He crept out, using the corner pillar as cover as he approached the closed doors. They duergar beyond had not resumed forging, and a deep silence filled the space with only the distant thunder of water echoing through the deep.
‘You cowards gonna let him have all the glory?’
“Shut up.” Lia followed Jarek, crossbow in her hands.
The others followed, gathering around the pillar. Moving as a group they quietly stepped to the door. Jarek leaned close, listening. He shook his head and reached for the door. Grasping the handle, he slowly drew open the heavy wood door. He looked around the door into the grand space beyond. A strong odor of smoke and hot metal wafted through the door.
“The forge!” breathed Jarek. He stepped into the doorway, then suddenly jumped aside. A javelin flew through the opening, a breath’s distance from the scrambling dwarf.
“They were waitin’,” he grinned from the other side.
Adran pulled off his cloak and waved it in the open door, being rewarded with another pair of javelins piercing the cloth.
“Definitely waiting.”
“How many javelins do ye think they have?”
Lia raced across the open space, and another javelin lanced through.
“Enough.”
“They won’t keep throwing them, will they?” Seraphina crawled up to the edge and held a small piece of polished steel out to look around the corner. “I can’t see them. Bad angle.” She moved the steel slightly. “Ok, I see one. There are two bridges. I think they are bridges. Across the chamber is a lit forge. Something is moving over there. And something else is by a pile of rock or coal. Hard to tell, it is really dark in there.”
‘So, we are gonna stand here and talk. Hmm. Figures.’
“No, we aren’t.” Lia answered. “Oh, my stars! I did it again!”
‘The hot one likes me. Hehe.’
“Block.” Malark set his torch down and dropped his pack, untying his shield. Hefting the shield, he bounced on his toes.
“They are throwing javelins.” Seraphina was still moving the polished metal around. “You are going to get hurt.”
“Not stay.”
‘The big guy gets it. He needs to kill. Like yours truly.’
“They won’ come to us. Sneaky bastards will hide an’ throw javelins all day.”
“How far away is the forge?” Adran had an arrow out.
“Forty? Fifty feet?” Seraphina got to her knees. “Why?”
“Toss my cloak up again, see if you draw a couple more shots.” Adran handed his cloak to Seraphina and readied his bow. “Now!”
Seraphina waved the cloak in the door, then pulled it quickly back. A javelin stuck in the door, and before it stopped quivering, Adran stepped out, took careful aim, and loosed a single arrow before ducking into cover.
“Hit anything?”
“Maybe. Hard to tell moving that fast. Wait a minute, then try the cloak thing again.” Adran nocked another arrow and took a couple deep breaths.
“Ready?”
He only nodded. Seraphina waved the cloak again, jumping from one side of the doorway to the other. No javelins greeted the cloak or her movement. Adran stepped out and loosed another shot anyway. He was in cover before a javelin skipped of the rocks through the doorway.
“That time?”
“A definite hit. Two of them were standing by the forge.”
“Probably won’t go for it again.”
“Probably not.”
“Block.” Malark hefted his shield.
“There is no place to hide once we are through.”
“We hav’ t’ drive them off.”
“No way to go through that door without getting hurt.”
Seraphina was back on her stomach, reaching out to look with the polished metal again.
“See anything else?”
“Not really. They are hiding now.”
“Invisible?”
“I don’t know. I just can’t see them.”
“Ye said there are two bridges?”
“Yes. To the right and left. There is nothing in the center. I think there are a couple forges on this side, too. Yeah. In the corners.”
“We could run for one of those.”
“Malark block. Friends run. Run fast.”
“We cannae stay here forever.”
“Go now.” Malark started through the door. He was holding his shield up, his head behind it.
‘Woooo! Get ready to kill!’
The others rushed through the opening. All the feints and cloak waving gave them an advantage and the duergar weren’t ready for the sudden charge. The party raced along the wall and clustered behind a large, cold forge. Rusty tools lay on the soot-stained stone, and coal was piled around it, ready for the next smiths to relight the fires.
The duergar were across the wide chamber, on the other side of a rushing stream of water. A pair of bridges spanned the stream, one close, the other at the far end of the room some fifty feet or more away.
A javelin smashed into the wall near them harmlessly. Malark was grinning, the wild, manic grin of battle-lust.
“Good on’ ya!” Jarek was crouched so he could peer around the forge.
“You had a chance to leave.”
The voice was familiar, possibly the same duergar that had shouted the initial warnings.
