Chapter 2- Passage Through Rockcrest

The pearly orb of the moon shone brightly, which glittered with thousands of flickering stars. The nighttime cold discomforted the four adventurers as they neared the foothills of the northern mountains. Icy northeasterly winds nipped at their faces. The climate was not entirely unfamiliar to Tannyr, who had lived in these mountains at one time and was accustomed to it. Racti, on the other hand, covered himself in three layers of clothes. Auric pulled the hood of his cloak over his head, and Zengrath did the same with his robes. As they ascended into the mountains, a light, powdery snow began to fall, covering the rocky mountain trail like a crystalline blanket illuminated by the moonlight.

“Tannyr, where’s the entrance to the secret passage?” Auric turned to his dwarven friend, who was shaking the snow out of his chocolate-brown beard.

“We should be nearing it soon. It’s so hard to see in this snow.” Tannyr looked ahead and to the side of the mountain. “There should be a door with the word Rockcrest above it in the runic alphabet.” Tannyr continued ahead, watching the rocky mountain face closely, wondering if they had perhaps missed it. “Where the devil is it?”

Racti, who hadn’t stopped to discuss the entrance whereabouts, had wandered ahead of the group, searching for any secret doors or passageways. As his fingertips trailed along the rocky surface of the mountain, his hand detected something different, something smooth and cylindrical like a marble column. He backed away from the mountainside to get a better view.

Two pillars had been cut into the side of the mountain, one on each side of an entranceway. Racti gawked at the ornate arch design above the doorway with, as Tannyr had predicted, the Rockcrest name carved into it in dwarven runes. He shouted to the others and waved a hand towards the doorway ahead. “I think I found your entrance, Tannyr, but…”

Tannyr didn’t let him finish. He shoved past Auric and Zengrath and ran ahead. He stared at the magnificent doorway to the home of the Rockcrest Dwarves, something he had longed to see for years. The others fell into a reverent silence, stepping back so Tannyr could be the first up to the door.

As Tannyr approached the entranceway, he stopped suddenly. “Damn! The way is blocked with a solid block of ice!”

“Relax, Tannyr,” Auric said, touching the block. “I’m sure we can just hack it away.”

With a nod, Tannyr drew his axe and lifted it above his head. The first swing rebounded off the ice, knocking Tannyr onto his bottom. Racti burst into laughter, but quickly disguised it as a cough after a quick glance from Tannyr. The dwarf tried again, but after a few more mighty swings, he had penetrated only an inch or two into the ice block. “Ach! Continue like this and it’ll take us a year to get through.”

“You know,” Racti cleared his throat and tried to wipe the grin from his face, “there’s more than one way to get rid of ice.” He held an unlit torch out in front and slipped his way to the door. But he failed to light the torch, for the icy winds swirled around them and blew it out as soon as the tinderbox sparked.

Zengrath waved his bony hands in front of his face, mumbling. “Prolas jeriec.” Racti stopped and watched in awe as the tips of the wizard’s fingers burst into an orange-yellow flame. “Zengrath, your hands…”

Auric cupped his hand over Racti’s mouth, “Let him concentrate, Racti.”

Zengrath, with his eyes intently focused on the block of ice, slowly pointed his burning hands forward. The flame leapt from his fingers and danced across the frozen surface, and tiny rivulets of water began to form and pour off into a pool of water at their feet. Racti stepped back to prevent his already cold feet from getting wet. Once the passage was clear, Zengrath released his concentration and the flames vanished, leaving a puff of violet smoke.

Tannyr took the lead, anxious to see the inside of the mountain. Racti skirted the puddle and followed closely, still amazed by the magical fire that should have consumed the old wizard’s hands. Auric knelt to one knee beside Zengrath, who had sunk to his knees, and put an arm of support around him as they followed inside.

* * *

Beyond the doorway was a tunnel with walls smooth and rippled to the touch, as if formed ages ago by rushing water. The tunnel opened into a large cavern about fifty feet from the entrance. “This was the meeting place of the dwarves,” Tannyr’s voice echoed slightly. “It was here that the three factions of dwarves met and swore alliance.” The dwarf glowed with honor and pride, his excitement noticeable as they approached the cavern.

A deep hollow rumble filled the cavern. It was a sound familiar to Tannyr, bringing back ancient memories to him. Auric was the first to enter the cavern, his sword drawn. Using his elvensight, Auric scanned the room. Large stone shapes cluttered the floor. A massive bronze brazier stood in the center of the room. The ceiling of the cavern was cloaked in darkness.

