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theodor1289

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“Well, that’ll give you something to do while I finish up here,” Aiden responded absently.

There were a number of strange objects and papers on the desk: sheets of dry parchment, an ornate metal rod, and other odd knickknacks. In the background, he could hear Pacian quietly informing the others of their find.

A peculiar sound echoed off the stonework. It was deep, more of a vibration, and was powerful enough to cause a few of the glass objects in the room to shake.

Somewhat alarmed, Aiden tilted his head to try and discern where it had come from. He was fairly certain it was echoing up from below, so at least it wasn’t something he’d unleashed by opening up this room.

“Aiden, something’s not right,” came Pacian’s call from outside the door, all pretense at stealth thrown to the wind.

“Another minute and I’ll be done here,” he called back, unable to pull himself away from the wealth of information, and potential answers, he could sense laid out before him. He quickly took off his backpack, pulled out a waterproof oil sack and started carefully placing object after object from the table into it for later examination.

A moment later, a woman’s scream sounded from below, only to be cut off by the deafening roar of some unimaginable creature.

Pacian swore loudly, and Aiden dropped the sack in shock, limping outside as fast as he could manage to join his startled friend at the edge of the large hole, looking down at the most terrifying sight he had ever seen.

Emerging from the water below was a massive serpentine head, easily ten feet long, with a long, sleek body that disappeared into the depths. Glistening water dripped from the dark, scaled skin of the creature’s head as it extended from a breach in the floor and closed in on their companions.

Sayana was scrambling over the rubble, trying to get away from the approaching monster, while Colt and Nellise were moving through the water as fast as they could. The massive head moved with uncanny speed, heading straight for Colt’s back, but the big man must have sensed its approach, for he turned around in the water, sword drawn, and looked straight down into the mouth of hell.

Aiden clutched onto the edge of the stone hole with white-knuckled tension as he watched the scene unfolding below. The giant serpent snapped its jaws a couple of times at Colt, who swung his sword back and forth to keep the giant fanged mouth at bay.

Wary of the large weapon, it suddenly lunged at Nellise, who was stumbling through the knee-deep waters nearby. She didn’t even see it coming, intent on escaping as she was, and was snatched up in the massive jaws of the serpent as they clamped down on her torso and lifted her from the ground.

“Son of a bitch!” Pacian yelled instinctively, drawing his two daggers and courageously leaping through the hole to land squarely on the beast’s back. Its head was too far from where he landed to permit any eye-gouging, but that didn’t stop Pacian from driving both blades deep into its hide, causing it to emit an ear-shattering roar as it spat Nellise out. Her staff was flung from her hands as she fell, landing on a nearby pile of detritus, but still shedding enough light to see by.

Colt seized the opportunity to move forward and lunge at the distracted beast with his greatsword, finally facing a foe that the oversized weapon was ideal to fight. With two sweeps of the weapon, Colt cut deep slashing wounds along the sides of the creature’s underbelly, spilling its blood into the foul waters around them.

The giant serpent was thrashing about, trying to dislodge Pacian, who was stabbing it over and over again in blind rage. Despite his best efforts however, he couldn’t maintain his grip on the slippery hide of the beast, and was thrown into the shallow water nearby.

Aiden wracked his brains, trying to figure out a way of hurting the beast. Looking around frantically, he spied a large chunk of rock. Grasping it with his gloved hands, Aiden heaved with all the strength he could muster, slowly moving the massive chunk of stone towards the large hole, spurred on by the terrified shouts of his friends below.

He gave the rock one last heave and pushed it over the edge, then watched the results. His aim was a little off, but the rock clipped the side of the giant serpent’s body distracting it from its prey. The head pulled back from harassing Colt, then tilted upwards, looking Aiden straight in the eye. Panicking, he scuttled back from the edge as quickly as he could, narrowly avoiding the head as it thrust straight up through the hole, slamming into the rock above it.

A large reptilian eye, bright yellow in color, stared down at him, and the distinctive coppery smell of fresh blood almost covered the musty odor of its slimy hide. The torch Pacian had left with him was starting to die, its meagre fuel having been used up, but it was enough for Aiden to see that the immense maw before him was filled with razor-sharp teeth.