“Now you have blooded our kin, and there is only one reward for you now.”
Several duergar laughed in low, growling chuckles.
“Oh yeah? Well, seems we bin keepin’ the upper hand. Why don’t ya traitorous gits come out an’ fight like true dwarves.” Jarek shouted in return.
Without warning a painfully loud ringing clanged from the forge. It smashed stones, set dust and dirt billowing, and floored the party. All of them wheezing in pain.
“What the?” Jarek grunted.
“Spell caster.” Adran was murmuring.
“We can’t take another hit like that again. Gotta spread out.”
Malark was already up, charging out. He was carrying Durngreip and his shield in one hand and a javelin in the other. He flung the flung the javelin with a roar and sprinted across the bridge. Adran was the first to react, murmuring and pointing as he came out of cover. A misty fog appeared across the room, surrounding the lit forge in a thick white cloud. Jarek’s boots clattered on the stone as he charged, his stunty legs carrying him through the dark room.
“He can’t even see!” Lia’s voice was full of anguish. She ran out, mouthing arcane words as she searched for a target. Seeing movement near the forge closest to the bridge she pointed and released the pent-up power. A mass of swirling black energy streaked across the room, impacting the shadowy figure in a blast of thunderous sound. The duergar was blasted off its feet, and the creature scrambled out of sight.
Seraphina drew her blades and sprinted forward, her cloak billowing behind her. She narrowly dodged a javelin thrown by another duergar skulking near the unlit forge. The creature stretched and grew, enlarging in a moment. Circling around the forge, it hefted a massive war pick. Javelins flew out of the foggy cloud, flying wild and never a danger.
“Look! I’m magic!’ Durngreip shouted and began to glow, casting a bright light around Malark. ‘No sense being special if no one knows! Now kill those smelly dwarves!’
Being able to see the duergar drove Malark on. He rushed in, blocking the brute duergar’s pick, then smashing Durngreip into the huge creature, burying the blade deep. Tearing it free sent a torrent of blood flowing. Staggering back, the return strike was weak and ineffectual.
The duergar Lia had injured moved to join its bleeding comrade, only to have Seraphina sprint in, blades flashing. In a flurry of slashes and stabs the little halfling finished the wounded creature, climbing atop its fallen form to yell at Malark’s foe.
“Quit! Surrender! You don’t all have to die!”
Malark was about to strike the bleeding duergar when he froze, Durngreip halting mid-strike.
‘What are you doing, you fool? Smash that filthy creature! Kill!’
“Malark?” Seraphina screamed. “Malark!” As if her voice alone would shake his from whatever was affecting him.
“Magic user! Lia fired off a quick shot at a duergar that had just emerged from the foggy cloud. She ran along the fast-flowing stream, flames flickering on her fingertips. She sent a mote of flame after the same duergar, trying to distract it from whatever magic it was wielding.
Adran sent another arrow towards the same duergar. Hitting it solidly, the creature stumbled and screamed something that sounded quite vile. Malark blinked once and Durngreip sagged in his hands, his duergar foe smashed its pick into him, nearly knocking him over.
“Cheap shot, ye foul traitor!” Jarek had finally reached the combat and caught the duergar half-unaware as it concentrated on Malark. Swinging mightily, the dwarf swung his hammer with two hands, and upper cutting strike that caught the enlarged duergar in the groin, lifting it momentarily off its feet and causing it to shriek in pain.
Malark groaned in pain, but leapt forward to swing Durngreip, the axe howling gleefully as it soared through the air.
‘Feel my edge! Die, dark thing, die!’
The blade parted armor and flesh, slicing deep through the duergar’s shoulder and chest, crushing the creature to the floor. Blood sprayed in a mist spattering dwarf and man. Jarek spit on the corpse, then looked up Malark and the blood pouring from the grievous wound the duergar had dealt.
“Stand back, laddie, let us finish th’ rest!”
“Not done.”
‘Me either! I need to kill!’
Jarek gave the big man a look, then turned to face the other threats.
“If ye die, ye cannae blame me, ye stubborn ox!”
Another huge duergar emerged from the fog cloud, growling and swearing, charging Jarek and Malark. Before the enraged dark dwarf reached the party, the spellcasting duergar sent a dazzling, rainbow spray of flashing lights into Jarek and Malark. Both and dwarf screamed in pain, covering their eyes from the blinding flashes. They both stood still, both blind and helpless. Adran was just outside the spray of light and was blinking bright spots from his vision and missed a bow shot at the duergar charging the two blinded fighters. He tossed his bow aside, drawing his longsword and challenging the duergar.
