Victim of Fate (28 page)

Thork looked up and grinned a very troubling
and toothy grin. "Why didn't yous say so?"

Alto gaped at the troll. "You know a
way?"

He nodded his head and stood up, only to
smack his head against the low ceiling of the cave. Thork grabbed
his spear and turned and jammed it up into the rocky ceiling. Alto
winced, expecting the weapon to break from the powerful blow.
Instead, the spear's tip cut a gouge into the rock and sent pebbles
and dust flying.

Alto stared at the crack in the ceiling even
after Thork turned away and motioned for him to follow. "Yous gots
to come wif me. Dem fires is elemental, dat scrawny wizard
Fizzuldork put some mojo into them. Nuffin is gonna put dem out,
but Thork has something dat can help." The troll giggled and added,
"Den Thork is gonna get da fear out of here so him can watch da
show!"

"Show? What show?"

Thork gestured again. "Come, Thork shows you
what yous needs to do!"

Alto followed the troll through the caves.
The fire died out behind them but he saw that Thork's spear was
glowing with that same greenish light. He shook his head and stayed
close, not knowing what else might lurk in the dark caverns.

The cave opened into a flat room that had
been natural before Thork showed up. He'd modified it by moving
rocks and setting up several alchemical devices. He'd somehow
hollowed out a pit that had red hot coals banked with it. The smoke
rose up to a dark cloud near the ceiling above it and failed to
spread any further.

"This is amazing," Alto whispered.

Thork shrugged. "It’s okies. Thork hasn't had
time to set dis place up right yet. It just for a little while,
till Thork finds da next Trolwerkz!"

Alto shook his head at the enthusiasm the
troll had for his lab. He looked around and saw Bonky, Thork's
goblin servant, emerge from behind a boulder. This time Bonky had
white skin and bright blue hair. Alto suppressed a laugh and waved
to the short assistant. "I understand I have you to thank for
saving me."

Bonky jumped back and glared at him. Thork
laughed. "Yous doesn't thank him. Bonky was hoping to go frough
yous pockets and maybe eat yous if yous was dead."

Alto's smile faded while the goblin's grew.
Alto tried, and failed, to repress a shiver. "Uh, well, thanks
anyhow, I guess."

Thork chuckled. He moved to several flat
rocks that he'd set various alchemical ingredients on and started
poking around. He picked up a few and pushed most of the others
aside, and then he drew a knife and started to cut some of them up.
Finished with one item, he turned to another and smashed it with
his palm, and then ground up the little fragments of whatever it
had been with the flat of the dagger.

Thork continued, occasionally muttering
something, and then he reached into a pouch at his side and pulled
out a bright orange wriggling lizard. He used his knife to open it
up from belly to throat and caught the blood that ran out in a
small bowl. Smoke rose from the few drops that landed on the rock.
Finished with the lizard, he tossed it in his mouth and crunched
down on it. He belched loudly after swallowing it.

Alto watched, fascinated, as Thork began to
combine the ingredients in a larger bowl. He mixed them together
with the same knife, and then poured them into a flask. "Dis is for
yous," the shaman said as he thrust the metal flask towards
Alto.

Alto stared at it but didn't take it until
the troll shook it impatiently. "What do I do with it?"

"Yous drink it, stupid!" The troll shook his
head. Alto started to raise it but the troll waved his hands and
said, "Wait till yous get to da lava flows!"

Alto lowered the flask and made sure the cork
stopper was still secure in the neck. "Lava flows?"

"Well if yous wants to bring down da
mountain, yous gots to blow it up good!"

Alto felt the hair on his neck stand up at
the troll's words. "Bring down the mountain?"

"Derz an echo in here," Thork muttered. Bonky
cackled from where he had slid down behind a rock to chew on a bone
he'd pulled out of a pouch. "Look, Thork has to make dis potion den
protect it from da lava. Yous go down dere and drop it in, den run
like da dogs of fear is following yous! Dat potion Thork gave yous
will help wif da heat, but nuffin gonna help yous if you don't get
far nuff away when da mojo runs out and dat ting blows!"

"It's going to blow up the mountain?" Alto
couldn't believe anything Thork could do would have power like
that.

