Chapter 23. Beneath the Tolle’Fornosse’Veetri
The following morning Thor, Orln and Neth’Gore waited outside the town at the appointed place. Before long the Grûndén they had spoken with the night before came into view. Gone was the cloak he wore in the pub, he was now dressed in plate armour, a heavy shield upon his back and large double headed battle axe cradled in his arms. He looked exactly like Grûndén soldiery should look, but there was something about him that was not right, Thor just could not place his finger on the reason why this should be.
“Hail t’ thee masters all.” The Grûndén removed his helm in greeting and looked up at the blue sky, the last vestiges of the morning mist were evaporating from beneath the damp leaves of the trees that surrounded them. He belched loudly and wiped the back of his gloved hand across his lips. “‘Tis a good day, a bright day, a travelin’ day no?”
Thor nodded his agreement, “but where is your companions and employer master Grûndén, do we meet them here also?”
“Nay laddie, they be camped in t’ mine already, we’ll be ameetin’ ‘em there later.”
Thor got the distinct impression that Neth’Gore’s eyes were drilling into the back of his head. Even Orln unslung his bow from his back and carried it at the ready in his hand, the other hand toyed for a few seconds with the dagger in his belt, twisting it this way and that between forefinger and thumb. If the Grûndén took note of this act, he did not make the fact obvious. Instead the Grûndén marched off through the trees down a path that didn’t look overly used. The T’Iea made to follow.
Orln strode by Thor’s side, he whispered through the side of his mouth, “I have a bad feeling about this. Why would he send his companion on ahead?”
Thor did not voice his first thought, he just looked at Orln and shrugged in a way that suggested he still did not share his suspicious view, although in the light of day and without the effects of the previous night’s ale, he did feel a little uneasy now about this whole thing but he was careful not to show this outwardly.
They followed the Grûndén, keeping him in front of them where he could be seen. Thor studied him, suddenly it occurred to him what was different about the Grûndén, what had nagged at him, it was his appearance. Although the Grûndén wore the armour typical of their kind, this armour was not made up of one particular style or one particular regiment or group. It looked to be made up from random pieces. The helm did not match the rest, he wore odd leg plates and only one arm guard. It looked like he had gained his armour over a period of time and not from the same source. But then they openly admitted to being mercenaries so perhaps this was not uncommon. Yet many Grûndén became mercenaries of sorts, yet they kept their regimental armour, it was part of them, part of who they were. Every Grûndén prized his armour and his weapons. Either this Grûndén had lost his armour or he had never had any. Or perhaps it had been taken away from him as some kind of act of dishonour, or shameful discharge.
After a couple of hours or so walking the terrain began to change. The path started to rise at quite an ever-steepening incline and the trees that grew profusely in the loamy soils of the forest now grew more sparsely, replaced by low shrubs and thorny growth. The path had changed from soft leaf mould to that of loose stone and bare rock, what little soil lay in the gaps between the rocks provided cover for the roots of a tough wiry grass. Thor noticed that about them that the forest had obviously been cleared for many tree stumps were left amongst the stony clearing. Strange but regular depressions were cut into the ground, small excavations as if someone had been digging here looking for something and when not successful they had moved somewhere else and began to dig once again. They walked around these depressions, never going down into one, for most were quite deep. Then they halted in front of another such depression, it looked the same as the others to Thor’s eyes, but the Grûndén scrambled down into the hole and started to clear the bottom of undergrowth. He indicated that the T’Iea should aid him in this work which they did, but Neth’Gore remained at the top of the depression looking around him as if he expected something or someone.
The Grûndén chortled and punching his thumb over his shoulder towards Neth’Gore he whispered to Thor, “’e be too good fo’ honest work’in then, yur death dealin’ fire brand friend yonder eh?”
Thor looked up at Neth’Gore, he didn’t want to say anything that may cause offence to anyone so he just nodded at the Grûndén and said, “he just remains on guard is all, it is his training.”
The Grûndén said no more but turned once again to the toil at hand. Once the work was done Thor could see that they had uncovered a pile of rocks, it looked like some kind of cairn, as if some burial chamber or other place of importance had been marked. In deed the Grûndén started to remove the stones that made up this cairn, slowly they uncovered the mouth of a cave, a tunnel went into the hillside. The Grûndén stepped down into the hole and motioned to them to follow, so they scrambled down into the depression and into the cave.
