The Wealth of Kings (12 page)

The stranger held up his left hand and said, “I am not your enemy. I have come seeking knowledge.” The voice was extremely nasal, which annoyed Al almost as much, or perhaps more than the stranger’s presence.

“The court is where I consult with visitors, after the councilors deem the visitor worth talking to,” Al said grumbling as much about the process of vetting a visitor in the stuffy court as he was protesting the stranger’s request.

The stranger locked his fierce, blue eyes with Al. For a moment, Al couldn’t move. His mind froze in mid-thought and his muscles remained still and calm as those light blue eyes held him in their trance. Then, a few seconds later, Al was released from the spell, and the stranger was gone.

Al pulled his axe and looked around.

His heart was racing and there was a dull ringing in his head.

Who was that, and what in the blazes of Hammenfein did he want?

Al rushed into his room and shut the door to the tunnel leading out to the balcony. He slipped the bolt into place and then went to his desk. Had the stranger been looking for the Wealth of Kings? Al breathed a sigh of relief as soon as he saw that all was as he had left it.

Still, having an intruder meet him on the balcony was beyond unnerving.

He went to the door and opened it.

The two guards outside saluted him silently.

“Did you let anyone through?” Al asked.

The two guards shared a puzzled look and then shook their heads.

“Nobody’s been in there but you, my king,” they said in unison.

“Go and get Alferug. I need his advice about…” About what? He wasn’t even sure what had been down in the depths of mine shaft thirty-seven.

“’About’, Sire?” one of the guards prompted.

“Just tell him to find the best bestiary for the Middle Kingdom and bring it to my chamber.”

Al shut the door and went back to his desk. He poured over the books and clues about the Wealth of Kings once more. Nothing new jumped out at him. Worse than that, he hadn’t found this secret book that Sylus mentioned in the faded note. At least some treasure had been found in mine thirty-seven. There had been enough there to buy provisions to help through the summer, but not enough to fully alleviate the problems facing Roegudok Hall.

The dwarf king lost himself in thoughts and theories about the Wealth of Kings. How could he get into the library again? As he thought about everything he had ever heard about it, he remembered the voice from the tunnel.

The words it spoke were perplexing to Al. First and foremost because it seemed a ghost had been talking to him, but also because of what the voice had said specifically. It hadn’t said that Al was destined to reopen the library, which he assumed was the Wealth of Kings. It had said that Al was destined to find the Wealth of Kings. That made it sound as if the Wealth of Kings was not the library at all, but something else.

Could Threnton have been right all those years ago when he dragged me to the mines looking for the Wealth of Kings? Al wondered. Might there be some tunnel overflowing with riches? Is that what Sylus had hidden down below that had been the source of his prosperity? If so, then why hide it?

Knuckles rapped on the door three times. “Sire, you called for me?” Alferug’s voice called out from the other side of the door.

“It’s open,” Al said.

Alferug pressed the door open and closed it behind himself. Al noticed that he was breathing a little heavier than usual, and his legs seemed stiff as he walked.

“Are you alright?” Al asked.

Alferug nodded and waved the question away. “Just age catching up with me, Sire. I’m afraid the trek up to your chamber is not as easy as it once was.”

Al frowned.

The counselor pulled out a thick, brown book from a leather satchel hanging by a strap over his left shoulder. “I heard you found some treasure, but that the other miners were killed by something?”

“I asked them to keep it quiet,” Al said.

Alferug nodded. “My nephew told me. He was one of the soldiers that accompanied you on the rescue mission. I doubt he will tell anyone else. He probably figured I needed to know.”

Al shrugged. “Your nephew tells you, the others tell their families. Sooner or later it will come out, I suppose.”

“He told me how you sealed the tube and set guards. The people will see you are doing the right things. We need treasure to fuel our economy, and we have guards now to protect the miners. It seems reasonable.”

Al shook his head. “Nothing was reasonable about it.” The king rubbed a hand over his weary eyes. “There was no trace of what attacked them. There were streaks of blood, but that was it. No clothing, no body parts. Nothing. Just pick axes and what they had managed to mine before they were attacked.”

Alferug grunted thoughtfully and stroked his beard as he moved to lean against the desk. Al quickly pointed to the chair at the desk and Alferug nodded his thanks as he sat down. “I am afraid there isn’t much in the bestiary that will help.”

“Nothing about creatures that live in the underground?”

Alferug set the book on the desk. “Plenty about that,” he corrected. “I have a list of terrible creatures as well as some that are friendly to elves and dwarves. However, all accounts say that the depths below Roegudok Hall are a special place. None of the creatures listed in the bestiary can survive here. The one exception being cavedogs, of course. So, unless they smelled wild cavedogs, I am not sure what your animals found down there.”

