair, quite creepy things. What you’ll do is keep them away from our city. I need people to tend fires on the walls. Not to worry, though. If everything goes as planned, the beasts won't come anywhere near you.

  These, along with the grog, live under the mountains. As far as we’ve noticed, there is no light underground, not like we're used to. They do not use lamps, they do not light campfires, nothing. In fact, when we travel there, both Nami and I have noticed that they recoil from our torches. At least, the grog do. The grays, they wouldn’t come out into sunlight, so that’s our cue there. I’m not saying the sun needs to be jealous of our walls while you're up there, but we may need a little more than a cooking fire.”

  “Sounds pretty easy. I keep fires going all the time in the forge,” one man said.

  “Do you keep them going in wind and rain?” Nami shot back.

  “Have you seen my roof? Might as well be outdoors.”

  The man laughed, followed by everyone else. Nami smiled.

  “But seriously, we do expect to work in bad weather,” Lara continued on. “Whether it’s pouring rain or blowing gusts, we need those fires to keep threats away. Maintaining blazes doesn’t seem too dangerous, but keep in mind we don’t fully understand these creatures. We’re hoping that any light keeps them away, and not just the sun. And, if one should happen to go out, then we’re in for a fight.”

  “If their skulls crack, I’m fine with it,” another woman said.

  “Believe me, I’ve punched a gray far harder than any of you have seen me hit something, and it didn't. Sure, we’ll have weapons, but I have seen what they can do. There’s something off about them, and it’s what killed our dear Robert. They can be harmed, but do not think them weak or helpless, ever. Please, for your own sake.”

  “I can speak for that,” Nami added. “Though I did crack one of the skulls. You’re not going to manage that without steel.”

  "Anyways, you’ll
be serving your city, and there’s gold at the end of this for everyone. If we have to fight, the regular city guard can back us up. I don’t expect anything worse than that, but I also don’t know how far deep the hole in the mountain goes.

  I have nothing else to say about the work. I ask that you talk to your family or anyone important to you, let them know what you’ll be doing. Then, come back to us with your answer. By tomorrow at the latest, please. Thank you, and dismissed.”

  No one moved for a moment. Instead, the soldiers-to-be looked around for some kind of reaction from the others. Everyone stared around the table at one another until the smith stood. He walked up to Lara, shook her hand, and left. Shortly after, the others followed. Cecile left in the middle of the group, smiling as she passed. When everyone else was gone, Lara and Nami paid the stewards a few gold before walking back to the office.

  “She’s going to show up. I can see it happening right now. Cecile will go home, think about how wonderful it’ll be to help out and how nice everyone was at dinner. Then, she’ll knock on our door first thing in the morning.”

  “Maybe not.”

  “Really, Lara? Did you see the look on her face?”

  "Ugh, I know, I know. I just… I don’t want to admit it. We’re going to have to let her do this. I mean, there’s no law against it. Felas never penned a law about not standing guard if your husband dies. Grieving for her is a social thing. I get it.”

  “Yeah, and we’re not prepared for it. I know she spent time training with Robert, but what did they do together? Did he teach her how to swing a sword against a dummy? Did he spar with her himself?”

  “I don’t know, and quite frankly, I’m done thinking about it tonight, no offense. The past week or so has been terrible. I’m going out for a walk, clear my head. Back in a while, OK?”

  Nami nodded, then began to look through their plans again. Lara left the castle quickly, hoping none of the stewards would have new problems to deal with. She made her way outside, then walked north towards the wall. Moonlight covered the city by this point. It was warm, though there was a slight breeze. She wanted to delve more into her task, and there was no better way to do that, she thought, then walk up to the wall herself.