Victim of Fate (22 page)

"You’re a brute," Patrina spat out.

Garrick turned on her. "Have you a spear,
princess?"

She glared at him. "Alto’s a fine shot with a
bow."

"I’m sure he is, but he doesn’t have a bow,
does he?"

"Enough bickering. We’ve a task to do and the
sooner we get it done, the sooner you can be rid of us."

"Rid of you, at least," Garrick muttered.

Patrina gasped but Alto laid his hand on her
arm to keep her silent. Antagonizing the man would do them no good.
"How much farther to the mines?" Alto asked.

"Over this ridge, there’s a valley they use
to reach them. I’ve seen the entrance. Men guard it. I doubt
they’ll let you in."

"Let us in, you mean?" Patrina said.

Garrick shrugged.

"Why wouldn’t they? We pretend to be
mercenaries joining their army," Alto said. "Your furs mark you as
a local, but we can tell them you’ve been lured by the promise of
gold."

Garrick snorted. "Look around you, what good
does gold do up here?"

"Gold could do a lot of good up here,"
Patrina snapped. "It could bring people with some civilization!
Buildings that stay warm at night and proper healers. Tutors who
can bring education to your people. There are so many things gold
can do for this land."

Garrick sneered at her. "That is not our way.
We thrive on the hunt and the challenge of living. Your fancy silks
and candied foods make a man weak. What’s important is strength of
arm and the fire in a man’s chest."

"Gold or no gold, the Northern Divide and all
the lands around it won’t be fit for living in if we don’t stop
arguing and find out what’s going on," Alto said.

"Maybe they’re mining gold?" Patrina ventured
after a moment of thought.

Alto shrugged. "Perhaps. Last time they were
after silver."

Patrina nodded. "I’ve heard stories of the
rich silver veins the dwarves worked."

"Bah, demons that come out of the ground and
threaten honest men!" Garrick cursed.

"Have you ever met a dwarf?" Patrina
demanded.

"They’re evil creatures of legend!"

"No, they’re as real as you and I. Short, but
they are fierce warriors. As fierce as any of the hunters in your
clan."

"You’ve seen a dwarf?" Alto asked her.

Patrina nodded. "From time to time, one comes
through Holgasford on their way to scour the Northern Divide in
search of their lost treasures. One came through recently, less
than two months back."

Garrick scowled and muttered something under
his breath. Alto ignored the brute and looked instead up the hill
in the direction they were headed. "Let’s continue, but remember we
seek to join whatever cause Sarya has planned."

Garrick grunted and turned away to begin
leading them back up the hill. They followed and crested the ridge
within fifteen minutes. An awkward hike across a steep hill led
them to a trail of dirty snow that had been trampled through since
the recent snowstorm. Ahead of them loomed hills that seemed
mountainous by themselves.

They entered into the shadow of the hill
before they crested a hill and saw the landing outside a dark
fissure in the side of a cliff. A wooden building had been erected
in front of it but that did little to hide the narrow fissure that
stretched above the roof. Smoke rose from a chimney and horses and
small carts rested in an open stable beside the building.

"Doesn’t look like the lair of an evil
dragon," Garrick quipped.

"Good, I left my dragon-slaying sword in my
other pants," Patrina said before stepping forward and taking the
lead towards the building.

Garrick stared at her with his mouth open.
Alto chuckled at her behavior. "Come on, I doubt people like these
would have much respect for two men who can’t keep up with a
woman."

Garrick snorted. "No man should!"

"I’ve known enough women to know that I don’t
want to cross swords or words with any of them!" Alto admitted.

Garrick sneered at him. "Then you are
weak."

Alto lifted an eyebrow at the barbarian but
chose not to contest him. They were only a few strides from Patrina
and less than a dozen feet beyond that to the building. They caught
up with her just as the door opened and a man stepped out and then
stopped when he saw them.

"Ho there, hold a moment. I’ve got to hit the
jakes then I’ll put you through." He stopped and stared up at
Garrick. "You tempted one of the northerners? Impressive! And
you’ve brought a whore as well; you’ll be more than welcomed!"

