Chronicles of Den'dra: A Land Torn: Ancient Powers Awaken (31 page)

When consciousness returned Inadar found herself tied to a chair in the dark. Struggling proved useless. The ropes were too tightly wound and knotted. She had just given up when light began flickering off the walls as the light from a torch approached. When Inadar could see her surroundings she discovered that she was in cave of sorts. The chamber she was in was piled with crates of supplies.

“
Who are you? Answer truthfully. Your story should match your friend’s.” A ranking officer handed the torch to an accompanying soldier and settled onto a crate opposite Inadar.

“
He isn’t just my friend. He is my brother.”

“
Hmm, we will get to that.” The officer stroked his beard thoughtfully. “What time of year were you born?”

“
The fall just before the winter snows started falling.” Inadar saw the officer frown.

“
That is interesting. Your brother remembers you being born in the spring shortly after the flowers started blooming. One of you has a poor memory.”

“
I was sort of adopted so he wasn’t really there.” Inadar realized what was happening.

“
That much he admitted to so there is room to believe that he could have mistaken the time of your birth.” Inadar reflected on the fact that she didn’t really know the time of her birth. It couldn’t have been much before the dragons delivered her to the village but that was a detail that she didn’t much feel like explaining.

“
Now let me see, what was your mother’s name?”

“
Mytera.” This produced an approving nod from the officer.

“
Who is Gastin’s mother?” Inadar was perplexed for a moment before she realized that Torroth was probably using an alias.

“
I said that he was adopted so he didn’t like talking about his parent’s.” The officer frowned again and returned to stroking his beard.

“
I thought that you were the one that was adopted.” Inadar hardly batted an eyelash at being caught in the inconsistency.

“
I was adopted. My real parents abandoned me. Mytera raised me as her own. Gastin joined the family a few years later so we were both adopted.” Inadar remembered to use Torroth’s alias just before she was about to use his real name. The game she was playing was a tricky one. She had to make sure that she matched whatever Torroth was saying but didn’t add anything that she might regret later. She hoped that Torroth had stuck to the story that they had agreed upon before entering Cercha.

“
Where was it you were raised?”

“
In The Forks.”

“
Which one? The river divides the city in three parts.” Inadar almost faltered as he asked a detail that hadn’t been in their discussions. She knew the road that they supposedly lived on but hadn’t thought to name a sector.

“
Water front row, northern sector.” The officer simply grunted and stroked his beard. Inadar found that trying to read the man’s thoughtful face to be virtually impossible.

“
I see... Which side?” Inadar quailed inside. Of course there were two water front rows in the northern sector. The river came down on both sides of that pie shaped wedge.

“
The east side.” Inadar barely managed to make it sound like a statement rather than a question.

“
Gastin told me that you two spent a lot of time working in different parts of the city so you really never were from one sector.”

“
That is true. My parents were from the east side of the northern sector so I like to tell people that I am from there. It is usually easier to say that rather than explain that we moved all over.” Inadar coolly explained the dissimilarity in their stories.

“
So you were raised by Mytera and Sjad for most of your life in the eastern part of the northern sector then after they died, you and Gastin moved around? Is that what you are saying?” The officer watched Inadar intently while she tried to think of a response. The officer’s reference to Sjad threw her for a loop. She wasn’t sure what to make of it. Had Torroth used an alias for Encer because he was worried that someone might recognize his name from his military past or was it a trick on the interrogator's part? She had thought long enough. Already there was a suspicious set to the officer’s jaw.

“
Who is Sjad?” At Inadar’s response the officer’s jaw relaxed a little.

“
No one of consequence. Why are you in the outlands?"

"Gaston is a blacksmith. We have been looking for a quiet place to settle where he can practice his trade." Inadar flinched as the officer frowned again.

"I'm afraid that your stories are a little different. We can’t let you go for the risk that you might betray us.” The officer stood to leave.

“
Why would you be worried about that? You are the army. Who would I betray you to?”

