He turned to address his dwarves, “When we reach the hall at the bottom we will meet up with the other dwarves and men. We must find Herrog, and set free what good gargoyles remain.”
One of Tegan’s watchmen reported, “Something advances from below!”
As Tegan turned, he could hear a sound. It was like the hum of a fire coming from below, and he saw the glow. He was certain it was more goblins coming to meet them.
“Hide,” Tegan ordered, and then slid into a crack in the wall for some coverage. From down the hall they came, slow and steady, the lava beasts created by Herrog. They filled the hallway as they advanced, their light ensured there would be no more hiding.
“Fire,” yelled Tegan as he jumped out from the shadows. He pulled up his crossbow and fired into the beast. His dwarves did the same, but their arrows were useless. They hit the targets but the arrows just entered and burned, not hurting the beast at all. The monsters reared back and through balls of lava at the dwarves, causing severe burns to Tegan’s men. They used their shields to block the balls but the shields turned red hot, burning their arms.
“Retreat!” Tegan ordered, not knowing how to attack this enemy. He and his men ran up the hall, hoping to either find a way around these things or to buy some time to figure out how to defeat them. They went quite a way up the hall and turned to see the beasts were not close to them anymore as they did not move very fast.
“We are not in the same hall, it will be difficult to get out,” Tegan thought aloud.
“Sir, how do we fight these things?” asked one of his dwarves.
“Like a fire I suppose,” Tegan pondered. He got quiet for a moment, and then began again, “We need water, and lots of it. We also need rocks as big as we can throw. See what you can find.” His men took off in different directions, and soon they came back with as many rocks as they could carry. The water was much harder to find.
“Let’s go and see what we can do,” Tegan said, as they went back down the hall. They didn’t go very far before seeing the lava beasts again, as they had been coming the whole time.
The dwarves began throwing their arsenal of rocks into the beasts, and were using wooden boards they found as shields so they wouldn’t get burned. The rocks splashed into the lava monsters, sending debris from them against the walls. Every splash from the beast’s bodies, and every lava ball thrown by them, left them a little smaller than before. Soon the monsters were very small and one good throw by the dwarves would cause the little that was left to explode away. The dwarves cheered as the first few monsters were destroyed, they had finally found a way to defeat these beasts.
The throwing was tiring though, and for every lava monster that was killed it seemed to be replaced by two or three more. The dwarves were still retreating steadily up the hall. “Sir! They are now behind us too,” a soldier yelled.
They found themselves fighting in both directions, their retreat had been cut off. The lava beasts were closing in on the tiring dwarves, who were running out of both room and rocks. Tegan saw a small gap in the hallway wall and began swinging his axe into it, the red stone of Milan showed brightly in dark. Rocks flew from the wall that his soldiers used to throw into the beasts, and he quickly had a gap large enough for his dwarves to squeeze into. They found another hall and ran again. Looking behind they could see the lava monsters sliding through the gap too, it was not slowing them down.
Tegan ran in the tunnel, which was pitch dark without the lava beasts light. In the darkness Tegan ran right into a rock wall, the hall was a dead end. Tegan gave a loud moan as his men pinned him against the end wall of the tunnel, not knowing their king stopped. The only light on this end was the dim glow from his axe.
“Make a stand as best we can!” Tegan ordered after his men backed off him. There were few rocks in this hall and the dwarves were cornered in. Tegan’s back was against the cool wet wall. He was trying desperately to think of anything they could do to escape. He turned and felt again, frantically searching to find another side hall.
“There is nothing here,” Tegan said to himself, trying to think of any way out.
Feeling the wall, Tegan realized it was very wet, water was almost running down the wall. There must be water on the other side! “Move back,” he yelled and started to madly swing his axe, cutting out huge rocks with each swing. The other dwarves quickly picked them up to throw at the advancing lava monsters. Finally, Tegan knocked out a rock, and water began spouting into the hall. There was a ton of pressure behind it. Tegan knew there would be an immense amount of water in this hall very soon.
