The Demon's Chamber

by Brian Spielbauer

  “Roots need fertile ground, love, and support, and one can never know how the plant will emerge from the seed! With enough of your father in him, he will succeed.” She stated it as a compliment, but it didn’t sound quite right. Then she turned and quietly said to herself, as Tegan took congratulations from Jaric and Coric, “Milan will never see her son become king, just as I will never see mine.”

  Telon looked at his mother anew, having heard her dim forecast. Then he saw a pain in her eyes that he never expected, “Mother, Tegan will be king, and he is as much your son as I for you have raised both of us. We look at you the same. He comes from great lineage, and thusly so does his son.”

  “Yes, of course,” Deyanira said as Tegan approached. “I forget myself, please forgive a mother a few selfish thoughts for her only blood son, even though I love both of you the same. Jedrek will live to be great and renowned amongst his people, just like his father and his father’s father.”

  Tegan turned back from Jaric and Coric, and could hear the last part of what Deyanira stated. He was too excited in the moment to really understand what had been said, “Telon, no one could fault a mother for favoring her husband and their son. I am grateful for the love I have received over these many years from my parents. Only time will tell how I measure up to those who came before. For now, I am content to enjoy the pride and happiness of any father at the joy of a first-born son.” Then to all that could hear, Tegan announced, “Thank you all for your well-wishes, this is truly a great day for our people. Let us meet in the Great Hall for a proper feast and celebration!”

  The crowd moved up-stairs where much food and drink was prepared. On their way up the crowded stairs, Erol grabbed Tegan and Telon, jerking them aside and stealing their attention, “We must talk, this is not over.”

  They could tell by the look in his eyes that he was shaken, and ogres were hardly ever scared. Whatever it was, it must have been difficult for Erol to keep quiet since they had returned. In fact, Erol was anxious all day thinking about what was hidden in the woods. He wanted to go back to see what it was, but he was fearful to go alone.

  Tegan led Erol and Telon to his private room. After Tegan closed the door, Erol began, “something was in the woods today. I didn’t see it, but something was there.”

  Tegan asked, “What do you think it was? Trolls, perhaps more bears?”

  Telon’s nervousness ceased him, and his anxiety shook him from his revelry. “Maybe more goblins?”

  “I don’t know, I am not sure of the size, but I could sense its power,” a solemn Erol said, embarrassed he did not seek out this enemy of the dwarves. “I did not see it, I could only feel it. It was looking at me, testing me. It knew my fear and it dared me to come across the plain.” He looked up, and then continued, “It wanted me to challenge it and I should have. I will not pass it up again.”

  “No, you could not have gone. My wife and new son needed you more at that point,” Tegan argued with Erol, “You were only doing as I said, and now they are safe here. Tomorrow we will go out to find what we can and you will have no such duties or restraint. You will be free to challenge whatever we find.”

  This brought a smile to Erol’s face. He needed to the freedom to challenge all that stood in his way. It was very difficult for him to turn the other way and help Milan, but his oath held him strong. Ogre’s had little fear, and that lack of fear combined with their brute strength and immense size made them some of the most formidable foes.

  Telon wondered about the timing, “Tomorrow? Should we go now?”

  Tegan gave Telon a look, “No, it will wait until tomorrow. Besides, I believe Lizzy has just arrived.”

  Telon looked quickly out the door and was excited to see her standing there. He quickly changed his mind. “Yes, you are right brother, tomorrow will be a better, when we are rested.” Telon then disappeared with Lizzy into the hallway and the party upstairs.

  Tegan watched Telon leave, doubting there would be a lot of rest for him this night. He then looked to Erol, “Without you, I have no wife or child now, I owe you. I promise we will leave early in the morning. I will tell Jaric and Coric so no one will worry. The celebration for us will need to be short!”