Just inside several lanterns hung on metal hooks that had been driven into the rock wall. The Grûndén removed a lantern and made to light it using a tinderbox. After several unsuccessful strikes the Grûndén swore but as he made to strike the flint once more the lantern burst into flame, he almost dropped the lantern in surprise.
“Leave the lanterns to me master Grûndén.” It was Neth’Gore who spoke.
The Grûndén grumbled something but he smiled and with a slight nod indicated other lanterns along the wall. Neth’Gore lit three others and the Grûndén handed them a lantern each. Once they all held a lantern the Grûndén turned towards the entrance. He picked up a dusty rope that Thor had not noticed. The Grûndén pulled sharply upon the rope and the rocks they had stacked up outside the entrance began to roll down towards them. Thor jumped back in alarm; he did not want to be crushed under those heavy stones. There was a deafening noise as they rolled down into the cave mouth, dust was everywhere. Thor coughed and when the dust cleared he could see that the entrance to the tunnel had been blocked once more by the stones that all seemed to interlock neatly into place and form a wall across the cave entrance. The Grûndén smiled and beckoned to them. They were walking off into the ever-increasing darkness of the tunnel.
The path was wide for fifty or so metres, then it narrowed rapidly, the tunnel walls enclosing them quickly until they could only pass in single file. The tunnel also seemed to be at an angle, for even though the Grûndén could walk comfortably upright, the taller T’Iea had to lean to the left away from the slanting tunnel wall on the right. The wall to their left continued vertically and the path hugged the base of this wall, but suddenly the wall to the right angled away from them and disappeared from view. To Thor’s discomfort a dark chasm appeared just to the right of the path. On a number of occasions he peered over the edge to see how deep the chasm may be, but the weak light from his lantern was never able to shine down far enough to see the bottom.
“So where do we meet with the others master Grûndén?” Asked Thor.
“Aye they must’ve moved on, prob’ly t’ the first stagin’ point, ‘tis a way ahead yet.”
Thor again felt a little anxiety towards this situation. He did not voice anything however, preferring to keep his thoughts to himself.
They walked onwards for many hours, the way remained the same. That is until at last the path led them through a sort of archway into an open area. The arch was cut neatly out of the rock and words in the Grûndén language were carved all the way around it.
Neth’Gore stopped and translated the words, “it is a prayer to Øédréll asking for safety and rich mining.”
Once through they could see that the chasm remained on their right but the cavern wall on the left opened out into a flat space, quite large in area.
The Grûndén said, “here we be safe fo’ t’ night. I suggest ye get some rest, an we’ll continue after.”
Thor looked around him. There was no sign of any habitation here. The only
hint at this place having been used in the past was the remains of a fire, but this fire had not been lit for a long time. “Is this the first staging area you talked of master Grûndén?”
“Aye this ‘ere be it, jus’ so laddie.”
Thor asked once again the question upon his mind. “So where then are your companions? It seems that no one has been here for any length of time in quite a while.”
Thor noticed the Grûndén was looking around them, Thor thought with a kind of nervousness about his manner. Suddenly out of the gloom a Grûndén they had not seen before appeared, Thor found he had slid his sword out from its scabbard and was holding it at the ready, Orln had notched an arrow and Neth’Gore stood a smouldering red flame held above his palm.
“Hey now laddie, dunny be a frettin’ this be one o’ me chums I be atellin’ e about, I told ye they would be at t’ first stagin’ place eh?”
Thor did remember what the Grûndén had said and he lowered his sword a little as several more figures appeared out of the gloom. Not all of these were Grûndén however, there were human men in the group, men who compared to the Grûndén were well dressed and looked like some sort of merchants. Their dress however was like that of the Grûndén armour, mismatched and ragtag and they sported beard growth on their chins as if they had not shaved for a few days, this was very unlike any merchants that Thor had met in the past. Something still nagged at Thor’s mind but he shrugged this off and decided to sit down and rub some feeling back into his aching ankles. The going had been easy enough, but small rocks and stones had littered the path in places and many were the times that Thor slipped on one and slightly twisted his ankle. The Grûndén after greeting the new comers made a fire in the same place as the old one Thor noticed. The three T’Iea sat with their backs against the cavern wall just beyond. Thor found himself starting to dose.