“Find something to grab dwarves, and hold on for your lives!” Tegan shouted as he took his last swing.
The lava monsters were less than five paces from the first of the dwarves when Tegan took a great swing that cracked a huge boulder in half, exploding the wall. Water and rock crashed down through the dwarves, ousting the lava beasts, gushing them back down the hall. The dwarves clung to the walls like leeches, trying desperately to not get swept away. Tegan clung to his dwarves’ hands for as long as he could with his feet lodged in a crack in the wall. Eventually the water began to slow, the lava beast’s fire was ousted and the few remained were not little rock men. They advanced anew, determined to carry out their orders.
“These I know how to deal with,” Tegan said to his men as they gathered their breath. He and his men walked up and kicked apart the little rock soldiers, busting them into gravel.
Finished with the rock beasts, Tegan looked at his dwarves who were dripping wet but still alive. They could not believe what had just happened. “I guess they will know we are here now,” was all Tegan could say, allowing a slight grin to grow across his face.
Δ
Skyler led his boys through the upper halls of the Demon’s Chamber. The higher part of the mountain was nothing like the lower halls, much more like Tunder Bin than the rat’s nest below. There was very little sign that anything was occupying this level, which seemed strange to Skyler.
Balthar, who had been watching the rear, approached his leader. “I could live up here. You can even feel a breeze sometimes. It has been quite some time, but this must have been a fair place to live at one time.”
Quigle, never one to miss taking a shot at anyone, said to Balthar, “Maybe when this is over you can find a nice goblin girl to marry and start a family here? How ‘bout that?”
The others laughed, as Balthar began to anger, firing back, “And you can find a blind and dumb troll girl for yourself!” Which turned the laughter to his corner, but only for a second, as Quigle would not be denied.
“Didn’t know your mother was available?” Quigle replied, which brought Balthar to a stop, as he spun to address Quigle.
Skyler stopped the assault, grabbing both by their tunics, pulling them close. “Do either of you know where we are? Not the woods of the Ring Mountains for sure! Stop this nonsense, and let’s find Jedrek and get out of here.”
They both agreed, but Quigle’s parting giggle brought him a stiff shot to the chest from Balthar. No sooner had the group resumed their search, when they heard the cry of a baby ahead, followed a scream from a woman.
Skyler urged them on, weapons drawn, as they hurried down the hall. Theirs eyes had fully adjusted to the dark as they began to see the glow of torches ahead, causing them to slow their pace. Skyler crept around a corner and saw four gargoyles ahead. Two had ropes restraining Milan and two were guarding Jedrek nearby. Milan’s eyes were focused on her son, who she had just seen for the first time since just before the goblins attacked Tunder Bin. She was trying to make sure he wasn’t hurt.
“Please, let him go, he’s just a baby!” Milan begged of the evil creatures, who paid her no heed.
Out of the corner of her eye she saw the young dwarf peering around the corner, hope grew in her heart.
Skyler knew he had to act quickly, so he sent Quigle out as the others waited. Quigle ran around the corner and shot an arrow from his crossbow high tow
ard the gargoyles, making sure to miss Jedrek and Milan. Only one of the gargoyles pursued Quigle, who ran back to his friends. As soon as the gargoyle rounded the corner Balthar and Shalkar took it down. The others went after Milan and Jedrek.
Skyler hoped to draw two of the guards and knew it would be tougher now to get their mission completed. The guard holding Jedrek stood in front of the others and used the baby as a shield. Skyler raised his knife and held it still for several moments, measuring his throw. The gargoyle eyed the dwarf, holding Jedrek up in front, “You will not throw the knife little boy, leave before you too are taken captive!”
“No!” Milan screamed, fighting against the hold of the gargoyles, trying somehow to get loose.
Skyler quelled the fear trying to rise within him, for he saw no other path before him. With a quick and accurate release, Skyler let loose his toss. The gargoyle guessed wrong, as the throw was accurate and true. It flew just above the outstretched baby and caught the gargoyle between the eyes. Taylor sprinted forward and slid just under the gargoyle as it dropped the baby, catching Jedrek before he hit the floor.
