Victim of Fate (27 page)

"How can this be?" Mordrim muttered. He
stepped forward and crouched next to the first fallen dwarf he
found. He poked at the armor, causing it to shift and fall apart.
The metal plates were sound but the leather clasps and buckles had
long since rotted. He moved a rock and then picked up a hammer from
underneath it that the fallen warrior had once used. The wrapping
around the metal shaft had been consumed by time but the hammer and
the spike at the end had endured.

"Where to?" Karthor asked the dwarf.

Mordrim rose and moved ahead of him, deeper
into the new tunnel. He peered into the darkness for several long
moments before he turned and walked back behind them. He repeated
his gesture and words from earlier and caused the door to seal shut
behind them.

"This way," the dwarf grumbled as he walked
past them and took the lead again.

"Did he expect to find them alive?" Namitus
wondered aloud.

"Stay sharp," Kar advised. "Something did
this to the dwarves; it’s probably long gone but that doesn’t mean
there aren’t more of them waiting for the dwarves to return."

Mordrim led them down the tunnel and into a
great hall. It was nothing compared to the cavern behind them where
Alto had fallen but instead of relying upon a natural cave, this
looked to have been carved from the heart of the mountain by tool
and hand. Broken and dust-covered stone tables littered the room. A
raised section led to another table and near it a throne that held
only the shattered remains of what had once been a dwarven king
upon it. Other skeletons lay nearby, arrayed in positions that
spoke of a last defense.

"They don’t have any armor or weapons," Kar
observed. "I don’t think they were killed in their sleep."

Mordrim punched the throne. "Looters! Damn
the lot of them! I’ll find them and teach them to be robbing from
the dwarves!"

"I’d gladly help you," Tristam said. "After
you’ve shown us the way out."

Mordrim spit and sputtered in his own
language for a moment and then he turned and hopped off the dais.
He motioned with his hand and started off down a passage that
seemed less dusty than the others.

He stopped several times and put his ear to
the stone, listening for something none of them could hear. Then
he’d carry on without a word and walk past other tunnels that
branched off without even glancing at them.

"I think that whatever they did to him in
that cell might have unbalanced him," Kar whispered to Tristam
after they’d traveled half an hour.

Mordrim spun and pointed at him with his
thick finger. "Told you to shut your mouth, I did!"

"Mordrim, tell us what’s going on," Tristam
demanded.

The dwarf turned and looked around, and then
he stepped to the wall and put his ear against it. "Got to get
through here quick and quiet."

"Why? The goblins and humans haven’t found
these tunnels yet," Patrina said. She saw Tristam’s questioning
look. "We spoke to a man before they attacked us. He said they
suspected there were more tunnels below but nobody had found or
explored them."

"Ain’t them I’m worried about," Mordrim said.
"There’s worse things down here. You dig too deep and you find
things that weren’t supposed to be found."

"So why dig that deep?" Karthor asked.

Mordrim flashed him a quick grin. "That’s
where the best ore is!"

Kar snorted. The sound of something falling
and crunching drifted down the tunnel behind them. Mordrim spun and
motioned for them to follow again. He set a quicker pace through
the near darkness until they spilled out into a natural cavern that
stretched to their right and left.

Kar and Karthor’s lights revealed pale moss
growing on the walls of the cavern. The room had a damp and musky
smell to it, drawing their eyes to the right, where a dark shape
moved towards them.

"What’s that?" Patrina hissed. She drew her
sword in preparation.

"Gnome!" Mordrim spat out. "Stinking gnomes
done this, I knew it!"

"A gnome? I thought they were pixie-like
creatures that played with elves?" Namitus said.

"Far from it," Kar said. "They live deep
underground and have teeth that can chew through rock or
steel."

"Aye," Mordrim said. "Thieves and bandits,
they like the treasures dwarves make and aren’t afraid to steal or
fight for them."

"One gnome routed an entire city?" Tristam
asked.

"There’s more than one." Namitus pointed
behind them in the other direction the cavern ran. Two more
creatures lumbered into the light. Their large eyes squinted
against the faint light the group used. Each gnome had a rat-like
face, complete with short whiskers and sharp-looking teeth. They
walked hunched over but their powerful arms had claws on them that
looked capable of digging through rock just as easily as flesh.