Thor didn’t know how long it had been, but he suddenly heard a soft grunt beside him, Neth’Gore lay prone upon the rock floor. At first Thor thought he must have fallen asleep, perhaps he had tried to keep a watchful eye and had succumbed at last to slumber, but something about his position and the fact that he did not reawaken when shaken by the shoulder made Thor even more uneasy. Thor noticed a small stone roll away from where Neth’Gore lay, the sort of stone that Thor as a child used to take into the forests of his home as ammunition for his sling shot. He moved towards where Neth’Gore lay and saw an angry redness upon mage’s temple. Before he could think any more he felt his sword in his hands as if by some reflex action and Orln came forward out of the darkness to stand upon the other side of Neth’Gore protecting the prone form of his comrade. The fire had dimmed to glowing embers and in the dark they could not see any assailant, but Orln ducked as some sixth sense warned him of another stone fired from somewhere ahead, this one passed close by his head, it struck the wall behind them with a loud clink and a spark. Orln drew on his bow and shot an arrow, a grunt and the dull crashing sound of armour hitting stone could be heard from were Thor supposed was the other side of the cavern. Where were the Grûndén? Had they also been overcome already? Thor glimpsed the shine of flashing steel in front of him; he just managed to parry the blow with his sword. The weapon that had been used against him was unmistakably one of the axes that their Grûndén companions wielded. Suddenly Thor wished he had taken more heed to Neth’Gore’s warnings. But his mind was now concentrating on staying alive. Several Grûndén and men now stood around them, snarls on their faces, axes and other weapons being wielded in a most menacing fashion. Then before any words could be voiced Thor was fighting in close combat. Orln had fired his bow, one Grûndén gave a gargling sound as his blood spurted from his mouth an arrow had struck right through his neck. Another shot was fired but this one glanced off a breastplate, as the Grûndén turned to meet the arrow at an angle rather than head on, the arrow shattered on the rock wall. Thor swung his blade, he dodged the slower axes as they were aimed at his head and torso, only blocking with his sword when necessary with the resulting bone-jarring impact of the heavy weapons the Grûndén wielded. Thor thought how he did not want even a glancing blow from such a weapon strike him. He took advantage as a Grûndén in front of him slipped on some loose gravel and in trying to keep his balance let his guard down. Thor thrust forward with his sword and felt the give of plate armour beneath its tip, he placed both hands on the hilt and pushed with all his might, the metal parted and the sword perforated the armour and slid through the metal and into the dwarfs chest. The Grûndén gave a look of surprise and fell to his knees, dropping his axe on the ground. Thor placed a foot upon his chest and pulled with all his might to withdraw his sword, but something struck him a blow to the head and he felt dizziness, his sight went black and he fell backwards to the floor. When his eyes saw again it was along the length of a battle-axe held against his throat. To his horror he saw Orln to one side of him battling two Grûndén who had him backed up against the drop beyond the path, as Thor looked on he saw Orln stumble on the edge, one of the Grûndén placed the head of his axe against Orln’s midriff and pushed, Orln overbalanced but he grabbed the axe head to stop himself from falling, the Grûndén tilted his head to one side and smiled as he let go of the axe handle and Orln fell still holding the axe by the double bladed head and disappeared down into the chasm. There was no sound. No scream, just a finality of silence.
The Grûndén that held the weapon against Thor’s throat said, “nay then laddie, I advise ye submit t’ keep ye’s ‘ead upon ye’s shoulders. Ye’s mage ‘e be dun and ye archer matey, well ‘e be agonna, may Øédréll look kindly upon ‘is soul. I dunt advise any heroics now laddie lest ye be ajoinin’ ‘im.”