"Well, not da whole fing, but enough to send
some rumblins for miles an miles!" Thork grinned. "Now go look at
dat stuff over der, yous is gonna need some fings to wear if yous
wants to get out alive."

Alto followed Thork's gesturing hand and saw
a collection of sacks and bags shoved against a wall. He walked
over to it and started to look through them with as much care as he
could. He was frightened about what he might find. A glint of steel
changed his mind and made him dive in. He pulled out suits of mail,
both chain and plate, as well as hammers, maces, axes, and swords
that were little more than daggers to him. Alto's hopes rose and
fell when he realized the gleaming mail was too small for him.

"What is this stuff?" Alto asked.

"What? Oh, dats stuff dem dorfs left behind
when dem got runned out. Most of der stuff rotted, but deez tings
has magic to dem."

"They're too small," Alto lamented.

Thork guffawed. "How yous fink Thork
feels?"

Alto glanced at the towering troll and felt
his cheeks warm. The shaman was a couple of heads taller than him
and larger around by far. He sighed and moved to the next sack,
hoping in vain that he might find something he could use.

"Thork, do you know if my friends are
safe?"

The troll glanced up at him and chuckled. It
was a sound that Alto suspected might be the source of his next
nightmare. "Thork is good, but him's not dat good!"

Alto nodded. He hadn't expected the troll to
know but he'd been surprised at almost every turn by the strange
being. Speaking of which, that reminded him. "What are you doing
here? I know, looking for things. I mean why here? I thought you'd
left after helping us go after Barador?"

Thork looked up again from the concoction he
was mixing. He frowned, one of his large canine teeth poking
between his lips. "Thork likes to be where fings is happenin. Ders
lots of stuff going on up here. Lots of stupids and lots of
bashins! Dat means dere's lots of fear and when ders fear, ders a
chance of finding sumfin special."

Alto pondered the troll's words until he was
able to make some sort of sense out of them. "Something special?
Like what, a potion or dwarven relic?"

Thork snorted and kicked up a small cloud of
dust from the powder he was measuring. It puffed up around him and
tickled his large nose, causing him to sneeze violently. Herbs,
jars, cups, and equipment went flying. Thork stared down at the
mess he'd made and ran the back of his hand across his lips.
"Oops," he muttered. "Dats gonna change dis."

The troll shrugged and looked up at Alto.
"Dorfs got sum neat fings, but nuffin Thork cares about. Thork just
collects stuff in case him needs it laters. Or maybe to give to
stupids like yous." The troll grinned again but Alto was getting
used to the toothy smile. "Sumfin special is a stupid like yous,
maybe. Yous learnin how to use yous fear so yous is da one in
control. Dats special. Most stupids doesn't do dat. Dem can't do
dat."

Alto raised an eyebrow as Thork gathered his
scattered items back up. Dealing with his fears was how he'd been
raised. His father had told him that a man doesn't run from a
challenge when it's something he can put right by facing it. "I
guess it's good to be special," Alto said.

"Dat's da troof!" Thork said. He reached into
a pocket at his side and pulled out a larger metal flask. He
uncapped it and took a healthy drink, and then recapped it and
slipped it back into a sack at his side.

Alto noticed the sack looked no different now
than when the flask hadn't been in it. "What sort of potion was
that?" he asked.

Thork laughed. "Swamp juice! Thork was
thirsty."

"Swamp juice?"

Thork grinned and shook his head. "Put hairs
on yous chest! Yous want some?"

"Uh, maybe later."

Thork shrugged. "Keep looking. Thork saw some
stuff dat might fit yous."

Alto nodded and returned his attention to the
sacks. It might be safer if he didn't distract the shaman while he
was working on the potion. It wasn't until the third sack that he
found something of interest. He pulled out a kite shield embossed
with a crown floating over the tip of a mountain. It warmed to his
touch.

Alto dug deeper into the sack and pulled out
an entire suit of plate mail in pieces. He inspected it closer and
saw the buckles and straps looked like they'd been attached only
yesterday. He held the pieces up and felt his growing hopes dashed
against the rocky walls. The breastplate and cuirass looked large
enough for him, but the vambraces, gauntlets, and greaves were too
short. Remembering Mordrim's stature, Alto could understand
why.

