Victim of Fate (23 page)

"What about him?" Garrick still glared at the
goblin.

Alto frowned. He had no love for goblins but
that didn’t mean there was a reason to risk discovery. "Leave him,
won’t do us any good to leave a trail of corpses behind."

"What if it tells them about us?" Garrick
asked.

"‘It’ is a he," Patrina pointed out. "And he
doesn’t understand a word we’re saying."

The goblin continued to stare at them with
wide eyes and quaking shoulders. Alto sneered at it and turned
away. "Come on," he said before leading the way down the passage.
The tunnel curved to the left and went downhill at a shallow grade,
complete with level spots every dozen paces. Noises drifted to them
from the tunnel ahead. They heard the clanging of metal at first,
and then an occasional shout reached their ears.

"Is it getting warmer?" Patrina asked.

Alto realized she was right. "Been trying to
hear what’s ahead," he said. "But yeah, it is getting warmer."

"Smell’s stronger, too," Garrick said.

Alto sniffed. The northerner was right; the
smell of smoke had grown thicker. The passage ahead curved around
to the right and continued to turn until Alto judged they’d walked
at least a half circle. The tunnel opened up ahead of them,
revealing a breathtaking cavern that made them stop and stare with
open mouths.

Their tunnel emptied onto a wide shelf along
the wall of a massive underground opening. A wide river flowed on
the far side of the cavern’s floor, complete with docks that had
rafts tied to them. There were six forges with chimneys that
stretched to the ceiling more than a hundred feet above, as well as
eight smelters gathered together near the downstream end of the
river. Buildings made of stone were scattered about the cavern
floor, with clear roads separating them and leading to tunnels that
opened in the walls of the cavern.

The ledge they were on sloped down the wall
of the cavern, with additional openings in the wall leading to
other tunnels. White lights scattered along the smooth roof of the
cavern shone down on the cavern, lighting it evenly and showing the
bustling life of the lost dwarven city. Goblins, men, and larger
figures moved amongst the city and the forges.

"What kind of ore was that?" Alto asked.

Patrina snorted. "Do I look like a miner? It
looked like the same rock we found before."

"Silver?"

"I don’t know, maybe."

Alto frowned. "It looks like they’re using
the forges."

"Isn’t that how they get silver out of the
rocks?"

"The smelters get the ore from the rocks,"
Garrick said. "Forges turn iron into weapons and tools."

Alto and Patrina turned to stare at him.
Garrick shrugged. "I spent time learning the forge in my village.
We learn each other’s trades. Life is harsh."

"Sounds wise to me," Alto offered. "So what
are they doing, smelting silver or making weapons?"

"They’ve got resources enough to do both,"
Patrina said. "Goblins dig the rock then it’s brought here for both
to be dealt with."

"What’s a dragon need silver and weapons
for?" Garrick asked.

"They hoard treasure and beauty. They’ve no
use for it, but owning and collecting it is all that matters to
them," Alto said. Patrina raised an eyebrow at his sudden offering
of knowledge. He blushed and admitted, "I asked Kar the same
question a while back."

"Weapons aren’t exactly art objects," Patrina
said.

"They can be items of power, Kar said, but I
doubt they have master smiths working here," Alto said. "My bet is
that the weapons are for the armies they’re putting together."

"A sword takes days to make and requires many
trades," Garrick said. "If they don’t care for quality it can be
lessened, but the sword won’t hold an edge and it may break."

"Spears? Clubs? Simpler weapons?" Alto
asked.

Garrick nodded. "Those are easier. Faster to
forge the metal."

"Now what? We’ve seen what they’re doing;
should we leave?" Patrina asked.

"We’ve made it in. I doubt anyone will have
the chance to do it again," Alto said. "They’ll secure the entrance
or close it and use another."

"I’ve seen no proof this means my people are
in danger," Garrick said.

"It doesn’t bother you that there are
goblins, trolls, ogres, and men working together?" Patrina
asked.

Garrick shrugged. "My people wouldn’t do it,
but these are not my people."

"This is why your people do not have your own
nation," she said. "You are blind to the obvious!"