“Come at me! Fight me Nadorhuan! Look at me!”
Seraphina was atop the bridge, safe from the blast of light. She aimed and fired, catching the spell-caster duergar clean, burying an arrow through the metal scales of its armored shirt.
The duergar ignored the charging elf and smashed Jarek aside with a mighty strike of his pick. The stunty dwarf crumpled in a heap, grunting in pain. Snarling, the duergar tried to recover from his swing, but not in time. Adran slashed his blade in an upward stroke, carving a deep furrow up the chest of the shirtless duergar. He spun on his heel, darting away from the creature, and out of range of its off-balance and weak return strike. Lia was sending bolt after bolt of flame at the magic-wielding duergar, separated from the main fight by the rushing stream.
Angry and frustrated, the duergar shouted something in his dark tongue, and flung something at the melee combat. In a moment the thunderous ringing sound shattered the dark. The blast knocked the everyone in the party, save Lia, to the ground. Even the shirtless duergar was knocked prone. Dust and rock lifted in the air from the mighty gonging, falling and scattering as the sound echoed through the cavern.
Lia shouted in frustration and anger, her eyes blazing violently as she sent a searing bolt of flame that caught the duergar in the face, the blazing magic ending the creature and crumpling it into a heap.
The prone duergar dizzily shook its head, then vanished. The others were close enough that they could hear gravel crunching as it fled.
‘Go after him! I’m not done!’
None of the party were in any shape to chase after it. Malark banged his axe on the ground, silencing the shrill voice.
“We need to get out of here.” Adran was wheezing as he staggered to his feet. “Wait. Where is Seraphina?”
“A little help?” came a worried voice.
No one could see the diminutive halfling. By now all of them were on their feet, still slightly dazed from whatever spell had blasted them twice in the last few minutes.
“Where is she?” Lia’s voice was tense as she ran back towards the bridge.
“Right here. Please hurry.” Seraphina’s voice sounded small and terrified.
Lia dropped her crossbow as she ran to the bridge, flopping down and reaching for something the others couldn’t see.
“I’ve got you!” Lia grunted as she strained, both hands wrapped around Seraphina’s wrist.
Adran ran up the bridge, setting his sword down as he slid to a stop. He laid on the stone and reached down, grasping Seraphina’s other wrist as she clung to the rough stone of the bridge. Hanging over the rushing torrent, Seraphina never looked down. Together they pulled until she was able to get a foot on the bridge and push herself up, falling to the ground between the other two.
“I thought I was a goner.” Seraphina whispered, her cheek on the cool stone. “Lost my bow.”
“Better a bow that you going swimming.” Lia smiled, her hand on Seraphina’s cheek. “Saints and stars, girl, please don’t do that again!”
Seraphina smiled back.
“I’ll try not to.”
The three of them get to their feet, turning to see where the others were. Malark was limping back to them, with Jarek close behind.
“They had a few coins, and small gems. Tossed their picks in the drink.”
“What about the others?”
“Gone, I hope.” Seraphina said with a grimace.
“Hiding. Waiting to ambush us. The cave extends that way a fair bit. From the sound, this river feeds the falls we saw earlier.” Jarek was looking beyond the lit forge.
“Could be more chambers off this one, too.”
“We need a rest. A least a little while. Some healing. A bit to eat. All of you look well beat down.” Lia was heading back to the main chamber, away from the others.
“Where are you going?” Jarek asked, leaning on his hammer.
“To find a hidden room we can hide in.”
Lia was walking fast, crossbow in one hand, flames in the other when she suddenly veered towards the cold forge they had hidden behind earlier. Seraphina had started after her while the men stood on the bridge.
“We have them running.” Jarek’s voice was low.
“We don’t know how many are left. And Lia is right, we are beat up.” Adran began to murmur and sign in the air, then drew a circle over the deep wound in Malark’s chest. The blood flow slowed, then stopped, the wound knitting partially closed.
“Thanks.” Malark grunted.
Durngreip was still pouting after Malark bounced the axe off the stone floor and remained quiet for once.
“We kin finish them off.”
“More likely they’ll finish us off.”
“What do you see?” Seraphina asked as she approached Lia.
“Something sparkled.” Lia crouched down and picked up a couple coins and a shiny gold chain set with fiery red stones. Standing up, she reached into the cold forge and scooped up more coins. “There are hundreds of coins in here.”