Aiden lunged towards the doorway at full speed, only to have his wounded leg give way as he hit the door. Pain surged up his body as he tumbled into the room in time to avoid the serpent’s head, which slammed into the wall behind him. Its head was too big to fit through the doorway, but it gnashed its teeth and bellowed loudly trying to break through.

Again and again, the giant serpent slammed into the doorway, the sound of stone cracking from the impact becoming louder with each hit. If only the door’s trap was still active, it’d probably blast the head off it.

An idea flashed into Aiden’s mind — if the man who had lived here had a mechanism to quickly switch off the trap to allow safe passage, there was probably a way to switch it back on from the inside.

He limped painfully over to the edge of the doorway, making sure to stay out of the monster’s reach. By the dying light of his torch, he could see the same incomprehensible rune Pacian had recognized as the secret switch. He jumped back in fear as the serpent crunched into the stone, roaring so loudly Aiden thought he’d be deafened, then rushed back in and pushed the rune.

Whatever cunning mechanism the dwarves had designed was still working after a century of neglect, and the door cranked itself shut. From beyond, the unique crackle of arcane power being unleashed could be heard, along with the agonized roar of the serpent. Intensely bright light suddenly shone from under a crack in the door and the sound of the serpent, still howling madly, could be heard withdrawing until it vanished altogether.

Aiden slumped against the door, breathing hard and shaking like a leaf. He sat there for the better part of a minute, gathering his courage, before he leaned over and pressed the button to open the door once more.

The smell of charred fish wafted in as the door swung open. He could hear his friends below calling out for him, no doubt unaware that he was still alive, after a fashion.

“I’m okay,” he called back, picking himself up, being careful to keep his weight off his injured leg. While not broken, it was certainly injured, and wouldn’t be much use to him until they’d had a chance for Nellise to rest.

“We have to get moving, now!” Colt bellowed impatiently. “Drop whatever it is you’re doing and get down here — Clavis says he’s found us a way out.”

Aiden picked up the sack and swept the rest of the material into it. Satisfied he had everything of value, he said a quick farewell to the remains of the wizard whose trap had saved his life, then limped outside, closing the door behind him and touching the arcane rune so that the remains would continue to go undisturbed. He secured the sack over his shoulder, tying it in place so as not to lose it, then hurried over towards the hole.

Before he could make it, several spears were thrust through the gap in the wall, coming close to impaling Aiden’s chest. He jumped backwards in surprise, then tossed the sputtering torch down onto the pile of detritus below and quickly lowered himself through the hole. He landed heavily on his good leg and looked around to gauge the situation.

The others were gathered around Nellise, who had begun to heal them. Her battered breastplate had been cast aside — the serpent’s great teeth had left gouges all around the armor, to the point of rendering it beyond repair, but it had saved her life.

“Those crazy dwarves know where we are,” Aiden blurted quickly as he got back on his feet.

“Great,” Colt growled. “You know, when Pacian loots something, at least he’s quick about it.”

“Sorry, but I found a few things that might turn out to be important. Is everyone okay?”

“Yeah, but only because we got lucky. That damn snake was too cautious attacking us. Probably been stung in fights with the dwarves in the past, ’cause I saw a lot of scars along its hide. But you burned its face real good, Aiden. It’ll either swim back to its mother, or come back and attack us with everything it’s got.”

“Ho there,” Clavis called from nearby. He stood right at the outer edge of their light, holding something in his right hand. “I found me king’s axe!” he roared, holding the shining weapon above his head in triumph. “I’m freezing me arse off, but I’ve other good news, too — I found that breach ya thought might be there, Aiden, and it’s a beautiful sight! It’s not far down this hole and leads up into an old lake, mostly drained now, o’ course, but I felt a breeze on me face. Say, what the hell happened here?”

“We’ll tell you later,” Nellise said with a tremulous voice, popping her crystal back into its pouch and slowly getting to her feet. “That’s all the healing I can do for now, my friends. Any more, and I won’t have the strength to swim out of here.”