Thor felt sick, he gagged on something rising in his throat, hands ran over him searching and removing anything that may be a weapon. He was dragged to a seating position and felt his hands being bound as were his feet. Neth’Gore groaned and came to, but Thor noticed his hands had been tied and also an old sackcloth bag pulled down over his head so that the mage could not see. Thor felt Neth’Gore’s probing in his mind. He felt awful, he did not want to open his mind to the mage, he felt ashamed somehow, he had failed them, his first command, his Trete’Y’Thego. He had allowed one of them to die.
The Grûndén had made camp, a fire was burning and what remained of the Grûndén mercenary force, Thor counted nine in all, sat around drinking ale and eating some dry biscuits. Those that had died in the fight, had been rather unceremoniously dumped over the edge of the chasm where Orln had fallen, after anything useful or of value had been stripped from their bodies. One Grûndén had been going through the pile of armour, he chose a couple of pieces that obviously looked in better condition than what he wore and took these to one side. A second Grûndén then had the opportunity to do the same; there was obviously some hierarchy or pecking order here. Eventually a Grûndén strode across to Thor and pushed a piece of dry bread between his lips. “’Ere ye go laddie try some Tarn Bread, it’ll keep up ye’s strength for ye’s escape attempt.” He then let out a bellow of a laugh; this sound was joined by his comrades sitting around the fire.
Time passed and the mercenaries eventually settled down. Some were already asleep. One of them came over to Thor and sat just beyond his reach, not that he could have done anything anyway for his hands were securely tied. The Grûndén quaffed on a tankard of ale.
Thor frowned. “What do you want with us master Grûndén? What plans do you have?”
“I be sorry laddie, I hopes ye dun’t take offence like, ye un’erstan’ it just be business is all.”
Thor recognised the Grûndén from the tavern, the one that had led them to this place. He felt anger rise in him, but he swallowed it, he wanted some information from this Grûndén, to humour him may loosen his tongue. “Business? So you have a commercial arrangement in our capture?”
“Aye laddie, ye ‘it t’ nail on t’ ‘ead so t’ speak.”
“But what then do you want with us, who wants us captured, or do they want
us dead?”
“Let’s jus’ say laddie someone be apayin’ a pretty price t’ have you out o’ t’ way like. Dunny take it personal like, those who pay us ain’t targeting ye personal like, our orders are to stop any T’Iea. But be ye careful laddie, fo’ that someone dunny care if ye be livin’ o’ dead. Call me sentimental laddie but I be preferin’ nat to kill ye, I’d prefer t’ stay friendly like wit’ T’Iea kind. For ol’ time’s sake eh?”
Thor felt Neth’Gore’s mental pressure upon him once more, this time he let the mage into his mind. “Keep him talking Thor,” was the short message.
“I advise you free us master Grûndén, we are on an important mission, if we do not arrive in the east we will be missed and my commander will send others to search for us, be assured of that.”
The Grûndén grunted, “aye laddie, but we be along gone by then. T’ a place far way. There be someone a willin’ t’ pay a pretty penny for ye’s not t’ reach t’ east o’ the mountains..”
The Grûndén’ words disturbed Thor. It was almost as if someone they knew perhaps had hired the Grûndén to stop Thor going into the east. But who, not many knew they would be going.”
“What do you mean, far away? My people will search anywhere in the world once we are missed. Who is it that hired you master Grûndén, I must know?”
The Grûndén chuckled, “Who says t’ place be in this world? Let’s jus’ say ‘tis they that ye p’raps be a least expectin’ eh?”
The Grûndén smiled and gave a short laugh, “aye ye be athinkin’ on it laddie.” He then rose and walked back across to the campfire where he sat. By this time all the other Grûndén seemed to be asleep, only this one Grûndén sat up smoking on his long clay pipe.
Thor brooded upon the Grûndén words. Who would want to stop them from going into the east. The T’Iea’Neat’Thegoran certainly, but who would be able to make contact with them? It is possible they had a spy in Ter’Hadsnefel, but he felt it unlikely. Briefly he thought of the Lady Solin and her friend, his commanding officer, Te’Onolan’u’De’Yiun. But why would he send them on this mission and then just have them stopped from completing it? Why not just keep them from going in the first place. No, this did not fit at all. But then he thought of the renegade officer, Te’Onolan’u’De’Hu’uinned, would he have arranged this? It would fit, he certainly may not want them in the east and he wouldn’t care if they were dead or alive especially as his travelling companions were probably viewed upon by him as deserters. But how would he find out so quickly of their intention to travel there? It was possible he had a spy in the city, even a mage that could mind speak perhaps.