“
Come now. Don’t tell me you find it a little suspicious that so many soldiers are hiding in the forest in the outlands. Don’t worry. I'm just going to have you moved to more comfortable accommodations.”

"Are you refusing to let us go because you think our stories are inconsistent or because you are afraid that we might tell someone about you being here?"

"You seem to be smart enough of a girl. I'm sure that you will figure it out." The more comfortable accommodations turned out to be a chamber in the caves with two beds and a table. The beds were straw ticks that smelled of musk and felt damp to the touch. The door was barred on the other side. The bright side was that Torroth was delivered shortly after she had arrived and a torch was left for them by the door. After reassuring himself that she was alright he collapsed on one of the beds in a mood so bleak that nothing Inadar said was able to get through to him.

Chapter Twenty-Five

“
So when we get to building my place, I want one of those water heating contraptions in the cooking area. It doesn’t have to be as fancy as that one you built for your mother. Just functional.” Taric had begun designing his future abode with the Granite Bane girl. Roild snorted in disdain.

“
It was a work of art. It reduce it to mere functionality is to deny its true nature. Are it to be functional it takes up space but its true nature is to be something to be enjoyed as a work of art.” Roild dropped into a rant about one of his pet peeves.

“
So it is alright for you to cover your walls with worthless art?” Taric admired Roild’s handiwork but had never seen a need for it.

“
Worthless art! I want my children and grandchildren to look at it as be proud to say that their father or grandfather sculpted it. I want my second born to be proud when I give it to him at his wedding.” Roild could picture it in his head.

“
Ridiculous. That is probably going to be a century at least.” Taric had his turn snorting in derision.

“
I will have that long to perfect it.” Roild had that dreamy expression that meant he was thinking about Esteris.

“
Hey lover boy, how is the human doing?” Taric called a halt while they checked.

“
His pulse hasn’t changed much if any. His breathing is steady. Let’s see if I can get him to drink some more.” Roild carefully dripped water into the human’s mouth. A little at a time. Their attempts at giving food had been failures until Taric had hit on the idea of dissolving mushroom cakes in the water that they were giving the human. Remarkably despite the days of travel that the lad had endured he showed no signs of deterioration. In fact it seemed that some of the external injuries had actually healed somewhat.

“
How long have we been traveling today?” Taric inquired as soon as they had finished checking on the human. Roild consulted his time keeping piece before responding that only half the day had passed and only twenty units since Taric had last asked.

“
I wish that I had one of those. I wouldn’t need to ask you every twenty units.” Taric grumbled as Roild snapped the case closed. He had invented the device himself and attached it to the armor of his forearm. It consisted of a series of gears and a wound spring. The secondary gears had enough resistance in their movement and the gear ratios were such that they slowed the primary gear to a crawl. He found that if constantly held at certain tension it moved in a reliable pace. By designing a spring loaded release for the wound spring he was able to attach it to a joint in his armor rewinding it with every movement. The catch would release and lodge on the next tooth whenever the tension reached the maximum. Marks could be painted on the face of the larger gear for telling how many units of time passed. He had calibrated the marks to the water clocks back home and was able to use it to tell time in the caverns. The only problem was that it no longer retained its accuracy if it wasn’t charged every couple hundred units. This was a problem when Roild slept. Instead of waking to recharge it periodically he would set up a portable water clock then set his clock off that when he woke.

“
I could make you one but I haven’t perfected this one yet. Until then just add twenty units to what time it was last time you had the urge to ask.” Roild responded to Taric’s complaint with a laugh. He already knew that the constant winding was more effort than his friend would be interested in maintaining once the novelty wore off.

“
Whatever. We should get moving now. Don’t want to waste any of your precious units.” Taric prepared to do as he had recommended when he stiffened. “Do you see what I see?” Roild glanced up at Taric’s glowing armor then squinted at another light source he detected. Finally able to focus he was able to discern the outlined figure of an individual standing beside the litter.