“Something provoked them,” Al said. “They were as wary as if we were marching into battle. You could see it in their eyes, and the way they moved. They were ready to fight.”

“It is a mystery I cannot solve, I am afraid.”

Al nodded and sighed. “Then I hope the guards are enough,” he said.

Alferug changed the subject. “What did you find in the way of treasure?”

“Diamonds, and a modest vein of gold ore.”

“That is impressive,” Alferug said. “Enough to help?”

Al nodded. “For a while. It wasn’t a very large amount, and certainly won’t go as far as six fully productive mines would in buying food for the winter and helping us get Roegudok Hall running properly again.”

“It will come,” Alferug assured him with a soft smile. “Every king has challenges to face, my lord. In fact, only the best of kings are given so much adversity in their days. Only under the weight of challenges can you become the great king you are destined to be. It’s like producing a diamond. Without pressure, there is no gem.”

Al shook his head. “My father was a far better king than I could ever hope to be, and he never had to face things like this.”

Alferug shrugged. “One cannot know the plans of fate until they have traveled along the winding path,” he said, quoting an ancient elvish proverb.

“Do you think the creature might have attacked because it is drawn to treasure?” Al asked, changing the subject to something more comfortable.

Alferug stroked his beard and hummed again for a moment before nodding slowly. “You know, that might be the case. From my knowledge of Ancients I have learned a great deal about dragons. For instance, did you know that precious stones and metal actually help them heal and reenergize? Most humans think dragons hoard treasure because of greed, but it isn’t as shallow as that,” Alferug said with a dismissive wave of his hand. “A dragon hoards wealth because he can regenerate while sleeping inside of it. The metals and gems actually sing to the dragon’s soul. It heals not only physical, but magical and emotional wounds. It is conceivable that another creature may also seek treasure for a similar purpose.”

Al nodded. “Perhaps that is why it attacked them. They were taking its treasure.”

“You found no sign of the creature?” Alferug inquired.

Al shook his head. “None.”

Alferug held up a finger and wiggled his head as he cleared his throat and then ultimately said, “Then I don’t think it wants the treasure. If it did, it would have taken the wealth the miners dug up, but you say everything of value was still there.”

“Yes, it was just lying on the ground. There was one bag that was lying on its side and empty, but I assumed it had always been empty for inside there was only a fine, pink dust. As if gems had been there before they started mining in the chamber and he hadn’t yet filled the bag.”

“Pink dust you say?” Alferug asked. “But there were no red or pink gems found?”

Al shook his head. “No. There was nothing pink in the chamber. Why do you ask?”

Alferug shrugged. “It may be nothing, but if all the other bags you found had something inside, but this last one had only pink dust, perhaps it did have something that the creature wanted. Maybe that is what it took, and it left the rest of the treasure in the chamber because it had no use for it.”

Year 3,407 King’s Era.

207
th
year of the reign of Sylus Magdinium, 5
th
King of Roegudok Hall.

“So this is it,” King Sylus said as he moved into the rounded tunnel sparkling with pink crystal formations growing upon several columns and walls.

“We have guards stationed in each mine, just like you asked,” a stout dwarf officer said.

Sylus nodded and moved past him to break off one of the pink crystals jutting out from the column. The addorite felt warm to the touch. He turned and one of the miners held a large lantern up for the king. Sylus put the addorite close to the light and smiled. “Yes, this is it. A good find.”

“We have mined forty pounds of the crystal just today,” Didger said as he moved into the chamber and brushed his dusty hands on his stained, brown coveralls.

“Good,” Sylus said. “Tu’luh wants us to send one hundred pounds to Valtuu Temple.”

“Ah, we have much more than that, I assure you. You had better ask him where it all goes. Or, see if he would let us sell some of it.”

Sylus shook his head. “Tu’luh was explicit. None of it goes to market. He said the addorite can be toxic to humans and elves if not handled properly.”

Didger sighed and shrugged. “As you wish.”

Sylus turned and tossed the bit of crystal into an open basket and then moved in to inspect the rest of the chamber. In his estimation, there was easily half a ton of addorite, and that was just what he could see. If any more of it was hidden within the walls, then there would be a great payload for Tu’luh to take to Valtuu Temple.

“Any more attacks?” Sylus asked Didger as he slid a hand along the western wall of the rounded chamber.

Didger nodded. “We had one a couple days ago. More of those cursed lurkers. They are swift and deadly buggers, but we put them down.”

“Not without loss on our side,” the stout officer put in as he approached. “Two cavedogs and three soldiers. One miner was stabbed in the shoulder by one of the lurkers, but he should pull through after some time in the hospital.”