"Coming from the tunnel behind us, too!"
Garrick warned.

"Don’t just stand there," Mordrim hissed. He
raised his voice to shout, "Take it to them or they’ll overrun
us!"

The dwarf charged ahead, swinging his hammer
at the first of the gnomes ahead of him. Many more were moving
towards them, their eyes glinting in the darkness.

Tristam growled. "Don’t be letting our guide
get killed! You heard him, let’s go!" He drew his dagger and
started after Mordrim, pausing only the slap Kar on the shoulder to
get the wizard moving.

Patrina pressed her soft lips against his so
hard he felt the hardness of her teeth behind them. Without
warning, she planted both hands in his chest and pushed, sending
him back and making him fall. He stared up at her as he plummeted,
seeing her face frozen in a snarl of hatred. He couldn't look away
until the cold water slapped him in the back and pulled him away
from her.

Alto knew it was a dream. The details were
fuzzy around him and nothing made sense. Why would Patrina push
him? Sure, he'd made her mad when he'd told her off, but it was for
her own good. She had to see that she had to fight to escape. If
she kept following him, she was doomed. Now she could get away and
find somebody who would be good for her. Somebody with the right
bloodline.

Somebody like Beck?

Alto thrashed in the water, bubbles escaping
his mouth. Was he really swimming? She'd never go for Beck, even if
the pig of a knight did claim noble blood. She'd never be
interested in him, not after what she'd seen. Would she?

Alto had seen the forces under Beck's
command. The humans measured in the hundreds, hardly a fitting army
compared to the Kelgryn and Kingdom men. But the goblins, trolls,
ogres, and other beasts and monsters were a force to be reckoned
with. Without Alto's magical sword, the trolls were worth a dozen
men, if not more. The ogres a few less, but they were strong and
brutal.

What if Beck offered to spare her people if
she would accept his hand? She'd do that, wouldn't she? Patrina put
the good of her people before herself. It was how she was raised.
It was a good thing, a noble thing. Alto believed in it, too;
that's why he was drowning while his friends had a chance to
escape.

What if he was wrong there, too? What if they
couldn't escape? Had too many of Beck's forces surrounded them?
Could Mordrim get them to a tunnel that would get them out? Or did
they need his help? He'd lost track of Beck in the cold water what
seemed like hours ago. He was floating without sensation.
Weightless and sightless. He wasn't even sure which way was up.

They needed him. His friends needed him.
Patrina needed him. He could feel it. He'd been stupid, trying to
sacrifice himself to help them. He’d taken the easy way out. Now he
had to undo the wrong he'd committed.

Alto stretched his arms out in the direction
he thought was the surface and stroked hard into the water. He
started kicking with his feet and pulled with his hands, trying to
scoop and push the water behind him. His arms ached and his chest
burned. Bubbles slipped from his lips and his nose, but in the
darkness he couldn't tell where they went. Still he struggled,
fighting past the point of exhaustion and agony.

His fingers jammed into something hard,
sending fresh pain into his brain. It roused him from the stupor
he'd entered, only to make him realize he'd found a stone wall. Was
it the bottom or the side? Or worse, was the water he'd fallen into
an underground lake that he'd never escape from? Alto felt around,
feeling only smooth stone with no pockets for air or means of
escape.

He sat still in the water for a moment, ready
to surrender his last bubbles of air and suck in the water to end
it. He wondered, would he feel it? Would it hurt? Would his body
thrash as it fought back against the water?

Why wasn't he already dead? Or had he drowned
already and now he was just reliving it in some eternal punishment?
Alto thrust his hand out, striking the rock with his fist. He
couldn't be dead! He couldn't die, not now. Not when people needed
him. Not when he'd been a fool and hurt Patrina. He couldn't have
his last words to her be ones of anger and pain!

He smashed his fist into the rock again and
felt something give. The rock crumbled away slightly. He stared but
saw only inky blackness. He punched again, hammering and ignoring
the pain. After three more punches, he knew he was insane, but his
insanity promised him the hope of escape. The rock was crumbling
away and he could see a light shining through broken rubble.