“
What is it?” Taric was staring at the slowly appearing apparition.

“
How am I supposed to know?” Roild was finally able to discern some features and was startled to recognize the human’s face. Taric came to the same discovery a moment later.

“
It’s him. Is this how humans die?” Taric was of the belief that the human’s life force was leaving the body. Roild slowly knelt down and checked for the human’s vital signs again.

“
He is still alive. No change that I can detect. I don’t know what it is.” Roild noticed that the entity was looking down at the human with an expression akin to pity.

“
It’s beautiful. So many colors.” The duo of dwarves watched as the apparition seemed to take on more substance. It was glowing but not brightly. No longer could they see through it easily. The features were more defined. The colors that Taric referred to were of most of the shades of a rainbow. They faintly could be seen shifting in the light. The effect was like looking through a gem at a light. Overall the figure looked like a shadow with substance but light instead of dark. Taric reached out and attempted to touch the lights with one hand. Roild started to stop him but watched in awe as Taric’s gauntleted hand simply passed through the lights disturbing them like an image reflected in water. The light reformed itself a moment later just before the being glanced up at them with a surprised expression.

“
Gar'as? Enfar las encorum giansar.” Both dwarves were stunned by the audible words. They were spoken in the old language. Neither dwarf could converse in the old tongue that the over worlders used to speak. They had adopted the more common tongue before leaving the surface. Only a few scholars still spoke the old tongue.

“
Gar’as is the old name for dwarf. That is all I can understand from what he said.” Roild found his wits after a period of silence following the creature’s words.

“
Dwarf? Taric’s jaw hung for a second as he processed Roild’s statement. Before he had a chance to think of something coherent to say the entity simply began moving down the tunnel. When in motion all features disappeared and the thing looked more like a humanoid shaped glowing fog.

“
Where is it going?” Taric still wore a stunned expression but now it was tempered with apprehension.

“
I don’t know but I think it wants us to follow.” Roild motioned Taric to pick up his end of the litter. The marched behind the apparition that didn’t give any more recognition of their presence. The units of time crept by slowly as they marched in silence until Roild’s stomach began rumbling. He reached into the bag by his side before remembering that they had consumed the last of their food that morning. They had hoped to stumble across another patch of mushrooms during their travel to replenish their supplies.

“
Wrathy spawn!” Both dwarves jumped at the unexpected exclamation. The apparition materialized from the glowing cloud of fog that they had been following. Roild was racking his brain in an attempt to translate the ancient words when a large cave spider dropped from the ceiling on the being. Hastily setting down the litter Taric freed one of his hammers and flung it with deadly precision at the spider that was snapping at the unconcerned apparition. Crushed by the blow the insect’s eight limbs twitched for a few moments before Taric severed them from the crushed body and retrieved his hammer. Roild swallowed the bile that rose in his throat. He knew what spider leg tasted like. It provided nutrition but was not a flavor that he relished. Seeing the legs twitching as Taric fastened them to his belt did nothing to improve his appetite.

“
What’s wrong?” Taric inquired mischievously as he recognized Roild’s nauseous look.

“
I hate cave spiders.” Roild spat at the smashed remnants as they picked up the litter and continued on.

“
They don’t taste that bad when you cook them.” Taric glanced over his shoulder to see the result of his needling.

“
It would have dropped on you if that thing hadn’t stopped where it did.” Roild preferred to change the topic.

“
I suppose you are right. We should keep an eye out. Don’t want any more surprises.” Taric for all his bravado didn’t like cave spiders any more than Roild did.

“
Just watch the ceilings. We might be near a den.” They had no intention of dealing with the creatures any more that was absolutely necessary and even then only as long as it took to destroy the miserable insects. He kept an eye on the walls and ceiling of the cave himself. He knew that this was the only tunnel that went where they were heading in this region. There wasn’t any other that wasn’t submerged during this time of the year.