“Racti, light the brazier,” Auric said, motioning for Racti to enter. Racti followed Auric up onto a small dais and toward the brazier. He lit the torch that he had tried to use to melt the ice block and held it over a pile of wood in the center. After a few seconds, the wood caught fire, bathing the room with a bright orange glow. The stone shapes were now seen to be benches set in concentric circles around the brazier. The walls were brightly painted with numerous designs of dwarven inventions: catapults, gem-cutters, and an ore-acquiring machine. Eight corridors radiated from the room, though fallen rock and rubble blocked all but one. At the north side of the room stood a podium carved out of the stone. Several bones, many large enough to be from a dragon, hung from the ceiling by long ropes that seemed to be too weak to support such weight.

Tannyr approached the podium, and examined all its sides. On the front was a painting of two crossed broad-axes over an ocean wave, the symbol of the ancient clan of dwarves. Atop the podium was a small leather-bound book with its cover almost burned off and its pages yellowed and torn. Tannyr’s mouth dropped in amazement. “Holy Thunder! This is the log book of the Rockcrest clan, the complete history of their events here.” He sat alone on one of the stone benches on the far side of the room and began leafing through the fragile pages.

Zengrath, who had been admiring the wall paintings (especially the depiction of the gem-cutter), stopped suddenly. “Auric,” he called, not taking his eyes off the wall, “I just noticed some Terthian elf writing near the painting here. I can’t make it out.”

Auric glanced at the indicated gem-cutter painting. Near the base, written in small Terthian letters, was some elven graffiti. “It reads: ‘Thelran, you were a fool to think you could control the dragons.’” He took several moments to ponder what that might have meant. Who was Thelran? Auric shrugged. “I think it’s time we press on.”

Everyone nodded in agreement and gathered in front of the only unblocked passage.

The passage was cold and dry. The walls crumbled slightly to the touch, as though they were made of coarse sand. The light of the brazier in the room they had just left cast their shadows eerily onto the corridor walls. All was silent, and a strange sense of abandonment filled them in this passage. Auric tried to keep his spirits up with thoughts of Shandara, remembering her in happier times, wishing he could be with her. He recalled her beautiful elven face and long auburn hair, but his thoughts were interrupted when Racti asked, “I wonder if there are any hidden doors in here. Maybe I’ll find some treasures.”

“Racti, we must keep going. There’s no time to stop and search.” Auric understood Racti’s pride in his thieving abilities, but he also knew that this wasn’t the right time. They had to press on. He wanted to tell Racti that he could look later on, but decided to wait. Suddenly, a loud, ear-splitting crash reverberated through the corridor, making Auric, Racti, and Zengrath jump. Tannyr only looked behind them and said, “What the hell was that?”

“I’ll go see!” Racti turned and raced into the darkness, smiling like a gleeful child.

“Racti!” Tannyr shouted, reaching an arm out in a futile attempt to grab him. He started to take off after Racti. “Auric said…”

Auric held him back, with a smile. “Let him go, Tannyr. He likes that sort of thing, perhaps it will satisfy his hunger for treasure hunting.” Tannyr backed off, knowing Auric was right.

Racti returned minutes later, breathing heavily. “The tunnel caved in back there!” His face was pale and full of fear. “I swear I heard something digging at the rubble. I think something’s after us.”

“Then we must keep moving.” Zengrath spoke up for the first time since they left the large room. He touched his forehead for a moment.

“I agree. We don’t know what it is, and that lack of knowledge could be more dangerous than what lies ahead.” Auric spoke for the entire group. They continued forward with a grim countenance, knowing that they no longer had a means of escape.

A deep growl interrupted their thoughts – resounding down the corridor ahead of them. In that instant, Tannyr remembered what he had forgotten earlier. “Oh bloody hell. Auric, I forgot to mention something about this secret passage.” He smiled weakly, his face bone-white.

Auric stopped and turned toward Tannyr. “What exactly did you forget to mention?” Fear crept into his voice. Auric hoped it wasn’t something critical. The growl bellowed down the corridor, making everyone jump.

“I forgot about the Hunter.” As Tannyr said this, Auric and Zengrath exchanged glances. “It’s a demon who dwells deep in these catacombs. I’ve only heard stories of him from my grandfather.”