Sylus nodded. He hated lurkers. Over the last several years since the first attack there had been several encounters. It was as if the addorite attracted them. The king studied this chamber once more, scanning the walls and ceiling for any sign of chutes or lava tubes that would let a lurker into the area.

“Don’t worry, my king,” Didger said. “When we found this section, we made sure there was no other way in. No lurker is getting in here except through the main tunnel, and we have sealed off all other known tubes in the area.”

“Triple the guard,” Sylus told the officer. “This is the most addorite we have seen. If we are right about the lurkers being attracted to the crystal, then I would expect them to try and come for it.”

The officer nodded dutifully and turned to send a runner up for reinforcements.

“Now would be a good time to lay down some tracks,” Didger suggested. “We could run carts up the tunnels.”

Sylus shook his head. “From what I have seen, the cavedogs can sense when lurkers are in nearby tunnels. A system of tracks would take up most of the tunnel’s width, and make it harder for the cavedogs to freely move. Let’s stick with handcarts. Alternatively, we can bring more cavedogs down and those that aren’t used to guard the mines can run bags of addorite up and down the shafts. They can move it faster than handcarts would in any case.”

“As you say,” Didger said with a respectful nod.

Sylus remained in the chamber for twenty more minutes, watching the miners work and ensuring that there was not going to be an attack. Should any more lurkers show themselves, he wanted to be there to personally send them to Hammenfein. His hands went down and slid over the handles of his twin knives. Despite his uneasiness, the workers continued to chip away at the stone with a rhythmic
ting-ting-ting
. Nothing attacked them. Even the cavedogs seemed at ease, most of them lying lazily on the stone floor and taking the opportunity to snooze.

So why couldn’t he shake the uneasiness rising in his stomach like a churning knot of bile?

Sylus decided he would stay longer than originally planned. He had spent too much time on the battlefield to distrust his gut. He began to pace around the chamber. Some of the other dwarves glanced uneasily at him as he walked by. It was obvious that they could sense his wariness.

Good. It will keep them on edge in case I am right.

Sylus inspected the walls, placing a hand on the hard surface every few steps and feeling for… feeling for what? Did he expect the rock to tell him of impending danger? No, that wasn’t it. He was looking for something. Perhaps there was a section of the wall that was thin. Maybe the miners would break through to another chamber, and there they would find lurkers.

Yet, every place he inspected the wall, the vibrations from the ceaseless pickaxes striking the stone was faint, hardly perceptible at all. It was exactly what he would expect of a solid area.

Sylus left the walls and turned to the columns. For a moment he wondered if one of them might be hollow, but he dismissed the thought as quickly as it came. These columns had been formed by stalactites and stalagmites reaching each other over centuries and forming a hard, strong bond. Besides, even if the centers had been hollowed out, they were far too small to conceal lurkers. Any dwarf could almost hug around the largest of the columns in this chamber. To think they could house anything that would give the soldiers or cavedogs any amount of trouble was laughable.

Eventually he eased his mind. Perhaps it was only the knowledge of the threat a lurker
could
pose rather than an actual imminent threat that had him worried. Many dwarves had lost their lives over the last several years in the mines, but it still wasn’t a number nearly as high as those killed in battle beyond the mountain. Defending the humans was far more dangerous to the dwarf folk than mining in the depths below their mountain. Nevertheless, there was something about the dangers in the depths that kept Sylus awake at night. Perhaps it was the fact that lurkers were still so foreign and strange to him. They had never been able to take one alive, and those that died had either been burned to ash, ripped apart and consumed by cavedogs, or dragged away by surviving lurkers.

It made it nearly impossible to create a worthwhile entry in any bestiary. They had enough eye-witnesses to make rough sketches, but when it came to detailing precise information that would be useful, such as the length of their claws, what their scales were made of, or an anatomical description that could better point out weaknesses, there was nothing. They could only guess based upon haphazard battles, and that fact drove Sylus mad.

When he fought an orc, he understood his enemy. He knew that he faced a large humanoid with great strength, but a foe that ultimately resembled any other humanoid in aspects of anatomy. They had the same weaknesses. They had the same types of skills. They had a similar method of battlefield strategy. They even had the same blood.

Lurkers didn’t have blood.

They had some sort of goo inside them that hissed and bubbled like acid before evaporating upon contact with the air around them. They had no discernable strategy, even when they attacked in packs. Their anatomy was a mystery as well. Sylus, as well as others who had fought them, guessed they were similar to roaches or other insects. Based upon this, they tried to strike organs that they would expect a large roach to have. More often than not, those efforts proved fruitless. The dwarves had found no organs. There was no spot on the lurker’s body where a single stab would result in death. Severing the head worked, but even when the dwarves had managed to take a lurker’s head, the beast would continue to run around and attack for minutes, lashing out with its terrible claws just as dangerously as before.

