The Reckoning, page 14
The woman’s aura must be strong indeed if she had resisted the entering.
Which brought Hammer back to the present. Who were these people? Only Ohma and the Dwarves knew how to activate the device that would give access to his city, yet the stranger was doing just that. Hammer watched the man through the one-way transparent wall with a scowl on his face.
****
Kaden stood centered between two blocks of granite. The stones of the gateway, well over seven feet tall and three feet in width, were identical. Each inscribed with a bygone language he found illegible. A palm print was carved into the inside face of each rock. He placed his hands into the impression and pressed, at the same time speaking the ancient words Ohma had entrusted to him. “Balloc, Harkem, Naradoor.”
Immediately, his hands tingled, and an eerie scraping sound echoed through the cave. His palms grew warm, and a strong blue light encompassed him, radiating from the cave wall in front of him. Then, as if it had never been, the wall vanished and, in its place through a mist of blue light, stood a small man.
Kaden faced the first Hill Dwarf to be seen by one of another race for one hundred and fifty summers.
With short-cropped, black hair and beard, he sported a brown fringed shirt, leather leggings, and knee-high moccasins. In his fist, he clasped a large black and silver war hammer, and Kaden realized he was none too pleased to see him.
The dwarf planted his feet squarely in front of Kaden and hefted his hammer. “Come no closer, Tall-One. What is it you seek in the Poniard City?”
“I am Kaden of Glen-Dorrach, and this is Princess Tannith of Ellenroh.” Kaden indicated Tannith standing behind him in the shadows.
She stepped into the light. “We have come to reclaim the third section of the Cross of Tarlis. We were told it resides in your city.”
“I know of the Cross, but how do I know you speak the truth? Where is the Mage?”
“Ohma has sent us in his stead. There is much he has yet to do. Tarlis is in peril. Sernon of Asomos has risen from the dead and means to take all of Tarlis for his own and enslave its people.” Kaden searched the dwarf’s face. The eyes were shrewd but sparkled with an inner warmth. He liked what he saw. “Should nothing be done to stop him, Sernon’s reign of terror will soon encompass us all, even your people. The princess can use the power of the Cross to bring Magus down from Elysium. It is our hope he will defeat Sernon and set all kingdoms to rights. Will you help us?”
The dwarf relaxed his stance, but his expression remained guarded. “Enter,” he growled, stepping aside, “but be warned. The gate spell will not hold for more than a few heartbeats once you take your hands from the stones. You must pass beyond the wall before the light fades.”
Kaden nodded to Tannith. “You go first.”
The princess pulled at Phoenix’s reins to lead him forward, but the stallion reared and refused to cross through the blue light and dragged her further back into the cave.
“Leave the horse!” yelled the dwarf. “I will send someone to collect him.”
Tannith hesitated for a heartbeat, then grabbed the packs from the horse and ran through the light to join the dwarf.
“Now, take your hands away slowly and run!”
Kaden took his hands from the stones and dove through the false wall, hitting the ground in a blink of an eye as the stone began to solidify. He rolled over and landed at the dwarf’s feet, and the smaller man leaned down and offered his hand.
“Well met, Dorrachian. You may call me Hammer.”
Hammer pulled him up with more strength than he would have given credence to.
“Well met, indeed.” Kaden nodded. “Now, take me to the one in charge. We can lose no time.”
Hammer drew himself up to his full height, which was a little over four feet, and puffed out his barreled chest. His deep, brown eyes held a glimmer of pride. “I am second in line to the Kastan.”
“Then it is your father I must speak with.”
Hammer regarded him for several long moments, scrutinizing his face, then turned, relieved Tannith of her pack, and strode in silence from the cavern.
The cavern door led them down a network of glowing tunnels which branched off into a myriad of different directions. Each passage was lit by softly glowing phosphorus rocks suspended from the roof of the tunnels. Rounding a corner to the right, they were met with a tunnel lined with miniature doorways of polished timber. Hammer explained they were the dwellings of his people—each home having been carved into solid rock. Several Dwarves hurried passed, staring at them with open curiosity.