"We are not blind," Garrick growled at her.
"We keep our eyes to ourselves and do not risk our lives in the
affairs of others."

"When you don’t make a choice, you’re making
a choice," Patrina said.

Alto stared at her as he considered her
words. He nodded and smiled. "I like that; it makes sense."

Patrina returned his grin. "My mother told me
that once."

"Lady Kenna is a wise woman."

"You know my mother?" Patrina gasped.

"I happened across her the day you’d been
taken," Alto said.

Patrina groaned. "I don’t want to know what
she told you. You’re going to tell me, but I’m not looking forward
to hearing it."

"You two chatter like old women! Be
silent—we’ve been seen!" Garrick hissed.

They followed his eyes and saw a man wearing
a chain shirt walking up the ledge towards them from where he’d
emerged from a tunnel. He waved at them and, once he’d come within
a score of feet, he called out to them. "New recruits? Only three
of you? That’s enough, I suppose. Have you any skills? Ho! What’s
this, a woman?"

Alto was staggered by the rapid questions the
man asked. He opened his mouth but hesitated, uncertain of which to
respond to first. Patrina beat him to the punch. "Draw your blade
and learn what a woman can do."

He held up his hands and chuckled. "A warrior
wench in a dress? This ain’t no playground, lass." He turned to
look at Alto and Garrick. "If you think to bring your own whore,
think again—the other boys’ll be wanting a turn."

Patrina drew her blade and started towards
him. "I’ll carve your tongue from your filthy face!"

Alto grabbed her arm and held her back before
she could get close enough to make good on her threat. The man
stared at her in openmouthed shock and then he laughed again.
"Makes no difference to me, but best of luck to you. If you want to
stand a chance of keeping them legs of yours together, you’d best
find yourself dressing like a man. Now what about skills, have you
any?"

"I’m Garrick, of the Snowbear clan. I can
outrun a caribou and wrestle a wolf," Garrick boasted.

The man stared up at Garrick and smirked. "I
don’t give a damn who you are and if you’re lucky, I never will.
Only time I keep track of names is when there’s trouble I have to
deal with. As for the rest, I’ll keep that in mind in case we’re
attacked by a herd of reindeer. How about you? Between the two of
you I ’spect you could hold the mountain up in case it fell."

Alto glanced at the scowling barbarian and
then looked back to the speaker. "I’m a warrior. Good with horses,
too."

He snorted and then nodded his head down the
ledge behind him. "I’m Eremius, a sergeant of sorts around here.
That first passage on your right is where you’ll be staying till
we’re ready."

"Ready for what?" Alto asked.

Eremius stared hard at him for a moment.
"Ready for what comes next," he said. "There are training rooms and
they’re making weapons daily to keep your skills sharp, but they
aren’t worth a damn. Good thing you brought your own swords. Not
much for ale but we get some when the food comes in. You’d think
the dwarves would have had something stashed away but we haven't
found nothing yet. Some parts of this place still ain't been looked
into yet, though. Deep holes that nobody’s wanted to head into. We
do got lots of water." He paused and leered at Patrina before
adding, "And we got no women, at least not till now."

"Sounds like fun," Patrina muttered.

"Head in, find some bunks. We got no special
rooms for you." He looked at Patrina directly. "Somebody’ll tell
you what to do. Believe ’em or don’t, it’s up to you. I’ll be the
one who brings in the official word. Man I report to is named
Kazim; he’s a southlander with a big mustache and a big hat. As far
as you’re concerned, he’s the king of these mountains."

"A southlander?" Patrina echoed.

"I hear the women down there couldn’t handle
him anymore so he came north." Eremius grinned.

Patrina’s scowl echoed Alto’s thoughts.
Eremius was crude and disrespectful, but Alto knew he didn’t dare
ruin their cover. Patrina glanced at him before he saw her swallow
and flex the muscles in her jaws. She nodded and said, "I’ll be
sure to avoid him."

Eremius laughed and walked past them. "I’m
off to check on the gate. If you’ve got any questions, figure it
out yourself."

After he passed, the three looked at one
another. Only Garrick was grinning.