“We’ll manage,” Pacian remarked hastily. “Clavis, can you lead us over to this breach you found?”

The dwarf was about to answer when the water between them erupted, and the serpent’s head plunged towards them once more. In the brief, terrifying second before it struck, Aiden could see its face was hideously scarred from the explosion above. Its left eye was milky white, having been blinded from the blast.

It lunged for Pacian, who managed to leap aside as the massive jaws clamped shut on the air where he’d been standing. Nellise and Sayana backed away from it, wading through the water as fast as they could.

“What happened to my crossbow?” Nellise exclaimed, grabbing the space behind her back where it normally hung, frantically searching for the missing weapon.

“Never found it!” Colt barked back, maneuvering for position against the immense creature.

Aiden drew his sword and spoke the command word to bring his shield into being, but nothing happened. Whatever magic had been in the glove’s crystal was now gone.

The beast wasn’t waiting to see what happened this time — it struck the big ranger, slamming him back into the debris pile on which they stood, and then attempted to bite his head off. The remains of his leathers weren’t enough to thwart the serpent’s attempt to dig in its huge fangs, but while it was busy doing that, Aiden summoned all of his strength and, along with a weary Pacian, managed to get a couple of vicious stabs in on its blind side, distracting the monster before it could snap Colt up in its jaws.

With his wounded leg, Aiden couldn’t move out of the way fast enough to avoid its bulk as the serpent crushed him up against the pile of debris. Aiden felt his leather breast piece crack and gasped in pain, but fortunately the giant serpent did not keep up the crushing attack as Colt went on the offensive.

Gasping for breath, Aiden glanced to his left and noticed that Clavis still hadn’t joined the fight. The dwarf stood there, not twenty yards away, clutching his new-found prize and watching the battle unfold before him.

“Clavis, help us!” Aiden called, picking himself up and clutching at his side with his free hand. The dwarf continued to hesitate and then made up his mind, sinking down into the water and disappearing from view. Uncertain what he was up to, Aiden swore under his breath and limped back into the fray, taking a futile swing at the long body of the serpent as it continued to press the attack.

“You wanna eat something? Eat me, you hell-spawned bastard!” Colt yelled out in challenge to the giant serpent, swinging his weapon wildly at the monster. Pacian resorted to throwing his few remaining knives, trying to keep it distracted so that the others could attack it, but the giant serpent seemed beyond such minor annoyances.

Colt almost lost his footing on the treacherous surface as he moved in for a swing at the beast. Though it only took a second to flash through his mind, the sense that they were finally beaten took the remaining strength from Aiden’ resolve.

Then, with a burst of water, Clavis emerged at the base of the monster’s body, roaring and swinging his family’s ancestral axe at the vulnerable flank of the beast. The shining weapon cut through its hide like a hot knife through butter as it roared in agony. Quick as a flash, the razor-filled mouth turned straight for the dwarf.

“Get out of me city, ya thrice-damned overgrown carpet snake!” he bellowed, slicing through flesh and muscle with each cut. He could easily have moved out of the way in time, but instead, he held fast, keeping up the attack with all of his might as the wounded serpent, enraged beyond measure, descended towards him.

At the last moment, Clavis swung, taking out one of the great fangs from that terrible mouth and cutting deep into the flesh, then reversing his stroke to smash the hilt of the weapon in to its snout.

Mortally wounded from its mounting injuries, the snake roared and lunged at him, jaws wide enough to engulf the dwarf’s head and upper body, swallowing him in one go as the precious axe dropped into the water and sank.

“No!” Aiden cried out in horror, hearing the others’ shocked cries join his own. Sayana, who had been hiding around one side of the debris pile, threw all caution to the wind and ran to the top, her axe held over her head. The wild girl sent the weapon flying through the air, striking the beast’s head solidly enough that they could hear the bone crack.

Nellise picked up Clavis’s repeater and began to shoot bolt after bolt at the creature. The giant serpent bellowed weakly one last time as it slowly withdrew below the water to die in some dark hole.

A stunned silence had descended upon them as the rippling lake grew still. Only the sounds of dripping water and their ragged breaths could be heard. Aiden doubled over, hands on his knees as he tried to catch his breath after the furious fight.

