Lamps shone brightly illuminating the tunnel as it wound deeper into the earth. The group moved quickly, and Orin couldn’t shrug off the sinking feeling that they had made a mistake. As far as they could tell, the lamps were made from magical crystals that had flared into life as soon as they entered the tunnel. Were they activated by motion, or some other mechanism?
“They’re going to know we’ve been here,” Gronthil said worriedly. The dwarf was helping support Darla, who was having difficulty keeping up with the others.
“Wouldn’t it be easier if the swordsman just carried her?” Lana ventured.
“Absolutely not,” both Darla and Orin said in unison.
Lana blinked. “Look, I don’t want to pry, but if there’s something going on between the two of you…”
“There isn’t,” Darla said firmly. “This is fine.”
Soon, they approached a fork in the tunnel, and everyone turned expectantly to Gronthil, who sighed wearily. “So, because I’m a dwarf, you think I’m able to navigate tunnels I have seen for the first time?”
“Can’t you?” Rus asked blankly.
The dwarf shook his head. “No more than you would be able to navigate a city you’ve never been to before. Besides, I was raised in Stenhem.”
“A beautiful city,” Darla remarked.
“Aye, I do miss it,” Gronthil said. “The stonework there is just…”
“We can discuss the great cities of Brytengrund later,” Lana snapped. “For now…”
She fell silent when the lights around them intensified. The others looked around in alarm. Meanwhile, the sounds of drums outside grew louder.
“What’s going on?” Rus hissed. “Did one of you do something?”
“No we didn’t,” Gronthil protested.
Lana’s eyes widened when she came to a realization, and she grabbed the dwarf by the shoulder. “It was you, you just yearned for home, didn’t you?”
The dwarf looked confused. “Aye, I might have... so?”
“These lights, they are powered by our desires,” the sorceress deduced. “Everyone, stop desiring things!”
“Do you know how ridiculous that sounds?” Rus demanded.
“How do we just stop wanting things?” Darla added.
“Everyone shut up,” Orin hissed. “Just clear your minds of all thought.”
The others fell silent and focused. Soon, the lights around them began to dim. Rus broke into a grin. “Looks like that worked.”
Moments later, the lights flared again, and Orin cursed. “Focus!”
“We need to go deeper,” Rus said as the lights began to dim again.
“But which way do we take?” Lana asked.
Orin looked between the two options and walked down the right hand path that led upwards. “This one.”
“Wait, why that path?” Rus protested.
“If you have a compelling reason to choose the other one, let’s hear it,” Lana said before taking off after the warrior.
Rus and Gronthil exchanged looks, and the dwarf shrugged. “They’re right. Better to keep moving than to be frozen with indecision.”
“This is crazy, we can’t just stumble blindly through a warren like this!” Rus shook his head but followed them all the same. He looked over his shoulder and called out. “The lights towards the entrance are fading.”
The lights flared as the others took hope but faded quickly when Orin clicked his tongue irritably. After they had walked for a few more minutes, the sounds of drums had faded completely, and the lights around them grew brighter.
“I never knew keeping my mind blank could be so exhausting,” Darla remarked.
“I’ll go see how far back the lights are on,” Rus offered. “I think I can keep my mind blank for a little while longer.”
“I think this is a good time to take a short break,” Gronthil said when the hunter crept off.
Orin nodded reluctantly, and the dwarf helped Darla sit before looking around the tunnel. He examined a streak of colour in the wall and grunted. “Iron, and a rich vein from the look of it.”
“So at least one of the dwarven stereotypes is true,” Lana observed with an amused smile.
Gronthil scowled. “Listen, I just know iron when I see it, alright?”
“Good news,” Rus called from around the corner. “It looks like they won’t be able to see the lights we’ve turned on from the entrance.”
The lights grew brighter as their hope swelled. Rus reappeared a moment later. “Let’s try to keep the jubilation down a little, though.”