"I’m no whore!" Patrina growled.

He stopped and looked at her, and then
chuckled. "Fancies herself a warrior, does she? Well, they say
we’re taking any and all, so why not? Can’t vouch for her safety,
though. Reckon you’ll learn to fight if you don’t already. Or
you’ll end up on your back anyways."

The man turned and walked off to a small
outhouse built behind the stables. He went in and shut the door
behind him.

"Now what?" Patrina asked.

"My father always said to never ask the
saints why we've been given a good harvest," Alto said.

Patrina and Garrick stared at him with blank
faces.

"It means we've been given a gift, let's not
question it or waste it!" Alto strode to the door and opened it,
and then looked inside before stepping in. The others followed
behind him, hands on their weapons.

The building was split into two parts. The
part they were in had a desk, a table with benches, and a rack with
some weapons on it. On the opposite wall was a doorway. Behind the
desk and to their right a wall was built with another door in it.
This door hung half open, revealing a cot and a small table inside
it.

"This way," Alto said, pointing at the door.
"Hurry!"

Alto opened the door and felt the cooler air
from the tunnel wash over him. It brought the smell of smoke with
it, implying there was a fire within the mine.

"That's not like the other mines we were in,"
Patrina mentioned as she looked at how straight and uniform the
walls, floor, and ceiling of the tunnel were. "I've heard that
dwarves take their mining serious, but this is something else!"

"Let's go, before he comes back!" Alto
urged.

Torches rested in barrels on the side of the
passage. Beside them on the floor, lanterns were lined up along the
wall. Alto grabbed a torch and waited for the others to do the
same. He fished out some flint and steel from a pouch and handed it
to Patrina. "Light them, quickly."

Patrina struck a spark to the torch and blew
it to life, and then lit Garrick's from hers. Satisfied that they
had light, Alto shut the door and jammed his torch into the latch.
He grabbed a fresh one from a barrel and lit it off of Patrina's
and then turned to look at Patrina and Garrick. Garrick was tall
enough his long dark hair nearly brushed against the beams that
supported the ceiling.

"That wasn't so hard," Alto said.

"Yeah, nothing to it." Patrina rolled her
eyes and started down the tunnel. "Let's go before he figures out
what you've done."

"Bah, he's only one man!" Garrick protested
even as he fell in behind them.

"This is an important position," Alto
guessed. "And they've got wizards and the saints know what else.
Stealth is our ally."

"Good thing you didn’t do anything suspicious
like blocking the door then," Patrina pointed out.

Alto stopped and looked back up the tunnel at
the door. He frowned, and then shrugged. "Seemed like a good idea
at the time. Come, we'll have to take our chances."

Against his better judgment, Alto let Garrick
lead the small group into the mines. He stayed behind Patrina and
kept a near constant vigil on the tunnel behind them. With only
their torches and the different types of stone around them to mark
their passing, they soon lost track of time. Alto had forgotten how
his sense of time and direction became muddled underground by the
back-and-forth S-curves the tunnel forced them to take.

They came to a room with an iron door that
was wide open. Inside, several empty weapon and armor racks adorned
the walls. Three tables, cut from the very stone of the mountains,
were positioned in the room so that they had to walk around them to
reach the door on the far side.

"This place is empty," Garrick muttered when
they paused in the room. "Just as well, there’s no wind to wash
away the stench."

"What stench?" Alto asked. "I barely even
smell the smoke anymore."

Garrick scowled and sniffed the air. "You’ve
the senses of a babe! This place reeks of burning wet wood and
unwashed bodies."

"Wait." Patrina held up her hand. "You say
it’s empty then you say you can smell stinky people and fresh
fires?"

Garrick stared at her without saying
anything.

"Let’s find those bodies and fires and see
what’s going on," Alto said. He nodded towards the open passage
that led deeper into the mountains.

Garrick stared at the opening and frowned. He
made no move to start towards it.

"I’ll lead the way," Alto offered.

"Stay where you are," Garrick growled. "I
thought I heard something was all."