He used both hands to break away the rock,
exposing more of the light but no details beyond it. After a few
moments, he judged it wide enough for him to thrust his head into
and finally gasp for air.

* * * *

"Ey der! Yous is awake!"

Alto rolled onto his side and started
coughing and gagging. His body ached and he felt a cold deep in his
bones, but none of that mattered while he felt he had water trapped
in his chest.

"Stupid, yous isn't drownin. Bonky pulled
yous out of da water and Thork made sure da river wasn’t gonna bash
yous for good."

Alto heard the words but it took him several
painful minutes to calm himself and roll over slowly. "Thork?" he
croaked at long last when he saw the massive green-skinned troll
sitting nearby.

"Yep, dats me!"

A spasm rippled through Alto and he had to
focus to keep from hacking at the phantom water he still felt in
his chest. When it passed, he looked at the troll in a strange
green fire that seemed to be burning out of a rock. "You saved
me?"

"Nope! Bonky saved yous," Thork reminded him.
"Thork pulled dat other stupid out. Him was all fired up wondering
about yous, but Bonky hadn't fished yous out yet so Thork didn't
know nothing."

"Beck's alive!" Alto hissed.

"Yep, him's kickin. Ran off like him's
britches was on fire!"

"I thought his armor would sink him," Alto
muttered.

"Dat stupid had some serious mojo on him,"
the troll shaman said. "'Specially dat armor. Magic armor like dat
don't weigh nothin to da guy wearing it."

Alto grunted. "That explains it," he said. He
looked down at himself and saw that he had a strange blanket that
looked like it was made out of moss. He pulled it away and saw that
he was naked beneath it. "By the saints! Where are my clothes?"

Thork guffawed. "Yous didn't have much, just
yous pants, boots, and dat sword Thork gived you."

"Right, so where are they?"

Thork pointed to the other side of the
strange fire. His pants were stretched out on a rock to dry and his
sword and scabbard leaned against the cave wall.

"Oh, okay. So, uh, where are we?"

Thork shrugged. "Deep under da mountains.
Thork was looking for stuff. Mushrooms, moss, lizards, rocks.
Different fings him could make potions out of. Found some of dem,
den we founds yous too!"

"Thork, how long have I been asleep?"

The troll held up his hands and started
counting on his fingers. After he moved on to his second hand, he
shrugged and said, "Lots of hours. Thork had to convince Jarook to
help yous out."

Alto stiffened. Jarook was the saint of fear.
His dreams made sense now. When he'd drunk Thork's potion before,
he'd been gripped by fears of failure so powerful they nearly
crippled him. This time he'd been stricken with doubt and conceived
of the most terrible things he could imagine. "I dreamt terrible
things," he admitted.

Thork grinned. "Yous did! But yous didn't let
dem beat yous. Dat's why Thork helps yous out. Yous isn't afeared
of fear!"

Alto blinked. "What?"

"Da fings dat scare da snot out of yous,"
Thork explained. "Yous doesn't let dat stop yous. If yous wasn't so
short and human, Thork could turn yous into a good shaman of
Jarook!"

Alto let out a ragged chuckle. "Thanks, but
I'll stick with being human."

The troll shrugged. "Yous still a stupid, so
dat's okies."

Alto sat up fully and pushed the moss away.
He fought back his embarrassment and walked around the strange
fire, feeling its warmth fight off the bitter chill in his bones.
He grabbed his dry pants and pulled them on, and then slipped his
boots on and tied them. He grabbed Kevard's Sword last and buckled
it on.

"I have to stop Beck's army," Alto said.
Thork stared at him until Alto realized the troll was waiting for
him to continue. "Um, can you help?"

"Thork could maybe bash a bunch of dem, but
derz just too many," the troll said after a moment of
consideration. He held up his fingers and tried to count them off,
and then ran out of fingers and reached to take off his boots.

Alto cleared his throat to get his attention.
"No, my friend, I wouldn't risk your safety. I hoped you might know
some secret way I could get in there and destroy their forges."