Everyone stood riveted in place. Each party member looked at Tannyr, wishing he had remembered this before the ceiling caved in. He bowed his head, cursing under his breath, disappointed in himself.

Tannyr squared his shoulders and drew his war-axe and looked to the others. He twirled the weapon between his hands with ease. “Let’s go on.” Each member of the party had their weapon at the ready, uttering silent prayers, as they headed further down the corridor. Zengrath held his staff pointed straight ahead, Auric held a tight grip on his long sword, and Racti had drawn his daggers and thrown the corners of his cloak over his shoulders so that it would not hinder his movements. His short sword remained at his side.

“How big is the Hunter, Tannyr?” Zengrath asked curiously. “If it’s small enough, I could use my staff and shock it with a lightning spell.”

“I’ve never seen it myself, but I’ve heard that it’s monstrous,” Tannyr replied, running his hand across the blade of his axe.

“To a dwarf, everything is…” Racti started but Tannyr’s thick eyebrows slanted in anger, and turned to chase Racti back down the hall. He hated it when people – especially humans – referred to dwarves as small. “I’ll show you…”

“Tannyr! Racti! We need to be concentrating on dealing with this Hunter,” Auric admonished, trying to keep some peace between the two. Racti and Tannyr rejoined Auric and Zengrath, though Racti still grinned as he tried to refrain from laughing. A quick look from Auric wiped the smile from his face.

* * *

The growls and roars had grown in volume as they neared the lair of the Hunter. Bloodstains coated the walls, floor, and ceiling, and as they approached the floor became increasingly littered with bones. Scrawled across the left wall was a ragged arrow, pointing towards the lair, and the words, “Beware. The Hunter.” Very informative, Auric thought.

“I don’t like this place,” Racti said, a master of understatement. He sheathed his daggers and drew his sword instead.

“Nor do I.” Zengrath nodded. “I’ll throw some light down there and see what lies ahead.” Zengrath held his hand outward and mumbled a few words. “Eloreb caelle jao.” A baby pig suddenly appeared in front of the wizard. He looked down at the animal, dumbfounded. He was rustier than he thought. He swirled his hands over the pig, returning it to its former location (wherever that was), and then tried again.

A small globe of light rose from his palm and hovered in the air in front of the group. Zengrath grinned at his success. With a small gesture of his hand, the orb of light moved ahead of the group and illuminated the Hunter’s lair.

“ARGH! That light! Who dares defile my domain?” rumbled a horrid, fiendish voice from behind the glow. A large demon, about the height of two men, emerged from the darkness. His leathery draconic wings spread out to fill the width of the cavern, revealing the presence of two arms on each side, though the top left arm was only a mangled stump – evidence of former battles. In each of the two lower hands, he gripped tightly, two matching black double-edged swords, waving them back and forth in defiance. The fourth hand was raised to shield his light-sensitive eyes as he summarized the group before him. He growled and hissed angrily, charging the party with surprising swiftness and dexterity.

“Everyone circle around it – quickly,” Auric shouted. But before everyone could get into position, the Hunter lunged forward, reaching his free dark-skinned muscular arm out to grab Tannyr by the torso while at the same time, both swords swung over the heads of the others, as they dove to the ground. Licking his lips, he glared at the flailing dwarf with bloodthirsty eyes. The Hunter let loose another roar of rage, his anger so palpable that he foamed at the mouth, occasionally his yellow spittle would hit the floor with a splat, sizzling and melting the bones like acid.

Tannyr kicked and squirmed, trying to twist out of the Hunter’s clenched fist. The Hunter grinned fiendishly and squeezed tighter. His sharpened claws pierced through Tannyr’s armor and punctured his chest to rupture a lung. Tannyr winced in pain, clamping his eyes shut. He coughed violently, gasping for breath, blood and saliva mixing in his mouth. Again he tried to pry himself free from the Hunter’s sharp talons, to no avail. The monster’s grip was too strong for the injured dwarf. Tannyr watched the demon helplessly as he was slowly pulled toward its gaping mouth, but at the last moment, he stopped twitching and fell limp in the monster’s grip.

“Hey, you ugly demon, over here,” Racti called from behind the Hunter. I hope I know what I’m doing; Racti thought as he hopped back and forth and gyrated wildly in the Hunter’s sight. The brute, momentarily distracted from his feast, turned to face him, and let out a deep bellowing laugh that shook the floor, rattling the bones. Racti gasped at the sight of the hulking creature in front of him, realizing that he was the next target.