Seraphina hurried to her side, dropping her pack and pulling out a cloth sack.
“Good thing we dropped all the other coins back in the Glitterhame.” She smiled. “We are rich!”
“If we live.” Lia started loading coins into the sack Seraphina held.
“What do you mean?”
“I think Jarek wants to go after the duergar.”
“What? Now? As badly hurt as we are?”
“Exactly.”
“Adran will talk some sense into him. He has to. We need to rest.”
“Desperately.”
The two women finished loading three sacks full of coins when the men joined them. Jarek looked furious. Adran was avoiding Jarek’s gaze. Malark looked exhausted.
“We need to rest.” Adran said simply.
“Very much so. Here, carry this.” Seraphina hefted the largest of the sacks and held in in front of Malark.
“Heavy.”
“I know, that’s why I gave it to you!” Seraphina smiled brightly; despite the fatigue she felt.
“We can go back to the library room. Were we met… her.” Adran picked up another of the sacks, coins clinking and settling in the bag.
“Seemed like only one way in and out. The door was intact.” Lia nodded in agreement.
“What if she comes back?” Seraphina was chewing her lip.
“Would it?”
“What was it?”
‘Whatever it was.’ Durngreip whistled. ‘She looked good!’
“What if that was its lair?”
“Most creatures keep treasures in their lairs.”
“The books could have been its treasures.”
“Possibly.”
“Should we risk it?”
“We could put a couple wedged doors between us and the rest of the duergar. Deal with the fiend if it comes back.”
“We nay shoulda let them live.” Jarek mumbled, not looking at any of them.
“Let’s go. Malark is dead on his feet. All of us need as much healing as we can muster. We need at least an hour’s rest before we go on.” Lia started towards the double doors leading back to main hall.
“She decided then?” Adran murmured.
Malark and Seraphina followed Lia. Adran sighed, and headed after them too. Jarek, alone, stayed to gaze around The Forge. The Forge of legend he had grown up hearing about. He grumbled something under his breath and kicked a piece of coal across the chamber, sending it skittering into the stream. He grumped again, then followed the others.
They were waiting for him behind the simple throne. They moved through the heavy stone door together, and pushed it shut. Jarek hammered a pair of pitons under the door, wedging it securely in place. He repeated the wedging on the door from the council room to the grand bed chamber.
“Door ‘s just wood. Won’ hold them long.”
“Any slowing will help. Plus, they’ll have to make noise to smash it open.”
“With any luck, they just left.”
“Or they won’t look for us. They only seemed to be using the forge area.”
“An’ this bed chamber. Tha’ long-haired freak and her friend will want their things.” Jarek was rummaging through the satchels.
He dumped them out unceremoniously. A dagger wrapped in a leather belt tumbled out amid the mess of clothing and sundry articles. From the next came the chinking of coins and several small bundles wrapped in cloth. Kneeling around the pile, they discovered a small pouch of semi-precious stones in a variety of colors; opaque gray-black, translucent striped brown, opaque light blue-green, translucent circles of green, opaque dark blue flecked with yellow, and yellow-white with green markings. A large sack of coppers was set aside. A small pouch held gold coins. The last pair of sacks held shiny silver coins marked with a flying falcon.
“Ay! Cormyrean falcons! And a pile of them!” Jarek was digging through the sacks inspecting various coins.
“These are pretty new.” Adran held one up to inspect it. “Has a year mark.”
“What year?” Jarek dumped the coins he held back in the sack.
“This year.”
“What?”
“1460” Adran held out the coin. “These are new.”
“An’ far from home.” Jarek looked pensive.
“Does it mean anything?” Seraphina was turning one of the falcons in her hand. Looking at it closely.
“Maybe. Maybe not. Could’a been stolen from a royal shipment. Could’a been robbed from a merchant caravan.”
“Could be a bribe.” Adran turned the coin in his hand.
“Aye, elf, it could be. But fer what?”
No one answered. Lia picked up one of the small cloth bundles and unwrapped it. The cloth itself was an embroidered silk handkerchief, finely woven and carefully stitched. It covered a small mirror set in a painted wooden frame. The wood was delicately carved and the paint was carefully applied. Two more of the bundles revealed a pair of copper chalices with silver filigree. A small piece of silk hid a fancy quartz bottle holding a healing potion. They passed the objects around, then rewrapped them and stowed them in packs and pouches.
“These will fetch decent coin. Small enough to pawn, not too expensive tha’ would need to travel to a large city to sell them.” Jarek appraised the objects as they stashed them. “’cept the healer. That’ll come in handy.”