The hall soon filled with the sound of approaching gargoyles. Taylor lay still for a second, making sure Jedrek was okay. He then heard and saw the gargoyles coming from another hall down to the right, they had to get Milan and go quickly.
Milan pleaded to the dwarf boys, “Get my son out of here, please keep him safe!” She was still being held by two gargoyles and knew there wasn’t time for the boys to free her. Her guards were calling for the other gargoyles to hurry.
Skyler and his companions ran to help Taylor, and saw the enemy coming up the hall. The approaching gargoyles began releasing arrows toward them. One struck Quigle in the side, dropping him to the floor. Balthar picked him up, the others grabbed Taylor and they retreated.
“Go, you cannot save me, save my son!” Milan yelled, urging the boys to leave.
“We can take them,” Shalkar argued, wanting revenge for the injury to Quigle.
Skyler took one more second, looking from Milan to the gargoyles and back to Milan. Her eyes met his, and he knew they had to leave. His heart began to rip in half knowing he was leaving Milan to her doom. He then turned and ordered his friends, “Go, we need to get out, go now!”
As he turned to run, the bite to his left arm told him he had been hit also. The pain shot throughout his body, but did not slow him down. The gargoyles were pursuing, and closing in. As they ran, getting ever closer to the entrance, they heard a large explosion from where they had been, and Skyler hoped Milan would somehow survive.
Skyler saw Taylor ahead, with his hand up to slow and quiet the boys. With the gargoyles closing in from behind, Skyler saw below a battle between gargoyles and dwarves, blocking their escape. Desperate and frantic, Skyler saw his injured friends around him, and the future king they needed to get to safety. He had to make a decision quickly.
“Taylor, stay close to the wall, we will try to shield you. We must get Jedrek out at any cost to us,” Skyler told his friends. They all knew what that meant. Hearing the gargoyles behind them, they attacked the backside of the battle, trying to bust out.
Δ
Telon and Kyrie snuck down the stairs to the pool level without being noticed. “This way,” Telon whispered as he pulled Kyrie into a small entrance. Herrog was still by the pool with several hundred goblins, with and endless line of lava beasts emerging, one after another.
The hallway was dark, and they had no torches. Kyrie lead the way as the hallway quickly turned into a deep dive of steps that went on for many flights. Close to the bottom, there were torches along the stairs. Telon grabbed two of them, handing one to Kyrie. They went on and eventually reached the bottom.
“Who are you? Why isn’t that dwarf bound?” asked a gargoyle soldier that was assigned to watch the dungeons.
“Because,” Kyrie said as he turned on Telon, drawing his sword, “He is here for death!”
The soldier cautioned Kyrie, “Is this death approved, has Master Herrog ordered this to happen?”
“No, because the death he is here for may be yours!” Kyrie said to the soldier, turning on him.
The soldier was not looking for a fight. He was now close enough to see Kyrie with some better light. “Kyrie? Is that you?”
“Who are you?” Kyrie asked.
“Barron! We played together when we were young, we were told you tried to revolt and had to be killed. Those of us who knew you prayed that was not true.”
“If you knew me, then how can you keep your own captive in dungeons?” Kyrie asked, prepared to kill him.
“Because of me they are safe in these dungeons, and not dead in these dungeons. I sneak them food and drink to keep them alive,” Barron pleaded to his old friend.
“Then let us get them out and away from this mountain. For your sake, I hope their story matches up with yours,” Kyrie answered, not yet trusting Barron.
“This way, I will free them, I can show you the best way out of here,” the excited Barron said as he led them a little farther down the hall, lighting many torches along the way. He grabbed keys and began unlocking the doors, freeing the gargoyles and dwarves who were held captive there. All of them thanked him for what he had done. They were very thin and weak, but they were alive. No doubt, Barron’s story was true.
