Chapter 101
The five travelers formed a half-circle behind Jared as the madman led them back to the charred remains of his dwelling.
Zenna looked to be collected and in control once again—her features now restored to their normal appearance, thanks to Mole’s return of her magical hat to her—but there was still a stiffness to her motion and demeanor that revealed the strain that yet suffused her. Dannel walked near her, his own concern written clearly in his dark amber eyes.
Jared seemed nonplussed by the destruction of his modest living quarters. Indeed, as he walked, he exclaimed, “A good bit of damage done by that rampaging beast, but do not despair—we shall rebuild, better than before!”
“If yer thinkin’ I’ll be laborin’ here to build a new house fer a crazy, yer dafter ‘an I thought,” Hodge grumbled, but his voice wasn’t loud enough to carry to where the “king” strode at their van.
“Um... your majesty...” Dannel began.
“Behold, the peaceful land of Anduria!” Jared said with a flourish, lifting his arms wide as he turned once again to face him. As he did so, his thin fingers twisted a pattern in the air, and the liquid syllables of magic poured from his lips.
Zenna tensed for a moment as she recognized the sounds and gestures as spellcasting, but then forced herself to relax. This man, though clearly mentally sick, had not offered them any threat, and in fact had managed to aid them somewhat against the dragon. “Another illusion,” she muttered, more to herself than to her friends, although Mole heard her.
Even as she spoke the landscape was transformed. Where the sparse and rocky plateau had stretched was now an expansive landscape of vibrant growth and bright color. The thorny and scraggly brush of before was replaced by flowering bushes and squat trees laden with fruit of a dozen varieties. The illusion was so complete that even the smells of the flowers could be detected by the companions, although the overall effect was ruined somewhat by the resumption of the previous landscape at the edges of the plateau, outside the limits of the spell.
Jared, however, seemed oblivious to such distinctions, or even to the fact that his own magic had conjured the illusion. “Tis it not a beauteous place?” he said wistfully.
“Indeed, sire,” Dannel said, coming forward before any of the others could offer commentary. “No other place rivals it in reputation. And so we have come, not only to look upon such marvels, but to protect it from the dangers that threaten it.”
“Smooth,” Arun commented.
“Yes, and you fought bravely,” Jared said. “And we shall not forget your bold defense of our royal person, ser knight—a great estate in the western marches of the realm shall surely be yours, for the service done to your liege this day!”
“Oh, I want one too!” Mole said, coming forward.
“Your Grace is... generous,” Dannel replied, with a deep bow. “But first we must confront the danger that yet lingers. The dragon,” he said, indicating the fallen creature, in case the madman hadn’t clearly marked its nature, “is but the leading force of an invading force, bent on conquering this land!”
“I knew it!” Jared exclaimed. “The treacherous demon-queen of Kheltos plans anew to overthrow Anduria! Long have I suspected that she survived our last confrontation, and still seeks to destroy our fair land! I must raise the army, to defend the borders!”
“Um... sire,” Dannel interrupted, “My... knights... and I are prepared to go and do battle against this foe, but require some direction. The enemy is cunning, and this time are coming up from an access point to the Underdark, which is located near here...”
Jared nodded. “The Pit of the Seven Jaws. Of course, I should have guessed.”
“Seven jaws?” Mole said. “I don’t think I like the sound of that...”
“A guardian of some sort?” Zenna ventured.
“Have your squire fetch pen and ink, and I will prepare a map, to guide you, noble knight,” Jared said. “I am certain with your prowess, any defenses possessed by the foe shall be breached!”
“I don’t doubt it, sire,” Dannel said. Zenna procured a sheet of parchment, an old pen, and a vial of ink from her bag, and handed them to the madman, who quickly bent over a rock and started making quick sketches on the parchment. In a matter of minutes, he’d prepared a drawing, which he handed to Dannel. The elf examined the map—it appeared fairly clear, actually, although most of the landmarks were keyed with names that were presumably sites within “Anduria.”
“We’d best get a good start then,” Dannel said, rolling up the map for safe storage in his pouch, then taking up his bow. “Will you be... all right, here, sire?”
The old man nodded. “Fear not for me, sir knight! I have considerable forces left to me... if Kheltos thinks to catch Anduria unaware, she shall be quite surprised when she strikes!”
“He’ll be well enough, elf,” Arun said, as the adventurers turned away. “He’s been up here quite some time, looks like, and for all the apparent difficulties he has with reality, his magic is clearly potent.”