“You must forgive my people. Like me, they have never seen a man so tall. Except Ohma of course, and he would barely be taller than the princess.”
Tannith smiled briefly, and Kaden nodded peering into the gloom ahead as strange noises came floating toward them. The passageway gave way to a huge cavern with a high ceiling carved in the shape of magnificent cathedral arches supported by large intricately carved columns of stone. The craftsmanship exhibited rare beauty unlike anything he had ever seen on the surface.
The cavern hub was alive with bustling activity. Crowds ebbed and flowed through a small marketplace, which sold everything from squealing piglets and flapping chickens to fine cloth and succulent fruit.
Several Dwarves stopped to stare at them, some casting looks of hostility.
Kaden ignored them and paused to see Tannith admiring a bright red scarf spun from silk so soft it ran through her fingers like quicksilver. She glanced across at him and smiled.
“The silk comes from a giant arachnid,” informed Hammer, at her side. “The spinners risk their lives every day gathering it, but they tell it is worth it, for no silk could make finer garments.”
She dropped the silken square back to the table and hurried on to the next stall.
Hammer quirked a bushy brow. “The princess dislikes spiders?”
He grinned, remembering their conversation at the cave where they found Verbena’s body. “She has an aversion to them, yes.”
“That may pose a problem.”
“Oh yes. Do tell?”
Hammer looked up from examining a wide leather belt at the stall before him. “I am not at liberty to say. First, I must speak with my father.”
He noticed the way the dwarf avoided his eyes.
“I wish to keep nothing from you. ’Tis just that my father is the Kastan—you understand?”
He nodded and changed the subject. “How did you achieve this?” He gestured with his arm, encompassing the whole market square, interspersed with the enormous carved pillars reaching to at least an eighty-foot ceiling.
Hammer twirled his drooping moustache between two stubby fingers. “This is a natural cavern which was cleared and is lit by many torches, as you see.” He pointed around the walls. “The Ancients, who were ingenious tunnel builders, built the dwellings you passed earlier, and the stone carvers worked on this cavern for almost two centuries. Excavation is still undertaken on the outer reaches of our kingdom, but not as much as it was once. Unfortunately, stone carving is a dying art, and I fear within the next hundred years, the art will be lost entirely. The young dwarf men of today prefer other occupations.
“All the produce you see is grown or created underground.” Hammer smiled with pride. “When my ancestors left the world above, they knew they would have to become self-sufficient.”
Hammer indicated another tunnel hewn out of living rock, and they slipped into the entrance. The pungent odor of ground spices, fresh fish, cooked chicken, and a thousand other smells drifted in their wake. More phosphorous rocks, suspended at intervals above their heads, lighted their way.
Rounding a corner, Hammer stopped in front of a small door and drew it open. Kaden stood aside for Tannith to enter, then ducked and followed.
The room was oval and filled with women of all ages―some engrossed in weaving, others spinning, while the rest sewed or worked on tapestries. Sunlight streamed through several rough-hewn, circular holes cut into the roof. Natural light flooded the man-made cave, enabling the women to work without the aid of candles. Several of the dwarven women lifted their heads and smiled, and Hammer introduced Kaden and Tannith as friends.
Moving to stand beneath one of the holes in the ceiling, Kaden peered upward. “Amazing. What stops the rain from pouring in?”
“Simple. Large crystals are polished then placed at the top of the holes, blocking them off completely, while allowing the light to filter through into the caves below.”
“Ingenious.”
“It was Ohma’s creation. He is a man of extraordinary talents.”
Kaden raised a brow. “More than we would know, it seems.”
Hammer gave a soft chuckle and, after bidding the women good day, led Kaden and Tannith back out into the tunnel. Finally, after another long walk and another corner, he stopped in front of a large door stained red with silver runes and stars painted upon its wood.