To make it worse, the claws themselves seemed to be formed by some unknown material that was capable of piercing most armors worn by the dwarves. Only mithril could stop the tip of the lurker’s claw, and even then the force of the blow itself was still dangerous.

Sylus stroked his beard and leaned against the wall near the opening. He knew his restlessness must stem from his lack of understanding his foe. The unknown threat was always more dangerous than the known and understood enemy. Sylus sighed and watched as the dwarves continued their work.

Soon the baskets were heaping with piles of addorite and the surface of the chamber was looking more and more bare by the minute. Within another hour the dwarves were hauling the baskets out of the chamber and setting them into handcarts. It appeared that Sylus’ concern had been in vain.

A miner on the opposite side of the chamber gave a mighty chop with his pickaxe and a hunk of stone fell out of the wall that was larger than he was. The miner jumped out of the way as the boulder rolled over to reveal that there were several addorite crystal growths on the back side.

“Found more,” he called out. He then bent down to inspect the cavity and pointed inside. “A lot more in here too!”

Didger bounded over happily and smacked the miner on the back. “Well done, Hasim.” Didger turned and surveyed the baskets, beaming from ear to ear when he saw that there were none left with enough space for the newly found pocket of addorite. He turned to the king and shrugged with a gaping grin. “As I said, much more than what we needed.”

Sylus nodded and started walking over.

A great
crrrack
sounded on the other side of the wall. A fissure ripped through the stone and from deep within the mountain poured out a fiery red glow. Didger turned and put a hand up over his eyes.

“What in the name of Volganor is that?”

A thunderous rumbling echoed through the chamber and shook the floor so violently that the dwarves fell to all fours.
Crrrrack!
BOOM!

An explosion of rock and light erupted into the chamber. Sylus barely caught a glimpse of Didger’s broken body flying limply through the air before a fiery hand reached through the massive hole in the wall and seized the miner by the throat. The hand squeezed and the dwarf’s neck snapped in less than a second.

“To arms!” one of the soldiers cried out. The miners fled to the back of the chamber and waited with their pickaxes in hand as the soldiers rode in upon their cavedogs. A great beast stepped through the opening and roared terribly, emitting a wave of heat so intense that Sylus had to shield himself with both arms. When he could finally look at the invader once more, he realized this was something much more dangerous than a lurker.

The fire demon stepped confidently into the chamber, its twin tails swishing angrily behind it as it walked. In its left hand it held a sword of crude iron, while its right hand wielded a large, spiked mace. Four horns crowned its head, one on either side just above the temple, and two sticking out the front of its forehead that curled up. Its chest was easily four feet across, and however tall it was, it had to stoop over to maneuver under the thirteen-foot-high ceiling.

One sweep of its right hand obliterated a fair number of dwarves and their cavedogs. A few got in close and swiped at the demon’s legs, but it moved so quickly with its sword that it swept the attackers away, killing several of them. It then roared again, issuing fire from its mouth.

“Dismount!” King Sylus shouted over the din of the angry demon. “Let the cavedogs fight on their own.”

The soldiers obeyed immediately, rolling off their mounts as the cavedogs sprang into action quicker now that they didn’t carry any burden upon their backs. The dwarves shifted to using crossbows with mithril bolts, something they had started carrying in response to their battles with the lurkers. A few of them managed to let fly their bolts before the demon let out another wave of fire.

Sylus couldn’t tell if any of the shafts hit their mark. If they did, the demon certainly wasn’t slowed by them. It stomped and crushed cavedogs as it moved in with its mace and sword. Dwarves circled around it, refusing to offer the demon a single direction to focus his attacks.

King Sylus watched the demon for several moments, learning its movements and timing its reactions. Dwarves moved in, jabbing and striking at the demon’s legs. The demon deflected most with its own weapons, but others it countered with its twin tails, snaking out around the dwarves and slapping a few across the chest and another in the head.

The cavedogs darted in and around the demon’s legs, biting and snarling. Even their attacks were having little effect. A few gashes opened on the demon’s legs, but nothing serious enough to bring it down.

Then the unthinkable happened.

The demon ignited its own body and covered itself in a living armor of fire. Three cavedogs had their heads and mouths scorched. A dwarf was encircled in flame and ran away from the fight, screaming in agony.

Sylus couldn’t wait any longer. He took his hammer in hand and sprinted in as soon as the demon turned to the right and exposed his left side to Sylus. The dwarf king moved speedily, and silently. He kept his eye on the prize he wanted. He flipped his hammer over so as to strike with the spike on the back. He moved in, ducking under a wild swing of the demon’s sword that
whooshed
a couple of feet above Sylus’ head. Then he spun and put every bit of strength he had into his attack.