“Powerful indeed,” Zenna remarked, casting a last look back at the old man, who regarded them with a beaming look full of confidence.
Mole had lingered behind a moment, and as the others started away, she leaned in and said, conspiratorially, “Are you really crazy?”
The old man knelt so that their faces were on the same level. Matching her tone, he said, “What a bold question to ask of your sovereign! But you’re not the first to make such an assertion—I suspect there was a bit of over-familiarity earlier in my family tree, if you get my meaning—so I will answer. Are not all of us who walk the byways of this wondrous world at least a bit crazy? I say I am crazier than some, and saner than the demon queen of Kheltos, may she ever be stymied in her foul plots!”
With a wink, he rose. Mole smiled, and with a quick bow, she hurried to rejoin the others.
“Well?” Zenna asked, when the gnome had rejoined them. “What’s the verdict?”
“Undecided,” Mole said, glancing back at the solitary man standing on the bluff, the wind tugging at his clothes, now again ragged and threadbare.
* * * * *
They pressed on for the remainder of that day, putting a number of miles between them and their battle with the dragon, and after an uneventful night camped in a sheltered hollow they continued on their trek. For once the weather seemed to favor them, although the icy wind continued to blow down out of the peaks to their right. Dannel had little difficulty following the landmarks sketched on their map, and held them true to their course as they made their way steadily northward. They had only one encounter, with a trio of bugbear hunters heading down out of the mountains to the lowlands, moving perpendicular to the adventurers’ line of march. The hulking goblinoids spotted the travelers from Cauldron but were not eager for a confrontation, and the two groups gave each other a wide berth before continuing on their way. Since the bugbears didn’t seem to be heading in the direction of Jared’s hut or any other known settlements, the companions let them be. The two dwarves weren’t especially happy about that, for different reasons; Arun expressed concern that the bugbears might be part of a larger company intent on trouble in the region, while Hodge suggested that the three would circle around to follow them, and slit their throats when they paused to camp for the night.
“There’s no need to seek out trouble, when enough of it finds us as it is,” Dannel said, as they made their way back along the trail. Holding up the map to catch the light of the cloud-obscured sun, he added, “And I think that we’ll reach our destination before nightfall, in any case. Even if there are more of them, they’d be foolish to follow us into the Underdark.”
“Aye, an’ what does that say about us then?” Hodge grumbled, but he did not offer further dissent as they continued their trek.
True to the elf’s words, the faint light of the fading sun still hung tenuously over the mountains when they found themselves clambering up another ridge to another broad shelf that jutted out from the range like a server holding a tray. Dannel identified this as the final marker on his map, and strung his bow, the others copying his action as they prepared their own weapons. This plateau slanted down toward its far end, and in that direction, they quickly encountered a gaping square pit that sank down into darkness where the weak light of the closing day did not penetrate.
Warily, they closed to the crumbling edges of the pit. A rank odor from below assailed their nostrils, and they could see that a narrow metal staircase had been anchored into the sides of the pit, descending around its perimeter into the darkness below.
“That’s a stink I remember,” Arun said. “Strange, I once thought that the surface had an ill odor, when first I came up from the deeper realms of the Rift.”
“Time plays odd tricks with memory,” Zenna said, stepping forward near the edge so that she could look down into the pit.
“Careful,” Dannel cautioned. “That edge looks non too sturdy.”
Zenna shot him a glance that had a slight edge, but she was clearly watching her steps as she cast one more look below and then drew back. “It looks to be about sixty feet down,” she said. The stair runs around the perimeter, and there appears to be landings at each corner. I can’t be sure, but I think there’s an opening of some sort at the bottom, a deep crevice in the stone.”
“What about the seven jaws?” Mole asked.
“We’ll find out, I suppose,” Arun said. “I’ll take the lead, but keep your distance and ware your steps. I mislike the looks of that stair.”
“Stay close to me,” Dannel told Zenna and Mole. “If we should fall, I have a spell that can slow our descent, that requires only a split second to call into being.”
Arun started down, his heavy boots clinking softly on the metal surface of the stairs. Hodge and Dannel exchanged a look, and then, with a fair amount of grumbling, the dwarf started down next. The others followed after a few moments, remaining close to the edge of the pit. All held their bows at the ready, save for Arun, whose heavy warhammer balanced prepared in his muscled fist, ready to unleash fury at the slightest hint of danger. The metal stairs creaked slightly under their weight, but held.
In the darkness of the crevice below, something stirred.