Their brief moment of respite ended seconds later, when rocks tumbled in from above as the dwarves started to break through. Aiden almost cried out in dismay from the unrelenting challenges of this damned city.

“We are leaving, now,” he shouted, mostly to convince his battered body to keep moving. “We’ll mourn Clavis later.”

“We can’t see underwater,” Nellise remarked in a voice devoid of feeling.

“I’ll swim down with your staff,” Colt breathed as he held one arm against his bloodied side. “When I find the breach, I’ll leave it down there to light the way for the rest of you, okay?” Everyone nodded in reply, too overwhelmed to say anything further.

A large rock fell from the hole above, giving Aiden the final surge of adrenaline he needed to keep going. Colt retrieved Nellise’s staff and waded through the murky waters, looking for the hole that Clavis had discovered. A minute later, Colt took off his cloak and tossed it aside, then dove down into the frigid waters with the glowing staff wedged into his backpack.

Aiden and the others gathered around the point where the ranger went in and watched as the light descended beneath the water. There was a glint of something shining in the waters nearby, and Pacian reached down to retrieve the axe of the king of Ferrumgaard. Nobody spoke for a long moment as he held the weapon before him, examining it until the light faded almost completely as Colt swam further away.

“He died recovering that thing,” Nellise whispered.

“Doesn’t seem worth the trade,” Pacian mumbled, strapping it to his pack like any other piece of treasure he’d recover.

“How long has he been down there now?” Sayana asked, arms wrapped around her body to try and keep warm.

“Too long,” Nellise muttered.

“I’m going to go look,” Pacian declared, removing his tattered coat and bracing himself for the cold. The sudden cries of the dwarves from the nearby ceiling breach helped him find his courage, and he plunged into the water without further complaint.

“We can’t wait to see if they’ve made it,” Aiden said. “They’ll be onto us any moment. Sayana, you’re next.” The wild girl steeled herself as she went. “I’m going in last, Nel, so don’t even think about trying to change my mind on this.”

“I wasn’t going to say a thing,” she protested, inhaling deeply before easing herself into the waters.

Aiden only waited a few seconds before preparing himself for the dive, for he knew their enemies were moments away from breaking through. He plunged into the water, stifling the urge to gasp at the bracing cold.

Though his injured leg hurt with every kick, he managed to swim downward towards the dim light coming from the staff without too much trouble. As soon as he’d passed through the floor, the eastern wall loomed up ahead, lit by the staff. Colt had dropped it onto the floor near the breach, which was a great tear in the stone, over thirty feet long, nearly reaching from the ceiling to the floor.

He only spent a second or two gazing around, but what he saw was astonishing — this was truly the home of royalty, for the remaining buildings here were shining with gold trim and adorned with intricate carvings. Moss and other plant life were growing amidst the decaying ruins of the dwarven nobility, but it barely detracted from the opulence on display.

Small fish darted past as Aiden swam through the breach and upwards, kicking and pulling with his arms as hard as he could, for his breath was nearly gone and the weight of his equipment was making it difficult.

A few moments later, he reached the surface and inhaled deeply, treading water as best he could. He could make out the faint sight of Nellise’s white robe on the shore up ahead and swam towards her. Colt was at the edge of the dark waters, reaching out a hand to guide him ashore.

Aiden clasped it and allowed the big man to drag him out of the water, where he promptly fell in a wet heap on the rocky ground.

They lay there, drenched, cold and terribly injured, both in body and spirit, for several minutes before they could recover from the swim and the deplorable loss of someone that they had come to know as a friend. There was little to see around them, as the light from the sunken staff was barely visible here. It could be easily surmised that they were in the remains of the underground lake, outside of Ferrumgaard proper, and were almost free from the dreadful place at last.

“Don’t get too comfortable,” Colt muttered tiredly, with Sayana and Pacian leaning heavily against the wall. “I reckon those dwarves were the ones to make that breach, so they know it’s there. If we don’t keep moving, we’ll freeze to death in these wet clothes.” Aiden knew he was right, but right now he wanted to curl up into a ball and rest.