But then Thor heard a swishing noise and the bindings around his wrists went slack. This was almost immediately followed by Neth’Gore’s silent warning in his head “WAIT”, so Thor remained still. He searched around in the darkness, but could see nothing or no one. The Grûndén still sat smoking by the fire. Thor heard another swish; this time it was unmistakably an arrow. He saw the arrow strike the head of the Grûndén by the fire, he slump forward. Thor felt hands grasp his elbows and raise him up. It was Neth’Gore with a finger against his lips.
He whispered. “Gather your gear, as much as you dare, but DON’T wake the Grûndén.”
Thor nodded; he untied his own ankles and crept forward, following closely behind Neth’Gore. A movement to his left made him look that way. Thor was greatly overjoyed to see Orln was also creeping across the cavern floor, he smiled and winked at Thor, then indicated a place beyond the Grûndén camp, a direction, the way in which they should go once they had everything that belonged to them. Thor looked down at the prone form of the Grûndén, he felt some sorrow. But this changed when he saw Orln’s arrow laying not embedded in the Grûndén’s head but by his side. Orln had removed the iron point and replaced it with a heavy pebble, bound to the shaft with some webbing. The Grûndén now sported a nasty red welt upon his temple. Thor smiled at the pay-back.
Soon the three T’Iea had their gear including the arrow that Orln had struck the head of the Grûndén with and were making silently off towards where Orln had indicated. They came to a tunnel entrance that led away from the cavern. Neth’Gore turned after entering the tunnel and concentrated hard. Orln grasped Thor’s arm and pulled him further into the tunnel.
Orln said, “best we not be around him when he is working.” Thor looked at Orln who winked at him.
When they were back a safe distance, they turned and watched Neth’Gore. He had his hands raised and was walking slowly backwards towards them. Thor noticed that the rocks immediately around the entrance to the tunnel were glowing red. The roof above the tunnel was already hot enough so that the melted rock started to drip down onto the tunnel floor. Thor noticed two of the Grûndén were stirring, one sat up and rubbed his eyes and stretched his arms. He then stood immediately his mouth open as he noticed Neth’Gore in the tunnel beyond. The Grûndén let out a cry of alarm. At the same time an ear-shattering crack was heard followed by two more and the rocks around the tunnel mouth disintegrated and came tumbling down. A few large boulders also smashed down onto the tunnel floor. Soon the three T’Iea were plunged into darkness. A bright light shone from Neth’Gore’s staff almost immediately. Thor could see that the tunnel mouth was completely blocked, fused molten rock and boulders filled the tunnel for some ten metres or so judging by the distance it was away from Neth’Gore and the position within the tunnel in which he had been standing.
Neth’Gore turned and walked to where Thor and Orln stood.
Thor said, “thank the Maker you were not dead Orln, how?”
Orln shouldered his bow and said, “simple really, the Grûndén axe I was so conveniently handed when I fell was very useful in that a swift chop embedded it into the rock wall of the chasm, I was able to halt my fall. Once I had bound myself to the axe I just hung there and waited. I rested until Neth’Gore gave me the message that the Grûndén had fallen asleep, then it was just a case of climbing back out of the chasm and putting our plan into operation.”
Thor laughed, “well we are safe for the time being at least.”
“Don’t underestimate our pursuers Thor,” it was Neth’Gore who spoke. “They are Grûndén, they will tunnel through my little rock fall in less than a day. I estimate it will take us many days yet to reach the other side and be back out in the daylight. Before long the Grûndén will once more be on our trail, they will not stop or rest mark my words. We had best keep moving. We should eat quickly while we can to replenish our strength; there will be no stopping or sleeping for us until we are out of these tunnels.” Whilst he was saying these things he had been rummaging around in his backpack. He tossed a piece of the Grûndén Tarn bread to Thor and another piece to Orln. They started off down the tunnel at a steady trot taking bites from the bread as they went.