  With only a few hours of sleep, the three got ready to leave long before the sun rose. They met in the Great Hall, where the party for many was over, but for a spry few, it had not yet ended. The quiet was at times interrupted by a drunken dwarf calling for another round. Erol laughed to himself at the dwarves fighting time to continue the party. He was not excited about riding down the water tunnel, and looked to Tegan, saying, “Do we have to go down the slide again?”

  “No, we have another way. We need to cover the valley unseen,” Telon said.

  They told no one except Coric where they were going. They didn’t want to cause any undue alarm. Though Telon did not trust the general, Tegan had every faith in him.

  Erol’s heart warmed at the realization he would not have to use the slide again. He was sure any other path would be easier for him. He was mistaken.

  They walked into a room that had an unusually wide exit tunnel, even though it was very high on the mountain still. It was stranger still because, unlike the Great Hall which had railings to protect dwarves from falling out, there were no railings here. Several contraptions covered the floor before the opening. They had long, thin, flat tops with leather stretched over them, and on the bottom of it there were wooden poles that appeared to be handles. Erol saw Tegan, Telon, and Jaric each pick one up, obviously they had used them before.

  “What?” Erol asked in his simple way, unable to even form a proper question.

  Telon smiled, and saved his intellectually challenged friend, saying, “Erol, today we are going to see if an ogre can fly.” He then gave Erol a quick wink, turned and ran, leaping out the opening. He immediately disappeared into the cold, foggy, early morning darkness.

  As Jaric followed Telon into the abyss, Tegan gave Erol some pointers on using the glider (which is what the dwarves called them). Erol, luckily, had a far larger glider which the dwarves originally designed for the use of carrying heavy equipment far from the mountain. Now they just hoped it could carry Erol. They had taken bets on whether it would work, with Tegan (who designed it) certain of success.

  “Just follow me, we will be fine,” Tegan said to Erol, and he sincerely hoped they would be.

  Tegan then followed Jaric and jumped into the night. Erol gingerly followed, certain he would not survive. His courage rose to the occasion, launching him over the ledge. His fear stomped his courage as he quickly took a sharp drop. Just as his panic was about to cause him to let go and frantically search for another hold, the glider caught the cool morning wind and it jolted him up. He soon was sailing along like bird into the blinding mist, having again lost control of himself. Luckily, the breeze would soon hide the accident.

  The four silently soared through the eerie early morning darkness. It was very cold, especially that high up the mountain. They were hoping to use the silent flight to cover the valley and land undetected, and reach far away from their mountain and southeast of the goblin attack of the day before. They were eager to see what had frightened Erol, but not quite as eager to deal with it. Anything that could scare an ogre would be an incredible challenge.

  Erol could not believe the sight as he soared high over the ground below. He thought he was in a dream, but it seemed so perfect he could never have been able to dream it himself. The mist clouded his view. Tegan and the others were nowhere to be seen as he glided in and out of banks of fog and low-lying clouds. At times, through the mist he could see the sun just beginning to rise in the east as it started to burn holes through the murkiness. Then, to his surprise, he noticed a great hawk pull alongside him. Both stole several quiet looks at each other, each knowing one of them was in the wrong place. The hawk’s wings were almost as long as Erol’s glider. It had a sharp, down-turned, yellow beak with just a hint of red on its tip from prior (and probably
recent) kills. Its feet were long brown talons that could easily scratch or grab very large prey. All the feathers were dark brown, except for the patch of dark black on the neck, just behind the head. The look of surprise on the giant bird was quickly changed to a look of disdain as the bird seemed angry that Erol had intruded on its territory. Then Erol entered another bank of fog, and just as quickly as it had appeared, the hawk was gone. Erol couldn’t help but wonder if he would ever see the bird again. He hoped he would not.

  They glided several miles and crossed the valley below unnoticed, with nary a sound other than the rushing wind. From their brief glimpses of the land they were unable to detect any movement on the plains surrounding the river. They hoped to land far east of anything that might have been there the day earlier, guessing Erol’s landing to be a rough one.