“How are we going to find our way out of here?” he breathed. As if in answer, the light from Nellise’s staff suddenly went out altogether, only to be replaced by a glowing illumination coming from her crossbow instead.

“I moved the prayer of light,” she explained, “though it won’t prevent the staff being found by our pursuers.” Colt started scouting around for a way out of the cavern, while Aiden took a moment to look back down at the water and think of Clavis. It seemed appropriate to say a few words, but he could barely think clearly enough to force them out of his mouth.

“Found a way out,” Colt came back to say, pointing up at a large tunnel entrance. “Looks like a small river flows through here during the warmer months, and that means this will lead us to the surface.”

Somehow, Aiden managed to find the strength to get back on his feet and slowly drag himself after the others, pausing only for a moment to send a silent farewell to their fallen comrade.

Chapter Fourteen

It was an arduous climb from the depths of the mountain stronghold to the surface, made all the more difficult by their wounds. Worse than that, the tonic Nellise had made to instill them with energy had finally ebbed, leaving them exhausted and barely able to walk.

For reasons unknown, there were no signs of pursuit from the insane dwarves of Ferrumgaard. Whether they were uninterested in leaving the safety of their ruined city, or assumed Aiden and the others had been slain by the serpent, they would never know.

They were an exhausted, miserable bunch by the time they finally saw a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, leaning on each other for support and to stave off the chill from their soaked clothing. When they emerged from the cave into the night air, Aiden toppled over in relief.

The ground before them was covered in a thick layer of fresh snow, which glowed eerily in the moonlight filtering through the clouds. Their breath misted in the frigid air as even more snow drifted down from the grey skies above. Aiden guessed they had emerged somewhere in the Calespur ranges, for there were thick pine trees sighing in a light breeze, silhouetted against the snow.

The air was crisp and laden with the smell of pine needles, a stark contrast to the musty dampness below. It was almost picturesque, which made the things they had witnessed down below seem all the more surreal.

“How long were we down there?” Nellise whispered, looking around in disbelief. “It felt like less than a day.”

“You lose track of time underground,” Sayana replied wearily. “It may have felt like hours, but it was much longer.”

“Must be somewhere in the southwest of the ranges,” Colt muttered, looking around at the scene before them.

“We need shelter, or we’re going to freeze to death,” Nellise mumbled, leaning heavily against the stone.

“If memory serves, there’s an old cabin around here somewhere,” Colt responded. “The Rangers seized it when the owner was caught poaching on the king’s game reserve. We need to keep moving.”

“I don’t think I can make it,” Sayana whispered.

“Sorry, Sy, but it’s gotta be done. I have a solution, though, if you’re not too proud to accept my help.” Colt picked her up in his arms as if she were made out of feathers, then turned and led them through the snow.

Each step through the freezing terrain was painful, requiring monumental effort to put one foot in front of the other. Aiden had never been so exhausted in his life, and he couldn’t stop shaking. His damp clothing clung to his body and chilled him to the bone, yet after a few minutes there was still no sign of the cabin Colt mentioned, and Aiden despaired of them finding shelter in time.

Without warning, Aiden suddenly fell face-first into the snow, where he lay unmoving, too exhausted to take one more step in the freezing cold. He vaguely heard someone else fall to the ground nearby, and he knew this was going to be the death of them all.

Then Aiden felt an odd sensation of being flipped over and dragged through the snow. He mustered the strength to look down at his feet and saw another tall figure dressed in ranger leathers.

* * *

The sound of a crackling fire roused Aiden from a deep sleep. His opened his eyes a little, revealing the blurry scene of a dimly-lit log cabin. He was half-buried under thick blankets, yet he couldn’t stop shaking, and his body ached.

His mind was foggy, and he didn’t at first recall how he had arrived here, but tilting his head slightly, Aiden saw a cloaked figure crouched before the fire, stirring a pot of stew. He couldn’t see the person’s face, but noticed flowing, golden hair tumbling from beneath the hood.

“Where am I?” Aiden croaked, barely able to speak. The figure’s head turned to regard him curiously, revealing a woman of remarkable beauty watching him with glittering green eyes.