“This is Ohma’s room when he spends time with us.” The dark-haired Dwarf took an iron key from a large ring of keys hanging at his waist and fitted it into the lock. “We have only one bed of this size,” he explained, opening the door, and stepping into a room of good proportions. “The princess can sleep here. I have ordered a large pallet to be placed on the floor of the men’s dormitory. You must forgive our lack of hospitality Prince Kaden, but only married couples are granted a room of their own. It is our custom.”
Kaden stood just inside the room. “That will be fine. Now I do not wish to be rude, but the princess and I have much to discuss.”
“Of course.” Hammer backed toward the door. “I will have supper arranged to be sent and organize an audience with my father.”
Tannith watched him close the door behind him, then tumbled back onto the wide feather bed. “I hope you will enjoy your pallet on the floor, Warrior. This bed feels wondrously soft.” Her violet eyes glittered mischievously. “Why not tell him we were handfasted?
“You looked tired, and I did not want to delay the meeting with his father any longer. I will rectify the situation later.” He gave a low growl and came down over her, pinning her arms loosely above her head. “And no wife of mine sleeps alone.”
“And do you have more than one wife?” she countered, rolling him over to straddle his chest.
He grinned. “Why would I want another, when the one I have is the greatest beauty in all of Tarlis?”
“Right answer.”
He groaned, meeting her lips as she leaned low, and his hands found their way up under her tunic.
****
The arachnid’s body consisted of two large portions. Pincers at least two feet long sprouted from its forehead. Its eyes protruded, blood-like and luminous. A tough, leathery hide and coarse, black hair covered its grotesque body, supported by eight long, powerful legs.
Tannith stood on a ledge in front of a board spanning a gaping chasm. The beam measured no more than three hand-spans wide, two finger-lengths thick, and twenty feet long. The chasm of black nothingness yawned cold and daunting on both sides. On the far side of the cavern, the giant arachnid crouched. The piece of Cross was guarded by Sharsnak, the Dwarves’ name for spider—the mother of all spiders.
Kaden blocked her path. “No, Tannith. Let me go in your stead.”
“Get out of my way, Dorrachian. I must prove I am not a coward.”
“I know you are no coward after the trials we have faced.”
“I must face my fear.”
Kaden’s fist tightened. “Then you are a fool, woman.”
“Call me what you will, but all my life I have feared spiders. Now I have a chance to break free of that fear.” She glanced over his shoulder at the giant spider. “My people have a saying. ‘Once you have faced your fears, you will rid yourself of them forever. Fear is only as strong as the beast in your mind.’ The time has come for me to face the terrors of my imagination. Step out of my way and let me pass.”
Kaden gave her an assessing look. Her face was set in determined lines. She appeared without fear, but was she? One false step could see her gone. That is what frightened him most. Could she defeat the spider? Was she strong enough—fast enough? Could she tread the beam without slipping into the nothingness below? He shook his head and stepped from the plank. “I will watch your back, but do not take your eyes from the spider.”
****
Tannith did not intend to allow the hideous beast to leave her sight. She nodded and placed one foot carefully onto the board. At the far side of the beam, there was a narrow ledge and an enormous spider web. In front of that web, on the same ledge, lay the third part of the Cross, glowing dimly in the shadows.
The board groaned and gave fractionally under her weight as it adjusted to her next step. She took another. A cool breeze seeped through the crevices in the ceiling, and the torches flickered on the perimeter of the chasm. Tannith’s hair lay lank and damp on her neck, and perspiration trickled down her spine. A foul stench wafted across the pit from the arachnid’s nest. Small rodents and bats and the remains of a dwarf lay suspended, his face half eaten and rotted, his body encased in treacherous woven silk. With one wrong step, she could share the fate of the dwarf above her.
She paused to still her churning stomach. All her life, spiders had been her one weakness, and here she was, about to face the grandmother of all spiders…a spider seven times her size. Drawing on the courage of the God, Magus, she mumbled a quick prayer and inched along the beam another two paces.