They began noticing that the section of the cave that they were entering was riddled with pockets of a softer material that had over the eons eroded. Openings could be seen all along the walls in sections resembling a honeycomb. In a couple spots they were able to see the white remnants of a web spread along the walls but as of yet no spiders could be seen.

“Perhaps these webs were just made by the one we killed.” Taric verbalized a hope that they both fervently hoped to be true. They were nearing a larger opening on the side of the when Roild heard a sound behind him. Looking over his shoulder he saw a couple smaller spiders no larger than a spread hand skittering at the edge of the pool of light his armor threw. He was about to caution his companion when he hear Taric muttering something about the cursed insects. He glanced back just in time to counter Taric making a stomping motion that threatened to upset the litter.

“
Take that you deep cursed abominations.” Roild only had a moment to register the worried expression that the entity wore before he hear a snapping sound from the entrance to the side chamber ahead.

“
What have you done!?” Roild hissed as a dozen spiders crawled through the opening.

“
I hate those things!” Taric responded with emotion equaling Roild’s. He recalled having heard something about a smell that attracted other spiders in the vicinity when one was crushed. Unfortunately his recollection was a moment too late.

“
They are coming out of the walls.” Roild lowered his end of the litter and loosed his twin battle axes. He wished that he had thought to bring his hammers like Taric had done. They were better suited to smashing the insects. Taric had unburdened himself and drawn his weapons as well.

They only had a moment to take in their situation. The ghostly being was floating with arms crossed to the side while spiders of all sizes crawled out of the walls. A constant stream of the insects were coming out of the side chamber cutting off their route of advance while a few dozen spiders were appearing out of the tunnel behind them. With all avenues of escape effectively cut off they were forced to defend themselves.

Roild jumped as one of Taric’s hammers clanged off the stone as the battle began. The spiders enraged by the fresh scent of their companion’s death charged as one. Roild silently began cutting a path through the attacking insects while behind him at the other end of the litter he could hear Taric smashing away while heaping every curse he knew on the ill-gotten creatures.

Roild beat back the spiders for long enough to glance behind him at the helpless human on the litter. To his shock he saw a spider had managed to sneak past them and was about to pounce. Before he was able to act however there was a flash from the apparition and streamers of light reached out and encircled the spider before it burst into flames. Turning back to the task at hand be brushed off a couple of the smaller spiders that had begun climbing his armor. Stomping on them he sliced a spider bigger than his head in half before crushing another with the flat of his blade.

Taric had reached the end of his vocabulary and was forced to recycle and improvise. His armor was gleaming with a white light from the energy collected by his exercise. The twin hammers were doing their duty with ruthless force. The area was covered in the guts from the smashed spiders. Sparks flew with each blow that contacted the stone. A motion in the corner of his eye warned him of a spider dropping down from the ceiling. Smashing his hammers into it he sent the mangled corpse flying through the air and into the wall where it exploded into a spray of spider parts.

The entity had only managed to burn a handful of the beasts. It seemed to need a few moments before it could repeat the effect so it limited its attacks to those spiders that presented an imminent threat to the human on the litter. He did however lend a hand when the need arose elsewhere. Taric cursed and ducked when a spider that had been lowering itself from the ceiling over his head burst into flames. Roild rarely needed the extra help. He was a whirling dervish of destruction. His bright axes were slicing left and right. If a spider managed to sneak within the arc of death it found itself under the dwarf’s heel.

After appraising the near endless stream of insects appearing the apparition moved towards the entrance to the side chamber. Its light illuminate the chamber and revealed that the walls were honey combed with pockets where spiders were emerging with unabated numbers. In center of the room were piles of unhatched eggs and networks of webbing. Sitting crouched on the top of the eggs in the center of the web was his target.

Roild only noticed that the apparition had abandoned them as he saw it entering the side chamber. He gritted his teeth and returned to his work of destruction. He now had to cover the gap that the ghostly creature had been defending. The added strain was already taking a toll. The spiders were pressing their advantage on every side now.