"Won’t be long until he finds what we done,"
Alto said. "We need to figure something out."

"Let’s check the tunnel he mentioned,"
Patrina said. "He was right about one thing. I need to get out of
this dress!"

Garrick’s grin widened.

"Oh, knock it off." Patrina backhanded him in
the belly and started down the ledge.

Alto laughed at the northerner’s grunt and
shocked look. He shook his head and said softly, "She finds a way
to steal the wind from any man."

Garrick straightened and scowled. "She hasn’t
found the right man to show her how to be a proper woman then."

Alto stood still as the barbarian strode past
him after Patrina. He watched him go and then shook his head. He
hurried after, clenching his teeth in irritation at the bold words
Garrick had spoken. He was Patrina’s champion. She liked him, not
the crass barbarian. He’d show the man that Patrina was a lady and
not the sort of savage wench that Garrick was accustomed to.

"Where do we go?" Patrina asked as they
stopped at the first door in the tunnel. "Eremius didn’t say which
door to take."

"Try them all," Garrick suggested. He stepped
up and tried the handle of the door, only to find it locked.

"Great start," Patrina muttered.

"Maybe this is Eremius’s room?" Alto wondered
aloud.

Patrina frowned as she stared at the door.
"Then we really want to get inside there."

Garrick tested the door to see if it had any
give to it, and then backed up a step.

"Wait!" Alto hissed. "If you can break that
door in, we don’t need the noise and the attention."

"You forget we’re in a bit of a rush?"
Patrina asked him.

"No, but are you dressed to fight off an
army?" Alto reminded her.

Garrick looked back and forth between the
two. He scowled and then raised his foot and planted it against the
door so hard he sent himself stumbling backwards when the door
refused to budge. The noise, at least, was minimal.

Patrina giggled. "Seems dwarven iron work is
as good as they claim."

Garrick scowled at the door.

"Come on, let’s find where they store the
weapons and armor for Trina," Alto said. He turned away and started
down the tunnel, a smirk making its way onto his face at the
barbarian’s failure to prove that strength could solve
everything.

Alto tried the next door and found it opened
easily. He looked in on a room with two sleeping pallets set up on
opposite sides of the room and an opening into another room on the
far wall. A man was sitting on the pallet and putting on his
boots.

"What you want?" the red-haired man growled
at them.

"Um, hi. We’re new here," Alto stammered.

"We’re full up, head up the hall. Any
openings will be down a ways," he said. He turned away from Alto
and reached for the boiled leather chest piece that was lying on
the floor. His head whipped back around so his gaze could focus
past Alto. He grinned at seeing Patrina. "Half a minute, your
lady’s small enough I bet we could squeeze her in."

Patrina’s smile left no doubt what she
thought of his offer. "Thanks, but I heard there’s a pit of snakes
I’d rather lay in."

He stared at her as he digested her words,
and then chuckled and waved them off.

"This could take a while," Alto muttered as
they shut the door behind them and peered up the hallway.

"What do you suggest?" Patrina asked. "Mind
you, I’d be happy to get away from here. These dogs make my skin
crawl every time they look at me."

"Let’s walk and see what we find," Alto said.
"We won’t bother with each door unless we’ve a reason to."

Garrick grunted and started forward, taking
the lead. Alto shook his head and followed behind him. After less
than a handful of paces, a distant ringing echoed along the passage
walls. They stopped and looked at one another, both warriors at a
loss to explain the noise.

"You fools," Patrina snapped. "It's an alarm!
They've discovered us. We must escape!"

"Escape? What about those forges?" He frowned
and shook his head. "We have to find a way to stop them!"

"No stopping nothing when your skull's
split," Garrick said.

"He's right," Patrina said. "Come on, we have
to get away. We know where this is and what's going on; we can
return with help. An army, even! My father won't stand for this;
they won't be satisfied with the mountains or the Kingdom's
northern reaches."

Alto felt the sword at his side throb. He
reached down to put his hand on the hilt and felt a familiar tingle
in his palm. Kevard's Sword was fashioned to protect the Kelgryn.
If Patrina was right, then it was this very thing that the sword
had been forged to stand against.