  They were approaching the edge of goblin territory, which was quite risky. Despite the danger from their long-time enemy, it wasn’t goblins they feared. They emerged from the bottom of the fog bank to see a clearing in some trees at the edge of the plains directly ahead. They landed in the same order as how they took off. The first three landed nicely, feet first with a slow run into a jog before they stopped. Then it was Erol’s turn.

  Erol failed to put his feet down at all, and instead flew straight into the ground. With a loud crunch from the glider and a guffaw from Erol the ‘landing’ was complete. The glider splintered and broke upon impact. Erol carved a large gouge into the earth that would not soon heal. He was no worse for the landing though, standing with only a scratch on his forehead after rolling to a stop on the grass. The wicked landing was well worth it, for the short flight was something he would never forget and one that he thoroughly enjoyed.

  “Nice landing,” cracked Telon with a laugh, slapping Erol on the back.

  “Thanks,” Erol replied, taking Telon’s sarcasm for a real compliment. He could not have been prouder of his first flight.

  The dwarves hid their gliders, and what remained of Erol’s, at the edge of the woods. It seemed they achieved their goal of covering the length of the valley unnoticed, and so they began their journey west to find Erol’s bain. They trekked quietly through the clusters of conifer trees that clung to the lower valley, with the sun beginning to climb higher in the sky, although it was still early in the morning. The dew was thick on the grass, quickly soaking them from knee down. The chilly air turned their breath into wisps of vapor, which wetted the beards of the dwarves. A little worse for the wear, as they walked through the forest there were no signs of movement.

  After walking until mid-morning, they arrived at the place where Erol saw the goblins. They stood at the top of a knoll, looking down on where camp stood just a day earlier. It lay in a small opening, encircled by trees, just before the expanse of the plains leading toward the river. The grass of the camp was thoroughly trampled, with several areas scorched from the remains of camp fires.

  There must have been at least fifty of the dirty rats! You were wise to not go after them,” Jaric conceded to Erol, trying to reassure him of his decision. The four companions hiked down the knoll and looked around, checking for signs of whatever it was that spooked Erol.

  Tegan studied the prints, “There are many goblin footprints, but also others that I don’t recognize. Perhaps some hoof prints of some kind, there are just too many to make them out clearly. Jaric was right, it’s a good thing you didn’t come across to fight. It would have been a tough go if he had pursued the goblin, they were definitely baiting him to come across the valley.”

  “Goblins don’t scare me, there was more.” Erol explained, looked hard throughout the area trying to find a sign of what it was. The others did the same but found no clear signs of something they knew. It must have been whatever made the strange hoof prints. They could tell the group escaped into the mountains, probably right after the attack. It was strange the tracks went away from where the traditional goblin stronghold lay back to the east.

  “We should return to the city, whatever was here could come back. If it does, we do not have the number to defend ourselves,” said Tegan. “I don’t know what it was, but we will need to keep our guard up.”

  “I will increase our patrols and double our guards at all entrances. We will be ready if they attack,” Jaric encouraged.

  They trudged back across the valley, passing the site of Erol’s battle with the goblins took place. The goblins, and one twisted in two, still lay where Erol had dropped them. “They don’t dare come back for their dead,” Telon boasted.

  “No, they just don’t care for each other. We would never leave dwarves to rot like this,” Jaric uttered with disgust.

  Telon studied the scene, wondering, “Why didn’t they help? They could have been here in very little time? Why not, with all that strength waiting there, come and get the prize?”

  Tegan agreed, “They must not have expected Erol. They real question is, did they expect Milan? Why were they even here and why did they go up into the mountains away from their home? I don’t believe they live in that direction, this is riddle.”

  “I hate riddles,” Erol slurred grudgingly.

  The four crossed the river, and mounted the stairs up to the lower fields. The sun was straight overhead as midday approached. The dew was long gone, and day warming nicely. They were feeling better about things, until they heard a familiar yet ominous voice. For Jaric at least, the sound ran up his spine like the unexpected bolt of lightning.