They shared the weight of the coins, beginning to feel the burden again. Moving through the bed chamber, the closet, and the long passage, Jarek wedged each door in turn until they were hidden in the bed chamber beyond the library. They spread out, digging out whatever bits of hard tack, jerky, or dried fruit they still had.
“An hour? Three? Six?” Lia was pounding her pack into the rough shape of a pillow.
“I don’t want to be here long.” Jarek paced the room. “No’ a full sleep.”
“We don’t have a choice. We nap here or we trek all the way back to the Glitterhame.” Adran was sitting cross-legged, hands on his knees and eyes closed. “Either way, we all get some rest. We are spent.”
Malark was already snoring. Cuts large and small were carved across his torso, some still oozing blood. Lia stretched out, her blanket covering her face.
“Feel free to not sleep, Jarek. Someone needs to keep guard.”
‘May I be of service, mi-lady?’ Durngreip was polite for once.
“Sure. Make a lot of noise if you hear duergar.”
“Or orcs.” Seraphina added.
“Or troglodytes.”
“A bear.”
“A sneaky table.”
“Animated skeletons.”
‘Har. Har.’
Seraphina curled up next to Malark, barely visible behind his massive bulk. Jarek prowled around for a while, grumbling and murmuring, then he sat quietly, watching the door until he grew drowsy. Getting up, he paced for another long while, then went to wake Adran.
“Yer turn to keep watch, Adran.” He murmured sleepily. “Me eyes cannae stay open.”
“Get some sleep. I believe we are secure in here.”
“Hope so.” Jarek flopped to the floor, setting his hammer and helm beside him.
Adran let the others sleep another two hours before waking them up. The three of them who could manipulate healing spells mustered all the power they could, healing the party of as many wounds and injuries as they could. Coupled with food and drink, and the naps they took was restorative, though not entirely. Malark still limped slightly. Jarek was not as quick on his feet as normal. Seraphina had a lingering paleness from their encounter with the ghostly Arundil. Adran was stiff, stretching and bending as he tried to shake of the creeping exhaustion. Only Lia had avoided much of the injuries the others had collected through the long night and day.
“How long have we been down here?” Seraphina wondered.
“Uh. Four days?” Lia counted on her fingers. “Five?”
“We have only slept twice?”
“That doesn’t help.”
“We won’t even know how long we’ve been gone until we get back to civilization. Not after losing track down here.”
“Hard to keep track when all we do is fight, explore, and fight some more.”
“Aye, lassie, but what an adventure! You lot have a singular honor.” Jarek beamed.
“And that is?”
“T’ be the very few non-Stout folk t’ walk these halls.”
“We earned it.”
“Aye, ye have.”
‘Great. They are special. Now can we get back at it? I haven’t killed anything in WEEKS!’ Durngreip complained.
“Weeks? And we thought we were having a tough time keeping track.”
They ate a little more, draining canteens and wineskins. Packing up their gear, they hid the treasures they had gathered under the ruined furniture in the bed chamber. Jarek knocked the wedges from under the door, and headed into the library room to remove them from the next door. Finished, he turned to the others.
“Shall we head t’ the Black Lake?”
“What is down there? Do we need to?”
“The thing said there was a dragon down there. An ancient dragon. I can skip a dragon.” Seraphina had lost her desire to see a dragon after their fight with a young white dragon some weeks before.
“That thing shared lots of lies. There was no doppelganger in the Glitterhame.”
“No wizard, either.”
“Mor’ ‘n likely no dragon.” Jarek sounded almost sad.
‘No dragon? What is an axe to do? The fight we would have had!’
“Dragons breath fire.”
‘So?’
“Fire melts metal.
‘And?’
“You are metal.”
‘Duh. Metal also cuts dragon flesh. Severs dragon appendages. Kills dragons. Bring on a dragon. Ha!’
“You are a lunatic.”
“Kin we a’ least explore the Black Lake? A little? Me eyes would like a view of the deepest caves here.”
“Your father never spoke of the lake?”
“No mor’ ‘n mentioning it. Just tha’ there was a lake deep under the hold.”
“We can go check it out, right?” Seraphina finally said.
‘Blah, blah, blah. Can we go kill something?’
“Can’t hurt. Make a climb down the ladder. Fall of the ladder. Drown in the lake.” Lia shrugged.
“No ‘ne will fall off the ladder.” Jarek harumphed.
