Chapter 617
EPILOGUE
The last rays of the setting sun laid a splendid glow upon the walls of the city of Cauldron. Far to the west, the bright ball was just fading beyond the seemingly endless green line of the Forest of Mir. The people below, toiling in the city, were just vague specks at this distance, but Mole imagined that she could see her friends, far down there.
The gnome sighed. Her perch allowed for a magnificent view, although most sane people would have felt terrified rather than exhilarated being perched on a rocky outcrop that jutted above a gorge that fell several thousand feet into rocks and swirling water below. Normally Mole would have smiled at the thought, but at the moment, the gnome was in a rare introspective mood.
The city looked a lot better than the last time she’d seen it from a distant vantage. The bridge was finished now, a glorious span that had seen more than a bit of magic infused in its fashioning. Lok’s people, a full two score of the mysterious urdunnir, had visited the city for a little over a month, adding their unique skills with the crafting of metal and stone. They joined the ranks of over a thousand shield dwarves, humans, moon elves, and others who had come to Cauldron to help in the rebuilding of the city. Mole knew that there were still ruined buildings to be rebuilt, sewer lines to be relaid, and a thousand other myriad tasks for the city’s leaders to attend to. But from way up here, it all looked perfect.
She finally did smile. Arun and Beorna were going to be busy. Both of them had refused the title of Mayor, but the fact was that they were the defacto leaders of New Cauldron. Their marriage had been a happy event that had given the people of Cauldron hope in the future; Mole had counted at least two thousand people at the reception that Dannel and Uncle Cal had organized. The new joint temple to Helm and Moradin was the largest in the city, and two other new structures had joined it, centers of worship for Selûne and Azuth.
Arun and Beorna were still down there, somewhere, but it seems like the rest of them had just drifted away, over the last few months. Umbar had gone back to the Great Rift, intent upon clearing Arun’s name. Arun had actually been glad to see him go, she thought; hero worship could be a burden at times, and Arun was much too modest to take all this Chosen business too seriously.
Dannel had left as well, returning to the Wealdath. He’d seemed sad since they had returned, and Mole thought she understood. Dannel needed time to sort things out, but she hoped that he’d be back, someday. If nothing else, she could always go visit him.
Lok had returned with his people to their home in the far North. He’d married the shield dwarf cleric Gaera, and while he too was not much for titles, she gathered at the wedding that his people were referring to him now as the Warder Under the Mountain. Something to do with their religion; she wasn’t really all that sure. The urdunnir were all right, but pretty dull; she hadn’t stayed there long.
She and Uncle Cal had traveled the length and breadth of Faerûn, for a time. Archmage Calloran was becoming quite the muckety-muck in the Waterdeep Guild, and she’d gotten to visit a number of interesting places in his company. But after a while he’d had to return to Waterdeep to attend to Very Important Business (boooring!), and while she imagined she’d return there eventually, she’d asked him to drop her off here, at Cauldron. Where it had all begun.
She kicked at a protruding rock, sending it over the edge of the outcrop. She watched it fall for a moment, but it was quickly lost in the shadows that were deepening in the gorge.
A figure walked up from behind her, and sat down next to her on the edge of the outcrop. The newcomer was a young-looking gnome, clad in a practical but festive tunic and trousers in deep colors that caught the rays of the shining sun.
For a minute, the two enjoyed the view in silence.
“You know, I’m rather cross with you,” Mole finally said.
“Oh?”
“Yeah. I mean, all my friends, they’re all Chosen. What do the gnomes get? Well, Uncle Cal got Azuth, I guess, but he’s pretty much a human god, right?”
“I’m not so much into that whole ‘choosing’ thing. Sort of believe that mortals should choose for themselves, don’t you?”
Mole grunted something noncommittal.
“In any case, I’d say you’ve had a pretty unique path. Even for a gnome.” The last was said with a smile, belying the content of the statement.
There was another pause.
“So what happens now?” Mole asked.
The other gnome leaned back, putting his hands behind him on the sun-warmed stone. “There’s always more to learn, more to explore, new bad guys to be shown up.”
Mole considered.
“You don’t agree?” he asked.
“I guess I’m sort of down on exploring. I mean, I’ve been in on killing two demon princes, dracoliches, elder undead, dragons, giants, fiends, a bunch of Cagewrights…”
“You’ve had a busy year.”
“Yeah, well. I guess after all that, searching an old ruin for some magic trinkets, running a thieves guild, or putting down a bandit ring… none of it really seems that worthwhile anymore.”
“So what do you want to do?”
“I don’t know. Settle down, maybe.”
The other gnome raised an eyebrow.
Mole chuckled. “Yeah, maybe not. I don’t know.”
“Well. It’s not for me to set your path, Mole. I don’t really do that, you know.”
“Yeah, I guess I’m just getting a few thoughts out there.”
“Hmm… yes. Well, there is one thing you might consider.”
“Oh?” Mole said, trying to appear disinterested, and not fooling the other in the slightest.
The other gnome smiled. “There are other realities beyond those that you know. Other games with different rules.”
Mole looked uncertain. “What you’re talking about… I’d have to leave my friends.”
“Not forever, Mole. We’re not talking about that kind of trip. You could come back, visit this Prime whenever you wished. Although time might move a bit differently in these other realms, than you are accustomed to.”
“I don’t know. Maybe.” But as she looked back toward Cauldron, there was something of a farewell in her eyes.
“Well then, maybe I can offer another incentive. Not that I’m trying to make your decision for you or anything.”
“Because you don’t do that.”
“Right.”
“What is it? One of those cloaks that lets you fly? Because I could really use one of those.”
“It’s not an item, Mole. Rather, an old friend who’s been waiting for you for some time.”
Mole turned, and saw that the area at the far end of the overhang had become indistinct, a soft blurring beyond which only a gray oblivion extended. She could sense the reality of her world around her, but in that one direction, something else existed, another reality beyond limits.
And in that fog, a slender figure was approaching.
Mole looked at the other gnome, who nodded with a soft smile. She leapt up and ran into the shroud, which embraced her in a soft gray glow. For a moment she too was vague and indistinct, but then she broke through some kind of barrier, and she was in that other reality. And the figure she’d seen was there, real, solid when she leapt up and wrapped her arms around her.
“Zenna!”
“Glad to see you, too.”
“I missed you… Where have you been? What happened to you?”
“I was lost for a while, Mole, really lost. But I found my way back, with the help of some friends.”
“So much has happened… Oh, I have so much to tell you!”
Zenna looked down at her with eyes misted with tears. “And I want to hear it all. We’ll have plenty of time to catch up; I have no plans to go away again anytime soon.”
They turned as the other gnome appeared. Behind him, Cauldron and the rest of Faerûn faded from view. “Are you ready, Mole?” he asked.
“Can she… I mean, can both of us, together, ever go back to Faerûn?” Zenna, still holding her, looked as though she was waiting for the answer as well.
“Perhaps someday,” the gnome said, after a brief pause. “That part of the story is still unwritten.”
“Like my uncle’s book,” Mole said. “I don’t think he’s ever going to finish it.”
“Exactly,” the gnome said. “But for now, at least, another chapter comes to a close.”
His eyes sparkled. “And what lies ahead… well, that will be something now, won’t it?”
Mole jumped down from Zenna’s grasp, and taking Garl’s hand in one of hers, and Zenna’s in the other, the three turned and walked down a new road that stretched endlessly before them, until they had faded completely from sight.
THE END OF THE SHACKLED CITY