  “What matter is so urgent as to take our next king and his three ‘wise men’ out of the city in the middle of the night, in secrecy none-the-less?” squawked Deyanira, who was out for an early morning ride. This one more in search of her sons than pure pleasure. “No one knew of your where-a-bouts, not even Milan! She was quite nervous since I told her of your trip.”

  “Why do you see it necessary to tell her such things mother, doesn’t she have enough to worry about?” asked a mildly agitated Tegan.

  “Had you told me where you were I wouldn’t have to ask her, now would have I? So, just where have you been?” Deyanira inquired, almost demanded, back. She had a penchant for being nosey, and hated it when information was kept from her.

  “Troll patrol mother, troll patrol,” announced Telon dismissively. “We had word of trolls in the lowland, but much to our disgust there were none there for us to slaughter this day.” Telon never stopped to look at his mom, as it wasn’t her business anyway. He also was aware of her inherent interest in everyone’s business, and how it drove her mad when she couldn’t discover the gossip she thirsted for. “Erol will just have to get his revenge another time.”

  Erol cracked his knuckles, enjoying the game of mocking Deyanira. The sound drew a look of disgust from her.

  “Your lies haven’t gotten any better with age,” she snipped at her son as she fell in line. She followed the four back to the mountain, planning just how to find out the secret the others held so tight.

  “Regardless,” said Tegan, joining the game of ribbing his mother, “Why were you even out this morning mother? Didn’t the attack yesterday give you any worry? You should not be out alone, at least not for a while. You should take caution.”

  “And you should take care of your family,” Deyanira shot back, not able to get back to the mountain soon enough!

  “Agreed,” answered Tegan with a smile, the bait of his trap thoroughly taken, “And that includes the grandmother. That is why Coric has been assigned to watch out for you, he will be accompanying you on your early morning rides, and for that matter all your rides. He will also attend you to wherever else you choose to go during the day, even throughout the mountain. Your safety is of my highest concern! I will have to ask him why he is not at your side now.”

  “How is it you slipped off without him this morning, as this assignment was given him yesterday?” snickered Jaric, having grown enough courage to take his own shot. She liked her privacy and this would ruin it, but it was her fault for complaining.

 
“I need no guard and I come and go as I please!” Deyanira protested to Tegan. “I have no fear of anything, in or out of the mountain. I guess that explains why he was watching my every move this morning like I was an intruder. I assure you, it is not needed.”

  “My decision is final,” Tegan asserted, letting Deyanira know there would be no further discussion. Deyanira knew it would be no use to argue. Besides, she ditched Coric this morning, and would do so again.

  “Let’s get back to the mountain. This is a big week,” Telon said, hurrying up a bit, “Right, brother?”

  “Yes, I suppose it is,” Tegan allowed, as it was three days until his official coronation, and he would be crowned King of Tunder Bin.

  Chapter 8: Together We Stand

  The Great Hall oozed with excitement as the coronation of King Tegan approached. It had been over thirty years since the coronation of King Moro, so less than half of the dwarves could remember the last one. All the dwarves in the mountain were of course invited, as well as many from each of the other four tribes. The visitors started to arrive a few days in advance and would be guests for several days past the event.

  Seldom did the five tribes of the dwarves come together, and there was even some question of how much they enjoyed it. Dwarves in general tended to be a bit grumpy, and for them to get past their predisposition and relax, something special usually needed to happen. Kegs of beer and endless amounts of salted meat helped too.

  The weakened bond between the tribes was a major reason why the influence of the dwarves had waned for many years. Tegan and Milan hoped this series of events, though because of a great loss, could be the beginning rekindled friendships between the five tribes.

  King Moro tried mightily to keep those relationships close, but in the second half of his years even those suffered. The bickering that took place, compounded by the jealousy directed toward Tunder Bin, ruined friendships. Moro would be pleased if Tegan was able to change the course and bring the dwarf nation back to its glory.