“And our voices,” Gronthil added. “Sound travels well down these tunnels.”
Now that they were relatively safe, Orin suddenly felt very weary. He drew his sword and sat down, resting his weapon across his lap.
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“What’s wrong with you?” Rus asked.
Orin looked back at the hunter and frowned. “For the first time since I became aware, I feel tired.”
Gronthil chuckled. “Everyone is shattered, and small wonder. We’ve been fighting nonstop since before we met. We could all use a good rest.”
Darla looked up and down the tunnel before asking. “What do you suppose the purpose of these tunnels is?”
Lana reached up and touched one of the lamps before replying. “If I didn’t know better, they were for the dungeon’s denizens to travel.”
“What makes you say that?” Darla asked.
“I’ve not seen anything powered by desire in a dungeon before,” the woman paused and looked over at Gronthil. “Have you?”
The dwarf shook his head slowly, and Lana continued. “That makes me think that we have stumbled across an area that is for the exclusive use of the dungeon’s denizens.”
“That makes sense if a denizen’s desires could power a dungeon,” Rus pointed out. “But if they could, why bother with the delvers?”
Lana fell silent, and Gronthil sighed. “The man has a point, but this is a curious place nonetheless.”
“The Dungeon Lords,” Orin breathed at length.
“What was that?” Lana asked.
“The ones we encountered so far,” Orin said. “They looked like creatures and men from outside the dungeon. These tunnels could be for their exclusive use.”
“That demon you fought, he seemed able to teleport himself,” Rus pointed out.
Lana’s eyes went wide. “Wait, you fought a demon and lived to tell the tale?”
“He fought the demon,” Rus said, pointing at Orin. “And the demon won, only to spare his life.”
Orin scowled but found he couldn’t refute the statement. “That could just be a power of the demon.”
“I suppose…” Rus began. “But that begs the question, if the master of this level was pursuing us, why hasn’t he come down here?”
Gronthil shrugged. “Never mind that. I’m more concerned about where we go from here.”
Lana broke into a wan smile. “If these tunnels are shortcuts like I think they are, it could be beneficial to map them out.”
“That could take days,” Orin protested.
“It could also save us a lot of time and a lot of blood,” Gronthil pointed out. “Who knows, one of these tunnels might lead us straight to the castle.”
“Or to the surface,” Darla murmured.
The lights around them flared as the group found fresh hope. Then, they felt faint tremors in the ground, and the lights dimmed.
“What was that?” Gronthil gasped.
“I think it came from behind us,” Rus observed.
Lana turned pale as the tremors grew stronger. “It’s getting closer.”
Orin leapt to his feet and tightened his grip around the hilt of his sword. “Get ready for battle.”
“Whatever is coming is huge,” Rus warned.
“We might be better served running away,” Darla said as she struggled to her feet. “I am not able to cast any spells in my current condition.”
“I get it,” Orin grumbled. “All of you run ahead. I’ll bring up the rear.”
“Come on,” Gronthil said before helping Darla to her feet.
Lana, meanwhile, wasted no time running down the tunnel at full tilt with Rus hot on her heels. Gronthil and Darla exchanged looks.
“It’s good to know we have such trustworthy companions,” she observed dryly before setting off after the others.
“Well, they’re as reliable as you can expect from a group of delvers forced together by circumstance,” Gronthil remarked.
“Focus your efforts on running,” Orin ordered. “The tremors are getting stronger.”
Darla attempted to run, but stumbled, bringing Gronthil down with her. Orin bit back a curse before scooping the princess up and carrying her under her arm as though she was a tote bag before setting off at full speed down the tunnel.
“Can’t you carry me in a more dignified manner?” Darla protested.
“Be quiet or you’ll bite your tongue,” Orin growled.
Then, he heard Rus shouting down the tunnel. “We see an exit.”
“That is fortuitous,” Gronthil puffed, now lagging far behind the warrior and his luggage.