Natural light streaked bright through large cracks in the cavern roof, turning the silken web into a rainbow net of beauty and duplicity.
Was it only an hour ago that Hammer had knocked on the door of her room with permission for her and Kaden to speak with his father? The meeting had been short and to the point. Kastan Lêr was happy to see them, yet he was a man of caution and perceived the seriousness of the situation. Permission was granted for them to procure the missing section of the Cross—if they could.
Hammer and a company of men had led Tannith and Kaden deep into the mountainside through the ancient tunnels of the Elders. There, they found the third part of the Cross guarded by the spider.
She drew a deep breath and glanced down at the beam. The treasured icon was a mere sword’s length away. Two more steps and she would seize her prize, and the spider had yet to move. She eased to one knee on the plank, her gaze never leaving the giant arachnid nestled high in the corner of the cave. Clutching the piece of Cross with one hand, holding her dagger in the other, she prepared for an attack. However, she was not equipped for the swiftness or the accuracy of the creature when it struck. The spider dropped behind her, blocking her path to safety. With expert cunning, it nudged her slowly, directing her into the path of the web.
Tannith straightened and held her ground, but the spider moved in, and she had no choice. Blocked, she could not move forward. She had to go back. She stared helplessly across at Kaden as he shouted her name.
A backward step found her stuck to the web, soft as silk and strong as iron, holding her entrapped in its silver threads of death. Her mind numbed. She struggled to reach her knife, but the more she tried, the tighter the silken strands adhered to her. Screams rose in her throat. Her lungs ached as she fought for breath. Fear akin to a raging beast swamped her, and a roaring filled her ears. Her own screams! She was sinking…sinking into a quagmire of her own making.
The last thing she remembered was being completely covered in sticky silk, and the dreadful black maw of Shasnak looming toward her. She closed her eyes and sank into oblivion…
****
From the moment the spider dropped from the ceiling, Deathwielder and his men kept up a heavy rain of brass-tipped arrows. The shafts pummeled into the back of the arachnid, but the arrows were mere pinpricks to a creature of such magnitude and only proved to antagonize the creature more.
Shasnak turned her head. A dreadful hiss emanated from its maw, and yellow bile streamed across the chasm, striking a young dwarf. He clutched at his face and dropped to his knees screaming, and his comrades ran in and dragged him from the edge.
Kaden bent to examine the young man’s wound. The skin was rapidly peeling away, revealing bone and raw sinew. He ordered two dwarves to take their friend to safety. Another dwarf ran onto the beam, but a slash of one hairy leg swept him screaming into the chasm.
Kaden was worried. He knew he had to stay calm, yet he was terrified for Tannith’s life. The spider had not harmed her yet, but it was only a matter of time. Spiders preferred their prey fresh, usually breaking it down with secreted fluids, then sucking it in.
Hurriedly, he sifted through plans in his mind, skimming them then discarding them for some fault or other. Finally, he came to a decision. Hopefully, luck would be with him. He turned to Hammer. “Can you distract the spider?”
“You have a plan?”
“You draw the spider’s attention. I will leap onto its back and cut its dragline. It will drop into the pit and be killed.”
“How do you know it will work?”
“I do not.”
Hammer grinned. “I like the plan.”
Shasnak sat suspended an arm’s length above Tannith, seeming uncertain of what to do.
Hammer signaled to his warriors. Each notched a burning arrow to his bow, and a volley of flaming shafts flew across the pit. The spider scrunched up its eight legs and spun on its dragline, her gaze following the flaring shafts into the far wall.
It was the signal for which Kaden awaited.
He raced across the beam and leapt onto the spider’s back. The momentum of his jump set the arachnid swinging. He wrenched himself up and with all the force of his mighty shoulders, drove his sword down into one of the monster’s red eyes. The creature hissed, thrashing its legs wildly trying to dislodge him. Yellow fluid burst from the orb, staining Kaden’s clothes, burning holes into the cloth.