“You think you can defeat me, little one?” The Hunter flung the unconscious Tannyr away, sending him into the far wall with a sickening, bone-crunching thud. The beast folded his wings in close to his back and stomped after Racti, swinging his swords in altered swings with enough force to split the thief in two. Racti jumped back and continued to duck and weave just out of reach of the point of the swords, and then to his horror, he felt the solidity of the wall behind him. He had no more room. He held his sword pointed at the approaching mass of muscle in front of him. Fear raced through his blood, shaking his bones. He turned and ran, hoping to bury himself in the darkness of the tunnel ahead. The Hunter swung at the fleeing thief, knocking the thief’s own sword from his hand. The second blade struck the wall of the tunnel, making a deadened chink against the stone.

Everything was happening too quickly for thought. Auric raced toward the Hunter, swinging his sword up over his head. Sword gripped tightly with both hands, intent on plunging it deep into the Hunter’s back, he leapt toward the beast’s back, but was sent across the room by a massive fist. Auric hit the ground hard but rolled left just in time; the Hunter stomped down only inches from Auric’s side. Suddenly the air was split with a bone chilling screech of pain – Auric grinned faintly as his sword slide into the demon’s knee from behind, yanking his sword free and rolling out from under the beast again.

Racti emerged from the darkness, sprinting toward the Hunter with a large leg bone in his hand. He screamed wildly as he tackled the monster, and pummeled it on the legs above the knees. This created the needed distraction. Auric jumped onto its back and thrust his sword into the creature over and over. The Hunter screeched and thrashed around frantically, twisting and swinging both swords awkwardly behind him, hoping to dislodge his attacker. Auric clung to him like a flea to a dog, thrusting his sword through the Hunter’s thick gray skin. Slimy black blood gushed from the wounds. The demon spread his wings and beat them furiously, throwing Auric back into the wall. Auric felt the wind knocked out of him as he slammed against the wall, sliding to the floor in a crumpled form.

The Hunter turned slowly and glared hatefully at Auric. Racti dropped the bone club he had been using and picked up his sword from the floor. Auric fought to catch his breath and crawled behind Zengrath, coughing and clutching his aching chest. The monster’s slimy innards oozed from the open wound, filling the air with the putrid odor of intestines and blood. “Zengrath, your staff…”Auric gasped for breath.

Zengrath, who had stayed back and focused his concentration, needed no further direction. His staff gleamed white, and arch of lightning shot from the head of the staff, bolting the demon square in the chest. The jolt sent the Hunter into convulsions, electricity enveloping his twitching body; he fell to the ground in a heap.

“Curse you! Curse you all,” the Hunter’s voice quivered with pain, his body once more wracked with convulsions. One last gurgled gasp and all was still. Auric looked at its body, almost feeling a slight tinge of pity for the creature. The fiery eyes lost their glow, and shed a small tear before glazing over.

Auric stood slowly and turned his attention to Tannyr, who lay among the bones. Zengrath already knelt over the dwarf, checking for a heartbeat and pondering his condition. Racti looked on anxiously. Auric squatted next to Tannyr’s body. “I wish we had a cleric. Zengrath, can he still be saved?”

“There are some pretty deep wounds on his body. I’m not sure.”

Gently rolling him onto his back, Auric lifted the dwarf’s plate mail away to better survey the wounds. Tannyr’s torso was lined with lacerations, painted with the dark crimson color of dried blood. Auric’s hands shook as he set to work on bandaging Tannyr. He glanced up to the others, “Are you two alright?”

Racti nodded as he looked to the mage. Zengrath smiled wearily, “We’re alive. Racti, let’s see about making something to carry Tannyr.” Racti and Zengrath left Auric to tend to Tannyr’s wounds and set about gathering several of the larger bones and, with a couple scraps of rope, tied it together to form a good sturdy triangular stretcher.

Racti, who was still shook up from the attack, looked over at Zengrath, who was equally upset. “Is Tannyr going to be alright?”

Zengrath feigned a smile. “He’ll come around.”

“That was pretty easy for being such a great evil.” Racti gathered himself and sheathed his weapons.

“That was nothing,” Zengrath sighed. “The Hunter had nothing to do with the evil that dwells in these mountains. This has only been our first test.”