A hauberk in the bottom of the bag caught his
eye. He picked it up, sneering at the dirt coating it and expected
it to fall apart. Instead, it held together and, where the chain
links rubbed against one another, showed gleaming patches of
steel.

"How is this possible?" Alto wondered aloud
as he continued to rub the dirt and grime away.

"Dorf steel doesn't rust. Even if dat doesn't
got no mojo to it, it's still armor da stumpies made and dem make
it to last," Thork called over.

Satisfied with the cleaning job he'd done,
Alto slipped the hauberk over his head and let it fall on his
shoulders. It felt lighter than he'd expected, lighter than his old
armor, by far. It wasn't long enough to protect his hips or thighs
but it beat running around shirtless in the dark. Alto turned to
face Thork when the armor pinched and pulled at the hair on his
chest. He yelped.

Thork stared at him. "What yous fussin for?
Yous got sumfin."

"No tunic or doublet," Alto explained. "It's
going to pinch and pull at me but that's all right."

Thork grinned and dug through a chest behind
him. He pulled out a strange tin and tossed it to Alto. "Rub dis on
yous chest and back. Wherever yous is gettin nipped."

Alto walked over, wincing as he felt several
more hairs plucked out. He slipped it back over his head, grimacing
at the multiple pricks of pain the armor removal caused. Alto took
the tin and popped the lid off, and then looked at the red-colored
cream inside it. He shrugged; Thork had been nothing but helpful to
him all along. Alto dipped his fingers in and felt a cool tingle in
them. He studied the strange substance and then smeared it across
his chest, shoulders, and stomach. He gathered more of it and
struggled to repeat as much of the process as he could on his
back.

By the time he had finished, the cool
sensation had changed. His chest had started growing warm and now
it felt like it was on fire. Or as if a hundred tiny bees were
stinging him. He gasped after fighting against the pain for a
moment and then looked up at the troll. "What is this?" he hissed.
"It's burning me!"

Thork nodded. "Burnin da hairs off! Maybe
some skin too, yous should wash it off now."

Alto gasped as his back began to feel singed
as well. "Where? I need water!"

Thork frowned. "Oops. Water. Dats a good
ideer. Back down dat cave ders da pond Bonky fished yous out of.
Try dat!"

Alto tossed the tin on Thork's rock and took
off at a run. Within a dozen feet of entering the cave, the light
from the fire and the troll's spear faded so that he was stumbling
in the dark. He tripped on a rock and bounced off another one
before he came to a rest. Gritting his teeth, Alto climbed to his
feet and noticed that there was still some light that remained. The
cream on his chest and back was letting off a faint reddish glow.
He stumbled forward and kept his arms out, feeling blindly until he
felt a cool mist on his face.

Using his own radiance to guide him, Alto
found the soft muck that promised water ahead. He stripped off his
boots and pants and walked forward into the cold mud until icy
water covered his feet. Alto kept going until the water was at his
knees and the mud was behind him. He dropped down, driving his
knees into hard rocks and then prostrated himself in the water. He
scrubbed furiously at the cream but felt only the agony of the
burning potion eating away at him.

Minutes passed until Alto realized he
couldn't see anymore. His skin had stopped glowing, a sign that
he'd accomplished his task. He still felt pain but the agony wasn't
one of active burning, more of exposed raw skin. He stood up and
turned around, searching for the way he'd come. All he saw was
darkness.

"Uh, Thork?" Alto called out. He yelled
louder and heard his voice echo off the dripping walls. "I can't
see!"

Enough time passed in the darkness that Alto
wondered if he'd gone farther than he'd thought. He felt about with
his feet, trying to find the mud that would guide him to the shore.
He was shivering now, his raw skin both aching and freezing as the
water dried. Alto was about to cry out again for the troll when he
heard a soft splash of water against rock.

Alto spun around, disturbing the water with
his movements. He stared without sight and felt his heart hammer in
his chest loud enough to make his earlier fears of being burned
alive pale in comparison. Whatever it was must be able to see him,
but he couldn't see it. Was it just a ripple in the water or was it
something else? Something large and hungry?

Or was it the troll himself, come to test and
tease him? He had a strange sense of humor, that much Alto had seen
for himself, but he didn't think a practical joke like this was in
Thork's nature. Thork’s practical jokes, he imagined, were probably
more blunt and brutal.