Alto raised his eyebrow when the barbarian
started forward and entered the passage. Garrick held his torch as
high as the ceiling would allow to spare his eyes from it. Alto
heard a soft chuckle and turned to see Patrina looking at him. He
felt a rush through his body that sent tingles to his skin and made
him grin back at her. She returned his smile and then followed
after the northern hunter.

The next passage seemed only half as long as
the previous one, made easier by the straight line it followed. It
opened into another room that looked like it had once served as a
storeroom. Two wooden carts like the ones in the stable aboveground
rested against a wall. The other walls were covered with shelves
carved from the stone of the walls. The shelves contained only dust
on them.

"How did they make these?" Alto wondered
aloud as he stared at one of the shelves. "There’s no seams; it’s
like they cut the rock out from beneath and above them."

"Dwarves are said to be master diggers,"
Patrina said. "Perhaps they possess some earth magic to aid
them."

"Bah!" Garrick spat on the ground, showing
his thought of magic and dwarves with a simple gesture.

Alto rolled his eyes at the large man’s
antics. "Right, well, let’s move on."

"Shouldn’t somebody be meeting us?" Patrina
asked.

"Let’s find out," Alto suggested. He started
forward but Garrick moved ahead of him with his longer stride,
cutting him off as he stepped into the opening that led into a
short hallway that led to their right and left. Alto scowled but
bit his tongue; he was beginning to get a sense of the barbarian
the more time he spent around him.

The hall ended in another storeroom to their
right, forcing them back to the left where they entered yet another
storeroom. This one had an open door at the end of it that opened
into a hallway. Glowing lanterns lined the hallway, but it took
only a glance for them to realize the lamps weren’t burning oil or
pitch. They didn’t appear to be burning at all, from the steady
white radiance they emitted.

"What foul sorcery is this?" Garrick hissed.
He shifted his torch to his other hand and drew his sword. The
blade clipped the ceiling as he pulled it from the wolfskin
scabbard on his back, causing the ringing noise to echo down the
hallway.

Alto looked up and down the passage,
concerned by his reaction. He saw nothing, but a glance at the
well-lit floor of the tunnel showed that the dirt and dust had been
pushed to the sides of the passage. "Put your sword away," Alto
cautioned. "They’re lamps. Probably been like this since the
dwarves were here."

"Evil magic," Garrick growled.

"Perhaps, or maybe some natural stone that
glows. Dwarves had delved deeper than any other race. They’ve no
doubt found treasures and mysteries we’ve never dreamed of,"
Patrina reasoned.

Garrick narrowed his eyes as he stared at
her. Alto shifted to look at Patrina as well. "I thought you didn’t
trust magic?"

"I don’t," she said. "It’s beyond my knowing,
but that doesn’t make it evil. It just means you don’t know what it
is, or how to protect yourself from it."

Alto nodded. He remembered the enchanted
forest where he’d met Winter. That was an example of magic that was
something he hoped to never have to deal with again, even if it
meant learning how to protect himself from it.

A clanking sound drew their attention down
the hallway to their left, where the passage curved after thirty
feet. A moment later, a crude wooden cart was pushed around the
corner by a goblin.

"Preth!" Garrick swore. He raised his sword
and clanked it against the ceiling again.

"Garrick, hold!" Alto snapped at him.

The goblin let go of the cart and jumped
back. He shrieked something in his guttural language and held out
his hands.

"Is that a dwarf?" Garrick demanded.

"What? No! That’s a goblin," Alto said.
"These mountains are full of these filthy little savages. We ran
afoul of hundreds of them the last time."

"So why not kill it?" he asked.

Patrina stepped forward and approached the
goblin. "Because this time maybe he can tell us where to go," she
said. She turned back to the cowering goblin. "We just
arrived—where do we go?"

It shook its head after a moment of waiting
for more from her. She scowled. "He doesn’t understand me. Stupid
goblin."

"He came from that way; let’s see where it
leads," Alto suggested.

Patrina held up her hand. "His cart’s full of
rocks. I’d say he came from some mines. I think we’re more
interested in where he’s going."