‘Ohh, a fall to your death?’
“We will tie off, all of us.” Adran was solemn. “The rungs will be slick with moss and spray.”
“Aye, laddie, we will. If one o’ us slips, the others kin hold on tight.”
“If all of us slip?” Lia raised her eyebrows.
‘Then you all die! Haha! Death is death!’
“Ah! Eh!” Jarek harumphed again, cheeks blazing.
“Hey, relax, I am just asking.” Lia laughed.
“We might find how the duergar got in.” Seraphina added.
“Aye. Tha’ would be good t’ know. For when we come back.”
“We?” Lia arched one eyebrow.
“Not the four o’ you. When we come back t’ reclaim the hold. Resettle here.”
“You are going to leave Ironheim?” Seraphina asked.
“Me? I dinnae know. Some will. Perhaps, many. We cannae live alone down here alone. Someone needs to feed the settlers. Bring food, an’ coal, an’ goods.”
“What about ore? Or metal slugs? Is there a mine here?” Adran asked.
“Hasta be. Else Durgeddin nay woulda started tunnelin’.”
“We haven’t seen that yet.”
“Have’nt seen any enemies either. Not in days. You all wanna get moving or what?’
“Nay, we havnae. Has to be here.” Jarek joined the others in ignoring Durngreip.
“We didn’t explore around the Forge.” Adran sheathed his sword and picked up his bow. “Might have been there.”
“Would be convenient. Aye.”
‘Hello! I am talking!’
“It wouldn’t be down by the lake.” Lia looked out the door into main area. “But I can think of something to leave in the lake. A shiny metal object. Talks too much.”
‘Hey! I resemble that!’
“I know.”
“Nay. No’ withou’ some way to haul the ore up.” Jarek didn’t even hear Lia.
“We can keep musing over the mine’s location while we walk.” Adran nodded to the door.
“Malark lead.”
He bumped Lia aside and headed back into the large area with the fountain and score of remains. They waited by the next door while Jarek knocked out more wedges. The long tunnel was dark, the muffled thunder of the waterfall still drummed through the stone. The party moved quickly down the passage. At the hidden door Adran pulled out the coil of rope tying one end around his waist. He handed the coil to the next in line. Seraphina tied the line and handed it to Lia. She repeated the act and handed it to Malark. He tied it around his waist and handed the short end to Jarek. Setting his hammer down, he tied the rope tight. Looking up at Malark, he grinned his manic grin.
“Goin’ deep! Ah! I cannae wait!” He turned and inched across the slippery floor, letting the rope pay out behind him. The others slowly followed. At the ladder, he crouched down and grabbed one of the loops hammered into the stone. He gave them a thumbs up and Malark inched across the floor. The mists roiled and spread, concealing then revealing the moss-slick stone. Man and dwarf were wet in minutes.
“Ha! Tis a thunderous applause!” Jarek boomed. “Water carving stone!” He had a mad glint in his eyes.
Lia was moving before Malark grabbed the other iron loop. She slid her feet rather than picking them up.
“How deep does it go?” She yelled.
“No idea, lassie! A fair drop, methinks.”
‘Toss the dwarf! Let’s see how far it is! Haha!’ Durngreip laughed maniacally.
“Toss the axe. Listen fer a kerplunk!” Jarek scowled at the axe strapped to Malark’s back.
Seraphina crouched low and followed Lia.
“Its so loud!” She was grinning, barely visible in the hanging mists.
Adran brought up the rear, slowly moving across the floor. His bow was slung, freeing both hands for the long climb.
“You’ll have to leave the torch.” Adran yelled over the thunder.
Malark nodded, flinging the torch over the side.
“Two more.”
“That’s it?” Adran wiped water from his face.
“Long time in dark.”
‘If you ask nicely, I’ll show off again.’
“Please?” Seraphina called up.
‘Not you. The pretty one! No offense!’
“Offense taken!”
“Ask it!” Adran nodded.
“No way.”
“Malark can’t see!”
“Ask the axe!”
‘I have a name!’
“No one can see! Let’s just start climbing!” Lia yelled.
Jarek shrugged. Seraphina nodded. Malark patted Jarek on his round helm.
“Imma goin’!”
With that, we take our leave. AI generators failed mightily in my attempt to add more images. Everything was hot garbargem and nothing close to the prompts. I am going to have to have to dedicate some time to creating better images. I haven’t decided on one generator yet, but none seemed up to the task. Apologies.
BG
War Across the Ages, and other dark horrors 