Soon many of gargoyles started recognizing Kyrie and their spirits rose as a great warrior from the past reappeared, just when they needed him the most. “We shall fight with you! We can defeat Sain!” they said, their hearty spirits tried to overshadow the poor state of their bodily strength. The dwarves in the dungeons, mostly Kilgore’s people of the Hills, gathered around Telon. They also agreed Barron had saved them.
“Sain is dead, Herrog is the one that must be defeated,” Kyrie explained. The gargoyles were not as sure about defeating Herrog, for they knew how mighty a wizard he was. They were quite eager to get out though to breathe fresh air again.
With all the captives released, Telon looked to Barron. “Are there any others down here?”
“There is only one,” Barron said, not sure if it was worth the time. “I know little of him. A very old dwarf he is. He has been here longer than any other. Many have died since he was placed here and he is surely close to death. He is special to Herrog, and has endured unimaginable torture from the wizard. I have hoped for his death many times, for it was the only way out for him. Come with me,” Barron said as he led Telon to the very end of the hall where the walls closed in tightly.
Telon was curious to see who it might be, if he knew the dwarf at all. They went to the end of the hall, where no light reached and the smell was horrid.
“How long has he been here?” Telon asked.
“I have been here for several years, and I was told the dwarf had been here longer than that. The only reason I know he is still alive is that when I place food on a plate by the door, the plate is taken for a bit, then put back empty. I have tried to talk with him, but there is no reply. It might be useless to let him out after being in so long.”
Telon looked at Barron sharply, “Would you want out?” he asked, challenging the gargoyle.
Barron did not reply, but quickly searched for a key to the door, he had none. “I cannot let him out, I have no key for the door.”
Kyrie walked down to where they were, as he heard them pounding on the door. Telon was trying to break through it, but he wouldn’t have done it without alerting the entire mountain from the noise.
“Stand back,” Kyrie commanded, and then walked up and grabbed the bars on the door with both hands. With a quick pull, he ripped the door off the hinges.
Telon ran in the room, with his torch shedding light in there for the first time in many years. The smell in the room was far worse than in the hall. Telon highly doubted anything could have survived living in there.
Then he saw a withered figure of a dwarf man, lying mostly naked on the filthy rock floor. It did not move. Telon went over to the man,
and rolled the dwarf over. It had few teeth left, and a very long and ratty beard.
“Dwarf,” Telon asked, quietly to keep the dwarf calm, if he yet lived, “do you live?”
At the sound of a friendly voice, the dwarf opened his eyes. Telon then asked, “What is your name, and from where do you come?”
The dwarf began to cough, trying to make words for the first time in his disturbed memory. Telon gave him a drink of water, which was eagerly accepted. After the drink, the dwarf whispered in a very raspy voice, “I am Gulac, of Tunder Bin, brother of King Moro.”
Time stopped as the subtle words of the sickly dwarf slowly sunk into Telon. He could not believe what he heard, for he never knew of his father’s brother. It was too much for him to try and absorb at that moment. He must be a great threat to Herrog for him to be held captive for this many years. He had to be saved.
“We need to get you out of here,” Telon said.
Gulac could say no more. He tried to hold on as Telon lifted him off the floor and out the only room he had known in years. They would later discover Gulac had been imprisoned for ten years, suffering unmentionable torture and cruelty at the hands of Herrog himself.
They met up with the rest of the gargoyles and dwarves in the hallway and made their way up the steps, the feeble prisoners slowing them down.
The freed gargoyle’s eagerness to fight wore off as they climbed the many steps back to the chamber above, the years of captivity had taken a toll and the steps wiped them out. They reached the lower chamber, but the captives were exhausted. Many sat, hunched on the floor against the stair walls. Telon, still carrying Gulac, looked out and saw Herrog was still commanding the lave beasts from the pool. His army of lava beasts and goblins covered the floor. They were marching up and down the steps, some coming and some going. There would be no sneaking out.
“Telon,” Kyrie started, “You need to get the captives and Gulac out of here. We will keep them distracted so you can go.”
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