Orin turned around and grinned. “Dwarf, can your powers bring this tunnel down?”
Gronthil’s eyes went wide. “We could still use these tunnels to…”
“Can you, or can’t you?” Orin demanded brusquely, looking the dwarf in the eye in an attempt to bend him to his will.
“Aye, I think I so,” the dwarf conceded at length.
“Good, once we’re clear, do it,” Orin said as an enormous creature rounded a corner behind them.
It was a worm that was almost ten feet in diameter and its bulk filled the entire tunnel. Its entire head appeared to be a mouth filled with razor sharp teeth and it propelled itself forward with hundreds of sword like hairs that dug into the rock walls of the tunnel with ease.
“Oh, and don’t turn around,” Orin added before picking up his pace.
Moments later, he heard the dwarf exclaim. “By all the Gods great and small, what is that abomination?!”
“That’s why I told him not to turn around,” Orin muttered.
“Run!” Darla cried, craning her neck to see behind them. She then turned to Orin and asked. “Can’t you carry him as well?”
“No!” Gronthil and Orin cried in unison.
“By Ardalan’s Blessed Sceptre that’s a rock eater!” they heard Lana cry from up ahead.
“Get outside!” Orin roared. “The dwarf is bringing this tunnel down behind us!”
“By the Stonefather, I’ll try my best!” Gronthil cried before beginning a chant.
Orin slowed his pace until he was running side by side with Gronthil and gritted his teeth. From the rumbling under his feet, he could tell that the creature was catching up at a rapid pace. Perhaps it could tell that they would soon be on the surface where perhaps it would not have an advantage. He gripped the hilt of his sword with his free hand and glanced over his shoulder. The creature was less than fifty yards away and appeared to be covered in segmented armour plate. Would his sword be able to pierce its armour in its current state? He hoped he wouldn’t have to find out.
“Is your spell almost done?” Orin demanded.
The dwarf looked up at him and shot him a quizzical look, as though pointing out that the three of them were still very much inside the tunnel.
“He can’t speak, or he will have to recite the spell again from the beginning,” Darla pointed out.
“Just nod or shake your head!” the warrior cried.
The dwarf nodded, and Orin shouted. “Do it!”
Gronthil shook his head, and Orin looked pointedly at the creature that was now a mere ten yards away from them. “Just do it!”
The dwarf followed his gaze and hurriedly completed the incantation before placing his hands on the tunnel’s wall. He was forced to stop briefly, and Orin grabbed him by the belt and hurled him out of the creature’s gaping mouth as the tunnel began to collapse around them. The dwarf attempted to make a running landing but stumbled and fell in a heap.
Orin cursed before grabbing him roughly by the collar to drag the dwarf behind him. As he did, he looked over his shoulder and saw that a large chunk of rock had struck the creature on the head, stunning it briefly. Orin took the opportunity to make a last mad dash as the tunnel collapsed around them. He looked up and saw Lana and Rus standing at the exit, watching them anxiously.
Soon, they were all outside. Orin dropped Darla unceremoniously and whirled around to see that the creature had recovered and was resuming its charge. He dragged Gronthil to his feet and snarled. “Finish the job!”
The stone shaper obeyed, and the tunnel collapsed with an ear-splitting roar, obliterating all traces of the exit. The resulting collapse caused a shockwave intense enough to knock them all off their feet.
As he sat on the ground, Orin realized that the tremors hadn’t stopped. His eyes widened at the realization. “Get down, it’s coming!”
“What?” Gronthil blurted, dumbfounded.
Moments later, the creature’s immense bulk burst out from the collapsed tunnel entrance, sending shards of rock flying in all directions. Orin looked to the others. Gronthil and Darla lay motionless on the ground, seemingly having been struck by stray rocks, while Rus and Lana had retreated to a safe distance. Finding himself unable to abandon his companions to their fate, the warrior drew his weapon and planted himself between their unmoving bodies and the creature.